323 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, August 24, 1858 
their Geraniums were Nosegays , it would be a great 
improvement to the garden ; but, having only one 
kind of Nosegay, they cannot yet break the sameness 
of their beds with it. 
The Dahlia ground consists of ten large circular beds, 
of from twenty to twenty-five feet in diameter, with a 
large mass of fine Hollyhocks in the centre of each; 
then the Dahlias in circles ; and outside, a row of 
variegated Geraniums, and Geraniums not variegated, 
in alternate beds all round. The kinds are— Flower 
of the Day, Cottage Maid, and Nosegay, all beautifully 
kept, but the Dahlias not trained, which is the best 
way, except for the very dwarf kinds. The Crystal 
Palace Dahlia was only coming into flower-bud, and 
the old purple Zelinda just coming into bloom. 
In the transition ground, where the strictly geo¬ 
metric style begins to give way to the more natural 
system,—as you recede from the walks,—there are 
some new improvements introduced for the first time, 
the most marked of which is on both sides of the main 
centre walk, between the grand terrace and the great 
basin, above the water temples, where we have to look 
down from the parapet on the line of beds. In each 
of the straight lines there are seven circular beds, and 
seven oblong beds, eight or nine feet wide, the oblongs 
about twenty-five feet in length. All the circles have 
a nice ILumea in the centre, as we began at the Ex¬ 
perimental garden last year ; and, from the centre bed 
in the line, the plantings, at least the colours, are 
duplicate, the top half, having the same colours as the 
bottom half, which is a very effective way. Round 
the Humea, in all the beds, is a circle of Fuchsia 
coralina, about thirty inches in diameter, to hide the 
bottom of the Humea, which is always more or less 
bare. But this season our Humeas, at the Experi¬ 
mental, branch from the very bottom, though that is 
unusual. 
Now, let us begin at the top of one side and go 
down to the middle,—what is below the middle is a 
duplicate of what we shall review above it, and the 
whole line is a duplicate of the one on the other side: 
all this, to the very letter, is scientific planting. The 
top of all is a large Deodar, with a large circle of 
earth, and four rows of asters next the walk, to take 
off the rawness of the bare earth. Skylarks may ping 
their way up to the limits of their flight, and whistle 
in their descent against this system till time is no 
more, but they will not convince me, that this is not 
the right and proper way to deal with all newly- 
planted trees of a large size, if they are planted in a 
garden. Give them as much free, open-worked soil, 
without grass, as you can well spare, for the first six 
or ten years ; and, if the bare beds come near your 
flower-beds, and you yourself are fond of flowers, 
| have them edged with flowers by all means. There is 
no rule of art or science you can violate in so doing, 
and, as to taste, your own is the best taste for you and 
yours. But, as without a difference in taste we 
should never have so many styles of gardening, it is 
not a sign of good taste to sneer at the tastes of others. 
Therefore, we shall keep from that, and take the top 
bed in this row, which is, more or less, twenty-five feet 
in length, and brimful of the Cottage Maid Geranium, 
with no edging as a change,—a splendid bed. I rose 
that Geranium in 1842, and in 1844 named it Shrub- 
land Queen. The next is a circle of Flower of the 
Day, with a centre piece of JELumea, which is flanked 
| with Fuchsia coralina , or one like it,—a most excellent 
style. The next an oblong of blue branching Lark¬ 
spur, a failure this hot summer : formosa, with a band 
of Flower of the Day, has been a premier bed, in the 
Experimental, the whole summer. Next, a circle, all 
I of the variegated Alyssum, with ILumea and Fuchsia, 
i as before,—a rich gem. Next, an oblong, all of Cerise 
Unique, which does remarkably well in beds and vases 
here. The next, a circle of Mangles' Variegated 
Geranium, ILumea, and Fuchsia. Then an oblong, of 
Calceolaria amplexicaulis, trained down. The next 
circle is of Cerastium tomentosum, ILumea, and Fuchsia. 
And the last bed I shall name is with variegated 
Thyme, and variegated Alyssum, ILumea, and Fuchsia, 
—a new bed. And there is a new style in the circles 
which come in between the Rhododendron beds, at 
the bottom of each end of the grand terrace itself. 
The centre is a ILumea, with a ring of Canna round it; 
then Flower of the Day, and an edge of blue Lobelia. 
The Humea and Canna are repeated in all these circles, 
and a change in the Geranium and Verbena in each 
succeeding bed. 
The beds round the pedestals, where the Araucarias 
are in the centre of the terrace, are planted with five 
rows of Tom Thumb, the outside edge, next the grass, 
being Cerastium tomentosum, and the inner edgings, 
next the pedestals, of purple Petunia. This is not 
good, as purple Petunia and Tom Thumb will never 
agree close together; but it is well to see such things 
occasionally, to make sure of the fact. 
The Rhododendrons and Heaths on the rootwork, 
and, indeed, all over the garden, have done remarkably 
well this season,—there is not a bad leaf among them ; 
but some of the Deodars have suffered from the dry 
weather, and they alone appear to have been much 
distressed. The grass is much burnt, but that will do 
it good instead of harm, if it is not killed in parts. Mr. 
Lovett, who was gardener at Shrubland Park for forty- 
six years, where the banks and slopes are liable to 
suffer, in such seasons, declared the grass was always 
improved after a very hot summer, as it came much 
finer afterwards. The Shrubland rose Petunia, my own 
favourite seedling, and the large purple one, are, 
undoubtedly, the two best kinds there. Marquis 
de la Fert is more touchy at Hampton Court, and 
Countess of Fllesmere is not nearly so bright as its 
mother, the Shrubland rose, or its brother the Marquis. 
Both Dr. Bindley and myself were, therefore, wrong, 
when we said the Marquis would drive its parent 
out of the garden. But, if one were to take the 
pains to cross Shrubland rose with the pollen of 
Countess of Fllesmere, surely some one of the seed¬ 
lings would turn out to be stronger in constitution 
than the mother, without losing her honest and smiling 
face. Her weak constitution was the only fault that 
could ever be brought against her. She is now the 
oldest of her race in cultivation, except nyctaginiflora, 
which is now scarce, and yet only sixteen years of 
age this summer. When shall we have a good bedding 
Petunia from the florists, or a bedding plant of any 
kind, with all the points P When indeed! 
But now let us stroll through the Palace, and see 
the Victoria regia (Water Lily) in full bloom : the 
largest leaf, of seven or more, is just eight feet six 
inches across. All the water plants do remarkably 
well in these basins. The Beaumontia grandifora 
has no signs of flowering : it would be the finest 
climber there, if it could be made to bloom; but the 
place is too hot for it. One of the gardeners was 
trimming it up, and he told me, that “ Mr. Beaton used 
to flower it by having the roots in a stove, and the 
head brought through to the greenhouse.” But, said 
I, “ Do you not think Mr. Beaton is a great talker, 
and might say what he did not meanP ” “ Oh ! no, 
no ; he is a trump, depend upon it,” said he ; and so we 
parted. Several of the Musas were in fruit; also, the 
large branching Pandanus, or Screw Pine, which I 
mentioned last February, as coming into flower then. 
The fruit of this is of the size, and not unlike, the cone 
of the stone Pine (Pinus pined), but of a different con¬ 
struction, of course. The Palms, and other plants in 
