260 MORE POT-POURRI 



the matter constant attention. Having everything under 

 one's eye, one never forgets to notice how they get on ; 

 the greatest danger for the beds and shrubberies is the 

 forking -over in autumn. It is far better left alone, if 

 it cannot be done with care and knowledge. 



My little plant of the Daphne blagayana is now in 

 flower, but none of the Daphnes do well here for long ; 

 even the mezereum goes off after a year or two, and 

 D. cneorum wants constant attention. D. blagayana has 

 to be grown like D, cneorum, pegged down in peat, and 

 with some low-growing plant to shade it. All Daphnes 

 are well worth the care they need, but it is a hard 

 struggle. I think the spring air is too dry for them. 



The best gardeners tell me we ought to be able to get 

 Irises during eight or nine months of the year, and that 

 this is done by keeping back Japanese Irises with their 

 toes in the water till October. I confess I have never 

 seen any Kcempferi in bloom after the end of July in 

 this part of the world. 



I have lately been given this most useful list for the 

 blooming time of Irises : February and March, Iris 

 stylosa (blue and white varieties), I. reticulata, I. 

 unguicularis alba, I. persica, I. histrioides ; March and 

 April, I. pumila atropurpurea, I. pumila ccerulea, I. 

 backeriana, I. tuberosa, I. orchioides, I. assyriaca ; 

 May, florentina; May and June, German and Spanish 

 and I. sibirica ; July and August, English and 

 Japanese. 



I have had the ground prepared, and to-day I am 

 sowing the Shirley and other Poppies and Sweet Peas. 

 Early sowing of early summer annuals is most essential 

 here. I see Miss Jekyll holds much to autumn sowing. 

 I have tried it, and failed in some cases, but that is 

 because I have done it too late in the autumn. Early 

 sowing is the only plan of spring sowing that is at all 



