24 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



January 13, 1912. 



drainage and a compost of peat, leaf-mould, 

 and light loam (free from chalk) is what it 

 delights in, with abvmdance of moisture 

 during the summer. Free growth then is 

 thu^ assured^ with a full crop of handsome 

 €oral - coloured blossoms. Cotoneaster 

 microphylla is usually seen on a rockery or 

 as a shrubbery plant^ but many sites are 

 quite unsuitable for its proper display. 

 Through the autumn, winter^ and spring, 

 thickly clothed with its crimson berries^ it 

 is most attractive when trained up a wall 

 from 10ft. to 20ft. high. It is under such 

 conditions that one can appreciate the 

 ^reat beauty of tliis much neglected shrub. 



Escallonia macrantha and E. Lamgley- 

 ensis are two subjects that should be moi'e 

 4)ften ]>!aiite(l in the south of England than 

 they arc ; the deep green leaves and pretty 

 ])iuk blossoms are handsome, and the plants 

 form a thick, attractive covering for a wall 

 or fence, and s 



pared to the other two, yet it is one of 

 the best. H. canariensis (Irish ivy) is the 

 well-known variety most often employed. H. 

 Helix atropurpurea, a form of the Eng- 

 lish ivy, is excellent for walls where a close 

 growth is needed; for instance, around 

 porches or windows, it has a particularly 

 neat appearance, and as the autumn comes 

 lound it assumes a dark purple hue. 

 Swanmore Park. E. Molyneux. 



I 



quite amenable to close 

 pruning to obtain a neat appearance. 



Euonynius radicans variegata is usually 

 assi)c:ate(l witli the rock<^rv or used as an 

 edging to paths, rather tliaii as a wall plant, 

 yet no subject I know is bettei- adapted for 

 covering high or low walls under a veran- 

 dah where light is partly obscured; 20ft. 

 high is not an unusual height for it. E. 

 japonica aurea also makes an excellent wall 

 plant, growing loft, high, and when thicklv 

 clothed witli its golden leaves it is very 

 handsonie on a south wall. 



THE IDEAL IN GARDEN^ 



MAKING. 



It is when the autumn and winter are 

 upon us that we find ourselves face to face 

 with the everlasting problem, the possibiHty 

 of creating ideally beautiful gardens out 

 or small plots or extensive areas; we must 

 ask ourselves how far we have as yet ac- 

 complished this purpose, in what manner 

 we have failed, and define at once our de- 

 sires and the limitations of our circum- 

 stances. It is not money alone that will 

 succeed. The true flower-lover with scanty 

 means will often achieve triumphs that the 

 wealthy owner of fine grounds has never 

 wrought either personally or by proxy. 



quarries are the ideal rockeries. 8ome day 

 we shall have learnt to shudder at the 

 symmetrical basins and stone heaps that 

 we manufacture so laboriously to-day. 



Pil'ar roses of rampant habit, sucli as 

 The Dawson, Rose Euprdosyne' Aglaia, 

 etc., placed opposite one another on a 

 path do not need any stiff wire or wood arcli 

 to induce them to span the walk. Their 

 luxuriant boughs can be tied by cords to- 

 gether. The natural pergola is but an ex- 

 tension of this principle, the side boughs 

 being turned in and out^ and fastened thus 

 wdl form hedgelike boundaries that will re. 

