5 6 ° 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



August 27, 1898. 



Rare Hardy Plants. 



Among rare hardy plants in flower now is Camassia esculenta alba. This 

 is furnished with linear leaves from one to two feet long, and deeply 

 grooved ; it bears a loose raceme of large star-shaped flowers, each 

 segment being oblong, a quarter of an inch broad, and about one inch to 

 one inch and a-half long, and of the purest white. C. esculenta lactea or 

 C. e. Leichtlini is another very stout-growing form, with leaves from two 

 to two and a-half feet long, and of a light glaucous green, and racemes 

 of large creamy white flowers. C. e. rosea differs in habit little from 

 C. alba, but the flowers are of pretty pink or violet-rose hue ; this 

 originated here at the Hale Farm Nurseries in a batch of seedlings, and 

 flowered for the first time this year. Camassias are so very hardy that I 

 have never seen them injured by frost ; they can be successfully grown 

 in any garden, and will flower during May and June. 



Tulipa linifolia is one of the prettiest of tulips, its linear leaves being 

 slightly undulated, and setting off one small crimson flower that is pro- 

 duced on a scape about six inches high. It flowers in May and June, 

 and is a very rare plant. Tulipa Batalini is, as far as habit is concerned, 

 almost identical with T. linifolia, but the leaves are more glaucous, and 

 the flower is pale yellow ; it is also a very rare plant, and flowers in May 

 and June. Both species are quite hardy and easily grown, but evidently 

 not easily increased, which would account for their scarcity. Tulipa 

 Sprengeri is one of the most charming of tulip species I know. It grows 

 and flowers so late, being only now in bloom (June), that no frost would 

 ever hurt it. The leaves are linear, about a foot long ; scape about a foot 

 high ; flowers deep crimson, the exterior segments being tinged with buff". 

 Although comparatively new it is fairly plentiful now, and should there- 

 fore be in every collection of hardy plants. 



Eremurus robustus var. Elwesianushas a semi-tuberous root, and stout 



leaves from two to three feet long by two inches broad, light green and 



glabrous, often ciliated. The naked scape is from four to eight feet high, 



bearing a raceme three to six feet long of very showy flowers which are 



star-shaped, bright pink, rosy salmon or peach coloured, and sweetly 



scented. This differs from the type in its broader and longer leaves, 



larger flowers, and by being also a month earlier to bloom. This variety 



is less easily propagated than the type, not being a free seed bearer, and 



seedlings usually becoming six years old before flowering. The cut 



raceme so well shown by Mr. Ware, of Tottenham, at the recent Temple 



Show, was from a plant twelve years old that has only now reached 



perfection. This fine form should be planted in a sheltered corner, near 



a shrubbery, but in a fairly sunny position, and the soil should be well 



drained, no matter what its composition. A bed of Eremuri in flower is a 



fine sight, with plenty of long column-like racemes and bright or glaucous 



green leaves. Owing to late frosts, only few are this year in perfection 



and I have seldom seen more miserable racemes of E. himalascus, the 



white flowered eremurus. Nor are E. robustus and var. Elwesianus up 



to the mark. The kinds worth growing are E. robustus and var. 



Klwesianus, E. himalaicus, E. 01g;e, E. Bungei, E. persicus, and E. 



Aitchinsoni j most of the other species are of less value than the common 

 asphodel. 



