AFR" 3°> 



1898. 



GA KD ENERS' MA GA ZINE. 



277 



HARDY APR 



Flowers in i898. 



n«niy ' * *• 



, h „ -interly storms and severe frosts of March, hardy flowers ^ m 



AffE ^ «f Anril are neither more backward or more forward than 



tbe season, but their flowering is decidedly above the average, 



usual at this seaso , n flower ^ ^ ^ between the April 10 



1 The flowering of all the daffodils has been very good, and the 



**? 2 nf those with orange crowns is rich and full, as general y happens 

 tTmey progress in bulslowly, and are not forced rapidly mto flower 

 T h i„ , Jt weather in spring. Such flowers as Gloria Mundi, C. J. 

 n V ThZse Nelsoni aurantius have been excellent. Maximus has made 

 Sd show, having come out early and lasted a long time ; I never 

 Vw Seer flowers of it. Most of the bulbs of this variety came from 

 Sr s outh of France, where they were collected wild. By care in giving 

 thffn pood loam, a sunny and protected position, and frequent transplant- 

 V these bulbs maintain their character as the finest of the old trumpet 

 daffodils ; no variety responds better to good treatment, without which 

 it soon deteriorates. Aubrietias are a great resource to make the garden 

 bright in April. In Surrey and other parts of the country, where the soil 

 is warm and light, I have seen them doing well as an edging on a level 

 border, but they will not do so here. They must grow over a fall, such 

 as two feet or more of stone supporting the edge of a raised bed, on the 



as two feet or more of stone supporting the edge of a raised oed, on tne 

 upper rim of which they are planted, so as to cover the stones down to 

 the ground, and when they reach the ground they may be allowed to 

 spread a foot or two on the level if room can be afforded for it. Aubri- 

 etias do not root as they run, but the procumbent stalks seem to be fed 

 by the stones or soil in which they lie, and the further the 

 stalks get away from the roots the finer the flowers. 



showing grand masses of purple a yard square. 



and because these do not come true 

 see them in flower before buying them, 

 Two of the best kinds, one rose-coloured, 



They 



are now 



There are many varieties, 

 from seed, it is better to 

 names being very misleading. A »»w v * u^». 



the other dark crimson, were sent out by Max Leichtlin a few years ago, 

 but both revert from seed to a shabby form of the type. The brightest 

 crimson I have came from Barr's nursery last year under the name of Fire 

 — A. Hendersoni and A. olympica— the last, perhaps, a true species 



• ^ » ^ • • 



King. 



have large purple flowers. Another flowering late and abundantly with 

 paler and smaller flowers is known as A. tauricola, though A. deltoidea 

 var taurica would probably be the more correct name. The large plants 

 get bare and shabby in three or four years, and want renewing. This is 

 easily done by pegging down bunches of shoots a few inches from the 

 end, and they will soon root. Those who visit nurseries in April should 

 look out for good varieties of aubrietia and carry them off, paying for 

 them, of course, but not caring for the name. They are probablv nearlv 

 all varieties of A. deltoidea. / r / / 



— — — — — — — — - — — • w — »- ^ • 



The shady and sheltered parts of Edge garden abound with primroses 

 \oril : nearlv all th* nr,m m « .,;k» some a i p i ne s of the auricula class 



No species is better 



in April ; nearly all the primrose tribe 



excepted-like shade and shelter and moisture. 



than the old P. vulgaris. The latest development of this is the" blue 

 fnT 056, } r wat< *ed this improving year by year through selection 

 SrimlffS&i* m y fr [ end ' Mr - G - wi lson, at Weybridge. But the 



K Cf \ d ^ C ' , h, ^ h are not blue ' are also the res ult of many years 

 £3 f 7 m ' xed colours ; The qualities aimed at are size of flower, 



E J d\KrT; ° We ? r Pale ? and absence of bunching habit, the las 



which 2? £? t0 ,T aintam °Z m J! to the P resence near o{ giant oxlips, 



the soil of F?. . K t0 Cr ° SS and deStroy the true " acaulis " character. In 

 and ar Ztf primroses last only for two or three flowering seasons, 



£d i ?j£ ?° m g0< r d aftCr dlvisi0n ' so that continued raising from 

 with leaf CLTnH ? SUm ? tr the plai l tS should be dressed overhead 

 April Tr mroses m T re ' and a S ain in autumn. Two other 



and P P r o S ef K " ,ma, ? yan) are *Pe«alities at Edge-P. denticulata 



both div de very weU tlTL^ 'T^* by SeleCtion > and as 



1'. denticulata • . a St vanetie _ s can be increased without limit. 



