THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



THE ROSE GARDEN AT KEW. 



It seems somewhat out of place to de- 

 signate any particular part of Kew where 

 roses are gathered together as the Rose 

 Garden, because roses are to be found in 

 many parts of this great national garden, 

 in scattered beds, in groups, and in large 

 collections. Tliere is the great rose 

 gola between the Rock Garden and 

 Hei^baceous Garden, the collection of 



towards 



pei- 

 tlic 



rose 

 the 



ther along are beds of Mdnie. Abel Chate- 

 nay, alwa^^s good ; I^ady Pirrie, a lovely 

 copper and salmon H. T. ; Lady Ashtown, a 

 capital bedding variety ; Rayon d'Or, of 

 fine colour, but not a good grower as seen 

 here; Mrs.' A. R. Waddell, a fine, free sal- 

 mon-red garden rose ; a bed of standards 

 of Florence Pemberton ; a large oblong bed 

 of the brilliant and very free General Mac- 

 Arthur ; a small bed of The Lyon, grown 

 as standards ; and a bed of Orleans, now 

 a dense mass of ibloom, finishes the list in 



species and allied suibjects 

 Pagoda, and the naturally planted rose 

 o-arden or dell hetween the North Gallery 

 and the Pagoda, but what is generally re- 

 garded as the Rose Garden proper is at the 

 south end of the Palm House, and this is 

 the part shown in the accompanying illus- 

 tration. At the north end of the Paim , . . , . -10.1 p 



House hetween it and the Lily House, who have not the room to plant r( ses by the seeds of many primulas, those ot 



this direction. Marie Van Houtte, Duke 

 of Edinburgh, and Antoine Rivoire fill beds 

 in front of those depicted. 

 The old plan of filling a 



bed \\ itli MS 



many varieties of roses as possiible bati v.ell- 

 nigh disappeared from gardens of nny pre- 

 tensions, but there are manv rost^ 1c>v(m\s 



PRIMULA MALACOIDES. 



Tlie value of this primula for greenhouse 

 decoration cannot be too highly estimated, 

 and the species also lends itself wonderfully 

 well to rock garden adornment. It is one of 

 the most useful of all the recently-intro- 

 duced Chinese species. The flowers are 

 produced in great abundance on slender 

 stems, being borne in tiers, each stem 

 bearing a large number. In colour the 

 flowers aro of a delicate shade of lilac, on- 

 casionally varying to pale pink. For win- 

 ter flowering the seeds are best sown in 

 March, and the plants grown in a cold 

 frame until the autumn, when they mUSt 

 be housed. To obtain a co!itinuation of 

 blossoms during tlio winter months geeds 

 should be .sown -at intervals. linlike 



there are also numerous rose beds, d 

 here the varieties Earl of Warwick, 

 Duchess. of Wellington, Mons. Paul Lede, 

 and Mdme. Ravary give a good account of 

 themselves. On the Palm House terrace 

 four large circular beds occupy the corner 

 positions, and these are filled with pegged- 

 down plants of the inevitable Frau lv»rl 

 Druschki, Gustavo Regis, Lady Watorlow, 

 and the brilliant and fragrant Grass an 

 Teplitz, each variety filling one bed. 



The rose garden was replanted last 

 autumn, and it has been a great success 

 this year, while the growths on many of 

 the varieties promise well for an autumn 

 display. The three large feeds depicted 

 on the left of the illustration are occu{>iod 

 I'espectively by Mildrt^^ Grant. Caroline 

 Testout, and ^Kilhuney. 

 ground is seen a small circular bed of TvFrs. 

 Aaron Ward, a < harming variety, ;ind I e- 

 yond is a large btnl of the newer Joseph 

 Low, a capital pink bedding variety; fur- 



VIEW IN THE ROSE GARDEN AT KEW. 



the dozen, score, or hundreds of plants of 

 a variety, and feo they want to know which 

 varieties are likely to be the most sati^hu- 



At Kew the habit of a varieiv. as 



be 



this species quickly 

 there is little trouble in 

 plants. 



germinate, and 

 raisinir a batch of 



tory. 



well as the effect it produces, can 

 studied rea<lily. Where beds of consider- 

 able size are devotetl to one variety, it is 

 a comparatively easy matter to determine 

 whether such varietv as suitable for the 



P 



nside decorative point or view, 

 es is an important plant for 

 winter use, as the flowers lend themselves 

 exceedingly well to table dressing, and the 

 graceful spikes of blossom are very effec- 

 tive^ FnT* onf-iidfk nlanfinfr fbfv *ieeds are 



For outside planting the 

 sown in January, and plants raised from 

 this sowing usually flower in July, making 

 roses^ and' that a varietv found to succeed a pretty display of colour ^vhen grmvn in 



home garden. It must always be remem- 

 bered that the soil at Kew is not ideal for 



In the foie- 



here is not likely to fail elsewhere. 



Dwarf Tropaeolums.— As showy 



annuak for dry and sunny six>ts the dwarf 

 varieties of tropaeolum are very desirable, 

 as they are not at all particular jn their re- 

 quirements, and their flowering season ex- 

 tends over a lengthened period. In the 

 siihurh^ of London they meet with a ready 

 salo small ricedHngs being hawked a.bout by 

 th.^ fosterniougerti in large numbers during 

 the bedding season.—W. 



cool, shady spots in the rock garden, 

 spring flowering outside the seeds are sown 

 early in the autumn, and the plants win- 

 tered in cold frames. In April these are 

 put out in sheltered spots, when the flower 

 spikes soon appear. Possibly in some 

 favoured localities this primula can be na- 

 turalised, but it is very doubtful whether 

 it is hardy enough to withstand the damp- 

 ness which is experienced in many of our 



gardens. 



