March 9, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
445 
shay.— Here we have one of the more choice varie¬ 
ties of O. Coradinei, the well defined blotches being 
of a dark, rich chocolate on a yellow ground. 
(Award of Merit.) De B. Crawshay, Esq., Rose- 
field, Sevenoaks. 
Phaiocalanthe schroderiana. —In this we have 
one of the finest and most richly coloured of the 
bigeneric hybrids. The sepals and petals are pale 
bat the lip is of a dark claret colour. (Award of 
Merit.) Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., Chelsea. 
Odontoglossum Adrianae Mrs. Robert Ben¬ 
son. —The sepals and petals of this variety are 
soft yellow and furnished" all over with large, clear 
chestnut blotches, the latter being much larger than 
in the earlier varieties of this group which made their 
appearance in public. (Award of Merit.) Captain 
Holford (gardener, Mr. A. Chapman), Westonbirt, 
Tetbury, Gloucester. 
Coelogyne sulphurea.— The flowers of this 
species are small but interesting ; and the sepals and 
petals are amber rather than sulphur coloured, with 
an orange blotch on the disc of the lip. (Botanical 
Certificate) F. W. Moore, Esq., Curator Royal 
Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. 
Floral Committee. 
Adonis amdrensis. —The stems of this plant are 
about 6iD. high, more or less branched,and bear finely 
divided leaves not unlike those of a Davallia. The 
flowers consist of many bright yellow sepals, of a 
distinct bronzy hue on the back. (Award of Merit.) 
Messrs. R. Wallace & Co., Kilnfield Gardens, Col¬ 
chester. 
Iris tubergeniana —The habit of this bulbous 
Iris is dwarf, like most of the early flowering forms 
of the group. The flowers are greenish-yellow, and 
the leaves are narrowly margined wi h yellow. 
(Award of Merit.) Miss Willmott, Warley Place, 
Brentwood. 
Fruit and Vegetable Committee. 
Apple Diamond Jubilee. —The fruit of this var¬ 
iety is of large size, ovate, smooth, shining, greenish- 
yellow at this date, with green specks and a bright 
red cheek on the exposed side. The eye is set in a 
deep smooth cavity. The flesh is white, firm but 
crisp and juicy, so that the variety can evidently be 
kept in good condition for sometime yet. (Award 
of Merit) A. J. Thomas, Esq.,Rodmersham, Sitting- 
bourne. 
Apple Scarlet Nonpareil.— The fruit of this 
fine old dessert variety is of medium size, greenish- 
yellow, flushed scarlet on the exposed side, and more 
or less overlaid with russet and bronze. The flesh 
is firm, sweet and keeps till a very late period of the 
year for Apples. (Award of Merit.) Earl Beau¬ 
champ (gardener, Mr. W. Crump), Madresfield 
Court, Great Milvern. 
ALPINES UNDER GLASS. 
What can be done with glass protection without any 
artificial fire heat is splendidly demonstrated by the 
lately completed Himalayan house at Kew, and aho 
on a smaller scale by the span-roofed house for 
Alpines. I feel sure that if the worth of such cocl 
houses was fully comprehended we would soon see 
many more of them included in the glass raDges 
throughout the country. They are on the same lines 
as are cool greenhouses, but greenhouses are fre¬ 
quently warmed to intermediate temperatures. In 
the case of an alpine house there is scarcely ever 
any call for fire heat. The value of the alpine 
house is principally for the protection it affords from 
snow, wet, and the dry cutting winds of spring, 
which retard the plants, damp and cripple them far 
more than frost does. Under glass they escape the 
inclement elements and continue to flower and afford 
their delightful blossoms without intermittance from 
the earliest possible period which is natural to them 
till tht ir usual season for going to rest. Where 
houses cannot be specially erected for the protection 
of choicer species of alpines much good can be done 
by using hand-lights 'If these are securely fixed 
and left somewhat tilted over the plant it will be 
found to have a splendid effect. Again, to save cer¬ 
tain plants from rain and snow a single pane of glass 
placed slopingly and firmly on stout w ; re standards 
is frequently tried. A garden-light or sa‘h has on 
occasions been fixed so as to cover a few square feet 
of rockery, and such protection as tnis is generally 
sufficient for a considerable number of plants. 
