SEPTEMBER 37 



entirely. The tubs were painted white, and the gardener 

 told me that instead of putting them into any house or 

 shed in winter he put them under very thick shrubs. In 

 his case he was fortunate to have an Ilex grove. Nothing 

 was cut off the Hydrangeas but the faded flowers. By 

 this means they get the damp and cold which only 

 strengthen them in their resting state. In the spring he 

 cuts out the dead wood, mulches and copiously waters 

 them when they begin to grow, and the result was 

 certainly most satisfactory. Hydrangeas strike very 

 easily in spring; and small young plants, especially if 

 white or blue which the pink ones will often turn to if 

 planted in peat make useful small decorative plants in 

 a greenhouse or for late flowering. The tubs of Cape 

 Agapanthus were less fine in foliage than mine are ; but 

 they had spike upon spike of bloom, which is really what 

 one wants. He treated these in the same way as before 

 described for Hydrangeas, leaving them out all the winter. 

 Mine were kept in a cool greenhouse, and looked perfectly 

 healthy, but had hardly any flowers at all this year. It's 

 the old story. Everything from the Cape stands many kinds 

 of treatment, but must have a long period of rest in order 

 to flower well. Under a tall wall facing west in this Suffolk 

 garden was a glorious border of many of the hardiest 

 Bamboos, with a few strong-growing herbaceous plants in 

 between and towards the front. The soil, in spite of the 

 dryness of the year, was moist and very heavy, and the 

 gardener told me he never dug up the border or touched 

 it except to thin out and dig a big wedge out of the 

 herbaceous plants with his spade in winter, filling up the 

 hole with strong manure well stamped in. This, where size 

 of clumps and filling up of large spaces are wanted, is 

 quite an admirable plan. No re-planting is either neces- 

 sary or desirable. In a small garden and light soil, where 

 refinement and specimen plants are desired, re-planting 



