IN MY LADY'S GARDEN 



climbing rose in pink ; and the pale blush-pink blossoms of 

 C. Fairy Queen, barred with pink, are suitable companions 

 for the deep velvety crimson of Noella Narbonnand or Reine 

 Marie Henriette. Amongst the double varieties, Belle of 

 Woking is conspicuously lovely, in silver-grey with a mauve 

 centre ; and Duchess of Edinburgh is a good double white 

 flower. 



A very pretty clematis, which produces a mass of small 

 flowers in rich crimson, each 2j inches across, is C. Ker- 

 mesina, a thoroughly hardy variety, doing well in most 

 localities ; and C. Montana, the beautiful mountain clematis 

 from the Himalayas (where it wreathes the rhododendrons at 

 a certain elevation of many thousand feet), is also very 

 robust and floriferous. But all the clematis tribe need 

 plenty of nourishment, and they will share the mulch of 

 rich soil which every rose should obtain in spring with 

 advantage, if the fresh food be spread over the roots of both 

 to the width of several feet, according to the extent of 

 growth of the plants. The more delicate large-flowered 

 clematises from Florida and Japan, and their hybrids, usually 

 bloom on the current year's growth, and may therefore be 

 pruned with impunity when desirable in the spring ; but 

 others (such as C. Montana) blossom only on the long 

 sprays of greenery formed during the past season, so that 

 the plan of clipping them all into the perfect tidiness so dear 

 to the heart of the ordinary gardener is apt to sacrifice 

 the whole of the bloom on various clematises. There is 

 only one safe rule when dealing with the many varieties and 

 hybrids of this plant, i.e., to study and understand its nature 

 before the pruning is attempted, and to act accordingly ; but 

 on no account should the ruthless shears of the gardener 

 be allowed to touch it. 



Clematises do best when their main stems are slightly 

 sheltered, both from the frost and the full sunshine, by the 

 foliage of a rose or other plant ; so that these are specially 

 desirable companions on an arch or a pergola, the rather 

 bare stem of the clematis being hidden behind the leafage of 

 the rose, when it may be allowed to grow tall, and throw 



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