THE FLOW-EE GAEEEX. 



223 



Character of Plants, — TEe first condition 

 essential to selection is that the plants shall be dis- 

 tinctively Jine-foliaged plants (not necessarily flower- 

 less) ; another is that they shall he of easy cultui-e ; 

 and a third, that they he of rapid growth. The last 

 condition is of great importance, when the shortness 

 of our most favourable summers is taken into account, 

 and rapiditA- of effectiveness is necessary to get any- 

 thing Eke satisfaction for the labour spent. Good 

 culture will do something in this direction, such as 

 taking pains with the raising of the plants, letting 

 them have no check either from staging too long 

 in the seed-pans, or getting root-bound before re- 

 potting, or exposing them to the atmosphere before 

 they have been duly prepared by partial and gradual 

 hardening off' ; and, lastly, by sparing no pains in the 

 preparation of the beds. "Warmth of soil is insured 

 in the coldest districts by well draining, trenching 

 deeply, and throwing' up the soE above the ground- 

 level of the turf, that the sun may have fuE power, 

 not only on the flat portion of the bed, hut through 

 the upraised earth. As to manure, plants of this 

 character wiE take any quantity in reason, and need 

 it quite as much to develop theE fuE beauty as for 

 rapidity of growth. 



Site for Sub-tropical Beds.— The plants, for 

 the most part, being taE, and some of them tender, 

 naturally suggest shelter. A deep deE, and an open 

 slope sheltered from north-east winds, are both ex- 

 ceEent sites, and if close to a lake or stream the 

 value of such sites wiE be increased, as some of the 

 plants only look their best in association with water, 

 notably so the Anmdos. Bamboos, and Phormiums. 

 Another desirable condition in the choice of si:-? is. 

 that the sun-oundings be sufiiciently massiv-i : :r in 

 other words, that there be a good background either 

 of shrubs, banks of turf, ixx, or other greeners* ; 

 such sohd surroundings are quite inEspensable to 

 bring out the fuE beauty of such finely-cut foliage 

 as that of the Sumachs, or the flowery panicles of 

 Bocconia cordata, or of Sumea eleaans. 



These of course are named as best sites, but the 

 owner of a small ^Ela garden, E he only has shelter, 

 may if so inclined have a first-rate sub-tropical bed. 

 Say for instance he has a large cEcular bed, and 

 wishes it planted effectively after the sub-tropical 

 fashion : here is the arrangement. In the middle 

 plant a large clump of the hardy Bamboo {Arundi- 

 naria japonica, generaEy grown under name of Ba,n- 

 busa Metake) ; or else of Xew Zealand Flax [Fhonniian 

 tenax) ; then three plants, equal in size, of seedling^/- 

 bizzia lophantha, generaEy known a.^ Acacia lophantha; 

 and next six plants of GreviUea rohusta; the outer row 

 of aE being twelve plants of variegated Abutilon ; 

 the edging to be the haidy variegated Plantain lily 



[Funkia ovata variegata). All these plants can be 

 bought at the price usuaEy paid for common 

 Geianiums, and are therefore within the reach of aE. 

 The bed can be fiEed out either with flowering or 

 foliage plants ; considering the position, we should 

 ad-vise the former, the kinds to be either Geraniums 

 or Fuchsias, or both in mixture ; should foEage 

 plants be preferred, variegated Thyme, Gold Feather 

 P^Tethrum, or any of the mossy SricCti on of SeduniSj 

 would be appropriate. 



Arrangement and Form of Beds. — Though 

 there are numbers of plants that do weE singly ia 

 isolated positions on the tm-f , and some should thus 

 be planted, care and good judgment are needed in 

 theE Espersion, otherwise the garden wiE present a 

 too ■• dotty •■' appearance. Good breadths of turf be- 

 tween each bed are of infinitely greater importance 

 than even the arrangement of plants in the beds, 

 hence the necessity for being speciaEy particular as 

 to the planting of single specimens on the turf. An 

 angulai- nook, or a ;;i. : :- :c i iri of that form, or as a 

 E-visional line to a s.-t oi I els — these are the only 

 rightfE places for single specimen plants in the 

 sub-tropical garden ; whilst as to shape or form of 

 beds, none are so telling as ovals and rounds, and 

 the size of each shoiEd be determined by the size of 

 the garden, not forgetting that wide spaces of tm-f 

 between each are of the greatest importance. Long 

 borders, not formal in design, but the front part 

 running in irregular semi-cEcular shape, are also 

 suitable forms for sides of banks which are weE 

 hacked up with shrubs. The free and stately habit 

 of growth of aE kinds of sub-tropicals, is sufficient 

 of itseE to show how inappropriate fantasricaEy 

 formed beds would be in a sub-tropical garden, and 

 therefore theE adoption should never be thought of. 



Arrangement of Plants. — Tf due regard be 

 had to avoidance of tiae ■■dotting'' mentioned in the 

 preceding paragraph, and the beds are of a good size 

 with wide sweeps of lawn between them, the general 

 arrangement of the whole wiE be of the easiest 

 description : for even E the variety of plants at 

 command be limited, it wiE then be possible to so 

 intei-mix and place them apart, that want of variet\- 

 wiE only be observable after strict scrutiny, ^liat 

 we shaE caE the mixed plan of arrangement is that 

 we practise, and recommend ; for though it is most 

 usual to have a bed of a kind, there is about such 

 an arrangement, however elegant the plant may be, 

 a lack of variety and a '-lumpy" appearance most 

 objectionable from any, but particularly from a true 

 garden artist's point of view. 



Strictly adhering to this mixed plan, the follow- 

 ing is an arrangement for the long border above 



