June 8, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
631 
SPRING GARDENING AT 
BELVOIR CASTLE.* 
In introducing the subject of spring gardening I may 
venture to speak of the extremely satisfactory results 
that attend the system when fairly carried out. 
Flowers seem so welcome in early spring, and there 
are associations and sentiments in somaof them that 
appeal to all natures, whether lovers of flowers or 
not. The Primrose, Forget-me-Not, and Daffodil 
are replete with memories of early days. I have 
repeatedly enlisted the attention of people con¬ 
fessedly indifferent to floriculture by a walk 
through the spring gardens ; the very simplicity of 
the materials employed seemed a special merit and 
excited surprise and admiration. The uncertainty 
of our variable climate will not allow us to rely with 
assurance on securing a great display of flowers so 
early in the year as February, but there are happily 
plants ready to respond to the first warm gleams of 
sunshine, and it is seldom that April passes without 
awakening from their winter’s rest the Violet, Aconite, 
Snowdrop, and Hellebore. 
The period of spring might be floriculturally 
divided into three parts, according to the time of 
blossoming of the vernal flowers—February and 
part of March, mid-March, and early April, the rest 
of that month, and May. The second period is rich 
in interesting plants, chiefly bulbous, that supremely 
beautiful plant Chionodoxa Luciliae being con¬ 
spicuous. With it appears Anemone blanda and 
coerulea, Scilla sibirica, var. bifolia, Iris reticulata, 
and Corydalis cava. The five first named grown in 
masses caused a lady to exclaim, “ Oh, Mr. I., you 
have brought the sky down to the earth ! ” The 
third period is rich in many handsome plants and 
the more showy bulbs; but to these I shall advert in 
due course. The preparation of the various plants 
that belong to this system of gardening is a matter of 
very considerable importance. It is seldom that the 
commoner plants specially adapted to the purpose 
can be obtained from nurseries ; in every way it is 
better to prepare them as near the home garden as 
possible, and there are several reasons why this 
course should be pursued. 
We are all the more or less aware of the in¬ 
fluence exercised by soil in promoting health and 
vigour in plant life, and the opportunity of employ¬ 
ing the various kinds known to be most suitable is 
one to be especially valued. It happens that soil of 
the most opposite character is called for. Erica 
carnea is one of the most charming plants for 
early spring, and peat or a light silicious 
soil is required for its successful culture. 
Another plant, the Wallflower, which I grow 
largely, prefers a soil which would be death to 
Heaths; it revels in alight calcareous soil. I find 
it advisable to prepare beds by dressing with lime 
scraps or old mortar: and when the seedling 
plants are pricked out and established, we check a too 
vigorous growth by lifting each plant with a fork, so 
as to break the deeply penetrating roots, thus caus¬ 
ing a compact mass of fibres to be produced. Wall¬ 
flowers will grow in any soil, but plants so treated 
are less liable to injury from frost. Many hundreds 
were treated in this way last' year, and I do not 
think I lost half a dozen from the weather. 
I may relate an instance of the success attending 
an experiment in preparing a suitable compost for 
the Primrose, a plant singularly impatient of drought, 
and large numbers perished annually, even on our 
heavy, unprepared land. From this cause I was in¬ 
duced to provide beds of materials composed of grass- 
sweepings from lawns, leaves, and a small quantity of 
decayed manure, which I carted on to some rough 
outlying land to a depth of between two or three 
feet, enough, indeed, to smother all weeds beneath. 
When turned over several times, rolled, and settled 
down, on this I placed a layer of soil. I had then a 
bed retentive of moisture, rich in decomposed vege¬ 
table matter, which annually improved, carrying 
successive crops of Primroses and other spring 
plants. 
One of the most useful and reliable plants for 
spring decoration is the Aubrietia. It is a plant that 
readily adapts itself to very varying circumstances. 
It thrives in the rich soil of the kitchen garden, it 
does equally well in the herbaceous border, and 
spreads and blooms abundantly on rockwork, deriving 
support from the poorest soil. I raise thousands of 
* A paper read recently at the Horticultural Club, by Mr. 
