266 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ September 2$, 1886. 
be represented with a background of shrubs or in large beds 
or borders in various parts of the pleasure grounds. The 
first bed or border may consist of Helianthus multiflorus 
plenus in the centre or background, surrounded with Anemone 
japonica alba, followed by a band of A. japonica and edged 
with white East Lothian Stocks. The edging for variety may 
consist of a variegated Eunkia or variegated Weigela cut close 
back every spring. The last in time will become too large, 
but young stock is easily propagated at this season of the 
year in cold frames or under handlights. This bed, although 
gay the first year will be doubly effective the second, for the 
whole of the plants will increase in height and strength. 
Another telling arrangement can be made with Helianthus 
multiflorus or H. rigidus (Harpalium rigidum) for the back 
or centre, followed by Anemone japonica alba or Phlox Virgo 
Marie, one of the best whites, surrounded with a mixed col¬ 
lection of Scabious, edged with mixed Asters, say a row of 
tall Chrysanthemum flowered next to the Scabious, and a row 
of the dwarf form of the same kind to the front. Another 
very effective bed or group can be formed with the bright 
Phlox coccinea, followed by Hydrangea paniculata grandi- 
flora with scarlet East Lothian stocks for an edging. A 
fourth bed may be planted with Fuchsia gracilis or F. Ric- 
cartoni edged with a broad band of White Asters or a white 
dwarf-growing Antirrhinum. 
A charming bed may be made with Phlox Virgo Marie, 
surrounded with Veronica longifolia subsessilis, and edged 
with Geum coccineum, which can be raised from seed in 
autumn or spring in a cold frame. A very beautiful bed or 
group is formed by associating Phloxes, such as lilacina, 
Gloire de Nancy, or Countess of Eosslyn, with Pentstemon 
Morna to the front or all round as the case may be, then a 
row or two of a beautiful dwarf compact-growing light kind 
named Mrs. Heywood, edged with purple East Lothian Stocks. 
A very telling bed for this season is Gladiolus brenchleyensis, 
with a groundwork of Asters, mixed colours, tall varieties, 
edged with a row of dwarf kinds. A very similar and beauti¬ 
ful bed can be had by planting Lilium tigrinum with a ground¬ 
work of East Lothian Stocks scarlet and white, edged with a 
row of purple ones, or vice versa as the case may be, to corre¬ 
spond with other beds or groups ; Phlox Alexander Mathieson, 
a charming variety, surrounded with Pentstemon Mrs. Pat¬ 
terson, and edged with Senecios (Double Groundsel) raised 
from seed sown outside in spring forms a very telling arrange¬ 
ment. One that will not be despised can be formed with 
Anemone japonica alba, edged with a mixture of various 
coloured Antirrhinums. Dahlia Glare of the Garden, enclosed 
with a broad band of various coloured Everlastings (Heli- 
chrysums) with a front border of St. John’s Wort (Hypericum 
calycinum) is very pretty. Another may be planted with 
Ammobium alatum grandiflorum, surrounded with a dark 
tall-growing Antirrhinum, edged with Dianthus. Other good 
Pentstemons are Mrs. Iiilgour, Osgood McKenzie, Acros, 
Sir William Forbes, and Lord Salisbury, which would make 
charming beds. No hardy plants for massing are more beau¬ 
tiful than Pentstemons, and Pelargoniums by their side are 
insignificant. The Hydrangea and Fuchsia named also 
make charming beds associated with these plants. 
These few examples of grouping hardy flowers are only 
given as a guide for those defirous of decorating their gardens 
with these useful lasting plants without the trouble of raising 
tender plants annually. Earlier displays in the season can 
be obtained by selecting such plants that flower and last 
about the same length of time in beauty. But it must be 
remembered that hardy plants are most beautiful when massed 
in quantity or employed in conjunction with shrubs.—A 
Northerner. 
EARLY APPLES. 
Apples are never in great demand in August, as other fruits ax e 
very plentiful then for tarts an! dessert, but about this time and cnwards 
the demand increase 0 , and now the Plums are almost over the Apples are 
greatly valued; in fact, a supply is of more importance than at mid¬ 
winter, as then preserved fruits are more in season. Those who have a 
good supply of early Apples will always find them very acceptable, as it is 
from these the Applo jelly is generally made, and many who make mince 
meat also prefer eaily fruit. I have frequently observed that early Apples 
are as a rule the most prolific, and they also bear more constantly than 
others. Lock, for instance, at Keswick Codlin, Lord Suffield, Hawthornden, 
Manks Codlin, and Eckliuville Seedling. Their failing to bear is quite 
an exception, and they may frequently be seen in full crop when many 
of the later ones are quite sterile. If all Apples were as sure fruiters as 
these we should hardly ever hear of a failure in the Apple crop. The 
varieties named are remarkable for the heavy crops they produce in the 
smallest gardens and the most ungenial of situations. 