But when one comes to consider the greatest 
merit of an alpine house, that of providing a per¬ 
petually beautiful display throughout the year, not 
even excepting December and January, the force of 
the argument in favour of such a house is very 
strong, indeed. 
If the house is not wanted for anything else than 
growing alpines in pots during the winter it can be 
turned to good account for the ripening of seeds 
during autumn. A sufficient number of hardy 
foliage plants, such as Saxifragas, Epimediums, 
Shortias, and (if the house is 20 or 30 ft. long by 10 
ft. wide) some handsome dwarf evergreens may also 
be included as part of the winter furnishing. All 
alpines and hardy plants grown in pots for such a 
purpose should be plunged in the open air, generally 
amongst ashes, during summer. 
As regards the house itself its construction is so 
simple that any handy man could piece together a 
very serviceable one. A fully exposed span-roofed 
bouse is preferable to the lean-to, and the roof 
should not be high. Wooden or slate stages at the 
usual height of 3 ft. should be erected on either side 
of a central pathway. From the middle of April (or 
even before) till the end of October it will be 
necessary to shade the house on all occasions of 
bright sunshine. If instead of growing the plants in 
pots an indoor rockery is determined upon it will be 
necessary, seeing the plants will be permanently 
planted, to have a roof which can be removed dur¬ 
ing summer. This can be arranged by having slid¬ 
ing sashes. The system of growing alpines in pots 
under glass will, however, be found to have advan¬ 
tages over the planting out method. For one thing 
the proper and special quality of soil can be given 
to every separate plant, and each plant is under con¬ 
trol to be shifted about as the needs or whims cf the 
grower control him or her. 
The plants to which the protection of the alpine 
house is beneficial include most of the Androsaces, 
ADthemis Aizoon, Arenaria caespitosa. Anemone 
palmata and A. p. alba, Astragalus hypoglottis albus, 
Campanula garganica in variety, C. waldsteiniana, 
C. Allioni, and others; Cyananthus lobatus, Cycla¬ 
men Coum, C. repandum, Dianthus alpinus, D. 
neglectus. Edraianthus dalmaticus, Epilobium 
obcordatum, Erinus alpinus, Eritrichium nanum, 
Gentiana brachyphylla, G. pyrenaica, Geum replans, 
Gnaphalium Leonto;odium, Hypericum reptans, 
Ibsris stjlosa, Linaria alpina nana rosea, L. pallida, 
L. pilosa, Lychnis alpina, Myosoiis rupicola, Onosma 
taurica, Phyteuma comosum, Pinguicula alpina, P. 
grandiflora, Primulas in great variety, Ranunculus 
anemonoides, R. pj renaeus, many species of mossy 
and some encrusted Saxifragas, Selaginella helvetica, 
Sempervivum arachnoides, Sibthorpia europaea, 
Sileneo Purr ilio, Soldanella alpina,S. pusilla,Thymus 
azoricus, Viola alpina, and Wulfenia Amherstii. The 
above are a'l recommended by Mr. H. Selfe 
Leonard.— A. L. 
ANCIENT GARDENS AND GARDENERS 
OF LONDON. 
A writer in the City Press of January 16th opens his 
remarks under the above heading by saying, “ What 
a beautiful place the city of London must have been 
in the old Piantagenet days, when great green 
gardens and pleasure grounds spread themselves 
in all directions, and the houses of the rich and 
powerful rose proudly from amid a rich profusion of 
trees and graceful shrubberies.’’ The writer then 
proceeds to add, " How completely everything has 
changed. A few time-stained buildings remain to 
remind us of a glorious past, but what has become 
of the beautiful gardens for which the city was at 
one time famous ? The exigencies of modern civilisa¬ 
tion and the growth of population have transformed 
those splendid domains of sport and pleasure into a 
wilderness of drab bricks and mortar.” 
In the beginning of the Piantagenet period, that 
is, about the year 1154, the state of London and our 
country in general was about as pitiful as the mind 
of man can conceive. The arrogant nobles held the 
sway cf power and the poor people were their serfs. 
