October 31, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



3.';5 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Dot 



Uontta 



Day 



or 



Wiek. 



To 



W 



Til 



F 



S 



Son 



M 



OCT. 81— NOV. 6, 1SG5. 



Elm Icnvcs (all. 

 Ai.L Sainth. 

 Svciimorc leflfles^. 

 Hiizol iind Lilrtc lojifleSR. 

 Ash unci Horuboiim leafless. 



21 SUNIIAV AFTER TrINITV. 



Cherry tree leafless. 



Avcrano Temporaturo 

 near Louden. 



Day. 

 53.9 

 54.4 

 54.4 

 6.S.4 

 51.8 

 53.1 

 53.0 



Niaht. 

 .■W.2 

 SS.2 

 87.8 

 30.6 

 87.1 

 8H.0 

 88.0 



Mean, 

 4(i.O 

 4C.;i 

 4(;.l 

 45.U 

 44.4 

 4.5.0 

 45.5 



KRin in 



last 

 38 yiM-B. 



Daya. 

 •2b 

 22 

 17 

 18 

 20 



in 



19 



n. h. 

 54nJ6 



Siin 



Seta. 



Moon 

 IUbcs. 



h. 

 84 at 4 



Moon 

 beta. 



m. h. 



36 6 



49 6 



7 8 



19 9 



22 10 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Daya. 



VI 

 14 

 O 



10 

 17 

 18 



Clock 

 after 

 Son. 



10 IG 



10 17 



10 18 



10 18 



IB 17 



16 10 



10 18 



Day 

 o( 



Veur. 



304 



.tos 



806 

 807 

 8(18 

 309 

 SIO 



From obseryations taken near Lonilon durinR the last tliirty-eiRht years, the average day temperntnro of the week is 63.4°, and ita night 

 tempemtoro 37.7". The greatest heat was 07°, on the 81st, 1864 ; and the lowest cold, I'J- , ou the 8rd, 1861. The Breatest tall oJ rain was 

 0.88 inch. 



ALPINE PLANTS. 



CONSTANT succession of in- 

 teresting and bcautiftil ilowers 

 is provided by Nature, from 

 the first appearance of the 

 Snowdrop and Aconite, to tlie 

 blooming of tlie Christmas 

 Eose ; unfolding their beauties in the open air, they are 

 Tvithin tJie reach of numbers who cannot culti\'ate the more 

 cosily denizens of the grcenliouse and stove, and they 

 possess the additional advantage that they may be seen 

 and enjoyed in a purer atmosphere tlian that which pre- 

 vails in these structures. Such plants, however, ai'e not 

 now in fashion, and in their stead are cultivated those 

 which produce great masses of colour for a brief season, 

 lea^-ing tlie beds tenantless, flowerless. and bai-e for half 

 the year. Wliilst this contuiues to be tlie case, we deprive 

 ourselves of that pleasiu'e which we might otliemiso enjoy 

 in the possession of a long succession of beautiful flowers : 

 but tliough the present system is one requu-ing a change, I 

 by no means wish unjustly to decry it ; I grant its merits 

 in certain respects, but I object to the general exclusion 

 from the flower garden of certain plants for the sake of 

 bedding plants alone. Our gardens have some of the 

 loveliest flowers that expand even before the snow melts ; 

 tliese give place to others more brilliant, which are in tm-n 

 succeeded by many more, imtil the monarch of trees 

 throws otf liis simimer garb, and even then, notwithstand- 

 ing chilling \vinds and darkening days, many interesting 

 plants continue to display their charms until sealed imder 

 tlie snow. These are destined to contribute to the interest 

 and beauty of our gardens at times when the plants cul- 

 tivated for summer display are not in bloom, and to accom- 

 pany, not replace, the latter when they ar'e confiued within 

 proper limits. 



