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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
October  18,  1900. 
Spring  Bedding. 
First  an  apology,  for  the  very  name  of  bedding  is  to  the  up-to- 
date  gardener  environed  witii  unpleasant  associations  and  unprofitable 
labour.  “  The  bedder  out  is  a  bad  lot,  and  his  work  bears  the  mark  of 
the  beast,”  was  the  remark  made  to  the  writer  last  summer  by  an 
extremist,  hence  the  subject  is  not  approached  without  diffidence. 
However,  although  it  is  no  longer  a  name  to  conjure  with,  there  is 
none  other  under  the  sun  so  applicable  to  the  few  remarks  here  offered. 
So  spring  bedding  it  is,  though  to  some  any  other  name  would  not  be 
such  an  utter  abomination.  There  is,  moreover,  a  nameless  grace  and 
infinite  charm  about  the  flowers  which  bloom  in  the  spring,  that  the 
off.  nce,  if  offence  it  be,  of  gathering  together  a  galaxy  of  brightness 
ana  beauty  within  a  circumscribed  area  should  surely  condone  it. 
From  such  time  as  ten  thousand  tiny  gold  cups  of  the  Winter 
Aconite  stud  the  side  borders  till  Gesner’s  Tulips  in  the  big  beds  shed 
their  petals  on  a  coverlet  of  purple  Aubrietia,  which  they  have  pierced, 
onr  formal  flower  garden  is  daily  watched  from  the  windows  and 
thoroughly  enjoyed  as  it  cimetographically  moves  from  the  most 
modest  beginnings  to  the  rich  colour  tones  in  which  it  ends,  and  which 
no  after  effects  of  summer  planting  can  rival.  Aubrietia  and  Gesner’s 
Tulips  have  been  mentioned  ;  these  form  a  daring  combination  of 
colour,  but  so  satisfying  from  the  windows  of  the  mansion,  where 
distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view,  that,  somehow,  the  tone 
reminds  one  of  Cannaletti’s 
masterpieces  inspired  by 
sunnier  climes. 
The  list  of  plants  used 
i<  not  an  extensive  one, 
and  in  their  arrangement 
simplicity  rules.  The  em- 
idoyment  of  bulbs  is 
restricted  to  Crocuses  and 
single  Tulips,  the  former 
being  permanently  estab¬ 
lished  in  a  series  of  chain 
beds,  as  an  inner  ring  to 
the  Box  edging,  with  which 
the  summer  planting  does 
not  interfere.  Daffodils 
n  d  not  through  our  spring 
garden,  for  in  their  wild 
wilfulness  they  never 
appear  so  happy  in  the 
lormal  position  as  they  do 
on  the  grass  or  shrubbery 
margins  to  which  they  are 
relegated,  whilst  late  plant¬ 
ing  and  early  lifting,  un¬ 
avoidable  in  spring  bedding, 
adds  to  their  discomfiture. 
It  must  be  mentioned  that 
in  planting  the  future  is 
kept  in  view — viz.,  some  of 
the  larger  beds  are  edged  with  a  broad  margin  of  Saxifraga  Wallacei, 
Armeria,  London  Pride,  and  similarly  habited  hardy  plants,  forming, 
practically,  permanent  edgings,  thus  economising  the  labour  of 
summer  planting,  and  tbe  stock  of  summer  plants.  As  previously 
suggested,  intricate  patterns  are  scrupulously  avoided,  and  mixtures 
are  not  favoured,  even  the  largest  beds  being  devoted  to  one  kind  or 
colour  only,  save  those  in  which  Tulips  bedeck  a  carpet  of  some 
low-growing  thing.  Suitable  sized  plants  of  Eetinospora  plumosa, 
Cupressus  Lawsoni,  C.  erecta  viridis,  and  C.  macrocarpa  lutea,  the 
latter  a  charming  thing  in  its  tone  of  colour,  are  singly  centred  in 
each  bed.| 
Wallflowers — fragrant  Wallflowers — deservedly  hold  a  prominent 
place  in  spring  bedding,  and,  being  of  easy  culture,  are  a  boon  to  those 
who  have  large  beds  to  fill.  With  such  varieties  as  Eastern  Queen, 
Primrose  Dame,  Kuby  Gem,  and  the  clear  golden  yellows  of  several 
varieties  a  brilliant  display  can  be  depended  upon  when  each  sort  is 
planted  en  masse  with  suitable  borderings,  already  alluded  to,  to  the 
tieds  on  the  grass.  Wallflowers,  so  generally  appreciated,  are  not 
always  so  largely  in  evidence  as  their  merits  deserve  them  to  be. 
Happy  is  the  man  who,  with  many  beds  to  fill,  has  made  due  provision 
for  a  good  supply  in  his  hour  of  need.  Our  plants,  from  seeds  sown  in 
mid  June,  are  now  ready  for  transplanting  into  their  permanent  from 
a  long  border,  previously  occupied  by  early  Potatoes,  into  which  they 
weie  dibbled  from  the  seed  beds.  It  seems  scarcely  possible  to 
overpraise  the  Wallflower,  not  only  for  its  inherent  good  qualities,  but  for 
the  large  return  given  for  the  little  labour  involved  in  its  simple  culture. 
Lartie  beds  of  Eastern  Queen,  over  the  merits  of  which  variety  opinion 
has  been  somewhat  divided,  were,  perhaps,  the  most  admired  by  visitors 
RnnwELL. 
to  our  spring  garden  last  season,  but  this  variety  in  particular  is  never 
seen  at  its  best  save  when  grown  en  masse,  then  the  thin,  washy 
appearance,  for  which  some  have  condemned  it,  no  longer  exists. 
