Mat 11, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



373 



pendulous racemes from the ends of 

 the branches. One feature which from an 

 ornamental standpoint is not a desirable 

 one is that the blossoms quickly drop. 

 \niherstia nobilis. a native of Burma, was 

 named in honour of Countess Amlierst, 

 and was first introduced in 1837 by the 

 late Mr. John Gibson, who was sent out 

 India bv the Duke of Devonshire. 

 This specimen flowered at Chatsworth 

 same vears later, but the first one to bloom 



sacks to the bank. Towards evening the 

 difficulty was to find anyone who was not 

 alreadv decorated with the sNinbol of the 



_________ 



lay. Cabmen wore it in their hats, carters ^y^y garden scenes where 



BEAUTIFUL BEDDING^OUT* 



Soon the summer sunshine will be basking 



on their whips, and labourers in the tops 

 of their high boots." 



Open Spaces in London.— At 



the monthly meeting of the Metroj^olitan 

 Public Gardens Association, it was agreed 

 to grant £100 towards the purchase of a 

 site for recreation at Wimbledon on the 



and low-lying district. A scheme for en- 

 larging and rendering more efficient a 

 much-needed playground in Kensal Xew 

 Town was discussed, and it was agreed that 

 every effort slioidd be made to raise the 

 £3.000 required. It was stated that the 

 laying out of St. Marys Churchyard, Bow 

 Road ; Southwark Cathedral Yard, and the 



Hospital Garden , Putney, 



'e 



finished, 



in this country is reported to have been a b^nk of the Wandle, adjacent to a poor 

 plant in the gardens of Mrs. Lawrence, of - 

 Ealincr Park. From an inspection of the 

 flowering specimen at Kew one can readily 

 understand the adjectives that have l:>een 

 showered upon the amherstia by travellers, 

 for under the influence of the tropical sun- 

 sliine the blossoms must be dazzling. 



International Exhibition 



Cups We have the pleasure of giv ng 



on another page of this issu^ illustrations 

 of two of the many handsome cups that 

 are offered for competition at the Koyal 

 International Horticultural Exhibition at 

 Chelsea. The cups illustrated are- two 

 that have been presented by the counties 

 of York and Lancaster, and are in 

 everv wav worthy of the occasion, and the 

 iniluVntial comnuttees responsible for the 

 .selection of the i-espective designs. In our 

 issue of the 18th nist., we shall give illus- 

 trations of a large number of the other 

 cups that have l>een presented to the 

 Directors of the International by County 

 Committees and other donors. 



Mr. Wm. Hales, superintendent of 

 the Chelsea Phvsic Garden, was elected an 



;nul that the disused burial ground in Phil- 

 l)ot Street, Stepney, would be taken in 

 hand so soon as an agreement had been 

 arrived at for its maintenan{'e. 



- 



Allotments for Prisoners. - A 



Parliamentary paper has been issucxl con- 

 taining rules made by the Secretary toi* 

 Scotland for persons undergoing preventive 

 detention in Scotland. Tlie rules provide 

 that persons undergoing such detention 



Associate 

 Tluu'sdav 



of the Linnean Society on 



last. 



AVe congratulate Mr. 



V — 



Hales on the well-deserved honour. 



of the Fruit Har- 

 vest. — The prospects of tlie fruit har- 

 vest are at the present time far less satis- 

 factory than could be wished. The serious 

 injury done by the sharp frosts that were 

 experienced on April 10 and 11, and the 

 cold easterly winds that prevailed <luring 

 the greater part of the ^llonth, are now 

 apparent. Much damage was done to 

 plums in Cambridgeshire^ Kent, Middle- 

 sex, and Worcestershire, and cherries 

 -iitfered co)isiderably, although to a less 

 extent. Much damage was done to 

 iil>|)le>, but possibly it may not prove so 

 -'^nt ;u at present is assumed to be the 

 ' i-t'. (xin^eberrv bushes have had their 

 1'; "^l^*'f■Tive crop greatly reduced, but 

 M rants aj^pca]" to have escaped any con- 

 -iUeiai)le <himage. 



