Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/273

261 BEDDING PLANTS.] drained. Roses require a constant annual supply of manure, and, if this is given as a mulching in autumn, it serves to protect their roots through the winter. They also require liberal supplies of water during the growing season, and especially to be kept clear of aphides and other insect pests, which may be done by dusting them with snuff while moist, and washing it oil with the syringe next day, or by syringing with dilute tobacco water or some of the many in secticides now provided to facilitate this rather troublesome task. Some growers prefer roses grown on their own roots, some on the Manetti, and others on the brier stock. There is this to be said in favour of their own roots that, if the tops are killed down by accident or by severe weather, the roots will usually throw up new shoots true to their kind, which cannot be looked for if they are worked, though it is sometimes recommended to plant deep in order that the rose itself may learn to do without its foster parent the stock. Too often, however, in the case of persons unfamiliar with roses, the choice rose dies, and the stock usurps its place. An open situation, not shaded, but sheltered from strong winds, is what the rose prefers. October and November are the best months for planting the hardy kinds. The tender varieties are better laid in in a sheltered place, and the planting deferred till March or April. In regard to pruning, roses vary considerably, some requiring close cutting and others only thinning out ; some again may be safely pruned in autumn, and others are better left till spring. Instruc tions on this point as to the several groups of varieties will be found in most rose catalogues. Where dwarf beds of roses are required, a good plan is to peg down to within about 6 inches from the ground the strong one year old shoots from the root. In due time blooming shoots break out from nearly every eye, and masses of flowers are secured, while strong young shoots are thrown up from the centre, _ the plant being on its own roots. Before winter sets in the old shoots which have thus flowered and exhausted themselves are cut away, and three or four or more of the strongest and best ripened young shoots are reserved for pegging down the following season, which should lie done about February. In the meantime, after the pruning has been effected, plenty of good manure should have been dug in about the roots. Thus treated, the plants never fail to produce plenty of strong wood for pegging down each succeeding season. Jding 75. BEDDING PLANTS. This term is chiefly applied to those iits. summer-flowering plants, such as pelargoniums, petunias, dwarf lobelias, verbenas, &c. , which are employed in masses for tilling the beds of a geometrical parterre. Of late years, however, more atten tion has been bestowed on arrangements of brilliant flowering plants with those of line foliage, and the massing also of hardy early- blooming plants in parterre fashion has been very greatly extended. Bedding plants thrive best in maiden soil, and therefore the beds should be occasionally wholly or partly renovated with fresh earth. A light loam, liberally manured with thoroughly rotten dung from an old hotbed or thoroughly decomposed cow droppings and leaf- mould, forms the be-st kind of compost, but in the case of free- growing plants, like pelargoniums, over-richness must be avoided. 76. Spring Brddiwj. For this description of bedding, hardy plants only must be used; but even then the choice is tolerably extensive. For example, there are the Alyssums, of which A. saxatile and A. gemonense are in cultivation; Antennaria tomentosa; Arabis albida ; Aubrietias, of which the best sorts are A. Campbelliae and A. granditlora ; the double Bellis perennisor Daisy ; the Wallflowers, including Chei ran thus Cheiri (the Common Wallflower), C. alpina, and C. Marshallii ; Hepaticas, the principal of which are the varieties of H. triloba, and the bine H. angulosa; Iberis or Candytuft; Litho- spermurn fruticosum ; Myosotis or Forget-me-not, including M. alpestris, M. dissitiflora, M. a/corica, and M. sylvestris; Phloxes, like P. subulata, with its varieties setacca, Nelsoni, nivalis ; the single- Howered varieties of the Primrose, Primula vulgaris ; Pyrethrum Par- thenium aureum, called Golden Feather; Sempervivum calcareum; the pink-flowered Silene pendula ; self-coloured varieties of the Pansy, V. tricolor, and of V. lutea and V. cornuta, as well as some recent hybrids. Besides these there are the various spring-flowering bulbs, such as the varieties of Hyacintlms, Tulipa, Narcissus, Fritil- laria, Muscari or Grape Hyacinth, Crocus, Seilla, and Galanthus or Snowdrop. 77. Summer Bedding. There is great variety amongst the plants which are used for bedding out in the garden during the summer months, but we can note only some of the most important of them. Amongst them are the Ageratums, the old tall-growing sorts of which have been superseded by dwarf er varieties, as Imperial Dwarf and Swanley Blue ; Alternantheras, the principal of which are A. arrujena, amcena spectabilis, magnifica, paronychioides major aurea, and amabilis ; Alyssum maritimum variegatum ; some of the named varieties of Antirrhinum majus, especially the dwarf varieties ; Arundo Donax variegata ; Begonias ; Calceolarias ; Cannas ; Cen- taurea ragusina ; Clematises, of which the hybrids of the Jackmanni type are best ; Dahlia variabilis, and the single-flowered forms of I), coccinea ; Echeverias, of which E. secunda and E. inetallica fire much employed; Gazanias; Heliotropium peruviaimui ; Iresiiie; 261 the Lantanas; Lobelias; Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variega tum ; Pelargoniums, of which the various classes of zonal or bedding varieties are unapproachable for etfect and general utility ; Petunias ; Phloxes ; Polemonium coeruleum variegatum ; Pyrethrum Parthe- nium aureum, especially useful as an edging to define the outline of beds upon grass ; Tropseolums, especially some of the varietic * of T. Lobbianum ; and Verbenas, the offspring of Tweedieann, chamajdrifolia, and others. Few bulbs come into the summer flower gardens, but amongst those which should always be well re presented are the Gladiolus, the Lilium, and the Tigridia. 