104 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Oct. 18th, 1884. 
A Third Amateur’s Garden.— We promised in 
our last number to endeavour to describe a third 
Amateur’s Garden : we confess, however, at the outset 
that we are quite unequal to the task. Although we 
have wandered about it, by the courtesy of the owner, 
at all seasons of the year, from Christmas Eose to 
Chrysanthemum, from the peeping of the first Snow¬ 
drop till 
“ Heavily hangs the Hollyhock, 
Heavily hangs the Tiger Lily,” 
we can scarcely name or describe a tithe of the 
interesting and beautiful things to be seen in this 
charming garden. There is so much to see, to read, 
mark, learn, and also inwardly digest (for our amateur 
grows also Peas, Strawberries, and Melons), that we 
repent of our rash promise. Within the compass of 
half an acre, not including a quarter for hardy fruits, 
there are many hundreds of the choicest shrubs, 
herbaceous and alpine plants to be seen anywhere 
perhaps, except in some of the large nurseries or such 
richly-stocked gardens as those of Messrs. Woolley 
Dod, G. F. Wilson, and others. 
First, with regard to the house itself, then as to its 
surroundings. It is a long, low, three-gabled cottage, 
with creamy-yellow walls quartered with dark old oak 
beams. The roof is red-tiled, mellowed with age, and 
embossed with the grey-green lichens which artists 
love. The front faces south, and is entirely covered 
with creepers, the most conspicuous among which are 
Clematis montana, now only a delicate tracery of green 
leaves, but in early summer covered with its chaste 
and elegant snow-white stars; a Vine, probably 
Esperione, from its richly-coloured leaves ; Gloire de 
Dijon Eose, and Eseallonia; a raised border, with 
blocks of sandstone irregularly disposed for Alpine 
plants, occupies the foot of the wall. The most 
striking of the many plants in this border at the 
present time is Plumbago Larpentse; the plant still 
shows the deep-blue flowers, and the foliage is 
changing to crimson. Elegant carpets of various 
species of Arenaria, dotted with tiny blossoms, creep 
over the sandstone boulders. 
The cottage and garden are situated on sloping 
ground at a corner where two roads meet. Behind 
and towering over the gabled roof, is a belt of fine 
Scotch Firs, tall Elms, and Chestnuts. These form 
a picturesque and effective background, especially 
now that the latter are putting on then autumn tints 
of gold and sienna. The boundary fence is Oak, 4 ft. 
high, within which is a Laurel hedge. Our amateur 
is not of those who are jealous of the privacy of their 
gardens, and endeavour to hide them with hideous 
10 ft. walls. The wayfarer may linger, as he fre¬ 
quently does, to gaze over the garden gate; and 
should the amateur florist wish it, the proprietor, 
with the accustomed liberality and genial courtesy of 
the true amateur, will probably invite him to look 
round. We have no sympathy with those who would 
keep their gardens simply for their own selfish gratifi¬ 
cation or snobbish pride. The pleasures of a garden 
are enhanced tenfold by the consciousness that they 
contribute to the delight of others. In front of the 
doors, which seem always open, is a lawn some 30 yds. 
square ; it is closely shaven and soft as velvet. About 
a foot from its margin there is hidden, though no one 
would suspect it from the smoothness of the sward 
above them, a broad belt of pure white Crocus, perhaps 
Queen Victoria. The corms are left undisturbed from 
year to year, and as the end of February approaches 
they produce a wonderfully bright and cheerful 
appearance, especially when, in reply to a gleam of 
sunshine, the snowy petals open as if to warm the 
golden anthers within. There are two other small raised 
beds, one on each side of the little conservatory door. 
They are segments of circles planted thickly with a 
dark crimson Daisy. The edging is Cerastium 
tomentosum, which is allowed to bloom. The little 
masses of warm colour are useful in early spring ; but 
the broad belt of white Crocuses, when the sunshine 
lights upon it, has a remarkably pleasing effect. 
Numerous scarlet-berried shrubs are used to warm up 
the borders, the crimson-hipped Eosa rugosa, with its 
handsome foliage, was among them. A few small 
Conifers and Eoses were dotted about the lawn. 
When we saw the garden on Monday last, however, 
the most conspicuous feature was a magnificent tuft 
of Pampas Grass, with thirty-five grand plumes. 
