November  5,  1896. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
m 
•uitable  for  bedding  or  not,  fo«nd  a  congenial  home  ;  many  of  these  not 
being  disturbed  by  periodical  removals  remained  permanently  in  their 
quarters.  This,  of  course,  cannot  be  carried  out  in  many  places,  but  it 
has  been  the  means  of  testing  the  capabilities  of  many  plants,  and  of 
ahowing  ns  those  that  are  best  adapted  for  bedding  parposes,  and  we 
are  indebted  to  Mr.  Ingram  for  much  information  on  this  matter. 
There  is  still  another  name  I  shoald  like  to  mention  in  connection 
with  winter  and  spring  gardening.  It  is  that  of  our  friend  the  late  Mr. 
Wildsmith  of  Heckfield.  He  differed  somewhat  In  his  system  from  the 
two  pioneers  I  have  mentioned.  His  had  a  tendency  more  to  winter 
effect  perhaps  than 
spring.  He  used 
chiefly  the  many 
beautiful  and  telling 
hardy  shrubs  in  a 
small  state  for  fur¬ 
nishing  the  beds,  and 
very  neat,  cheerful, 
and  effective  they 
look.  And  he  did 
more  than  this.  He 
introduced  many 
hardy,  dwarf  peren¬ 
nials  for  his  summer 
bedding,  chiefly  for 
edging,  carpeting,  or 
for  patterns.  These 
were,  of  course,  avail¬ 
able  for  the  winter 
and  spring  as  well, 
without  removal  or 
disturbance  in  many 
cases,  it  being  only 
necessary  to  fill  in 
the  designs  with  nice 
little  specimen 
shrubs  or  dot  plants, 
to  replace  the  tender 
ones  that  he  knew  so 
well  how  to  use  in 
summer.  We  have 
lost  these  three  good 
men,  but  they  have 
left  their  mark  in 
their  practice  and 
treatment  of  our 
flower  gardens 
through  all  the  sea¬ 
sons  of  the  year. 
In  some  gardens 
bulbs  only  are  used 
in  the  beds  as  we  see 
them  in  the  London 
parks.  They  give  us 
a  flash  and  a  very 
brilliant  one  in  the 
spring  for  a  short 
time,  leaving  the 
beds  of  bare  earth 
for  the  greater  part 
of  the  season.  The 
Eev.  W.  Wilks,  the 
Secretary  of  the 
Royal  Horticultural 
Society,  recommends 
shrubs  in  pots  for  the 
purpose.  In  small 
gardens  this  might 
do,  but  when  the  beds 
are  large  and  nume¬ 
rous  it  would  give 
immense  trouble  and 
labour. 
At  Park  Place  we 
follow  no  particular  78.— CHRYSANTHEMUM  MB 
•ystem,  but  what 
may  be  called  a  mix¬ 
ture  of  those  I  have  mentioned.  We  use  many  of  the  beautiful  variegated, 
grey,  or  golden-leaved  perennials  (which  I  shall  mention  presently), 
choice  Conifers,  &c.,  sparingly  as  specimens  for  the  important  points ; 
and  bulbs,  Tulips  especially,  that  work  their  way  up  through  a  carpeting 
of  something  else,  so  that  no  bare  earth  is  visible  at  any  time  of  the 
season. 
