330 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 8. 
the striking, dazzling picture, as n whole, was produced 
by masses of White Pink, Red Pink, Sweet William, 
Virginian Stock, Eschscholtzia, White Rocket, (Enotheras 
of kinds, Clarkias, Gilia, and Collinsia, Nemophila, 
Candy-tufts of various kinds, Venus’s Navelwort, Venus’s 
Looking-glass, Campanula Carpatica, Roses, &c. Many 
of these, as a second crop, seemed just peeping through 
the ground ; and in addition to early Stocks, younger 
ones were seen here and there, in company with’Asters, 
Marigolds, and various things generally sown under a 
j little protection. The man who wished to obtain the 
| greatest amount of floral display from his garden 
during the first six months of the year, might gain a 
! lesson from this Riverhead Academy; and all who are 
i not thorough slaves of the genteel and the aspiring may j 
perceive, that there may be much spleudour and floral j 
display in their flower-gardens during the season, with- | 
out the costly appurtenances of pits, frames, and 
houses. 
I seldom think over this subject,—I certainly did not 
glance at that Academy garden, without a vivid recollec- ! 
tion of the evening of the 10th of April, 1837, on which 1 
Mr. Caie, of Bedford Lodge, Camden Hill, read at the 
West Loudon Gardeners' Association, his admirable 
essay on the grouping system in flower-gardens, accom¬ 
panied with a coloured plan, a draught of which, as well 
j as the essay, appeared in the “ Gardener’s Magazine” of 
that year. To that gentleman belongs the chief honour 
of giving an impetus to the grouping system ;—but to a 
leaning to aristocratic notions, and using only, and 
chiefly out-of-doors, tender plants, and not to any par¬ 
ticular individual, do we owe the too usual baldness of 
our gardens during the summer months. No man used 
masses and rows of Clarkias, and other annuals, with 
better effect than Mr. Caie, acting often not merely as an 
early display, but also as some protection for the summer 
and autumn-flowering plants. 1 have several times, this 
season, seen a good effect produced by grouping annuals 
by planting them or sowing them thinly, and pulling i 
them gradually out, as they either showed signs of 
seedipg, or more light and room was wanted for the 
more lasting, though later flowering, occupants of the 
bed. I am not aware that any improvement lias been 
added to the principles set forth in that essay, unless it be 
planting and arranging, not for the contrasting, but the 
I shading of colours, the extreme beauty of which there are 
but few minds refined enough sufficiently to estimate. 
! But I have a vivid recollection of the discussion of that 
j evening—and the interest and opposition created, by the 
| seemiug heterodoxy of prophesying in a half-earnest, 
! and a lmlf-bantering style, the aspects of many of our 
gardens during the early summer months, when the 
i grouping of these tender plants became all the rage. 
! Admiring the beauty of these beds as much as any one, 
after Midsummer, I shall not have written-these lines in 
vain, if lovers of flowers, with little means, will have 
force of character enough to fall back on hardier things, 
and strike out a path to suit their peculiar circum¬ 
stances. There is an old proverb—that if a man lives 
j long, and keeps a coat all his days, he will be several 
times in the fashion—and though I should lay little 
stress on the fact, yet, as fashion has its ebbs and flows, 
there are already signs and symptoms, that the lover of 
1 hardy flowers, be they perennial or aunual, will now and 
then, unexpectedly even to himself-—provided he lives 
long enough—be found standing in the van, instead 
of lagging in the rear, even of that world of fashion 
for which he really cares so little. R. Eish. 
JOTTINGS BY THE WAY. 
FRODSHAM. 
This is a small, quiet town in Cheshire, one of the 
sunny nooks, of which, I am happy to say, there are 
considerable numbers yet left in Old England, uucon- j 
taminated with tall black chimneys, manufactories, and j 
their congregated sickly, and too often demoralized 
inhabitants. In this quiet nook, I was introduced to a 
gentleman, Joseph Stubbs, Esq., of Park Place, close to 
the town. He, as I was informed, has lately retired 
from business with a handsome fortune, and being of 
active habits, has turned his attention to improving the 
place, and more especially to gardening. The mansion 
is pleasantly situated at the foot of some lofty, abrupt 
hills, clothed partially with wood, giving light and 
shade, and some very interesting views from the house. 
This house has been rebuilt, together with compact 
stables, coach-houses, &c., forming altogether a comfort¬ 
able homestead. The garden has been entirely made 
new, and was designed and laid out by Mr. Kemp, of 
Birkenhead. The flower-garden is large and well kept, 
no expense being spared. The manner of planting 
the numerous flower beds struck me as being new. Mr. 
Stubbs said that he constantly resided there, and, con¬ 
sequently, wished his beds to have flowers in them, as 
nearly as possible, all the year, lienee, the beds are 
planted with flowers that bloom early and late, as well 
as such as shed their beauty through the summer months. 
To accomplish this, requires a considerable amount of 
skill and judgment in arranging them, and the gentle¬ 
man, backed by his skilful gardener, has, to a great 
degree, succeeded. In early spring, the Crocuses, the 
Snowdrops, the Scillas, Primroses, Hepaticas, and other 
early flowers, garnish the scene with their sweet blooms. ; 
These are succeeded by other later blooming flowers, 
and then the beds are filled with the usual bedding- 
plants, such as Scarlet Geraniums, Verbenas, &c., which 
carry on the beauties of Flora till the autumnal frosts 
banish the goddess from the scene. 
I was much pleased with the system of edging every 
bed with dwarf flowers, and I am sure my friend, Mr. 
Beaton, would have been in raptures with the great suc¬ 
cess achieved here in this pet point of his floral garden¬ 
ing. I will give a few instances. A bed of Nierem- 
bergia calycina was edged with Seiluin cccmlea; a mix¬ 
ture bed, with Mesembryanthemum tricolor; and another, 
with the pretty Cochlearia acaulis. A bed of Ranunculus, 
blooming well, was bordered with the little pink Ever¬ 
lasting Gnaphalium diocea; whilst a bed of Phlox Drum- \ 
mondii had a border of Portulacca. Then, again, a bed 
of the small Fuchsia pumila had a border of the pretty 
Alpine Saxifragra oppositifolia ; and another bed of 
Ranunculuses was garnished with Mesembryanthemum 
glabrum, with its large, deep, green, low-spreading leaves, 
and large yellow flowers. A bed of Carnations has for 
its edges a very unusual plant, the Sedum globiferum, a 
plant 1 never before saw used for such a purpose. Then, 
a healthy bed of the creeping Daphne cneorum had for its 
edging a border of the pretty Gentiana pneumonanthe; ! 
and a bed of Anemones, the Sedum Siebohlii. This 
was all very interesting and novel to me, especially 
when every edging was kept so neat, full, and tidy. 
Often the edging was in flower when the main plant of | 
the bed was either not in flower, or, going out, to be re¬ 
placed as soon as tire roots could be taken up, such, for 
instance, as the Anemones, the Ranunculuses, Tulips, 
Hyacinths, and other early-flowering bulbs. The edgings j 
then afford flowers whilst the changes are being effected. 
In the borders close to the house there was growing, 
and blooming finely, a collection of Capo bulbs, planted 
in loam, leaf-mould, and sandy peat. By Cape bulbs, I 
mean Ixias, Sparaxis, Babianas, dwarf Gladioli, and 
such-like. Patches in the same border were planted with 
the choicest British Ferns; the surface was covered with 
small sand-stones; these, I thought, were rather out 
of place. With Ferns we naturally associate shade and 
retirement, and there are in the grounds many a quiet 
spot where they would thrive better, and be more 
