128 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[ June, 
wet. The bottom layer should be good rotten dung for all plants that require 
gross-feeding, such as Scarlet Pelargoniums. The soil being thus enriched, much 
less bulk will be needed to do the work than where the soil is poor, but as many 
bedding plants flower more freely in poor soil than in rich, it is not needed to 
manure all the beds. I have, however, always overhauled every bed, so as to get 
the soil to a fine tilth by passing it through a riddle, which renders it much 
more manageable than when left rough. It is a great mistake in bedding on 
grass to have the flower-beds so laid down that one is at a loss to say whether 
the greensward or the beds predominate. If there be three-fourths of the area 
occupied by flower-beds, then it is a flower-garden with grass walks between the 
beds ; but if the grassy surface predominates, then it is a flower-garden with beds 
upon the grass, such as cannot be mistaken as to its name and character. 
Besides the bed proper, there are other things to be considered, such as the 
edging or outer line of the bed, and the wire-trellis surrounding it, where such 
can be introduced. In the best beds that I have planted, the climbing plants on 
the wire-work have been the most effective ; but where the space is limited, these 
rings of basket-work cannot be introduced—I say basket-work, because they are 
often made with a bow or handle, on which plants are trained. An edging of 
dwarf plants of the Lobelia type is very effective for an outline where there is no 
wire-trellis, but would be out of place where there is one, as the trellis is meant 
to support taller plants, and therefore the dwarf edgings need it not. Where 
beds of Roses—and they are the best beds of any—grown with stems 1 ft. high, 
or on their own roots, are introduced, the surrounding wire-cage gives an oppor¬ 
tunity to display such climbers as the beautiful varieties of Clematis. 
In the case of a clump or bed of Roses, if the plants are taken up annually, and 
fresh manure is added as a layer in the bottom of the bed, they will flower better 
than if left alone in the ground they have already exhausted. This plan also 
gives the planter the power to condemn or approve when he comes to set up the 
fresh plantation, for few gardeners have ever been able to marshal worked Roses 
the second year equal to the first, especially in the Hybrid Perpetual class. I 
may mention that I sav;:, at Oluny, in Aberdeenshire, a bed of Moss Roses 
forming a crescent, in which the stems were spiked down upon green moss, so that 
the soil was not to be seen, neither was any leg or woody part of the plant in 
sight, but only the rich foliage and the finished elegance of the Moss Rose 
flower,—more like the herbaceous Ranunculus than the ligneous Rose. 
The finest bed of summer flowers I ever saw was one of Mesembryanthemums, 
but it was only when the sun shone that it was to be seen in its glory. It formed 
a scroll around an evergreen bush, and the surface of the red earth was hidden by 
a coating of riddled coal-dust. Plants like the Crassula make splendid beds, but 
they require time and skill to get them to perfection. They were formerly grown, 
like the Cactus tribe, in pounded brick-and-lime rubbish, and they are still not’ 
averse to be salted with that same even now, when all the world has followed Mr. 
Creen in growing succulents in loam and dung. I perfectly recollect seeing 
