November 11, 1905, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
remember are: have young plants, give fre¬ 
quent potting in a soil half loam and peat, 
with enough sand to give porosity ; a humid 
atmosphere, water only when the soil is about 
to crumble when felt, and to keep all fronds 
picked off that have a tendency to seed. 
G. Waller. 
Cock Crow Hill, Ditton Hill, Surbiton. 
BEGONIAS- 
Charming Bedding Effects. 
We have seen very many attempts—some 
successful and some otherwise—at bedding out 
Begonias, and many are the schemes devised 
with a view to obtaining a congenial environ¬ 
ment for the plants and securing the best 
possible effect from their display of bloom. 
It will be generally admitted that if 
Begonias in the open are to be happy their 
root-run must be cool and shady, or, in other 
words, something must be done to shade the 
soil of the bed from the fierce rays of the 
summer’s sun, else the plants will suffer 
during periods of drought. Some sort of 
covering for the surface of the ground is 
equally necessary for the sake of preventing 
the foliage and iiowers of the Begonias being 
bespattered with mud on occasions of heavy 
rain. These two requirements may be met 
by one covering, for whatever will keep the 
plants clean will also serve to keep the root- 
run cool and arrest the evaporation of mois¬ 
ture. The real question is, “ What shall the 
covering material be ? ” 
Many growers use cocoa-nut fibre, tan, or 
some similar substance, but with such cover¬ 
ings the bed must be very thickly planted (and 
thick planting is in nowise desirable) in order 
to avoid bare patches between the plants, 
which would present an appearance not calcu¬ 
lated to enhance the charms of the flowers. 
To our mind an infinitely better plan is to 
allow a good distance between the plants, and 
in the intervening spaces insert some dwarf¬ 
growing subject of spreading habit that will 
cover the ground with foliage and flowers that 
shall do additional service by providing a 
good “ setting ” to the principal occupants of 
the bed. Some care must be exercised in the 
choice of the carpeting plant, for it must be 
remembered the Begonias are the principal 
feature, and whatever else the bed contains 
must be auxiliary only—to set off rather than 
detract from their beauty. 
We have never seen anything to excel nor 
even to equal a large bed in a neighbouring 
garden which was somewhat sparsely planted 
with Begonias of clear, bright colours over a 
groundwork of Brac-liycome iberidifolia, in 
both its blue and white forms. To anyone 
who is acquainted with these charming 
annuals, with their graceful foliage and 
elegant blue or white daisy-like flowers, it 
will be clear that they made a most charming 
groundwork for a bed of Begonias in shades 
of crimson, scarlet, orange, and yellow, and 
what could have been chosen to more effec¬ 
tually cover the ground than these Swan-river 
Daisies, as they are called P 
A little questioning elicited the information 
that the Brachycome seeds were sown in a 
warm house at about the time the Begonia 
tubers started into growth. The seedlings 
were duly pricked off into boxes in the ortho¬ 
dox way, and were subsequently hardened off, 
so that they were nice sturdy plants ready for 
putting out at the same time as the Begonias. 
The colours of the flowers were of that delicate 
quiet nature which just fulfilled the purpose 
for which they were employed, viz., setting 
off the brighter hues of the Begonias, and the 
spreading growths and verdant foliage ful¬ 
filled admirably their part by shading the 
ground and preventing the splashing of soil 
upon the Begonias. To anyone who desires t o 
make the very best of Begonias as bedding 
plants we can confidently recommend the use 
of Brachycome iberidifolia and the variety 
alba for the purpose of carpeting the bed and 
setting off the flowers. Heather Bell. 
CHRYSANTHEAUA • 
ARS. STREET- 
The above type of Japanese Chrysanthe¬ 
mum is one that is capable of producing very 
handsome effects when fully developed along 
the lines partly shown here. The bloom 
was photographed before it was fully 
developed. The special features about it 
are the forms which the florets assume on 
different parts of the flower when they have 
attained their full growth. Some of the 
longer and outer florets curl up so as to form 
a complete ring. Less advanced ones form 
half a ring, while the younger ones in the 
centre are more or less spoon-shaped at the 
tips. The florets of this variety are fairly 
broad, and of a deep canary-yellow on the 
upper surface, with paler reverse, which may 
be described as yellow-white. This latter 
shade is more or less visible to the beholder 
when the florets are completely rolled over at 
the tips. The variety may very well be com¬ 
pared with Donald McLeod, where the petals 
seem slightly inclined to curl in this way, 
but the most perfect form of it may be seen ill 
Nelly Pockett, as those who have this variety 
are well aware. 
A NEW . . . 
CAMPANULA. 
Campanula turbinata Isabel. 
There are now quite a number of distinct 
forms and varieties of this particular section of 
the Campanula family, and a new one must be 
really fine to claim much attention or to 
warrant a distinctive name being given. Never¬ 
theless, there is ample room for Mr. Prichard’s 
newcomers, among which is one named as 
above. By this latter statement we imply, not 
only that quality exists in them to a sufficient 
degree to justify names being given, but that 
they really excel the older forms to be met 
with in gardens, and we would go further and 
say that in gardens where the best of things 
alone are wanted the older forms of C. carpatica 
and turbinata may well be cast aside to make 
room for these fine new things. C. turbinata 
Isabel, of which we are now speaking in par¬ 
ticular, is a plant of compact, bushy habit, not 
exceeding a foot in height, produces fine tufts 
of crisp dark foliage and an abundance of very 
rich-coloured flowers, which stand well up on 
sturdy stalks, producing a capital effect if 
planted beside plants of contrasting colours. 
The shape of the individual blooms is calculated 
to give an appearance of large size, for the 
fully-expanded blooms are quite fiat—not 
cupped or belled—and the margins of the lobes 
are slightly contracted to a point in the centre, 
which point is reflexed somewhat, giving a par¬ 
ticularly pleasing finish to the flower. Another 
of these new things is C. carpatica lliverslea, 
which bears very large cupped flowers of pleas¬ 
ing colour. Heather Bell. 