William Ingram, Belvoir Castle Gardens, Grantham. 
seedlings annually from the typical garden kind, 
Aubrietia graeca, which affords many shades of 
lilac, some approaching purple. I once obtained 
from seed a light pink variety, but it remained for 
that indefatigable and successful horticulturist, Herr 
Max Leichtlin.to secure a magnificent variety, justly 
named after him. Its rich crimson flowers in masses 
give an effect unsurpassed by any plant I possess. 
Rosy Blush is another contribution from Baden. I 
have also a white kind from Mount Athos, but it is 
not floriculturally valuable. 
I grow an allied plant, Arabis albida, largely. It 
is useful in combination with other plants ; its pure 
white flowers forming a pleasing contrast to Scilla 
sibirica, and later in the year it forms a good base 
for scarlet Tulips. ’ Another plant extensively 
employed at Belvoir is Saxifraga ligulata. It has 
the merit of blooming early. It is sometimes cut 
down by frost, but this may be averted by Fir 
boughs. Even when the bloom is over its broad 
leaves cover the ground and provide foliage or a 
substitute for Hyacinth freely planted amongst it. 
Saxifraga Stracheyi is one of the handsomest of the 
tribe, but is so often injured by frost that a cautionary 
recommendation must accompany mention of it. 
I needly hardly say that I grow large numbers of 
Violets. Having sunny and sheltered banks, this 
universal favourite may be, and is, gathered through¬ 
out the winter. One advantage I possess is ample 
supplies of leaf soil, which is useful when properly 
prepared for many plants besides Violets. It is 
essential that Violets be divided and replanted every 
year. I obtain some fine effects from the use of two 
kinds of Doronicum, excelsum and austriacum. 
This season they have been exceptionally fine. A 
bold, free blooming, and hardy white Cardamine, 
known as rotundifolia, deserves more general culti¬ 
vation. It has been objected to as having a coarse, 
common appearance, but it is my doctrine that all 
hardy early blooming plants must be received with 
thankfulness. It blooms throughout April. One 
of the most effective and generally useful plants 
is the yellow Polyanthus ; it blooms freely, and pro¬ 
duces a compact mass of the purest yellow. I raise 
many thousands from seed every year. In favour¬ 
able seasons they can be utilised the first year, but I 
depend generally on two-year-old plants. A pale 
yellow variety is effective, associated with Aubrietias. 
There are few plants more admired and cherished 
than Primroses, both double and single. The 
former, alas! resent removal in the spring, and I 
cannot boast of a good stock. The single crimson 
and white form some of our best beds. 
I will try to classify the plants I chiefly employ 
according to their time of blooming. I have one 
large detached bed on a sunny slope on which I have 
planted masses of the flowers that may appear in 
February, and are pretty sure to do so before the 
middle of March. The first of these to flower is 
Crocus Imperati; Aconites and Snowdrops soon 
follow; then Anemone blanda and Chionodoxa 
Lucilliae, followed by Scilla sibirica and bifolia. 
The beautiful Iris reticulata succeeds, then Pusch- 
kinia scilloides presents its bluish-white blossoms. 
The common kinds of Crocus form a fringe to this 
large bed, and the earliest blooming Primrose serves 
as a bordering. In warm seasons I can rely on Nar¬ 
cissus prrncox superbum and N. Stella, and also the 
dwarf Narcissus minor. Come frost or snow, wind 
or wet, I can always depend on the hardy and hand¬ 
some Saxifraga oppositifolia. I can speak strongly 
of the interest and beauty of a bed thus occupied and 
arranged. 
The next division of the early season is mid- 
March and early April. Erica carnea, Saxifraga 
ligulata, the early Narcissi, Arabis albida, Aubrietia 
graeca, Polyanthus, Primroses, Hyacinths, Tulips, 
Cardamine rotundifolia, the later Hellebores, and 
Myosotis dissitiflora. 
The third division will include the foregoing, with 
the very important addition of Aubrietia Leichtlini, 
many Narcissi, Hyacinths and Tulips, Alpine 
Auriculas, Daisies, Wallflowers, both double, dark, 
and yellow, and Doronicum excelsum and austriacum, 
Myosotis dissitiflora, and M. alpestris Victoria?. 
