April 1, 1905. 
The Gardening World 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“ When spring begems the dewy scene, how sweet to walk the velvet green.” Moore. 
WEEKLY PRIZES 
(OR 
SHORT ARTICLES. 
The Proprietors of The Gardening World 
viil oive a cash prize of Seven Shillings and 
SIXPENCE FOR THE BEST PARAGRAPH, OR SHORT 
iHTICLE, sent by readers during the week, and 
Lwo Shillings and Sixpence as a second 
,ri ze . The Editor’s judgment must be con¬ 
feree! final, and he will be at liberty to use 
my of the contributions sent in. The para- 
,raph, or article, must not exceed one 
■olumn in length, but the value, rather than 
he length, of the article will be considered in 
linking the award. Competitors may send in 
items of news or comments on news ; hints of 
(practical interest to gardeners or growers of 
plants, fruits, or flowers ; successful methods of 
propagating plants usually considered difficult; 
or contributions on any subject coming 
within the sphere of gardening proper. 
Letters should be addressed to The Editor, 
marked “ Competition,” and posted not later 
than Friday Right to ensure insertion in the 
issue of nest week. 
The following Coloured Plates 
have appeared in recent num¬ 
bers :— 
September 12.— SIX NEW DAFFODILS. 
October 3— LILIUM AURATUM PLA- 
TYPHYLLUM SHIRLEY VAR. 
Novembei 14.—ROSE MME. N. LEVA 
VASSEUR. 
January 2 —HYBRID TEA-SCENTED 
ROSE IRENE. 
January 30. — TUBEROUS BEGONIA 
COUNTESS OF WARWICK. 
February 27. -A FINE STRAIN OF 
gloxinias. 
April 2. — WISTARIA MULTIJUGA 
RUSSELLIANA. 
May 7 —CACTUS DAHLIA DAINTY. 
June 4.— CACTUS DAHLIA SPITFIRE. 
July 16 —ROSE LADY BATTERSEA. 
CI V«ober 1 . — GEUM HELDREICHI 
SUPERBUM. 
October 15.— ROSE HUGH DICKSON, 
hack numbers may be obtained from ttu 
publishers, price 2£d. post free. 
This week we present a Coloured 
Plate of 
LILIUM HANSONI. 
Next week we shall give a Half-tone 
Plate of 
MAGNOLIA LENNE. 
The first prize last week in the 
<■ C ° m - petiti . on was awa rded to 
ni jh’ *°, r his article on “Renovating 
Old Shrubberies,” p. 245 ; and the second 
to W. J. Welch,” for his article on 
■orugmansias,” p. 238. 
Views and Reviews. 
Flowers that Bloom in the Spring. 
The flowers that delighted our forefathers 
300 or 400 years ago by warning them of 
the approach of spring were in a large 
number of cases identical with those over 
which the cultivator worries to-day and the 
possessor or onlooker is delighted. The 
most important difference observable to-day 
is that science has made vast strides in a 
more correct recognition of their form and 
structure, and a more natural classification 
of those which form allied groups such as 
we define by genera, species, and varieties at 
the present day. 
In the time of Parkinson a distinction 
was evidently made between varieties and 
more concrete groups such as species, but 
the latter term had practically little or no 
meaning until Linnaeus invented the 
binominal method. The varieties which we 
grow to-day may not always be the same, 
and in many respects we have the advantage 
of those which have been created or origina¬ 
ted by crossing or effected as improvements 
in some other way during the period that 
has elapsed since Gerard and Parkinson 
wrote so enthusiastically about the flowers 
that delighted the people in those days. 
They certainly had in their gardens an 
enormous number of species, considering the 
infancy of gardening in this country 300 
years ago. The species or imported bulbs, 
roots, or seeds are the same, and we only 
repeat what was being done in those days 
when fresh importations of wild plants are 
concerned. Now and again something new 
is discovered which would have been un¬ 
known to our forefathers, but such dis¬ 
coveries are neither numerous nor impor¬ 
tant in those hunting grounds that have 
been searched by the plant lover with more 
or less enthusiasm during the bygone cen¬ 
turies. Truly the people are not the same 
as those who enjoyed the flowers we speak of, 
and presumably the flowers are entirely the 
descendants of plants which lived in those 
far-off times. 
Outdoor cultivation of hardy spring 
flowers does not seem to have improved 
greatly in that lapse of time by comparison 
with the improvements under glass, and the 
increase of knowledge that pertains to the 
science of tire subject. That gardens have 
increased, and cultivators likewise, we admit. 
Another factor in the case that we cannot 
overlook is that records were left by the 
enthusiastic cultivators of those days that 
have created a halo of sentiment that clings 
to them still, and the world lives largely 
upon sentiment; hence, we must conclude 
that the love of old-fashioned flowers is 
chiefly due to that sentiment, which has been 
increasing, as it were, during the centuries 
that have elapsed since flowers were first 
cultivated purely for ornamental purposes. 
Many writers tell us that the beginnings of 
cultivation were due to the cultivation of 
plants for food; the second object was for 
medicinal purposes; and the final, that 
plants were grown for mere ornamentation 
when the ages grew to civility and wealth 
and leisure had increased. 
Christmas Roses arid Witch Hazels are 
flowers of the winter solstice rather than 
the harbingers of spring. Various species 
of Colcliicum also serve to bridge over the 
period between the autumn-blooming species 
of Meadow Saffron and Crocuses, which 
are followed by their relatives that bloom in 
spring. Snowdrops, Winter Aconite, Crocus 
hyemalis, and Sternbergia fischeriana also 
serve to brighten the way, and if planted in 
masses, as they can be, they are decidedly 
effective. They are also truly spring flowers, 
commencing their career in January or Feb¬ 
ruary, according to the character of the 
winter in the south of England. 
Should the winter prove in any way severe 
their coming is delayed, and at least the 
two first named make their appearance very 
soon after the snow has melted off the sur 
face of the ground. In the northern part of 
Britain winter may practically return, cover¬ 
ing the ground with a greater or less depth 
of snow, and these early flowers may then 
present the singular spectacle of pushing up 
amongst the snow. The Winter Aconite was 
well known to Parkinson, who named it 
Aconitum hyemale; although it would be 
difficult even for a gardener of the present 
day to see that this and the true Aconite 
were at all closely allied. He also inserts a 
figure of a Snowdrop amongst the species of 
Leucojum, the latter having a slightly dif¬ 
ferent spelling. • 
Parkinson made bold and plausible at¬ 
tempts at classification of his own, which 
has the effect of puzzling a modern reader 
who has not a fair knowledge of botany. He 
described no less than thirty-one Crocuses, 
of which twenty-seven were placed under C. 
vernus, so as to include all of the spring 
flowering species. Being unacquainted with 
