Flower Garden and Pleasure Grounds. 



Ky K. K.wnvi.DiN. K.R.II.S. 



"Come .May willi all ihy tiowcis, 

 Thy sweetly smelling: thorn, 

 Thy cooling^ evenintf showers. 

 And rrai;;rant breath at morn." 



IT is the pool's ideal ol' the " merrie " month, yet 

 how often are such ideals swallowed up in foolish 

 fact.s. " Cooling- evening- showers " sound nice if 

 they do not turn to rattling- hail ; the " fragrant breath 

 at morn " is enjoyable when not cong-ealed into a sting- 

 ing- white frost, and this is what we have to be prepared 

 for, and when the cooling evening shower of hail 

 comes look out for the fragrant frost next morning. It 

 was the rule where we spent part of our probation 

 (alas, how long ago!) that whenever the thermometer 

 dropped to 40 by 6 p.m. at this season all covering was 

 put on, and this brings us to the unqualified usefulness 

 of skeleton frames, in which the bulk of the bedding 

 plants, as well as the chrysanthemums in 4, 5, or 6-inch 

 pots, as the case may be, awaiting their final potting- at 

 the end of the month, can have their " hardening off " 

 properly, that is to all intents and purposes the plants 

 are treated to outside conditions whilst beings protected 

 from spasmodic untoward influences as they arise. 

 The skeleton frame may no/ be much more than some of 

 the temporary sheltering devised by men whose in- 

 g-enuity is proverbial (or ought to be), but it is more 

 without being an eyesore to those who object to even 

 the manufacturing- department of the garden (the glass) 

 taking on a deshabille look at any time to await, for 

 long enough perhaps, one of Aunt Dinah's "grand 

 clearings up." The skeleton frame or pit is pretty well 

 expressed in the name, and if constructed of planed 

 and painted timber on a suitable site in proximity to 

 the glass may be considered a permanent institution 

 worthy of its surroundings. For all ordinary purposes 

 two feet in depth at back may be sufficient, one foot in 

 front, the soil being further excavated nine inches in 

 depth, with a good three-inch coal ash bottom. Tem- 

 porary bars which can be removed as required giving 

 support to the mats, the most useful width of such 

 frames being what can be covered w'ith a full-sized 

 Archangel mat, the back taking a mat lengthways 

 when occasion demands it. Needless to descant on the 

 hundred uses to which such frames can be put all the 

 year round, for where erected we rarely see them idle. 



"May with all Ihy flowers!" Thou givesi us 

 nothing more gorgeous than the t iilips. May flowering 

 as they are termed, ami with Clesneriana, (iolden 

 crown, and Picotee. crimson, gold, and white, the 

 white of Picotee being slightly warmed up with a mar- 

 ginal carmine flush, we reach our goal in brilliant 

 effect in that bedding which finds them en masse. 

 .Macrospeila as a substitute for that fine form of Ges- 

 neriana known as spalluilata, is hardier, and has the 

 virtue of violet scent, those are the pros., the cons, 

 being that it cannot vie in effect with the former, and is 

 later, the latest of all in our experience, and that is a 

 drawback as a bedder. This late spring we anticipate 

 both wallflowers and the above tulips w-ill be aggra- 

 vatingly at their best about the last week of the montii, 

 but with the advent oi June each day's delay in the 

 summer planting means pawning the near future to 

 gratify the immediate present. It is the penalty paid 

 imder the dual system of cropping the formal flower 

 garden. Whatever course is pursued, however, it is 

 essentially necessary that well thought-out methods 

 should obviate muddle, and the transition from spring 

 to summer bedding be carried on and out systemati- 

 cally to ensure justice being done to all concerned, and 

 that stock for another spring routine is concerned can- 

 not be overlooked. 



The sites for such spring plants as are to be reserved 

 should be at once prepared in order that as they are 

 lifted there shall be no ill treatment in throwing aside 

 till the summer planting is complete. First the bulbs, 

 that is apart from those fortunate cases where a fresh 

 lot can be purchased each season which we have no 

 hesitation in saying is the better way. Presumably the 

 chief of these will be the tulips, although it applies to all. 

 We like to have a nice bit of sandy border, preferably 

 under a wall, neither the hottest nor the coldest aspect, 

 and in this planting each kind by opening shallow 

 trenches and laying them in as they are taken up, each 

 lot being substantially labelled. For purity of stock it 

 is as well to pull out any rogues that appear in the beds 

 as the blooms show them ; later on, when ripened off. 

 they can be lifted, cleaned, and stored with the labels, 

 those not wanted for bedding eventually going out as 

 wildlings in the shrubberies or elsewhere. A well pre- 

 pared north border, or in the cultivated ground be- 

 tween the fruit bushes, is good for transplanting the 

 aubrietias daisies and similar things as they are lifted. 

 We have found it the better way to treat the aubrietia at 

 this season similar to box edging — viz., topping and 

 tailing the tufts, planting low and treading in tight. 



