808 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 2i, 1886. 
LONDON GARDENING.—YI. 
Bulbs. 
Of course last week’s list of Perennials was very far 
from an exhaustive one ; many are the other worthy 
candidates for the London gardener's patronage. To 
mention only two of these, there are the well-known 
Honesty and Thrift, plants that should be grown if 
only for their names’ sake ! A few days ago I saw Thrift 
used as a boundary-line to a flower border on the plat¬ 
form of a L. B. & S.C.B. Station close to London, and 
it was clearly growing there con amore , quite covering 
the rough edging—flints with its green velvet cushions 
and clumps, which must be pretty indeed, starred with 
pink blossoms, in the early summer. Much may be 
learnt from the plants at suburban railway stations, 
where there is seldom any shade and always a full 
complement of blacks ; they are silent applicants of the 
representative order, for frosts in the exposed borders 
of a London garden, and their testimonials are written 
on every brave leaf and cheerful flower. One blot there 
is on the merry Thrift's escutcheon ; its reputation as 
a Slug-harbourer is a very bad one, and though Car¬ 
nations and Pinks are fellow-offenders of almost as deep 
a Jye, it must yet be admitted that the habit is more 
mischievous in an edging plant than in any other ; for 
the tufts are so many fortresses in line along the 
border, covering the Sallies of the Crawling Crops, and 
inviting to safe repose after the fatigues of repletion. 
Lut after all, Thrift need not be grown as an edging ; 
its pink-spotted green pincushions dotted about singly 
are very ornamental, and what is an isolated martello 
tower here and there, compared with a chain of 
redoubts? The best edgings for London gardens are 
dead ones, and if I am to avow my personal predilection, 
it is for the very simplest and most natural possible. 
In that coming garden of mine I mean to use only 
the “Flagstone Edging” (supplied by Mr. J. A. 
Robinson, Stone Merchant, of Brighouse, Yorkshire,) 
w liich consists of plain oblong Slabs of a soft grey tint, 
not without its quiet sparkle, harmonising charmingly 
with a garden’s greenery, and innocent of the self- 
assertion of elaborate or bright-coloured “ designs.” 
A word must here be said about Grass, that very com¬ 
mon Perennial vdiich people are apt to think can be 
made to grow anywhere and it shall be a word of dis¬ 
suasion. Y ithout laying down the law that grass is 
ill adapted to little London gardens in general, I will 
express the opinion that the less our London gardener 
has to do with it, the happier she is likely to be. I 
could not count the persevering attempts to grow it 
successfully which I have seen made, only to be sadly 
abandoned at last in despair. Those to whom expense 
is not a scarecrow can indeed have their gardens re- 
tuifed, as perhaps they are re-gravelled, yearly,—but 
that is not growing grass. I, for my part, cannot live 
wholly grassless, for I dearly loVe my cat, but I confine 
myself to a single six-rayed star, raised above the 
giaiel, which was originally turfed, and is resown 
with grass-seed, for her furrey sake, every May. The 
children, who have not far to stoop, keep this star 
clipped, Meg’s own clipping being irregular,—but with 
all our solicitude it never looks as grass should look. 
We come now to Bulbs, under which wide term I 
include Bulbs proper, Corns, Tubers, and Rhizomes. 
Speaking roundly, this composite class of plants is very 
v ell suited to the London garden, for it is less open to 
injury from impure air than the perennial family. Its 
delicate flowers are easily stained and spoilt, it is true, 
but its foliage offers only a narrow platform to the 
sweep of the enemy’s big guns. What there is of this 
foliage is narrow, pointed, and smooth,—there is 
seldom much,—and very often there is none ! The 
soil on which they feed plays a more important part in 
the life of bulbous plants than the air they breathe, 
and however carefully the general soil of the border 
may have been prepared, a little extra care is always 
well expended upon the immediate surroundings of 
every bulb put into it. I am assuming that most 
London gardeners will leave their bulbs undisturbed 
where once they have planted them, as I do ; with the 
exception of Gladioli, I never take up any of mine, 
partly because I have no convenient storing-place for 
them, and partly because my faith in facts is strong, 
and I could not wish for more beautiful flowers than°I 
have often seen from bulbs that had been left to them¬ 
selves, and to nature’s handling, year after year. A 
couple of inches of sharpish sand, below and above 
each bulb, is a great preservative from damp and the 
insects that revel in damp, and the soil "around this 
should be light, friable and rich. I say “rich” rather 
in deference to the dicta of florists of authority than in 
obedience to my personal experience, for I have grown 
splendid Lilies and other bulbous flowers in simple 
sand, with a winter top-dressing of very old manure. 
