1877.] 
DWAEF BEDDING LOBELIAS. 
109 
happens that where gardens have been too much “kept,”—too clean, by not 
allowing even a leaf to rot on the surface—this weakly attenuated form of shrub¬ 
bery growth is the worst. In few places can littery beds and borders be permitted, 
and it is well to clear away leaves as they fall, but the same bulk in a rotten state 
should be brought back yearly, and dug-in or allowed to remain on the surface. 
Ivy borderings are very effective, indeed no plant is more useful or better adapted 
for all kinds of ornamental work than the ivy. It is quite as indispensable in the 
ornamentation of gardens as a frame is to a picture, and in winter is especially 
desirable.—H. Knight, Floors Castle. * 
CORNUS MASCULA AUREA ELEGANTISSIMA. 
WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. * 
' MONGST the ornamental-leaved shrubs which adornbur gardens and pleasure- 
grounds, those with variegated foliage are especially useful. Witness the 
silvery Negundo, whose pure white variegation, introduced here and there, 
lights up a whole bank of green, and makes it aglow as if with blossoms. 
The subject of bur present illustration, which bears the name of Cornus mascula 
aurea elegantissima., is equally effective, and even more brilliant, since its varie¬ 
gation is golden in the early part of the summer, and flushed with crimson later 
on. “ A broad margin of pure gold, surrounding a bright-green centre, is of itself 
a sufiScient attraction, but when in July the tips of the leaves become suffused 
with the brightest carmine, it is impossible to give an idea of the beauty and 
elegance of the plant, which will bear a favourable comparison with the best 
variegated stove or greenhouse exotics. The habit of the plant is semipendulous 
and very graceful.” Such is the account given of it by its fortunate possessors. 
This variety was raised in their Isleworth Nursery'by Messrs. J. and 0. Lee, 
of Hammersmith, and is now in the hands of their successors, Messrs. C. Lee and 
Son, by whom it is being distributed. The beautifully bright and well-contrasted 
variegation has proved to be perfectly constant, so that it may be recommended 
as one of the most brilliant of deciduous shrubs, having the leaves of the 
ovate-acuminate form found in the type, and being, like it, perfectly hardy. 
The reports of it at the time it gained a First-class Certificate at South 
Kensington in 1872, when it^was three years old, speak of it as “ a remarkably 
pretty thing,” and “ a welcome addition to the list of hardy ornamental shrubs,” 
which opinions we endorse. The colours are green, gold, and rosy-carmine, and 
the habit is good, the branches spreading more elegantly than in the common 
form.—T. Moore. 
- f 
DWARF BEDDING LOBELIAS. 
HE many varieties of dwarf Lobelias now in cultivation for bedding purposes 
have sprung from L. Fjvinus.^ a fine form of which, under the name of 
speciosa.^ may be instanced as the progenitor of the new and improved 
varieties. The type represented by speciosa is, since the introduction of a 