 quire thinning out to check the shade eM 

 long. A wide expanse of grass— sloping if 

 not devoted to tennis or croquet, for which 

 special courts made out of fields are more 

 suitable— looks best when of irregular 

 boundaries and very sparingly adornell by 

 specimen trees or shrubs, or a fev/ groups 

 of those. The prim beds that are the joy 

 of the suburban dweller's heart never im- 

 prove bold lawns ; their sole raison d'etre 

 js to enable flowers to be possessed in small 

 pleasure-grounds. An almond tree, rosy 

 in spring, verdant all summer, crimson- 

 fruited, too, is lovelier, casting flecks of 



Pyrethrum uliginosum, of delphiniums and 

 Oriental poppies, of Crown Imperials and 



^''^^^ tulips, around a rustic summer-house 



Cistus ladaniferus is seldom seen as a ^ ^^^^^^h^d cottage, will offer as fair a 



A thicket of hollyhocks, sunflowers, and geranium or begonia colour /nnlrl 



wall climber, but that is just the place for 

 it, with a southern aspect. The full beauty 

 of its large flowers is here shown as the 

 w^ood becomes thoroughly matured, and 

 consequently gives a heavy flower ' crop 

 Eugenia lV,ii, kuouii as the Chilian Myr- 

 tle, IS a <l<'siiMl)le phuit to grow at the foot 

 of a south wall, as its pure white blossoms 

 are abundantly produced in summer. 

 Fabiana imhricata may not be a climber, 

 m the strict sense of the word, but it is 

 an interesting subject for the base of a wall 

 facing south, east, or west, where it flowers 

 profusely, much more freely than when in 

 the o]>en shrubbery; indeed, it is difficult 

 to grow in some open sites. A plant grow- 

 ing here at the foot of a south wall in quite 

 a narrow border, gives such a crop of its 

 pure white tubular heath-like blossoms an- 

 nually as to hide its leaves, showing that 

 maturity of growth has a large influence 

 upon it. This plant i)elongs to the heath 

 t'lnnly, and will not grow in soil impreg- 

 nated with Imie; it enjoys jieat. The rose- 

 mary IS much better for walls than is 

 generally supposed, ainl it ^rows quite com- 

 pactly witli judicious i>nniii]ii:, on anv site, 

 and Inus ;i pUMsing appearance. 



^\ here a tliick, raj)id -( overin^ "s i-efpiir(>d 

 on a norlli or Av<'St wall, (iarrya elliptic;! 

 is a fine siil)ject, growing vigorouslv and 



a i crop of its catkin-like flowers 

 duimg tlie dull months of the year. Cra- 

 ticgus pyracantha Lelandi is one of the 

 most useful subjects \ye can emjilov ; it will 

 grow high or low, can be pruned in quite 

 close or allowed to grow freelv. and still 

 give annual crops of its orange-'red Itorries 

 C^anothus azureus, C. Veitchianus C' 

 divaricatus, and C. Gloire dc Versailles em- 

 brace the best of this family, and they have 

 no superiors as wall plants, especially on a 

 southern aspect. Tlie first-namfvd is of 

 <'Iose growth: C, divaricatus grows vigor- 

 ously, and soon rear lies a bci^Iit of 30ft 



Among ivi.s ue !,nve aluiiMlant Miater-d 



to ehoose fn.nj. and for c,ni.klv cnverinir 

 n\<r\i wall ■ ' 



Hol X 



I 



Ms or scret^ns in anv aspect Hedera 



gimvths r>it. ]<nv. when liherallv supplied 

 with manure and n.oistnre. H dentata 

 ,>rev,ously allMded to. is i.ost In'ndsonu: 

 ^Mth its drooping beart-.shaped leaves H 

 maderensis is of me^lium growth as corn- 



scene in spring, summer, and autumn as 

 heart can desire. The simplest annuals, 

 too, such as sweet peas and larkspurs, are 

 capable of giving perfect colonr schemes 

 and grace. The costliness of plants has no 

 real relation to the beauty of a garden, 

 being only of value as showing how much 

 culture and discovery have done in bring- 

 ing exotic glories to onr land and improving 

 uj>on their natural forms. 



Just as a thin, pale, deMcate child from 

 a London alley will develop into health and 

 loveliness after being given for some years 

 the food, air, and atmosphere of a country 

 life, so an exotic or an alpine plant may 

 attain improvement when translated to a 

 region in which it does not have to battle 

 against the former local ills. It is a mis- 

 take, surely, to suppose that all flowers 

 open just where the conditions are most fit 

 for them ; there is a struggle for existence 

 always going on ; the luxuriance of a Mexi- 

 can forest chokes the gorgeous climbers 

 that mount the tallest trees, the ice does 

 not invariably melt away when the moun- 

 tain blossom needs moisture. The skilled 

 flonst, and, in a minor degree, the patient 

 gardener, work to render conditions ideal 

 for the plants, and, bv learning how to 

 suit their wants, are enabled to employ 

 them HI the fairest combinations and en- 

 vironments. 



