THE GARDE NINO WORLD. 
Notes on . . . 
Our Illustrations. 
A Small and Simple Rockery. 
On the top right-hand corner of our middle 
sheet a small rockery may be seen, suitable 
for gardens attached to villas or cottages. In. 
this case the rockery was close to the house, 
though separated by means, of a walk. The 
wall behind this, as well as a tree, of which 
only the trunk is shown, is covered with Ivy. 
The rockery just serves to break the view 
upon entering the garden from the back door, 
and at the time it was photographed it was 
very effective, though neither large nor com¬ 
plicated in any way. In the centre of the 
mound is a hardy Fern, namely the Male Fern. 
The sloping sides ot the bank were originally 
planted partly with Violets, and the rest 
Woodruff (Asperula odorata). The last 
named has' now mostly taken possession of 
the place, and that is what we should have 
predicted from the commencement. It has 
long creeping stems, which penetrate the soil 
in every direction just under the surface, and 
during April throw up innumerable short 
stems, furnished with leaves in whorls. Dur¬ 
ing April and May these short stems are ter¬ 
minated by cymes of pure white flowers. The 
beautiful whorled arrangement of leaves forms 
a beautiful setting to. the flowers, which are 
four-lobed. In this description those who are 
unacquainted with our native Woodruff may 
remember that in structure it is closely 
similar to the Bedstraws (Galium). 
The Violets, where they succeed, flower a 
little in advance of the Woodruff, but the 
latter is certainly the feature of the rockery 
after having been planted some years. On 
the extreme left a few spikes may be noticed 
of a different, character. They are those of 
the Spanish Squill (Scilla hispanica, also 
known as S. campanulata). The leaves shown, 
on the extreme left of the picture belong to 
this beautiful May-flowering Squill. 
All the plants mentioned are perfectly hardy 
in this country, and may be used where some¬ 
thing simple and easily constructed is neces¬ 
sary to break a view or to hide or brighten 
some ugly corner^ All the plants mentioned 
may be grown in a shady position, and in a 
state of nature delight in the shade of trees, 
provided the shade is not too dense to cause 
the foliage to get weak. It will be seen, how¬ 
ever, that it may be employed on the north 
side of a house, and the Woodruff will do 
well even under those conditions. 
The Rose-Coloured Hydrangea (Hydrangea 
hortensis rosea). 
We call attention to a very beautiful 
Hydrangea now obtainable, and which is 
quite different from the ordinary pink one. 
The flowers are very pale for a time, as in 
all other Hydrangeas, but as they gradually 
reach full size they assume uniform bright 
rose colour. Plants of this variety may pro¬ 
duce flowers as intensely blue as may be 
seen in any of the blue Hydrangeas. This 
colour cannot be depended upon to come true 
anywhere at any given time, as this depends 
upon something which has not yet been pre¬ 
cisely determined. The rose colour, however, 
is permanent when it comes of that shade, 
and although blue flowered plants may be 
found in a batch in any given year, the 
chances are that in the following year they 
will have reverted to the rose hue. 
Being a variety of the common Hydrangea, 
it is of the same degree of hardiness. In this 
country it can scarcely be depended upon to 
outlive the winter in the open except in the 
neighbourhood of the sea along the southern 
and western coasts. Further north we may 
describe it purely and simply a greenhouse 
plant, and as the flower buds are made up in 
the autumn, it. is unsafe to risk the plants 
even in a cold frame except in the more 
favoured parts of Britain as above mentioned. 
Provided it. would flower on the young wood 
of the current year, it would be safe to keep 
it. in a frame during winter, but a greenhouse 
is really necessary both to dispel damp and 
keep out frost, so as to preserve the life, of 
the embryo flower buds. ' 
A Bed of Begonias. 
Those who have tuberous Begonias started 
in pots from tubers should plant them at 
once, if not already done. Our illustration, 
on the top left-hand corner of the centre 
sheet shows a bed of tuberous Begonias 
isolated upon the grass, yet forming no part 
of a design. The varieties employed are not 
what we should advocate. Readers will notice 
that the flowers in most cases are drooping, 
and in some cases touch the grass. 
