3-10 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
August 4, 
consciousness that we are waiting for size will not 
remove, though it will modify, the moppisli appearance. 
To realize the greatest amount of pleasure from standard 
flowering-plants several requisites seem necessary, such 
as the followingThe object intended should be appa¬ 
rent ; they are better adapted for lines and avenues 
than for groups by themselves; it isolated, the plant 
should be large enough to command attention tor itself 
alone ; grouped with dwarier tilings, they give to the 
group variety, size, elevation, and dignity. Mr. Beaton 
lately mentioned how this was done with a collection ot 
plants in a room; how the standard increased in height 
without lessening the quantity of the bloom below. 1 
lately saw this nicely carried out in a garden over which 
a friend presides. Two Bose clumps, at a distance from 
each other, had just enough of standards to give the 
clump elevation, without shading the more numerous 
dwarfs below. No planting of standards, or of dwarfs 
alone , could produce such an effect. As if to illustrate 
the fact more forcibly, in the same garden, presided 
over by a man of first-rate talent, was a group of stand¬ 
ard Boses, and in a prominent place, too ; each standard 
had its little circle of earth on the beautiful lawn, and 
these were so close to each other, that I thought how 
careful the workmen must be in wielding their scythes 
among so many stems so near to each other; and how 
much time must be required in clipping and cleaning 
round every individual Rose-tree; and yet, after all, how 
lmmpy-dumpy, meaningless, and unsatisfactory the 
whole affair looked, with only one redeeming quality 
about them—the beautiful Boses with which they were 
furnished. Had these standards been made into two 
groups instead of one, the ground dug between them, 
and planted with dwarfs, though they might have as¬ 
similated the other two beds, the satisfaction would 
have been greater, and the labour, for a season, con¬ 
siderably abridged. J have several times noticed Bose- 
trees planted avenue fashion by the side of walks, as 
they are with good effect at Courteen Hall, but the result, 
in such cases, will be striking, in proportion to all the 
plants presenting a similar outline, and all marked by 
largeness rather than diminutiveness in their dimensions. 
But almost equal in importance to the first postscript 
of a lady’s letter is the principal flower group at Cour¬ 
teen Hall, for demonstrating how a few standards, 
breaking the otherwise uniform level of flower-beds, 
gives to the group extended size and elevation, “ lifting 
the beds up,” as Mr. Gardiner expressed it, and thus 
forming permanent points for the eye to rest upon. I 
can speak feelingly and experimentally on this subject. 
Several years ago, I removed a group of beds of Boses, 
but left a number of large standards of early-flowering 
kinds, the same beds being filled with bedding-plants. 
The Boses left were attractive before the beds beneath 
were full, and by that time, annual climbers, such as 
Maurandyas, and the small-leaved Tropceolums, &c., were 
planted against, and by the autumn covered the heads 
of the Bose-trees after their wood was ripened. 
The same group has been changed several times since, 
but it has never been so engaging as it was for several 
years, when masses of bloom from these creepers stood 
prominently above the general colour of the bed, and 
thus gave to the whole elevation and space. Mr. 
Gardiner does not, by any means, place these standards 
thickly—generally one in a moderate-sized bed ; and then, 
the standards themselves are not of equal height, as 
here variety again is felt to be valuable. They chiefly 
consist of Fuchsias, strong plants of the giant Scarlet 
Geranium, and there is one very fine old plant of the 
Cassia corymbosa, some five or six feet in height, with 
its head about a yard in diameter, and quite a mass, 
the other week, with its bright orange flowers. 
Any one who tries how fast the whole tribe of Fuchsias 
grow with a little extra heat in the spring, will have 
little trouble in making good standards out of even tiny j 
plants, the chief thing being to direct all the energies of ; 
the plant into one leader; to pick out the buds from the 
axils of the lower leaves as the stem advances ; to pinch ! 
out its point., after it is high enough; and then remove 
every bud, except what you want at the points, to be 
developed into shoots. When once formed, taking them 
up before winter, and protecting roots, stem, and head, 
from frost, in any out-of-the-way place, giving them light 
as the buds break in spring, and what pruning they 
need, and planting out again in May, is most of the 
trouble they require. Among others was a fine plant of j 
Corymbijlora, just coming into full bloom. Scarlet 
Geraniums require similar treatment. The stem will 
look best if the young plant was never stopped until it 
gained the height of from three-and-a-half to five feet, 
but rubbing out the buds as the stem advanced. Mr. 
Gardiner raises and pots his plants before winter, and 
keeps them at the back of tbe greenhouse, or under the 
stage, until fresh growth commences in the spring. 
The Cassia Corymbosa is generally treated as a stove 
plant, and it looks splendid in such a position during 
winter, when in bloom; but I believe that Mr. Gardiner, 
after lifting it in the end of autumn, and potting it, 
keeps it in the warm end of his greenhouse during the 
winter. He will be sure to inform us, if I am in error. 
He recommends it strongly for bed culture, and I have 
no doubt that old plants, hard pruned in, would do 
well in sheltered places. Cuttings of young shoots 
strike easily in spring in a mild bottom-heat. 
And now for the mode of supporting these Standards, 
Roses, do. The means adopted have been legion, and 
each amateur has his favourite mode. I am not quite 
certain how Mr. Gardiner’s plan will apply in very 
exposed and windy places, though I am rather sanguine; 
but, in common places, moderately sheltered, it is alike 
the most simple and most effectual. Just allow me to 
contrast it for a moment with a pet plan of my own for 
standard Boses. Iron rods were used, with three long 
and wide-spread prongs at its base, for going into the 
ground. The small upper end was square-shaped. 
Two rods of iron, § of an inch in diameter, from 24 to 
3(i inches, or more, in length, according to the size of 
the Bose-tree, were welded together at the middle, at 
right angles; and, at the point of junction, a square 
hole was there formed to go upon the top of the iron 
stake. Previously to placing it there, the four ends of 
the rods were bent downwards—these ends were then 
connected Hath a circular band of wire, and, if the 
dimensions of the frame were large, one or more circles 
of wire would be fastened between the outside and the 
central point of junction. When this frame was placed 
upon the stake it resembled the skeleton of a parasol j 
with a good long handle. The shoots of the Boses were j 
fastened to this frame, and, in tolerable weather, all , 
went right and merry as a marriage bell; but, after a ' 
rough night, I have found, in the morning, fine plants i 
nearly prostrate, roots and iron supporter being alike | 
next to out of the ground; while, in several cases, I have 
found both the stem of the plant, and the stout iron rod, 
broken completely through. To remedy this, at the 
four ends of the stout pieces of iron of this circular | 
frame, I fastened one end of a stout string of wire, and 
the other end to a stout pin of wood inserted in the 
ground, and as long as these strings were fast to their 
moorings there could be no danger. But when the 
wind blew loud and long from one direction, the severe 
strain on one side was apt either to pull the wire right 
through the wood, or pull up the wooden stake alto¬ 
gether, and then I was no better off than before, though 
this last happened very seldom. Now 1 can see that 
one great error I committed was connecting the support 
for the head with the main support to the stem, and 
thus, the larger the head of the plant, the greater would 1 
