678 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 26, 1886. 
are planted against the dwelling house, against the 
walls of out-buildings, and in the open ground. To go 
from Stakehill, when the Roses looked in the cold, dull, 
retarding weather, almost as if they had been scathed 
with fire, to Llandudno, where they were growing 
luxuriantly, and already full of rapidly expanding 
buds, is a change, indeed. On walls could be seen 
luxuriant plants of Belle Lyonnaise, Marechal Mel, 
Saffrano, Madame Berrard, Cheshunt Hybrid, Gloire 
de Dijon, one plant of which on the front of the house 
is scarcely ever without flowers ; William Allen 
Richardson, which comes grandly coloured here ; the 
fine old white La Marque, Reve d’Or, Reine Marie 
Henriette, the last named blooming grandly ; and 
others. On a south wall, in front of the mansion, 
some of the foregoing are growing, and in such a position 
Tea Roses are seen to perfection. In front of this wall 
is a long border, about 3 ft. in width, and here could 
be seen Buddlea globosa, doing splendidly. Some huge 
clumps of Helianthemums covered with blossom—huge 
cushions of striking colours : Ixia viridiflora, double 
German Wallflowers, &c., with Phloxes, Pentstemons, 
Carnations, &c., coming out for summer bloom. On a 
bold stretch of grass plat, are several beds filled with 
Pansies and other things ; Pansies are perfectly at home 
here, and some beds of Holyrood are striking patches 
of purple-violet. 
At the back, on the grassy hill side, are many Cow¬ 
slips and choice vyild flowers, and Mr. Barlow has 
planted among them a large number of Dean’s Hybrid 
Coloured Primroses, that are doing well upon the slopes 
planted in the pasture. A good space of natural rock- 
work is covered with Helianthemums, choice Sedums, 
and Saxifrages, Ivies, &c., while a fringe of the large 
blue Periwinkle, planted at the crest of the cliff, will, 
in course of time, hang down in masses of blue blossoms. 
This grassy bank runs past the house and into the 
enclosed garden, which is two-thirds kitchen and fruit, 
and one-third flower garden ; and on it Mr. Barlow has 
naturalized some of the choicer double Primroses. It 
is refreshing to see how well the old double Crimson 
Yelvet flourished planted among the grass. In odd 
corners there are clumps of Orchises and other pets 
gathered in course of rambles over the hill sides. 
In the enclosed garden are large beds of Tea and 
Hybrid Perpetual Roses, margined with varieties of the 
Polyantha Section, single varieties, &c. It is marvel¬ 
lous what rich tints the young growths take on ; it 
reminds one of Amaranthus melancholicus ruber in its 
best form. They all grow so vigorously and flower so 
freely, that in the season Mr. Barlow can gather many 
bushels of bloom. There are three beds of Tulips, the 
flowers attaining to a very large size, the soil suiting 
them exactly ; there is a bed of the finest strain of 
Ranunculus just coming into bloom, and near it a 
frame in which are planted out some of the choice 
varieties of named Gold-laced Polyanthus, among them 
a few choice seedlings raised by Mr. Barlow. 
There is a good plantation of pyramid and bush Apple 
trees, and also large pyramid and standard Pears and 
Plums, with bush fruits ; and the kitchen garden is 
well cropped ; close by are two cottages for those who 
are employed in the garden, and above these, at a 
higher level, an Asparagus and vegetable garden. 
Eastward is a paddock, a portion of which it is Mr. 
Barlow’s intention to convert into an orchard. The 
Estate includes a small farm or two, portions of moun¬ 
tain land, from the elevation of which charming views 
can be had ; a stone quarry, &c. 
Such is a brief outline of this charming spot. It is 
full of tender and wild beauty: a spot where nature 
appears to present herself in seductive moods. The 
gardens are being rapidly improved under Mr. Barlow’s 
fostering care; and this account shall be closed with 
the remark that only out-door plants are grown at 
Shimdda Hir, for there is no glass under which to rear 
tender ones. 
An Amateur's Garden at Conway. 
