December 21, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



«i;i 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS IN THE LONDON PARKS 



For many years past there has been 

 provided in those London parks un- 

 der the authority of the County Coun- 

 cil a gratuitous display of chrysan- 

 themums. The Royal Parks do not 

 have anything of the kind, and the 

 only chrysanthenunns seen there are 

 such as are growing in the open in 

 the beds and borders; but in the other 

 parks greenhouses are specially set 

 apart for the autumn exhibitions, and 

 as they open to the public about the 

 middle of October and do not close 

 till the middle of the month follow- 

 ing, the responsible authorities have 

 always to keep in reserve plants 

 which can take the place of those that 

 have finished to bloom, and hence the 

 display is kept up as brightly as pos- 

 sible for the time. 



This year 1 started my round of 

 \isits to the parks by commencing 

 with Waterloo Park, the most north- 

 ern one in the metropolis. This lies 

 at the top of Highgate Hill, past the 

 famous Whittington stone, and is one 

 of the most charming little parks in 

 London, while all the others are on 

 the flat. Waterloo affords natural fea- 

 tures so varied in form, slopes, hol- 

 lows, and well-wooded hilly back- 

 ground, as to offer to the head gar- 

 dener in charge a capital opportunity 

 of turning them to the best account. 

 I. however, cannot deal with the gen- 

 eral features of the parks, but must 

 strictly limit my notes to the chrysan- 

 themum displays. At Waterloo, the 

 collection is staged in a composite 

 house, the visitor entering first a 

 span roofed portion which leads to a 

 lean-to combination partitioned into 

 three divisions. The plants, as at all 

 the parks, are grown in pots, arranged 

 in two banks, with a middle path for 

 the visitors, who enter at one end 

 and leave at the other. This display 

 consists chiefiy of big blooms, grown 

 in exhibition style, with a certain re- 

 gard being paid to decorative effect in 

 the edging and intermingling of purely 

 decorative varieties, the Japanese 

 varieties predominating. We leave 

 Waterloo to work our way south, and 

 on the road call in at Twisbury Park, 

 a fine open space of large extent. 

 There are always two shows here, 

 the arrangement not differing from 

 that of the past few years— a sloping, 

 undulating bank with a serpentine 

 front edged with Singles and freely 

 flowered Decoratives. At the back 

 of the group, tall growing plants of 

 decorative sorts are freely flowering 

 and trained up under the roof to form 

 a floral background, and the only 

 cause of complaint we have is that, 

 notwithstanding the immense number 

 of new Introductions and the great re- 

 semblance there is between many of 

 the flowers the labels are very few 

 and far between, and that visitors who 

 are not experts have therefore little 

 means of knowing the names of the 

 varieties before them. 



At the conservatory there is always 

 a most delightful and artistic display. 

 Huge palms, ferns and foliage plants 

 of every varying form and size are 

 here arranged in the greatest ta.-ite. 

 and at intervals we see nloely flowered 

 plants of the various sections of chrys- 

 anthemums that are of peculiar deco- 



rative value. This year we see several 

 most attractive groups set up in illus- 

 trative examples of the different sec- 

 tions. For instance, immediately on 

 entering to the right we notice a fine 

 bank of Singles flowering in great pro- 

 fusion. Then a little further there is 

 an object lesson in Anemones of great 

 educational value to the visitor, either 

 expert or tyro. A few steps further 

 and we observe the old florists' type of 

 Incurved. Among the Japanese we 

 recognize many old friends. As we 

 leave, another bank of Decorative Sin- 

 gles is on our light and on our left. 

 Victoria Park is next reached. Long 

 before we come to the span-roofid 

 greenhouse in which the collection is 

 staged, we pass long borders filled with 

 early .lowering Pompons and other va- 

 rieties that are now approaching their 

 end. Not far from the entrance to the 

 house are some large beds filled with 

 single-stemmed well-grown plants of 

 Soleil d"Octobre, each carrying from 

 seven to ten huge blooms on a plant. 

 This is a very effective display, and 

 the variety is well named. 



General decorative efl'ect _is here 

 studied to a large extent, the ends and 

 sides of this large gi'eenhouse being 

 covered with freely flowered bushes 

 spread out to their fullest extent and 

 forming a dense covering of foliage 

 and blooms of medium size. The main 

 collection, divided into two sloping 

 banks with a path in the middle, is 

 edged in the front with a continuous 

 succession of bush plants of Lady- 

 smith; and here, if we may offer a 

 criticism, the effect is a little overdone. 

