February 24, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



157 



FAIR BLOSSOMS OF SPRING. 



Fii^t came® the almond, wild-rose pink 



of h\ ue , thoiT jr h t h e 



44 gainst the skies 

 ground beneath may be snow covered, for 

 the tree remains true to its Hebrew name 



which means wake 



of 



shakad/' wiiicii means 



On the reverse of every petal Jies 



that caused the 



wallflower, '^faithf^^^ in misfortune"; the 

 tear-decked Crown Imperial, or ''mourn- 

 ing widow " ; while later blossoms the lilac, 

 the beauty of which caused the Dutch 

 painter. Van Spaendoul, to throw down 

 his brush and nearlv die of melancholy. 



M. H. 



early. 



:i metallic sheen, 



poet 



Moore's description in the lines: 



' The dream of a future happier hour 

 That alights on Misery's brow 

 Springs out of the silvery almond flower 

 That blooms on a leafless bough." 



There is a classic legend about this tree, 

 '\ell meriting rememlb ranee. After the 

 ge of Troy, Demophoon, the son of tlie 

 iamed Theseus, was ,s^hip wrecked on the 

 coast of Thrace, and there fell in love with 



the bea utif ul Thr acian 



whom he wedded. 



queen 



The royal consoirt went 

 back to Athens on his father's death, pro- 



his wife 



SAINTPAULIA lONANTHA. 



This beautiful and useful little plant is 

 of comparatively easy culture, and, grown 

 in success'onal batches, will make an 

 equally fine display at any season. Hav- 

 ing selected a finely-c^olouied form from a 

 batch of seedlings raised some time ago, 

 I now prefer to raise the plants from 

 leaves. On a small space under the stove 

 staging and towards the light, covered with 



mLsing; to return to nis wite wimin a 

 month. On his fa,iling to appear, the young 

 I ride died of grief ^ and was transformed 

 into an almond tree. The husband, when 



. ^ about an inch of loam, leaf-mould, and 



sand in equal parts, the petioles of the 

 leaves are insertetl fairlv firmly, after be- 

 ing broken from the plant. I find that 

 cutting seems to induce damping. 



The damping down of the stove provides 

 sufficient moisture, and in a month plants 



A QUAINT COCKSCOMB 



BROCCOLL 



Nature performs some quaint tricks, and 

 not seklom takes advantage of man s most 

 careful <levelopments and improvements to 

 carry them out. Fasciation is one of the 

 commonest of these tricks. Members of 

 the c^ibbage family often seem to go out of 

 their way to be funny, ami most of us have 

 seen cabbages pnxlucing funnel-shaped 

 leaves instead of the or<l narv ones. A 

 short t:nie ago Mr. S. B. Dicks, of Messrs. 

 Cooper, Fa her. and Co., Southwark Street, 

 kimlly sent us a ])liotograph of a Cocks- 

 comb Broccoli that a])peai-erl in the garden 

 of Mr.* C. Knidil, <»f Cranlev. In this in- 

 stance the hea<l, inst end oi gnnving in a 

 cockscomb fjishion. as illustrate<l, ami at <i 

 little distanci' was remarkably suggestive 

 of some we ; rd a n t < m I i I u v ia ?i repti le. 



at last lie revisited Thrace, petitioned the j^.^^.^ formed sufficiently large to pot into 



<xls, and offered sacrifices, but the only 

 -fuso^ation vouchsafed to him was that the 

 ; 1 1 niond immediately blossomed in mid- 

 M'inter, and continues to do so to this day. 



A more practical fancy is tha-t when tlie 

 tiee has an unusual amount of bloom it 



LONICERA FRAGRANTISSIMA 



This is one of the earliest lioiunsurkles 

 to blossom, for its flowers ajipeai with the 

 earliest days of the year when the wi'ather 

 favourable. It is a Chinese shnilt ^row- 



])resages a. very good season for all fruits 

 of the earth. 



The poetic symbol of the snowdrop is 

 generally supposed to be Hope, but most 

 mcient writers on the language of flowers 

 -iveit as friend in need," or consola- 

 tions of friendship." There is a tradition 

 that snowdrops are alw=ays to be found in 

 bloom on Candlemias Day, the second of 

 February ; that they represent the white 

 doves offered by the Virgin Mary in the 

 Temple. The Latin name, Galanthus, 

 merely signifies milk-flo<wer. 



Who does not love the daphne, which, 

 like the almond, blooms in February a^^ong 

 bouglis devoid of foliage, but afterwards 

 becomes clothed in splendid green gar- 

 ments embroidered witJi iscarlet herries? 

