September 'o, i8 9 8 - 



GARDENERS' 



MAGAZINE. 



587 



LEAVES F 



A Ram 



NOTE 



"THE TROUBLES OF A CONSERVATORY. " 



THERE are times when a man feels proud that he is a gardener, not 

 1 ether Decaas e it is an honourable calling, but rather for the reason 

 that he is in a position to be of assistance to his fellow-men. Somehow 

 •ou feel a sense of your own importance when an inexperienced acquaint- 

 ance suddenly acquires a taste for the gentle art in an amateur sort of 

 a way, and conies to you for advice and assistance. You give it him, of 

 course and, try how you will, it is almost against human nature to keep 

 back the air of patronage that will assert itself. He is an exceptional 

 type of human nature who at such moments does not experience a feeling 

 of superiority in the possession of knowledge above that of those around 

 him. If by any favourable stroke of fortune the seeker of information 

 has more than a spasmodic taste for gardening, and turns the knowledge 

 gained to good account, modest indeed is the man who in his heart of 

 hearts does not take a share of the credit unto himself for the information 

 given. Unfortunately, however, it is not always a matter of satisfaction 

 to the receiver and honour to the donor of information relative to garden- 

 ing matters, the success of which must be ruled to a great extent by 

 circumstances and conditions. The advice may be sound, but the 

 conditions unfavourable, and the inexperienced amateur who has placed 

 implicit faith in his gardening friend, and is satisfied that he has followed 

 his instructions to the letter, loses faith in his teacher, becomes disgusted 

 with his own efforts, and eventually gives up the whole thing as a failure. 

 Instances of this kind are most numerous in cases where men are 

 unfortunate enough to become possessors of an ornamental conservatory. 



I say unfortunate, and qualify the expression by adding that to the 

 amateur gardener a conservatory attached to his dwelling is either a 

 source of pleasure to him, or else a disappointment, and eventually a 

 nuisance— very often the latter. A little glasshouse adornment attached 

 to a suburban residence carries with it a charm and attraction to would- 

 be tenants, and has been the means of letting many a residence. Much 

 as your town dweller prizes the bit of garden that does much to induce 

 him to take the house, he has even a greater weakness for the little con- 

 ervatory, which he sees in his mind's eye aglow with bright flowers. 

 Alas for human hopes ! The inexperienced individual fancies that, once 

 n possession of the greenhouse, all is plain sailing, and never for a 

 moment considers whether the structure is suitable for the welfare of 

 plants, or otherwise. That is either a matter he knows nothing about, or 

 else it is only a detail, and subsequent experience has to teach its lesson, 

 hveryone knows the amount of pleasure that is derived by many from 

 the little conservatory, but it is only so in cases where the architect 

 knew something of horticulture, or else, by an extraordinary stroke of 

 *xl fortune, the conservatory was fixed in a favourable position to 

 itch the hght and sunshine without anyone being in the least degree 

 aware ot it The idea of the architect is, of course, to make the outline 

 M his buildup as attractive as possible. The conservatory is, no doubt, 

 an acquisition towards adornment, but it never for a moment occurs to 

 ne man of lines and angles that the most important use of the structure 

 s to gro W plants in, and, therefore, this should be the first considera- 

 verv w.n egan f m ° Uthne ' with a dis P la y of ornamental ironwork, is all 

 hohir™? u 3S U g ° es ' and does credit t0 the builder i but if house- 

 suitable for pi ? VC Conservatones ' let them hav e such structures that are 



tob^ oJerrn^ no hobb y have so man y Petty worries and difficulties 

 many bu ot W f m 8*rderung. Th «y may be, and are, mastered by 

 S c rr ™2 y ft? and beGOme di scouraged by force of 



t£ P^ KffSS'tn ^ iS - som ^ sublimely innocent about 

 to his modemS k town ^ an view T s the smart conservatory attached 



«** ?the iadJrfth.'? ^ perha ,? S ' a x nd whether * has a P° sition 

 whether pS in UA 1 r0 T dlng wal,s ' where sunshine is unknown, or 



« the ouSet tL n g ^ ° f CVery ray ? at P resents itself > ma "ers little 

 *hat he shall ™ occupier is proud of it, and lays his plans as to 



residence SSaSSL J 1 T f 5 P erha P s prouder still, as a 

 «* proude* meXrf ^? £ ry f aUa , ched 15 d,s j inctl y genteel, and no doubt 

 ** combinatioHf SL£ W * re h - S dau S hter s> *ho consider that 



*'» materially elev a t ( a 5L and tlrnber °. p . emn S out fr om the drawing-room 