After cultivation and trial during several years Incarvillea Delavayi 

 has proved to be perfectly hardy and of the easiest culture. The plant 

 is deciduous, with a strong fleshy root ; the leaves appear during April 

 and May, and attain in a strong well developed specimen to a length of 

 from two to three feet, resembling somewhat those of Acanthus ; they are 

 pinnate, of a light glaucous green, dentate or serrate, the petiole being 

 somewhat scabrous, and at times hirsute. The foliage is very ornamental, 

 and on this account alone the plant would be worth growing. The 

 scape rises well above the foliage and bears a terminal raceme of several 

 flowers of a bright rose, rosy purple, or rosy violet colour, with orange 

 yellow tints. The tube of the flower is about two inches long and the 

 corolla about one to one and a quarter inches across. Those who have 

 seen or possess a good specimen, will admit that this is one of the most 

 strangely beautiful hardy plants ever introduced. In April, when the 

 somewhat late foliage appears, it is of a deep purple, the petioles tinged 

 a deeper hue, but assuming latter on a better colouring, and what appears 

 to be at first a kind of Acanthus with ornamental foliage turns out to be 

 one of the most showy of hardy plants. The finest specimen I have had 

 the pleasure of seeing was in the garden of Monsieur Micheli at the 

 Chateau du Crest, near Geneva, growing side by side with the beautiful 

 and rare campanula Ostrowskia magnifica, a specimen about three to 

 four feet in height and at least five feet across. Fortunately plants can be 

 as well grown in the less favourable climate of London, and there are 

 now several specimens blooming at Tottenham, one of which ripened 

 6eeds last year. 



There are two varieties of this incarvillea, one, the Museum variety 

 11 }\ °\ Pans > frora whence it was distributed, having been at first 

 collected by the Abbe" Delavay ; the other is the ordinary form, differing 

 HON except in time of flowering. The best time for planting is the autumn. 



G. Reuthe. 



season 



Outdoor Tomatos _ 



hafcfe? r!nf er fruitS * i >lantS have g'°wn7ery well, buTthey are "veiy'Ufe.Vr^ 



S:x tv ;\ ttJBM is a H time in % shor VrV 



*— * "™t^ j ounng the past few weeks seen in Surrey literally 



cottage gardens and allotments, and have observed with pleasure in 



•l^re was found w rS ' k efforts to grow tomato fruit. Where 



*• made to give £ ^^SS^^S^. ^ ^ ' 

 vould be utilised, and in 1 th CUer * Thus in the gardens warm wal 



... . , . K ar( 'ens and allotments in several cases 



of 



very admira. e SI ° 



roughly t0 S£5S ly 



a very poor fruit prosit.- v C £ 



was 



Garde 



R 



As briefly as I can I will record some of my experience in 

 calling as a gardener, which extends now as far back as the **** q°o with m T 

 be readily understood that during the half-century which has J\?L!a it i h * N 

 manv changes. One of the most striking : _ _ — ' — H^u i nave so* 



kjli liihi wuv-auvui c*i.v,i *cn aunooi. 1 ne hrst gardener T 



could neither read or write ; nor was the steward on the same estate nnrT U 0 ^ 

 indoors much of scholars, yet everything went on smoothlv Th • * 

 what we should say now, one of the old-fashioned gentlemen and? ^ ^ ^ 

 head gardeners of the present day would open their eyes if the owner S Z$ 

 addressed him as Jack or Joe, as the case may be. That, however LTT , 

 at the time of which I am writing. Many I time has tte ^^^2 

 asked me where Will (referring to the gardener) could be found EverV^ 

 servant on the estate was addressed in the same familiar way by members r ftwl 

 family. The steward was always called by them in his Christian name as GeortT 



All the upper servants and many of the others had grown 

 ' lamu y> a , na * 0 fe who were past work retired on a comfortable p£Z 

 cases all this is changed now. tr~»**m* 



and the butler Daniel. 



xvciciiujk muic puLnuiaiijr me management ot toe garden half-a-cemuit 

 ago, I must mention that the gardener had particular days in the year for sowii* 

 and planting his important crops. The first sowing of peas was always made oa 

 Lord Mayor's Day, and Ashleaf potatos were planted on south borders on the 

 20th of the same month, and they were always dug in, i.e., planted six inches 

 deep in the trenches, as the digging proceeded. Tomatos were grown at that time 

 on open walls and not under glass. I well remember they fruited as well then as 

 now, but not a tenth part of the fruit was ever used. I have thrown many a lam 

 basketful of fine ripe fruit on the rubbish heap. With regard to fruit trees, I ha?e 

 lived to see a wonderful improvement in the pruning of peach trees. The garden 

 under whom I served so severely pruned all kinds of trees, and peaches par- 

 ticularly, that it would take him ten years to cover a wall twelve feet high. At 

 the time of planting every shoot was cut back to within six inches of the base, and 

 nearly as much the next, and this was the practice followed generally. I may 

 also mention that at that time cast-iron wall nails were not invented ; the na 

 were made of wrought iron, and many a half-day in bad weather have I spent in 

 straightening out nails, as they all had to be used the second time, and sometimei 

 more. 



