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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  November  28,  1901. 
old  style  of  gardening  has  followed  the  natural  course  of 
things  in  general,  and  has  passed,  or  is  passing  away  ;  and  if 
the  new  style  does  not  possess  such  varied  or  agreeable 
features,  it  would  be  better  to  modify  the  old  style,  and 
adapt  it  to  the  times  in  which  we  live,  than  to  indulge  in 
vain  regrets  that  what  has  passed  away  apparently  possessed 
greater  charms  than  what  we  have  opportunities  of  more 
closely  inspecting. 
Having  from  my  earliest  boyhood  been  familiar  with  some 
of  the  old-fashioned  border  plants,  and  learned  very  early 
to  distinguish  such  ones  as  the  Spiderwort,  the  Catchfly, 
the  Soapwort,  the  Speedwell,  the  Livelong,  the  Bee  Lark¬ 
spur,  the  Bachelor’s  Buttons,  the  Golden  Rod,  the  Starwort, 
the  pretty  Sun  Rose,  the  Snapdragon,  the  Willow  Herb, 
and  many  similar  plants  with  their  true  English  names,  it 
is  but  natural  that  I  should  preserve  some  little  regard  for 
them.  Still,  viewing  them  in  their  true  light  as  subjects 
for  border  planting,  it  is  impossible  to  be  blind  to  the  fact, 
that  among  all  the  old  border  plants  there  is  not  one  that 
I  could  name  that  gives  the  brilliancy  of  colouring,  com¬ 
bined  with  the  dwarf,  compact  habit,  and  continuous  bloom¬ 
ing  of  the  ordinary  bedding  Geranium — that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  find  among  them  plants  to  supersede  the 
common  bedding  plants  of  the  day,  and  obtain  from  them 
such  brilliant  masses  of  colouring  for  four  or  five  months 
continuously. 
It  is  all  very  well  for  your  sentimentalist  to  dream  of  the 
old-fashioned  mixed  border,  where  he  might  cull  his  Daffo¬ 
dils  in  March,  his  Wallflowers  and  Cowslips  in  April  and 
May,  his  Pinks  in  June,  his  Cloves  in  July,  Phloxes  in 
August,  perennial  Asters  in  September,  and  Chrysanthe¬ 
mums  in  October  and  November.  Certainly  there  is  variety, 
every  object  has  its  peculiar  interest.  Each  month  also 
brings  its  own  peculiar  flora,  and  this  to  some  persons 
possesses  great  attraction  ;  but  there  is  not  that  striking 
display  of  “  blaze  ”  which  the  bedding-out  system  presents. 
In  this  latter  system  the  effect  is  sudden  ;  it  breaks  full  on 
the  eye  from  the  first,  but  if  well  managed  the  eye  does  not 
weary,  for  every  bed,  or  part  of  a  bed,  will  bear  a  separate 
inspection.  There  is  much  more  in  it  than  the  mere  gratifi¬ 
cation  of  the  organs  of  sight,  for  the  taste  of  the  designer  in 
handling  the  materials,  the  quality  of  the  workmanship,  &c., 
may  all  be  discussed,  and  form  as  much  a  subject  for  com¬ 
ment  as  a  painting  or  a  piece  of  sculpture. 
Now  one  of  the  chief  objections  to  the  bedding-out  system 
put  forward  by  its  opponents  is  the  sense  of  dreariness  that 
is  produced  at  the  close  of  the  year,  when  the  shortening  days 
show  their  natural  effects  on  the  masses  of  plants,  or  when 
an  autumn  frost  changes  the  whole  scene  in  a  single  night 
and  necessitates  their  hasty  removal,  suddenly  converting 
what  were  rich  beds  of  flowering  plants  into  a  barren  waste. 
I,  for  one,  do  not  agree  that  this  natural  process,  which  has 
many  analogies,  ought  to  produce  any  such  feeling.  No 
sense  of  dreariness  is  produced  at  the  approach  of  night 
after  enjoying  the  light  of  the  sun  during  the  allotted  time. 
Neither  do  we  dread  the  approach  of  the  time  of  rest  after  a 
day  of  toil.  Nor  do  I  see  why  the  falling  of  the  leaf  should 
be  suggestive  of  melancholy  thoughts.  When  the  trees 
have  been  clothed  with  verdure  their  allotted  time  winter 
itself  comes  and  changes  the  whole  aspect  of  nature,  and  by 
the  contrast  we  are  enabled  to  see  tenfold  the  beauties  that 
the  summer  brings  forth — not  that  the  winter  leaves 
the  garden  entirely  devoid  of  attractions.  If  it  has  been 
laid  out  and  furnished  with  a  view  to  winter  as  well  as 
summer  decoration,  the  change  of  seasons  merely  produces 
a  relief,  and  leaves  no  cause  for  depression. 