But that, I am fain to confess, was not in London, 
and moreover we are at this moment considering a class 
of plants large and mixed enough to embrace very 
varied requirements, so that it would be both rash and 
inexpedient to discard the traditional “ rich ” from the 
table of attributes claimed for their soil by Bulbs in 
general. 
Let us now take our Bulbs, Corms, Tubers and 
Rhizomes indiscriminately, and just name them, in the 
order of their blooming ; we can return afterwards to 
such as call for a fuller notice than the mere record of 
their names. The Winter Aconite, the Scilla, Snow¬ 
drop, Crocus, Leucojum vernum, Hyacinth, the 
Narcissus with its legion of kindred, the Tulip, Crown 
Imperial, Paeony, Lily, Iris, the Gladiolus, the Dahlia, 
the Tritonia. All these, though of course not all the 
’’ arieties of each, are willing to live, faute de mieux, in 
the London garden. I have felt bound to exclude from 
the list the Windflower (Anemone), the Ranunculus, 
Ixia, Sparaxis, the Zephyranthes, and the Marvel of 
Peru, though the two first and the last might perhaps 
be coaxed into succeeding in gardens more open to light 
and air than mine. With the help of cold frames, all, 
I daresay, might be successfully cultivated, if the Ixias 
and Sparaxis were provided with sandy soil such as they 
flourish in at the Cape ; I have seen both growing 
in the open air in English country gardens, though 
only in sunny 'positions well sheltered from the north 
and east. However, the beginner will be wise to avoid 
such delicate subjects, especially as she has so large a 
choice of unquestionably hardy ones. 
To glance back now at our list of Bulbous “Ayes" 
to the question put: “Is life worth living in a little 
London garden l —I must touch very briefly, for 
time presses and the end of the volume looms close at 
hand, on two or three of the group. Whatever else 
you exclude from your garden, unknown friends, do 
not deny admittance to Seillas Siberica, verna and 
amoena. They are as longsuflering as they are beauti¬ 
ful, as joyous as they are brave ; they mind neither 
frost nor snow nor unkind wind, they affect not to feel 
the blacks, they spread a sweet blue sheet over the 
winter-worn London soil with all its uglinesses, even as 
charity covers a multitude of* sins ;—mine, fanciful as 
it may sound, seemed actually to enjoy the snow through 
which they peeped last (icy) spring, and so they did me 
the good service of recalling to me Ruskin’s words 
about the Soldanella Alpina, which—frightened though 
I am at the rapidly contracting space left me—I must 
subjoin, for whether the Soldanella will grow in London 
gaidens or not, Seillas will, and mine behaved just like 
Ruskin s Soldanellas. “ Soldanella Alpina. 1 think 
it is the only Alpine floivcr which actually pierces mow, 
though I have seen Gentians filling thawed hoof-prints. 
Crocuses are languid till they have had sun for a day or 
two. But the Soldanella enjoys its snoio at first, and 
afterwards its fields. I have seen ft make a pasture 
look like a large lilac silk gown." 
A London garden may easily be made a blaze of 
Daffodils and other members of the great Narcissus 
family: the Trumpets, the Chalices, the Triple-crowns, 
the Rush-leaved, the Purple-ringed, the luscious Jon¬ 
quils,—all these, and many more, are most good na- 
tured. If they can have a choice, give them an eastern 
aspect that they may get the morning sun, do not for¬ 
get the warm, dry sand when you plant them, put them 
in two clear inches deep, do not lay on your top-dress¬ 
ing with an illiberal hand, do not cut off their leaves 
when the flowering business is over,—so may you and 
the Daffodils, about which floricultural big-wigs meet 
to “confer” in these days of Conferences, be fast 
friends for years.—Lilies are not quite so gracious, and 
it grieves me to say it, for in my gardens Nos. 2 and 3 
I was a Lily-grower on a fairly large scale, and I know 
the sweet tribe well. But the old July “ Candidum ” 
is happy in London, one of mine sent up a spike of 
thirteen blooms last summer, and has tendered one of 
ten blooms this season, the very modest default of three 
being a whispered reminder of the fierce spring we had 
this year. The old Orange Lily of cottage gardens 
also accommodates itself to London conditions, and so 
(I am told) do the Turk’s Caps and the beautiful 
Lilium speciosum rubrum. But having grown all 
these last, as well as the magnificent L. auratum, long 
enough elsewhere to observe their ways and wants, I 
feel sure that none of them would prosper here, nor have 
I had the courage to try those purest specimens of the 
family, L. longiflorum and L. eximeum, nor the curious 
cream-coloured L. testaceum excel sum, of all of which 
I confidently hope to have sheaves in that garden yet 
to come. Plant your Lily-bulbs 4 ins. deep, and not 
under trees ; give them a southern aspect if you can, 
and if May and June are dry months water them regu¬ 
larly ; once a week I give mine a helping of CannelTs 
manure in the water. 
