OCTOBER 199 



by stones ; or if you cover up some wicker or wire hen- 

 coops with muslin, they will keep out five or six degrees 

 of frost. These protections can be removed in the morn- 

 ing. All spring- watering should be done in the morning, 

 not in the evening ; and it is better to add a very little 

 warm water than to use very cold water out of pipes. 

 The handsomest, easiest-grown, hardiest, most useful 

 plant for London gardens is the Polygonum cuspidatum 

 (there is a lovely drawing of it, by Mr. Alfred Parsons, in 

 Mr. Eobinson's ' Wild Garden ') ; but its whole beauty and 

 utility, as I have said before, depends on taking up the 

 suckers as they appear in early spring. Without that, the 

 plant is a useless weed ; but treated as I recommend, I am 

 sure no one can be disappointed with this strong-growing 

 herbaceous plant. The larger-leaved kind, P. sacchali- 

 nensis, is very good also, if you have room for both, 

 but it has not quite such a beautiful up-standing and 

 yet graceful growth. 



I think the Bocconia cordata would also do in London 

 gardens, as it is a very handsome herbaceous plant, and 

 comes to perfection early, throwing up its feathery blooms 

 in July. None of the Primrose family are any good in 

 London ; the leaves are too woolly. 



Do not allow the beds to be dug over or pulled 

 about in the autumn ; it is a very bad plan. Consciously 

 or unconsciously the man digs everything up, and I 

 believe many a gardener thinks it is good for 'trade ! 



No Roses are worth trying in or near London, though 

 a few are growing in Holland House Gardens that look 

 fairly healthy ; but that is a very large open space, and 

 they are old-established bushes, which have been there a 

 long time. I think that most beautiful shrub, Hydrangea 

 paniculata, might do well ; it is best cut down every 

 March, and is such a beautiful thing. It likes a strong soil 

 but flowers rather late for those who leave London early. 



