OCTOBEE 12, 1912 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



783 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE 

 TREATMENT OF HARDY 



FLOWERS. 



The effectiveness of a well-iplanned peren- 

 nial 'border depends to a great extent on 

 the components of which it is formed ; 



blending of colour, the extent of each 

 group and manner of arrangement, all in- 



Hiience the final effect produced, so that 

 w herever planting is being done these con- 

 ditions should be given judicious considera- 

 tion in the initial planting. The possibil- 

 ties of this branch of garden decoration are 



not readily defined. As a general rulCjmasses 

 of colour give the most impiressive effects, 

 of which perennial phloxes, lupinus, inon- 

 arda, and campanulas afford useful exam- 

 ples, yet the principle is one offering great 

 latitude, being specially applicable where 

 broad effects are necessary, otherwise, 

 under these conditions, a degree of indeci- 

 sion and spottiness would be our only 

 reward. 



To extend this principle^ without re- 

 straint, into the smallest garden, would 

 not materially lessen its value as a practi- 

 cal guide ; in suibstance, the masses need 

 not attain to the same dimensions as in a 

 larger sphere, while by exercising the selec- 

 tive element we naturally incline to the 

 use of plants yielding the greatest display 

 over the most extended season. Some modi- 

 fication of this system would ibe here admis- 

 sible, otherwise we exchide many subjects 

 that, having regard to their proportion, 

 could not readily he accommodated in 

 quantity where space is restricted. Yet, if 

 introduced in appropriate positions, these, 

 by the jaw of contrast, emphasise the cha- 

 racteristics of less commanding subjects, 

 while, at the same time, their boldness 

 as-sumes additional value, it may be the 

 foliage chiefly, as in Senecio clivorum, or, 

 again, the flowers, as in Spirfea aruncus, 

 but in either case, single specimens of these, 

 when fully matured, may always be intro- 

 duced to advantage in small gardens^ and 

 thereby redeem a composite planting from 

 any charge of being conamonplace. 



The relative contrast and harmony that 

 all plants exhibit in their general charac- 

 ters is an aspect of good gardening not 

 usually recognised, and given the impor- 

 tance it warrants in practice, and probably 

 wherever it attains its highest develop- 

 ment, it will be found, as a rule, that leaf 

 contrast produces the ibest effects, as 

 flowers most fittingly express their beauty 

 «n harmony. This is simply illustrated by 

 the sw^ord-like foliage of irises, montbre- 

 tias, and gladioli, which invariably ofFe 

 marked contrast to plants bearing leaves in 

 the form of flattened plates; again, there 

 are othej-s whosse decisiveness during the 

 ^egetativo poriod is never great, as in some 

 oupthalmums, heleniums, and campanulas 

 the persicifolia tvpe, which, when con- 

 trasted with plants of the iris type, or with 

 those having pinnate or compound leaves, 

 as galega, thalictrum, and Papavor orien- 

 tale, add considerably to the geiuM al (effect, 

 ^rid also offer a definite amount of pleasure 



o be drawn from comparison of the various 

 leaf -types. 



As to how far harmony of colour in bor- 

 \ planting can be successfully carried 

 into practi-e, is probably most readil>\ 

 answered by broadh reviewing some of the 

 ^argor genera with which we are most fami- 



'Hi^' example, in pieony, pyrethrum, 



Pnlox, and iris where we find almost a 

 complete gradation of colour within them- 

 ^Iv^^s, so that, planted separately, we find 



^at, in practice, a bed, border, or even 

 ^ garden devoted to one of these subjects 



r a 



danger that directly 



invariably affords a pleasing and satisfac- 

 tory result from a colourist's point of view. 

 We must, however, recognise one serious 

 drawback to an nnrestricted use of the 

 massing system, a 



affects gardens of every extent, in that 

 large groups of early-flowering subjects 

 leave a distinct gap when the flowering 

 period is over. Poppies of the oriental 

 class are well-known offenders in this re- 

 spect, yet to exclude plants of this class 

 from the hardy border would be a serious 

 less to many gardens. Instances such as 

 this must be frankly met and overcome, 

 either by intergrouping with some later- 

 flowering subject or in relegating them in 

 a body to a position by themselves, the 

 latter preferably, even if it can only be 

 practised on a small scale. 



We are miich too conservative at times 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF 



ROSE SOILS. 



With the planting season close upon us, 

 the making of new be<ls and the improve- 

 ment of rose soils will need some considera- 

 tion. 



For instance, suppose we have a clayey, 

 and consequently heavy, soil, in which 

 much plant food is needed. If such a soil 

 is turned up to the air, and, maybe, frost, 

 as roughly as possible, much good will be 

 done. A little lime is also wanted upon 

 this class of soil. I would like to turn such 

 soil up as soon as possible, and let the air 

 and lime do a great deal of their work be- 

 fore adding any animal or other manures, 

 or planting in any way. If very wet it 



should be drained in some form. Burnt 

 in our methods of gardening^ and by rigid earth is a good thing for a clayey soil, and 

 adherence to stereotyped custom we do not may be " " 



added 



invariably secirre the best results, for an 

 arrangement that applies to one garden 

 will not of necessity be the best for all. 

