34 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
shade, as it was saicl to have been relieved with bands of 
white silk. The colours of the wild blue Yiolet, and of 
Grant dcs Bat allies Verbena mixed in equal quantities 
should give that deep mauve. Lilac and lavender, the 
colour of Princess Alice’s dress at the confirmation of 
Prince Alfred, the other day, make the lightest shade of 
mauve, and that is as near as possible to the colour of the 
new mauve Verbena called Lady Middleton, which will 
probably have a greater run than any Verbena ever 
had before. 
Suppose, therefore, we take a run ourselves through 
the whole complement of colours in all the Verbenas, 
and show the rest of the world which arc really the best 
kinds to make beds of out of all the different colours. 
Teucrioidcs, with upright spikes of white flowers was 
the strongest sweet-scented of the whole family. Lady 
Middleton Verbena is the sweetest of them I ever knew, 
without being strong-scented. And Melindris, the ori¬ 
ginal kind, taking it all in all, is still very superior, in 
my eye, and to my fancy, to all other Verbenas what¬ 
soever. Robinson a Defiance is still the favourite scarlet. 
Gdant des Bat allies, the most approved dark crimson. 
Mrs. Holford is still the favourite among the whites. 
Purple King, the universal favourite of that colour. 
St. Margaret, though not a true pink, is the one most 
adopted by the best planters for their pink beds, the real 
true pink in Verbenas and Geraniums being still a very 
poor thin colour, so to speak. Standard Bearer, which 
made a great impression the first season, as the finest 
purplish-blue, was generally discarded the moment Lady 
Palmerston opened the ball, and her ladyship will pro¬ 
bably be “ done for ” by Leviathan, after another season’s 
experience. The striped Verbena pulchella, called Empress 
Elizabeth and Maonetti, has now, at last, met with a 
match to pair with—the new scarlet-striped kind which 
came out last year. 
To get a new strain of Verbenas, there-are two modes 
open to us, and two only. That is to say, plant these 
two varieties of Verbena pulchella along with Verbena 
melindris, or any dwarf sort or sorts with good colours 
and bedding qualities. Also, plant Verbena venosa, an 
upright growing sort, with clean, clear, pure scarlet kinds 
of good habit, and let no other Verbena be near to either 
of the tw r o experiments. Venosa certainly chance crossed 
with me once, but the seedling was frightful, and I lost 
it, because all eyes were against it but my own, before 
the breed could be pushed further. Pulchella was a 
sporting kind from the beginning, but that is not against 
it, if it will cross with the breed of Melindris on the male 
or female side. 
The best arranged catalogue of Verbenas anywhere is 
that of Mr. Scott, of the Merriott Nurseries, Crewkerne, 
Somerset; and he is probably the greatest grower of 
them. I have tested his degrees of merit for them for 
the last seven years against the public decisioh round 
London, and my own experience of the best ways of 
arranging them in flower-beds, and found them (his 
degrees) to match as nearly as the two striped kinds of 
Verbena pulchella. I shall, therefore, take the praise 
and all the blame of the following selections out of all 
the shades which he indicates in the said catalogue of 
the present season, and I shall saddle him with the 
responsibility of the way the colours run from end to 
end, or from 1 to 22, which are the numbers of shades. 
The names of the colours are plain enough ; but carmine 
is a name which some few do not understand. It is a 
colour made of pink, red, and purple, as in many of the 
common red Ten-week Stocks. 
The first shade of Verbenas is— 
Bed and Carmine.— General Simpson is the best of 
that class. Lord Clyde is nearly, if not quite, as good as 
General Simpson; and Evening Star, with its soft yellow 
eye, is the next nearest in merit. 