For a number of years the prevailing fashion has been 

 colour : recently foliage has been called in to aid in toning 

 down the vastly-too-briglit display. Great the strides 

 taken to enrich our gardens during the summer, short and 

 slow those towards a gathering of those plants that bloom 

 early and late. It is the fashion to have flowers in gardens 

 during summer, and these for a brief period only. and. if 

 wanted in winter, spring, and early summer, they must be 

 sought for imder glass. Eveiybody knows that there used 

 to be plants that blossomed at suc'h seasons, but they are 

 not now the fashion. They had their day. It is said that 

 fashions endure for a wliile, and that the old ones come 

 round. Let us. tlicn, have flowers that can be seen in the 

 pure fresli air, that ai'e objects of interest and beauty not 

 only when the butterfly flits from flower to flower, but at 

 all seasons, in sunshine and in gloom, in frost and snow, in 

 wind and rain, and let us thus create a garden " v.hci'ein 

 No. 240.— Vol. is., New Sekies, 



tilings of beauty arc severally had in season." Among the 

 plants best calculated to produce such a result, are her- 

 baceous and alpine plants, and of the latter class I now 

 propose to treat. In pre%ious articles the mode of con- 

 structing rockwork has been described, and such vnll be 

 found suitable for tlie successful cultivati(jii of a large pro- 

 portion of the most showy species ; indeed, many of these 

 will succeed in an onlinary border. Kockwork, however, 

 best imitates the natural conditions in wliich they grow. 

 Tlie general hints as to tilling the crevices, and covering 

 ledges with soil, given in a fonner communication, will 

 be found to answer well for the majority of tlie plants 

 about to be enumerated. There are others, however, that 

 requii'e rapid and perfect drainage, and an equally rapid 

 and continuous supply of water, wliich is best secured by 

 making that part of the roclnvork destined for their re- 

 ception very perfect in drainage, and having a pipe laid so 

 that water may escape from it in a small stream, or in a 

 rapid succession of tb'ops, which will keep a large area 

 below moist and cool : and others, again, require to be placed 

 under an overhanging rock. Where, however, the treat- 

 ment of any species diflers materially from that of the ordi- 

 nary lands, brief notes will be appended to them. 



As to soil, large masses of it are not essential to success. 

 Many of them grow better on the bare rock than with much 

 soil under them. Coarse sandstone broken of all sizes and 

 forms, fi'oni sand to the size of a hen's egg, with a smaU 

 addition of loam or peat, and kept constantly moist, wUl 

 grow many kinds with a vigour' quite sminising. 



Alyssum sa,\atile, ilowers yellow. Its variety com- 

 pactiun is more dwarf, with dense and very showy spikes. 



Adonis vernalis, Anemone-Like yellow flowers, larger 

 than a crown-piece, produced before those of the Alyssiun, 

 in spiing. It requires a compost of loam and lime<;tone, 



Acuillj;a Clavenn.e, silvery foliage, flowers yellow. It 

 does best in dry, simny fissures ; in wet soils it goes off in 

 winter. 



Achillea adre^v, as its name impUes, has golden heads 

 of bloom. 



Ac.ENA N0V.E-ZK4LANDI.E, foHus a close Carpeting on 

 rockwork, witli crimson spikes of bloom. Very sandy peat 

 and loam, and little of it. 



Ajoga alpina, compact habit, erect spUies of deep blue 

 bloom. It. and its variety rosea, with smaller flowers of 

 pm-plish rose, requii'e sandy or giitty loam. A. reptans- 

 variegata is oftener green than variegated-leaved. 



Agrostemma coRONARiA, -svitli bright rosy crimson flowers ; 

 A, coronaria bicolor, wiiite, with rose centi'e : and A. coro- 

 naria splendens, of a brighter crimson than the species, 

 do weU on the lower parts of the roclcivork in loam and 

 gravel. In soil of the same kind they do uncommonly well 

 in borders, and though this plant has tine silvery leaves 

 it is not cared about, being old, and in nearly every cotta<;o 

 garden of any standing. There is, I believe, a double 

 crimson variety 



Aj.ruEMiiJ.\ ALPINA. and its variety conjimcta with 

 A. pentaphylla, are all we need care about under this head, 

 pretty-leaved, and curious-flowered though they be. 



Antennaria hyperborea, is a silvery-leaved plant, that 



Ko. t«!.— Vol. XXXIV., OU) SE1ie8- 



