A GARDENING CHART 479 



Walls, Plants for. Wall-gardening, among its many charms and merits, has the great 

 one of making a good show sooner than can be obtained in any other kind of permanent 

 planting. When we plant shrubs and trees we have to wait four or five years before 

 they look at all mature ; a border of hardy plants must have at least two years to come 

 to fair strength ; but wall plants, with their roots in the cool depths and their heads in 

 the sun, grow away at once, and reward the careful planter well within the year. 



Now the means whereby these delightful results may be obtained is within the reach 

 of all. It is only needful to secure that the wall shall be thick enough to allow the mois- 

 ture to condense within it. The retaining walls are the best, because the soil that is 

 supported by one of their sides stores a constant supply of moisture in immediate contact 

 with them. In such a wall you have only to make a little opening, unless you find one 

 ready, and to introduce the roots of your plant, and to fix it in position with a little moss 

 or sphagnum, or a little rather stiff mould ; then you make it all firm by means of a few 

 small angular stones that you can even secure with cement if it should seem desirable. 

 Often it does quite well to sow the seeds of such plants as are easily raised in this way, such 

 as Erinus, Linaria alpina, &c. ; these you introduce into the fissures by means' of some 

 rather stiff soil with which the seeds have been incorporated. In a very few years you 

 will have a wall so superbly beflowered that it will draw enthusiastic expressions' of 

 admiration both from yourself and from your friends. 



In Miss Jekyll's charming book, " Home and Garden," p. 116, there are notes about 

 wall-gardening which are both interesting and instructive : " One of the best and simplest 

 ways of growing rock plants is in a loose wall. ... An exposure to north or east and the 

 cool backing of a mass of earth is just what most Alpines delight in. A dry wall, which 

 means a wall without mortar, may be anything between a wall and a very steep rock-work, 

 and may be built of brick or of any kind of local stone. ... A dry wall needs very little 

 foundation ; two thin courses underground are quite enough. The point of most structural 

 importance is to keep the earth solidly trodden and rammed behind the stones of each 

 course and throughout its bulk, and every two or three courses to lay some stones that are 

 extra long front and back, to tie the wall well into the bank. A local sandstone is the 

 walling material." 



Many, indeed almost all the plants recommended in our list of rock-garden plants 

 may be grown in the wall, such as the pretty Erinus, Rock Pinks, especially the Cheddar 

 Pink, and the Wild Carnation (Dianthus Caryophyllus], Aubrietias, Alyssums, Arabis, 

 Iberis, Alpine Harebells, not forgetting the Wall Ferns, Wall Rue, Hard Fern, Common 

 Polypody, and others, also Houseleeks, Saxifrages, Sedums (Stonecrops), Thymes, and 

 the pretty Sandworts (Arenaria). Sowing the seed as the wall is being made is best, and 

 Ferns should be planted in this way also. A host of plants will flourish in a wall that are 

 not usually regarded as suitable for this purpose, Verbascums as an example, which will 

 send up spikes several feet high in this position. Never overplant a wall. A few Snap- 

 dragons, Wallflowers, or whatever may be planted, are better than attempting too much, 

 especially upon very old walls. In the spring when seedlings are coming up it is wise to 

 gently syringe the wall in the evening or very early morning, especially if much exposed 

 to the sun. 



Room and Window Plants. In the chapters upon bulbous and other plants for the 

 greenhouse, and in the notes in the chapter about " Useful Hints," sufficient, we think, 

 has been said upon room and window plants to satisfy the beginner. Beyond the foliage 

 plants mentioned little can be grown without a greenhouse. The window gardener 

 should place great faith in bulbs, which are invariably a success. Hyacinths in glasses 

 or in pots, Blue Scillas, Daffodils, Crocuses, Chionodoxes, Snowdrops, Tulips, and other 

 spring flowers, Vallota purpurea, and frequently Cacti, such as the Phyllocacti, are a 

 success. Of Ferns select Pteris cretica, its variety albo-lineata, Onychium japonicum, 

 Cyrtomium falcatvm, and Asplenium bulbiferum. And as basket plants Campanula 

 isophylla, the white variety alba, i. Mayi, C. muralis, C, turbinata, Creeping Jenny, and the 

 Common and Harrison's Musks. Hyacinths, Tulips, and almost all of the familiar spring- 

 flowering bulbs may be grown in pots, simply placed at first in a cool, frost-proof cellar, 

 and then when growth begins brought to the light. When growing Hyacinths in glasses 

 never let the water quite touch the bulb. First place the glasses in a dark cupboard to 

 promote root growth, then inure to the light. The Sacred Lily may be grown in a bowl 

 rilled about half-full of small stones, the bulb firmly placed in the centre, and the stones 

 heaped around it until about three-quarters of it is covered. Then fill up with water. 

 The room in which the Sacred Lily (which is really a variety of Narcissus Tazetta] is 

 grown must not be too warm. Examine the bowl frequently, as the bulb absorbs much 

 water. A pinch of artificial manure when full growth is being made is helpful. The 

 bulbs are valueless after they have flowered, but Hyacinths grown in glasses may after 

 they have ripened be planted out of doors. Never use any bulb twice for flowering in 

 glasses. Nurserymen keep special varieties of bulbs for this purpose. 



Strawberries in Barrels. This is quite a new and novel way of growing the Straw- 

 berry, and those who wish to try experiments should purchase barrels especially made for 

 this purpose by Messrs. John Jackson & Co., 17 Philpot Lane, London, who, we feel sure, 

 would give those who intend to grow Strawberries in this way all the help possible to secure 

 good results. 