variety Serial h« tw' % ^ m & ardens with « the 



autumn - and as S An * trying t0 fl ° WCr in winter « or eve * in 



^ ™ Sl ll deStr ° yed by frost > and the P Ia «t 



be lost as ornamems \l L ' T th • same J . seas °n» many are liable to 



* flowering season bv v ? ^ S h0W6Ver ' t0 retard 



lividing- severely Tv Cu lt it™ 8 ^ in autl >mn-either 



"ore mildly hJ ZnW "ft? 6 ^T" 5 thr ° Ugh ^ e middle in A ugust, or 

 Vhen this is donfthl g m Smgle Cr ° wns in Se Ptember or October, 

 ttle shcK ^ are ,..7 m attem _P tto flow ^ till April, and, with a 



round with columoiLf Thf ry , bUSheS ' wh / re they share the s P are 

 purple, to S wSS fl T- r ^ geS fr0m dark violet > thr °^b 

 - Wicus or TmJ Jr^A^ Whlte flowe ^-the white of Narcissus 



th °ugh it pretends ^ ^M^r"*?* f ° Und in thlS S P ecies > 



, "as to be. At least a thousand plants of Primula rosea 



11 



now in flower in tC™i • wousand plants of Primula rosea 

 T hey have tc ^bc rtlt^^ 2 masses u ( ? f ^ or a hundred together. 

 P^ts to manage is ^1 ° Ut ever y u thlrd y ear > and are troublesome 



^planting ^ "•gW?! m ° re 9ff ^ puIIin * to P ieces and 

 Action. The stSn J™ ^ 0nc wlU tc * ch how to &™ them to 



and size e rf f fl^^ W ^ a f eat ad ^ a ? ce on the type, both in 

 sh arp frosts when in flow'; ^vf * h °u*? e hable 10 be damaged by 

 2J» a north waU ThTZ f nd 4? a T s h elter ed place, but do very well 



coming om tilUhe ff^ J , h T aVe 15 re ^ u,ar in its ^tencss, 

 Perennial c i H r be S in nmg of May. 1 



varieties of L ffi^i^^ are mostl 7 a J their best in April, and the 

 ^° g name of 2 SS^? S „ are amongst the best of the candytufts. True 



makpc ^..1 , cy ergreen" a vanefv nf thiQ c^^;^ __ti^J ^ • 



comes into flower soon after Christmas, lasting three months in flower, 

 and bears crowds of umbels, each no larger than a sixpence, on procum- 

 bent stems, resting on the stones. There is a second variety very similar 

 flowering in March and April, whilst the type I. saxatilis begins in April. 

 Many varieties of perennial iberis, mostly belonging to L sempervirens, 

 a £ C ?*/ ered by nurs erymen under fancy names ; these, like aubrietias, 

 should be looked at in nurseries, and secured when approved. I observe 

 this year an accidental mixture of a plant of purple aubrietia and of I. 

 sempervirens planted side by side on a rockery, which has a pretty effect. 

 Another pure white flower of April is Sanguinaria canadensis. It has a 

 fleeting beauty : the whole flowering season may last through the middle 

 fortnight of April, but each individual flower sheds in about two days. 

 The star-like flowers with narrow petals, called in bulb catalogues 

 major," are inferior to the round-cupped form with broader petals. 

 S. canadensis is of excellent habit ; it thrives in either sun or shade, loam 

 or peat, but it likes peat better and increases fast in it, spreading 

 moderately without becoming crowded. It may be transplanted at any 

 stage of growth, and is never shabby or untidy. The red juice, very like 

 blood, which comes from the root when broken, has given rise to a 

 popular superstition in Canada that it grows wild where murder has been 

 committed. We are reminded of Virgil's story of the myrtles which 

 grew where Polydorus had been murdered, and when pulled up dropped 

 blood from the roots. 



Pulmonarias used formerly to be much cultivated at Edge, and a 

 collection was made of every kind to be found in nurseries. There were 

 some with narrow leaves, some with broad leaves, some without spots, 

 some with few spots, some of which the leaf was nearly all spot. They 

 had flowers all blue or flowers all red, or all white, or blue and red 

 mixed. These formed a connected series, which seemed to lead to the 

 conclusion that as far as gardening was concerned they might all belong 

 to one large species. The best forms are useful from their habit of early 

 flowering, but if not in sheltered situations the frost takes the colour out 

 of the flowers. Allied to these is a far choicer plant for the garden in 

 April, the Virginian cowslip [Mertensia virgtnica). A hundred of these 

 are now in flower here in masses of ten together. These want a sheltered 

 place, a moist and rich soil, and leaving alone. They supply enough 

 self-sown seedlings to keep up a stock, having regard to selection, for the 

 colour and habit vary. 



