312 
THE GARDENING WORLD, 
April 15, 1905. 
suitable conditions in the New Zealand climate. We refer to 
Gerbera Jamesoni. The Australian Flannel Flower is de¬ 
scribed as lasting in good condition without water for ten to 
fourteen days. Some of these names would have been better 
of editing before leaving the printer's hands. 
Mr. Peter- Barr did this lady the honour of spending two 
half-hours in her garden while he was touring in the Colonies, 
so we suppose that the garden had attained a. considerable 
amount of repute in the large towns where Mr. Barr was travel¬ 
ling, otherwise his attention would not have been directed to 
this one. She acknowledges that he gave her some good advice 
on the planting and culture of Blandfordias, which are stated 
to grow in hard, baked clay in full exposure on the Australian 
railway banks and at all the stations, where they are a mag¬ 
nificent sight. 
We also get a picture of Lilium giganteum in bloom, though 
there is no- record of it in the text. Judging from the figure, 
it was 10 ft. to 11 ft. in height, and carried some huge leaves 
on the lower part of the flower-stem. The Glory Pea of New 
Zealand (Cliauthus Dampieri) formed a trailer in this garden 
branching out in every direction upon the ground until it 
measured 5 ft. across. Both in this garden and in others, 
according to accounts, the owners of gardens seem to take an 
immense delight in continually shifting their plants from place 
to place making experiments in order to discover what situar 
tion or conditions will give the best result. 
It is here stated that Hydrangeas growing on scoria soil 
about Auckland produce flowers of rich deep blue, but the 
author failed to get blue flowers under any conditions. Having 
heard about the story, of iron in the soil producing blue 
Hydrangeas, the author buried coils of iron wire round the 
roots of the plants, but even this failed to produce the desired 
results. Pumice soil in another part of the country gave rise 
to Hydrangeas of the palest blue. 
An interesting -story is told of the peculiarities of New 
Zealand climate in the matter of fresh air, which would seem 
to be rather plentiful at times. The winters, so-called, are 
short, and autumn gives long stretches of fine weather. It 
would seem, however, that spring is the troublesome time, 
when equinoctial gales are prevalent. The writer says that 
one night during the windy period the wind tore up every 
Gooseberry bush in the garden, and piled them in a heap in one 
corner. This showed that shelter was necessary for the success 
of the garden. High palings were first constructed, and seeds 
of Blue Gum trees were sown in boxes and later on planted 
out in the form of a belt surrounding the garden, and the 
belief is that these might now be 80 ft. in height. During 
the author’s stay at this place the Gum trees were a great 
success, as they grew well, and none of them ever got up¬ 
rooted. During windy periods the whole place got strewn with 
minced gum leaf about the size of a threepenny piece. This 
served to keep the place in a state of litter during the equinoc¬ 
tial gales, and could not be cleared away except by means of a 
broom. 
One of the most handsome and interesting plants coming- 
under notice was the magnificent white Buttercup or New 
Zealand Water Lily (Ranunculus Lyalli) which was not, how¬ 
ever, a success even in this New Zealand garden. The explana¬ 
tion is simple. It comes from the Snow Mountains, where it 
grows to perfection, and when brought down to the lowlands 
even of its native country the temperature is too high at 
certain seasons. The author here describes the difficulty in 
supplying the two extremes of heat and cold which the plant 
gets in its almost inaccessible home. Another interesting plant 
of a more curious kind described as a bush tree is Pisonia 
brunoniana. The seed-pods of this tree are covered with a 
gummy substance like birdlime. Insects get attached to the 
fruits in large numbers, and birds which go after the insects 
lay themselves liable to the same danger. As many as twenty 
small birds have been seen attached to one tree. Sparrows were 
included amongst this lot, the author rejoicing over the fact. 
This ubiquitous bird, originally introduced to the Antipodes, is 
as troublesome and as ill-liked as in Britain or America. 
Several full-page photographs placed at intervals throughout 
the book show some of the plants which proved a success in 
this New Zealand garden. Besides plants, the author also 
deals with some of the curious birds, including those which are 
incapable of flying. Other animals and things also come in 
for notice in a casual way in some of the chapters, so that a 
variety of readers will find something to entertain them told in 
an interesting and pleasing way. The record shows what an 
untrained amateur gardener may do by getting information 
from various sources and by continually attending to the plants 
and making experiments in order , to find out die conditions 
conducive to success in the New Zealand soil and climate. 
Anemone blanda atrocaerulea. 
{See Supplement .) 
When planted under similar conditions either in the open 
air or in cold frames there are two- Anemones which bloom very 
nearly together, from the beginning of March onwards accord¬ 
ing to the state of the weather. These are A. apennina and A. 
blanda. lhe latter is supposed to be a mere variety or form 
of the former, but it is certainly the finer of the two-. Imported 
roots give flowers in considerable variety, many of them beino- 
distinct bicolors, the inner surface being white and the outer 
of paler or deeper shades of blue. 
lhe variety A. b. atrocaerulea. has flowers about 1-J- in. to 
2 in. across, and consisting of twelve to seventeen rich dark 
blue sepals-, the colour being the same on both sides. It is a 
dark sky-blue shade very much intensified and therefore a 
clear and pleasing colour. The original description of this 
species described the sepals as varying from nine to fourteen, 
but as will be seen the cultivated flowers of this variety at least 
have a greater number, the average being about sixteen. Out 
of doors this year A. blanda was in full flower about the be¬ 
ginning of this month, while stray flowers had been appearing 
even earlier. It is merely a darker blue variety than the type, 
with both surfaces of the same colour. 
In its aggregate sense A. blanda is a native of Asia. Minor, 
whereas the older A. apennina is a native of Europe. The two 
species may therefore be taken as representatives of two 
different continents. The leaves in either case are triternate ; 
that is, they are first cut into three main divisions, and each 
division is again more or less deeply tliree-lobed. Cultivation 
is of the easiest, the plants being perfectly hardy, except when 
the flowers happen to be expanded during the severe frost, 
snow or hail, when damage would be done ter them, as in the 
case of any other early flowering subject. 
The plant will grow in slight shade, but it is not absolutely 
necessary any more than in the case of the common Wood 
Anemone, which will grow in sun or shade, provided the soil 
is sufficiently free to allow the rhizomes to spread a few inches 
beneath the surface, and that the moisture is still fairly 
abundant to maintain the vigour of the foliage until it dies 
down. A good friable garden soil will meet its requirements 
admirably. As in the case of other species, a free admixture 
of leaf-soil with the ordinary staple will be of great advantage 
to the well-being of the plant. It is an admirable subject for 
the rock garden, merely requiring to be planted in a situation 
where it will be sheltered from north and north-east winds 
during the period of flowering. It also can be planted as a 
ground-work to beds of deciduous subjects in the pleasure- 
grounds, under the shelter of which it thrives admirably and 
keeps up a succession of bloom for some weeks during Marcli 
and April. The photograph from which our supplement was 
prepared was taken in the collection of Messrs. T. S. Ware, 
Limited, Ware’s Nurseries, Feltham, Middlesex. 
Tulip a pulchella.. —The flowers of this Tulip are very 
moderate in size, but the whole plant is of dwarf habit, and 
therefore suitable for planting on the rockery. The colour is 
a rich purple, with a violet blotch at the base of each 
segment. 
