270 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 224. 



mer is the Gentianella, or Gentiana acaulis, which is 

 allowed to spread out into large masses. Mr. Wilson has 

 several varieties of it, and, to use his own words, "the 

 gorgeous blue of the type, especially when grown in full 

 sunshine, might make it seem that any change in color 

 would be a step in the wrong direction, but in this case, as 

 the varieties are all of delicate colors, no comparison is 

 provoked." These forms of this familiar plant were col- 

 lected by his son, Mr. Scott Wilson, on the Swiss Alps, one 

 having pale azure-blue flowers, another white, touched 

 lightly with delicate blue, and in the third form they are 

 tinted with pinkish purple color, which is of a deeper 

 shade on the reverse of the throat. In such a garden as 

 this a host of things find a place, and in one cool, shady, 

 moist spot, near stones, the Soldanellas, as S. alpina and S. 

 minima, were growing into a perfect mat, thriving in the 

 moist vegetable soil with great vigor. These are usually 

 provokingly troublesome to grow, and it is a pleasure to 

 see them in rude health. Anemone Robinsoniana, among 

 the trees, was delightful, its delicate color being in charm- 

 ing agreement with the natural wildness of the surround- 

 ings, and in a sheltered corner several varieties of Primula 

 Sieboldi were presenting gay masses of bloom. P. Japonica, 

 already bursting into bloom, forms a perfect carpet of 

 growth by the side of the ditch, and there are few nobler 

 plants than this for forming bold clumps of foliage, en- 

 riched in the summer with showy spikes of flowers. There 

 are several varieties, but we prefer the deep crimson, as 

 more showy and effective than the delicately tinted types. 

 Muscarisvied with the Gentianella for creating a wealth of 

 blue color, and it is when massed that the full beauty of 

 such things is revealed. In late May one of the pret- 

 tiest flowers was the Angels' Tears, or Narcissus triandrus, 

 sometimes called the Cyclamen-flowered Daffodil, by rea- 

 son of the shape of the flowers, which are not unlike those 

 of a Cyclamen. It is grown in large colonies, the creamy 

 white flowers carried gracefully on slender stems, and 

 thrives with vigor in a warm situation and light soil. Near 

 a large break of this Narcissus we saw a mass of the pic- 

 turesque Rubus phoenicolasius tumbling over a hedge, and 

 in the summer the effect of the clusters of scarlet fruit 

 peeping out from their mossy calyx is interesting. Over 

 Mr. Wilson's house, that stands on rising ground, and 

 commands a view of lovely Surrey woodland, Reve d'Or 

 Rose has thoroughly established itself, as has the delightful 

 Button-hole variety, William Allen Richardson. The re- 

 introduced Shortia galacifolia, whose appearance may be 

 described as that of an enlarged Soldanella, is growing well 

 in damp vegetable soil by the ditch-side, and this charm- 

 ing plant is likely to be much grown in England ; the flow- 

 ers are pure white, and the foliage of many shades of 

 green and crimson. 



Although Wisley is not a great place for trees, save the 

 beautiful Oaks and Silver Birches that are the glory of the 

 natural woodland, Mr. Wilson has planted many charming 

 things, as Prunus Pissardi and the finest varieties of Pyrus. 

 The deep chocolate leafage of P. Pissardi assumes a warm, 

 rich purple-crimson as the season lengthens, and last year 

 it produced an excellent crop of fruit, which is, however, 

 hardly distinguishable from the foliage ; it is not unpleasant 

 to the taste, but would never, we should think, be grown 

 for its excellence. The past two or three winters in England 

 have been severe, and many of the tender shrubs, as 

 Veronica Traversi, have been badly cut, but those that 

 have survived show great vigor. It is interesting to note 

 how curiously the frost affects plants. In one place a large 

 bush is utterly killed, and ainother of the same kind a few 

 yards away, and growing under the same conditions, re- 

 mains untouched. 



At Heatherbank and in the cottage-garden Mr. Wilson's 

 interest in hardy flowers is everywhere manifest. At the 

 side of the drive to the house, and in front of large banks 

 of Rhododendrons, thriving clumps of the best varieties of 

 Lilium auratum and L. tigrinum give pleasure. The plants 

 failed by reason of the root-ridden ground through the 



Rhododendrons, until the plan was hit upon of sinking 

 casks in the ground, with the bottoms knocked out, and. 

 filling them up with good loamy soil. This kept out the 

 roots of the shrubs, and the Lilies seem to increase in vigor 

 each, year, although they have been in position several 

 seasons. The effect of these brave clumps of showy Lilies 

 is very fine, the dark leafage of the shrubs throwing into 

 bold relief the handsome flowers. In a clearing made in 

 a wood Lilies have also been planted freely, and in the 

 partial shade and in the soil and moist conditions surround- 

 ing them are the picture of health. 



