468 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE 



Jrui! 22, 1912. 



THE GREEN OF THE GARDEN. 



It is during summer droughts, when the 

 gre^n of the countryside is scorched and 

 faded into brown, that we realise the true 

 vakie of the colour, which can still be 

 observed in perfection in well-kept gar- 

 dens. Without derogating from the merit 

 of gay flower hues, or the brilliance of 

 white blossoms under sunshine, it may be 

 claimed that green is tlie tint we oould 

 least do without ; when the sun rises the 

 pale greens of lawns, hops, primroses, 

 calendulas, sunflowers, and counties^ 

 others, take on a flush of rose that the 

 grey-greens of the sweet peas, centaureas, 

 and pinks cannot receive ; when tlie sun 

 sets even dark ivy will blush to a copper 

 hue, and evergreen oaks and firs glow crim- 

 son. 



Refinements of choice in planting trees 

 and sihrubs should be more practised; be- 

 fore the season comes for new introduc- 

 tions, we should do well to ponder over 

 the nature of leaves, even as to texture 

 and substance. A dusty high-road garden 

 will not look refreshed during dry weeks 

 if the foliage in borders and on walls is 

 of the dull or rough-surfaced order; 

 climbers and shrubs are needed of shining 

 quality from which a sliglit shower, or 

 the morning dew, is sufficient to detach the 

 dust. Mossy saxifrages, violets, and 

 Veronica spicata alba are instances of 

 plants upon wliicli dust seems reluctant 

 to lie. A north garden, that receives 

 scarcely any sun from the sides, requires 

 the gayest of greens to cheer it, and, for- 

 tunately, the primrose family, and the 

 summer calceolarias and tebacco plants, 

 that will thrive in it, supply this. A pale 

 green ivy is the best wall climber, but the 

 Snowberry Tree (Symphoricarpus raeemosus) 

 can be trained against brick, and will offer 

 several of the loveliest effects, the pea- 

 green of early spring, the pink coral-sug- 

 gesting blossom, and white cherry-shaped 

 fruit in abundance. 



A dank, dark garden often suffers in 

 these respects because the climbers and 

 shrubs, trees, even the tall plants are too 

 uniformly heavy-foliaged. It shoidd be 

 remembered that one leaf of a nearly 

 black-green ivj gives denser shade than a 

 dozen leaves of a light verdant variety 

 through which sun-colour penetrates. 

 Similarly, a small laurel bush has a more 

 darkening influence than a tall tree of 



_ with its yellow- 



green leaves and branches, that sway and 

 part under each breeze. 



When gazing over a distant landscape 

 how vividly do special fields or plots stand 

 out from others by their colours. We may 

 all cabbages green, but their masse<i effect 

 is pale blue, plantations of peas are a 

 deeper shade, young wheat a grandly 

 joyous yellow, but most verdant of any 

 expanse will be a field of trained rasj)- 

 berries, or loganberries, such as may be 

 seen upon the Sussex Downs, where slopes 

 look south to the sea. In gardens im- 

 mense care should be taken to locate strik- 



artistic, and allows the handsome shapes carmine, remarkable as being the first of 



beautiful guelder rose 



ing green shades where thoy will not clash 

 with others, or where they can form charm- 

 ing contrasts. 



One illustration of the use of foliage 

 edgings may be suggested : mossy saxi- 

 frages and thrift, violas and primroses or 

 polyanthuses, will never be quite satisfac- 

 tory round lawn beds, because the contour 

 of those beds Tvill be obliterated by the 

 union of green leaves with green grass, 

 whereas for gravel-cut beds, or those 

 against stone or brick walks, they are ideal 

 subjects : in be<ls in turf the use of grey- 

 green, blue-green, silver, or gold foliage 

 e<lgin<z;s and carpetings is infinitely more 



defined 



During summer countless evergreen and 

 deciduous shrubs and climbers can be 

 quickly propagated by layers and cuttings. 

 A survey of the garden should be made 

 and sites marked where the green either 

 needs adding to by young stuff, or lessen- 

 ing by winter removals. 



rialf the secret of good preparation for 

 winter bedding is the cultivation of plants, 

 also miniature shrubs, that will present an 

 evergreen appearance; most of the hardy 

 campanulas carry their leaves throughout 

 the year; wallflow^ers, hardy stocks, pan- 

 sie's, pinks, sedums, heucheras, irises, ara- 

 bises, hypericums, vincas, and double red 

 and white daisies are of this nature. 



The summer care of foliage is an impor- 

 tant task. Evening syringings should be 

 given to palms and all the leaved beauties 

 of the beds, also to the too frequently 

 neglected w^all and trellis climbers, while 

 any roadside beds or borders that have 

 suffered from dust can, by a sprinkling 

 through a fine-rosed can, be restored to 

 their pristine excellence. 



Each year sees foliage bedding-out dis- 

 plays more valued, but in innumerable 

 cases the pattern designs made with leaf 

 yellows, reds, pinks, maroons, and silvers 

 would be greatly softened in effect if the 

 true green of Herniary hir&uta and the 

 curled saxifrages had been freely added 



M. H. 



ROSES AT KEW# 



With the season of roses once more wilh 

 us, a visit to Kew serves to show the great 

 variety that exists among these beautiful 

 flowers, and the various purposes for which 

 they may he employed in the garden. 



Although in the middle of June one 

 scarcely expects the numerous groups of 

 which the rose family is composed to be at 

 their best, still there is already a splendid 

 dLsplay, and the promise of a more exten- 

 sive one to follow. 



