246 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 18, 1890. 
giving also a very fine spike, always very tailing in a stand, not so good 
in substance as it might be, but very grand ; Grande Rouge, a brilliant 
fiery red with violet blotch, very similar to that fine old flower 
Meyerbeer, but larger and earlier in blooming ; Dalila, light rose, 
striped with white, magnificent spike of well formed flowers ; Atlas, 
pale porcelain, lightly tinted with violet, a very beautiful and constant 
flower with grand spike ; Conqu^rant, dark purplish carmine, clear 
white blotch and bands ; Corinne, carmine, white stripe ; Daubenton, 
suffused violet, large flower, very distinct and good ; Horace Vernet, 
purplish red, blotched and striped white, a very fine flower ; Minos, fine 
flower, an improvement on Gelemine, which it greatly resembles, colour 
rose blotched with cherry ; Pyramide, delicate rose. He had a large 
number at both places of his own seedlings ; of these some have been 
already certificated, and one obtained a certificate at the Aquarium, 
while there were others which were quite equal to anything we have. 
Snowdon he did not exhibit, but it is a grand white flower, He was 
awarded a certificate at the Aquarium for Vicar of Westwell, a very fine 
flower, orange salmon, with white blotch and purple feather. He had 
also Ossian, fiery red, with crimson flakes ; Iolanthe, a very beautiful 
salmon pink pale flower, which has already been certificated ; Cygnet, a 
very beautiful flesh white flower ; Sorcerer, a reddish orange flower, with 
deep brownish carmine flakes laid on much in the same way as the 
markings on the wings of the swallowtail butterfly (Papilio Machaon), a 
most striking flower, somewhat in the way of Tigi4, one of the new 
French varieties ; Imperator, a beautiful variety, somewhat in the way 
of Abricot^ ; and some other unnamed seedlings of which we may know 
something more. 
I now come to the amateurs, and here I may write more freely than 
I have done on other occasions, for I have had to come down from my 
perch. Having for a long series of years taken the first place, I have 
this year been content to take second, my excellent friend Mr. E. B. 
Lindsell, whom I had frequently urged to take up the culture of this 
flower, having taken the first place. It is the old story, 
“ The old man has been beaten by the boy.” 
At the Crystal Palace it was a very close run ; I never saw a more 
careful, and I may add correct, judging of two stands of Gladioli, and 
their nearness may be estimated by the fact that there were only three 
points between us. Among the flowers I had there was a very fine 
white flower of Souchet’s, Mont Blanc, for which I was awarded a first- 
class certificate. It is a grand flower, but I question whether in the 
purity of colour or in length of spike it will equal Mr. Burrell’s Snowdon 
certificated last year. The two stands of twelve put up at the 
Aquarium were the best ever put up by amateurs, and whereas in 
the Crystal Palace stands there were some weak spikes, those of mine 
especially, which had been assuredly an accident, there were no weak 
ones in these twenty-four spikes. Mr. Lindsell’s consisted of Baroness 
Burdett Coutts, very fine ; Grande Rouge, with twelve expanded flowers ; 
Daubenton, Titania, Horace Vernet, Rayon d’Or, Hesperide, Sceptre de 
Flore, Pyramide, Iolanthe, Atlas, and Adolphe Brongniart. Mine were 
Splendens, Dalila, a grand spike with twelve blooms ; Le Vesuve, 
Baroness Burdett Coutts, Pollux, Abricot4, Formosa, Sceptre de Flore, 
Mount Etna, Atlas, Grande Rouge, and Nereide, and I may add, for the 
encouragement of those who may wish to grow these lovely flowers, that 
those exhibited on the two stands average in price from 5d. to Is. 3d. 
each. I had also a very beautiful seedling, Purity, for which I read in 
the Times I was awarded a first-class certificate, the very whitest 
Gladiolus grown, pure white and absolutely without any feather or 
marking of any kind on the petals. I may add that this season has 
been a favourable one, the cool and still weather suiting them admirably, 
and I should hope, as I have already stated, that this fine dry September 
will ensure good sound bulbs. I may also add that nearly every one of 
these flowers were from roots which had been cut in halves before 
planting, showing the success of that plan.—D., Deal. 
FIRBECK HALL. 
Firbeck: Hall, the seat of the Rev. H. G. Jebb, is situated amidst 
sylvan scenery and undulating country, purely pastoral and agricul¬ 
tural, close on the boundaries of Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire. It is 
surrounded with a park of some sixty acres in extent, well timbered 
with Oaks, Elms, &c., and the house and grounds are sheltered with 
belts of trees, which break the fury of gales and storms. The nearest 
populous town is Rotherham, eleven miles away, but the pleasant little 
market town of Worksop, in Nottinghamshire, is ODly seven miles off, 
through which place the main line of the M.S.L.L. Railway passes. 
Worksop is a centre from which visitors to the far-famed Dukeries 
start on their pleasant excursions. The Dukeries, which include the 
mansions and estates of Welbeck, Clumber, and Thoresby, lie within 
the boundaries of Sherwood Forest, made famous by the exploics of 
Robin Hoed and his foresters. The beautiful wooded country for which 
this part of the county of Nottinghamshire is famous, also extends, but 
in a slightly less degree, to the north-western border of the county, 
close to which is Welbeck, but in Yorkshire territory. Between 
Worksop and Firbeck there is the village of Carlton, with a pretty 
church and all the evidences of quiet rural customs and contentment. 
A Moorpark Apricot tree flourishes on a warm gable end facing south in 
this district, and its beautiful crop of fruit, ripe and golden in the sun¬ 
shine, was a pleasure to see. The harvest was ripe and abundant, but 
unsettled weather had prevented the commencement of its ingathering. 