78. Subtropical Balding. A fewyearsago the late Mr John Gibsoi;, then superintendent of Battersea Park, introduced the style of plant ing known as subtropical gardening, from the use that is made of subtropical plants. In the climate of London and the south and west of England this new feature proved very successful, but less so in the north of England and iu Scotland, except in very favoured localities. These subtropical materials may be used either in masses of one kind, or in groups arranged for contrast, or as the centres of groups of less imposing or of dwarfer-flowering subjects ; or they may be planted as single specimens in appropriate open spaces, in recesses, or as distant striking objects terminating a vista. Some of the finest of these plants of bold and striking habit are found in theAralia orFatsia, the Wigandia, the Montagnsea, the Ilhdea, and the Ferdinanda ; Aral in japonica and papyrifera are very fine, and so are Wigandia caracasana and Yigieri, Montagneea heracleifolia (also known as Polymnia grandis), Uhdea bipinnatifida, and Ferdi nanda eminens. Many palms, some tree ferns, and the noble Musas, especially Musa Ensete, do fairly well in sheltered situations. The Cannas afford great variety of size, form, and colour. The dif ferent forms of Ricinus, which are of the bolder type of subjects, the more elegant Arundo Donax and its variegated variety, and the very graceful Arundo conspicua may also be named. Arundinaria falcata and other Bamboos, if grown in large pots or tubs and plunged in shady sheltered places during summer, give a striking tropical effect; and in warm situations some of these may be intro duced as permanent plants. Of lesser subjects Centaurea ragusina and gymnocarpa, Erythrinas, Funkias, Gunnera scabra, and some of the Solanums, as S. rnarginatum and robustum, are all useful and effective ; and many others might be added. 79. Carpet Bedding or Mosaiculture consists in covering the surface of a bed, or a series of beds forming a design, with close low-growing plants, in which certain figures are brought out by means of plants of a different habit or having different-coloured leaves. Sometimes, in addition to the carpet or ground colour, individual plants of larger size and handsome appearance are dotted symmetrically over the beds, an arrangement which is very telling. Some of the best plants for carpeting the surface of the beds are Antennaria tomen tosa, white; Sedum corsicum and glaucum, grey; and Sedum Lydium, Mentha Pulegium gibraltaricum, and Herniaria glabra, green. The Alternantheras, Amaranthuses, Iresines, and Coleuses furnish high and warm colours; while Pyrethrum Parthenium aureum yields greenish yellow; Mesembryanthemum cordifolium variegatum, creamy yellow; Centaureas and others, white; and the succulent Echeverias and Sempervivums, glaucous rosettes, which last add much to the general effect. 80. GREENHOUSE PLANTS. These are plants requiring the shelter Green- of a glass house, provided with a moderate degree of heat, of which house 85 Fahr. may be taken as the minimum. The house should be plants, opened for ventilation in all mild weather in winter, and daily throughout the rest of the year. The following is a select list of miscellaneous decorative plants in addition to special subjects which will be noticed separately: Abutilou Bonle cle Neige has pure white drooping bell-shaped flowers. Acacias are remarkably profuse-flowering plants with yellow flowers. A. armata and A. Drummondii are flowering bushes ; A. lophantha has ample fern-like leaves; A. Kiceami has pale yellow flowers in early spring, and is well suited for training up rafters or pillars. Adenandra fragrans produces highly fragrant pink star-shaped flowers in May and June. Agapantlms is very ornamental and easily grown, A. umbellatus having a large umbel of pale blue flowers, and A. umbellatus albiflorus white flowers. Aphelcxis embraces various species of close-growing plants, half procum bent in habit, producing handsome purplish-crimson and rosy-pink everlast ing flowers freely on the points of the shoots in May and June. Aralias have large palmate leaves. Araucaria excelsa has regularly spreading branches resembling gigantic ostrich feathers. Begonias. The new tuberous-rooted hybrids are very showy, and continue to flower all through the summer and autumn. Boronias are a fine group of hard-wooded shrubs, having chiefly pink flowers, which bloom profusely from the mature wood ; the best examples of the family are B. pinnata, Drummondii, and serrulata. Chorozemas are quick-growing slender-habited plants, with highly-coloured red andiyellow pea-shaped flowers, produced in racemes from the axils of the loaves; &amp;lt;!. varium, cordatum. ami spectabile are fine and distinct. Cord ylines are stately plants, of which the principal are C. indivisa, with a noble crown of glaucous leaves marked by orange ribs, and C. australis with narrower leaves. Cytisus racemosus is one of the best subjects for early spring blooming, of dense bushy habit, and bearing yellow flowers ; C. Everestianus has flowers of a deep orange. Daphne indica is unsurpassed for its perfume.