54 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF GARDENING. 



Pelargoniums [Ivy-leaved). — This is a graceful group 

 of flowers, useful for hanging baskets, window-boxes, or 

 vases in the garden, and to peg down over the surface of a 

 bed. Cuttings may be struck in spring or in autumn, as in 

 the case ofthe zonal varieties, but they should not be trusted 

 out of doors. Of double varieties choose from amongst the 

 following : A. F. Barron, rosy lilac ; Beauty of Castle 

 Hill, rose ; Galilee, soft rose ; Jeanne d'Arc, white and 

 lavender; Mine. Thibaut, pink; Ryecroft Surprise, 

 salmon pink; and Souvenir de Charles Turner, pink 

 touched with maroon. Of these Souvenir de Charles 

 Turner is the freest and most vigorous. 



Salvia patens and S. splendens (the Blue and Scarlet 



Salvia). — These are singled out from all the other 

 Salvias because of their extreme beauty and usefulness in 

 the summer garden. S. patens (the Blue Salvia) contri- 

 butes a bit dl true blue colouring to the border, and a group 

 of it in a bed by itself on the lawn is charming, as the 

 flowers are really blue. When placed against the white 

 Phlox or rising from a bed surfaced with the bronzy- 

 green Heuchera, the result is pleasing and distinct. The 

 white variety is pretty, but we have plenty of white flowers, 

 not so many, however, of the clear blue colour of S. 

 patens. It has tuberous roots, and it is an easy matter to 

 store them in sand or ashes in a cellar or some cool house 

 where they will be safe from frost, planting out again in 

 the spring. It is a mistake to dot this or any other plant 

 about the border. Make a good group of it and get the 

 full effect of the self blue flowers. It is a simple matter 

 also to strike cuttings in spring from moderately-ripened 

 shoots, treating them as one would the Fuchsia. The 

 Salvias in general will be considered when greenhouse 

 flowers are dealt with. The Scarlet S. splendens and the 

 variety Bruanti are brilliant tender summer flowers also. 

 Sllb-tropieal Gardening. —The attractions of our 

 gardens are mainly, if not entirely, dependent upon tun 

 factors, beauty of colour and beauty of form. The first 

 comprises all effects that owe their being to artistic 

 blending of tints, either in the way of contrasts, or colour 

 gradations, where hues merge almost imperceptibly into 

 allied hues. The last includes the configuration and 

 environment of the garden, as well as the impressions 

 conveyed by the contours of the varied subjects employed 

 to furnish it. Where the garden is mainly devoted to 

 summer bedding plants, the flat surface, though glowing 

 with brilliant colour, has not a suggestion of beauty of 

 form, but in the sub-tropical garden this can be appreciated 

 at its full value, provided that this portion of the grounds 

 is laid out with due regard to artistic effect. Any attempt 

 at formality, such as planting tall specimens of the same 

 species at equal distances apart, in lines, or at the corners 

 of tiie garden, if such exist, is fatal to the natural beauty 

 of the spot where, of all places in the grounds, the 

 charm of informal grouping should be most conspicuous, 

 the subjects employed being planted with due regard to 

 effective contrasts of outline and habit. A sheltered dell 

 is the most desirable position for a sub-tropical garden, 

 for here the wide leaves of Palm and Musa are protected 

 from the strong winds that work such havoc with their 

 noble spread, while the setting of greenery provided by 

 trees and shrubs, situated at some little distance, shows 

 off the graceful proportions of the foliage plants to the best 

 advantage. Naturally, such sites are not to be met with 

 in every garden ; but in cases where they do not exist, 

 simple beds where such things as Castor-oil plants ( Ricinus) 

