168 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



establishment where we have seen it growing vigorously, 

 and blossoming and fruiting freely. There it was planted 

 out in the "stove" and its long strong shoots were trained 

 along the roof. In the Summer when its fruits ripened 

 there were many delectable feasts in the potting shed, at 

 which the juicy pulp of the Granadilla was the piece dc 

 resistance. These fruits are quite sizable, 5 to 6 inches 

 long, greenish yellow when ripe and present an attractive 

 appearance when hanging on the vine. The flowers, 3-5 

 mches across, are sweet smelling and amongst the most 

 showy in the genus. The prominent part is the five-fold 

 corona of white filaments variegated with violet, which is 

 backed by the petals, white without and red within. This 

 species comes from Nicaragua, and enjoys a warm Sum- 

 mer temperature. 



The "Purple Wreath" Petrea voluhUis, which grows 

 wild from Cuba to Brazil, when seen at its best, is one of 

 the most striking of our ornamental climbers. The flow- 

 ers are produced in long racemes and the color scheme is 

 one of lavender and violet. The five-lobed calyx is laven- 

 der in color and persists after the violet corolla, which is 

 much smaller than the calyx, has fallen. The plant 

 grows vigorously with us here but is rather shy so far as 

 blooming is concerned. Possibly a little starvation, or per- 

 haps Summer pruning when growth is rampant, will help 

 matters in this respect. 



* * ;f: 



The Scotch Broom, Cytisus scoparius, was very satis- 

 factory with us here this year and a large bush smothered 

 in yellow flowers tinged with orange was one of the 

 prominent features in the rock garden. According to 

 Gray's ''Manual" it has become naturalized from Nova 

 Scotia ; S. E. Mass. to Virginia, and southward. It 

 seems somewhat surprising that it should have become 

 established so far North when its behavior in Brooklyn 

 is considered, for here it is not infrequently killed by the 

 Winter. To the best of our recollection last year was 

 the first time in eight years that it bloomed at all ade- 

 quately. It often happens that although the plants may 

 not be entirely destroyed, their branches are killed to 

 the ground, and, as the flowers are produced on wood of 

 the preceding season, it proves a disappointment to those 

 expecting a great May display. 



Its lack of hardiness in some gardens may possibly be 

 due to its being planted in soil that is too good for it. 

 The Broom grows naturally on barren sandy soil and 

 when introduced to the rich soil of gardens is inclined to 

 make sappy growth f|uite unsuited to withstand our rig- 

 orous W'inter climate. y\nother possible explanation is 

 that the plants that so readily winter-kill originated from 

 stock obtained from the warmer parts of its range. It 

 seems reasonable to suppose that plants raised from seeds 

 obtained from, for example, a station in the mountains of 

 Scotland, would have a better chance to succeed in our 

 climate than those obtained from Southern France. 



Apparently at one time the Broom was of considerable 

 economic importance being used in medicine ; as forage 

 (mainlv for sheep) ; as a condiment, the flower buds 

 being pickled and used in the same way as capers : for 

 thatching, for making brooms and divers other purposes. 



There are several garden forms of Cytisus scoparius, 

 which are reputed to be less hardy than the species. One 

 of the best of these is C. scoparius var. Andreamis which 

 has flowers of yellow and crimson. 



* * * 



The Labuinmn, too, this year delighted us with a dis- 

 play of its long, yellow racemes. This of course is a 

 sort of cousin to the Broom and in Europe is sometimes 

 used as a stock on which to graft varieties of Cytisus 

 scoparius when standards are desired. 



One would do well to hesitate before using flower buds 

 of the Laburnum as a substitute for capers, as is done 

 with the Broom, for it is quite poisonous and, in Eng- 

 land, the demise of the children from eating the seeds is 

 occasionally reported in the newspapers. Apart from 

 this bad trait it is a glorious tree for garden purposes 

 in sections where it thrives. We remember a fine speci- 

 men in the garden of Childerley Hall in Cambridgeshire, 

 England, that appeared as though it might be a grand- 

 mother (or grandfather) of all Laburnums so gnarled 

 and ancient did it appear. Although so aged, it had not 

 lost its powers of blossoming as a photograph taken a 

 year or two ago showing it laden with bloom, testified. 



In our climate the young branches are sometimes Win- 

 ter killed, and, as it is from these that the flowers are 

 produced, an annual crop of bloom cannot always be re- 

 lied upon. 



Laburnum alpinum is reputed to be the hardiest of the 

 genus and our gardens would be greatly enriched if 

 someone would take this species in hand and develop a 

 strain capable of withstanding our Winters unscathed. 

 There is ample room for a tree with yellow flowers, 

 blooming in May. 



* * * 



Here is another quotation from W. H. Hudson's "A 

 Shepherd's Life." 



"But let us look at the true cottages. There are, I 

 imagine, few places in England where the humble homes 

 of the people have so great a charm. Undoubtedly they 

 are darker inside, and not so convenient to live in as the 

 modern box-shaped, red-brick, slate-roofed cottages 

 which have spread a wave of ugliness over the country — 

 lint they do not offend — they please the eye. They are 

 smaller than the modern-built habitations. They are 

 weathered and colored by sun and wind and rain and 

 many lowly vegetable forms to a harmony with Nature. 

 They appear related to the trees amid which they stand, 

 to the river and meadows, to the sloping downs at the 

 side, and to the .sky and clouds over all. And, most 

 delightful feature, they stand among, and are wrapped in, 

 flowers as in a garment — rose and vine and creeper and 

 clematis. They are mostly thatched, but some have tiled 

 roofs, their deep, dark red clouded and stained with 

 lichen and moss; and these roofs, too, have their flowers 

 in Summer 



"But its garden flowers, clustering and nestling round 

 it, amid which its feet are set — they are to mc the best 

 of all flowers. These are the flowers we know and re- 

 member forever. The old, homely, cottage-garden 

 blooms, so old that they have entered the soul. The big 

 house garden, or gardener's garden, with everything 

 growing in it, I hate; but these I love — fragrant gilly- 

 flower and pink and clove-smelling carnation ; wallflower, 

 abundant periwinkle, sweet-william, larkspur, love-in-a- 

 mist, and love-lies-bleeding, old-woman's-nightcap, and 

 kiss-me-John-al-the-garden-gate, sometimes called pansy. 

 And best of all and in greatest profusion, that flower of 

 flowers, the marigold." 



Gardeners can appreciate the beauty of Hudson's de- 

 scription of the humble English cottages and their gar- 

 dens, and enthusiastically .sympathize with his love for the 

 old cottagc-gankn blooms, but most of us will simply 

 fail to understand how he can hate the "garclener's gar- 

 den" with everything growing in it. The objection of a 

 Nature lover to the prim formality to be found in some 

 gardens, his scorn for some of the highly developed mon- 

 strosities that arc cataloged as "improved" varieties can 

 be understood, but not such wholesale condemnation of 

 everything that grows in the gardener's garden. 