Of Tulips I have only room to say this : (—pace the 
idolisers of single flowers only,—) if you can grow but 
one, grow the-Double White, “ La Candeur,” which is 
a lovely thing, and is almost as refreshing as a white 
water-Lily to London river-lovers. If you have room 
for two, let in the Double Red, “Rex Rubrorum 
after them the Singles. Of Irises I wish I had space 
to speak, but there are none that are not worthy of a 
place in any garden, so that to particularise might be 
almost invidious,—only remember that most flags are 
semi-aquatics under all conditions,—and beware, there¬ 
fore, of planting them on sloping ground where 
moisture must desert their roots, and of allowing them 
to encounter the long ordeal of a hot June day, just 
when their buds should be swelling, without any over¬ 
night-watering to sustain their strength. The German 
Irises are perhaps the best adapted to London gardens, 
but if the Spanish and other smaller varieties are care¬ 
fully guarded from the drip of trees, and encouraged 
now and then by a handful of fresh soil as a top¬ 
dressing, they do better than the delicacy of their 
structure might lead one to expect.— C. A. G. 
-- 
GLENHURST, ESHER. 
The Residence of the Hon. Colonel Talbot. 
It is by no means the rule in gardening that the 
largest or most pretentious gardens produce the most 
successful effects. On the other hand, some smaller 
places produce wonders in their way, and Glenhurst is 
a case in point, for in the matter of vegetable showing, 
and of course growing, one of the several tests of any 
gardener’s ability, Mr. Waite has proved himself to be 
almost invincible in the shows south of London, and 
probably could hold his own, or, at least, stand well in 
company with the best at any show in the kingdom. 
Already this year, as, indeed for several years past, Mr. 
Y aite has taken far more prizes, not merely for singlo 
dishes, but for collections of from six to twelve kinds, 
than any other gardener -we know of, and he has done 
this feat with remarkably good stuff, never aiming low 
down because his competitors may not have been pre¬ 
tentious, but always doing his very best, and doing 
that well. Only the other day Mr. Y r aite put up at a 
small show at Feltham, where the capital first prize of 
40s., open to all, should have brought a large local 
competition, and yet the collection was of such sur¬ 
passing quality, and arranged with such good taste, 
that to use the words of an onlooker, “it was quite a 
picture,” and was literally miles ahead of anything 
else. It is a good practice on the part of exhibitors 
never to hold competitors cheap, but always to do their 
very best at shows, whether small or otherwise. 
But Glenhurst is not only a vegetable garden, it is a 
pretty place as well. Lying out of the main road at 
Esher, and right under the brow of a high hill, it seems 
admirably sheltered from cold winds, and yet enjoys a 
very pleasing look-out over the fertile vale, which lies 
spread out before it toward the Thames. The lawn 
rises from the house by a sharp ascent terminating in 
some fine trees and shrubs through which a walk leads 
by some rugged ornamental water to the uplands 
beyond from whence a grand view of the surrounding 
country is obtained ; the towers of Y 7 indsor being 
visible to the naked eye in the distance. For the view 
of the house would have been better on the top of the 
hill, but for shelter and warmth, matters of some 
concern in our uncertain climate, it is best below where 
also it is so very accessible, and looked at from above 
appears nestled in quiet peacefulness and sweet se¬ 
clusion. The pleasure grounds are all well kept and 
very pleasing ; one of the noteworthy features being a 
grand specimen evergreen Oak near the carriage drive 
leading to the house that makes a picture always. 
A broad walk well decorated with hardy flowers and 
good shrubs on either side leads to the old kitchen and 
fruit gardens wherein the various houses at Mr. Waite’s 
