462 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jiine 7, 1888 
agreeable to the ear. A favourite practical joke, however, was to 
have a concealed fountain, and as the by-passer went along, by 
stepping on a lever he set it in motion, unawares, perhaps to receive 
its stream upon his person. It was very usual to place plants in 
pots or in boxes along the sides of garden paths. It may be in¬ 
ferred that these were removed for the winter, especially in our 
colder climate, and protected by some means. One favourite style 
of setting out gardens was in squares, four, eight, or even more, 
each square separated from its neighbours by trelliswork, upon 
which climbers or creepers were placed. On the outside of gardens 
there were often liedges of some thorny species. It is supposed 
the Romans occasionally formed those of the Broom (Cytisus 
sooparius). 
I think it is quite possible we might learn, even now, from the 
Roman lords of Britain, as did our ancestors, for there rose up a 
class amongst the Britans who copied Roman ways and methods, 
in gardens amongst other things. The Roman horticulturists 
thought it of importance to study not only the senses of sight and 
touch, but that of smell, when planning gardens or shrubberies. 
As a matter of course they excluded all species, even if beautiful, 
when the odour of leaves or flowers was offensive, and they made 
a study of the various aromas given off by fragrant plants and 
trees, taking care to place together such as would assimilate. Cer¬ 
tainly they would have much admired the Eucalyptus tree and 
other exotics we possess, but unknown to them ; they, however, 
much encouraged the Pine, on account of its refreshing odour, 
and the Cedar, deemed a health-giving tree. The Bay was a 
favourite because of its beauty and its use in furnishing crowns of 
honour. The Eastern Plane, popular with us, was also popular 
with the Romans, but we cannot sec clearly why they had a par¬ 
tiality for the Cypress. Even, as in later times, certain plants came 
to be dedicated to particular individuals—the Violet, for instance, 
to Napoleon, and the Primrose to Beaconsfield—so the Romans as¬ 
signed trees to imaginary personages ; thus the Olive to the Queen 
of Wisdom, the Poplar to Hercules, and the Myrtle to Venus. 
Very probably they planted in the groves about their English villas 
both the trees of the warmer countries of i^outh Europe or Asia, 
and species obtained fi’om northern regions colder than Britain. 
The fanciful mode of cutting trees or shrubs into Imitations of 
the shapes of human beings and animals, or forming letters of 
names from them, was an old device of the Romans, though re¬ 
introduced to us by the Dutch after William III. became monarch 
of these islands. In forming vineyards or Vine plantations the 
Romans made an artificial s ope, if they had not a natural hill 
available, and it was a notion of theirs to have the ground above 
the Vines set w’ith low shrubs, growing thickly. One of their fads 
was to plant the walks around some of the gardens with a plant 
they call Acanthus, ] resumed to be a species of moss, but we do 
not know ; of course it was kept short and even, being soft to the 
tread, silent also, but probably at times slippery. The practice of 
forcing plants was introduced to Britain by the Romans ; this they 
managed on an original plan by means of spccularia—i e., plates of 
talc, with w'hich they covered boxes or baskets, also using manure 
to heat ; for they were w'ell aware of the importance of manuring 
or enriching the soil, and even with this object sowed crops and 
then buried them while green. But as to their sjpecularia it re¬ 
mains a w’onder how they got talc plates of 4 or 5 feet long (so it 
is asserted), for none such can be split now. Though some have 
argued, from the Roman custom of w'arming dwelling houses by 
subterranean stoves, that in a similar w^ay they probably applied 
heat to houses containing vegetables and fruit, the silence on this 
point of all writers on gardening and rural affairs leads rather to 
the negative conclusion. They understood grafting and inocula¬ 
tion, layering also, but frequently propagated fruit trees by seeds 
or suckers ; and the Romans had their florists, too. Some in London 
doubtless, if not at other British stations, -would ply their trade, 
which was to sell chaplets or wreaths made up both of wild and 
garden flowers. These were used for various purposes, the flowers 
in them being chosen not only for their beauty and perfume, but 
arranged to represent symbolical or mythological ideas.—J. R. S. C. 
IVY-LEAF PELARGONIUMS. 
IvY-LE.vvED Pelargoniums are becoming very popular, and we 
cannot feel surprised, for they are of easy culture, and can be 
trained to almost any shape, pyramidal plants being very orna¬ 
mental. They are also quite as useful to cover spaces on walls or 
pillars in the greenhouse or conservatory, and afford abundance of 
flowers for a long time. The semi-doubies are especially to be re¬ 
commended for the latter purpose. In one of the Pela’-gonium 
houses at Chilwell these may be seen to perfection trained up 
pillars on each side of the pathway, so as to form arches over the 
pathway. These arches are from 8 to 10 feet apart, and form a 
very interesting feature, being at the present time covered with 
flowers. 