Flower Day in Vienna.— The 



Vienna correspondent of the "Standard'' 

 writes as follows witli reference to the 

 *■ HUinior.tao;," or Flower Dav. Avhich has 

 .I'i>t iK-on lu'hl in the city, toilowcd by a 

 Mower Day in the Prater and some of tlu^ 

 - iHurbs: For forty-eight hours every 

 <'no lias been ' seeing yellow/ at all 

 events when he looked at a hun-an l>ein i, 

 '''li" the ilower tliis year is a yrlh.w na!*- 

 f ivsiis. with pheasant's oyt^ ( iMit r(\ nrt'fi- 

 '■''>'. ;ui(l, ])orliaps, not wrv true to life, 

 ^^"t vory <>Hr;tive. Flower Dav is the 

 Yl'i'valont of Hospital Saturilay and Sun- 

 *l<;y in London, only bore the pretty girls 

 ^^ith the <-olU--tino; box, s <;i\ o a quid pro 

 '11 tho sli;i [(,. ,,f a llowei- tor e\ ery 

 penny and sonK'tinie.s for tw()])ence and a 

 J'':uiklv admiring look will put it into one's 

 '*'ittoidi()le themselves. Several thou- 

 '^auds of women in their best f]o:ks wav- 

 ^aul all pedestrians, entered cafes, lestaii- 



banks, and public offices ; two voung 

 ^^"^ hiav.Ml the terrors of the * f^rav 



the Obi Bailey of Vienna, ami bV 

 salV*^^"/'^ two million flowers hid l)een 

 Xx\r €10.000 i'ollorted in small 



*"S^T whicb was carried in a hundred 



shall be divided into three grades — ordi- 

 nary^ special, and disciplinary^ and tliat 

 those in the special grade nuiy have garden 

 allotments assigned to them, whiih they 

 may cultivate at such times as may be 

 prescribed. The produce of these allot- 

 ments may be purchased for use in pi\sons 

 at market rates, and the proceeds credited 

 to the prisoner, or thev mav be used bv 

 the prisoner under regulations approved by 

 the Commissioners. 



Shrewsbury 



.—The 



Flower 



Show 



executive of 



the 



Shropshire Horticidtural Society had a new 

 experience last year, inasmucii as their 

 efforts result€M:l in a loss of £540, instead 

 of a substantial profit, a.s in previous years. 

 This change was not brought al)out by any 

 lack of energy on the part of the commit- 

 tee and its officers, or a decline iji the 

 poptdarity of the Shrewsbiuy shows, but 



was wholly due to the railway strike. 



Presentation to 



Mr. Wm. 



Tough.- A number of fiiends met Mr. 

 William Tough ^ head gartlener, Arndilly, 

 Crait2:ellachie, the other day. and 



])i'esented him with a pur.se of sovereigns 

 on the occasion of his leaving for America. 

 ]\Ir. Peter Mackay, head forestei*. ;n a 

 ntvit and eulogistic speech, made the i)re- 

 sentation, and Afr. Tough fe^lin^ly ie]>titMl. 

 Thereafter a vviy happy evcninu u a^ spent 

 in son^i and stoj v. 



April in the North. — The month 



just closed, writes our Abordcen cnrrespon- 

 (ti'iit. lias been the driest April e\])crieii;'ed 

 in the north tor twenty-ti ur ytai's. 1 he 

 total fall was (Ko^in., <-i)m]>aie(l nitli 0.<iO 

 in 1S!)3. and 0.()3 in ISfll. Jlwrv wen^ 

 seven days witli rn'.n. a\ bile in A])ril 

 1S93. there were twch e, and in April, 1891. 

 fiitecu. Of sunshiiU' we liad a total of 

 194.3 hours, fairly (Mcnly disiiibuted. The 

 bright, sunny weatluu- <lnring the last week 

 of the montli hiul the effect of transforniing 

 l)ai ks and gardens from their winter asjitv-t 

 to that of summer. At the end ot 

 the first week exceedingly bo'sterous 

 weather prevailed, at'eomi>anied with 

 showers of sleet, snow, hail, and rain. The 

 force of the wind- estimated in some dis- 

 tricts as having a velocity of 74 miles per 



liour was such tiiat nuuh <lamage was 



done to agricultural land, and the snow 

 covered the ground to a de])th ot several 

 inches, and whitening the trees with the 

 silvery mantle ot belated winter. 



