December 21, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



981 



WINTER GARDENS. 



The more gardens a.re loved for tlieir 

 beauty, and appreciated for the opportuni- 

 ties they afford of healthful recreation, the 

 more T:v'ill the desire for lovely winter walks 

 and nooks be fostered. It is so easy, and 

 yet so rare, to plant beds and borders, 

 rockeries and banks, slopes and val- 

 leys, so that with the passing of 

 autumn loaves new attractions are re- 

 vealed, and the coming of winter 

 hastens other blossoms into bloom. Be- 

 cause there are few flowers that can be 

 enjoyed out of doors in Docemiber and 

 January^ it is necessary to make the very 

 fullest possible use of these: yet they are 

 not the only adornments awaiting the hand 

 of the artist-gardener. Where one man 

 will tolerate sickly turf under trees, an- 



The rock garden often owes much of its 

 winter fairness to the fact that so many 

 alpines have permanent foliage ; it is pre- 

 )eniinently among the stones that the 

 autumn, winter, and spring crocuses should 

 be planted in profusion. No gardener who 

 has not use<l Crocus Imperati thus has any 

 idea of the glorious violet mass it will show 

 from a distance. 



Instead of growing Christmas roses under 

 ugly handlights, as when cut blooms in per- 

 fection are required, let an abrupt slope of 

 rich soil ibe given up to them, and behind 

 the bank may tower up tamarisk, to make 

 a screen, and bracken fern also. The 

 feathery branches of the former, and the 

 long-enduring autumn-coloured fronds of 

 the latter, can Ibe skilfully bent over, their 

 ends tied to sticks, so as to form consider- 



WATER IN THE ROSE 



GARDEN. 



Where the soil is somewhat light, and 

 there is gravel below it, most readers know 

 iuU well that the rose garden will need an 

 abundance of water and good feeding dur- 

 ing a dry season. But tliis brief note has 

 no reference to the direct supply of mois- 

 ture to roses grouped more or less inform- 

 ally in a rase garden more or less formally 

 designed. The idea now is to draw atten- 

 tion to the association of water and roses 

 in an ornamental sense. In manv instances 

 tlie formal design of beds in the rose garden 

 demands a formal pool of water. At Hi:- 

 lingdon Court, the residence of Lord Hil- 

 lingdon, at Uxtbri-dge, there is a circular 



FOUNTAIN IN llOSK GARDEN AT HILLINGDON COURT 



[l lioto: H, K. Kinsr 



other will have an expaiisi^ of ])riuir(!se 

 I'oots, fj'eshly gi'cen, or a low shrnli'icry ^if 

 ever-pleasing Berberis aquifolium. 



The whole planning of n garden should 

 be arranged with a view to its cffert w hvu 

 the year shall wane. It is an error to ket^p 

 evergreen trees and shrubs in only one or 

 two portions of the grounds. Belts of fine 

 specimens, as distinct from hedges of one 

 variety, are, of course, admirable here and 

 there^ Ibut the scattering of specimens in 

 Jul directions is also advisjible. The rosery, a 

 'barren spot from November to June, s-hould 

 'Show pot .shrubs sunk in the beds, a line 

 of golden euonymus or of golden ])rivet, 

 smce the place is no doubt sheltered, will 

 permanently improve the scene if lo^-ated 

 behind white or <*rinison roses, far from the 

 yellow varieties. As the rosovv is genor- 

 11 ly -scriH^ned <»fF from the north, fine-leaved 

 ^ifvei- ivv can ho usod on n brtuht pen- 

 gret^n trellis, witli ivcl roses. 



able protectors to the snowy blossoms of 

 the helleborefs. Against the house, in those 

 iiai'row borders that Jiave been gay with 

 btNlding plants, large pots of Tussilago fra- 

 grans, the Winter Heliotrope, should be 

 sunk. There will then ibe delicate flowers, 

 glossy leaves, and fragrance there. The 

 pots can be kept at other seasons sunk in 

 the shadiest places. 



Hugosa roses and snowberry bushes well 

 combined, make a screen of considerable 

 charm during winter. They may have just 

 in front, or on either side, borders in whi<*li 

 summer's most tender hedding subje{'ts 

 have luxuriated. Tlie ed^e to the border. 



pool in the rose garden^ n> illu>tiated, witli 

 a bold fountain. At kew, the Dorothy 

 Perkins roses hanging over the wall around 

 the pond in iront of the Palm Il(inst\ at- 

 tract far more attt-ntion than the roses in 

 beds, and the water has not a little to <lo 

 with this altrat tivt nes >. It is nior** than 



likelv the near iuture \v\] 



SI t 



1 o: es and 



ornamental wa ler inoi e ! fetjuently aiss-o- 

 ciated in garcU^K lli i n t pn'sent. Even 

 on tln^ sharply sloping hanks ol" the stream, 

 the trailing roses of the Wichuraiana 

 groii]) are quite at home. Circumstances 

 must always be duly considered, but when 



if of London Pride, will be sightly at all ,,,,,, gardens are being planned the desir- 



tinies. 



A remarka>ble display was made in <r.fe 

 terrac(^ tra rd(Mi , of t nnnal st vie. bv nsiir'' 

 (hlFei-ent nmssy sii\ilV;ig(\s to term edging . 

 an<l mark out the |)alterns. bv means ol" 

 liuesj in all the beds. M, H. 



ability of including water in the design 

 should be <'arefullv <-onsi(hM(Ml remember- 

 i?iU' the beau! iiul refl(H't iims. 1 lu^ eonl i h <i* 



■ - ^ 



eflect^ and the pt^iv-ehdness ot j)l;H'i([ water 

 in sunnner time. 



