(58 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[May 2. 
We here repeat our advice about cleanliness. Insects 
must not be permitted to infest valuable fruit-trees, es¬ 
pecially young ones. R. Errington. 
THE ELOWER-GABDEN. 
Bedding Plants. —I have said that purple and pink 
plants ought not to be planted near to each other; and 
the chief reason for that advice is the difficulty of meet¬ 
ing with many plants that are of the true colour, so 
that we are obliged to take the nearest shades to those 
we desire to represent them; and if the beds of pur¬ 
ple and pink are neighbours, these shades will often 
neutralise each other, or come so near to the same co¬ 
lour as to confound the two, so that one can hardly tell 
■where the purple ends or the pink begins-—but both of 
them should always be represented in a good flower- 
garden where colours are arranged; as, notwithstanding 
the number of plants we possess, we can only make ou t 
five distinct colours after white in a good summer flower- 
garden, which is required to keep in bloom till the ap¬ 
pearance of frost—pink, blue, scarlet, yellow, and pur¬ 
ple—and if we confound the first and last of these, we 
are reduced to four colours. We have a dozen or more 
of shades (of which I shall write), but it is most difficult 
to get them into their proper places, owing to the man¬ 
ner in which the great bulk of our best flower-gardens 
are laid out; and then when you find a place for the 
right shade, the plants may be either too high or too 
low for those next to them; and without arranging the 
heights as well as the colours of plants, it is much better 
not to attempt this kind of arrangement at all. But let 
me not have all the say to myself, rather let me have the 
assistance of all our readers who have had some prac¬ 
tice in planting according to heights and colours; and 
the simplest mode of testing our proficiency will be, 
perhaps, to suppose that we have a border to plant 
alongside of a walk ; no matter how long this border 
may be, but let us say that it is ten or twelve feet wide, 
with a box edging between it and the walk, and that it 
is nearly level, or at any rate not more than six inches 
higher at the back. Now, let us say that we have six 
distinct colours in flowers, thus including the white, and 
even let us say lilac, if suitable plants can be found to 
produce it, when we shall have seven colours. I want to 
plant this border according to heights and colours with 
summer flower-garden plants, which will last in bloom 
from the turn of midsummer till the end of September, 
or, if the frost holds off, till the middle of October. My 
present arrangement does not include spring flowers, 
or those which only bloom from five to six weeks. The 
lowest plant must be planted alongside the walk, and 
one kind of plant is allowable for the whole row; the 
second row must not rise more than a few inches higher 
; than the first, and its colour must harmonise with that 
I of the first and third row; the third row may rise ten 
inches higher than the second row; and the fourth, fifth, 
and sixth rows may rise in like proportions, or a little 
more; but no one row is to be more than twelve inches 
higher than that in front of it, but every successive row 
must rise a little above the one before it; so that when 
I the whole are in bloom we may have a sloping bank of 
' flowers in a harmonious whole, every row being of one 
kind of plant, and, consequently, showing but one of the 
distinct colours. All I want is the name of the plant 
tor each row, and the space of ground necessary to allow 
it to come to full perfection; the border being just 
twelve feet wide; and, to simplify the problem, I left, 
out the violet colour, because I know we have no plant 
of that colour to suit this style of planting ; so that out 
of the hundreds of plants yearly used in our flower-gar- 
| dens I only want six kinds, and each to be of a distinct 
colour. 1 shall expect to receive these lists before the 
end of May; and I strongly advise the exercise to young 
gardeners; but I shall be much deceived unless the best 
of them come from ladies in the country who have had 
some practice of ordering the arrangement of their own 
gardens. No one need sign his or her name to these 
“ returns ” unless they choose; and the whole must be 
first sent to the editor. I shall then comment on the 
suitableness or otherwise of each list, and surely we 
must all of us learn something from them. I am aware 
the thing is much more difficult than those who never | 
tried the plan may suppose ; but when done properly, 
there is no other way of planting a border so effectual to 
show the beauty of harmonising flowers ; and it also in¬ 
volves the principle of planting any number of beds 
collected together into any regular figure, according to 
the highest style of flower-gardening. In short, it is the 
rudiment of the art. 
Any one having but one flower-bed may represent this 
style of planting in it, provided the bed is a circle, and : 
is large enough to contain six circular rows of plants in 
it, by placing the plant in our back row in the centre of 
the bed, and working down our other rows in circles to 
the edge of the bed. Again, the colours in the rows 
may be represented in different beds congregated toge¬ 
ther in a regular figure; and here is where the value of 
the different heights will be most apparent; for if one 
plants a bed of a tall blue plant, as Lupinus Hartwegii, 
and plants the next bed to it with Sanvitalia procumbens, 
a yellow of the lowest growth, although he may admire 
each bed by itself, the disproportionate size of the plants 
in the two beds will more than mar the effect; the two 
side by side would look ridiculous. The only way where 
a very low plant will associate with a tall one is, when a 
rich edging of one colour is placed outside a large mass 
of tall plants ; and even here some kind of proportion 
ought to be preserved, by giving the edging plant a pro¬ 
portionate breadth according to the height of the tall 
mass; for to make all edgings of the same width, with¬ 
out reference to the size of those plants within the 
edging, would be a palpable blemish, if not absurdity. 
One more request, and I have done with this border. 
I shall require from young gardeners, if they use plants 
generally raised from seeds for any of the rows, at what 
time would they sow the seeds so as that the plants 
would be in bloom—say by the first of July ? and if they 
use trailing plants, as petunias, how do they propose to 
confine them to a single row without scrambling amongst 
the rows on each side of them ? Of course, where one 
row of the desired height and colour would be too thin, 
owing to the upright habit of the plant, I shall allow 
two or even three contiguous rows of the same plant to 
be put in to make up a sufficient breadth oi that colour; 
but you must state in inches the breadth you propose 
for each colour out of the twelve feet. I anticipate at 
least more than a hundred of such lists; and if 1 get six 
different ones out of that number, which will be in every 
respect suitable for the display 1 want, I shall be 
satisfied. 
Yellow Flowering Plants. —I have said so much 
about these last autumn, that I need hardly add more 
than the names of most of them) and that on the score 
that a good tale is not the worse for being twice told. 
Tagetes tenuifolia is the best habited plant for a bed of 
all we make use of, after the pink Saponaria calabriea 
and the yellow Sanvitalia procumbens ; from eighteen to 
two feet, according to the soil, is the height of it, and it 
may be sown at once in the open ground; but, as it will 
transplant easily until it comes into bloom, the best 
way is to sow it in the reserve garden, and plant it out 
early in June when the May or spring annuals are over. 
The Sanvitalia, ten inches high, will also come in the 1 
open ground, and will transplant. Then come the yellow , 
Calceolarias, and there are six good sorts of these, at 
least: Integrifolia, Rugosa, Rayii, Viscosissima, Corym- 
