June 15, 1901. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
673 
them, is because the eggs have been laid in the buds 
the previous autumn, and as spring comes round and 
the buds unfold, the eggs are hatched. When once 
they put in an appearance they multiply amazingly. 
This is accounted for by their peculiar mode of 
reproduction. They are all females during the 
spring and summer. These differ from most other 
insects by having power to produce young partheno- 
genetically, that is, without copulation. The males 
appear in the autumn, after which eggs are deposited 
in buds that are to remain dormant during the com¬ 
ing winter. 
Spiraeas — P. P .: The majority of Spiraeas are 
water-loving plants, and do well planted by the side 
of a pool or stream. They are perfectly hardy, aad 
if you wish to make a pretty picture round your 
pool, the free use of Spiraeas will give great assist¬ 
ance. They are best planted in the spring before 
they start to grow. They are generally propagated 
by division, by which means a large stock may be 
secured in a very short time. 
GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS.* 
One more practical gardening book has been added 
to the list that has recently seen the light. This is 
intended for the beginner who may or may not be an 
amateur, though it seems from Miss Jeky 11 's preface, 
that it is intended for the assistance of those who 
love gardens and gardening for their own sakes, and 
who desire to learn how to grow the plants in which 
they take delight. " The best of all gardening," 
she says, “is always the simplest." 
The beginner and would-be learner must not be 
alarmed with the bulk of the book for it runs fo 495 
pages, inclusive of the index. Books on gardening 
are not meant to be read from end to end nor to be 
thoroughly digested before putting their precepts 
into practice as that might seem a difficult or insur¬ 
mountable task. On the other hand, a small portion 
about one subject may be read and re-read until it is 
thoroughly mastered, after which the learner should 
put his or her hand to the spade or knife as the case 
may be, and carefully follow out every precept of 
the instructions. That is the best method of com¬ 
mitting the rules and secrets of gardening to 
memory, and in such a way as never to be forgotten, 
particularly if the beginner gardens with full inten¬ 
tion to succeed. The contents show what the book 
contains and the method of its arrangement, the first 
nine headings being, groups of garden flowers, the 
the mixed border, hardy flowers from seed, increas¬ 
ing hardy plants by cuttings, annual flowers, 
summer bedding, hardy climbing plants, bulbous 
flowers, and the rock garden. There are also 
chapters on Roses, the greenhouse, Chrysanthemum, 
Orchids, trees and shrubs, Ferns, fruit, vegetables, 
town gardening, a monthly calendar, &c. The range 
of gardening in which most amateurs would engage 
is thus pretty well covered. The groups of plants 
contain cultural and other instructions concerning 
Michaelmas Daisies, Auriculas, Canterbury Bells, 
Foxgloves, Hollyhocks, Irises, perennial Larkspurs, 
tree and herbaceous Paeonies, Pansies, Pentste- 
mons, Phloxes. Pinks, Poppies, Primroses, Polyan¬ 
thuses, Sunflowers, &c. 
The mixed border is a phase of gardening that has 
much to recommend it, seeing that a lively and 
varied effect can be produced over the spring, sum¬ 
mer, and autumn months by the use of hardy annual 
and perennial flowers that may be reared mostly or 
entirely in the open air in this country. The taller 
plants may even consist of flowering shrubs if the 
border is wide enough to accommodate the same 
without overcrowding or encroaching upon the her¬ 
baceous subjects grown there. The principal wants 
of such borders is good, well tilled soil, enriched 
with some kind of manure, if need be; also shelter 
from sweeping winds, plenty of light at all times, 
and water when necessary, though in the case of 
perennials this is scarcely necessary unless the soil 
be thin and hungry, sandy or gravelly. A suitable 
soil for such mixed borders is here delineated ; and 
where the natural staple is deficient in any respect the 
best way of permanently ameliorating the same is fully 
detailed in the text. The choice of plants and the 
method of arranging the colours are matters upon 
* Gardening for Beginners. A Handbook for the Garden. 
