July 1, 1899. 
695 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
elegans, for instance, is well worthy of its name, 
whfch indicates very accurately its nature and 
elegant composition. Dissectum, another form, is 
noted for its fine divisions and minute cutting ; while 
pulcherrimum is, as the name suggests, “ very 
beautiful.” On the other hand, A. F.-f. Frizelliae 
grandiceps is a curiously narrow contracted variety 
with a huge crest; while Victoria is still more 
remarkable, inasmuch as the pinnae are in duplicate 
and set on at nearly right ang'es to each other, giving 
the plant what is known as a cruciate character. 
The extremities are also slenderly and symmetri¬ 
cally tasselled, in fact, the fronds are wonderfully 
built up, and go to prove how capricious Dame 
Nature can be on rare occasions. 
Of Lastreas, the pretty little narrow form known 
L. pseudo-mas angustata is a picture of colour and 
cresting. L.p.-m. cristata, the King of the Male Ferns, 
is, although comparatively common, well worth a 
place id any collection, on account of its massive 
growth and elegantly tasselled appearance. If all 
the side buds are suppressed it will form a crown 
and ultimately become tree-like in character. It 
therefore well deserves its regal title. 
The Broad Buckler Fern (L. dilatata) has several 
very fine varieties; the one we noticed is possessed 
of much cresting, the crest being ball-shaped 
throughout, while the large terminal crests are 
responsible for the term " grandiceps.” The Hard 
and Soft Shield Ferns (Polystichum aculeatum and 
P. angulare) in variety are, likewise, represented in 
foliose, imbricate, crested and plumose variations; 
while the Polypodies—Cambricum, and others—and 
the Scolopendriums—crispum, capitate, and ramose 
forms-areall exceedingly interesting and useful decor¬ 
ative plants. For cool greenhouse or conservatory 
work, or for such situations as the under-glass rockery 
suggests, these foliaceous plants may be made to do 
worthy service, for the finer forms, at any rate, are 
not surpassed in contour or beauty by the exotic 
brethren.— C. B. G., Acton, W. 
GARDENING AT EARL’S COURT. 
Think of a great area divided off into sections in 
which the product of the greatest of engineering skill 
and thought may in one part be seen ; the labours of 
the gold-miners, and actual representations of their 
discoveries amassed or proportioned in another 
section ; or the yield of wool and the substance of the 
soil as fixed in Oats, Wheat, &c., brought from the 
ranches, or sheep ranges, thousands of miles from 
where they now are. Picture to yourself too, such 
incorporated attractions as the realistic resemblance 
of a South African Kaffir Kraal in which the natives 
of those half-civilised spheres are shown in natural., 
state-as regards their dress, their wigwams, the form 
of their villages, domestic animals, &c.; or step yet 
further to other exhibitions of “ Savage South Africa” 
in which wild and yelling cowboys hurl their 
hurricane attacks on dusky warriors ; and in another 
comprehensive sweep of thought take in such sen¬ 
sational objects as switchbacks, and a water-chute 
where giddy souls descend fromja great height down 
an inclined plane like a lightning flash and strike 
out with a splashing dive on to the water, which" 
forms a little lake. These, and scores of other 
artificial exhibitions and scenes are to be seen and 
enjoyed to the heart’s content. 
But all this would be boring and at length very 
tiresome, were there not a balance fixed, by having 
introduced that which recalls the mind to the quieter 
lines of life, the presence of trees, shrubs, borders, 
beds of flowers with their fragrance and steady 
beauty, green lawns, and fountains in whose basins 
the flat-leaved Water Lilies float and in whose waters 
the little fishes dive about. Yes, we like to see 
the blending of the natural and the artistic. 
In a large area of this exhibition Messrs. John 
Laing & Sons, of Forest Hill, S.E., have tastefully 
filled the many beds and borders with shrubs and 
plants. Entering from an opening at the east side, 
the first survey is quite surprising, for by a judicious 
and skilful use of great canvas pictures reaching to 
20 ft. high and double or triple this number of feet 
in breadth, it really is difficult to see where the 
natural or real gardens finish, or where the painted 
scenes originate. These western gardens at this time 
are very bright; for as already stated, where borders 
have been laid out, a bright selection of shrubs and 
trees has been fittingly planted. Such cheery plants 
as the Golden Elder and Golden Privet; Hollies, as 
Golden and Silver Queen ; together with the blood- 
red Prunus Pissardi, purple Berberis vulgaris, Boxes, 
Aucuba japonica, Euonymuses, Osmanthus Aqui- 
folium with its sharp-edged, shining green foliage, 
Ailantus glandulosa (the Tree of Heaven) so really 
high-class in appearance ; and sharp-pointed Yuccas 
in various varieties, with tall Laburnums, flowering 
Thorns, bushy Populus nigra, and many evergreens, 
make up a diversified and pleasing scene. 