My second Welsh Garden is a much more modest 
and unpretentious one, but full of interest to any who 
would understand how much a garden can do to restore 
health and vigour to a body and mind overtaxed and 
debilitated by the anxieties of business. It is small 
and irregularly-shaped, lying upon a warm slope, and 
bounded on one side by the ancient walls of Conway 
Castle. Some five or six years ago, Mr. Robert Houl- 
grave, of Liverpool, was compelled by reason of failure 
of health to leave this busy city, and he was advised to 
seek the restoration thereof in Wales. Yisiting Conway 
in his tour, he made his quarters at the Castle Hotel, 
and taking kindly to the neighbourhood and the 
people with whom he came into contact, resolved to 
make it his abiding place. Presently, a small plot of 
ground being vacant, he took it and converted it into 
a garden, and helped by a growing love for plants and 
flowers, he has gradually formed one that seems to 
present to view the leav, ideal of what an amateur’s 
garden should be :—a place where some of the highest 
of pleasure is reaped from tending the plants, sowing 
seeds, putting in cuttings and making layers, rearing 
these until they fructify into blossom, rejoicing over 
the fresh and inspiring beauty they develope —illus¬ 
trating in manifold ways how much a garden tends to 
the refreshment of the spirit of man. 
There is a grass plat to be mown, gravelled walks to 
be swept and rolled, digging to be done, and other 
heavy work to be performed ; this is accomplished by a 
labourer, and I quite understand Mr. Houlgrave’s 
feelings -when he stated that it was a great relief to him 
when he was able to dismiss his helper and lock the 
door upon him. Against the walls are some fruit trees, 
chiefly Pears, Roses, &c.; in one part, under the old 
Castle rvalls, a fine plant of Ceanothus azureus was 
wreathed in blossoms of a lovely pale silvery blue hue. 
There are shrubs, perennials, biennials, &c , and a 
goodly number of Carnations and Picotees, which do 
well here, and are great favourites with Mr. Houlgrave. 
Among them is a new scarlet bizarre Carnation named 
Robert Houlgrave, raised and named by his friend, Mr. 
Samuel Barlow, of Stakehill House, Castleton, Man¬ 
chester. There are many odds and ends of plants, 
among them some fine bushes of Lavender, and many a 
bunch of fragrant flowers is given to friends and 
neighbours. 
One of the greatest enemies to the garden Mr. Houl¬ 
grave has to contend with is snails, for they can hide 
themselves in the openings in the old castle walls, and 
other places, and from there issue forth preying upon 
such things as they most fancy. One cannot resist a 
smile in walking round the garden, as they come upon 
various wooden boxes, bottom upwards ; these are 
snail traps. A piece of linseed cake is placed on the 
ground, and a boxisjnverted over it, leaving space for 
the snails to creep under ; here they are trapped and 
destroyed. 
I may never look upon the garden again, but I shall 
never forget the sensation of acute pleasure I experienced 
in walking round it. Here was real, substantial, satis¬ 
fying, pure love for the garden, and I could see in the 
kindling eye and animated face of the proprietor, what 
tranquil hours were spent, and solid delights experienced 
in making this garden such a source of supreme 
refreshment to both mind and body.— Quo. 
-- 
PYRETHRUMS. 
These plants are recoguised favourites in gardens 
now, and the numbers of varieties are becoming quite 
formidable, long lists being issued by some firms de¬ 
scribing a host of different forms. The single varieties 
are much the brightest, the rose, carmine and crimson 
tints being extremely rich, but some prefer the doubles 
for their substance and soft pure colours. All are 
beautiful, and they are worth a place wherever bright 
handsome flowers are valued. Some have stated that 
they are difficult to grow satisfactorily, and this may 
be so in certain soils and situations ; but happily we 
have no such troubles to contend with, the plants 
thriving as vigorously as Delphiniums, German Irises 
and the common double white Pyrethrum partheni- 
folium with which they are associated. 
Some of the roots are dense masses 2 ft. in diameter, 
and have been undisturbed for several years, the only 
attention they received being a mulching of old manure 
over the roots in early spring before growth commences, 
and a supply of water throughout the summer when¬ 
ever the weather is hot and dry. The soil in which 
they are growing is an ordinary border of dark loamy 
mould, moist but well drained, sheltered towards the 
east and north, but quite open in all other directions. 
A stout stake is placed to each clump at the back, and 
from this a piece of string is passed round the stems 
and secured to the stick at the back. They are not 
tied in too tightly, and the string is taken round rather 
below the centre of the clumps, so that they are not 
rendered too formal in appearance. They look, in fact, 
extremely well, and this season they are better than 
usual, though after such an unfavourable spring we 
might have expected the reverse.— H. B. 