At Kew there are three special spots to- 

 wards which the rose lover directs his steps, 

 namely, the rose pergola, running parallel 

 with the wall of the herbaceous ground, and 

 situated between it and the rock garden, 

 the formal feeds near the Palm House' 

 where the best bedding varieties are repre- 

 sented ; and the sunken garden near the 

 Pagoda, remarkable chiefly for the huge 

 masses of vigorous ramblers which are 

 allowed to dispose themselves in a totally 

 informal manner. 



Taking first the pergola, it is already very 

 heautifui, though the display will be greater 

 later on. Of course^ such varieties as Crim- 

 son Ilambler, Dorothy Perkins, Lady Gay, 

 Hiawatha, and others of this class are not 

 yet expanded, but there is already a good 

 display of bloom on the following: Aglaia, 

 soft yellow, large clusters; Bordeaux, red- 

 dish-rose; Claire Jacquier, nankeen-yellow ; 

 Euphrosyne, pink ; Helene, mauve, yellow 

 centre; Leuchtstern, bright rose; Psyche, 

 pale pink, w^ith a yellowish suffusion in the 

 centre; Tausendschon, pink; Tea Ramibler, 

 coppery buds^ pink when expanded, and 

 Veilchenhlau, w hich, under the name of the 



aroused a deal of in- 



Blue Rambler, h 

 terest. It, however, requires a <-on8i<ler- 

 able stretch of imagination to regard it as 

 blue, and the best that can be said is that 

 it is distinct from the others. The true 

 Wicliurianas are very promising, hut the 

 only one actually in bloom is Gardenia, a 

 beautiful variety with pale yellow flowers, 

 but richly coloured when in the bud state. 



Other beautiful kinds are: The Garland, 

 with clusters of small semi-double flowers, 

 in colour white and pink; Thoresbyana, 

 double white: C^eshunt Hybrid, cherry 



the now extensive race of hybrid teas- 

 •Madame d'Arbiay, blush-white; Carnhne 

 Pillar, single, carmine ; Flora, bi-ight rose 

 almost an evergreen ; and Longworth Ram- 

 bler, a charming flower of a cherry-crLnison 

 colour. Not only are all of these very beau- 

 tiful when closely inspected, but the colours 

 are so iblended that when viewed from one 

 and the effect is delightful. 



Near the Palm House a bed of the bright 

 coloured dwarf Polyantha Jessie is full of 

 bloom, while the Orleans Rose, another of 

 the same class is not yet flowering. Most of 

 the varieties, among which hybrid teas pre- 

 dominate, are not yet at their best, though 

 some have a good sprinkling of blossoms. 

 Lyon Rose, so variable in colour, is a beau- 

 tiful flower that would he still ibetter if it 

 held up its head in a bolder manner. The 

 Jiybrid teas, iMadame Ravary, salmon- 

 orange; ^Madame Jules Grolez, rose-pink; 

 Duchess of Wellington, deep orange; and 

 Liberty, rosy-crimson, are all capital bed- 

 ders, while that Tea variety Lady Hilling- 

 don, whicJi has proved to be such a grand 

 rose for forcing, and has such a beautifully 

 formed deep orange bud, appears as a bed- 

 ding variety. 



The sunken garden near the Pagoda 

 occupies the site of an old gravel pit, and 

 the various climbing roses are there allowed 

 to ramble over old tree stumps. Such a 

 position is eminently calculated to display 

 the members of the Rambler and Wichuri- 

 ana sections to the best advantage, many 

 of them having formed huge wide-spreading 

 masses. The Wichui-ianas are remarkable 

 for their heautifui glossy foliage, and in 

 none is this more pronounced than that 

 popular variety Dorothy Perkins, of which 

 there is a grand mass W'hich later on will 

 be quite a picture. Those already more or 

 less in bloom include Alberic Barbier, semi- 

 double, canary-yellow flowers, with deeper- 

 tinted buds ; Edmond Proust, coppery-car- 

 mine ; Gardenia, yellow ; Jersey Beauty, 

 rich leathery foliage and pale yellow blos- 

 soms ; and PaulTranson, rosy-pink. Other 

 bold-growing kinds of different se< tions are: 

 Electra, yeliowish-whitt^ : I'lia, a hybrid 

 hriar, grand as a bush, with hirge creamy- 

 white flowers ; and The Garland, Helene, 

 and Psyche above alluded to. 



The variety Tausendehon in this part of 

 the gardens merits at least a note to itself, 

 as it just now^ forms a magnificent feature, 

 the long, wide-spreading shoots being abso- 

 lutely wreathed with its charming pink 

 blossoms. These banks of bold-growing 

 roses are arranged in a more or less undu- 

 lating manner, and in the hays thus formed 

 many of the smaller kinds are planted. A 

 particularly interesting feature of these is 

 the fact that many of the varieties there 

 displayed are not generally met with at the 

 present day. Among them may he named 

 the York and lianeaster, Gloire de Koso- 

 menes Fimbriata, - fringed at the e<igt' 

 like a pink ; Stanwell Perpetual, a form <> 

 hybrid Scotch, with pink flowers. Several 

 forms of the Moss Rose, the golden-yello\\ 

 Rosea lutea flore plena, that distinct 

 nese spe<'ies— R. 'Moyesi, and a fine group 



(i-growinir variety Fellenberg, 



mg 

 with 



its crimson 



-lake 



of the old bush-g 

 profusely laden 

 coloured blossoms. 



A word or two must he spared for roses in 

 other parts of the gardens ; for instance, 

 near the ref resliment room is a bed of that 

 heautifui variety Billard et Barre. whose 

 long shoots have been pegged <l<>wn, and 

 the entire hed is now sprinkled over w it'i 

 the rich orange-yellow flowers. 



Neir the Temperate House large masses 

 of such varieties as Electra, T^na, Mrs. An- 

 thony Waterer, and Gruss an Teplitz sho^v 

 them at their best, though the hist-nanied 

 has at present hut few flow^ers open. K- 



