THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



January, 1912 



A Pleasing Effect in the Gardens at Rideau Hall. 



slipper (Cypripedium spectabile) in a dis- 

 tant bog. Neither heat nor mosquitoes 

 daunted her, but pulling on a pair of rub- 

 ber boots she entered the swamp and saw 

 these lovely flowers in great abundance. 



THE GARDEN AT RIDEAU HALL 



A little has been said of Lady Grey's 

 influence on horticulture in Canada, and 

 of her knowledge and love of flowers. It 

 remains to record some of the things she 

 accomplished at Government House it- 

 self. When she came to Ottawa the 

 conservatories at Rideau Hall were small 

 and comparatively uninteresting, but 

 through her influence a fine range of 

 houses was built in which are grown 

 practically all the cut flowers used at 

 Rideau Hall, and many other ornamental 

 plants. One of the illustrations shows a 

 section of these. 



There had been little done to make a 

 good herbaceous border at Government 

 House. Lady Grey took it in hand and 

 after several years hard work she had 

 the satisfaction this year of knowing that 

 her work had not been in vain. In the 

 past the plants suffered during dry weath- 

 er, but she had the border subirrigated 

 by means of tiles, which has been very 

 effective in keeping the soil moist and the 

 plants have made much more satisfactory 

 growth since. Two years ago she plant- 

 ed grape vines between the two borders 

 and made a pergola or archway of the 

 vines. The illustration on the front cover 

 shows how effective this is. 



Many fine herbaceous perennials 

 are now planted in this border, 

 which will long bear the impress of Lady 

 Grey. Much effective planting has been 

 done in recent years on another border, 

 the one with the palm house in the rear, 

 and the smaller borders about the con- 



servatories. The Hall itself has received 

 more attention than ever before. It will 

 be seen from the illustration that climb- 

 ers have not been neglected. 



THE PUBLIC WELCOME 



One of the most satisfactory and pleas- 

 ing bits of planting which Lady Grey 

 planned was the planting of thousands 

 of bulbs of narcissi and tulips, in the 

 grass along the roadside and in the park 

 belonging to Government House. Every- 

 one was welcome to walk in and see 

 these charming flowers when they were 



in bloom in the spring. The great ma.ss- 

 c-s of them everywhere in abundance, 

 their .striking contrasts of color and their 

 setting among the trees ,was a delightful 

 picture. The planting of bulbs was, how- 

 ever, not confined to Government House 

 grounds for in Rockliffe Park, near by, 

 many children helped to plant the bulbs 

 of tulips and narcissi, which for several 

 seasons have been a striking feature of 

 the park in spring. 



The last improvement which Lady 

 Grey effected at Government House be- 

 fore she went away was the removal of 

 an arbor-vitae hedge which restricted the 

 view on the west side of the grounds and 

 hid the trunks of a fine row of hard 

 maples, spoiling the eff'ect. With the re- 

 moval of the hedge there is a more ex- 

 tensive view and when the planting which 

 was planned is completed there will be a 

 pleasing vista with white pines in the 

 distance. When the hedge was removed 

 a terrace or parapet was made with steps 

 leading down to the level of the maples, 

 which is also a marked improvement. 



The results of Lady Grey's work on 

 the Government House grounds and gar- 

 dens will be that those who follow her 

 will endeavor to maintain the standard 

 she has set and possibly cause still fur- 

 ther improvements to be made. 



The Care of Sword Ferns 



A. V. Main, Ottawa 



When ferns display a tinge of yellow 

 it may be due to several errors of man- 

 agement. The most likely one is that the 

 soil has been allowed to get into a sod- 

 den, pulpy mass. Lack of drainage at 

 the bottom of the pot, and the presence of 



The Planting of Climbers was Encouraged by Lady Grey. 