 Hence it is only by experiment that we may 

 eventually attain to the fullest knowledge 

 of the conditions that affect us locally, 

 while an interchange of ideas has at least 

 distinct value in enabling lis to institute 

 comparisons between methods that ap- 

 proximate to our requirements, and be- 

 tween subjects that are most likely to suc- 

 ceed under our conditions and yield the 

 desired results. Thomas Smith. 



CV)omfbe Court Gardens. 



speci 



GARISH DAHLIAS 



A PROTEST. 



To the admirers of floral beauty, as exem- 

 plilied in symmetry of make and delicate 

 beauty, it must be a matter of i^egrct that 

 the general exhibitions of dahlias nowadays 

 should be so largely alloyed by the newly- 

 introduced paeony section, in which great size 

 and glaring colours are associated with huge 

 bunches of coart>3 petals, loosely and irregu- 

 larly arranged without even a (suspicion of 

 that orderly and symmetrical grouping which 

 is considered an essential feature in all the 

 other classes, but one, of the beautiful dah- 

 lia tribe. In the old-fashioned globular 

 flowers, both in the full-sized ones as in the 

 dwarf pompons, we see this symmetrical ar- 

 rangement to perfection, and in the cactus 

 (section it is also a sine qua non, and it is 

 really a feast to the eye to see these at their 

 best as recently exemplified at the Royal 

 Horticultural Hall. Each flower is a gem, 

 and, although the colours may be brilliant 

 and even dazzling, their association with per- 

 fectly-formed flowers with regular petals, 

 often delicately graded in tints, makes them 

 irreproachable. 



With the ragged-looking "paeony*' forms, 

 however, the very brilliancy of their colours 

 is an added offence, attracting, as it does, 

 the eye to their manifest imperfections. 

 In no other popular flower that we know 

 of could such productions be deemed 

 acquisitions, much less improvements, and 

 no one, we think, imbued witli true 

 horticultural taste, could tolerate tliem 

 as garden embellishments. The exception to 

 the general beauty of the other sections, to 

 which we have alluded, is the so-called col- 

 larette section. Here, indeed, we may have 

 a fine section in the making, but, so far, in 

 all the flowers, the possible, evenly-made col- 

 lar or coronet of enlarged central florets, 

 is invariably irregular, like a bad set of 

 teeth, and this, to our mind, alsolutely spoils 

 the simple charm of the beautiful singles 

 whence they spring. In this direction we 

 would by lio means discourage the raiser's 

 efforts to obtain ideally perfect flowers, 

 but with regard to the flambnoyant paeony 

 section, we consider them to he of far too 

 coarse a nature to promise anything worth 

 having. ^- T, D. 



plants. xV little basic slag at the proportion 

 of 6 to 8 ozs. to the square yard w^ill also 

 be a help. Powdered chalk at the same 

 rate is another good ingredient for clayey 

 soils. But w^e need some manures as well 



as these materials, which are really applied 

 to help bring the soil into better working 

 order rather than as food to the roses them- 

 selves. The best all-round fertiliser is tho- 

 roughly rotten manure from the stockyard. 

 This is really suitable for any class of soil 

 provided we add the other ingredients, as 

 above, upon those of a distinctly clayey 

 character. 



Tu 



red 



soil much stiffer and more retentive. 



vegetable matter, are all helpful upon stiff 

 and poor soils. After pruning, a liberal 

 dressing of manure, and this vslightly forked 

 in, is a great stay to the plant all through 



the summer. 



A sandy or gravelly soil will not grow 

 roses to perfection, and must be supple- 

 mented with rich and stiff loam, and farm- 

 yard (preferably from horne<l cattle) 



manure added. The aim is to render the 



No 



one need despair of growmg roses satis- 

 factorily if they attend to the making up 

 of their soils. We do not want extremes ; 

 a soil a little inclined to be stiff is, how- 

 (n-er, the most suitable. If ours is not na- 

 turally of such physical condition we should 

 strive to make it as nearly so as circum- 

 stances will allow. 



It is an excellent plan to replant rose 

 bushes at least each fourth season, unless 

 they are in definitely fixed positions, such 

 as over buildinG;s, arbours, porches, etc., 

 when, if we make cue use of the opportu- 

 nity/ and enrich the lower strata, the 

 newly-plante<l roses will bo rendvated, and 



show^ a decide<l improveme^nt. 



form 



This 



Leycesteria 



shrub, which is said to form such a notable 

 feature of its Himalayan home, is in our 

 climate decidedly less "attra(?tive than it is 

 where it occurs in a state of nature, but 

 even here it is well worth planting for orna- 

 ment, the flowers being b<^rne in the latter 

 part of the summer, when so many shrubs 

 are over. Botanically, it is a new relative 

 of the honeysuckles, and lorms a free-grow- 

 ing shrub, whose shoots are clothed with a 

 ^reen bark. The flowers, which are borne in 

 drooping racemes, are white with a purplish 

 tinge. A prominent feature of the inflor- 

 escence, consists of large purple leaf-like 

 bracts which subtend the flowers. Here 

 these bracts are said to be much less bril- 

 liantly coloured than when growing wild 

 in the elevated regions of the Himalayas. 



K. 