Comparisons,  however,  are  invidious  among  varieties  all  of  which  are 
so  admirably  adapted  to  present  purposes,  and  a  want  which  is  still 
(elt  for  a  brighter  red  will  probably  be  filled  in  the  near  future — viz., 
a  brighter  red  than  any  yet  obtainable,  which  would  be  a  decided 
acquisition.  The  old  Blood  Red  is  not  a  good  bedder,  its  colour  tone 
being  irredeemably  dull  in  the  distance  ;  hence,  although  annually 
sowm  in  the  kitchen  garden,  it  remains  there  for  cutting  purposes,  for 
which  it  is  esteemed.  Among  the  dark  bidding  Wallflowers  Ruby 
Gem  stands  pre-eminent,  but  it  is  not  a  red.  Two  huge  central  beds 
of  this  fine  variety,  edged  with  Saxifragi  Wallacei,  were  a  conspicuous 
feature  with  us  last  spring. 
Common  as  is  the  old  London  Pride,  a  broad  band  of  this  Saxifrage 
enclosing  a  goodly  planting  of  blue  Forget-me-not  is,  when  both  are  in 
bloom,  a  thing  to  be  remembered,  the  resulting  combination  of  colour 
forming  a  quaint  but  harmonious  coup  d'ceil  from  which  the  keenest 
critic  could  not  but  derive  pleasure.  Among  the  Aubrietias,  all  of 
which  are  beautiful,  A.  Hendersoni  possesses  a  rich  deep  hue  peculiarly 
its  own,  and  the  red-tinted  A.  Leichtlini  is  a  good  thing,  but  cannot 
vie  in  colour  with  the  brightness  of  Sutton’s  Saponaria  Scarlet  Queen 
or  the  old  Silene  pendula  compacta.  In  mosu  localities,  however,  both 
the  Saponaria  and  Silene  flower  a  little  late  for  the  purpose,  being  at 
their  best  when  the  transformation  from  spring  to  summer  bedding 
takes  place.  This  we  consider  to  be  rather  an  advantage  than  other¬ 
wise,  plants  being  kept  in 
reserve  for  such  beds  as 
they  occupy  until  such 
lime  as  the  bright  glow  of 
these  spring  flowers  is  past, 
for  it  does  much  to  enliven 
the  comparative  dullness  of 
the  early  summer  garden. 
The  ever  popular  Forget- 
me-nots  need  not  detain, 
beyond  observing  that 
M.  dissitiflora,  the  earliest, 
brightest,  and  most  beau¬ 
tiful,  is  the  worst  doer, 
being  subject  to  blacken¬ 
ing  from  spring  frosts  and 
severe  attacks  of  mildew. 
Some  of  the  Suttonian 
Forget-me-nots  are  inimi¬ 
table  for  bedding  purposes. 
As  an  early  Tulip,  not  the 
earliest,  in  which  section 
the  Due  Van  Thols  take 
the  lead,  nothing  could 
surpass  Couleur  Cardinal 
for  robust  habit,  vivid 
colour,  and  long-enduring 
qualities.  Golden  Crown 
is  a  fine  yellow  companion 
to  the  brilliant  late  varie¬ 
ties  Gesneriana  and  macrospeila.  Where  both  phases  of  bedding 
are  still  retained  and  appreciated  as  best  suited  to  the  formal 
garden,  a  clean  sweep  of  the  beds  when  the  transformation  from 
spring  to  summer  is  made  is  now  rarely  insisted  upon,  a  spirit  of 
toleration  allowing  the  retention  of  some  spring  plants  which  is  rather 
beneficial  than  detrimental  to  summer  effect.  It  is  an  all-round  gain 
in  which  some  of  the  most  beautiful  spring-flowering  perennials  are 
saved  by  the  method  for  the  end  in  view.  For  example,  the  soft-toned, 
yet  brilliant  Alyssum  saxatile,  without  which,  I  fear,  we  could  not 
consider  our  spring  display  complete,  is  allowed  to  remain  undisturbed, 
and  no  objection  is  made  to  the  sober-tinted  cool  grey  foliage  of  these 
then  flowerless  beds  during  summer.  Nor  is  this  the  only  plant  which, 
impatient  of  being  disturbed  at  an  untimely  season,  is  not  only  tolerated, 
but  rather  esteemed  as  a  counterfoil  to  brighter  things.  Needless  to  say 
how  helpful  this  little  freedom  is  to  those  who  cannot  entirely  rid 
themselves  of  the  fetters  of  fashion,  and,  perhaps,  really  have  no  wish 
to — for  the  system,  if  stretched  out  on  more  elastic  lines,  will  probably 
prove  the  salvation  of  bedding  in  those  places  and  positions  to  which 
it  is  peculiarly  suited ;  and  those  who  perfirce  of  circumstance  have 
still  to  carry  on  the  bedding,  may,  too,  find  some  comfort  in  the 
reflection  that  it  is  now  old-fashioned  and  “out  of  date.” — K.,  Dublin, 
Damsons  Almost  Given  Away. — Never  probably  within  the 
memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant  of  North  Shropshire  has  the  fruit  crop 
been  as  large  as  it  is  this  season.  At  Market  Drayton  recently  the  finest 
Damsons  could  be  purchased  at  the  low  price  of  Is.  per  bushel  of 
90  lbs. ;  while  second  and  third-rate  qualities  realise  anything  from  4d. 
upwards  for  the  same  quantity. 