Beds which we make up with various plants, 
although not giving a great effect of colour, are 
nevertheless interesting from the variety of plants 
they contain. They are useful in receiving plants 
when the stock is insufficient for masses, or when 
their duration of bloom is short. In these we have 
Hepaticas, Anemone nemorosa plena and A. Robin- 
soniana, Tiarella cordifolia, Saxifraga oppositifolia, 
Pulmonarias, Cardamine, Narcissi, Epimedium 
macranthum, double Primroses, Saxifraga muscoides 
atro-purpurea, Corydalis nobilis, C. cava, Ranun¬ 
culus montanus, this year a veritable gem ; Adonis 
vernalis, Dog’s-tooth Violet, and the Alpine Daisy. 
A description of some of the bedding arrangements 
may be of interest. I will just slightly mention some 
that have been much admired. In one part of the 
castle garden there are six beds, five yards across, 
holding about one hundred plants. 
1. Aubrietia Leichtlini, edged with Alpine Daisy, 
and dotted with about fifty yellow Tulips. This is 
a very striking and effective bed, and most enduring. 
2. Arabis and Scilla sibirica, edged with dark 
crimson Daisy, and dotted with scarlet Tulip. 
3 Yellow Polyanthus, edged with dark red Daisy, 
pricked out with dark red Tulip. 
4. Aubrietia grasca, edged with pink Daisy, colour 
poucean Tulip. 
5. Heath, edged with Heuchera Richardsoni, and 
dotted with yellow Tulip. 
6. Crimson Primrose, white Tulip, pink Daisy. 
There is another set of beds which I call, from 
their make up, bouquet beds. These have a centre 
of Erica carnea, edged with variegated Arabis and 
succeeded in bands by yellow Polyanthus and 
Aubrietia and yellow Primrose. Red, white, and 
blue Hyacinths brighten the central part of the bed. 
In this garden there are raised beds, some filled 
with the two Doronicums, and others with dark 
Wallflower and yellow Daffodils. A very large bed 
in the centre is filled with yellow Wallflowers, 
banded by Myosotis, and followed by Aubrietia 
Leichtlini and Daises. 
I have not space to continue the description of 
beds, having left out our best garden, called after the 
Duchess. 
--I-- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
TULIPA LINIFOLIA. 
Amongst the smaller species of Tulip, few have the 
beauty and interesting character of this one, which 
was introduced in 1886. The leaves are lanceolate, 
crenate, and revolute at the edges, channelled, keeled, 
glaucous, and lie along the ground. The flower 
scape rises to a height of 6 in., and bears a single 
flower of considerable length while in bud and just 
expanding, but which, when expanded, spreads out to 
a width of 2J in. The outer segments are obcordate, 
and the inner ones wedge-shaped, and all of a brilliant 
vermillion scarlet, with a black blotch at the base of 
each. Compared with other species it is late in 
coming into bloom, and keeps company more with 
the late Dutch Tulips used in bedding as well as 
with the flamed and feathered Tulips of the 
florist. When it becomes better known it ought to 
become popular with a large class of hardy plant 
cultivators. We noted it in the nursery of Mr. T. 
S. Ware, Hale F'arm Nurseries, Tottenham. 
/CTHIONNEMA GRANDIFLORUM. 
The species of zEthionnema are graceful plants 
with rose, purple or red flowers belonging to the 
Crucifer family. That under notice is a perennial, 
and may be considered the finest genus in cultiva¬ 
tion. The slender stems attain a height of 15 in. or 
18 in., and are both slender and numerous, so that 
when they open their terminal racemes of flowers 
they are handsome and attractive, even from a dis¬ 
tance. The flowers, individually, are small, as are 
those of all the species, but when seen in a mass are 
effective. They are of a bright warm rose, shading 
off to pink as they get old. The plant is a native of 
Mount Lebanon, from whence it was introduced in 
1879, but has not yet become very widely distributed 
in British gardens. It may be grown in the her¬ 
baceous border, but as its roots should be kept on 
the dry side in winter, the rockery is the best position 
for it, as may be seen at Kew, where it is now flower¬ 
ing grandly. 
LYCHNIS FLOS-CUCULI RUBRA PLENA. 
The flowers of this variety of Ragged Robin are of a 
soft rose, more intense in the centre when young, and 
fading with age at the circumference. They are 
perfectly double and relatively large. It seems a 
plant that would more readily take the public fancy 
than the double white sort that occasionally comes 