any of them. Orobus, or rather Lathyrus, vernus is too good to be 

 omitted from this notice. The species likes a stiff retentive soil, in which 

 it roots so deeply and strongly and clings so tenaciously that it is no easy * 

 matter to dig up a three-year old plant. The pods shoot the seeds to 

 such a distance that seedlings come up several yards away. The best 

 and most elegant of many varieties are those having very fine divisions 

 to the leaves, almost filiform. These show the flowers better, and as the 

 seedlings come up mixed, it is better to select them. But some of the 

 broad -lobed leaves have the richest colour of crimson and purple, so that 

 it is better to wait for the flowering before destroying any of the seedlings 

 as weeds. There are some double forms, which are inferior in beauty to 

 the single, and varieties occasionally come with the flowers pale purple 

 or pink or white. 



Amongst the many varieties of wood anemone breadths of A. 

 Robinsoniana are, perhaps, the most attractive. It will be remembered 

 that the roots of this species, if not occasionally separated and 

 scattered, form such a close network that they die of strangulation, and 

 the whole mass may disappear in a season and give rise to much specu- 

 lation as to the cause. Innocent as these flowers appear above ground, 

 they make a hard cake of tubers beneath the surface which few plants 

 can grow through, and when I see an undergrowth of them recommended 

 to ornament the vacant spaces of a border I attribute the advice to want 



The best of the varieties, I think, is a gigantic form with 

 pure White flowers, found wild at Doneraile Park, in Ireland. Two or 

 three bulbs due in April may be mentioned. Puschkinia scilloides is a 



i x j «j o — / - — - ■ 1 ■ - 



It is, however, better not to attempt division of 



of experience. 



pleasing contrast in its flowers of French grey to the masses of blue 

 squills to which it succeeds. Ornithogalum tenuifolium produces pretty 

 umbels of white flowers almost on the ground level, and does not degene- 

 rate like others of the genus into weediness of habit. Then by what 

 name are we to call the late-flowering muscaris, with their conical heads 

 of sky blue coming up in crowds where they were never sown ? I bought 

 them some years ago of a distinguished collector, who gave them at least 

 four distinct names, and all these kinds may be there, but I fail to dis- 

 tinguish them. The best of them used to be called armeniacum, but E. 

 Roissier, the botanist of Armenian plants, gives no such name ; perhaps 

 a better name is racemosum. Amongst choice aipines doing better than 

 I ever saw them before are Androsace sarmentosa and Laggeri. The 

 first is Himalayan, and has had a flat piece of glass laid across the pro- 

 jecting stones between which it grows, for it damps off with rain in 

 winter ■ but with this help flower bunches are now as thick on it as they 

 can stand A. Laggeri, of the Pyrenees, in moderately strong and well- 

 drained loam, grows into raised tufts like thrift, and bears small pink 



flowers plentifully in April. 



Edge Hall, Mai pas. C. Wolley Dod. 



Average Life of Potatos. — I cannot agree with Mr. T. Davies that the 



—ucr a north wall TU^ul • piace, out do very well Ashleaf Kidney potato is not now beaten for earliness, productiveness, and quality. 



seldom comintr n 't tin 5? t ! est . van ety I have is regular in its lateness In each of these points it is, to my thinking, well beaten by Duke of York and 

 Perennial ?J5 I e be £mning of May. 1 Ringleader, and I look upon the former of these as being the very finest early 



^ . uniai candvtuft* £ existence. It bears at least double the crop borne by the Ashleaf, and 



nothing could surpass the quality, while in earliness it is at least the equal of the 

 older variety ; I myself find it earlier. Then again there is no comparison 

 it w^lrfL" a dens e mass of glossy «een on th7 V^*"^ °? r f exi t t"^ between Magnum Bonum and Syon House Prolific for weight of crop when grown 

 •dvisi? b * WOrth growing for ^ his onlv • hS if .1,1 ^ 7 " W,ntCr that ™der the «™ conditions, and I find that the latter is of first-rate quality on the 

 brtS f °; au brietia, in fall. «w" f2LL J£5 P J ai i tS are 8 r ™ n as sandy soil here. Other comparisons might be made, and all with advantages to 



the newer potatos ; but comparisons are supposed to be odious, and I will only add 



that when one bears in mind the rise and fall of so many potatos during the past 

 thirty years or so, the weight of evidence is all in favour of the decadence of 

 varieties, no matter how treated.— J. C. Tallack. 



*^dui 01 pure wh j - a " — rj^ ~ aiuc > tney make a very suuwy 



^ a »eatandirul r tr? a " dpUre white is scarce in ^ek But 

 ** n< " to be surpassed A P an r ° T ^° dwarf forms °* saxatilis 



^sea. one of these, said to be from the Maritime Alps, 



