August 1, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
663 
The Botanic Gardens, Bath. 
Edward Fitzgerald once wrote of Bath that “ one beautiful 
feature of the place is the quantity of garden and orchard 
it is all through embroidered with,” and, though many years 
have elapsed since this was written, all who know the city 
recognise it as one of the most charming of our inland resi¬ 
dential places. On all sides it is surrounded by well-kept 
parks and fertile open country, and, as manufactories are few 
and the smoke plague therefore absent., trees and shrubs revel 
in the pure air and mild climate. 
The Royal Victoria Park, which includes the Broome Botanic 
Garden, is almost one of the largest spaces of land out of 
London appropriated to a public pleasure-ground in the king¬ 
dom. The park, which owes its formation to two citizens, 
Messrs. J. Davis and T. B. Coward, lies on the western con¬ 
fines of the city, and is easily approached from the centre of 
the town. As far back as 1820 an agitation was commenced 
to lay out the Freemen’s Estate, but nothing was accomplished 
until, on August 11th, 1829, twenty citizens met at the York 
House at the invitation of the two gentlemen named, “ for the 
purpose of taking into consideration some plan for the general 
welfare of the city.” 
Eventually a deputation was appointed to confer with the 
Freemen, who gave their sanction to the scheme in the follow¬ 
ing resolution: “ We, the undersigned, Freemen of the City 
of Bath, understanding that it is in contemplation to make 
drives and walks through the Common Fields, beg to express 
our approbation of the same, and to hope that the plan may 
be carried into effect, feeling assured that it will materially 
add to the welfare of the city, as also to the comforts ol its 
visitors and of the inhabitants generally.” The Freemen 
granted their land at a moderate rent, and the municipal 
authorities warmly supported the scheme, with the result that 
on January 1st, 1830, a subscription list was opened, which 
eventually amounted to little short of £5,000. The laying out 
of the park was entrusted to Mr. Edward Davis, who found 
that the natural beauty of the site afforded ample scope for 
his genius as a landscape gardener, and the tasteful manner 
in which he accomplished his task is a lasting memorial to his 
own fame. Walks and drives were laid out, the scattered 
streams of the fields concentrated into an ornamental pond, 
and a magnificent collection of forest trees, evergreens, and 
shrubs was planted, and at the present time many of these are 
splendid specimens. The site is a gentle ascent overlooking 
the city, from which many beautiful panoramic views of the 
city, of the adjoining country, with the river Avon meandering 
through the fertile valley beneath towards its ultimate destina¬ 
tion in the Bristol Channel, may be seen. The arrival of the 
Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria was seized upon by 
the committee as a favourable opportunity for opening the 
park, and this took place on Saturday, October 23rd, 1830, 
the Princess then being twelve years of age. By the express 
wish of the Duchess of Kent, who formally declared it open, 
the park was given the name of “ The Royal Victoria Park,” 
in honour of the Princess, then heiress to the throne. 
The Broome Botanic Garden really owes its origin to the late 
Mr. C. E. Broome, F.L.S., who established at his residence— 
Elmhurst, Batheaston—a representative collection of herba¬ 
ceous and alpine plants, which his widow presented, after his 
death, to the Park Committee. At that time, however, no 
suitable place to accommodate this large collection existed, and 
the committee decided, therefore, to lay out a garden for the 
purpose. Accordingly a plot of ground, about three acres in 
extent, which was found available, was laid out, under the 
direction of Mr. J. W. Morris, F.L.S., and Mr. J. Milburn, the 
curator. The garden itself bears eloquent testimony to the 
care and skill bestowed upon it by these two gentlemen; 
indeed, it is one of the most successful examples of an alpine 
garden in England. The rock garden is constructed with 
magnificent weathered oolite stone, which is obtained locally, 
and is the same which was partly employed in the construction 
of the rock garden at Kew. Its great charm consists in the 
fact that it is full of fissures, holes, and crevices, in which 
- alpine plants rejoice to grow. Some of the stones employed 
are of most fantastic shape and of huge size, involving much 
labour before being finally fixed in position. 
Perhaps the first thing which strikes the visitor most on 
entering the garden is the number of rare shrubs and trees 
planted on the high banks, which serve to shelter the garden. 
