I>LANTS IN CONGMIAL POSITIONS. 



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PLANTS IN CONGENIAL POSITIONS. 

 By Jas. Hudson, V.M.H. 

 [Read November 22, 1910.] 



In dealing with this subject I am, to a considerable degree, doing 

 what is being continuously done by the Horticultural Press. Illustra- 

 tions are frequently appearing there depicting the successful cultivation 

 and use of plants, but now I wish to refer to some instances which have 

 come directly under my own observation. It matters not into what 

 garden we may go, be it great or small, there is almost always some- 

 thing to be learned, generally of what may be done, sometimes of what 

 to avoid. The successful results met with may be the outcome, to 

 some degree, of climatic conditions, but it is, I think, more often 

 the combination of common-sense cultivation with favourable climatic 

 conditions that leads to success. 



In travelling along a portion of the northern coastline of the 

 Mediterranean Sea many instances are seen of the successful placing 

 of plants, and some, too, where success has been obtained with little 

 apparent effort on the part of the cultivator. I refer more particularly 

 to the huge masses of the Ivy-leaved Pelargonium, in some instances 

 from 8 to 10 feet in length, hanging down from the rocks above them, 

 which when in flower are a charming sight. So, too, are the dense 

 masses of Mesembryanthernuni edule, which appear to take root wher- 

 ever they are placed, and in the spring are very beautiful. Again^ 

 the Bougainvillaeas upon the houses at Monte Carlo and elsewhere 

 are surpassingly fine when in flower. More care is needed, no doubt, 

 with the grand specimens of Oranges and Citrons along the same 

 coast. Both in Lord Eendel's gardens at Antibes, and at La Mortola, 

 the late Sir Thomas Hanbury's celebrated garden, a large number 

 are grown which are monuments of skilful cultivation. The Palms 

 along the same coast are evidently quite at home : so are the Bamboos. 

 The last are even finer, I think, on the Lake of Como, around Bellagio, 

 where many stems more than 9 inches in circumference at 4 feet from 

 the ground may be seen. 



Nearer home we have, as most of us know, some fine examples of 

 Rhododendrons in Cornwall, and many splendid specimens of other 

 flowering plants, such as we rarely see elsewhere; Crinodendron 

 Hookeri and Emhothrium coccmeum are notable. The last-named 

 grows finely in Lord Falmouth's garden at Tregothnan, where the 

 Camelhas on the walls are worth a journey to see. In the ravine at 

 Heligan Mr. J. Tremayne has Bamboos and other beautiful shrubs 

 growing luxuriantly. At Caerhays Castle, the home of Mr. J. C. 

 Williams, there is a host of choice things to be seen — Lapagerias, for 

 instance, on the open wall, facing north : and not the least noticeable, 



