B. glauca (grey).* l. pendent, glaucous, 2ft. to 3ft. long. Stem slender, the swollen base becoming woody with age.
B. g. latifolia (broad-leaved) differs from the type only in its stouter and more robust stem and broader leaves.
B. longifolia (long-leaved).* l. 6ft. to 10ft. long, narrow, pendent, dark green, forming a beautiful vase-like centre. h. 10ft. Mexico, 1868. Very distinct. (G. C. 1877, vii., 493.)
B. recurvata (recurved-leaved).* l. very long, linear, gracefully pendulous, bright green. Mexico, about 1845. This is an excellent subject for open-air culture during the summer, as well as for the conservatory. SYN. Pincenictitia tuberculata. (G. C. 1870, 1445.)
B. r. rubra (red). l. red at base.
B. stricta (upright). l. 3ft. or more long, less than 1in. broad, very glaucous. Stem stout. Mexico, 1870.
BEAUFORTIA (commemorative of Mary, Duchess of Beaufort, a botanical patroness). Including Schizopleura. ORD. Myrtaceæ. Elegant free-flowering greenhouse Australian shrubs. Flowers scarlet; calyx with a turbinate tube; stamens in bundles opposite the petals. Leaves sessile, opposite or scattered. Beaufortias require a compost of peat, leaf soil, and loam, lightened, if necessary, by the addition of sand. Cuttings of half-ripened shoots root freely in sandy soil, under a glass, with very little heat.
B. decussata (decussate). fl. scarlet; bundles of stamens on very long claws; filaments radiating. May. l. opposite, decussate, ovate, or oval, many-nerved. h. 3ft. to 10ft. New Holland, 1803. (B. M. 1733.)
B. purpurea (purple).* fl. purplish-red, in dense globular heads. l. three to five-nerved, erect or spreading, ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate-linear. New Holland.
B. sparsa (few-leaved). fl. bright scarlet. l. many-nerved, scattered, ovate-elliptical, obtuse. West Australia. SYN. B. splendens. (P. F. G. xiii., 145.)
B. splendens (splendid). Synonymous with B. sparsa.
BEAUMONTIA (in honour of Mrs. Beaumont, formerly of Bretton Hall, Yorkshire). ORD. Apocynaceæ. A very ornamental stove twiner, remarkable for its handsome flowers. It succeeds best when planted out in the borders of a temperate house, in rich lumpy loam and peat. Propagated by cuttings, placed in sand, with bottom heat.
B. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl., corolla large, white, greenish outside near the base, and dark throat, with a short tube, and a large campanulate five-lobed limb; corymbs axillary and terminal, many-flowered. June. l. opposite, broad, oblong-ovate, with a little point, tapering towards the base, smooth and shining above, but rather downy beneath; young leaves and branches rusty. Chittagong and Sylhet, 1820. (B. M. 3213.)
BED. A term usually applied to pieces of ground laid out in gardens for sowing small seeds, or for the isolation and better protection of small collections of plants in the reserve ground. The oblong is the best shape for this purpose, about 4ft. or 5ft. wide, somewhat raised, and having a narrow path on each side, so that the workman may attend to the plants or seeds without having to tread on the bed. Any one part of a flower-garden design, cut out in grass, or otherwise formed, is also generally termed a Bed. When required to be planted for effect, as in this case, the Bed should be proportionate in size to the plants that are to be put in it, always planting the highest in the centre and gradually sloping, with other sizes, to the edges, which should be the lowest. Circular Beds are best with one centre plant; and oblong or other shapes should have the height of the centre plants carried nearly the whole length, not, however, placing them in too formal a manner.
BEDDING-IN. A method of seed-sowing, now almost obsolete, and chiefly employed in nurseries. "In this method, the ground being dug and formed by alleys into Beds, 4ft. or 5ft. wide, each alley being a spade's width or more between Bed and Bed, and the earth being drawn off the top of the Bed with a rake or spade, ½in. or 1in. deep into the alleys, the seed is then sown all over the surface of the Bed; which being done, the earth in the alleys is immediately cast over the Bed, again covering the seeds the same depth, and the surface is raked smooth" (Johnson). In the case of small seeds, a very light covering is needed, and that only of very fine soil.
BEDDING-OUT. The temporary placing out of doors of greenhouse and other tender plants during the summer months. It is considered by some to be the showiest, most expensive, and most unnatural of any style. The geometrical arrangement of gaudy colours is not at all times satisfactory, and under the most favourable conditions the design is rarely retained more than two or three months, say, from July to September. The method is, however, so extensively adopted as to demand due notice in this work. Bedding usually commences in May. An important consideration is the proper preparation of the soil for the reception of the plants. It will be found to materially assist the growth if the soil is well dug over a fortnight before the plants are put in. By this means, it will acquire a certain amount of solidity, a point of great importance with fibrous-rooted plants that are subject to injury from the fine roots not taking a firm hold of the soil. Having decided upon the arrangement of the plants, proceed to work with the planting. With round, oval, or, indeed, almost any shaped bed, begin in the centre and work towards the edge; in borders, commence at the back and finish with the front row. Plant with a trowel, disturbing the balls as little as possible, and when in the holes press the soil moderately firm. After the Bed is finished, give a good soaking of water to settle the soil at the roots. Manure for Flower-beds should always be perfectly rotten, such as that from a spent hotbed. When the plants are thoroughly established, water must only be given if they show signs of distress; and then a good soaking should be applied. A careful hoeing of the surface after planting will be most beneficial, leaving it smooth and tidy. A Dutch hoe will be the best to use. Injudicious use of manure and water will only cause a foliaceous growth. The proper treatment of the various Bedding Plants will be found under their respective headings. For spring decoration, the Beds may be filled with Dutch bulbs, and spring-flowering annuals and perennials ad infinitum; or, after the plants are removed in autumn, the Beds may be filled with evergreens plunged in pots, such as Aucuba, Arbor vitæ, Euonymus, and various little Conifers, which have a bright appearance through the winter, and can be removed at any time. With the relative value, or advisability of adoption, of either or any system of gardening, it scarcely comes within the province of this work to deal. No hard-and-fast rules can be laid down as regards "style," and each individual may follow his own taste and inclination.
FIG. 214. DESIGN FOR CARPET BEDDING.