The Chinese Hawthorn (Photinia serrulata), with its beauti¬ 
fully-tinted Laurel-like leaves, is a most symmetrical specimen 
almost 20 ft. in height. Further on may be seen Paulownia 
imperialis, a nice little standard tree, Solanum crispum, a 
large bush covered at the time of the writer’s visit with a per- 
fest mass of lavender-lilac blossom ; Fraxinus Mariesii, a lovely 
Chinese Ash, named after its introducer, with fine, creamy- 
white plumes of blossom, and the young foliage tinted a pretty 
shade of purplish-brown ; Syringa Emodi variegata, a splendid 
Himalayan .shrub, with light greenish-yellow leaves blotched 
with dark green, and borne on purplish-red stalks—a very 
effective combination of colour; the silvery-leaved Shepherdia 
argentea, Gleditschia triacanthos, Olearia macrodonta, and O. 
stellulata, the latter a mass of blossom; Coronilla Emerus, 
Cytisus scoparius variegatus, a very lovely variegated form of 
our common Broom; Magnolia soulangeana, M. stellata, and 
M. Watson i; Daplmiphyllum glaucescens, a handsome Chinese 
evergreen, with the young shoots of a bright rose colour; 
Khaphiolepis ja.ponica, remarkable for its dark green shining 
leaves; Datura coccinea., an enormous plant of Euphorbia 
Wulfeni, a noble evergreen plant from Dalmatia; Carpenteria 
ca-lifornica, and Lonicera Alberti, one of Albert Regel’s “ finds ” 
in Turkestan. It is justly prized at Bath, where it forms a 
large (dec-id cous) shrub, with drooping, deep rose-coloured 
flowers and greyish-green leaves. A huge bush of Rosa pomi- 
fera was wreathed with clusters of its rich pink flowers, while 
the Penzance Briers and varieties of Rosa rugoisa were another 
conspicuous feature. These are but a tithe of the many beau¬ 
tiful shrubs to be met with in this garden. The rock garden 
contains many rare plants, which are scarcely ever seen in the 
majority of gardens. Space only permits me to mention a few 
of these. On the south side I noted Astrantia major variegata ; 
Armenia, caespitosa., a fine specimen of this, the dwarfest of all 
the Thrifts; Phyteuma Scheuclizeri, covered with spherical 
heads of its dark blue flowers, which prove so attractive to 
bees; Convolvulus Cneorum and C. althaeoides, the latter 
wreathing a bank with masses of its silvery foliage and pale 
rose, mallow-like blossoms. Further on I came across Astragalus 
massiliensis (the Gum Tragacanth), Anthyllis Erinacea., 
Euphorbia, amygdaloides variegata, a rare and most, attractive 
plant; Valeriana salunica, Corydalis thalictrifolia, and C. 
ophiocarpa (Sikkim), both in bloom; Artemisia lanata, and 
the new Verbascum Hoenki. On the north side the most in¬ 
teresting things were Rubus japonicus tricolor, a charming 
little rock shrub growing about 18 in. in height, the young 
leaves bright pink, the older ones green, beautifully mottled 
with white; Disporum Hookeri, Poterium sitchense, Moeh- 
ringia muscosa, covered with little white flowers; Epilobium 
mexicanum, a very pretty carpet plant; Anemone polyanthes, 
and a trio of very pretty annuals—namely, Corydalis glauca., 
Calceolaria mexicana, and Anagallis Monelli var. Phillipsi. 
Mr. John Milburn, who controls the whole of the Victoria 
Park as well as the Botanic Garden, began life in the gardens 
of Capt. Gregson, at Moorlands, Lancaster. From there he 
went to serve under Mr. Fox, at Holker Gardens; Camforth, 
and thence on to Kew, where he served two years in the hardy 
plant department, afterwards going to Bath. He is an enthu¬ 
siast in every sense of the word, and under his able manage¬ 
ment both park and garden gain in beauty and interest every 
year. , Arthur R. Goodwin. 
Three Acres of Foxgloves. —Foxgloves—some over 6ft. in 
height and others heliotrope in colour—are growing in a mass 
of over three acres just beyond the borders of Llanishen, in the 
remote parish of Llanfyhangeltorymynydd, says the Rev. T. A. 
Davies in “ The Express.” The field lies on a steep hillside— 
until 18 months ago forming a larch plantation, now glorified 
as a huge mass of red, visible, two miles away—“a thing of 
beauty and a joy for ever”—well worth a visit as a unique "and 
unusual and never-to-be-forgotten sight for lovers of nature. 
