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THE ELORAL WOELD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



gems of the mountain, these coy in- 

 habitants of sylvan wildernesses. A 

 raised bed consisting of sandy loam 

 or peat, and made to resemble a low, 

 rocky hill, would be the sort of place 

 on which to establish all the hardy 

 saxifrages, and see them in their real 

 beauty. Some form mossy cushions 

 of the most delicious shades of green, 

 sprinkled in the spring time with 

 myriads of white stars. Some have 

 their thick leaves beaded as if by the 

 most cunning work of the jeweller, 

 others grow in lusty vigour, and pro- 

 duce leaves of great size from amidst 

 which arise the flowers in club-like 

 masses. The saxifrages are an ex- 

 ample of many families that offer im- 

 mense temptations to amateurs to be- 

 gin collecting. There are nearly two 

 hundred, hardy species and varieties, 

 and a very large proportion of the 

 whole are obtainable by those who 

 are not easily daunted when they set 

 their minds upon a task. We have 

 seen a hundred species, all correctly 

 named and prepared for distribution 

 at Messrs. E. G. Henderson and 

 Sons' nursery, St. John's Wood, 

 where also many other families of 

 herbaceous plants are grown exten- 

 sively and with the utmost care to 

 keep them true to name and charac- 

 ter. Take another example ; there 

 are the sempervivums, what an in- 

 teresting group they are ; how curious 

 in habit, how beautiful at all seasons, 

 especially when in bloom. All the 

 hardy sempervivums would associate 

 with the saxifrages admirably; a raised 

 bed of sandy soil would suit any of 

 them, but the drier positions on the 

 facings of the bank would suit them 

 equally well. Probably about thirty 

 species and varieties may be found 

 quite hardy, and about fifty more for 

 the greenhouse. A great patch of 

 S. hirtum, or S. arachnoides, in bloom 

 is a sight to be remembered, though 

 as regards mere brilliancy of colours 

 a Tom Thumb geranium would of 

 course eclipse a square yard of either 

 instantly. Echeverias would of course 

 claim association with them. Here 

 we have but few hardy kinds, but the 

 greenhouse species are exquisitely 

 beautiful, E. secunda being one of 

 the most useful decorative plants we 



possess for the spring and summer, 

 and JE. retusa for the autumn. 



To get away from these by a tan- 

 gent, there are the Irises, the various 

 beauties of which are at present al- 

 most unknown. They differ from 

 orchids in this particular, that they 

 do not last long in flower, and they 

 differ also in costing pence instead of 

 pounds, and of thriving in almost any 

 soil or situation, whereas orchids need 

 expensive houses, good furnaces, and 

 skilful gardeners. But why compare 

 things which are in many respects so 

 very distinct from each other ? Simply 

 because in the Irises we find beauties 

 which remind us of the orchids, and 

 which in many instances are not sur- 

 passed by the grandest orchids known, 

 so those who cannot climb to the top 

 of the horticultural ladder through 

 lack of golden-tipped boots, may find 

 pleasures nearly akin to those of 

 orchid growing on one of the lowest 

 rounds of the ladder ; and we recom- 

 mend the collecting of Irises there- 

 fore. For a collection of Irises a 

 border of good loam, moderately en- 

 riched with manure, is desirable. 

 The herbaceous kinds readily adapt 

 themselves to almost every situation, 

 but a deep rich loam and partial shade 

 are the conditions most favourable to 

 a luxuriant growth, and the prolon- 

 gation of the bloom. The bulbous 

 kinds require a rather sandy loam, 

 and they do exceedingly well in a 

 mixture of loam and peat. To de- 

 scribe some of them would baffle the 

 most experienced of word painters : 

 to appreciate their beauties, however, 

 will be no hard task to any lover of a 

 garden. If a greedy collector were 

 to bring together all the species and 

 varieties he could lay hands on, he 

 might probably have as many as five 

 hundred kinds in one border. Such 

 a border would be a rare sight to see ; 

 it would have an historical as well as 

 a botanical importance. In such 

 tame times as these, perhaps, a nice 

 fifty would do very well to begin with, 

 and the bed appropriated to them 

 ought not to be within sight of the 

 drawing-room windows ; it should be 

 removed from the parterre, and 

 accessible only to those who actually 

 sought it. 



