April 19,1894, 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
293 
A S I walk round the garden of hardy flowers in April I feel 
that the pen of the poet, and not that of the writer of 
laboured prose, would be needed to treat fitly of these fresh, fair 
flowers, which in the border or on the rockery smile bewitch- 
ingly upon me. They seem to know that their owner is not 
insensible to their beauty, and that they are looked upon, not with 
indifference, but with the keenest appreciation and admiration* 
Before proceeding to speak of a few flowers in detail I may 
briefly glance at some of the leading features of the garden at 
present. 
The Daffodil in its many forms sways gently with the softer 
breezes, or tosses wildly as the east wind sweeps over the 
sands or waves of the Solway and invades the garden with its 
unwelcome breath. Sheets of snowy Arabia on the rockeries or 
edges of the borders contrast admirably with mounds of purple 
or rose coloured Aubrietias. Anemones of many kinds are full 
of beauty in the borders or in the rock garden, giving flowers 
of blue or purple, white or blush, or crimson of various tints, 
such as that displayed by a good form of A. fulgens, which, as 
I write, shines behind and above a clump of the Spanish Squill 
on a rockery opposite the window of my room. Saxifrages with 
white flowers, such as those of the charming little S. coriophylla, 
or yellow ones, as are displayed by S. Boydi, adorn the rockery, 
while moist and shady nooks occupied by such moisture-loving 
plants as Trilliums and some of the hardy Orchids are bright 
with the glossy leaves and golden flowers of S. Huetti; and Grape 
Hyacinths, pale blue, deep blue, black blue, white and tinted 
faintly with pale pink, mingle in harmony with the early Forget- 
me-not, Myosotis dissitiflora. The modest Cardamine trifoliata 
has just preceded the gayer Ladies’ Smock, as represented by its 
double form, Cardamine pratensis flore-pleno. Some Dog’s Tooth 
Violets in various colours and shades are still in bloom, while 
others have passed away for their long rest. Very delightful have 
they been with their spotted or marbled leaves and pretty flowers, 
purple, pink, white, and yellow. 
Fritillarias, too, from the somewhat ungainly if stately 
Crown Imperials to those of the habit of F. meleagris, the 
Snake’s Head Lily, adorn the garden. It is not everyone who 
can admire these fantastic looking flowers, but one can hardly 
deny that some of the white forms of the common F. meleagris 
are very beautiful. Here in the border the starry white blooms 
of Triteleia uniflora harmonise well with the soft blue flowers 
of the Italian Squill, Scilla italica, the pleasing porcelain stripe 
on the Triteleia making the effect more beantiful. In many 
places Primroses and Polyanthuses in numerous colours and shades 
are pictures of beauty, a few of the Primula species giving the 
charm of greater variety. Some of the earlier Tulips have 
come into flower, two varieties of T. Greigi in particular being 
rivals of the Daffodils in claiming the honour of being the 
glory of the garden. Many others there are of showy or of 
modest beauty, and over all in calm days is cast the fragrance 
of the odorous Wallflower. Nor is the added charm of insect 
life absent, for tortoiseshell butterflies flit about from flower to 
flower ; honey bees throng the garden, and the long hum of 
the humble bee sounds cheerily at times in my ears as I 
linger over the garden treasures. 
No. 721.— VoL. XXVIII., Third Series. 
Gloriously beautiful are the following varieties of Tulipa 
Greigi at present in flower in my garden, T. G. aurea zonata and 
T. G. asstivans. Gorgeous they may be but it is without gaudiness, 
and as they open to the April sun their effect is apparent to all. 
The first of these is bright gold with a large deep red blotch at the 
base of the outside petals, a smaller one on the outside of the 
inner ones, and the inside of the flower shows a golden cup with a 
bright red zone at the base. The second is nearly all bright red 
with here and there a flush of gold. To all this are added the 
large size of the flower, and the beauty of the broad, green leaves, 
spotted with brown. This Tulip seems, unfortunately, to be slow 
of increase, and in some gardens difficult to grow. I have grown 
the typical T. Greigi and some varieties for several years, and find 
they do best in a bed of sandy peat with stiff road parings, and in 
a position fully exposed to the sun in the spring, but partially 
shaded in summer by an adjoining bed of some of the taller 
herbaceous plants. 
Exceedingly useful in the spring garden are some of the earlier 
Doronicums or Leopard’s Banes, which with their starry petalled 
golden flowers brighten the borders. Not so tall and fine as 
D, Harpur Crewe but earlier, and thus, in some respects, more 
valuable, is D. caucasicum growing in light soil to about a foot 
in height and literally covered with flowers fully inch 
across with narrow petals. The radical leaves are reniform and 
deeply toothed, while those of the stem are oval and clasping. It 
is easily grown in almost any soil. Rather taller with me, hut 
quite as free flowering, is D austriacum, with more heart-shaped 
radical leaves which are less toothed than those of D. caucasicum. 
D. Column®, said to grow only about 6 inches in height, has not 
retained its dwarfness when establi-hed, and is less free flowering 
in this garden than the two preceding. One I received from 
Bithynia as D. macrorhizon is of still less value. D. Harpur Crewe 
is extremely fine, but in strong soils is a little coarse from its 
vigorous habit. 
Very pretty are some of the Dentarias or Toothwort?, which 
are hardly sufficiently known in gardens, although their preference 
for a half-shady spot will give them additional value to many persons. 
My first acquaintance with these was made several years ago in the 
Edinburgh Botanic Garden, so well known for its rich collection 
of hardy flowers. One of the neatest is D. pinnata, of which I 
have only the white form, although there are also purple and 
lilac varieties. In some soils it grows to 18 inches in height, but 
in my garden barely attains a foot high. The flowers are borne 
in a terminal cluster, and the pinnate leaves are composed of from 
five to seven leaflets. It is said to he a native of the mountain 
woods of Switzerland. 
The Drabas are interesting little plants to the lover of Alpine 
flowers, and it is unfortunate that their nomenclature is somewhat 
obscure. I have some six or eight species, and one of the most 
pleasing of the yellow ones is D. cuspidata, the pointed-leaved Draba, 
which only grows some 3 or 4 inches in height, and forms pretty 
little rosettes of pointed ciliated leaves with thick stems, bearing 
small yellow flowers in terminal racemes. It is a native of the 
mountains of Spain, and is grown here in light sandy soil on a 
rockery facing west. So far as I am aware I have only previously 
mentioned in the briefest possible way the little golden Saxifrage 
alluded to above as S. Huetti. 1 believe this is the true name of 
the one I procured as S. cymbalaria ; but there is so little difference 
between the two, this apparently consisting only in a slightly 
different form of leaf, that those seeking this plant may ask for 
it under either name. The leaves are thick and glossy green, 
kidney-shaped, with small lobes, and the small flowers, which are 
produced from early spring to late autumn, are bright yellow. 
Although in ordinary seasons the flowers are not produced in 
midwinter, in a season like the past winter they have never been 
absent from my gaiden. It is a charming little plant for carpeting 
the surface of ground occupied by other plants, especially those 
No. 2377.-VoL. XC., Old Series. 