The house, as already stated, faces the south, and the 
little span-roofed conservatory stands a dozen yards 
off obliquely towards the east, and faces west. The 
front of the structure is nearly covered with that 
noble climber, Aristochlia Sipho. It is a most useful 
plant for softening the hard lines and angles of 
unpicturesque buildings. Our amateur is somewhat 
fastidious in his choice of materials; he has no 
bedding-plants, no double Dahlias (the single, he 
grows largely) no Sunflowers, and makes no 
attempt at massing colours, if we except the 
aforesaid Daisies and Crocuses and occasional 
little beds of dark blue Violas and an oblong 
bed of the fine old Valotta purpurea, which 
does better in the open borders in summer than in 
pots—unless allowed to suffer from lack of water. 
It makes one of the handsomest beds we have seen, 
with its fine scarlet blooms and handsome flag-like 
foliage. But our amateur is evidently a landscape 
artist, and every touch he makes with the colours 
from Flora’s palette tells. Nearly all the borders are 
raised, and the multitude of choice and frequently 
delicate flowers has the aspect most suitable to its 
wants. The soil—except where heath and bog-plants 
are grown and necessitate an addition of peat— 
consists of loam and leaf - mould with the addition 
of a liberal mulching of cocoa-fibre refuse. The walks 
are edged with flint boulders, so arranged as to allow 
of the growth of low Alpine plants, such as the 
dwarf Phloxes, the Gentians Aubrietias, Saxifrages 
and the Golden Creeping Jenny. The pretty little 
Fuschia procumbeus, with its small disc-like leaves, 
curious blossoms and lovely rose-coloured seed-pods, 
is found to be quite hardy, and is much prettier 
than when grown in pots. Another good plant we 
noted frequently in the borders was a species of 
Eupatorium. It is a neat and interesting plant for 
the back of a mixed border, and the tiny white flowers 
-are useful for bouquets. 
It would be next to impossible to describe the plan 
of the garden under notice without a diagram. It is 
admirably laid out, however; every walk leads to 
some attractive object or turns into another; there 
are no cul de sacs. The ground slopes, as was said, 
and the coins of vantage are well chosen. The 
limited area, too, is so cunningly planted as to 
deceive the eye, but never weary the attention or 
offend the taste. Advantage is taken of every 
opportunity for placing a rustic arch for roses, 
honeysuckle, or clematis, and the sides of a pond 
in which are grown some interesting aquatics, are 
guarded by a rustic fence which is clothed with 
suitable climbers. Among the flags, rushes, and 
lilies we noticed the Osmunda and several Lastreas, 
variegated Coltsfoot, Horsetail, and on the surface of 
the water the elegant little Azolla pinnata, a Cape 
aquatic. Some one had thrown upon a neighbouring 
pond a handful of this; the water was covered with 
the common duck-weed at the time, but the hardy 
and prolific Azolla literally crowded it off the face of 
the water within a period of three months. We are 
reminded of another weed, the troublesome intruder 
that infests our rivers and canals, and warn our 
readers not to try experiments on their neighbours’ 
fish-ponds with Azolla pinnata. We will notice a 
few of the principal herbaceous plants, some of them 
still in bloom, for this Amateur’s Garden is on the 
“ All the year round ” plan, there is always something 
to attend to, always something to admire, and he 
never, we believe, takes a holiday trip without 
bringing home a contribution to further enrich his 
garden—some pretty wilding perhaps from Corsica 
or Madeira, or some new importation from Back¬ 
house or Ware. He is great in Aquilegias. Here 
is the beautiful A. glandulosa, there a seedling 
therefrom, and, chaster still, here is A. califor- 
nica, there the beautiful A. chrysantha. These, 
of course, are over, but there are Asters and Salvias, 
some beautiful little things deep blue and scarlet, great 
masses of the handsome pink-flowered Sedum Sieboldi, 
Budbeekias, HelianthusfEoses, Homere in great force, 
and Gloire de Dijon. All the Lilies are over excepting 
auratum, of which there are a dozen or more plants 
still in bloom, notwithstanding the nine degrees of 
frost last Friday morning. There is a pretty pink 
Iberis with dark green foliage, some Pansies, of which 
there is a fine collection, and a large clump of Winter 
Cherries, whose orange-scarlet seed-cases are quite 
telling. Most of the borders are raised, as we 
remarked, and along the ridges are Bhododendrons, 
Kalmias,Berberis Aquifolium—than which thereare few 
handsomer shrubs—Deutzias and many others. The_ 
back or outer walks are also sheltered with flowering 
shrubs or filberts. One little depression which had 
been carefully prepared for bog-plants, intermixed 
with Ferns and Equisetum, contained the best of the 
cool terrestrial Orchids, among which is the beautiful 
Cypripediun spectabile. 