'Broidered beds of countless hues 



Tempt bee and butterfly. 



— 



Tlie pageant of the floral year will be 

 offered, never to be repeated with pre<*isely 

 similar effect, dependent for its success or 

 failure upon the verdict^ then the memo- 

 r>.s, of those who see. Unless new beau- 

 ties are shown, the record of past summers 

 broken, the garilener will have missed his 

 opportunity. 



In a sense, the very flowers are dep 

 <lent upon tiie men and women who utse 

 them in betiding out ; for, unless they are 

 skiltully blendetl or kept separate, they will 

 live and die unapprwiated. The most gor- 

 geous scarlet xonal pelargonium must 

 create a trial for the artistic eye, instead 

 of a beauty, if it is iset next to a rosy- 

 magenta petuiua. This is an extreme ex- 

 ample of inharmonious colour-association, 

 yet not an unknown one; while the habi- 

 uial plantuig of red-white-and-blue beds, 

 either with or Avithout a golden edge as 

 trame, in close company with standards 

 and bushes of carmine roses, is another in- 

 stance of cruel conduct towards blossoms 

 of individual loveliness. 



Tender colours are so plentiful that it is 

 surprising why crude ones are not avoided 

 in situations that they do not suit; while 

 a gay white house, wiiose walls gleam yel- 

 low in sunshine, may be surrounded l»y 

 vermilion ami blue, ruddy-bronze an-d am- 

 ber, with a Mediterraneau-sliore-suggesting 

 splendour that warms the heart, the old ^ 

 weather-beaten, red-lirick manor house 

 vhonld never he given an eninuiage ot 

 gaudy colours. Its hue is soitened by the 

 storms and suns of centuries ; its lieds and 

 borders should be similarly soft ; and, since 

 blossoms are children of a fleeting life, 

 not able to grow mellow, only the more 

 rehned should be allowt d near the ancestral 

 home. The red ot tlie <lwarf calliopsis is 

 suitable; the apricot-salmon or brick-red 

 tints of Neniesia strumosa Suttoni and 

 dwarf nasturtiums, the copper-crimsons of 

 many bedding pansies, tlu^ dull orange of 

 begonias, will infallibly please. 



Light lavender-blue can be cordially re- ■ 

 commended near eld re<l houses, sin-e it 

 supplies a weUomc eoolnt^ss. hesidt s iuiensi- 

 fy.ng the richness ot the huiidin- malrrial. 

 The aster and viola offer thr shade; wliile 

 tall plants of Plumbago capt>n>is may l>e 

 ]>ut out and lightly trained to the walls, 

 i'itlier riglit against^them or upon the back- 

 gi-.;und of the Virginian creepei". that will 

 blush bi ightly before the tender greenhouse 

 plant has tit he rrPioved. I''!>r a subdued 



mass of this hue the ageratuni < an Ik* le- 

 comniended. Varieties of various heights 

 can be l)uilt u]) into a slanting Inuk against 

 the hiiust^. w ith specimen coleuses or gioups 

 of IVrilla luuikinensis and beet to give r*- 

 lief of dark foliage. 



If a house is too dull in a |>p(>arance. 

 liMuon-vcdhiw llowt'is an' best of all to clus- 

 ter ah^ut it; white wdl not he pleasing 

 except dui ing sti'ong sunshine, which really 

 turns It into < ream. Cemu'ally th(^ yellow 

 <an be well eo!nl)iiied either with blue- 

 violet or royal and indigo-blue; but it also 

 may merely doe]ien into orange, and then 

 I ass on into the darkest sha<le < \ orange, 

 which is scarlet. Some silver foliage can 

 he advised to give relief in this case; it 

 is a mistake to so concetitrate any colour 

 that the -peetalof from a f*nv liund red 

 vards sees the h* <l or boi-<jer only as a 

 brilliant s])lash. The elegance of a plant 

 eannot be a]>|ue[ dated when it lives as a 

 mend)er of a ]>ressin^ crowd. The perfe<'tion 



I 



