TOWN GARDENING 389 



themselves. I am not sure that in the long run there is not 

 some advantage in being unable to grow many things, as the 

 best effects are always attained by simple means. 



" Roses are forbidden in a town garden except the invaluable 

 Rosa rugosa and its varieties, but the new and extra vigorous 

 R. wichuriana, which is not well known as yet, seems to pro- 

 mise great things. Its corymbs of sweet white little flowers 

 in August and September are most delightful, and its glossy 

 neat foliage an ornament to any garden. Conifers, too, are 

 quite useless, and so is any evergreen that is sooty and black 

 like some of the varieties of the Holly. 



" On the other hand, Carnations and Pinks thrive extremely 

 well, so broad masses of them adorn this walk, and a bed of 

 seedlings in the reserve plot affords a long succession. Yuccas, 

 Tritonias, Lilies, and tall Composites form a stately background 

 to the usual semi-hardy bedding plants and annuals, and Sweet 

 Peas, Mignonette, and Sweet Geraniums afford, with Coreopsis 

 and various Composites, plenty of bloom for cutting, even 

 though their fragrance may not equal that of those grown in 

 country air. Irises of all sorts, and especially Gladioli, are as 

 happy as possible, and Dahlias are bright and useful till the 

 sun gets hidden behind the tall houses near, and causes an 

 early collapse in autumn. 



" The walls of a town garden are always a trouble. In this 

 instance they were so dismally sooty and black that the only 

 thing to do was to whitewash them all ; and a precious busi- 

 ness it was to obtain anything like a clean surface ! But no 

 sooner was it done than the way the plants responded to the 

 increased light and lessened dry baking heat in the summer 

 was wonderful, and proved it was the right thing. Trifles can 

 make or mar, and I am inclined to think this trifle made a 

 great deal of the success in this town garden. 



" There is one decided advantage in a town garden, and 

 that is the greater freedom from frost, so that many shrubs 

 will live there that would perish in frostier situations. So the 

 walls where the sun lingered longest were planted withChoisyas, 

 Laurustinus, Jasmines, variegated Euonymus, Escallonias, and 

 many another flowering shrub and climber, including Cle- 

 matises in variety, and they are all doing well and looking as 

 they should do ornamental. 



"The plague of caterpillars so common in town gardens in 

 the early autumn does not affect any of these. On the shady 

 sides, the simple plan of planting tall Oval-leaved Privet and 

 sowing climbing Nasturtiums to climb over and between was, 

 of course, adopted, and Aucubas, Aralia Sieboldi, Megasea, 

 and Funkias formed handsome masses of solid foliage, till in 