Probably the great secret of fashioning 

 a really beautiful garden is the acceptation 

 ot Its term, climate, levels and valleys, 

 sun-stretches a ad shadows, not regretfully 

 as evils with which to fight, but gladly as 

 the true opportunities. When this truth is 

 realised Ave shall find Nature's charm imi- 

 tated without slavery. At present the 

 natural style of gardening is as monotonous 

 as the formal methods it has largely ousted 

 from favour; the ideal arrangement of 

 trees, shrubs, and plants is their allotment 

 to spots just suited to their needs ; a group 

 ot < rmison-tinted blue-berried borberis niav 

 crown a nione.i j,.,,,]^. ^mn^i„iit. a gulley at 

 the sunniest l);,,-,e of the same bank can be 

 blnsh a|)riroi-rose with masses of Jiardv 

 azah as. Wlior,^ the moist ground Ii(\s fur- 

 ther ox(avition will resu't in water lyin 

 nutsj)rea(| among islands and shores of 

 emerald turf. This is the ideal form of 

 water garden, just as natural sides of old 



geranium or begonia colour could be. 



It has been said that the orchard is the 

 most beautiful of gardens. Why should we 

 not station our fruit-trees in companies, 

 allowing healthy space hetween, but making 

 no pretence at formality, leaving large 

 glades and stretches of lawn here and 

 there, instead of congregating them in 

 aisles far from the flower garden? Hosts 

 of shade-loving plants may flourish in cut- 

 tings out of the turf beneath the branches ; 

 beds, and borders, that is to say. only of 

 sufiicient size to be covered and hidden by 

 the herbaceous subjects they contain. 

 Myriads of daffodils, hardy tulips, ornitho- 

 galums, lilies, iris, etc., can rise out of the 

 grass itself, and climbing roses may ming!e 

 blossom with the tips of the apple^ pear, 

 and plum boughs, or lie over banks that 

 serve partly as boundaries. 



Each man or woman will own a different 

 mental vision of an ideal garden ; these 

 suggestions are but offered to assist, not 

 limit, originality. Let us all realise, how- 

 ever, that the crowding together of the 

 greatest possible number of flowers into the 

 given space is not an artistic object of am- 

 bition, and that emptinesses are to lavish 

 fillings as necessary to perfection as are 

 shadows to sunshine. M. H. 



Beg^onia Gloire de Lorraine.— 



It is not unusual to meet with well-flowered 



specimens of this beg-onia during autumn and 



early winter, and occasionally extra good 



specimens are seen, and this 'was the case 



at the show of The Ancient Society of York 



Florists, held at York recently. In a class 



for SIX begonias, the first prize was awarded 



to Mr. Folkard, gardener to Sir j/ Walker, 



band-Hutton. The exhibit was an excellent 



one, the plants being perfect pyramids of 



bloom, grown m six-inch pots. Judging from 



the number of prize cards bearing his name, 



Mr. lolkard wae a most successful exhibi- 

 tor.— Pattt. T More. 



Some cultivators find a 

 securing and 



difficulty 



erias. 



in 



trellise 



establishing 



1 



north side of a. high wall. Lapageria alba 



and L, rosea do remni-kably well in such posi- 

 tions. ^ - 1 . , ■ . ^ 1 



Some plantis which have 'been growinor 



in a cool north aspect all through the past 

 summer, have rarely ibeen without a nice lot 

 ot flowens on them during the whole of the 

 time, and still bear many blossoms, clear ami 

 rich lu colour. Tlio plants too 

 healthy. Fibrous loam forms the 



root 



are very 

 princi])al 

 growing. 



only a small quantity of Icaf-v-oil and peat 

 being used.— G. B. 