By E. T. Cook, Published by “ Country Life,” 20, Tavistock 
Street, Covent Garden, W.C. George Newnes, Ltd., 7—12, 
Southampton Street, Covent Garden, W.C. Price 10s. 6d. 
net. 
which there may be great differences of taste, or no 
taste at all, for the latter is a highly cultured accom¬ 
plishment, and, besides a love for the same, requires 
a great deal of practice and experience to make any 
material advance in so complicated a subject. One 
of the hints here given is that while brilliant con¬ 
trasts may be permissible and desirable in certain 
parts of the garden it is necessary that the rich and 
brilliant harmony should be approached by more 
delicate colouring so as to avoid gairish vulgarity. 
Plants of the same colouring should be intergrouped 
so that a colony of red flowered plants should be 
succeeded by others that flower later on the same 
ground all through the season, so that the original 
harmony of the arrangement may be preserved. The 
main or essential feature of these mixed borders is 
that the plants should not be dotted about singly, 
but massed together in patches or clumps of a colour 
or kind so that an idea of a rich profusion of flowers 
is maintained. Effects are lost when one plant is 
succeeded by another of a different kind and all at 
equal distances apart. The groups or clumps of a 
kind should also be of irregular outline and fit in 
with one another in that informal fashion. 
The fascination of seed raising is also dealt with 
in its various aspects, and the joy the raiser may 
feel in being able to find, it may be, only one really 
superior variety in a large batch of seedlings. The 
pleasures of anticipation are even greater when the 
raiser has been cross-breeding or hybridising certain 
plants with the view of getting something new or 
sufficiently meritorious to be worthy of preservation 
and extended cultivation. The kind of summer bed- 
bing here proposed is of the mixed style, such as is 
largely adopted in the leading London parks at the 
present day. Of the taller growing plants Abutilons, 
Acacias, Solanums, Begonias, Lobelia cardinalis, L. 
fulgens, Agathea coelestis, and similar subjects are 
recommended. Dwarier subjects for small beds 
are Begonia worthiana, Celosias, Cineraria maritima, 
&c., which should be planted sufficiently far apart to 
allow of a carpeting of such things as Mesembry- 
anthemum cordifolium variegatum, Begonia Lafay¬ 
ette, &c. For large beds bold plants of Plumbago 
capensis. Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, Arau¬ 
caria excelsa, and Ficus elastica are recommended 
to be planted in small groups by themselves with 
appropriate edgings, borders, and appendages of 
smaller plants. Caanations and Picotees for sum¬ 
mer bedding and border decoration come in for a 
large share of attention, in view of the large hold 
they have on public attention. 
The chapter on hardy climbing plants also shows 
very forcibly what an unbounded choice of plants is 
at the disposal of the planter or collector—Clema¬ 
tises, Bignonia, Ampelopsis or Vitis in great variety, 
Berberidopsis corallina, Jasmines, Everlasting Pea, 
Honeysuckles, Passionflowers, Solanums, Tropaeo- 
lums, Wistarias, the recently introduced Polygonum 
baldschuanicum, and many others. Under the 
heading of useful hints a great deal of information is 
given upon subjects that frequently confront the 
gardener, whether amateur or otherwise. Some of 
these are care of old trees, cleansing plants, bulbs 
after flowering, garden plaDts that will bear flood¬ 
ing, flowering trees and shrubs for windy places, 
garden tools, greenhouse fires, gumming, and the 
way to avoid the same. 
The illustrations are very numerous, and quite a 
feature of the book, all the leading ones, represent¬ 
ing flowers, gardens, and landscape scenery being 
full page figures printed on separate sheets of stout, 
smooth, rolled paper. They are reproductions of 
photographs, and great care has been taken to print 
them to the best advantage. There are contribu¬ 
tions of these pictures from Munstead, Kew, Ealing, 
Edenside, Ireland, and various other places, Kew 
contributing largely. The Iris garden from the 
The Garland Rose at Munstead. 
