362 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN, September 7, 1858. 
on the mind would he, that the flower garden must he 
very small, the quantity of glass affording hut little 
room to winter any great number of plants ; and, 
judging from the quality of the Grapes in use, as well 
as those for the winter supply, it would lead many to 
suppose that the interests of these fruits forbade the 
intrusion of plants of any kind amongst them, and so 
it would in times gone by. But Mr. Fish is one of 
those who know the full value of economising space ; 
and, even to those who pride themselves on being able 
to make the most of small means, the contrivances 
here adopted, to winter and propagate the large number 
of flowering plants wanted for the flower garden, 
must be a matter of astonishment, as every inch of 
glass, turf pits without glass, and shelter of all kinds, 
is put in requisition in winter and spring, to furnish 
the requisite number of plants wanted to fill the 
numerous beds and striped borders of the flower garden. 
The number of glass structures Mr. Eish has being 
small* and these mostly occupied in a permanent 
measure by something different from the ordinary 
class of bedding plants, the greater credit is due to 
Mr. Eish for being able to fill his beds in the efficient 
manner in which they are done; for, although I have 
had an opportunity of seeing some of the most exten¬ 
sive flower gardens in the country, I have not met 
with any so well done in detail as that of Putteridge 
Bury; neither have I seen any where so much 
variety exists. Many of the largest flower gardens, 
like, for instance, that of the Crystal Palace, con¬ 
tent themselves with some few plants of very 
distinct colours and habits, and disregard all others; 
Mr. Eish, on the contrary, makes an inclusive col¬ 
lection, and yet all is done so well, and so blended as to 
form a pleasing feature on the whole. But to the 
details. 
At a little distance from the mansion, a conservatory 
wall separates the kitchen garden from the pleasure 
grounds. Against this wall was planted many of the 
liard-wooded plants, which ornament our greenhouses 
and conservatories, as Acacias, Clianthus, and various 
other plants* interspersed with Tea and other tender 
Boses, which seemed to flower admirably. Parallel 
with this wall, and at the distance of a few feet* runs a 
walk of a beautiful white gravel, almost like the 
crushed spar found in Derbyshire and elsewhere ; 
over this walk, at intervals, was thrown ornamental 
arches of iron-work, which communicated with the 
wall. These arches were partly clothed, not covered, 
with creepers of various kinds, their artistic character 
forbidding their being entirely hid. While' on both 
sides of this straight walk was one of those beautiful 
striped borders, which Air. Eish was amongst the first 
to introduce ; and, as the planting of such borders has 
of late been a subject of much comment, I will here¬ 
with give a few notes thereon. 
The walk being a straight one, and only about 
twelve feet from the wall, two feet of that space was 
appropriated as a grass verge next the walk, and 
about seven feet devoted to the striped, or ribbon 
border, leaving about three feet next the wall as a sort 
of back path. The length might be about 4G0 or 500 
feet, or more, and a border on each side. The outer 
one opening to the lawn was faced both ways. But, to 
break the monotony of the uniform ridge of fine and 
compact flowers, a series of pillars eight or ten feet 
high was set along the centre, and double that dis¬ 
tance apart. These were festooned together, and 
iast-growing creepers—as Convolvulus, Maurandya, 
various IropEcolums, and other things—were trained 
against them with good effect, and to every one, 
except to Mr. Eish himself, the planting and flowering 
ot the borders must have seemed perfection itself. 
1 hough I have seen a great deal of that description of 
ornamental planting, I have not seen anything to equal 
it for the density of its flowering and general display. 
The arrangement of these borders will be best under¬ 
stood by the following description. 
BORDER NEXT THE WALL FACING THE WALK. 
Eirst row—Geranium, Golden Chain. 
Second row— Lobelia speciosa, mixed with Cineraria 
amelloides. 
Third row—Geranium, 13 rill ante. 
Eourth row—Yerbena, Mrs. Holford (white). 
Eifth row—Geranium, Treniham Hose. 
Sixth row— Calceolaria amplexicauUs. 
Seventh row—Dahlia, Zelinda (dwarf purple). 
The above were all beautifully in flower, close, com¬ 
pact, and even in every part; and, to one less particular 
than Mr. Fish, it appeared faultless ; but Mr. Eish 
thought the Lobelia did not look so well in the after¬ 
noon as it ought to do. A partial closing-up of its 
florets was to him a defect, which he purposed to 
remedy by substituting something else another year. 
It is the care and nicety carried out in matters of detail 
such as this that has brought flower-gardening to such 
perfection in places like Putteridge Bury ; and, I be¬ 
lieve, Mr. Fish will be altering the arrangement again 
another year. 
BOEDER ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ABOVE AND 
FACING BOTH WATS. 
First row—Geranium, Golden Chain. 
Second row— Lobelia speciosa,, and Cineraria ameb 
loides, mixed. 
Third row—Geranium, Brillante. 
Fourth row—Yerbena (a white variety). 
Eifth row—Geranium, Trentham Hose, which formed 
the centre or ridge of the border. 
Sixth row—Yerbena (white variety). 
Seventh row—Geranium, Brillante. 
Eighth row— Lobelia speciosa, &c. (same as No. 2). 
Ninth row—Geranium. Golden Chain (same as 
No. 1)* 
In the above arrangement I did not observe a single 
defective plant,—everyone seemed to occupy its allotted 
space without intruding on its neighbour. The rows 
being clearly defined and distinct* and rising gradually 
from each side to the middle row (No. 5), formed a low 
ridge, perfect and uniform. The pillars festooned 
together, before alluded to, being in the centre line 
(No. 5), the whole looked remarkably well,—better 
than anything of the kind that I have ever seen before 
or since, although I have had an opportunity of seeing, 
I might say, some miles of this description of orna¬ 
mental flower-gardening, which was certainly not the 
only thing to be admired at this place, as the general 
mass of flower-beds were equally well planted and 
attended to. 
A series of circular beds, in a double line, with an 
open glade in the centre, were also beautifully ar¬ 
ranged. The beds being about equal in size, and from 
twelve to eighteen feet in diameter or more, were 
mostly planted with one distinctive plant as a body, 
and a rim of something else around the outside. A 
bed oi Scarlet Geraniums had an edging of variegated 
Alyssum around it, and, what was perhaps the most 
important of anything, a single specimen plant of four 
feet high or so in the centre,—the beautiful Cassia 
corymbosa being much used that way, and often 
amongst the Scarlet Geranium. Other beds of purple 
Petunia had an edging of some variegated Geranium, 
and perhaps a plant of white Brugmansia, of which 
Mr. Fish has an excellent variety. Fuchsias are also 
used extensively as central prominent plants, and 
JErythrina christa-galli was also used,—the plants 
most proper for this being such as require but little 
support in the way ot stakes, and yet endure the winds, 
