602 
THE GARDENING WORLD- 
May 21, 189§. 
Pansies, Impatiens Roylei, and Thistles flourish side 
by state. The kitchen garden is not to be opened to 
the public, but will go with the Ranger's Lodge when 
it finds a tenant. 
Immediately outside of the kitchen garden are 
some grand old trees, including Pyrus Malus flori- 
bunda, 25 ft. high, and profusely laden with blossom 
now falling; also Quercus castaneaefolia, 55 ft. 
high; a huge, spreading, and drooping Copper- 
Beech, covering an area 63 ft. in diameter ; numerous 
Hollies and Evergreen Oaks, all doing well; and a 
fine specimen of the Hornbeam, having a stout 
trunk and broad head. Old Lilacs in variety are 
now in full bloom. A well furnished specimen of the 
Snowy Medlar, 30 ft. high, was a grand sight till 
quite recently. The Walnut and Mulberry are re¬ 
presented by fine specimens, while there are giant 
Spanish Chestnuts. Every part of the Ranger’s 
Grounds has a secluded appearance, still retaining 
the character of a pleasure ground belonging to a 
private establishment. The old Oak fencing has 
given place to neat iron railings, which, while ex¬ 
cluding the fine herd of 100 deer, admit the public 
by cradle gates. Though only about six miles from 
London Bridge, the visitor, when inside these 
grounds, might imagine him or herself 50 or 100 
miles from town. Walks have been made or re-made 
and gravelled, while the fine old turf is soft for the 
feet. The new entrance from Blackheath is through 
a beautifully designed wrought iron gate. 
Greenwich Park, as a whole, has an area of over 
200 acres, and in the matter of the natural scenery 
excels every other London park. Very little, if any, 
of it is really level, but undulated in every direction, 
so that strangers are continually finding themselves 
on a hill, or in a deep hollow, with sharply ascend¬ 
ing or descending slopes. It is traversed in every 
direction by avenues, intersecting one another, of 
trees, of which by far the most dominant is the 
Spanish Chestnut in gigantic, patriarchal speci¬ 
mens, which must have braved the storms of 
hundreds of years. They certainly are one of the 
leading features of the park, and help largely to 
make it unique in or near London. Many of the trees 
are singularly thickened and bulb-like close to the 
ground line. Hundreds of them have immense boles 
with a girth of 12 ft., 16 ft., 22 ft., and 26 ft. There 
are several of them in the Ranger’s Grounds, includ¬ 
ing one with an immense trunk, dividing into huge 
limbs about 10 ft. from the ground. Some of these 
we intend reproducing on a future occasion. 
One avenue of moderate length consists of Horse 
Chestnuts now coming into bloom. Passing these, 
going in the direction of the Greenwich Observatory 
from the Ranger's Grounds, the visitor soon comes 
in sight of that world-famed pile of buildings and 
domes. On the way, some twenty-three tumuli or 
barrows are encountered, forming grassy mounds, 
supposed to be the burial place of Danes, by the 
side of an ancient highway now green and almost 
obliterated. The observatory stands on a mound 
from which one can look down upon the ancient 
village and Greenwich Palace where Queen Eliza¬ 
beth lived, also the Naval College, and the Thames 
with its teeming life and shipping. The grand old 
river forms a sharp bend here, and appears to be 
flowing back in the direction from whence it came, 
the Isle of Dogs on the opposite shore forming the 
obstruction which diverts the waterway. 
Proceeding in the direction of One Tree Hill also 
opened to the public on Saturday, Queen Eliza¬ 
beth s Oak comes in view, an immense old bole 
that has been dead for the last twenty-three 
years, but being covered with Ivy is still green, It 
must be 800 to 1,000 years old, being headless, 
hollow, and probably as large in the time of good 
Queen Bess as now, for the interior is chipped 
smooth, the wall pierced to form a small window, 
and the floor furnished with wooden seats round the 
sides and conforming to the interior. Close by it is 
a young Oak, about 13J ft. high, planted on the 
Diamond Jubilee day of her Majesty Queen Victoria. 