 and Indian shot (Canna) are massed, with an edging 

 of the glaucous Plantain Lily (Funkia Sieboldi), or wide 

 borders where the lofty shafts of Bamboos and Arundos 

 and the tall flower-spires of the Plume Poppy (Bocconia 

 cordata) stand out from the curving leaves of the noble 

 Acanthus, the sword-like foliage and ivory bloom-spikes 

 of the Yuccas, the narrow, drooping leafage and illiant 

 flower-heads of the Tritomas, or Kniphofias, and the 

 varied outlines of Crambe, Epimedium. and Solanum, are 

 effective examples of beauty of form. Wherever it may 

 be arranged to locate the sub-tropical garden, border or 

 bed, it is a sine qua non that the soil must be both rich 

 and deep, for our summers are none too long or too 



warm for annual foliage plants to attain perfection even 

 when grown under the most favourable conditions, while, 

 if they are starved, a satisfactory effect is out of the 

 question. Although it is doubtless true that subjects 

 which require the shelter of glass through the winter, and 

 those that must be raised from seed in heat and planted 

 out in the early summer, are indispensable to any sub- 

 tropical garden, fine effects are obtainable from hardy, 

 or comparatively hardy, subjects, at all events in the South 

 of England. Acanthus mollis with its giant, arching 

 leafage and tall bloom-spikes, 6ft. high and more ; the 

 dwarfer A. spinosissimus with its prickly leaves ; Aralia 

 (Fatsia) japonica and A. spinosa, the latter most effective 

 when grown with a straight stem 8ft. to ioft. high, 

 whence it spreads its large, deeply-cut leaves and white 

 flower-plumes aloft, both of which are hardy in the 

 south-west; Ailantus glandulosa, the Stag's-horn 

 Sumach (Rhus typhina), and Paulownia imperialis, three 

 handsome-leaved trees, which, if cut down yearly, throw 

 up strong shoots bearing exceptionally large and striking 

 foliage, the two first of which are absolutely hardy and 

 the latter hardy in the south-west, where the great 

 American Aloe (Agave americana) assumes massive pro- 

 portions ; the giant Reed (Arundo Donax) and its 

 tenderer, variegated variety, and the New Zealand Reed 

 (Arundo conspicua) with its graceful white plumes, with 

 Arundinarias and Bambusas, which if protected from 

 cutting winds will stand 2odeg. of frost; Dracaena australis, 

 grown in quantitv and flowering grandly along 

 the south-west coast ; the fine perennial Plume Poppy 

 (Bocconia cordata) with its glaucous white-backed 

 loliage and tall ivory-white flower-spire sometimes 8ft. in 

 height ; Crambe cordifolia with its grand leafage ; 

 Japanese Maples, ranging in colour from light green to the 

 deepest copper-red ; Eulalia japonica and its variegated 

 form, hardy in the Southern Counties; the Plantain Lilies 

 (Funkia), hardy perennials of which the best are F. 

 Sieboldi with blue-green leaves, F. ovata, and F. grandi- 

 flora ; the Ferulas, with their thread-like foliage ; 

 Gunnera manicata and G. scabra, with their giant leaves, 

 best suited, doubtless, by a position at the water's edge, 

 but losing little of their noble proportions even when 

 grown in dry soil ; Pampas Grass (Gynerium) ; the Fan 

 Palm (Chamasrops Fortunei), that in many gardens in the 

 southern portion of England has attained a height of 

 1 2ft. or 14ft. ; Kniphofias; the New Zealand Flaxes, 

 Phormium tenax and P. t. variegata, which flourish 

 amazingly and flower freely in Devon and Cornwall ; 

 Polygonum cuspidatum and P. sachalinense, hardy, but 

 requiring an isolated position, lest they encroach upon 

 other less rapacious subjects ; and the family of Yuccas, 

 the great Y. gloriosa with its lofty close-flowered spike, 

 the drooping-leaved Y. pendula, Y. flaccida, and Y. 

 filamentosa, form a collection of two dozen species of fine- 

 foliaged subjects that may, in certain portions of England, 

 be planted with impunity for permanent effect, while 

 quite half of the species enumerated are hardy. 



Of plants that require to be wintered in heat, or at 

 least under glass, Acacia lopantha is one of the most 

 graceful. Cannas are either raised from seed in strong 

 heat early in the year, or the old plants are taken up, 

 stored, and started again in heat in the spring. An 

 excellent variety of Canna for the sub-tropical garden is 

 C. Ehmanni iridiflora, the Fuchsia-flowered Canna, 

 with large Musa-like leaves and drooping scapes of 

 flowers of a rich carmine-pink colour. Hedychiums are 

 also valuable for their foliage. The Blue Gum (Eucalyptus 

 globulus) is very telling when in a comparatively young 

 stage, as its glaucous colour is at that period particularly 

 effective. Comparatively large specimens can be grown in 

 moderate-sized pots, which may be plunged in the beds. 

 This Eucalyptus grows well in the open in sheltered 

 positions on the south-west coast, some specimens having 

 attained a height of nearly 30ft. , while they flower freely 

 and produce fertile seed. However, in none but 

 particularly favoured spots in England can the Blue Gum 

 be treated as a permanent outdoor subject. The India- 

 rubber plant (Eicus elastica) is also often made use of, 