The edges of the flowing lines of ornamental shrub 
borders or beds are enlivened with bright colours 
sent out from large and healthy Pelargoniums of 
the Henry Jacoby variety, with Flower of Spring 
contrasting, and an edging of Pyrethrum Golden 
Feather, and Lobelia Emperor William 
In the central area itself,we find a spreading carpet 
of green lawn which forms an appropriate grounding 
for the diversity of beds found thereon. There are 
large beds and small beds, square beds and round 
beds, beds oblong and beds angled, filling a corner 
there, forming a graceful crescent at another part, 
and all blending in tasteful harmony. Bedding 
Pelargoniums and pretty shrubs are almost entirely 
depended upon for the effects. The salmon coloured 
variety, Lady Chesterfield, massed in the centre of a 
right-angled triangular bed, edged with rows of 
Flower of Spring, blue Lobelia and the Golden 
Feather, really was pretty. Again a large and 
prominent bed with a central site sent forth a rich¬ 
ness of scarlet, double blooms from the improved 
variety of Pelargonium Raspail. The beautiful 
pink Lady Chesterfield edged off this scarlet sheet. 
This latter variety was also in evidence in a smaller 
bed and in lines along the borders, lending a 
pleasiDg harmony to the white flowers of another 
variety. 
Elegant Conifers, such as Retinospora filifera, R. 
plumosa, Cupressus lawsoniana lutea variegata, 
Thuya japonica, &c., together with the tinted foliage 
of deciduous shrubs, have been very well arranged in 
the largest of these central beds. It speaks well for 
the planters—Messrs. Laing & Sons. The Welcome 
Club is also charmingly laid out. 
Before we leave the western gardens let us mention 
that in a short while a fine display will be made by 
herbaceous borders. Hemerocallis flava, Alstroe- 
meria aurantiaca, Erigerons, Rudbeckia speciosa, 
Dicentra eximia, Centaureas, or Cornflowers, Irises 
and other things are amongst the number. The 
very neat lawns are kept in good order by Ransome’s 
lawn mowers. In the eastern court gardens scroll 
work and carpet bedding have been fairly success¬ 
fully attempted. The flowing lines, and angles, 
and other patterns brought out by Alternantheras, 
Lobelias, Echeverias and Pyrethrum Golden Feather j 
are very clean. Standard Dracaenas are used in a 
few of the beds, and around the court the smaller 
beds are filled with Pelargoniums. In such a place 
the neatness, cleanliness and smoothness of every¬ 
thing has to be maintained at perfection. 
“ 8 1 " - 
TIE FLOWER GARBER. 
Plants in Beds. — Before bedding-out time, we 
had cold weather, and, in thenorth, a superabundance 
of moisture. Now things have taken a turn and we 
find ourselves for half a day—late afternoon and 
evening—with the hose in our hands, yet for all the 
water dispersed there is very little growth. How¬ 
ever, we must just do and hope for the best. The 
value of a mulch becomes a hundred times enhanced 
in such periods as the present, especially in soils at 
all dry. Two or three of my friends in widely 
different parts of the kingdom, employ well rotted 
manure on everything to which they can afford a 
dressing, such as all sorts of fruit trees, ornamental 
shrubs—short grass is very good for them—and over 
the beds or borders of Begonias, Cannas, Violas, 
Carnations, Irises, Phloxes, Roses, and climbing 
plants, anything in fact which is likely to suffer and 
for which duDg or other material can be found. At 
any time it is beneficial, for it always yields some 
amount of nourishment, it absorbs moisture which 
evaporates less speedily than from the tightly packed 
soil, and at any time the beating sun-rays are 
screened off from the surface roots and the soil 
moisture is conserved. By mulching, too, an 
equable night temperature is retained. 
