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London parks and gardens

Chapter 46: Bed 5.
By Mrs. Evelyn Cecil
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About This Book

This survey traces the history, management, and horticultural character of major open spaces inside the County of London, grouping Royal Parks, municipal parks, commons, squares, burial grounds, Inns of Court gardens, and private grounds. It combines historical sketches with practical notes on layout, planting, and notable features, and includes lists of trees and shrubs and numerous illustrations. Chapters treat individual sites in sequence and offer observations on their administration, public use, and opportunities for improvement, aiming to show how varied green spaces contribute to urban health, recreation, and civic amenity.

EXAMPLES OF PLANTING FLOWER-BEDS IN HYDE PARK IN 1905–6

Bed 1.

1. Autumn planting for spring flowers:—Hyacinths, margin of Saxifrage. Day Lily, thinly planted, for bright green foliage growing up with and above the Hyacinths.

2. Spring planting for early summer flowers:—Pansies for margin 18 inches wide, the centre of bed planted with Ragged Robin.

3. Summer planting for later summer and autumn display:—Large plants of Calceolaria Burbidgeii 8 feet high, Cassia corymbosa 6 feet high, Heliotrope 6 feet to 7 feet high, finishing off with Nicotiana affinis and sylvestris, Lantana Drap d’Or with Lilium longifiorum interspersed.

Bed 2.

1. Autumn planting for spring flowers:—-Tulips, margin of Saxifrage. Iris germanica for foliage planted thinly with bulbs.

2. Delphiniums, deep blue, 18 inch margin of yellow Pansies.

3. Broad margin of Dell’s dark Beet, remainder of bed well planted with Cannas, Alphonse Bouvier, and Flambeau, brilliant crimson flowers.

Bed 3.

1. Autumn planting for spring flowers:—-Narcissus Emperor with a 6 to 1 mixture of Hyacinth King of the Blues, margin of Saxifrage.

2. Broad margin of Pansies, remainder of bed filled with Erigeron speciosum.

3. Large plants in pots of Ivy-leaved Pelargonium Madame Crousse, 6 feet high, placed 5 feet apart. Margin and intermediate spaces planted with dwarf plants of a deeper coloured Ivy-leaved Pelargonium.

Bed 4.

1. Autumn planting for spring flowers:—-Hyacinths Czar Peter, light-blue, Gigantea blush, margin of Saxifrage.

2. Dictamnus in two colours, about 2 feet apart, ground of bed Anemone coronaria margined with Saxifraga Camposii.

3. Gymnothrix latifolia, Kochia scoparia tricophylla interspersed with Acalypha musaica.

Bed 5.

1. Dark Wallflowers with margin of Gardiner’s Garter (Phalaris).

2. Pelargonium Achievement 4 feet high and 4 feet apart, centre of bed and margin planted with dwarf plants of same variety.

3. Celosia pyramidalis crimson and gold, with some crimson Cockscombs intermixed, the remaining portion of bed thickly planted to the margin with Leucophytum Brownii.

Bed 6.

1. Autumn planting for spring flowers:—Hyacinth Grande Maitre, blue.

2. An interesting combination of the following flowers in rotation, fresh ones being introduced as others faded:—Linum perenne, Ixias, Sparaxis, and Calochortus, in variety, Oxalis rosea, Camassia esculenta, Lychnis Viscaria, Crassula coccinea, Balsams with double pink blooms. The setting for these flowers was a variegated grass. A good effect was the result for many weeks.

3. For the remainder of the season this bed was filled with a succession of Lilium speciosum roseum on a green ground, with a margin of Agathea cœlestis.