September  11,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
Carpet  Bed  in  Grove  Park,  Weston  =  super=Mare. 
Carpet  Bedding  in  Grove  Park,  Weston-super-Mare. 
It  is  not  so  many  years  since  carpet  bedding  was  in  great 
fashion,  both  in  private  and  public  gardens.  Times  and  custom 
change,  and  this  once  forward  style  of  planting  has  become 
almost  a  lost  art.  There  is  no  doubt  about  the  popularity  main¬ 
tained  by  its  adoption  in  public  parks  and  gardens,  and  it  lends 
itself  so  well  to  loyal  devices  such  as  that  called  so  universally 
forth  in  this  Coronation  year.  Mr.  T.  B.  Mills,  the  superinten¬ 
dent  of  the  Grove  Park  gardens,  Weston-super-Mare,  has  on 
many  previous  occasions  given  ocular  proof  of  his  skill  as  a 
carpet-bedder ;  but  this  year  he  has  excelled  himself  both  m 
style  and  character,  as  the  illustration  of  one  of  his  beds  on  this 
page  shows.  Though  his  glass  accommodation  is  so  limited,  lie 
contrives  to  provide  some  15,000  plants,  hardy  and  tender,  for 
this  phase  of  garden  work.  This  large  heart-shaped  bed  is  m 
itself  a  triumph  of  forethought  and  execution,  0,000  plants, 
all  varying  in  colour,  being  used  in  this  alone.  The  design  is 
most  intricate,  a  crown,  an  unfurled  Union  Jack,  a  Rose 
Shamrock,  Thistle,  and  Laurel-leaf  all  being  worked  out  m  well 
defined  lines,  and  in  bold  letters  formed  of  Alternanthera, 
Edward  VII.  is  given  due  prominence.  In  other  beds,  of  which 
there  are  several,  devices  such  as  stars,  Prince  of  Wales  plumes 
&c.  are  worked  out.  Then  there  are  companion  beds  with 
«  E.  R.”  and  “A.  R.,  the  beloved,”  underneath.  These  are  of 
Apple  shape  outline.  Though  carpet  bedding  is  given  the  most 
prominent  place,  the  freer  style  of  planting  fills  ribbon  borders 
and  other  beds,  and  all  are  kept  scrupulously  neat  and  trim. 
The  abundant  tree  growth  which  abounds  in  this  secluded  spot 
makes  it  a  pleasant  resort  for  the  use  of  the  thousands  of  visitors 
and  residents  of  this  much  frequented  watering-place,  and  it  also 
affords  a  beautiful  foil  to  the  flowers  so  well  planted  and  tended. 
The  colours  of  the  varied  AUernantheras  were  wonderfully  fine, 
despite  the  cold  and  sunless  season  and  these  served  so  well  to 
define  the  lines  and  characters  of  the  whole  design.  ^eer[e^ 
to  say,  Mr.  Mills  receives  many  encomiums  on  the  high  men.  ot 
his  work  from  admiring  visitors,  and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to 
add  these  compliments  are  thoroughly  and  honestly  deserved. 
— W.  S. 
Some  Impressions  from  Fruit  Land. 
Slowly  our  Coronation  summer  is  wearing  itself  away. 
From  the  beginning  it  has  not  been  an  ideal  one,  and 
gardeners,  along  with  the  rest  of  their  fellows,  have  indulged 
in  many  little  grumbles.  We  cannot  complain  of  long  weeks 
of  drought  and  continual  burning  sunshine,  for  Old  Sol  has 
been  very  shy  with  us  so  far.  Frosts,  too,  have  checked 
the  ripening  of  Tomatoes  outdoors  and  ruined  the  piospects 
of  outdoor  Cucumbers.  The  vigour  of  full  growth  seems  to 
have  gone  off  in  the  garden,  and  that  air  of  what  I  may 
venture  to  call  untidiness,  which  generally  prevails  as  autumn 
approaches,  is  daily  becoming  more  apparent,  I  he  time¬ 
table  tells  the  cyclist  that  he  must  not  go  out  without  bis 
lamp  if  he  intends  a  long  evening  ride,  and  as  the  twilight 
fades  into  gloom  and  the  mist  gathers  up  over  the  corn¬ 
fields,  where  standing  shocks  now  take  the  place  of  a 
rippling  sea  of  ears,  there  is  a  something  m  the  air  which 
tells  plainly  that  the  summer  is  nearing  its  end.  . 
Writing  from  a  county  in  which  the  fruit  industry  is  of 
prime  importance,  and  the  fruit  topic  is  one  of  general  con¬ 
versation,  one  may  be  forgiven  for  retrospecting  a  little  at 
this  season.  Like  the  links  in  a  chain,  the  various  fruit  crops 
come  in  and  are  dealt  with  one  by  one,  and,  m  passing,  the 
growers  have  to  reckon  with  them  individually  m  the  piotit 
and  loss  account  before  making  the  collective  summing  up 
when  the  season  is  finally  brought  to  a  close.  You  may 
take  the  fruit  harvest  of  the  year  in  the  light  of  a  stage,  and 
over  some  important  scenes  the  curtain  has  already  fallen. 
The  Strawberry  Fields 
are  no  longer  scenes  of  picking  activity,  for  the  harvest  is 
over  The  plantations  present  a  bedraggled  appearance, 
and  there  is  little  to  remind  you  of  the  traffic  of  a  few 
weeks  ago  except  a  few  stray  empty  baskets  and  a  litter  of 
paper  in  the  corner  where  the  packing  was  done.  The  btiav- 
berry  retrospect  is  not  a  pleasant  one  and  from  bcgmnmg 
to  end  there  seemed  to  be  nothing  but  disappointment.. 
What  a  fair  prospect  it  was  at  first  when  the  early glooms 
shone  forth  and  growers  saw  visions  of  fancy  Coronation 
prices  from  the  early  fruits !  But  it  was  not  to  be.  One 