We need only mention King John and the Magna 
Charla, to bring home to us the wretched state of the 
prevailing affairs in “ the old Piantagenet days.” 
London may have been beautiful from one point of 
view, but for gardens to be enjoyed one must have the 
joyousness of pure freedom and security. So that 
though we hear much that is eulogistic of the 
" good old days,” let us analyse it before we 
believe-. Then again in reference to “ the wilderness 
of drab bricks and mortar,” we may add that it is 
one of the greatest surprises that provincial people 
receive when visiting London for the first time, to 
find so many parks, and to see the thousands of 
trees, and general attractiveness of the numerously 
dotted 11 open spacas.” 
In the early times, even before the advent of Bruce 
and Wallace, and Edward " Longshanks,” the 
Strand, now forming one of London's busiest 
thoroughfares, was celebrated for its beautiful (so- 
called) gardens, with their bowlrng greens. In Mr. 
Charles Welch’s book entitled “ The History of the 
Worshipful Company of Gardeners,” the opening 
pages refer to Fitzstephen, a writer in Henry the 
Second’s reign (1154-1189), who said that the London 
citizens of bis day bad large and beautiful gardens 
surrounding their houses. From the same book we 
learn that "In 1276 an inquest was held upon one 
named Adam Schot, who met his death by falling 
from a Pear tree in the garden of a citizen named Law¬ 
rence, who lived in the parish of St. Michael, ‘ Pater¬ 
noster Churche.’ ” 
The grim Tower of London possessed a garden, 
which, in 1276, was stocked with Pear trees, by order 
of King Edward ("Longshanks”). The Royal 
Garden at Westminster was also planted, the same 
year, with Pear trees. " The garden was noted for 
its profusion of Roses and Lilies, upon the cultiva¬ 
tion of which great care was bestowed.” Parenthe¬ 
tically we may say that only native species of Roses, 
or as we now call them "Briers,” were in the gar¬ 
dens of this period. The first exotic species—Rose 
damascena—was not introduced till 1573. "Lily ” in 
those days was a name given to other plants than 
Liliums, of which there were few or no exotic species 
in England. 
The Earl of Lincoln's garden at Lincoln's Inn was 
remarkable for its produce. The bailiff’s accounts 
in 1296 show that it produced Apples, Pears, Nuts 
and Cherries sufficient for the earl’s tables, while it 
also yielded produce yearly to the value of /135 in 
modern currency. The vegetables grown were 
Onions, Garlic, Leeks and Beans. Hemp (for the 
fibre to make ropes to hang people!) was also grown. 
Roses seem to have been the only plants cultivated 
in the flower garden. 
The luxuriant areas which surrounded the great 
religious houses a century or two ago were models of 
the old-world garden. The halls of all the merchant 
guilds and companies (the latter having sprung up in 
Roman times for trade protection) were likewise 
surrounded by gardens, such as they were; and 
even until recently traces of them were to be seen. 
The Pewteiers’ Company must have possessed a 
large garden, for in 1486-7 (House of Tudor ; Henry 
the Seventh’s time) the sum of nearly £2 was spent 
in building a frame (not a vinery) for a highly-prized 
Vine growing in it. 
" It was not until 1606 that the gardeners, who 
remained for centuries a fellowship and nothing 
more, were incorporated by charter, the preamble 
setting forth the operations of the guild as ‘ the 
trade crafte misterie of gardening, planting, grafting, 
setting, sowing, cutting, arboring, rocking, mounting, 
covering, fencing and removing of plantes, herbes, 
seedes, fruites, trees, stocks, setts, and of contryving 
the conveyances to the same belonging.’ Thus the 
gardeners of James VI. of Scotland and First of 
England founded their guild, and gardeners living 
within six miles of the city were included. 
“ The revival of the company ten years ago is a 
matter of recent history. The company now grants 
scholarships for the training of gardeners at Chis¬ 
wick or elsewhere; prizes have been offered for 
fruit-growing, and seats have, by the company's aid, 
been provided in open spaces in the city.” 
-—-I—-- 
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