JrNK 15, 1912.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



387 



for the plants which they send out under that 

 name have wide, purple lines on the upper petals. 

 In May the Dropmore variety of Anchusa italica 

 was a glorious sight, a great group, 6 feet across, 

 being a solid sheet of brilliant blue. Iris orien- 

 talis, also known as I. ochroleuca, is blooming 

 well, the clump having 15 flower-spikes. Some 

 writers have stated that this Iris and its allies, 

 I. Monnieri and I. aurea, require a damp posi- 

 tion, but the site where this clump is growing is 

 very dry, yet it flowers well. I. aurea, hard 

 by, has 21 flower-spikes. Hemerocallis flava, the 

 earliest of the " Day Lilies," has been in flower 

 for some time, and H. Middendroffii is now in 

 bloom, while H. aurantiaca major has thrown 

 <ip 18 flower-spikes, in spite of the fact that 

 some writers state that it requires an abun- 

 dance of moisture. H. Thunbergii is in bud. 

 Dendromecon rigidum, the yellow Californian 

 Tree Poppy, is in full flower, and has been in 

 bloom since early in March, thus having a much 

 longer season of attractiveness than its relative, 

 Romneya Coulteri. Aster alpinus and its white 

 variety are in bloom ; A. sikkimensis has been 



one of the most beautiful of its family, and a 

 charming little shrub, but has not, apparently, a 

 very strong constitution. A plant of CKthionema 

 grandiflorum and one of CE. pulchellum both 

 died when in full flower, from some unexplained 

 cause. The Tulip species, which are generally 

 so good, have this year been practically a failure, 

 owing, probably, to the extremely wet weather 

 of the winter months, which, presumably, rotted 

 the bulbs. Out of a dozen bulbs of T. Tuber- 

 geniana, only one flowered. T. Batalinii, how- 

 ever, flowered well, and was very beautiful. 



A colony of Morisia hypogaea has borne its 

 bright-yellow blossoms in profusion, and was 

 very pretty when in full bloom. Neviusia ala- 

 bamensis, which was much written about some 

 20 or more years ago, but is now rarely met with 

 in gardens, bore its curious flowers, which en- 

 tirely lack petals, but have crowded, white sta- 

 mens, set in green bracts. Deutzia Kalmise- 

 flora is undoubtedly the most beautiful of its 

 family, and a good-sized bush has been a per- 

 fect picture. Iris tingitana, after many years 

 of unqualified success, as shown by the illustra- 



FlG. 185. POLYPODIUM VIDGENII EXHIBITED BY MESSRS. MAY AND SONS, EDMONTON. 



(Received R.H.S. Award of Merit. See p. xvi. of Exhibition Supplement in the issue for May 25.) 



a sheet of flower for some time, and the ex- 

 tremely lovely A. subcoeruleus is bearing its 

 targe, purple-pink blossoms, and the dwarf A. 

 Stracheyi, from the Himalayas, has bloomed 

 well. Cypripedium pubescens was very fine this 

 year, the plant bearing 15 flowers, and being the 

 picture of health. C. spectabile, the Moccasin 

 ■blower, is now coming into bloom. A group of 

 four plants of the white variety of Dictamnus 

 * raxinella has been a very pretty sight, the large, 

 tall, white flower-heads being very effective. It 

 is altogether to be preferred to the type. 



Shortia galacif olia is a very uncertain plant, 

 and has died out in many gardens, but here and 

 there one sees it doing well. Here it has dis- 

 appeared. Four plants of the new Shortia uni- 

 «ora grandiflora, on the north side of a rock, 

 appear happy, though, as yet, they have shown 

 n o sign of flowering. Ramondia pyrenaica, grow- 

 l *g between the chinks of large, flat stones, with 

 a northern exposure, have flowered magnificently, 

 and are evidently at home. Viola gracilis has 

 g ^ en m flow er for many weeks, and is still a 



s \\ P. ur P^ e - Veronica anomala has borne its 

 siau, white flowers in abundance, and V. Lyallii 



now be *ring its pale lavender blossoms. It is 



tion which appeared in Gardeners 9 Chronicle, 

 July 9, 1910, have been an absolute failure, all 

 the bulbs having rotted and not a single 

 flower-spike having been thrown up. This is 

 most deplorable, and there seems nothing 

 to account for it, unless it is the extreme w r etness 

 of the winter. Bouvardia triphylla, brought 

 through the winter by the help of a glass cap- 

 light over it, is now a mass of scarlet flower. 

