188 
THE FLORIST* 
a circular Grass plot about five feet wide, near the outside of which are 
planted on three feet six inches standards the following seven good hardy 
Hoses:—Two Augustine Mouchelets, Mont Carmel, Inermis, Sidonie, 
Jacques Laffitte, and Madeleine (H.C.) The bed is eleven feet in 
diameter, and about six feet deep. It was filled, on the removal of 
the soil, with rotten leaves, decayed vegetable matter, and about three 
or four three-horse waggon loads of the best peat, sent to me sixteen 
miles by my kind brother. The centre of the bed is a little elevated. 
I planted it four years ago by the advice of Mr. Gill, nurseryman, of 
Blandford, with the following plants :—The centre plant (the highest) is 
a variegated-leaved Ponticum (from Gibraltar), which gives a purple 
flower in May; the others, which follow in successional height, are 
composed of the following:—One Berberis (dulcis), which gives 
abundance of yellow drops in April (Magellan) ; three pink Kalmia 
latifolia from North America: the flowers are among the loveliest in 
the world; the Rhododendron hirsutum (hairy) from Switzerland, 
produces bright rose flowers in May ; six small common Pontics, whose 
flowers are purple; three hardy rose, crimson, and purple coloured 
Rhododendrons: the name of the purple, which flowers in June, is 
catawbiense, from Catawba, in North America; two Ledumlatifolium 
(the Labrador Tea tree), which give white flowers in April, from 
North America; two Andromeda floribunda (like Privet) from North 
America, which flower in May: the colour is white ; one Pernettya 
mucronata, from Brazil, whose white flowers are succeeded by beautiful 
purple berries: this was charged as mucronata, but I think it should 
have been ciliata; three Rhododendron ferrugineum (iron-coloured 
leaves), which give early, and sometimes late, in the year the loveliest 
rose sprigs that I ever saw; one Prunus glabra (new) ; six small 
common purple Pontics; and lastly a few common Moss Roses and 
Eugene Beauharnais, a beautiful amaranth, fill up the gaps between 
the plants. Instead of Moss Roses, put Fabvier and other brilliant 
Roses of the semperflorens tribe. 
Next to the iron fence within the circle, as edging, were planted 
Abbe Mioland, Elise Sauvage, M. Laffay, Tea Caroline, Paul Joseph, 
Vicomtesse de Cazes, Cramoisie superieure, Souvenir d’un Ami, Count 
d’Eu, Bougere, Proserpine, Bourbon Queen, Ne Plus Ultra, Safranot. 
Tea Roses must be taken up in winter. Bougere (Bonse) is the only 
one among the above Teas. All the Roses must have a little loam. 
Manure with rotten dung, and beware of guano or liquid manure in 
such a bed; manure the Chinas in the centre of the bed as much as 
you like, but, as the edging Roses should be kept dwarf, you must be 
sparing. The Americans must every two years have their roots cut 
in a radius of eight inches, and the ground must be well stirred; they 
flourish better so than when allowed to root into each other. Protect 
Ledums in winter, and don’t attempt to have Azaleas. 
This, then, is the bed, and these are its contents without sensible 
error. The Americans are various and beautiful in flower and foliage, 
and gratify the eye throughout the year with their foliage alone. The 
brilliant China Roses, such as Beauharnais, light up the dense green of 
the Pontics, and the contrast between the various greens and the 
