THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
175 
this work the plants should be as nearly as possible of one height ; 
but no one class of plants will furnish us with the proper colouis 
for completing the scheme. 
A scale of three-eighths would be in every way suitable, but to 
avoid mistakes, and to render it unnecessary to take into considera- 
tion fractional parts of an inch, we will now assume that the bow 
is to be formed and planted on a quarter inch scale, and it will 
therefore be simply necessary to divide the proportions of each 
colour by four and we have at once the width in inches to be planted 
with each colour. Thus the red band. No. 1, will have to be (with- 
out taking the fractions into consideration) eleven inches wide; the 
orange band, No. 2, seven inches wide, and so on. No. 1 must un- 
questionably be a band of geranium, but the difficulty consists in 
selecting one that is not too bright in colour, for a brilliant scarlet 
is not desirable ; the hue of Beaton’s Indian Yellow is the nearest 
approach to v\hat we require, but in Violet Hill Nosegay we have 
a variety which is certainly preferable in point of habit and freedom 
of flowering, and the colour is not too bright to prevent its being 
used. Therefore let No. I band be formed with Violet Hill Nosegay, 
or ileiuuon ; and as it is important to cover the ground as quickly as 
possible, a double row of plants for a band on the scale determined 
upon above is desirable. 
For band No. 2 we require an orange, and the colour of the 
flowers of Stella, or Charley Casbon is an orange scarlet, but the 
ju.vtaposition would amend that, and the slight tint of purple in 
No. 1 would bring out the orange tint in No. 2. The band will 
be seven inches in width, and a single row of plants will be ample. 
Then the third baud may be formed with a calceolaria, and the 
choice lies between Aurea floribunda, Gaines’ Yellow, and Golden 
Gem, and the one to be preferred to all others is the last on 
the list, for it flowers more continuously, and stands bad weather 
better than either of the others ; the least to be preferred is the first- 
mentioned, which suffers so severely when exposed to adverse in- 
fluences. If there is any difficulty in obtaining a stock of calceola- 
rias sufficient for the purpose, the showy Tagetes signatis pumila 
may be used ; but unless the seed has been saved with special care 
from the dwarfest plants, and the soil moderately poor, the plants 
will grow irregularly, and a portion may not bloom satisfactorily, 
and the effect of the whole scheme be marred in consequence. 
We approach a real difficulty when we come to the band of green, 
which must be fifteen inches in width. Apart from the difficulties 
of ootaining plants with foliage of the proper tone of green, and the 
incessant labour necessary to keep the flowers under, it will be 
found that the green band would split the bow into distinct 
halves. To get out of the difficulty and avoid the risk of spoiling the 
scheme, we must take an anti-meteorological view of the case, and 
take advantage of some other colour, or omit the band altogether. 
White would do, but it is not desiiable, and grey would be 
preferable. If the latter is determined upon, Cineraria maritima 
would be the best plant to select, as it is not too decided in tone, and 
with but little trouble can be kept dowu to the desired height. A 
June. 