 Ixiolirion montanum and I. tataricum have 

 been flowering well. The former is by far 

 the finer, often growing to a height of 

 28 inches, while I. tataricum rarely exceeds 18 

 inches. The flowers of I. montanum are larger 

 and more freely borne, 12 being often carried 

 on the same scape, while I. tataricum seldom 

 bears more than six, and is a fortnight later in 

 flowering. The Sun Roses, or Helianthemums, 

 have been very bright, especially the double crim- 

 son, a large plant of which is extremely brilliant. 

 Libertia f ormosa has been very beautiful, hold- 

 in^ aloft hundreds of white flower-wands. Osteo- 

 meles anthyllidiflora is now a most charming 

 sight, being entirely covered by clusters of small, 

 white flowers, very like Hawthorn. It seeds 

 freely here Camassia Leichtlinii and C 



Cusickii have been very fine, their ivory-white 

 and pale-blue flowers making a charming com- 

 bination. Anopteris glandulosa is a charming 

 shrub, but rarely met with in gardens. Its 

 flowers resemble those of the Lily of the Valley 

 Tree (Olethra arborea), but are considerably 

 larger, the white bells being often over half an 

 inch across. It flowers profusely, even in a very 

 small state, but is a slow grower. There is a 

 splendid specimen in Mr. Dorrien-Smith's gar- 

 den, at Tresco Abbey, Isles of Scilly, about 10 

 feet in height. There is a young plant here, 

 which is making good growth. A larp> plant of 

 Solanum crispum, against a wall, is 15 feet in 

 height, and this year was a sheet of blossom. 

 Watsonia coccinea bore its first scarlet flower spike 

 in December, and continued flowering through 

 March, April, and May. A few flower-spikes 

 are forming on W. Ardernei ; but there is no 

 sign of bloom on W. rosea. Kritillaria persica 

 has borne its purple-brown flow rs on stems 

 nearly 3 feet high, and F. obliqua has produced 

 its almost black blossoms. A large patch of 

 Homeria collina was a sheet of apricot-buff in 

 the spring, and Sparaxis, Ixias, and Freesias 

 have flowered well, S. Fire King, scarlet, with 

 golden eye, being especially brilliant. At the 

 end of May, Veronica Hulkeana, a cloud of 

 soft lavender, was one of the most beautiful 

 sights in the garden. Wyndham Fitzherbert. 



THE ROSARY. 



THE FOLIAGE OF ROSES IN SPRING. 



GARDEN ROSES. 



Early in the year one of the chief charms 

 of the Rose garden — quite apart from the pleasure 

 of anticipation of the feast of flowers to come 

 later on — lies in the beautiful effects produced by 

 the young foliage of many of our garden Roses. 

 In this respect the varieties vary greatly, some 

 being merely pleasant for their fresh, green 

 leaves, while others give exceedingly rich 

 effects of pink, ruby, and crimson-coloured foli- 

 age. In some cases, the colour occurs merely at 

 the tips of the shoots, in others at the base of the 

 leaf-stalk, or it may overlie the ground colour 

 of the green leaf. 



The foliage of many of the species will bear 

 comparison with the best of the flowering shrubs 

 of our gardens, though I have not these specially 

 in mind at the moment, but rather what we may 

 term the ordinary garden Roses, nearly all of 

 which contain a greater or less proportion of the 

 characteristics of R. indica. I am by no means cer- 

 tain that the most rich and beautiful effects in 

 Rose foliage are not found either before pruning 

 has taken place or when it has been exercised 

 rather sparingly. This, of course, is natural, for 

 when the Rose is cut to the ground it is impos- 

 sible for it to produce for some months to come 

 the effect of mass, which is, to a greater or less 

 degree, a necessary foundation for really pleasing 

 results. Half the beauty of the best bedding Tea 

 Roses lies in the way in which they will cover 

 up the entire bed, hiding the ground with their 

 branching and interlaced foliage. So to secure 

 really fine effect in the spring Rose foliage we must 

 turn to places where there is a fair quantity of 

 one variety. The mass of colour attracts the eye, 

 and leads it to notice many contrasts and a refine- 

 ment of effect, while a single plant of the same 

 variety, beautiful though it might be if examined 

 carefully, passes almost unnoticed in a cur- 

 sory inspection. 



I think it follows that the most beautiful foliage 

 effects will be obtained in gardens where a certain 

 number of the Roses, whose early foliage is speci- 

 ally worth notice, are grown either as free bushes 

 with little pruning, or as dwarf hedges, or else 

 where the plants suitable for that treatment are 

 pegged down in beds or borders. 



Severe pruning is often necessary, not only for 

 exhibition Roses but for Roses in beds, and in 

 some cases in borders, but from this point of view 





