44 PRESENT-DAY GARDENING 



rampant of the summer-flowering Roses, and retains its 

 mildew-proof foliage right through the winter and until the 

 new spring growth appears ; and for this reason it is the 

 best of all Roses for covering bare walls, especially the 

 southern front of a house, no matter how high. It will run 

 up twelve or fifteen feet in one year, and eventually right 

 up to the eaves, round the windows, and even over the 

 roof. The Virginian Creeper is not in it compared with 

 the double yellow Banksia. It never seems to grow old ; 

 twenty, thirty years hence will find it as vigorous as when 

 it was first planted. If some cannot make it flower, the 

 cause will probably be found in climate and treatment. 

 As to climate, it is quite hardy, and is never injured by 

 winter frost. But it comes into flower in May, sometimes 

 in April. One month before it flowers the clusters of buds 

 are formed. This is an anxious time for fruit-growers, and 

 the weather that destroys the Peach blossom will destroy 

 the swelling buds of the Banksia unless they are protected. 

 The overhanging eaves of the house will generally afford 

 the buds sufficient protection. With reference to the next 

 point, treatment, all soils suit it, but a warm, gravelly soil, 

 no matter how hungry and dry, is the best. No, it is not 

 in the soil wherein lies the difficulty, but in the pruning. 

 Unlike the multiflora, the strong rods made the first year 

 will not bloom from the laterals the second year. The 

 blooms are borne on the laterals of the laterals, and in the 

 third year. In other words, the strong rods take three 

 years before they bear flowers. Therefore, if we treat the 

 Banksia as we do Crimson Rambler or Blush Rambler, for 

 example, we shall be cutting out all the next year's flower- 

 ing wood. If you have space, prune it but seldom ; but if 

 it grows beyond bounds, remove most of the strong, long. 