These few hasty notes upon a delightful English garden 

 of hardy flowers will doubtless be read with interest by 

 readers of Garden and Forest, many of whom have possibly 

 visited Wisle)^ to note for themselves Mr. Wilson's experi- 

 ments. It is called an experimental garden, but this is a 

 harsh word for acres of hardy plants, each allowed to grow 

 its own sweet way and tell its own tale of beauty in foliage, 

 habit and flower. 



England. r, C. 



Cultural Department. 

 Hardy Narcissus. — I. 



'X'HE season of these spring-flowering bulbs commenced 

 ■'■ here about the 20th of April with N. bicolor preeco.x (Hart- 

 land). There were blossoms of this variety open seven days 

 before any other. These were quickly followed by Ard-Righ, 

 Countess of Annesley, Golden Spur, Henry Irving and General 

 Gordon. All of these varieties are Ajax or Trumpet Daffodils, 

 and they are also all yellow. With us these kinds came into 

 flower in the order named. I learned after the bulbs of Ard- 

 Righ were planted that "garden-soil kills them." Ard-Righ, 

 Leda, and the white varieties, N. Moschatus, N. cernuus pul- 

 cher, N. pallidus praecox and William Goldring, require condi- 

 tions different from those under which the rest of the family 

 thrive. They are hardy; the trouble appears to be with their 

 digestion, and rich soil seems too strong a diet. N. Moschatus 

 is fast dwindling away. Next fall all these varieties will be 

 planted among grass. Tlie fiowers of N. cernuus pulcher 

 are very chaste and beautiful, as are those of William 

 Goldring, which is later flowering than the other varie- 

 ties of the section known as the Swan's-neck Daffodils. Leda 

 was a complete failure ; from the few bulbs planted not one 

 perfect flower was produced. Of the Ajax varieties Countess 

 of Annesley is the best with us ; it is almost as early as Ard- 

 Righ and Golden Spur, and has a much more expanded trum- 

 pet. It does remarkably well in ordinary garden-soil, and it 

 has also the merit of being cheap. The old N. trumpet maxi- 

 mus is perhaps the richest-colored Daffodil grown, and is good 

 in every way. Though not an early-flowering kind, it comes 

 in with Empress and the best of the Bicolors. N. rugilobus is 

 free-flowering and does well. Bulbs planted two seasons have 

 this year produced five to seven flowers to a bulb. This va- 

 riety resembles Emperor, but is smaller; the outer edge of the 

 trumpet is beautifully set at right angles as if hammered out. 



The Saragossa Daffodil is an early-flowering variety, but is 

 much too dwarf for border-culture, the first showers bespat- 

 tering the flowers as they scarcely reach more than three 

 inches above the soil. It would be a good variety for pot-cul- 

 ture, owing to its earliness, and planted in a rock-garden it 

 could be brought more on a level with the eye. This variety 

 is of Spanish origin, and flowers freely. King Umberto is dis- 

 tinct from all others in having a deep yellow stripe down the 

 centre of a paler yellow perianth ; the trumpet is large ; it is a 

 desirable variety, though of no use for cut flowers. Golden 

 Plover, General Gordon and Emperor may be called second- 

 early varieties, as they flowered about May ist. It is curious to 

 note how differently plants behave in this climate from that in 

 which they were grown for sale. N. bicolor prascox came 

 first, but in regular order, but N. muticus, which was expected 

 to be the last, was a very close second, and was in full bloom 

 with the earliest kinds. 



It was intended to have a nice lot of very late-flowering 

 bicolors, and one hundred bulbs were planted. Oiu" compen- 

 sation lies in the fact that no two of the flowers were alike ; 

 some of the perianths were twisted, some were not, and the 

 lerrgth of the rich yellow trumpet varied a good deal. All were 

 alike in being cylindrical and cut off abruptly at the end. In 

 this variety the flowers developed somewhat before the foliage, 

 but next season they may behave differently. It is a very in- 

 teresting kind to grow both on account of the shape and varia- 