I ought to explain to those who are not thoroughly acquainted with 
these early Apples, that although they are generally designated “early,” 
they do not become ready for use in August or September and fail to keep 
afterwards, but any or all of them will remain perfectly fresh and in prime 
condition throughout the whole of October, November, and December, 
and some of them, particularly the Hawthornden, is often as sound in 
January as in the autumn months. Amongst early dessert Apples Bed 
Astrachan and Worcester Pearmain exhibit that peculiar fruitfulness 
and persistency in hearing a crop remarked of in the above, and the 
Worcester Pearmain is in season from now until the new year. It is 
often noted that some sorts of Apples succeed only in certain districts, 
and these are a bad class to have any dealings with; but I do not think 
any of your readers could point out a distrust where the varieties named 
above fail, and now that the planting season is at hand all gardeners will 
find it remunerative to introduce them freely.—J. Muir. 
HARDY FUCHSIAS. 
Though hardy Fuchsias are well known and frequently met with, 
I think it may be said that as a class they have suffered con¬ 
siderable neglect, which can be accounted for only by supposing that 
the tender varieties have absorbed a good deal of the interest and 
attention that should be theirs. To show some neglect it is only 
necessary to point out the limited range of colour to be found among 
them, for surely our skilful raisers could have obtained long ago the 
white sepals and petals and other variations of their indoor relatives, 
which were originated with no better material and without the inter¬ 
vention of parents possessing those features. But there is still 
perhaps a further neglect in not using these beautiful plants to the 
full extent of their merits as garden ornaments. It would not be 
difficult, I think, to find many gardens without a conspicuous bed of 
them, or without at least some of the most meritorious forms. It is 
now a good time, in this era of improving taste, when it is freely re¬ 
cognised that tender bedding-out plants do not include all that is 
necessary for the flower garden, to advance the merits of these hardy 
Fuchsias, and I propose therefore to enumerate the varieties. 
Here, in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, is an old bed which, 
with the help of two other hardy plants suitable for contrast and 
relief, is equal in character, I think, to some of the combinations pro¬ 
duced only by the aid of winter care and expense. The two other 
plants are Gaura Lindheimeri and (Enothera macrocarpa. The 
former is beautifully light and graceful, producing multitudes of 
white flowers on slender stems, which associate well with the sprays 
of red Fuchsia. The latter is a creeping plant with large yellow 
flowers, also in colour very effective in combination, and it occupies 
the outer circle. It would be easy no doubt to find others equally 
good, but these plants were used as belonging to the same natural 
order. I do not recommend these Fuchsias alone for flower garden 
beds, but they are beautiful almost anywhere, either on borders or as 
forming isolated lawn beds or specimens. Years ago I remember a 
long line of Fuchsia corallina at the foot of a low wall, and its beauty 
I am not likely soon to forget. Let us hope that the breaks in 
colour to which I have alluded may be attained before long. The 
following are the kinds known to be hardy, and as some may exist 
where the names are unknown or doubtful, I briefly describe them 
from my own plants growing out of doors. 
A. Tube quarter of an inch long, more than one-eighth of an inch 
thick. 
F. Riccartoni. —Stems upright, branching ; flowers about 2 inches 
long by 1 j inch across the sepals ; sepals spreading at right angles ; 
corolla cylindric ; stigma not large, spindle-shaped. This is one of 
the best as well as one of the most common. In the south-west of 
England and other mild parts it grows up into a shrub and is not 
killed in winter, but in less favoured situations it becomes herbaceous 
in habit. It is remarkable for bright red stems when fully expo c ed. 
It was raised from F. globosa crossed probably with some other 
variety. 
F. globosa.— Stems spreading, less branched than the last, and 
not so tall ; buds globose ; flowers 2 inches long, 1J- inch across the 
sepals ; sepals broadly ovate, only about twice as long as broad ; 
corolla almost cup-shaped ; stigma ovoid, large. One of the most 
charming, distinct, and desirable. It is with me one of the dwarfest. 
It is said to have been raised from F. conica, which, however, it far 
surpasses. The hardiness of F. conica I have not tested. 
