220 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition. 





Larkspur in the sardon of Mr. J. H. Bennett, 

 Barrde, Ont. 



ably among the tulips. Among the 

 many fine blooms in a collection of 

 over a hundred varieties were Fairy 

 Queen, Don Pedro, Rev. Ewbank, The 

 Fawn, Mine. Krelage and Loveliness. 

 It is hard to select the finest, when all 

 were so lovely. 

 Cowper wrote : — 



"Who loves a garden loves a green- 

 house, too. 

 Unconscious of a less propitious clime, 

 There blooms exotic beauty, warm and 



snug. 

 While the winds whistle and the snows 

 descend. ' ' 

 This describes the conservatories at 

 " Craigleigh. " What a treat they 

 have been ! Take the November visit, 

 when the chrj'santhemums Avere in 

 flower. Who could ever forget the 

 glory of the conservatory after the 

 privilege of a view? 'Mums there were 

 of every size, from huge balls to tiny 

 pompoms, and colors from the dark and 

 the tawny, down through the pale 

 pinks and yellows to white — yes, and 

 the green 'mum was to be seen also. 

 All this veritable feast of color was 

 most skilfully arranged, and not a 

 single instance of unpleasant adjust- 

 ment Avas observed. A visit to the 

 same spot later when the calceolarias 

 have the stage, and again it is found 

 to be truly a "sight for sair een." 



At this time the background is of the 

 sehizanthus, in all its dainty, airy 

 beauty, suggesting a swarm of butter- 

 flies-orcliard-like flowers in a fine 

 range of coloring, with occasionally 

 an Easter lily, magnificent in its state- 

 ly purity, or, a mass of tulips to ' ' give 

 a tone." The centre was reserved for 

 the calceolarias, those quaint shaped 



blooms, interesting if not "universally" 

 loved, perhaps because one's introduc- 

 tion to these flowers hapi)ened to be 

 thi'ough some of the horrid tomato red, 

 splotched oi' strong yellow varieties. 

 Those found here wei'e not of such 

 crude coloring, but in shades of apri- 

 cot, terra eotta, rose, M'hite and other 

 delicate tints. 



The other houses were interesting, 

 too. In one were orchids — the cattle- 

 yas, while beyond other varieties were 

 the Gloi'iosa superba Ttothschildiana 

 (or climbing lily) with its bright yello\v 

 flowers which change to red, and Dar- 

 win tulips for "fillers" or cut bloom. 

 In another section the gloxinias were 

 just opening, revealing the dark vel- 

 vety flowers, soon to rival the calceo- 

 larias then in the first place. On an- 

 other occasion the Allamanda, with its 

 large golden cups and the fragrant 

 white flowers of the jasmine gracilli- 

 muni were the features that called for 

 attention. 



Time and space will not permit of 

 further description, but mention must 

 be made of the grape house, beautiful 

 with its luscious bunches of purple and 

 white fruit. It had been said to me. 



before I knew the successful growc i 

 of these, that "Mr. Allen was the last 

 word on grapes." One can readily be- 

 lieve this after a visit to this section 

 of the houses. Here, too, strawberries 

 and melons are "specialties" among 

 many other luscious things. 



The rock-garden and the paved gar- 

 den must be passed Mith ju.st a men- ■ 

 tion of them, as must the roses, sweet | 

 peas and many other features, not for 

 lack of appreciation, justly merited, 

 but time and space do not permit if 

 niore extended reference. 



Maurice de Guerin has said, "Every 

 time we allow ourselves to oe penetrat- 

 ed by Nature, our soul is opened to the 

 most touching impressions." After 

 one has enjoyed such grounds as those 

 of Sir Edmund Osier's beautiful Craig- 

 leigh, one realizes the truth of the 

 words : 



"Not a tree, 

 A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains 

 A folio volume. We may read and 



read 

 And read again, and still find some- 

 thing new, 

 Something to please and something to 

 instruct." 



Plant Paeonies in September 



Henry Gibson 



SEPTEMBER is the time to plant 

 paeonies. Of all hardy perennials 

 the paeony is perhaps the mqjil. 

 desirable. It is practically immuni 

 from disease and insect pests. More- 

 over, it is as lovely as a cut flower as it 

 is for landscape effect. 



The paeony is a gross feeder. The 

 richest soil is none too good for it. The 

 strongest stems and the largest floavers 

 are produced when it is planted in 

 situations where .a moderate degree of 

 dampness is maintained. When pre- 

 paring the bed, turn out the soil to the 

 depth of two feet, discarding the bot- 

 tom or sub-soil if it is not of a desir- 

 a'ble character and replacing it with 

 good rich soil from another source. A 

 layer six inches deep of good manure 

 should be put into the bottom of the 

 excavation, and spaded in, if the sub- 

 soil is good, and a liberal quantity of 

 well decayed manure added to the soil 

 as the work of filling up proceeds. 

 Round up the earth until it stands 

 about eight inches above the surround- 

 ing ground, as it will settle a good 

 deal in a few days. 



Abundant room should be given to 

 each paeony plant to develop into a 

 large specimen. Three feet each Avay 

 is not too much for them. Place the 

 crowns from three to four inches below 

 the surface and firm the earth Avell 

 about the roots. Never allow the 

 crowns to come in contact with man- 



ure that is at ail green, in fact it is 

 dangerous to use green manure. None 

 but Avell decomposed manure should be 

 used. After planting, the beds should 

 l)e covered with strawy litter and 

 leaves to prevent drying out until the 

 roots start to get active. 



Many of the new varieties of 

 paeonies have descriptions that are 

 tempting, but it does not follow that 

 because a paeony does well where it 

 was born that it will do well every- 

 where. Not by any means ; fe^v things 

 are as deceitful as new paeonies. They 

 should be tested for j^ears in different 

 parts of the country, before they are 

 finally put on the market as a com- 

 mercial product. We know of an en- 

 thusiastic gardener Avho paid a hand- 

 some price for one of the most beauti- 

 ful double paeonies he ever saw, and 

 gave it a name right there, and behold 

 the following year it bloomed a poori 

 single. So runs the inexplicable^ 

 vagaries of the paeony. 



Herewith is a list of six varieties 

 that will do well in almost any home 

 gai"den : 



Albert Grouse, (light pink), late. 



Couronne, d'Or, (white), late. 



Edulis, Superba, (dark pink), early. 



Felix Couse, (crimson), midseason. 



Festiva, Maxima, (white), early. 



Mons, Jules, Elie, (light pink), early. 