Not far off is a rustic fountain constructed of huge 
blocks of granite. On ascending the opposite side 
of the gully the grounds of One Tree Hill are 
entered. Seats are to be placed on a flat area, on 
the top from which magnificent views are obtainable 
in every direction, including the finest view of the ob¬ 
servatory and river to be had. A little beyond is the 
steep slope known as the “ rolling hill,” down which 
children delight to roll. Some bare ground beneath 
high Elms in another direction is to be covered with 
sand for the enjoyment of children, out of the way 
of danger from bicycles, machines, deer, &c. A 
new road down the hill to Greenwich Park station 
has been made by Mr. Webster in this locality. 
Not far off is an enclosed area set apart as a nur¬ 
sery for the rearing of trees, shrubs, herbaceous 
plants, &c., for planting in the park. A greenhouse 
gives shelter to the Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, and 
other bedding plants intended for the park. Not far 
off is the paddock in which the deer bring forth their 
young in June and July, and in which they may be 
penned when occasion requires. The Blackheath 
avenue is bounded by a double row of noble trees, 
consisting largely of Spanish Chestnuts, Oaks, 
Elms, and Horse Chestnuts, the first named pre¬ 
dominating. It was opened for carriage traffic only 
about twenty-three to twenty-four years ago, and is 
now much frequented by bicycles and vehicles of 
every description. 
The ornamental grounds formerly known as the 
wilderness is a beautifully undulated area of the park 
which has been improved and planted by Mr. 
Webster, and opened to the public during the past 
year. The deer are excluded from this portion by 
a neat iron fence, owing to the fine plantations which 
everywhere abound. A lake or ornamental piece of 
water has been planted with Water Lilies, including 
the beautiful Nymphaea alba rosea. The Cape 
Pondweed is also established. Around the lake are 
plantations of Bamboos ; pink and white Thorns; 
masses of double Gorse, now a blaze of orange- 
yellow ; Mountain Ash, Almonds, Olearia Haastii, 
Magnolias, and other choice shrubs, all supplied 
from the nurseries of Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, 
Ltd., Chelsea. Specimens of almost every flowering 
and ornamental tree and shrub, grown by that firm, 
have been planted in suitable positions to determine 
which will succeed best. Masses of German Irises, 
Doronicums, and other herbaceous plants are now 
in full bloom. 
On emerging from this pleasant spot we found 
many old gravel paths turfed down, and grass walks 
lined off and regularly mowed for the enjoyment of 
the public in fine wether. The trees used all to be 
surrounded, each one individually, by a circular 
fence,but those eyesores have now been obliterated, as 
unnecessary by the exclusion of the deer. The White 
Beam tree (Pyrus) scattered through the grounds is at 
present very effective. What was a gravel hole four 
months ago is now a rosery planted with a mass of 
wild Roses. Lord Penzance’s Sweet Briers have also 
been added to the collection. Rhododendrons, 
Portugal Broom, and other fine shrubs surround the 
rosery. Turner’s Hybrid Oak (Quercus Turneri) 
originated here through natural agencies,as well as at 
other places. It is a hybrid between Q. Cerris and 
Q. Ilex. Beds of Hyacinths and Tulips are out of 
keeping with this semi-wild and beautiful place, and 
are to be turfed down. A bandstand has been 
erected, the pitch of which was made under the 
instructions or advice of Mr. Dan Godfrey, and a 
chaste and highly ornamental fence is being placed 
around it. Music will be dispensed here on 
Sundays and Thursdays. The, thousands of well- 
dressed people who flock here show how they 
appreciate this beautiful park, which, though very 
ancient, as indicated by the patriarchal trees alone, 
has been thoroughly adapted to modern require¬ 
ments, the imprint of the present superintendent s 
hand being largely visible in almost every corner 
and retreat of it, but particularly in the recent 
additions. 
-- 
BOUGAINVILLEA GLABRA. 
As a climber for the roof of the stove or other warm 
house the value of Bougainvillea glabra is well 
known to British gardeners. Rightly or wrongly 
the idea is held, however, that the plants will not 
flower in a young state, and hence we rarely see 
them treated as pot subjects, excepting in the case 
of large balloon-shaped specimens. A recent issue 
of The Florists' Exchange gives an illustration of a 
houseful of Bougainvilleas supposed to be B. glabra, 
growing in 4 in. and 5-in. pots, every plant being full 
of bloom. It is even stated that the plants will 
flower in 2^-in pots. If this be true here is a wrinkle 
for English growers, unless the plant be not really 
B. glabra, in which case the sooner the variety or 
species becomes known to British horticulture the 
better. 
HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS. 
The rains of the early part of May have already 
worked a wondrous change in all our hardy plants. 
They had been having but a poor time of it through 
April for the rains that ought to have come did not, 
and what with bright sun in the day and cold nights, 
growth was necessarily slow and attended with seme 
danger. They have made up for lost time, however, 
during the last fortnight, growth having been remark¬ 
ably rapid. 
Arabia albida—There are not wanting people 
who decry planting showy subjects in large masses 
as productive of a vulgarly garnish effect, but for all 
that the practice has something to recommend it. 
The easiness with which Arabis albida may be pro¬ 
pagated either by cuttings, root division, or seed, and 
the fact that it will grow and flower on dry banks 
where many other less common and more particular 
things would not, should induce us not to lose sight 
of it in making spring bedding arrangements. A 
good sized clump or collection of clumps in the rock- 
garden are moreover not to be despised. 
Claytonia sibirica.—The genus Claytonia does 
not bulk largely in hardy plant collections, but C. 
sibirica is well worthy of notice as a good plant for 
growing in the shade. It forms rather dense tufts or 
clumps, and the shining green, succulent leaves are 
not without a charm of their own. The flowers are 
produced with fair freedom in racemes, and are indi¬ 
vidually about half-an-inch in diameter, and bright 
rose in colour. They have a pretty star-shaped 
appearance owing to the fact that each of the petals 
is deeply bifid. 
Stylophorum diphyllum—This showy member 
of Papaveraceae is just now in capital condition. 
At first sight the plant looks like a glorified form of 
Chelidonium majus, for the foliage and habit favour 
the latter subject a good deal. There is no 
mistaking the bright yellow flowers, however, for 
they are fully three or four times as large as those of 
the Chelidonium. There is no more easily suited 
subject than that under notice for it will grow almost 
anywhere, and in almost any soil. It appears, how¬ 
ever, to be partial to a shady position, for comparing 
some plants lately that were growing in the shade 
with those that were in the open the former appeared 
to have larger and finer flowers than the latter. The 
height of the plant varies from t ft. to 18 in. and the 
habit is naturally bushy and tufted, although when 
the shade is too close it is apt to exceed this height 
and to take on a rather more straggling appearance ; 
but this is only what might be expected. It 
commences to flower before the spring has very far 
advanced and continues to bloom throughout the 
whole of the summer, so that it has a fairly 
lengthy flowering season. S. diphyllum is a 
native of North-Western America, and made its 
appearance in this country about the year 1854. It 
is occasionally met with under the name of S. 
ohioense, and has also been placed by some botanists 
in the genus Chelidonium. 
Azalea procumbens is the name generally given 
in gardens to this pretty, but small, trailing, ever¬ 
green shrub, although it would be more correctly 
called Loiseleuria procumbens, in commemoration of 
the French botanist Loiseleur des Longchamps who 
lived in the early part of the present century. Other 
names have not been wanting, moreover, for it has 
been placed in both the genera Chamaecistus and 
Chamaeledon. At this time of the year the plant is 
fully as beautiful as during its flowering time in July 
for the tips of the young growths are prettily suffused 
with pink, and have a charm and elegance peculiarly 
their own. The most suitable soil is a rather sandy 
peat, and excellent results are obtained by treating it 
as an undergrowth plant in conjunction with other 
taller-growing things that also like a peaty soil. If a 
position is assigned it in the rock garden the soil 
should be well drained and a close watch should be 
kept upon it, for from its very diminutiveness it is apt 
to be lost sight of. 
Adonis pyrenaica—There is quite a number of 
pretty subjects in flower just now, but none of them 
has more claims upon the attention of the hardy plant 
grower than this Adonis,for both foliage and flowersare 
handsome, and either of them alone would be sufficient 
justification for its inclusion amongst all collections. 
The large bright yellow flowers are produced over a 
considerable time, and with the much-divided, light 
green foliage give a pretty effect. The rains seem to 
have given unusual lustre to the flowers, and the 