 10 he always y b le y a L S ° C,al P os ' t,on > and besides, it will be so nice 



«« your own flowers for tZ™ ° Wn P ^r\ fo . r the tabIe > and g° out and 

 ? d the advice of /hi a™™- < W ^ buildin S is * the right sort, 

 k « the good Tpeooie S tif ( nen ?, ' S SOUnd ' wel1 and S° od > and 



* the ofher hand P th, ^ St ° ry b °° kS ' al J are ha PP? ever a *er But if, 

 w <fer, there ™ ?> the c servatory is of the common villa residence 



" u *y Plants, which ? f m St ° r f f ° r family - The fl o»st supplies 

 ^•onal adv s £ s ^afled irThT^ 5 and kindling, th e P pro- 



Si s «nshine. I n % ' do ?? lhm 8> a s he cannot make light 



Slimes the s XtnZTl SfrVfrn.'^fe with the heatin S apparatus, 

 f* m «cury in S ^ ther m - * " dwe " ,n S- hous e is full of smoke, and 

 J*"* Point in the in^T te f- ^ l ° 8 ° degrees ' and th en falls below 

 a*?"*, but the e is an InH at ' C r • Cons ervatory bills become 



^ t,0n °f that lias! hi 1° human P a [ ienc e, and eventually the very 

 Mastic housSS er eC ° meS a th ° rn in the sid e of the once 



justified in laying the whole blame at the door of the architect, but it is 

 nevertheless a fact that many conservatories attached to mansions are 

 entirely unsuitable for the welfare of plants, and the gardener s greatest 

 aimculty is that of keeping the conspicuous structure gay with flowers, 

 and his greatest trouble is that every plant he puts there in robust 

 health is conducted from thence to the rubbish heap, or else has to 

 undergo a period of hospital treatment before it is again presentable, 

 ihrough experience I know something of conservatory troubles, gained 

 in the gardens of a princely establishment where the mansion is supposed 

 to be a masterpiece of architectural skill. The same may be said of the 

 conservatory, looking at it entirely from an architect's point of view, but 

 seen through the orbs of a gardener, knowing the requirements of plant 

 lite, it sinks into an ocean of adverse criticism. The conservatory referred 

 to is a handsome structure, with a framework of iron and ridges highly 

 ornamented. Its cost must have been enormous, but I fancy the first 

 consideration at the time of building was to form a connecting link 

 between the rooms on either side of the mansion. This resulted in its 

 being closed m, and to make it effective plants had to be staged in a 

 sloping manner towards the tiled pathway running through the centre. 

 Being crowded together and a long way from the glass, all chances of 

 sturdy growth were done away with, and plants after adorning the con- 

 servatory for a short time presented a pitiable appearance. The quantity 

 taken regularly for the purpose was a continual strain on the rest of the 

 glass department, and results were altogether unsatisfactory. 



Many gardeners suffer from conservatory troubles where the condi- 

 tions are similar to the instance quoted. The place is a source of worry, 

 and how to keep it bright and attractive is an ever-perplexing question. 

