September 16, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
Til 
PLATFORA - - - 
Station Gardens 
On the Midland and Great Northern Railways. 
(See Illustrations on pages 728 and 729.) 
1 have already related that a professional 
photographer and myself were commissioned 
by The Gardening World to make a tour of 
inspection of some of the station platform 
gardens on the Midland Railway which were 
this year awarded prizes in the annual com¬ 
petition in which that company encourages its 
stationmasters to take a part. In the issue 
of this journal dated September 2nd four 
views of such gardens on the Midland line 
were given, together with descriptive letter- 
press. Two others on the same railway system 
were visited during the journey, namely, those 
at Matlock Bath and Belper, both of which 
are on the Nottingham and Manchester 
blanch of the Midland Railway. 
The town of 
Matlock Bath 
will be well known to most readers by name 
if not from personal acquaintance, for it is a 
fashionable inland watering place, and cele¬ 
brated far and wide for its grand and 
romantic scenery and its medicinal springs. 
On arriving at the station one scarcely seems 
to be in tame, mediocre England, for on every 
hand there are deep wooded gorges and tower¬ 
ing hills, clothed with trees right to their 
summits. High Tor rises perpendicularly 
from the river Derwent to a height of some 
400 feet; then immediately opposite is Masson 
Hill, nearly 800 feet high, while the Heights 
of Abraham and the Heights of Jacob boldly 
dominate the scene, and enclose the beautiful 
Matlock Yale, and the picturesque straggling 
town, which is usually alive with well-to-do 
visitors and, at certain seasons, is daily in¬ 
vaded by swarms of trippers from neighbour¬ 
ing populous centres. 
Very nearly the whole of the platform gar¬ 
den at this station appears in our photograph. 
This, it will be seen, extends along a well- 
sheltered bank, and consists of a number of 
circular, semicircular and other shaped beds, 
which were filled this summer with Calceo- 
1 larias, Henry Jacoby Pelargoniums, double 
Stocks, variegated Godetia, and white Violas 
edged with, in some cases, Pyrethinm, and 
in others with Lobelia. There was not a 
great variety of subjects, but the plants were 
vigorous in spite of their dry situation, and 
blooming profusely, and the ensemble made 
a particularly gay and attractive picture. 
The edge of the bank was covered with rock 
plants, Selene saxifraga being strongly in 
evidence. At the top of the bank were clumps 
Drummondii, 'interspersed with tangled 
masses of climbing, many-coloured Nas¬ 
turtiums, and some standard Roses. 
The Station at Belper, 
Oil the same line, some seven miles north 
of Derby, had, we found, -a garden on a. 
larger and more ornate scale, but only 
j the principal portion of it appears in 
the photograph. The lady -in the forefront 
of the view, by the way, had just arrived 
by train, and stood resolutely and unflinch¬ 
ingly facing the camera, determined to see 
the business through. If this should be a 
means of introducing The Gardening World 
to the notice of those of her friends who are 
fond of horticulture they will be for ever 
under a debt of gratitude to Mrs. -- (or is 
it Miss-) for the sturdy way in which she 
declined to budge until the photographer had 
completed his task. 
Mr. T. Pitt, the stationmaster here, is a 
gardening enthusiast, and travellers on this 
line have to thank him for the admirable 
manner in which he has utilised, planned, 
and beautified at this point both sides of 
the line. 
On the down side of the line—the side from 
whence the photographer operated—the bank, 
which extends to almost a hundred yards, 
and which is a yard wide at one end, broaden¬ 
ing off to six yards at the other, contains a 
selection of hardy shrubs and flowers, the 
floral programme commencing in January 
with Snowdrops, followed by a succession of 
Daffodils, Polyanthus Narcissus, Wallflowers, 
Canterbury Bells, Foxgloves, Holyhocks, and 
outdoor Chrysanthemums. 
The bank figured in our picture is, as will 
be seen, arranged in beds, and is reserved for 
the summer display. At the time of our visit 
the blooms were making a fine show, the 
flowers giving evidence of skilful culture, and 
the arrangement of the contents of the beds 
having evidently been well thought out. 
■There are altogether twelve beds here, these 
being filled mainly with Pelagoniums, Calceo¬ 
larias, Stocks, and Asters, and tastefully 
edged with Lobelia and Feverfew. The ter¬ 
race wall contains an excellent collection of 
Alpine plants, which have been contributed 
to the station from time to time by the Hon. 