Carnations. — At the very latest these will all 
stand in need of a support. Neat blue stakes are 
very useful, but somehow one never can get them 
neat enough to suit the slender grace of the Carna¬ 
tions. What I have found most saiisfactory, being 
at once simple, effective, neat, and enduring, is 
Porter s patent improved coil stakes, which, once 
adjusted are safe for a season. 
Disbudding should be regularly attended to and 
only those who practice it know how much good lies 
in this operation. 
Syringing is an ever constant process. Unless it 
is regularly attended to, all sorts of flies, but 
especially the green flies, make thriving colonies on 
the plants. Young plants raised this year must now 
be put out. 
Phloxes. —The same attentions, so far as supply¬ 
ing water or liquid manure, and mulchings are neces¬ 
sary for Phloxes as for Carnations. One strong 
point to bear in mind is that of allowing each shoot 
perfect freedom. One good spike of bloom is worth 
far more and is better appreciated than six that 
are small both in length and breadth, and also poor 
in colour. Thin out the shoots then to 4 in. each 
way. A stout support must soon be given them. 
Roses. Watering, disbudding, and syringing, 
with sometimes shade for a number of blooms that 
are wished for at a later date than that on which they 
wouldnaturally open will constitute the work in Rose 
gardens. Every gard<ner should possess one of 
Warner & Sons’ lawn sprinklers. All that one need 
do with them is to set the stand " on the part to be 
watered, be it lawn or Rosary, Celery trench or any¬ 
where else, and attach a hose. The force of water 
makes the distributing pipes revolve and scatter a 
wide shower. It cleans greenfly from Roses in grand 
fashion. Warner & Sons, 8, Jewin Crescent, Cripple- 
gate, London, send it out, and any nurseryman will 
get it. 
The climbing and brier Roses, Clematises, and 
Vitis or Ampelopsis, in its many varieties, are now 
adorning gardens, and a little regulating may at 
times be necessary. Carmine Pillar is a splendid 
single magenta Rose, with a white centre. It flowers 
freely, and the blooms are large. Austrian Copper, 
where it does well, is quite a glorious plant. The 
growths are just a little bit too stunted for pillars or 
trellis work. To have it bending in arching boughs, 
unsupported, in some moist, sheltered rootery or in 
a grassy recess all banked round anywhere in the 
pleasure grounds, is the proper place for this Rose. 
The Boursalt Roses, especially the variety Adamis, 
are strong growers, suitable for use to form thicket 
masses in dells. The varieties of Rosa multiflora 
must also be included in this list. R. tomentosa, a 
species found native in Britain and throughout 
Europe, which sends out long arching shoots of 
pinky-rose double flowers sometimes, also pure white 
ones, is another of the Roses suitable for pillar¬ 
training, or allowed to fall as its own weight may 
take it. The rugosa section must not be forgotten. 
The plants and flowers are at their best this 
month. 
Achillea Ptarmica fl. pl., the double Sneeze- 
wort, is handsome enough for any garden; and its 
beauty, freeness in blooming, long lasting qualities, 
and its usefulness in a cut state make me wish to 
write a note about the same. It can be propagated 
very easily by division of the root-stock at any time. 
The great drawback to its further patronage is, in¬ 
deed, from the fact of its too vigorous establishment. 
In a good soil it is omnipotent, so freely spreading 
are the roots that an annual paring is required to 
confine them. 
However, if the stronger growers such as A. P. fl. 
pl. and A. Millefolium roseum are planted out in 
grass lands or in masses about the grounds, and the 
finer forms alone retained for border planting, this 
difficulty may be said to be overcome. The smaller 
species of the genus are suitable for the rock garden. 
A. Eupatorium is one of the very best, a bright 
glowing yellow, flowering in corymbs and reaching 
to 3 ft. or more high, a fact which directs us to plant 
it at the back of borders, or give it a bed to itself. 
Its home is found away in the Caucasus Mountains. 
It may be mentioned that the genus is native all over 
Europe, though more so in the southern parts, and 
extends to Northern Asia. 
A. aurea is another good yellow form. A. agera- 
toides is a dwarf species suitable for the rockery. It 
has pure white flower heads on stalks 8 in. or 9 in. 
long. A. rupestris has also clear white flowers, and 
is dwarf. 
The miscellaneous work in the flower garden is 
that of keeping a clean face on all its parts.— 
J. H. D. 