 It is heartrending to a good gardener to see plants that have taken time 

 and care come back from the conservatory in a sickly, unhealthy condi- 

 tion, and the question that naturally occurs to him is, What shall he grow 

 for the purpose ? The answer is nearly as obvious, viz., something that 

 may be dispensed with after flowering. At the fall of the year there 

 comes the indispensable chrysanthemum, that fills so many offices at a 

 time when flowers are scarce. In the spring the gardener has to rely 

 principally on the inmates of the forcing-houses, and for the summer 

 there is a host of useful flowering plants warranted to make bright the 

 dullest conservatory ever erected. The other day I was in a conserva- 

 tory of the non-growing order, and was struck with the happy combina- 

 tion of plants that filled it. On every available bit of ironwork on the 

 roof, and so trained as to obscure the light as little as possible, rambled 

 Cobaea scandens, and conspicuous among the plants staged on either 

 side of the walk were Humea elegans, Campanula pyramidalis (blue and 

 white), Milium auratum, tall fuchsias, and Valotta purpurea. The 

 humea is a fine plant for conservatory decoration in the summer and 

 autumn, and, when well grown (it is rather a difficult plant to succeed 

 with), its drooping, feathery plumes lend themselves admirably to effective 

 arrangement, and they form a pleasing contrast to the plants associated 

 with it. It is questionable whether the spiked campanula is grown as a 

 pot plant as much as its qualifications merit. No plant is cultivated more 

 easily or flowers more freely, and I know of no more telling specimen 

 for conservatory adornment than blue and white campanulas each 

 throwing up three or four tall spikes, and clothed with bell-shaped 

 flowers. The varieties grown by Mr. Wythes at Syon House are a 

 decided improvement on the older forms. Little need be said of the 

 liliums and Scarborough lilies, and the specimen fuchsias require no 

 great skill in cultivation. " My aim is," said the gardener, " to keep up a 

 succession of plants that practically finish their career when they have 

 done flowering. This conservatory is warranted to spoil anything of a 

 tender character, but there are plants sufficient to keep it bright that are 

 either done with or go to rest after flowering." Surely this is the right 

 course to pursue where the house-attached conservatory is concerned. 



H. 



££! ns ar * in CfcttMrt ;i?.l he f more .P reten tious mansion where the 

 ^atory i s e £ * «a ff of experienced hands, and yet where the 



ottending thorn. I do not know whether one is 



HORTICULTURE IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 



It may be interesting to many of your readers to know that amateur and pottage 

 gardening is developing with great rapidity in the Garden Isle. It is undoubtedly 

 conclusively proved, by the keen and friendly rivalry which is conspicuous at 

 the Island village shows, that to develop cottage gardening the more local these 

 exhibitions the better ; for the inhabitants take a greaier pride in defeating one 

 another than in defeating an exhibitor they do not know, and who comes from 

 a village or town ten or twenty miles away. Large exhibitions like Shrewsbury, 

 York, &c, may meet the wants of professional gardeners, and form a standard 

 of excellence for all gardeners to aim at, and therefore should l>e supported 

 liberally. But for the improvement of rural districts, the larger the number 

 of village shows the greater the stimulus to the people. In the Garden Isle, 

 with a population of about eighty thousand, in round figures, there are twenty 

 flower shows, which are spread over all parts of the Island. The average number 

 of classes is about sixty-five, the average number of entries three hundred, and 

 the average number of exhibitors about fifty, which means there are a thousand 

 people directly interested in the Island shows, and the majority of these are 



amateurs and cottagers. c • — u u a > u-w 



The Whippingham Cottage Garden Society held its first exhibition on 

 August 9. The entries were numerous, and the exhibits of first-rate quality. 

 The show* was held in the Rectory grounds, and was favoured by the presence or 

 the Royal Lady of the Manor— Her Majesty the Queen— also Princess Henry of 

 Battenberg (Governor of the Island), Piincess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, 

 and the Duke and Duchess of Connaught. The show was a great success, and 

 augurs well for the development of gardening in the Royal parish. With great 

 success school gardening is taught at Whippingham schools under the head 

 mistress (Miss Thomas). The principal prize winners were Messrs. H. Flux, C. 

 Cook W Snow, G. Snow, F. Russell, II. Kellaway, A. Flux, C. Street, II. 

 Cooper, G. Butcher, F. Miles, J. E. Harvey, J. Wheeler, H. Hunt, J. Roach, 

 and L. Smith ; the principal lady exhibitors were Miss Thomas, Mrs. Wooldridge, 

 Miss Stevens,' Miss White, and Miss Roach. The judges were Messrs. C. 

 Orchard F.R.H.S., and W. Hills, of East Cowes Castle. S. H. 