Close by the gate, as we make our exit, is a pretty 
rockery, almost as interesting now as in the summer. 
The Arenarias spread their emerald velvet over the 
red sandstone, the Aubrietias with their green rosettes, 
the Phloxes, the varied hued Stonecrops dotted here and 
there with groups of the elegant little hardy Cyclamens, 
Saxifrages with moss-like foliage, Colchicums purple 
and white, scarlet-berried Cotoneasters, the red-pipped 
Eosa ruga, Aquilegias and elegant Ivies, are all features 
in the pleasant picture. Parallel to the road and 
along the back of a bed of own root Eoses, there is 
what in the summer and early autumn was a glorious 
display of garlanded blossoms. A row of posts about 
9 ft. high are connected at the top with iron wire, 
which is bent to droop chain-like, and at the base of 
each post is planted the heart-shaped Ivy, climbing 
Eoses,and the best of the autumn-blooming Clematises, 
there were literally thousands of grand purple flowers 
mixed with Eoses blooming at the same time. The 
owner will probably add the new white Jackmanni—a 
great acquisition. In front of this fine floral festoon 
in July there was a collection of the finest 
Delphinums. 
But the whole of our space would scarcely suffice to 
catalogue the flowers and shrubs in this garden. Our 
readers, who drive that way next summer, will not fail 
to recognize the spot by our description of it, although 
imperfect for its many omissions, it only errs in that 
respect. Among the several contrivances for protecting 
tender things from the attacks of slugs, we noticed a 
strip of zinc, about 2 ins. broad, placed as a collar 
round the plant. The Tivies, too, being the most 
consistent of papers (no politics, reader), was utilized 
as a winter covering to protect roots from damp and 
severe frost. It was first coated with a dressing of 
equal parts of copal varnish and boiled oil. For the 
present, however, we must bid adieu to the gabled- 
cottage and delightful garden. There they stand in 
the waning sunshine ; the wicker-chairs, the table, and 
scarlet rugs still on the velvet lawn; yellow leaves 
eddy slowly down, and Chestnuts and Acorns drop 
softly among the withered leaves beneath. But the 
girdle of snowy Crocuses will glow again, and the 
wealth of beauty and fragrance wake refreshed after 
its winter’s sleep .—Luhe Ellis,. 
— s~~» -~-d — 
CROTON EY ANSI ANUS. 
Foe general decorative purposes, this is one of the 
finest Crotons that has yet been sent out, and it is 
with a view to making it better known among those 
who have to provide brightly-coloured foliaged plants 
as well as flowers, that we to-day publish an illustration 
of it. There are many gardeners who have to grow, 
and largely use in their table and other domestic 
decorations, a set of small plants, such as Palms, the 
narrow-leaved Dracaenas, and Crotons, than the latter 
of which when brightly coloured, few things are more 
effective by gas light. The Palms and Drachmas can 
be used in a small state many times without 
apparently being much the worse for it, but it is not so 
with the Crotons, the generality of which, do what we 
may, will lose their lower leaves. Croton Evansianus 
furnishes a marked exception to this rule, for it retains 
its lower leaves longer than any other variety, and on 
that account, if it had no other merits, it deserves to 
be largely grown. But it is also one of the finest 
coloured forms we have. The young leaves are pale 
green, with the veins yellow at first, then changing to 
crimson, while with age the leaves assume a dark 
bronzy hue, and the veins a shade of red—forming a 
very pretty contrast. It is one of the good things sent 
out a few years ago by Messrs. James Yeitch A Sons, 
in whose nursery plants with single stems a yard high 
may be seen with leaves perfect to the base. 
