June 24, 1876. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



485 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 



of 



Month 



24 

 25 



28 

 27 

 28 

 29 

 30 



Day 



ot 



Week, 



JUNE 24—30, 1875. 



Th 



F 



8 



Boh 

 M 

 To 

 W 



Royal Horticaltaral Society of Ireland Sammer Exhi- 

 [ bitioD. Alexandra Palace Great Rose Show, 

 Crystal Palace Great Rose Show. 

 5 Sunday after Trinity. 



Shrewsbury and Hereford (Rose) Shows. 

 Royal Botanic Society — Exhibition of Frnit and Cut 

 [ Flowers. Maidstone and "Wisbeach Rose Shows. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon'E 

 Age. 



m. h. 

 89af 11 

 51 11 

 morn. 

 2 

 15 

 31 



m. b. 

 14af 9 

 84 10 

 65 11 

 after. 

 44 2 

 15 4 



Days. 

 21 

 23 

 < 



24 

 25 

 26 

 27 



Clock 

 before 

 Sun. 



2 63 

 S 5 

 8 17 



Day 



ol 



Year. 



175 

 176 

 177 

 178 

 179 

 180 

 181 



48 8-. 



From obBerrations taltea near London daring forty-tbiee years, the average day temperatare of the week is 73.4° ; and its night temperature 



SEMI-NATUBAL FLOWER GARDENING. 



OME writers go into raptures about " the 

 pathless woods." They are certainly veiy 

 enjoyable on a hot summer's day, provifled 

 the underwood is not too thick ; but I think 

 one of the most enjoyable spots on earth is 

 that which is half wood, half shrubbery, 

 carpeted with low-growing plants producing 

 a succession of flowers through the four 

 seasons, and with a well-drained walk, not 

 too trimly kept, but such as can be used in 

 all weathers, where there are gigantic timber trees to 

 shelter from sun or rain, and rustic seats at intervals on 

 which to rest while listening to the music of the birds and 

 inhaling the odours of the flowers. If ever I make a 

 spring garden in accordance with my own ideas it will 

 be in such a spot as this ; aye, and my summer, autumn, 

 and winter gardens shall be there too, for I will have a 

 perpetual succession of flowers from the Winter Aconite 

 to the Christmas Rose — not in ribbon borders and carpet 

 patterns, but in humble imitation of Nature's own sweet 

 ways. I have never yet seen a spring garden that I 

 thought even worth calling pretty ; 1 have not seen many, 

 it is true, but I do not think it possible for Daisies, Prim- 

 roses, and such-like plants to look well in straight lines 

 and formal beds : they have such an uncomfortable look, 

 as if conscious of being out of their proper place, and cut 

 about as sorry a figure as I should expect a journeyman 

 chimneysweep to do at Her Majesty's Drawing-room. 



The handsomest of deciduous underwood is, I think, 

 the Hazel. One peep where the plants are rather thin 

 gives you a sight of the Grape Hyacinth, studded like 

 jewels in the green of the Dog Mercury reaching away 

 far into the wood, and ending you know not where. So 

 much the better, the imagination can do the rest. A 

 little further on are Primroses by the acre, and yet there 

 is not a plant too many ; place a fourth of that quantity 

 anywhere else but in a wood, and you would not care 

 to look at them a second time. There are other grand 

 masses composed of such things as the Wood Anemone, 

 the Foxglove, Bugloss, &c. ; these are perfect in them- 

 selves and cannot be improved on, the only thing to do 

 is to take care they are not too much hid by the under- 

 wood ; they are better for being partially hid — beauty is 

 best appreciated when it is half veiled. 



But there are spots near the walk where there are 

 plants of an objectionable nature, or where the ground 

 is altogether bare, and filling these with appropriate 

 plants is most interesting, and perhaps requires a greater 

 amount of taste than any other kind of ornamental gar- 

 dening, unless it be the planting of large-growing trees. 

 We are so apt to overdo it. It is very little that is 

 required, and I should advise anyone who is not an adept 

 at tree art to do that little very gradually indeed. Every 

 existing feature should be turned to good account. Do 

 not make any great changes without thinking the matter 

 over many times in different moods of mind. We are 

 not always in the right mood for arranging things of this 

 No 7(8.— Vol. XXVIII., New Seeleb. 



sort. The poetic part of our nature will not always 

 come forward to order ; we must wait, and not attempt 

 to force it. Perhaps some fine morning, if we rise at the 

 same time as the cuckoo does, and take a walk to the spot 

 before we face the dozens of failures and vexations we are 

 sure to meet with in the garden, the happiest of thoughts 

 will flash across our mind, and the note-book is all that 

 is required. 



Too much formality must be avoided, but the thought 

 has often struck me what a very little removed from 

 regular lines are our best landscape effects. In trying to 

 make new planting appear natural we are apt to make it 

 too irregular ; and it is the same in making roekwork 

 and other imitations of Nature. A certain amount of 

 ruggedness gives grandeur, as does the discordant seventh 

 in a musical arrangement when judiciously introduced, 

 but repeat that discordant combination too frequently, 

 and it has anything but a grand effect. 



There are many handsome plants which will take care 

 of themselves as well as do the commonest weeds, and 

 which may be introduced into our shrubberies and wood- 

 land walks, adding a great charm to them, and yet look- 

 ing so natural that anyone not well acquainted with 

 plants might think they were wild. This is the very 

 object to aim at. The greatest art lies in concealing art. 

 If I am asked concerning a plant, or a mass of plants, 

 which has only been in position a year or two, " Did 

 you plant that, or was it always there ?" I feel it is the 

 greatest compliment I can receive on the score of good 

 taste. 



Have yon a spot where nothing will grow — say stiff 

 clay, and very much shaded ? That is the place for Tussi- 

 lago fragrans ; it is nearly always green, and has flowers 

 in winter scented like May blossom. The Periwinkles 

 are all handsome and will take care of themselves ; 

 the larger green-leaved species, Vinca major, will overrun 

 most weeds, and kill them in time. Its variegated va- 

 riety (V. major variegata, syn. elegantissima) is equally 

 hardy, and is one of the handsomest variegated plants 

 we have. V. minor, V. minor alba, and V. minor varie- 

 gata are all useful ; these are not so robust as the first 

 named. 



There is a bank shaded but not overhung with trees — 

 the very place for British and North American Ferns. 

 If the soil is too heavy the plants must be merely placed 

 on the top of it, and surrounded with some of the leaf 

 mould to be .found in the neighbouring hollow. Near by 

 is a handsome Rhododendron, very attractive while in 

 flower, but rather dull-looking in autumn ; we must light 

 this spot up by placing a Torch plant (Tritoma) in front 

 of it. The Tritoma looks handsome as a specimen on 

 the grass, but to see it in perfection it must be backed by 

 a dense green bush. T. uvaria glaucescens flowers in 

 September ; T. grandis and other varieties a month or 

 two later. Russian Violets must not be forgotten for 

 flowering in the winter : I think the old small variety is 

 the hardiest. I have tried The Czar for this purpose, but 

 it did not answer my expectations. 



CUmbing Briars are very handsome, finding their own 

 No, 1S95.— Vol. LIII., Old Series. 



