870 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 11, 189J. 
and healthy. Not far from the entrance the grotto and fernery, 
in course of construction, will form a cool retreat for visitors. 
Here, too, is a fine scenic representation of Mr. Leopold de Roth¬ 
schild’s beautiful garden at Ascott, the same as depicted in the 
Journal of Horticulture, February 5th, 1891, the colour and distances 
being admirably rendered. 
As auxiliaries of the Exhibition, Old Paris—the Rue St. Antoine 
and the Bastille, a realistic piece of work, produced at a cost of 
£1G,000, will be sure to prove attractive ; and not less so will the 
wonderful “ water show ” of Captain Boyton, the preparations for 
which are of an extraordinary nature ; but these are side issues, 
remarkable though they be. Returning to the pleasure grounds, 
we had omitted to say that the Eidystone Lighthouse is nearly 
completed, and visitors will not omit to see it, nor will they the 
great scenic representations of the wooded hills and vales of Surrey 
on the one hand, and the Lakes of Killarney on the other. 
Such are, in brief, the permanent attractions, and then follow 
the periodical horticultural exhibitions. The nature and scope of 
these have been indicated by advertisements. Equalling, as they 
may be expected to do, the displays of last year, they will form 
a magnetic force to many. In connection with the whole great 
undertaking at Earl’s Court the endeavour is to do all things 
well, in the hope that at the end of the season millions of 
people will have visited the Exhibition, and have no fault to find. 
Mr. H. E. Milner is the chief, and Chairman of the Exhibition 
Committee ; Mr. George Cadell Vice-Chairman, Forestry Section ; 
Mr. Harry Turner Vice-Chairman, Horticultural Department ; Mr. 
G. A. Loveday, Secretary, and Mr. Richard Dean Manager of Shows. 
THE GLORIES OF MAY. 
May is essentially a hybrid month, intervening exquisitely 
between spring and summer, and partaking of the fairest charac¬ 
teristics of both. It is one of the most picturesque seasons of the 
year. Perhaps its greatest glories are its wayside and woodland 
flowers. The Gorse, called in Scotland the Whin and in Ireland 
the Furze, is at present a veritable picture of perfect beauty ; and 
we do not marvel that it drew forth, when he beheld it for the first 
time, the rapturous admiration of the great Linnaeus, Nor less 
impressive is the splendour of the golden Broom, which seems to 
set our Scottish glens on fire in many places at this period of the 
year. Wild Violets are growing luxuriantly on every grassy bank ; 
the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) is gleaming everywhere beneath 
the shadows of the trees. This is one of the loveliest, and also one 
of the least celebrated of sylvan flowers ; and yet surely it is as 
worthy of being sung as the “Daisy” of Burns or James Mont¬ 
gomery. I have endeavoured to do it justice in one of my “ Poems 
of Nature and Life,” from which I give my readers the following 
quotation, unworthy though it be :—■ 
“ Exquisite floweret of the vernal hour. 
Whose tender sweetness steals upon our gaze 
When the wild glory of the glittering shower 
Has faded in the sun’s luxuriant rays ; 
“ Meekest of all the blooms that God has given 
To star this marvellous mystery of earth 
With gentle gleams of that ideal Heaven 
Where Love the beautiful found radiant birth ; 
“ Even one so insignificant as thou 
May bring high thoughts to men of reverent mind; 
For that meek loveliness thou wearest now 
Flowed from an art our efforts fail to find.” 
I may state that the Wood Sorrel was a special favourite of my 
friend Matt’new Arnold, who, when acknowledging very kindly and 
appreciatively my poem upon the subject, told me he was particu¬ 
larly fond of the flower. In one of his many interesting letters he 
said of another of its vernal predecessors, “Ido not know that I 
have ever mentioned the Snowdrop in my verses ; hut I have been 
planting it ab mt my shrubberies, and admire it greatly.” He had 
done so nevertheless, as I afterwards reminded him, in his intensely 
classical poem of “ Tristram and Iseult.” Arnold was essentially, 
like his great teacher William Wordsworth, a poet of Nature ; ant 
such genuine inspirations as his “ Sohrab and Rustum ” (the 
nearest approximation to the spirit of Homer discoverable in our 
literature), “ Thyrsis,” the “Scholar Gipsy,” and the sublime 
masterniece entitled “Empedocles on Etna ” are full of Nature’s 
own ethereal mystery, sweetness, and light. Like Tennyson, he 
had two predominating passions—the love of solitude and the love 
of flowers. To escape from the multitudinous roar of the modern 
Babylon to his tranquillising garden at Pains Hill, in Surrey, was 
to him an ineffable delight. There I usually found the serene 
singer of culture and poet of peace earnestly engaged in horti¬ 
cultural operations. 