PHENOMENA OF VARIATION, 
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO 
FERNS. 
(Concluded from p. 664). 
In connection with the power of crestation I would 
ask, what is the parallel phenomenon in flowering 
plants ? Hardly, I think, the doubling of the flowers, 
though that suggests itself as a near approach ; yet from 
the fact that the sterility which is usually attendant 
upon such doubling is associated in the Ferns with the 
plumose and not the crested varieties, I think the con¬ 
nection should be looked for there ; the extremely foliose 
character of such forms seeming to absorb all the vigour 
of the plant, so that spores are either altogether or 
almost absent, precisely as the multiplication of the 
flower petals seems to affect the seed producing parts of 
the flower. This idea I only throw out for discussion. 
Here again the most marked instances of variation in 
the plumose direction have been -wild finds. Dr YTH’s 
Scolopendrium crispum, for instance, has deeply curled 
fronds of normal strap-shaped outline, but much wider 
—over 4 ins. in some cases. The Axminster and Hors¬ 
fall plumose Athyria were also found wild, and to cut 
this part of my paper short, so were the greater part of 
the abnormal forms in cultivation ; though thanks to 
the selection of some of our careful cultivators, such as 
Col. Jones, of Clifton, and others, the offspring of such 
finds have been found to develope their characteristic 
beauties to a far greater extent than the parents, some 
of Col. Jones’s Polystichums especially, the result of 
selection and hybridisation being apparently the ne 
plus ultra of feathery delicacy. 
I have alluded several times to the constancy of 
such variations, but there are some curious exceptions 
to this rule, as every Fern-hunter knows to his cost. 
Many of the most marked and beautiful forms yield 
common progeny, and also are apt to “ sulk ” as it is 
termed, and refuse to produce anything but normal 
fronds unless grown exactly as they like it. One of 
my own best finds affords the most remarkable 
instance of this instability that I know of. In 1884 
while in Scotland I found near Kilmarnock a really 
splendid form of Lastrea Filix-mas polydactyla ; in 
fact the most polydactylous form by far which had 
been seen. The plant had five or six huge fronds, all 
with beautifully pendulous pinnae tasselled with as 
many as twenty divisions. I brought it to London 
and displayed it with great pride to some of the best 
judges, who one and all decided that it was a thorough¬ 
bred beauty. As it w T as profusely covered with spores, 
I carefully gathered some from the best parts of the 
frond and sowed them. The plant being deciduous 
the foliage disappeared in the winter, and the fol¬ 
lowing season I watched the rising crown in confident 
anticipation of a finer and more symmetrical plant 
than the removal and tfavelling had permitted it to be 
the previous season. Judge, then, of my disgust when 
a common Filix-mas was slowly developed without 
even the simple merit of the normal form, for man} 7 of 
the pinnae were deformed and depaurperate. Later on 
a frond or two arose with faint signs of division on the 
apices of the pinnae. Meanwhile the young ones began 
to arise from the spores, one and all common male 
Ferns. Another exactly similar plant found at the 
same place, but some 20 yards distant, in the succeeding 
week by a cousin of mine, showed slightly crested 
pinnae here and there, and that was all—verdict, a 
rogue. Still I would not despair, and though this 
year perhaps it might get over its sulkiness, the spring 
comes, and slowly rises the shuttlecock-like circle of 
frods, all common again except a few deformities ; then 
an odd frond rises, pinnae slightly crested, then 
another, and oh ! it is heavily tasselled and as beautiful 
as could be desired. 
Meanwhile the seedlings have been developing fronds 
4 ins. to 6 ins. high, all common with the exception of 
two, which in the prothallus stage had been transferred to 
a Todea superba frame ; these two heavily tasselled 
from the beginning. I wait a little, and behold here 
and there generally there are fronds arising among the 
seedlings which promise not only to equal the parent at 
its best but even to surpass it. Here is inconstancy 
with a vengeance, but by no means one of the worst 
cases, for many a presumed good find has reverted 
altogether when removed from its birthplace, never 
displaying its peculiarities again. 
That this capacity of sudden variation is not always 
confined to a single spore is evidenced by the fact that 
under cultivation instances have been known where a 