Amongst the most notable varieties may be mentioned Anna 
Pfitzer, Comte de Choiseul, Emile Lemoine, Furstin Josephine von 
Hohenzollern, Jeanne d’Arc, Le Printemps, Louis Thibaut, Made¬ 
line Reiterhart, and L’Elegante, the old variegated form, a mass of 
flowers. This variety is also much prized for bedding. Many others'- 
may be mentioned, which appear mostly to be closer growing, more 
fit for specimens or for bedding, such as A. Carriere, Congo, Isidore 
Feral, M. de Boi’ringe, Madame Thibaut,‘and Souvenir de Charles- 
Turner, which are flowering from nearly every joint. Of newer- 
varieties, notable are Galilee, a charming pink double, and Lavosier,. 
a very fine type of the rose-coloured section ; this is also a double^ 
variety. Many others could be mentioned, but the above are suffi¬ 
cient to form an idea of what are good. In another house may be^ 
seen the old, but yet useful, Solanum jasminoides, trained as 
mentioned above, and it has a charming appearance, producing its- 
pretty white clusters of flowers in profusion. This is very useful 
for wreaths.—S. 
HARDY PLANTS AT WISLEY. 
A SLIGHT acquaintance with poor collections, indifferently grown, 
has induced some individuals to indulge in a general condemnation of 
hardy plants, and to stigmatise them as “weedy;” but however this- 
may be deserved in particular instances, it is unquestionably an error 
very easily dissipated by the inspection of such a garden as Mr. G. F. 
Wilson’s. The best of plants amply repay for eood cultivation, and' 
some that under less watchful care seem scarcely -worth the space they 
occupy are greatly improved with suitable attention. Successful culture- 
with many of the choicer hardy h- rbaceous and alpine plants means¬ 
finding them the light soil and situation, and then leaving them to take 
natural possession of it, merely protecting them from their enemies and< 
preventing stronger coarse plants encroaching upon them. It is a 
common mistake when a plant is seen to be thriving to instantly start 
cutting and dividing it, and many choice occupants of borders and 
rockeries have been lost by this species of greed. It is always -w'ell to- 
strengthen one's resources, but in this, as in other matters, “ hasten 
slowly ” is a good motto. One enthusiastic amateur always recom¬ 
mended his friends (and I believe consistently practised it himself) to- 
distribute portions of any rare or difficult plant with which they had 
succeeded, as in case any accident befel the original plant there -would 
always be a reserve to fall back upon, as it was unlikely that all would 
be lost. This also is an idea worth remembering, but if it is carried out 
too hurriedly or injudiciously it will simply bring the result that it is- 
wished to avoid—namely, the destruction of the parent. There are- 
certain to be many losses and failures before the right conditions are- 
ascertained, but when once the jdants are established they seem fully 
capable of taking care of themselves, and one of the charms of the- 
garden at Wisley is the number of its occupants that are seen to be- 
prospering as they might do in a wild state under the most favourable- 
of natural conditions. 
A few instances of this may be given in the following notes. Of 
Irises a great favourite is I. Kmmpferi with its varieties, so distinct in 
the shades of its large Clematis-like flowers. This thrives in several- 
different aspects, but on sloping sandy banks near the water, and though 
the plants are at different elevations, from quite close to the water’s- 
edge up to several feet, yet in all cases the requisite condition seems to- 
be that their roots should be cool, with a constant moisture rising frorm 
below. In the Cambridge Botanic Gardens, where this fine Iris also- 
succoeds, it has a similar position, but it is seldom seen luxuriating as it 
does at Wisley. The Japanese Iris is, of course, not yet in flower, but 
another beautiful species that thrives well on banks near the water is 
I. longipetala, of which there are some handsome clumps now bearing 
abundance of its delicate lilac-veined flowers. The dwarf early Irises- 
have also afforded plenty of their deep purple or parti-coloured flowers- 
in compact clusters, though now past their best. 
Two comparatively diminutive plants deserve a special note, as they 
are rarely seen happy in gardens, and though both are natives of this 
country they cannot be despised except by those who think that all floraE 
beauty is confined to exotics. One of these is the Chickweed Winter 
Green, or, as it is more euphoniously named, the Star Flower, Trientalia- 
europma, which, amongst its bronzy green leaves, bears numbers of pure- 
white small starry flowers. It is growing capitally in a somewhat damp, 
position in “ poor hungry peat,” and is evidently thoroughly at home;. 
The other is the Mountain Avens, Dryas octopetala, one of the smaller 
members of the Rose family, and which grows vigorously, and bears its 
white flo-wers freely on a bank in the garden with the golden North 
American species, D. Drummondi, though the latter has not made quite 
such good progress. Other trailing plants that succeed admirably in the 
woodland garden are the interesting little Linnsea borealis in two 
varieties, Mitchella repens, and Epigiea repens, which scramble about 
covering the ground with a dense carpet of greenery. With them are 
associated hardy Heaths by hundreds. Ledums, and simiSar plants that 
like a peaty soil and shade. The Heaths are treated in the same manner 
as some of the softwooded Ericas grown for indoor decoration—namely, 
they are cut in closely with the shears about this time of year, and then 
make strong fresh growth, also keeping them within moderate limits. 
Several mounds are devoted to Saxifragas, Sempei-vivums, and 
