FUNKIA, HYDRANGEA AND LILY IN THE SHADED COURT.
FUNKIA AND LILIUM SPECIOSUM.
A few only of the many plants that can with advantage be used in pots have been named, but in any case it would be well to bear in mind that it is best to restrict the number of kinds shown at once and to make sure of the good groundwork of foliage. I have therefore only dwelt upon the few that came to mind as the best and easiest to use. But the pretty red and white single Fuchsias of the Mme. Cornellisson type should not be forgotten, also that the fine Comet and Ostrich Plume Asters are capital pot-plants, for, like Canterbury Bells, they bear lifting from the open ground just before they flower and even in full bloom.
Plants grown in pots lead naturally to the consideration of those most suitable for tubs. Of these the most important are permanent things of shrubby nature—several of the Orange and Lemon family, Oleander, Pomegranate, Bay, Myrtle, Datura, Sweet Verbena and dwarf Palm, also Hydrangea, Tree Heliotrope and Agapanthus. The last is of course a bulbous plant, but from its large, solid foliage and quantity of long-enduring bloom it is one of the best of plants for tubs. The greater number of these need housing in winter in an Orangery or other frost-proof building. Other bushy plants for tub use that are hardier are some of the Veronicas, such as Traversi, speciosa and hulkeana, Olearia Haastii and O. Gunni. Tree Peonies, though rarely so used, are capital tub plants, and, though they are not very long in flower, their supreme beauty makes them desirable. They should certainly be grown in places where labour is not restricted and where there are suitable places for standing such plants away and caring for them in the off season.
For the same kind of use the Tree Lupines, both white and yellow, would be excellent. Funkia Sieboldi also makes a handsome tub, while for summer filling Cannas are admirable and old Geraniums in bush form always acceptable. I have never seen Acanthus used in this way, but can see no reason against it. The smaller Bamboos, such as the handsome broad-leaved B. tessellata, are very good in tubs. In speaking of plants suitable for tubs, I take the word to include the larger sizes of terra-cotta pots; but Agapanthus should never be planted in earthenware, as the roots, which remain for many years undisturbed, have so strong a rending power that they will burst anything less resisting than iron-hooped wood.
It is rare to see, anywhere in England, plant-tubs painted a pleasant colour. In nearly every garden they are painted a strong raw green with the hoops black, whereas any green that is not bright and raw would be much better. This matter of the colouring of all such garden accessories as have to be painted deserves more attention than it commonly receives. Doors in garden walls, trellises, wooden railings and hand-gates and seats—all these and any other items of woodwork that stand out in the garden and are seen among its flowers and foliage should, if painted green, be of such a green as does not for brightness come into competition with the green of leaves. In the case of tubs especially, it is the plant that is to be considered first—not the tub. The bright, harsh green on the woodwork makes the colour of the foliage look dull and ineffective. It would be desirable, in the case of solitary tub plants, to study the exact colour that would be most becoming to the flower and foliage; but as it is needful, to avoid a patchy appearance, to paint the whole of the tubs in any one garden-scheme the same colour, a tint should be chosen that is quiet in itself and that is lower in tone than the dullest of the foliage in any of the examples. Moreover, there is no reason for painting the hoops black; it is much better to paint the whole out of one pot.
A good quiet green can be made with black, chrome No. 1 and white lead; enough white being mixed to give the depth or lightness desired. A pretty colour of paint is much used in France that approximates to the colourman's malachite green. This is not the bright colour of malachite as we know the polished stone, but a pale, opaque bluish green approaching the turquoise tints. In the bright, clear climate of France, and in connexion with the higher type of French architecture, also in more southern countries, the colour looks very well, though it is not becoming to some foliage; but something quieter and more sober is better suited for England.