76 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



at home. During July the Water-lilies are at their best, the Iris 

 at the margins and the Water-lilies in the ponds make a charming 

 picture, and those who pay a visit to see these flowers in July will 

 not consider their time wasted. In the Wild Garden this is the chief 

 feature, but in the trial parts the collections of Violas, Carnations, 

 and Phlox are very good, and admirers of these flowers can easily make 

 up a selection of varieties to grow in their own gardens. In some of 

 the borders Ixias, Brodiaeas, and Calochortus flower exceedingly well ; 

 the hot, light soil evidently suiting them famously. 



In August the Michaelmas Daisies, Dahlias, <v.c, begin to be showy, 

 and go on until stopped by frost ; but one of the finest things in the 

 Garden during August is Gentiana asclepiadea in all its shades of blue, 

 also the white form. This Gentian grows in the grass under trees, through 

 small shrubs, in fact everywhere, seeding itself in all sorts of unlikely 

 places, and when in full flower the effect is most natural and beautiful. 

 It seems to thrive equally well on a dry bank or by the side of a pond, 

 and is one of the most accommodating plants possible for a wild garden. 



After September comes in, flowers naturally decrease, but this is made 

 up for by the glorious autumn tints, and the finest foliage tree at this 

 season is the Liquidambar styraciflua, with its briUiant crimson foliage. 

 In some places this fine tree grows rapidly and is in the best of health, 

 but never puts on the desired rich colour in the autumn. This is 

 because the tree is net planted in a sufficiently moist place ; at Wisley 

 we have trees in a dry place and others in a fairly moist spot, and the 

 difference in the colouring is remarkable, although the growth is exactly 

 the same. The Bird Cherry — Cerasus Padus — is one mass of gold in 

 September at Wisley, and quite as beautiful in the autumn with its foliage 

 as it is in the spring with its flowers. There are quite a host of fine 

 foliage plants, trees, and shrubs, well worth the Fellows going to see in 

 September and October, and even in November and December the Garden 

 is full of interest ; but if any time is better than another we should say 

 that it was during April, May, and June, the Garden being the gayest 

 during those three months. 



There still appears to be some doubt as to the best means of reaching 

 the Garden. To those who have to travel on the London and South 

 Western Railway main line, Byfleei is the nearest station, being three 

 miles away, and conveyances can always be found there. Weybridge, 

 also on the main line, possesses a better train service, but it is over 

 five miles away, and cab-hire is more costly than from Byfleet. There 

 is also a fairly good sen-ice from Windsor, to Byfleet. Anyone going 

 via Leatherhead cr Guildford should book to Horsley Station, which is 

 about three-and-a-half miles from the Garden, and conveyances can nearly 

 always be obtained at that station. Fellows possessing motor-cars find 

 the Garden easy of access, as it is only about three hundred yards from 

 the famous Portsmouth Road, one of the finest motoring roads in the 

 kingdom. The average number of Fellows and their friends is about fifty 

 a day — the maximum being over two hundred in one day — which proves 

 that the splendid gift of the Garden by Sir Thomas Hanbury to the 

 Society is well appreciated. The privilege of admission is, as it always has 

 been, confined to Fellows of the Society and friends introduced by them. 