Not less beautiful than the flowers of the forests and the fields 
are those of the garden in this gracious month of May. The 
various and varied fruit trees, especially those of the Apple and 
Cherry, the latter of which looks as if it had been suddenly 
whitened with a shower of snow, are at present absolute marvels of 
loveliness, which no artist, however greatly gifted, could adequately 
depict. There is something in the mystic perfection of Nature 
which eludes the grasp and transcends the range of Art. Next to 
these transitory splendours of the trees I would place for floral 
impressiveness two borders of "Violas, natives of Rothesay, in the 
fair island of Bute, which appear from their luxuriance to have 
found in a region more visited by the east wind a congenial home. 
Among the finest of these are Henry M. Stanley, Ravenswood, 
Mary Queen of Soots, the Lemon Queen, Abercorn Beauty, Mauve 
Queen, and Edina, of which the last-mentioned somewhat resembles 
the older and better known Countess of Kintore. 
Since I sent my last contribution to this Journal rain has come 
in the part of Scotland from whence I write, falling like life, 
blossoming into beauty upon the place beneath. It is “ twice 
blessed,” for it beautifies the flowers upon which it descends, and 
is itself made fragrant by them in return. Its influence upon the 
Rose trees has been especially benignant, and many of them are 
already prolific of buds, and give promise of perfect bloom.— 
David R. Williamson. 
BEDDING NOTES. 
Owing to the earliness of the season bedding out will no doubt 
be in progress shortly throughout the country, for there is every 
indication that it may this year be safely begun at this early date. 
Although the thermometer in this district frequently touches the 
freezing point, neither Potatoes, Vegetable Marrows, or Pelargoniums 
in the open air appear to be injured in the least. This, I think, 
shows that although such low night temperatures are recorded they 
only remain at the lowest point for a very short time, and after the 
long spell of dry hot weather and freedom from severe frosts which 
we have lately experienced we may reasonably anticipate weather 
as favourable for the well-being of bedding plants as that which 
we generally have in June. Spring bedding is with us now 
(May 6th) in full beauty ; even such things as Silene pendula, which 
is generally the latest to flower of all plants used for the purpose, 
is at its best, and it would be difficult to find a more beautiful 
plant for growing in masses during seasons like the present one. 
We have two long beds filled with it, edged with Cerastium tomen- 
tosum, which find a host of admirers. 
Where spring bedding is not carried out the whole of the beds 
will now be in readiness for planting the edgings of Sedums 
and Echeverias, other comparatively hirdy plants being already 
planted, and a definite plan of arrangement having been prepared 
the work may be pushed on expeditiously, planting such as 
Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Calceolarias, and Lobelias, reserving 
spaces for the more tender kinds like Coleus, Iresine, Alternan- 
thera, and Heliotrope. These may be planted a couple of weeks 
later. Few gardeners of the present day are, however, able to 
work on these lines, for spring bedding has of late become so 
general as to necessitate a totally different method o£ procedure. 
It is desirable when once the display is begun in April to keep it 
up with as little break as possible till the end of September. To 
do this each bed must be left till its beauty is on the wane, be 
then cleared and replanted with good plants ready at hand. Beds 
which are now occupied by Wallflowers, Myosotis, Silene, Aubrietias, 
and Daisies will afford good positions for Calceolarias, Zonal and 
Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums, Begonias and Marguerites. All of these 
beds having been well manured previous to the autumn planting 
will require no additions of soil or manure now, but should have 
the soil deeply dug and thoroughly separated, not forgetting to 
tread very firmly before planting if the soil is light. 
Beds in which Violas are now in full flower only require an 
edging of Sedum, Aubrietia, or Arahis, to be replaced by one of 
Lobelia, Pyrethrum, Irtsine, or Mesembryanlhemum. Violas 
rooted in August last are now flowering freely, and will continue 
to do so all through the season if abundance of water is given. 
These beds may be made still more effective if dotted with tall 
plants of Heliotrope, Fuchsias, or Abutilons, disposing these dot 
plants from 2 to 3 feet apart according to their size. This method 
of planting is especially suited for large beds, those of only 