 The scent is indescriba.bly sweet, one little 

 •ush making its presence knowm half 



presence 



KToss a garden . Mezereon is its old- 

 ^'>rld name, and, alas! it is the emblem of 

 ' oquetry. 

 ^'''0\y where 



It 



dangerous beauty to 



IS a 



(children play, for the fruits 

 re poisonous, though a valuable medicinal 

 Iruig is manufactured from its ba;rk. 

 I here is a wonderful variety known as the 

 ■ liiee-wood " of Jamaica, tlu^ inner bark 

 whit h can he pulled oiit in lengths until 

 It resembles lace of finest kind. Charles II. 

 Jised to wear a cravat of this, which had 

 sent to him by a Governor 'of Jamaica. 

 How strangely pathetic is tlie record of 

 t'Hc Laconian festival of Hyacinthus, the 

 beautiful youth who was killed hy the 

 throwing of a quoit by Apollo, but direc ted 

 ^iit of its proper course by the jtvilous bh>w- 

 ^"g of the breath of his rival. Zephrus. We 

 ^I'o bade believe that the familiar flower 

 sprang up out of his blood. The festival 

 ^^as an annual one of grief, lasting three 

 ^'.^ys, during which tim*^ prevailed the prcu- 

 ^'^ir custom of tsaing sweetmeat^ instead of 

 "'*;-'>d, whi^e the wearing of gaidands was 

 ^^netly forbidden. 



JhiMi tlii^ro is the helove<l polvanthus 

 uiunindiered 

 G^reek> to 



A CURIOUS COCKSCOM15 BKOCCOIJ. 



of 



hi 



dyes,'* believed 



I V( 



by the 



p sprung from the ashes of 



iaralis:is. a youth who ]>in(Hl to death for 



the nodding daffodil, containing the 

 to:ns of vain Narcissus; and the^ primrose, 

 f.nown to the Swedish villagers as -the 

 '^f^y of May/' 



We may note, too, in our gardens the 



small (30 s. The compost used consists of 

 two parts good loam, one of peat, one of 

 leaf-mould, and one of sand and burnt 

 earth or wood ashes in equal proportions. 

 If the soil is in good comlition 

 not require watering for a few days, nor 

 shoidtl they be watered at any time unless 

 they are approaching dryness. The stove 

 shelf will provide a good place for them. 

 While in the small pots kee]) them to a 

 single crown, for prnbal)ly many erovvns 

 will form. When well rooted, pot rather 

 firmlv into 54 or 48-sized pots, using the 

 same kind of compost as before ; still water 

 carefuUv until the pots are well fille^l with 

 roots when an occasional watering with 

 water containing a little fertiliser will ma- 

 ter iallv assist them. 



Keep the flower spikes picke<l ott until 

 the plants have well developed, and they 

 will be in full flower within a month of tlie 

 time picking out ceases, and will last gon<l 

 for fully two months if fallen ])looms are 

 not allowed to remain on the ]>Iant to cause 

 damping. Propagate in January or Feb- 

 ruarv for autumn flowering; in May for 

 wintiu-flowering ; and for flowering ui 

 April and May propagate in September. 



H. Prime. 



Hatfield House Gardens. 



ing tf) a height of 5ft. or 6ft., suitable for 

 planting in a sheltered position in a shrub- 

 bery. Although in mild winters it may 

 assume a semi-evergrwn character, the 

 leaves usuallv fall before nud-winter. con- 

 sequentlv the flowers are seen to greater 

 advantage if an evergreen background is 

 atforde<l. The flowers are usually }^orne 

 in i)airs from tlie leaf axils. an<l they are 

 white in colour and fragrant. 



A second species, L. Standi>hi. blossoms 

 about the same time. It is also a diinese 

 plant, and the two are Munetimes placed 

 under the ,sa:ne name. alih<nigh they are 

 distinct in every way. e\ce])t that they 

 bloom at the samV time, L. Standishi bears 

 much larger leaves. wh:c]i are hairy, whilst 

 those of the other s]hk ies are ahnost gla- 

 brous. The leaves of L. Standishi fall at 

 the normal time, about ()ctol>er. while 

 those of the other speri^s are retained 

 much later. The flowers of U. Standishi 

 nre cream-c<iloured, but. like those of L 

 fragranti.ssima. are sweet seenttHl. Both 

 plants thrive in loamy sod. and are suit- 

 able for lifting ami placing in for 

 greenhouse decoration in winter. Sprays 

 of flowers are useftd for arranging with 

 more showy subjects, on account of tlieir 

 fragrance. 



