IV 
SUMMER 
105 
not flower so well. They are improved by a 
little manure in the autumn. There should be 
a place too for the gladiolus, with its brilliant 
flowers and sword-like leaf, from which it takes 
its name,— -gladius being the Latin for a sword. 
In warm parts of England the bulbs can re¬ 
main in the ground, but in colder counties it 
is wise to take them up each winter, and re¬ 
plant them in the spring. The scarlet one is 
called Brenchleyensis , and some of the most 
lovely shades of white and rose colour and red 
are among the gandavensis varieties and the 
French “ Lemoine’s hybrids.” 
Some of the climbers have already been 
mentioned 1 for covering a wall, but a few words 
more may be useful, as annual ones are easily 
grown, and will often cover an unsightly corner 
for part of the year. If you have a little 
railing or wire netting round your own garden, 
it will be improved by flowers trailing on it 
during the summer. I used always to do this 
in my small garden, and grew Convolvuhis 
major, canary creeper, Tropceolum Lobbianum , 
and tall nasturtiums, for the purpose, and for 
the more shady part the variegated Japanese 
hop (. Humulus japonica). Scarlet runners are 
often a help in making a tool-shed or railing 
pretty. But of course first and foremost for 
1 See page 10. 
