338 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICDLTDEE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ November 1, 1877. 



Pippin, 'winding up for the season with Court-Pendu-Plat. 

 Add to this list any for which you may have a fancy, and as far 

 as need requires you may safely pass by all the rest. Though 

 do not for a moment let it be considered that I hold this to 

 be the best possible selection that can be made; I only con- 

 tend that it is a good selection. In fact I rather regret to 

 leave out sueh Apples as Dumelow's Seedling and the new 

 Hawthornden. 



And now about planting. When I plant a Gooseberry bush I 

 do no more than rake a piece of soil, place the bush on the site 

 raked, spread out the roots and cover them over like a good-sized 

 molehill and in proportion. I prefer this to deep planting. A 

 stake will steady a bush the first year ; it will protect itself 

 afterwards. Ton will have clean fruit when your neighbours' 

 is dirty, and your bush will grow none the worse for having 

 beneath it the increased depth of soil. With a clay bottom 

 good drainage is the most necessary thing. If the bottom is 

 poor, rotten, and cankerous, then you must make a sound 

 one ; one 2 feet deep will answer all purposes. I will take 

 it for granted that any reasonable expense will not be allowed 

 to stand in the way of good results. One ton of the best 

 cement can be purchased at from £2 to £2 5s., and to this 

 can be added from two to three parts of sharp sand, but 

 test its strength for yourselves. If you get it sufficiently hard 

 to put the soil on without injury it will keep getting harder 

 afterwards. This secured, set to work and throw out a 

 trench say 6 or 8 feet wide, leaving it round in the middle, 

 and on either side put a drain tile just sufficiently deep to 

 carry off the surplus water. Let the bottom of the trench 

 be smooth ; then take the parts of cement and sand, mix one 

 pailful at once, and spread it with a plasterer's trowel thinly 

 over the bottom ; a quarter of an inch thick is sufficient. As 

 soon as it is sufficiently hard throw back your soil, with an 

 addition of as much burnt rubbish as you like, but let all the 

 necessary manure be spread over the surface.. — Joseph Withek- 

 spoon, The Vineries, Chester-le-Street. 



AUTUMN PERENNIALS FOE SHRUBBERIES. 

 These is a dearth of flowering shrubs in autumn compared 

 with spring, and wild flowers too are scarce. We have, it is 

 true, the glorious tints of the fading deciduous shrubs and 

 trees ; but oh ! how short-lived is their beauty ! One little 

 frost and a breath of wind, and all is over. Annuals are often 

 recommended for the sides of woodland walks, but they are 

 seldom satisfactory ; even if birds, reptiles, and insects allow 

 them to grow, most of such as will thrive in such positions 

 have rather a weedy appearance, and by the end of summer 

 are rather an eyesore than otherwise. Ordinary bedding plants 

 have an air of vulgarity about them when placed against 

 shrubs, or indeed against any good foliage, a mass of Cannas 

 edged with scarlet Geraniums in Battersea Park this summer 

 to wit. The colour was right, but something in the habits of 

 the two plants did not harmonise. A few plants (not a con- 

 tinuous line) of Gladiolus Brenchleyensis in lieu of Geraniums 

 would have made all the difference. I have nothing particular 

 to say against bedding plants so long as they are kept to the 

 beds, but bedding plants in mixed borders, subtropical beds, 

 or around and amongst shrubs, are about as incongruous as 

 winding walks and London rockeries in a vegetable garden. 

 There is, however, something about the better class of herba- 

 ceous plants which claim our respect if we are not too bigoted. 

 A plant here and there suitably placed can be made to look 

 like part and parcel of the whole concern rather than like inter- 

 lopers or tenants-at-will. Those I shall name are sueh as will 

 almost take care of themselves when once well planted, need- 

 ing no protection, no guarding from insects, and little or no 

 tying-up. 



It muBt not, however, be supposed that all herbaceous plants 

 need so little attention. There is no place in the flower garden 

 which takes up so much time as the herbaceous borders where 

 there is anything like an attempt to keep them in good order ; 

 and besides this, ordinary labourers and young gardeners can 

 hardly be persuaded to take an interest in this class of plants. 

 With regular lines and bright colours the superintendent's 

 work is light, but to have herbaceous or mixed borders well 

 attended to there mutt be someone in charge of them who has 

 some pretensions to the possession of taste as well as a little 

 aptitude for learning names. The following are taken at a 

 glance along the borders as those which are likely to etand the 

 roughest treatment, and yet they are all really good. It would 

 be an easy matter to extend the list, but many of the prettiest 



plants have sueh horrible long ugly names that there is- a 

 danger of frightening beginners with an extended list. 



