There are a great variety of opinions as regards the most effective
way of planting flower beds. Some prefer to mix plants of different
colors and varieties; others prefer the ribbon style of planting, now
so generally seen in Europe.
If the promiscuous style is adopted, care should be taken to dispose
the plants in the beds, so that the tallest plants will be at the back
of the bed; if the leader is against a wall or background of shrubbery,
the others graduating to the front, according to the height. In open
beds, on the lawn, the tallest should be in the centre, the others
grading down to the front, on all sides, interspersing the colors
so as to form the most agreeable contrast in shades. But for grand
effect, nothing, in our estimation, can ever be produced in promiscuous
planting to equal that obtained by planting in masses or in ribbon
lines. In Europe the lawns are cut so as to resemble rich green velvet;
on these the flower beds are laid out in every style one can conceive;
some are planted in masses of blue, scarlet, yellow, crimson, white,
&c., separate beds of each, harmoniously blended on the carpeting of
green. Then again the ribbon style is used in the large beds, in forms
so various that allusion can here be made to only a few of the most
conspicuous.
In a circular bed, say of twenty feet in diameter, the bordering can
be of blue. Lobelia, attaining a height of six inches; next plant Mrs.
Pollock Geranium (this does not grow very thrifty out of doors in New
England), or Bijou Zonale Geranium, growing about nine inches high. If
you plant Mrs. Pollock, on the next row to it plant Mountain of Snow
Geranium; if the Bijou plant, a circle of the red-leaved Achyranthus;
there are several varieties of this plant. Next the Coleus
Verschaffeltii; the centre being a mound of Scarlet Salvia. Another
style is to edge the bed with Alternanthera Spothalata (leaves pink and
crimson), which grows low and thick for a border. Then the fern-like,
white-leaved Centaurea Gymnocarpa; next row, the Crystal Palace Scarlet
Geranium. Then Phalaris Arundinacea Picta, a new style of ribbon grass;
next Coleus Verschaffeltii; in the centre a clump of Coma or Pampas
Grass.
There are a great many different ways of arranging these ribboned beds.
It is pleasant to exercise one’s own taste, therefore we only give
examples to teach our readers how such beds can be prepared.
Narrow beds along the margins of walks, ribbon lines can be formed
of low-growing plants, such as the White Lobelia Snow-flake, or
Gypsophilia, or Silver Leaved Alyssum for the front line, followed next
by Tom Thumb Trapæolum; then, as a centre, or third line, Fuchsia,
golden fleeced; as a second marginal line on the other side, Bijou
Zonale Geranium, white-leaved, with scarlet flowers, followed by a
line of Blue Lobelia. Shaded stars have a fine effect on a lawn; cut a
star, and plant it either with Verbenas, Petunias, Phlox Drummondii,
or Portulaca. The ends of the stars should be white, and shaded to the
centre, which should be dark, each point having different colors, one
shade of purple, one shade of pink, one shade of red, then shades of
lilac, then shades of scarlet. The centre the darkest shades. There are
many pretty ways of forming the beds of a small garden. We append one
diagram of a garden, and the flowers to plant it with according to our
taste.