October 4, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
73 
lated from the fact that within quite recent times 
many gravel pits existed between and amongst the 
older trees ; and these pits have merely had their banks 
rounded off, or made to assume a more gradual 
declivity, and the whole sown down with grass. 
The present mansion is a handsome structure of the 
Elizabethan architectural style, and was built in 1870. 
The basement consists of Kentish rag, but the super¬ 
structure is of beautifully toned red bricks. The front 
entrance is on the north side of the building, and is 
entered from the approach through a forecourt. Around 
the sides of this are arranged seven head statues of as 
many deities of the old Roman or Grecian mythology. 
The walls of the mansion itself are heavily draped with 
Ivy and stray shoots of the Virginian Creeper. Over 
the doorway of the porch, and above the initials of the 
proprietor, is the inscription 1 ‘ Nonnc Dominus Expec- 
tatio Mea ,” which means, “ Is not the Lord my 
expectation!” Close by is a chapel with glass-stained 
windows. 
angle, form a series of fronts and gable ends variously 
connected together, and facing the south-east. Here 
the living greenery draping the walls is as rich or even 
more varied than that of the main building. Some of 
the same plants are repeated, with the addition of 
Aristolochia Sipho, Berberis fascicularis, Elreagnus 
pungens variegata, Japan Spindletree, and the Fig. 
A fine and beautifully green piece of lawn skirts this 
front of the house, and around its margins are some 
pyramidal masses of Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums and 
Heliotrope, about 8 ft. high, laden with bloom, while 
the air for some distance around was redolent with the 
delicious odour of the Heliotrope, popularly known as 
Cherry Pie. Along the front of the house on the edge 
of the grass is a row of pyramidal specimens of the 
broad-leaved golden and' broad-leaved silver Japan 
Euonymus, as well as Viburnum Tinus, all grown in 
huge tubs and arranged alternately. The varieties of 
Euonymus stand about 9 ft. or 10 ft. high, and the 
foliage is splendidly coloured. A glance at the illus- 
one, followed by a broad band of Golden Queen, 
that again by Silver Queen, inside of which is 
the Golden Milkmaid, with a centre of another kind 
variegated with pale yellow. 
Behind the mansion, or on its north-eastern aspect, is 
the old fruit garden, a square piece of ground enclosed 
by rather high walls covered with Peach and Plum 
trees. With this exception, it has now no right to the 
title of fruit garden, for the ground has been laid down 
in grass in which numerous beds are cut out—in fact, 
they very closely cover about a half of it. As the 
pyramids of Heliotropes, Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums, 
Euonymus and other subjects were unique in their 
way, so here the occupants of the beds, whether 
Pelargoniums, Coleus or what not, are planted for the 
sake of the effect produced by variegated and highly 
coloured foliage alone. The other half forms a neat 
lawn with a row of pyramidal shaped specimens of 
Pelargoniums, Myrtles, Euonymus, Elreagnus, and 
umbrella-headed specimens of Fuchsia Wave of Life, 
Coombe Warren, Kingston Hill, the Residence of B. W. Currie, Esq. 
On the southern aspect facing the lawn (see accom¬ 
panying illustration) there are three gables, the middle 
one of which bears a sundial near the top. On the dial is 
the inscription, “ Ostende faciem tuam et salvi erimus’’ 
(“ Show thy face and we shall be safe”). At each end 
of the main building is a square turret embattled on 
the top. This front is covered almost to the top with 
a wealth of climbers, consisting of Wistaria sinensis, 
Ivy, Jasminum officinale, and Virginian Creeper, now 
becoming red and crimson. The basal part is thickly 
clothed with dwarfer subjects, such as Cotoneaster 
microphylla, now red with berries, Berberis stenophylla 
bearing late flowers, Viburnum plicatum, Berberis 
aquifolium and Clematis. To the left of the spectator 
is a wall bounding a recess, and covered with a 
flourishing Magnolia grandiflora. The recess is sown 
down in grass, and some pyramidal specimens of Box are 
planted. Tubs stood about contain pyramidal specimens 
of Pelargonium Rollisson’s Unique, Eleagnus pungens 
variegata, Fuchsias and Myrtles. 
To the right of the main building, another block of 
buildings (not shown in the accompanying illustration), 
in direct continuation with the former, turn off at an 
tration will show the form and arrangement of these 
beautiful shrubs. 
At the western end of the mansion is what is known 
as the Italian garden (see illustration), a square piece of 
ground on a terrace, surrounded by walls of various 
heights. These walls are covered with lattice-work, 
which supports a floriferous and interlacing drapery 
of Pelargonium Duke of Edinburgh with richly- 
variegated foliage, Abutilon Darwinii equally rich, 
Fuchsia Sunray, Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums, and Cal¬ 
ceolaria amplexicaulis, all flowering profusely again 
after the recent destructive storms of raiD. The 
enclosed piece of grass is laid out in beds, and these 
are neatly planted with Alternantheras, Mesembry- 
anthemnm cordifolium variegatum, Antennaria dioica 
tomentosa, Ivleinias, Cotyledons, Sedum glaucum, 
and other popular carpet-bedding plants. On the 
terrace are some fine-flowering pieces of Agapanthus 
umbellatus albus, and near by, as well as in other 
parts of the grounds, are numerous large Hydrangeas 
in tubs. In a valley to the south-east of the house 
is a large, circular, and closely-trimmed bed of 
Hollies, consisting of a broad margin of the green 
along the edge of a dividing walk. One end of the 
latter is paved and panelled with variously coloured 
bricks, while the other is panelled with small pebbles. 
It is therefore clean, dry and passable in any sort of 
weather. On a terrace wall are some fine masses of 
Agapanthus umbellatus, A. u. albus, and a pale- 
flowered variety. Many of the flowers of the white 
variety had grown together in pairs, presenting the 
appearance of being semi-double. 
Behind a wall to the west end of this place, is the 
half circle garden, a semi-circular piece of grass 
surrounded on the curved side by a bank of Rhodo¬ 
dendrons edged by a broad line of Euonymus radicans 
variegatus. The straight but balustraded wall on- the 
other side, is covered with a wealth of flowering plants 
and fine foliage climbing subjects. Half pyramidal and 
floriferous masses of Heliotrope and Pelargoniums also 
lean against the wall in many places, and give it a very 
unwonted appearance. Hear by, the oraDgery is 
covered with Vitis tricuspidata, better known as 
Ampelopsis Veitchii, now glorious in shades of crimson 
and bronze. For the use of the above illustration we 
are indebted to the courtesy of the Editor of the 
Kingston Express. 
