AND THEIR SETTINGS. 
255 
next to these a mass of hollyhocks of stocky growth; next the 
Mirabilis (four o’clock), and on the points the Colleus verschafelti. 
In the centre of the fourth bed may be a stool of Japanese striped 
maize, five to six feet high; next on either side a plant of the 
striped-leaved Canna zebrina , five feet high; next, and in the 
centre-line of the bed, the Lillium auratum , with the Lillium longi- 
florurn near the edge of the bed; next the Salvia argentia, three 
feet; and for the ends of the bed the Amaranthus melancholiacs 
ruber , one to two feet high. The four outside circles may be filled 
respectively with the Colleus verschafelti , of gorgeous crimson and 
purple leaves ; the mountain-of-snow geranium, with white foliage 
and scarlet flowers; the Amaranthus bicolor , with green and crim¬ 
son leaves; and the Lady Pollock geranium with variegated 
leaves. The vase for a group of beds of this size should be large, 
and well filled in the centre with gay-leaved plants, with more deli¬ 
cate foliage drooping over its sides. If such groups are made 
without a vase in the centre, we suggest in place of it, the planting 
of an Ancnda donax within a circle of Japanese maize, the bed to 
be about three feet in diameter, and well enriched ; or the Irish 
juniper may be planted as a permanent and more formal centre. 
Fig. 51 is a design for a number of beds occupying so great 
a space that it would constitute a flower-garden. The centre bed 
is supposed to be cut within a circle of four feet radius, so that 
it will be eight feet in diameter from point to point. The eight 
circular beds surrounding it are each three and a half feet in 
diameter, and laid out so that their centres are on a circle eight 
feet from the main centre. The inside ends of the outer circle of 
beds are segments of circles struck from the centres of the small 
beds, and may be made of any form that the surrounding features 
of the place suggest. The most elegant feature for the centre of 
the central bed would be a broad shallow vase two feet in height, 
and four in breadth, on top, elevated on a pedestal two feet 
high, which should be concealed by a dense mass of shrubby 
flowering plants around it; the sides of the vase to be draped 
with pendulous plants overhanging its sides, and its centre filled 
with plants of a tropical appearance. Next in elegance to the large 
vase-centre would be a basket-bed similar to the one shown in the 
