17 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, Apkil 13, 1858. 
BEDDING-OUT FLOWERS, AND OTHER 
MATTERS. 
W hen we take into consideration tlie very uncertain 
character of our English summers, that one is called 
hot and dry, another cold and wet, besides the hot and 
moist, and the cold and dry, and other combinations of 
the elements of heat and moisture, there may appear 
no reason to wonder at the very different results pro¬ 
duced. In hot and moist summers, many bedding 
plants have a tendency to run too much into foliage, 
to the robbing and smothering of the blossoms, thereby 
causing the garden to be short of colouring. In hot 
and dry periods, the reverse may take place; many 
things may not sufficiently cover the space allotted 
them, or continue long enough in blossom. In cold 
and wet seasons, flowers are not only liable to be short 
of colouring, but assume a rampant and coarse appear¬ 
ance. About the root, it is needless to say anything. 
It is evident, therefore, that the question, how beds 
should be prepared for the reception of flowers, should 
receive the utmost attention ; for on that no small 
portion of the after success depends. There are several 
modes in which beds may be worked-up for flowers ; 
they may be dug deep or shallow, they may be dressed 
or manured, or left in their accidental condition. By 
manuring, I do not here confine myself to the idea of 
rotten dung ; when I speak of manuring, there are many 
things in the compost yard that are occasionally more 
eligible than rotten manures. 
It may be asked then, by what rule shall a novice 
form beds, seeing neither he nor anyone can determine 
what the summer may be beforehand ? I answer, that 
in this, as in many gardening operations, we must 
judge by probabilities, taking averages. This will be 
found by far the safer course. Here, I may remark, 
that it is in general much safer to make beds deep than 
rich. Depth, if the soil be moderate, can never do 
much harm ; but, a liberal use of manure is almost 
certain to produce some mischief, except in a few cases. 
It must be remembered, that depth eminently promotes 
durability; the roots of many of our bedding plants 
will descend much deeper than commonly is imagined, 
if the soil be loose and suitable. 
But, let us here see what is demanded in a modern 
flower garden. First, that it be early in blossom ; 
secondly, that it continues gay until the autumn chills 
commence ; and thirdly, that the amount of colouring 
predominate much over the foliage. The question, 
therefore, is, how to carry out these objects with most 
certainty. 
As to early growth, that depends much, of course, on 
the character of the plants when planted out; about 
these, more shortly. 
The continuation of gaiety depends on a permanent 
root-action in no small degree, as also on a uniformity 
of moisture at the roots. But depth of soil, as before 
observed, is one of the chief contributary causes. 
Lastly, the gaiety of the colouring, and its mastery 
over the foliage, depends on a steady growth, one which 
is neither luxuriant and rapid, but more stationary, and 
which possesses every element for continuing so. 
But we may say something about the character of 
soils, and composts, as far as calculated for the purpose 
in hand. Those, I would point to more especiaJty, are, 
loam, leaf soil, old Cucumber beds, charred rubbish, 
brushwood, &c., and sand. I will speak of each as 
adapted to some of the ends in view. Loam, of a 
mellow character, has a tendency to cause plants to 
grow stout or robust, instead of long-jointed, and this, 
on account of the steady action of the roots, as com¬ 
pared with lighter soils, which, in growing weather, 
cause the plants to ramble exceedingly. Anyone may 
witness this fact in agricultural matters, by comparing 
green crops, on light soils, with those on what are termed 
clay lands. When, however, they are highly manured, 
they produce a most exuberant plant; and this is not 
the object in the bed-culture of flowers. Leaf soil 
comes next in order : of this I must say a few words. 
It any person were to fill a bed with old leaf soil, and 
plant it with a coarse-growing Geranium, it would, 
ultimately, at a little distance, be taken for a bed of 
Cabbages. But few, however, make so egregious a 
blunder. It is, nevertheless, a very useful material to 
mix with other soils of a more loamy character. Its 
tendency, certainly, is to promote enlargement of 
foliage ; but it is of much importance in the earlier 
stages of bed flowers, as promoting a rapid root action. 
Old Cucumber beds are of notoriety for almost every 
good purpose; they are complete in themselves for 
many uses. Composed in general of manure, and 
perhaps leaf soil, all mellow ed and considerably de¬ 
composed by heat and age, they chop up into a most 
excellent compost; the soil becoming most intimately 
blended with the vegetable matters, for the manurial 
qualities, of course, become much dissipated. Charred 
materials I next refer to : these things have only found 
their way into our compost yards in later years. They 
are, how ever, of eminent service, as tending to keep 
compost open ; but more still, they furnish peculiarly 
nutritious gases to the roots of plants. For flower garden 
composts, I prefer charred small wood, vegetable 
remains, &c. band is ever in request, or ought to be ; 
even in flow r er gardens it is occasionally of much 
service, as a corrector of stubborn soils. To the above 
materials let me add lime rubbish, for a peculiar pur¬ 
pose or tw r o. Those who wish to excel in Russian, or 
German Stocks, should use a considerable quantity of 
this in the soil, as also of the charred rubbish; this I 
have proved for years. As a general opener of stubborn 
soils, such things are invaluable, and are not used so 
generally as they ought to be. It always annoys me 
to see lots of such materials w r asted, wdien they come 
to hand, as is very generally the case. 
And now, as to preparing beds for this class of 
flowers, some soils are so good that little assistance is 
needed ; of these it is unnecessary to say anything. We 
may here put two extreme cases, as to ordinary soils for 
bedding purposes, in order to illustrate the matter : 
that is, stubborn or clayey soils, and those which are 
light and chaffy. The first class above all should be 
well pulverised, and deeply broken; in other w r ords 
they should be, to use an agricultural phrase, subsoiled; 
which means that, although the bottom is thoroughly 
broken up, there is no occasion, if sour and unmanage¬ 
able, to bring it to the surface. This should be done in 
the month of November, if possible, and being left rough 
and open in character, it w’ill be much humbled by the 
end of February. It must, then, be much broken and 
made fine by handwork, and when dry, the opening 
materials well worked in, w hatever the compost re¬ 
quired for the given plant may be. And here I may 
remark for a moment on the differing character of the 
plants as to grow’th. Take, for instance, the Heliotrope, 
the Verbena, the dwarf blue Lobelias, and German 
Stocks. What experienced man would recommend the 
same character of soil for each ? Light soils do not 
need this pulverising, but they should be deeply stirred, 
and, as to dressing, of course, loamy applications are of 
themselves a great benefit. 
The remarks I have here offered are founded on the 
supposition that amateurs, and many others w T ho pos¬ 
sess small gardens, desire to grow their bedding flow r ers 
to the highest perfection of which they are capable, 
and that they have the means of adapting their com¬ 
post to this end. Those who, on a much larger scale, 
have extensive pleasure grounds to decorate, cannot 
afford to attend to such minutiae, and are compelled to 
