Colour reigns supreme as the era of glasshouses for all beckons and tender annuals of all kinds throng to our shores and into our gardens. As the Horticultural Society becomes ‘Royal’ in 1861 so gardening becomes a national passion. Seeds and nurserymen flourish and the array of plants shames nature into artifice, with glass and stones added to the mix of instant planting. Avoiding the temptation to concentrate on the exceptional gardens of the period we will look at the guidance given by gardening books readily available to the middling and working classes, as they strive to imitate the pelargonium strewn carpet bedding of public parks and pleasure grounds.