52 MY GARDEN 



Your gladiolus dotes on peat. I have lifted corms 

 of Kelway's hybrids in mid-October that have measured 

 well over ten inches in circumference. The spikes of 

 rose and crimson, purple and cream, spring splendidly 

 here, and brighten the verdant sides of my garden- 

 room. 



Upon the left hand of the entrance are tree paeonies, 

 with colchicum lilies (szovitzianum) planted among 

 them. This loveliest of all the martagon folk does 

 heartily, and hangs out its lemon, purple-spotted bells 

 until the place is fragrant with them ; and my varieties 

 of mouton paeony also attain to excellence. 



In connection with these Japanese tree paeonies, one 

 thinks of the little maples that come with them and 

 make such notable decoration. A couple of dozen 

 or so combined in pots will give you the loveliest 

 effect you can desire ; and since these may be got 

 in perfection from the West country, together with 

 every other rare and beautiful plant and shrub 

 mentioned in this chapter, and many more not 

 mentioned, I am compelled to write a name. If 

 you want the latest, loveliest, and best of flowering 

 treasures from Japan and China, you must seek them 

 at the famous nurseries of Messrs. Gauntlett & Son, 

 Redruth. Here shall be found a magnificent collec- 

 tion of the fairest things that grow ; and it is worth 

 correcting a fallacy in connection with these great 

 gardens. People imagine that because a plant has 

 been raised in Cornwall it must be delicate. The 

 wildest nonsense is talked about our climate, and we 

 are supposed to live in the moist heat of a sub- 