In  the  spring  of  1864  I  went  as  a  young  gardener  to  Berry  Hill, 
Taplow,  at  that  time  the  residence  of  the  late  John  Noble,  Esq.  This 
being  in  the  same  parish  as  Cl.veden,  I  was  in  the  very  atmosphere  of 
winter  and  spring  gardening,  and  jilBt  at.  the  time  the  movement  was 
creating  a  great  amount  of  attention  j  so  it  need  not  be  wondered  at  that 
I  should  be  deeply  interested  in  the  subject,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  in  few  gardens  was  it  carried  out  better  than  at  Berry  Hill,  in 
those  days  by  Mr.  Roger,  the  head  gardener. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  this  new  style  of  gardening  should  become 
more  or  leas  general.  Some  gardeners,  especially  those  of  the  older 
school,  were  not  altogether  pleased  at  the  innovation.  They  had  been 
accustomed  to  dig  up  their  beds  in  autumn  and  forget  them  until  the 
following  May.  It  is  true  the  then  new  movement  involved  considerable 
labour,  not  only  in  the  actual  autumn  bedding,  but  in  growing  plants  for 
it  through  the  busy  season.  The  improvement,  however,  became  so 
evident,  that  those  who  did  not  take  to  it  kindly  at  first  were  by  the 
force  of  circumstances  obliged  to  adopt  it,  although  even  now  there  are 
cases  where  bare  beds  are  tolerated  as  I  have  said  before. 
The  plants  available  for  winter  and  spring  gardening  are  numerous 
and  varied.  Many 
of  those  employed 
thirty  years  ago 
maintain  their  posi¬ 
tions  now ;  others 
have,  of  course,  been 
added  from  time  to 
time.  They  include 
those  that  are  per¬ 
ennial,  biennial  or 
annual  ;  bulbs  of 
various  kinds ; 
shrubs,  especially 
the  many  beautiful 
Conifers,  with  their 
charming  golden  and 
other  tints  and  suit¬ 
able  habit,  and  other 
small  shrubs  with 
variegated  or  effec¬ 
tive  foliage, and  those 
which  have  a  ten¬ 
dency  to  early  flower¬ 
ing.  There  is  no  lack 
of  materials,  and  I 
will  endeavour  to 
mention  by  name 
all  the  most  useful 
plants  that  have  been 
successfully  em¬ 
ployed. 
If  I  was  to  be 
asked.  Has  winter 
and  spring  gardening 
improved  during  the 
last  decade  1  I  should 
be  compelled  to  say 
“  No.”  The  reason 
for  this  decadence 
being  the  rage  for 
other  things  that 
come  in  fashion 
periodically,  yet  it 
must  of  necessity 
have  a  prominent 
place  in  all  our  best 
gardens.  Before 
mentioning  the 
plants  in  detail  1 
should  like  to  say 
that  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance 
in  planting  beds  for 
winter  and  spring 
effect  to  have  the 
plants  of  good  size 
and  uniform,  and  to 
plant  them  thickly, 
because  there  is  no 
prospect  of  their 
growing  larger  in 
the  winter  ;  they  are 
likelier  to  grow 
smaller.  The  plants 
1.  JAMES  MURRAY.  {See  p.  446.)  should  touch  each 
other,  and  they  will 
the  better  protect 
each  other.  In  summer  bedding  the  case  is  different.  Small  plants 
may  be  put  in  and  room  allowed  for  them  to  grow ;  but  it  is  not  the 
case  in  autumn.  This  is  one  of  the  most  important  points  to  bear 
in  mind,  and  one  that  is  essential  if  we  aim  at  a  great  measure  of 
success. 
.  In  mentioning  the  names  of  the  plants  I  will  take  first  the  variegated, 
then  the  grey  or  white,  the  yellow,  and  the  red  leaved  perennial  plants, 
that  are  souseful  for  edgings,  lines,  bands  or  patterns.  We  should  find 
great  difficulty  in  making  designs  in  our  beds  and  borders  without  these. 
Winter  effects  especially  almost  depend  on  them.  The  variegated  Arabia 
is  one  of  our  most  useful  plants.  Its  variegation  is  so  good  and  telling 
that  it  is  sometimes  used  for  summer  as  well,  being  much  like,  and 
almost  equal  to,  the  good  old  Flower  of  Spring  Pelargonium.  It  is  a 
variegated  form  of  Arabia  albida.  Arabis  lucida  variegata  is  very  bright 
and  good,  but  much  smaller  and  not  so  reliable ;  its  little  rosettes  are 
