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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



THE HISTORY OF THE KEW ROCK GARDEN. 



Although the rock garden at Kew, so long the de- 

 light of Londoners, was constructed in its present 

 shape more than thirty years ago, only during the last 

 winter was it completed according to Sir Joseph 

 Hooker's original plan. Sir Joseph Hooker was not 

 only a great botanist, but was also widely famed for 

 his artistic skill. His sketches made in the Himalayas 

 during his classical journeys in India have been the 

 admiration of all subsequent students of botanical 

 painting. When, therefore, he succeeded his father,, 

 Sir William, as second director of the royal botanical 

 gardens, the supervision of the artistic development of 

 the grounds was one of his chief delights. And when 

 a collection of two and a half thousand alpine plants 

 was presented to the establishment by one Joad of 

 Wimbledon in 1882, and it became immediately neces- 

 sary to construct a large rock garden to receive them, 

 the planning of this new feature was a work entirely 

 after the heart of Sir Joseph and he set to work upon 

 it with his accustomed energy and enthusiasm. He 

 took as his model not any artificial rock garden that 

 he knew, but his recollection of the shape and sum- 

 mer garb of some well loved and well known alpine 

 valley in the Pyrenees, where the winter torrent has 

 given place to a shallow watercourse and the banks of 

 a succession of tiny precipices and bays all richly 

 decked with the floral gems that are characteristic of 

 those mountains. 



The stream was represented by a flat winding path- 

 way, the banks by rocks of various kinds, arranged in 

 bold masses, leaving between them sheltered nooks 

 and miniature side valleys. Broader bays were made 

 to accommodate marshes and other special features 

 for flowers of fastidious tastes. In one place a small 

 cascade falls from the upper rocks and gives rise to a 

 little stream, which wanders through the meadow at 

 its foot. The flowers of this meadow are chosen from 

 the meadows of our temperate regions and require the 

 damp soil of their natural habitats. To maintain the 

 water level near enough to the plant roots the whole 

 soil of the bay is enclosed underneath and at the sides 

 with an impervious clay lining, and how satisfactorily 

 this does its duty can be seen from the luxuriance of 

 the meadow vegetation. 



The actual rock work is made of large blocks of 

 various kinds of stone so arranged as to .give the im- 

 pression of stratified rocks weathered by natural 

 agencies. Three English localities famous for their 

 wild flowers were drawn upon for the stone. The 

 neighborhood of Bath furnished oolite, a rough granu- 

 lar rock easily accommodated to the uses of rockeries. 

 Water-worn limestone blocks were imported from 

 Cheddar clififs, a famous rocky glen in the Mendip hills 

 and the home of the Cheddar pink and many other rare 

 and beautiful flowers. While for the saxifrage collec- 

 tion was obtained a qimntity of tufa from Darley dale 

 in the Peak district of Derbyshire. 



But the rocks originally provided were not sufficient 

 to build up the 300 yards or so of banks for more than 

 two-thirds of their length and the reinainder had to be 

 made of earth heaped over large tree stumps to con- 

 solidate the whole. These stumps, though a make- 

 shift, have made a fine humus for the generations of 

 valuable plants that have decked this end of the rock 

 garden. But the general effect of the rockery was 

 marred by their use and the uniformity now obtained 

 by the substitution of rocks in their place completes 

 the beautiful scheme intended by Sir Joseph Hooker. 

 — Christian Science Manitor. 



RED-STEMMED DOGWOOD. 



Those who have the planting of grounds are often 

 called on to set out shrubs or trees which in some way 

 or other will present something pleasing to behold in 

 winter, writes Jos. Aleehan in Florists' Exchange. In 

 evergreens it may be foliage ; in trees, some peculiarity 

 of color in the bark, or tl^pse of a weeping character; in 

 shrubs, it is chiefly inthe'color of the bark. We -would 

 mention now as one of the best of shrubs for colored 

 bark the red-stemmed Dogwood, Cornus stolonifera. 

 sometimes called C. alba, a native shrub, though a Eu- 

 ropean one, more often called C. alba, is of much the 

 same character, while by some considered superior to 

 our native sort. But treating both as one, they may be 

 considered as a small shrub, well suited for planting in 

 groups for color effect in winter, and often so planted. 

 Corresponding in character with mam,- other shrubs and 

 trees, such as some of the Willows, the color of the bark 

 of this red-stemmed Dogwood is at its best in winter. 

 .\s soon as the leaves are shed and cold sets in, the red 

 color is apparent, and it heightens as the winter advances. 

 When spring commences the red vanishes, and the usual 

 green of summer starts in. 



The best way to insure a mass of color is to prune the 

 bushes severely in spring, which will give numerous 

 strong shoots by fall. 



THE WHITE BUDDLEIA. 



Buddleia, as a genus of almost hardy shrubs, fur- 

 nishes three very distinct species for garden decora- 

 tion. These are B. globosa, with round, ball-like, 

 oiange colored blooms; B. variabilis, with purplish- 

 heliotrope elongated spikes; and thirdly, the "iie here 

 illustrated, B. asiatica, with (nearly) white spikes. 



BUDDLEIA ASIATIC.-\— RECENTLY INTRODUCED GREENHOUSE 



SHRUB THAT GROWS MANY FEET IN A SEASON AND 



FLOWERS IN WINTER. 



Buddleia asiatica came into our greenhouses from 

 the wilds of western China a few years ago and 

 has soon become a favorite. As a climber for the con- 

 servatory or greenhouse, either in a large pot or tub, or 

 planted out in a border — which is best; and trained to 

 a pillar, or upon wires under the roof, it is a commend- 

 able plant. 