The queen of hardy border flowers is of course Anemone 

 Honorine Jobert, also called A. japoniea alba, but it certainly 

 is not a white variety of A. japoniea, as it is distinct in foliage 

 and habit. Anemone vitifolia, also called A. hybrida, is a 

 pinkish variety nearly equal to the above, and growing to the 

 same height — about 2J feet. Anemone japoniea is also very 

 beautiful, but it does not succeed with me as well as the other 

 two ; it, however, grows well in most places. I think all three 

 of them, though they look well almost anywhere, are best as 

 specimens about 2 feet through on the grass. 



Tritomas or Torch Flowers are suitable for similar positions, 

 and the effect of coming suddenly along a winding walk to a 

 large patch of T. Uvaria glaucescens backed by dark green 

 foliage is almost startling. T. grandis is a later and larger 

 variety, flowering from October to Christmas. Its flowers are 

 equally as bright as the preceding, but they are not quite so 

 freely produced. 



All kinds of Lilies are admissible in the shrubbery. Moat 

 of them, perhaps all excepting L. candidum and its varieties, 

 do best in light soil which does not hold too much wet in 

 winter. Peat suits them admirably, and they can generally be 

 grown along with American plants. Lilium speeiosum (syn. 

 lancifolium) and L. speeiosum album, L. punctatum, L. exi- 

 meum, L. excelsum, and of course L. auratum, are specially to 

 be recommended for such positions. L. tigrinum, L. tigrinum 

 Fortunei, L. aurantiacum, and the Martagon Lilies, are not so 

 particular about the texture of the soil. 



Helianthus multiflorus and H. multiflorus plenus are very 

 telling perennial Sunflowers, growing 3 to 4 feft highland 

 flowering all through the summer. Patrinia ^cabiosa?folia is 

 something like a single Sunflower, growing the same height, 

 and is extremely pretty. The Golden Bod, Solidago multi- 

 flora, also growing 3 or 4 feet high, and the dwarf variety 

 named S. reflexa, are very showy without being vulgar-looking. 

 Monardas, generally called Bergamot, have perfumed foliage 

 as well as handsome flowers suitable for cutting, and the best is 

 M. didyma (syn. M. Kalmiana), a bright scarlet about 18 inches 

 high. Achillea Ptarmica plena is an attractive pure white 

 flower, very useful for cuttirg, and almost always in bloom; 

 it also grows about 18 inches in height. A. aurea and A. Mille- 

 folia rosea are likewise good. 



Among Michaelmas Daisies (Asters) are a great many weeds 

 not worthy of cultivation, but on the other hand there are 

 some varieties which are very beautiful, and these are as easy 

 to grow as the most worthless sorts. To my mind the best of 

 all is A. longifolius formosus, a rosy lilac, very free-flowering 

 variety. A. Amellus is a large-flowering purple variety of dwarf 

 habit. A. horizontalis, called here "Farewell Summer," is 

 also very pretty, and so is A. pendulus. Galatella cana, 3 feet 

 high, with small lilac flowers similar to an Aster, is good, and 

 so is the dwarf variety called G. hyssopifolia. Schizostylis 

 coceinea is a beautiful Gladiolus-like flower, but it is rather 

 late in opening, so that, excepting in sheltered situations, it is 

 liable to be cut off by the frost just as it is coming to its beat. 

 It is a fine plant for autumn work in pots. 



Amongst other plants I have jotted down as suitable for 

 edges of shrubberies are Polygonum Brunoni, Tritonia aurea, 

 Colehicum byzontinum, C. autumnale album, C. autumnale 

 plenum, C. autumnale striatum, and in fact all ColchicumB ; 

 but autumn Crocuses are not so safe where there are rats or 

 mice. Funkias, too, are good for this purpose ; F. Sieboldii, 

 F. Sieboldii variegata and ovata, are among the best. Sedum 

 Fabaria, Phygelius capensis, and the Monkshoods, Aeonitum 

 Napellus, A. Napellus bicolor, and A. autumnale, are also hardy 

 and showy. — Wn. Tayxob. 



VENUS'S FLYTRAP. 

 This is a most interesting little plant, and one that should 

 be more extensively grown than it is at present. I was visiting 

 a friend at Preston, Lancashire, last year, and was taken by 

 him to look at a collection of plants belonging to Mr. Fore- 

 shaw, an enthusiastic amateur of that place. There were 

 many very good plants in the stoves and greenhouses, but the 

 one that arrested my attention most was a beautiful pan of 

 the Dionnsa muscipula, or Venue's Flytrap. This year I saw 

 that the same plant, or rather pan containing a number of 

 plants, was exhibited at the summer show at Preston and was 

 much admired. Some of our best gardeners, and amongst 

 them Mr. Baines, had stated that they had never seen this 