 The edging a foot to a foot and a halt 

 in width of the peculiar mauvish pink 

 that is distinctive of Ladysmith, prac- 

 tically kills the color of the whole col- 

 lection when viewed from either end. 

 It would, we think, have been better 

 if the front row edging had been alter- 

 nated with breaks in the color. This 

 collection is always diverse and repre- 

 sentative. Incurves, Anemones and the 

 Japanese being included in good num- 

 bers. Among the Japanese some noble 

 blooms stand out here and there like 

 floral monuments to the skill of the 

 cultivator, a veteran in the art, of 

 many years' experience. 



Brockwell Park lies far away, and is 

 postponed for another day. The col- 

 lection here is staged in a rather small 

 house— in fact, the smallest in all the 

 parks. The visitor passes through the 

 old English garden, a quaint old-world 

 garden that has been already described 

 in these columns. As we pass on our 

 way we notice besides Lobelia cardi- 

 nalis, gladioli, dahlias, and many other 

 occupants which are still flowering in 

 spite of the weather, a charming bed 

 of Salvia splendens in front of a back- 

 ground of white Pompon dahlia Geo. 

 Brinkman. The old fountain with its 

 collection of aquatics, iris, megasea, 

 etc., is playing, and from the central 

 path around it eight gravel paths ra- 

 diate in all directions. These are 

 linked together by a series of arches, 

 covered with Cobea scandens, gourds 

 and various climbers, and lead to odd 

 corners in the garden, where there are 

 arbors and rustic seats for the visitor 

 to rest on. 



The outdoor chrysanthemums in this 

 secluded spot, which is surrounded by 



an ancient red brick wall, a veritable 

 rus in urbe, are still bravely keeping 

 up their beauty, and are flowering 

 freely in spite of the weather. The 

 little span-roofed house contains a 

 neat collection arranged in much the 

 same manner as that at Victoria. 



It is always a source of satisfaction 

 to visit Battersea Park. The collection 

 is staged in a large span-roofed house 

 in the frame ground near the Albert 

 Bridge. Artistic effect is the great 

 feature of this display, and it deserved- 

 ly ranks as the best thing of its kind. 

 If as a vistior we had only time to 

 visit one show in London, then we 

 should unhesitatingly select Battersea. 

 To describe the arrangement is not • 

 easy in a few words, but in the at- 

 tempt we may say that there are two 

 sloping and undulating banks of 

 blooms, the right hand one rather 

 wider than the left, with a serpentine 

 winding path between. Floral decora- 

 tive effect is practised with great skill 

 and .iudgment; the ends, sides and part 

 of the roof are simply clothed with 

 chrysanthemums of freely flowered 

 kinds. The collection is an extensive 

 one, all sections receiving due recogni- 

 tion according to their value. Our 

 notes are so ample that It is impossible 

 to elaborate them here and describe 

 one-tenth of the grand varieties we 

 saw. All the members of the big brig- 

 ade are grown and the varieties chiefly 

 noted for brilliance of color are inter- 

 spersed with a judicious hand. Is 

 there anything to equal Gloire du 

 Rocher or Lord Alverstone for color? 

 For size, Florence Molyneux, the mon- 

 ster white, heads the list. 



Time presses, and we must away. 

 From the southwest corner of 

 the metropolis to the southeast 

 is a journey of some import- 

 ance, the means of transport being less 

 rapid. Southwark Park, situated near 

 the river at a busy part near docks, 

 warehouses, timber yards and the like, 

 contains a large and densely packed 

 population. The collection of chrysan- 

 themums is therefore highly appreci- 

 ated by residents in this locality, who 

 belong chiefly to the working classes. 

 This year our visit was earlier than 

 usual, and considering the disadvan- 

 tageous circumstances under which the 

 collection is grown we were agreeably 

 surprised to find what a large number 

 of finely developed, well-colored 

 blooms there were on view. Several 

 poor women of the humble class with 

 their children were enjoying this gra- 

 tuitous floral feast, and we noted with 

 pleasure their expressions of surprise 

 and delight. In one corner there is a 

 group of entirely yellow varieties to- 

 gether, and the effect is rather strik- 

 ing. On the other side is a large group 

 of various pink sorts. The rest of the 

 plants are arranged around the sides of 

 the house, which is T shaped and in a 

 central bed, so that visitors pass in at 

 the door, go all around the house and 

 leave by the same way. The middle 

 bed contains the cream of the collec- 

 tion for quality and size, there being 

 some grand blooms of the leading va- 

 rieties. Here again, besides large 

 numbers of Japanese, many excellent 

 varieties of Incurves and Anemones 

 are included. C. HARMAN PAYNE. 