G. H. Strutt, of Bridge Hill, Belper, who 
takes a great interest in this station garden. 
These consist of various kinds of Saxafraga 
and numerous other choice Alpines, which 
during the summer months make the rockery 
remarkably bright and pretty. At the three 
corners of the upper triangular-shaped part of 
the bank are large American Aloes. 
A splendid display of out-door Chrysanthe¬ 
mums will shortly be provided by a collection 
of upwards of two hundred plants, which Mr. 
Pitt has massed, with due regard to colour 
effect, in a large bed close to the signal-box, 
and which includes such excellent varieties as 
Horace Martin, Bronze Massie, Madame Des- 
grange, and Marie Massie. Yet another 
large bed is set apart for Dahlias, which 
include some fine varieties of the Cactus 
Dahlia; and finally, a brilliant bed of tall 
Antirrhinums makes an arresting display 
opposite the aforesaid signal-box. Mr. Pitt 
was well deserving of the prize which the Mid¬ 
land Railway Company awarded him for the 
beautiful, effectively designed and admirably 
kept platform gardens at Belper station. 
% 
Sandy and Oakleigh Park. 
The directorate of the Great Northern Rail¬ 
way Company do not stimulate their station- 
masters to horticultural effort by offering 
prizes for the best kept platform gardens, as 
do the Midland and some other railway com¬ 
panies. Indeed, as a matter of fact, there arc 
no such gardens on the G.N.R. line, with the 
exception of the two illustrated in this num¬ 
ber, and possibly a few in the northern coun¬ 
ties. Sandy station has been beautified by 
the planting of a number of trees along the 
central platform, the shade afforded being 
much appreciated by waiting passengers 
in hot weather. These trees, of the kind 
known as False Acacia (Rubinia Pseudacacia), 
were planted by the late stationmaster at 
Sandy, Mr. Smith, who has since been 
translated to a higher sphere of action at the 
G.N.R. terminus at King’s Cross. The garden 
bn the opposite platform is filled with various 
sorts of evergreen shrubs, and at the far end, 
beyond the signal-box, there is a border of 
German Flag (Iris Germanica), which is most 
effective in blooming time. 
At Oakleigh Park, some eleven miles north 
of King’s Cross, the stationmaster has out¬ 
lined in white stones the words “Oakleigh 
Park,” an idea which has much to commend 
itself from the point of view of the passenger 
in doubt as to his whereabouts. There are 
some small beds filled with dwarf shrubs and 
a few flowers. In the station itself baskets of 
Ferns depend from the platform roof, and con¬ 
tribute a pleasing feature, for which the 
stationmaster has earned the thanks of all 
who travel to and from Belper. 
Peter Penn. 
-♦- 
Supplementary Replies 
BY OUR READERS 
To Answers in the “ G. W.” Enquire Within 
A Cold Greenhouse. 
The house described by C. H. Murton would 
make an admirable little Alpine house, and 
with a collection of such species and varieties 
as flower during winter or very early spring, 
the place could be made very interesting. 
Taking it for granted that whatever is to be 
used for the adornment of the house during 
the coming season has to be bought, we may 
claim that the stock of Alpines will be very 
little more expensive than anything else that 
can now be obtained. Plants can be for the 
most part had in pots or pans from nursery¬ 
men who make a speciality of this class of 
plants, or they may be purchased from the 
open and potted up immediately. Primula 
megasaefolia is a lovely plant, well suited for 
the purpose under notice, flowering pro¬ 
fusely throughout winter, or, at all events, 
from January onwards, with no more protec¬ 
tion than a covering of glass. 
Adonis amurensis would be its companion 
in bloom, and is a charming plant. Several 
Irises would be useful and beautiful, such, 
for instance, as I. unguicularis, I. reticulata, 
and I. gracilepes. Sternbergia lutea, Colchi- 
cums of sorts, and many species of Crocus 
could be had in bloom and beauty even at 
Christmas or earlier. Sisyrinchium grandi- 
florum and its variety album come in early 
when under glass. Petasites fragrans—the 
Winter Heliotrope—flowers throughout De¬ 
cember and January, and emits sweet fra¬ 
grance, which adds to the charm of the 
flowers. Several Ericas could be used, and 
the house could be further brightened by the 
introduction of a few small shrubs with 
brightly tinted foliage; Euonymus, Retino- 
sporas, and others that are obtainable in five 
or six inch pots. Heather Bell. 
It is. somewhat difficult, to furnish an un- 
lieated greenhouse with plants, flowers, etc., 