Section 2. Vermilion —That is, a little orange, or 
yolk of egg, mixed with a good quantity of crimson ; and 
GENTLEMAN, April 17, 1860. 
the best of that peculiar crimson is Brillante de Vaise 
and Consort, two of equal merit; and St. Margaret the 
next best.- 
Sect. 3. Crimson.— Geant des Batailles (dark), Indian 
Chief (darker), and Lord Elgin (darkest), the three best; 
Conspicua and 11 Trovatora next ; and Stella and Crim¬ 
son King next. 
Sect. 4. Crimson-scarlet. —A very rich class, of which 
Crimson Bedder, Prince of TValcs, John Scott, and Sir 
Joseph Paxton are running shades of the first water. 
Ihe well-known Chauverii is the next shade in this class ; 
and Prince Frederick William with Mons. Nardy are 
equally good, and newer. 
Sect. 5. Orange-scarlet. — Defiance or Robinson's 
Defiance is the universal favourite in this class, and is 
in reality and in keeping “ properties ” the very best of 
them all for large beds. But believe me Melindris is 
just as good for smaller beds, and for the front of a 
ribbon-border woidd smash Defiance to jelly. Pity it is 
a very delicate kind, however. Eclipse, King of Scarlets, 
and Magnet are the next best in that bright-blooming 
section. 
Sect. 6. Light Scarlet. — Lord Raglan is the best in 
this small class, to which belong Islington Rival, Madame 
Schmidt, and National. 
Sect. 7. Turtles. — King of Purples, alias Purple 
Ring, is still the best purple bedder; but Manteav, 
Eveque, or, as we say in England, Bishop's Purple, and 
Madam Turner are both better pot plants. Matchless is 
as good as Purple King, and Rival Andre is a great 
improvement on the old reddish-purple Andrd. 
Sect. 8. Host-purple. — Caliban is the best bedder in 
this section (a shaded purple); Comet of 1858 and Lady 
Poulett the next best; Loveliness and Surpiasse Loveliness 
are equally good ; and Earl Shaftesbury the next. 
Sect. 9. Plum-coloured Purples. — Mr. Breeze 
added two very good ones to this rare colour last year— 
Miss Breeze and Dentoniensis; and Field Marshal is 
equally good. 
Sect. 10. Violet-purples. —This is the section to look 
to for the royal mauve colour. Duke of Cambridge is the 
best bedder of them ; and Prince Edward and Prince of 
Oude the next best. 
Sect. 11. Bluish-purples. —Prom this section we shall 
some day obtain a really blue bedder at last. True Blue 
is now the nearest to our anticipation in that respect. 
Leviathan and Lady Palmerston are the next best. 
Grand Bouquet is not much behind them; and Blue 
Magnifique is the next. But if Standard Bearer were a 
good grower we should not pass it. 
Sect. 12. Lavenders. — Queen of Lavenders is the only 
good one in this section. But Ljady Middleton must be 
placed here until we have a section for light mauve, and 
it is very probable Lady Middleton will stand at the head 
of the new section for a generation; for it is difficult to 
conceive how it can be improved upon. 
Sect. 13. Lilacs. —True lilac is just as scarce among 
flowers as true mauve ; Beatrice, Fair Maid, and Geraldi 
being all the lilacs we have in Verbenas, and the Fair 
Maid ought to carry the palm of merit. 
Sect. 1<L True Bose. —Here comes the bone of picking 
and bickering among colourists; and what is a pink, or 
a rose, or a red, in bedding plants will be the first turn 
of the battle. The Captain M ill be red as a Bose at the 
first charge, and if he is in danger of being tilted over he 
will turn as pale as a Pink. What the next turn will be 
must be determined by Rosy Gem, South-ivestern, Madam 
Large, Rosalin, and Rose of Castille, the five greatest 
beauties in this beautiful group, all of them first-rate 
bedders, and every one of them stood the burning sun of 
last summer without a streak or a stain. 
Sect. 15. Light-rose. — Grand Rose is the only good 
one here. 
Sect. 10. Bost-pink or Cerise.—As my Victoria 
Rose, and Mr. Kinghorn’s Christine are among Gera- 