My object, however, is not to describe the country and the district, but 
the gardens at Firbeck Hall so far as a brief visit could furnish details 
of much that is interesting and well worth describing in these pages. 
In these notes, however, the first and most important place must be 
given to the main object of my visit, a description of the carpet bedding. 
It is in such a place as Firbeck, with its extensive stretches of 
green sward, of lawn and park, with noble trees in single specimens and 
in knolls and groups, that carpet bedding can be enjoyed to its fullest 
extent, there being present all the necessary conditions to its effective 
contrast. Then, again, the place is extensive enough to admit of other 
forms of flower gardening, which can be enjoyed when the eye is tired 
of resting on the colour and formality of the carpet beds. To say that 
the carpet bedding at Firbeck is well done is only to put it mildly. It 
is done in a very superior and artistic manner, which does infinite 
credit to the originality, skill, and industry of Mr. Egglestone, the 
head gardener. In the finished and perfect style which is there 
adopted it represents a vast amount of labour in the preparation of tire 
plants and in the tedious process of planting, which has to be done at a 
busy season of the year, when other claims of important work have to 
be attended to. Large numbers of beds are treated in the carpet style, 
some of them being of great extent. The principal and most artistic 
beds are situated on the terrace in front of the house, most of them 
being circular and three-lobed beds. Beginning at the eastern end of 
the terrace nearest the mansion, the first bed is circular in form. It is 
edged with a band of Sedum glaucum and Mesembryanthemum cordi- 
foliutn variegatum. A large Maltese cross forms the centre, having an 
edging of Sempervivum californicum, and filled up with Echeveria 
farinosa. Two of the spaces between the points of the cross are filled 
with an Alternanthera named Firbecki, which was raised there, and 
has been tried for four years. It is a very distinct and beautiful 
variety, having small narrow leaves of deep rich crimson shades, and is 
considered to be a much better variety than any similar one in cultiva¬ 
tion. The effectiveness of many of the Firbeck beds is largely 
owing to the employment of this variety, which he considers 
worthy of a name and a place amongst the best of the coloured¬ 
leaved carpet - bedding plants. The other two spaces are filled 
with Alyssum variegatum* and in the centre of the whole bed 
is planted a green-leaved Dracaena. Between this bed and the third 
comes a three-lobed bed edged with a permanent edging of Yew only a 
few inches high, inside which is a line of blue Lobelia, then a band of 
William Sandy Pelargonium, the centre being filled up with well 
flowered specimens of Tuberous Begonias, interspersed with a small¬ 
leaved variegated Fuchsia. Next to the carpet beds the Tuberous 
Begonias are a feature of the place, and very healthy plants covered with 
flowers the whole of them are. They are two-year-old roots, and the 
stout dark green healthy foliage they produce, surmounted with bright 
and handsome flowers, afford an excellent contrast to the mosaic- 
patterns of the carpet bedding. The next bed is a circular one. In the 
centre is placed a single plant of Echeveria metallica, the design being- 
a four-pointed star filled up with Alternanthera Firbecki. Outside the 
star the groundwork is composed of Sedum glaucum. Four ovals are 
fiiled with Alternanthera Firbecki, and the points of the star run into 
patches of Echeveria farinosa on each side of Mesembryanthemum 
cordifolium fol. var., and the outer edge is a rim about a foot wide of 
the above Mesembryanthemum. The next bed has Begonias edged 
with Yew, followed by Lobelia (blue), dwarf variegated Fuchsia, the 
centre filled with Tuberous Begonias ; but the centre of all is filled with 
Pelargonium White Perfection. The above is a three-lobed bed. 
Another circular carpet bed follows. Echeveria metallica is used as- 
a central dot plant. Then a diamond of Alternanthera amcena, sur¬ 
rounded with a narrow edge of Herniaria glabra. Then follow dot plants 
of Echeveria secunda with ovals and diamonds of Alternanthera and 
Herniaria glabra on a groundwork of Mesembryanthemum cordifolium 
fol. var. An edging of Echeveria farinosa, planted 6 inches apart. This 
is a very attractive and pleasing bed. We next come to the most 
attractive and splendid bed of the whole lot. It is circular in shape. 
The centre is occupied with a Dracaena. Then a square with four 
running points filled with Alternanthera Firbecki, and running into 
triangles of Echeveria farinosa marked out with Leucophyton Browni 
with silvery white foliage on a groundwork of Herniaria glabra. Four 
Maltese crosses of Alternanthera Firbecki, filled up with Sedum glaucum 
and side pieces of Spergula aurea attached with a circle of the same, 
the edging of the bed forming a double row of Echeveria farinosa with 
dot plants of Echeveria secunda. We next come to a circular bed of 
Begonias edged similarly to the others, but the central part 
planted with a groundwork of Sedum glaucum with a view to 
hide the soil during the early part of the season before the 
Begonias attain some size, and cover the ground as they do now with 
abundant foliage. The next is another circular carpet bed with a central 
plant of Echeveria metallica, surrounded by Mesembryanthemum 
cordifolium fol. var. to match the 18-inch circular edging of the same 
with Echeveria farinosa, planted 9 inches apart, just peeping through 
the Mesembryanthemum. The groundwork of the bed is Sedum glaucum, 
in which are four heart shapes of Alternanthera aurea and four triangles 
of the dark Alternanthera tricolor, each one edged thinly with 
Echeveria farinosa. 
The next bed is a three-lobed one, edged with l r ew, blue Lobelia, 
and Mrs. Wright bicolor Pelargonium, scarlet Begonias, the centre 
filled up with White Perfection Pelargonium. The next is a circular 
carpet bed, the same design as No. 1, but having a central plant of 
Grevillea robusta. The end of the terrace is marked with two tall 
