August 13. 1904. 
The Gardening World 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“Summer’s green all girdled up in sheaves, borne on the bier with white and bristly beard.”— Shakespeare. 
Weekly Prize 
FOR 
Short Articles. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World 
will give a cash prize of Ten Shillings for 
THE BEST PARAGRAPH, Or SHORT ARTICLE, sent 
by readers during the week. The Editor’s 
judgment must be considered final, and he will 
be at liberty to use .any of the contributions 
sent in. The paragraph, or article, must not 
' exceed one column in length, but the value, 
rather than the length, of the article will be 
1 considered in making the award. Competitors 
] may send in items of news or comments on 
) news; hints of practical interest to gar- 
1 deners or growers of plants, fruits, or flowers; 
successful methods of propagating plants 
usually considered difficult; or contributions 
ON ANT SUBJECT COMING WITHIN THE SPHERE 
of gardening proper. Letters should be 
addressed to The Editor, marked “Competi¬ 
tion,’’ and posted not later than Friday night 
to ensure insertion in the issue of next week. 
The following Coloured 
; Plates have appeared in 
) recent numbers :— 
) July 4.-APHELANDRA AURANTIACA 
) ROEZLI1. 
> August 1.— BORONIA HETEROPHYLLA. 
J September 12.— SIX NEW DAFFODILS. 
i October 3— LILIUM AURATUM PLA- 
> TYPHYLLUM SHIRLEY VAR. 
> Novembei 14.— ROSE MME. N. LEVA- 
VASSEUR. 
S January ' 2— HYBRID TEA-SCENTED 
) PACT ii>rwr 
January 30. — TUBEROUS BEGONIA 
! COUNTESS OF WARWICK. 
, February 27.-A FINE STRAIN OF 
i GLOXINIAS. 
April 2. — WISTARIA MULTIJUGA 
’ RUSSELLIANA. 
, May 7 — CACTUS DAHLIA DAINTY. 
) June 4.— CACTUS DAHLIA SPITFIRE. 
) July 16. -ROSE LADY BATTERSEA. 
) Back numbers may be obtained from the 
) publishers, price 2^d. post free. 
> - 
5 This week we present a Half-tone 
j Plate of 
PYRUS SPECTABILIS. 
I 
j Next week we shall give a Half-tone 
> Plate of 
! GROUP OF HYBRID PHAIUS WITH 
PARENTS. 
i The prize last week in the Readers’ 
; Competition was awarded to “ Heather 
Bell,” for his article on “ Pedigree Plant 
Breeding,” p. 628. 
Views and Reviews. 
Old-Fashioned Border Flowers. 
Of the plants cultivated for purely orna- 
mental purposes, there can be no doubt that 
the inhabitants, of what is known as the 
herbaceous border have enjoyed the greatest 
run of any plants in this country. During 
t ire last century they got more or less ousted 
from the gardens of public and private estab¬ 
lishments toi make room for the gaudy par¬ 
terres known as summer flower gardening. 
Many a fine' collection got uprooted during 
this feverish haste to alter the appearance 
of the garden, for the brief period of three 
months during summer, but these tender 
exotics require to> bei grown under glass all 
the rest of the year, and this, together with 
the fact that our fickle .and uncertain climate 
was nob always conducive to their full de¬ 
velopment and beauty, at length destroyed 
the cra,ze and made room again for something 
more abiding, more enduring, more varied, 
and altogether more suitable for our climate. 
These plants are variously spoken of, though 
usually termed old-fashioned. Others speak 
of them in an endearing way, as the flowers 
of grandmother’s garden. They are, indeed, 
very much the same as when cultivated in 
this country 300 years ago or more, but a.ddi- 
tiomis have been made since that time, both 
by introductions and by plants raised in 
gardens. 
Frequent, are the discussions and ideas ex¬ 
pressed concerning their cultivation, and the 
best plan of arranging them in gardens, 
grounds, and public parks. In our opinion, 
noi bard and fast line can be laid down for 
their most suitable arrangement, as it largely 
depends upon circumstances. Some people 
commence with the idea of making the 
garden to a certain shape and scale, with cer¬ 
tain adjuncts, which they imagine to be in- 
dispensablei to its beauty. A much better 
plan to. commence with is first of all to study 
the garden or the grounds to be laid out and 
planted, and then seek to adorn the same in 
a natural way by improving, rather than 
attempting to alter, the outline or beauty of 
the grounds and their surroundings. It is 
quite evident, therefore, that plants of any 
particular character to be grown there will 
appear all the more interesting and beautiful 
if planted so as to emphasise the beauty of 
the place, rather than alter its appearance 
by too violent changes. It follows, then, 
that the shape of the border, or the method 
of planting to be adopted in any good situa¬ 
tion, will vary according to the extent and 
formation of the ground. 
These facts have been called to mind by 
the “ Bulletin No. 34 ” of the New England 
Association of Park Superintendents, in 
which we find views running more or less 
parallel with those entertained for these old- 
fashioned subjects in this countiy. One 
might expect a considerable divergence of 
opinion on the other side of the Atlantic, but 
we must remember that the inhabitants there 
are our near kinsmen, and the literature of 
both countries is practically identical, so* that 
we cannot feel surprised that the park super¬ 
intendents of the United States and Canada 
should practise and advocate very similar 
methods to the practitioners on this side of 
the water. 
We may here state that the bulletins 
issued by the park superintendents are prac¬ 
tically sent round to the members in the form 
of a circulating letter, and each member is 
supposed to add somei fresh views or articles 
upon the subject, and then pass the “ Bul¬ 
letin ” on to his neighbour. After it ha^ 
passed the round of the members, the “ Bul¬ 
letin ” comes back to the secretary, Mr. John 
W. Duncan, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. 
He then has it type-written, and a copy sent 
to. each member of the association. 
It is certainly an excellent way for the dif¬ 
fusion of knowledge on any given subject by 
the members of an association, but it often 
happens that the man who might give the 
most interesting information has little or no 
time to deal with the matter in the time at 
his disposal. As it is, the “Bulletin,” deal¬ 
ing with hardy herbaceous, borders, is an in¬ 
teresting one, and has been contributed to by 
such well-known names as Messrs. J. A. Pet¬ 
tigrew, Robert Cameron, J. F. Foster, James 
Wilson, J. F. Huss, and others. 
Nearly all of these are of the same opinion, 
though probably their experiences, as well as 
tastes, may be different. A long article has 
been contributed by Mr. Robert Cameron, 
who has had excellent experience and oppor¬ 
tunity, of which he has taken advantage, in 
the Queen Victoria Park, a. part, of which was 
originally an irregular piece of ground re¬ 
claimed from a spring water swamp. This 
he has developed into one of the chief attrac¬ 
tions of the park, producing beautiful and 
striking effects by means of a large variety 
of perennials, and his arrangements have 
been much admired by visitors from widely 
separated countries and localities. 
