Carpet bedding as a part of design in landscape planting has a specific place and is used for a specific purpose. This type of planting lends itself to extremely formal areas throughout parks and around architectural treatments. It is not adapted in any way for use in connection with informal types of American landscapes either in park developments or in settings of homes. This is a field of work which gives the gardener an excellent opportunity to show his skill in the trimming of plants and the arrangement of plants to produce interesting pattern effects. There is no other group of plants from which specimens can be selected which will perform the same functions in the landscape picture as plants selected from this group. The perennials are mostly propagated from cuttings, and the annual plants are grown each year from seeds. They are usually planted very closely - from three to six inches apart - so as to secure an even colour effect and a complete blanket of foliage with well-defined lines of separation between the varieties. Few of these plants are sold under their proper scientific names, but the common names here given will identify them.

The types of plants adapted for this purpose are usually selected because of well-defined characteristics such as:

(a) Long flowering period and abundance of bloom.

(b) Compact habit of growth.

(c) Ability to thrive under crowded conditions.

(d) Ability to respond to frequent and severe cutting back.

(e) Interesting colour and texture of foliage.

a. Low-growing plants from two to six inches tall:

I. Foliage plants:

Alyssum maritimum variegatum Variegated-leaved Sweet Alyssum

Echeveria atropurpurea Purple-leaved Echeveria

Echeveria fulgens

Smooth-stemmed Echeveria

Echeveria glauca Glaucous Echeveria

Echeveria secunda

Red-margined Echeveria

Oxalis corniculata Creeping Oxalis

Pelargonium hortorum Madame Salleroi Mme. Salleroi Geranium

Sempervivum arachnoideum (in variety) Spiderweb Houseleek

Sempervivum calcareum Alpine Houseleek

Sempervivum tectorum (in variety)

Houseleek Telanthera amoena

Alternanthera Telanthera bettzickiana

Narrow-leaved Alternanthera Telanthera versicolor

Round-leaved Alternanthera Thymus serpyllum (in variety)

Mother of Thyme

2. Flowering plants:

Ageratum "Imperial Dwarf Blue" Dwarf Blue Floss Flower

Ageratum "Imperial Dwarf White" Dwarf White Floss Flower

Alyssum maritimum Lilac Queen Lilac Sweet Alyssum

Alyssum maritimum Little Gem

White Sweet Alyssum Brachycome iberidifolia

Swan River Daisy, Cuphea ignea

Cigar Plant Iberis amara coronaria

Rocket Candytuft

Iberis umbellata (in variety) Candytuft

Lobelia erinuslalba White Compact Lobelia

Lobelia erinus compacta Crystal Palace Blue Compact Lobelia

Lobelia erinus flore pleno Double Lobelia

Lobelia erinus tricolor

Spotted Lobelia Phlox drummondi

Drummond's Phlox

Portulaca grandiflora (in variety) Rose Moss

Torenia flava Yellow Torenia b. Taller-growing plants from twelve to twenty inches tall:

I. Foliage plants:

Acalypha wilkesiana (in variety)

Copper-leaf Centaurea cineraria

Dusty Miller

Centaurea gymnocarpa

Plumose-leaved Dusty Miller

Chrysanthemum parthenium aureum

Golden Feather Chrysanthemum parthenium glaucum

Dusty Feverfew

Coleus blumei verschajfelti Branched Coleus

Iresine herbsti

Round-leaved Achyranthes

Iresine lindeni

Narrow-leaved Achyranthes

Pelargonium hortorum (in variety) Bronze-leaved Geranium

Phalaris arundinacea Ribbon Grass

Piqueria trinerva Stevia

Santolina chamaecyparissus Lavender Cotton

Senecio cineraria Dusty Miller

2. Flowering plants:

Ageratum houstonianum Floss Flower

Begonia rex (in variety) Rex Begonia

Begonia semperfiorens Triomphe de Lorraine

Cherry Red Bedding Begonia Begonia semperfiorens Vernon

Bedding Begonia

Chrysanthemum coronarium flore pleno Double Summer Chrysanthemum

Cuphea llavea Cigar Plant

Heliotropium Queen of Violets Blue Garden Heliotrope

Lantana camara (in variety) Lantana

Pelargonium (in variety) Geranium

Petunia hybrida Petunia

Salvia splendens (in variety) Scarlet Sage

Tropaeoleum minus Dwarf Nasturtium

Verbena hybrida Garden Verbena