The only way of growing cucumbers and melons was in frames placed on 

 hotbeds, and the usual time for cutting fruit of the first mentioned was the middle 

 of March, and the middle of June for melons. If there is one thing fixed in rr, 

 mind more than another it is the turning out in early morning to keep the lawm 

 in order by the use of scythes, lawn mowers were unknown, and for a good part 

 of the summer all hands had to rise at four o'clock in the morning to mow the 

 grass cut before the dew dried up. Many a time in early spring and autumn have 

 my fingers been so cold that I could hardly hold the scythe, while with a knife I 

 have scraped the ice off the blade before it could be sharpened. So rigid was the 

 rules, that nothing less than a heavy downpour of rain, or a snowitorm, was 

 accepted as an excuse on the days appointed for the lawns to be mown. It muit 

 be remembered that we were not paid a farthing, or received any other kind of 

 consideration, for rising so early in the morning. The ordinary work was carrievi 

 on until six p.m. just as if we only started at six o clock in the morning. < >ne 

 day's holiday in three years was all the relaxation I had in that situation, and one 



Sunday out of two off duty. 



Comparatively few bedding plants were then grown,, but there was no scarcity 

 of flowers notwithstanding. There used to be separate beds of choice pinks, car- 

 nations, alpine auriculas, tulips, ranunculus, &c. Dahlias were as well grown 

 then as now, the only difference being, so far as I can see, in the dwarfer powt.. 

 of the plants. There has been a marked improvement in the form and sue ol 

 hyacinth flowers since then, as at that time they were grown with greater care 

 than they are now. Pots were specially made for them, about five inches ■ 

 diameter, and considerably deeper than the ordinary pot. The same form 01 w 

 is known as Long Toms at the present day. Speaking of pots reminds me ru 

 new ones were always used for the pineapple plants when they were large eno% 

 to be placed in the pots in which they were to fruit. I must return to the h>aamm t 

 because I omitted to say they were potted in sand, no description ot so 

 ever being used, and I well remember what a lot of water they required u 

 weather in March. Considerable numbers of cacti were also cultivated. 



brigh 



me nignt to see the nrst flower open on wnat is Known « - 

 cactus. Much larger numbers of annual flowers were used 



in 



„ jp half 



ight-floweriag 

 the beds and 



borders than is the case now. and every gardener was expected to save t e 



as very often glad to exchange with a garden*. 

 ts of which he may not have been w^'^aa? 

 just fancy what would be thought of a P'^*^ 

 i as I have been sent, several miles 

 Looking-glass or candytuft. To appreciate the du 

 t it waf not because the owners of j^^ffi* 



i t rouble 

 let th«* 



this** 



as now. 

 about d 



while 



customers know they had them for sale* 



It must, of course, be remembered that if the ordinary boy r £. c ^ ^ 

 cation at a National School that was all he could expect, ink 

 different now, for, with continuation schools and 0 ( m j 

 education has been brought within the reach of all. In the eau> ^ amtfJ 

 there was a greater niimtvr «f a^trh trardeners holding positions ^ ... tbat 



as a young learner 1 received nothing but kindness iron. -/ ~" thMa did *- •* ~ 

 matter of fact, they took a greater interest in their young men iu~ , )k {0 t< 

 our own countrymen : and. looking hack after so many years, ii' «* < tocribea 



than 



master*; 

 AiA ao* 



be 



countrymen ; and, looking back ~ • — j < - . , ^ 

 able to say that in my many visits to different gardens whicli nave 



in past volumes of the Gardeners' Magazine, the sam 



have been sustained. I can call to mind many hours or p 

 that has proved both instructive and agreeable. I JJ» «JJ j ufmg «; tij* 

 not long ago, if the position of a head-gardener had > m P r ^ e . „ j 0 oolf »JJ 

 and I unhesitatingly answered "no, not financially or ^yiUk*. 



salary increased in proportion to the re p 

 v„rv rn . far greater extent iruw gudeoe ttJ^' 



been 



have increased in 



I have incidently 



at the present time of improving themselves ; it 



^hetimrof which I 



