May, 19 H 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



537 



permanent zinc lalicls, and use No. 8 

 fencing wire f(ir stakes. If labels ate 

 painted white and the name written on 

 with an indelible pencil before paint 

 dries, the writing will remain for years. 

 As the plants shoot into growth they 

 will require fixing to stakes. A pa- 

 tent copper clip is found useful for this 

 purpose, and is preferable to raffia. 



<|> 



Wall Gardening, 



— How to Beautify Eyesores. — 



Beauty and utility do not always go 

 hand in hand, and so it sometimes hap- 

 pens that some old wall about garden 

 or grounds may be a hideous eyesore, 

 yet serving some useful purpose, it can- 

 not be removed. In such cases it is 

 usual to cover the wall with climbers or 

 plants of some sort, but many such walls 

 in favorable situations might be covered 

 with flowering and other plants, which, 

 from a picturesque point of veiw, would 

 be more effective. 



An old, roughly-built stone wall is 

 easily covered, and the rougher the wall 

 the better do the plants thrive after- 

 wards, while the rough, projecting cor- 

 ners of the stones projecting through 

 the greenery adds to the effectiveness of 

 the whole. Even the smooth outline of 

 a brick wall may be draped in greenery, 

 but the bricks being usually closely set 

 in the mortar this involves more labour 

 in making the crevices for the plants, 

 and also in watering afterwards. 



In such cases the best method of se- 

 curing a proper pocket for the plants 

 is to remove half a brick at intervals 

 all over the face of the wall, then, 

 after the hole thus made has been 

 filled with suitable soil, the plant should 

 be inserted, and a miniature retaining 

 wall built up with clay or cement in 

 front of the soil. This prevents the 

 soil getting washed out, and should be 

 carried up till nearly the top of the 

 pocket, and should project outward 

 somewhat from the perpendicular, there- 

 by making provision for water or rain 

 being carried inward to the roots of 

 the plant. 



Stone walls are usually built with 

 plenty of wide joints over their sur- 

 face, and the removal of sufficient mor- 

 tar from these to form a pocket for the 

 plant is generally an easy matter. Stone 

 walls are usually built with more "bat- 

 ter," or slope, than brick walls, and 

 this ensures water finding its way into 

 the crevices more readily than a more 



perpendicular brick wall. Provision for 

 water should still l)e made when plant- 

 ing, as in the case of brick walls, as in 

 a period of dry weather water must be 

 given, so due provision should l)c made 

 for such being effectively applied. This 

 can be done with the watering can with 

 low walls, hut where beyond the reach 

 of the watering can, a hose or syringe 

 will l)c necessary. Many plants lend them- 

 selves to this form of gardening, and in 

 some cases seeds may be sown instead 

 of using plants, though the wall is not 

 so quickly furnished when seeds are 

 used. 



♦ 



Sowing Seed. 



It is not advisable to sow the whole 

 of a packet of seed at one time, as, 

 should anything unforeseen happen to 

 the first sowing, you still have one, or 

 perhaps two, more charges left in the 

 locker. Use a fine, sandy loam, sow 

 thinly, cover lightly (the thickness of 

 the diameter of the seed), keep surface 

 damp, using a fine rose-can for the pur- 

 pose. If these directions are carefully 

 and consistently carried out it is not too 

 much to say that almost any seed (ex- 

 cept those, of course, requiring bottom 

 heat) may be successfully raised. Lists 

 of annuals will be found in the very 

 complete catalogues, issued by the nur- 

 serymen. But often the very complete- 

 ness of these is their most bewildering 

 quality. Don't forsake the old favour- 

 ites, but at the same time, it is well 

 to introduce something new, at least, to 

 your garden, each season. If it proves 

 unworthy, discard it in the following 

 season. The time and trouble will not 

 be altogether wasted, for you will have 

 at least learnt something to avoid, and 

 to advise your friends to avoid, plant- 

 ing. 



^ 



Some Winter- Flowering 

 Shrubs. 



A deliciously sweet-smelling shrub is 

 the Japanese "Witch Hazel" (Hama- 

 melis mollis). It unfolds its flowers in 

 the winter, so that all the branches are 

 decked all over with tassels of crimson 

 and gold. The Chimonanthus fragrans, 

 or the Japanese "all-spice" plant, has sin- 

 gular flowers of yellow and red, they 

 are mostly highly perfumed, and al- 

 though this deciduous shrub is not of 

 striking appearance, its fragrant flowers 

 make it worthy of a place in almost any 



shrubbery. Some of the Loniceras or 

 honeysuckles bloom in the winter. One 

 of tile best of these is L. Standishi ; it 

 produces its white and purple blossoms 

 in abundance, and they are sweet-scent- 

 ed. The Jasminum nudiflorum produces 

 masses of rich yellow flowers before the 

 leaves come out ; Olearia Forstcri comes 

 from New Zealand; its flowers are in- 

 conspicuous, but delightfully fragrant; it 

 has very pretty foliage, and forms a 

 fine evergreeti shrub. The Californian 

 "catkin plant" (Garrya elliptica) is a 

 fine, bold, evergreen shrub, and, when 

 laden with its long pendulous green cat- 

 kins, is a striking object. The Japan 

 quinces (Pyrus japonica), red, pink, and 

 pure white, are amongst our showiest 

 winter-flowering shrubs. The Laurus- 

 tinus is a general favourite. Many of 

 the Ericas flower in the winter. The 

 Protea melifera is a very showy shrub, 

 growing in quite poor soils. The Natal 

 "wedding flower" (Dombeya Natalen- 

 sis) needs a sheltered spot, and is gene- 

 rally an abundant bloomer. Some of our 

 native Acacias flower in the winter. A 

 discolour and A. maideni are good ex- 

 amples. Hakea eucalyptoides and H. 

 suaveolens are very distinct plants. Tem- 

 pletonia retusu is a fine winter-bloom- 

 ing shrub from Western Australia. 



♦ • 



How to Arrange Foliage 

 and Berries. 



On no account should these be ar- 

 ranged so densely as to block the view 

 across the table. A light arrangement 

 is absolutely essential. Sprays of a 

 light nature should be laid on the cloth 

 itself, and others arranged in tall vases 

 so as to depend gracefully from them. 

 Leaves also may be laid on the cloth. A 

 formal design one night and an infor- 

 mal one the following night would be 

 welcome. The berries should be asso- 

 ciated with the foliage in as natural a 

 manner as possible, and all leaves should 

 be dry. Overcrowding nuist be strictly 

 avoided, as nothing looks worse than a 

 table so packed with decoration that no 

 room is left for the plates, glasses, and 

 other ware. Different kinds of leaves 

 and berries can be used extensively in 

 the decoration of both very large and 

 small dinner-tables, and please by the 

 charming efTects secured. Visitors who 

 are suddenly and unexpectedly confront- 

 ed with decorations of this kind are 

 delighted, and very rarely fail to express 

 their astonishment and pleasure at thp 

 display. 