If  we  cannot  have  the  gay  flower-beds  in  winter,  what  can 
be  more  really  beautiful  than  the  habit  and  style  of  growth 
of  many  of  the  Coniferous  trees?  A  judicious  planting  of 
these  alone  will  give  an  interest  to  any  garden.  Evergreens 
of  any  description  will  make  a  garden  look  lively  during  the 
winter — that  is,  when  they  are  well  arranged  ;  and  the' 
arrangement  is,  perhaps,  the  main  point,  for  this  alone  will 
make  all  the  difference  between  a  mere  mass  or  collection  of 
shrubs  and  a  scene  calculated  to  excite  interest.  Again :  I 
consider  that,  supposing  the  flower-beds  to  form  the  prin¬ 
cipal  feature  of  the  garden,  and  that  they  are  duly  propor¬ 
tioned  and  neatly  made  either  on  grass  or  on  gravel,  if  kept 
neat  and  tidy  when  otherwise  bare,  there  is  nothing  about, 
them  suggestive  of  barrenness,  for  they  must  always  be  as¬ 
sociated  with  their  summer  occupants.  In  fact,  an  old 
gardener  once  told  me  that  it  was  his  decided  opinion  that 
at  no  time  of  the  year  did  the  garden  look  so  well  as  when 
put  in  order  for  the  winter.  With  the  edges  trimmed,  the 
beds  and  borders  turned  up,  the  grass  and  gravel  in  the  best 
possible  order,  not  even  the  gaieties  of  summer  made  it  more 
attractive.  Without  going  quite  so  far  as  that,  we  may 
satisfy  our  minds  that  each  season  brings  its  own  peculiar 
aspects,  none  of  which  need  be  dreary  or  unattractive, 
unless  we  are  determined  that  one  or  the  other  shall  be  so. 
In  this  case  the  fault  does  not  rest  with  the  garden  or  the. 
season.  ^ 
Then,  again,  there  are  ways  and  means  of  clothing  the' 
flower-beds  with  verdure  during  the  winter,  and  of  having; 
spring  flowers  on  the  same  ground  that  we  expect  to  have- 
summer  and  autumn  gaiety.  The  method  I  have  myself 
adopted  has  been  effectual  in  securing  this  object.  The 
process,  I  believe,  is  well  known  among  gardeners,  and  has. 
been  objected  to  on  account  of  the  extra  time  and  labour 
required,  and  the  fact  of  few  being  able  to  appropriate  a 
piece  of  reserve  ground  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  But 
as  regards  the  time  and  labour,  these  are  much  less  than  are 
required  by  the  bedding  plants  themselves  ;  and  as  to  the- 
reserve  ground,  no  garden  ought  to  be  laid  out  without  some 
provision  of  the  kind.  It  is  as  necessary  to  the  garden  as. 
the  scullery  is  to  the  dwelling-house,  and  quite  as  useful 
in  the  small  garden  as  the  large  one.  Besides,  I  happen  to- 
think  that  in  gardening,  as  in  other  things,  for  every  effect, 
there  must  be  an  adequate  cause.  I  would  have  our  flower¬ 
beds  as  attractive  in  winter  and  spring  as  in  summer  and 
autumn.  The  labour  and  necessary  appurtenances  must  be. 
proportionate.  There  is  this  much  to  be  said,  however,  that 
plants  used  for  winter  and  spring  decoration  must  be  hardy, 
consequently  they  do  not  require  to  be  protected  in  expen¬ 
sive  structures. 
But  to  the  method  referred  to.  Some  spring-flowering 
evergreen  herbaceous  plants — as  the  white  and  yellow 
Alyssum,  Cheiranthus  Marshalli,  Evergreen  Candytuft,  and 
above  all  Primroses  and  Polyanthuses — are  divided  or  pro¬ 
pagated  in  August.  They  establish  themselves  before¬ 
winter,  and  would  flower  the  following  spring,  but  are  pre¬ 
vented.  They  are  planted  in  the  reserve  ground  a  foot, 
apart  each  way ;  and  having  one  clear  season  and  plenty 
of  room  to  grow,  they  make  fine  large  tufts  for  planting  in 
the  following  October  or  November,  having  been  in  nursery 
quarters  about  fifteen  months.  When  the  bedding  plants 
come  off,  the  ground  is  dug  and  manured,  and  these  herb¬ 
aceous  plants  put  in.  Being  large  a  few  make  a  good  show, 
and  they  may  be  placed  2ft  apart,  so  that  a  few  dozen  plants- 
will  crop  a  large  space.  Gardeners  who  understand  these 
matters  will  see  that  this  is  very  different  to  putting  in  little 
plants  that  must  be  set  6in  apart  to  produce  any  effect. 
Plants  raised  in  this  way  will  often  flower  all  the  winter  and 
most  abundantly,  even  closing  together  with  the  quantity  of 
bloom  in  April  and  May  ;  after  which  they  may  be  taken  up. 
and  kept  for  stock,  the  ground  being  again  manured  for  ttie 
summer  bedders.  It  will  be  necessary  to  have  two  stocks  of 
these  plants — one  for  the  current  year’s  planting,  avd  one 
to  follow  in  its  place.  Cheiranthus  Marshalli  and  Candytuft 
should  be  struck  from  cuttings  eai’ly  in  the  summer,  to  be 
ready  to  plant  out  in  August.  The  others  may  be  divided  at 
that  time,  and  planted  for  good  until  fit  for  bedding  out. 
By  this  process,  which  I  will  not  deny  takes  up  much  time, 
the  flower-borders  and  beds  may  be  kept  gay  winter  and 
summer  ;  and  those  who  are  in  a  position  to  try  it,  need  no- 
longer  complain  of  the  dreariness  brought  on  by  the  loss  of 
the  summer  flowers.— F.  C. 