Some years ago seedling Begonias generally 
had this fault, except in the. case of those 
specially selected for bedding purposes. At 
the present time an immense advance has 
been made in the strain of tuberous Begonias 
by the. leading growers, and as the tubers 
are obtainable cheaply there is no necessity 
for planting the old types with drooping 
flower stems. Even at the present time, 
plenty of these are obtainable, but such 
strains are inferior, and the garden lover 
should make a point of obtaining seeds or 
tubers from growers of known repute. 
Such varieties as those shown would not 
be tolerated in those Begonia nurseries and 
plantations where tens of thousands are 
raised annually. Even the third-class selec¬ 
tions are superior to those shown here, and 
are infinitely better for bedding purposes, as 
they hold the flowers well above the foliage, 
whether the season is wet or dry. Another 
point we may mention is that those who raise 
Begonias by the thousand make a point of 
selecting them and growing them in colours. 
For instance, all the rose-coloured flowers 
would be groiqied together, all the crimsons 
and the scarlets likewise. The finer the 
strain is the more nearly will these flowers 
be all of some uniform shade, according to 
the selection made. If the grower desires a 
bed of one colour he may obtain it, whether 
it is white, pink, salmon, rose, scarlet, 
crimson, orange, or yellow, besides some 
fancy colours. The standard colours, how¬ 
ever, are the most generally useful and effec¬ 
tive for bedding purposes, and should b >■ 
adhered to if effective beds on the grass are 
wanted. 
Before planting tuberous Begonias the bed 
should be well dug, broken up fine, and 
plenty of well-decayed farmyard manure or 
leaf soil incorporated with the natural soil, 
or if the latter is of a heavy nature and in¬ 
clined to clay the planter should have it re¬ 
moved to a depth of at least 8 in., and a good 
June 17, 1905. 
rich, open compost made up for the purpose 
of replacing it. As the roots of tuberous 
Begonias are very fine and confined near the 
surface, .the best, results are obtained from 
well-tilled and well-manured soil. Very rank 
manure should not be used for this class of 
plants. 
A Fashionable Hardy Annual (Schizanthus 
wisetonensis). 
Several species of Schizanthus are now in 
cultivation, and for some years past most 
of them have been largely used for pot cul¬ 
ture for the decoration of the greenhouse and 
conservatory early in summer. For this pur¬ 
pose they are sown in the autumn and 
brought along gradually under cool airy con¬ 
ditions in a greenhouse or in pits with a 
similarly cool atmosphere. 
The subject of our illustration is the 
dwarfest of all, and is a form that has 
originated in gardens. By reason of its dwarf 
and compact habit it has become the most 
popular of all the forms of this class of plant 
for pot culture. The average height of it is 
12in., though occasionally it may grow taller 
if the cultivator has overlooked the perfectly 
cool conditions necessary to keep it dwarf. 
Briefly told, these conditions are plenty of 
ventilation on all favourable occasions and 
free and abundant light on all sides, not neg¬ 
lecting watering, which must be regularly seen 
to even in winter. 
By ventilation on all favourable occasions 
we mean that the ventilators should at lease 
be opened at the top during the day when 
the weather is mild, and during bright sun¬ 
shine a more liberal amount, must be given. 
Occasionally during veiy mild times, even in 
winter, the side, ventilators of the house may 
be opened. Those who have low span-roofed 
houses will be able to stand their plants suffi¬ 
ciently near the glass, so that they will have 
full benefit of the light, which is often not of 
the best in winter in our cloudy skies. 
When the grower has no house of this par¬ 
ticular class he should stand the pots on 
shelves close to, but not touching, the glass, 
and if no shelves already exist he should 
make some, even if they have to be suspended 
on iron rods. This is often done, and is par¬ 
ticularly useful in winter, because a great 
variety of plants succeed when thus brought 
close to the glass so that they may get a 
maximum of light at a time when such is 
very necessary to strengthen the stems, to 
keep them dwarf, sturdy, and short-jointed. 
Most, cultivators are aware that less water 
is necessary in winter than in summer. It 
must not on that occasion be neglected, but 
the carefu 1 plantsman will know- when the sod 
is getting on the dry side and water his plants. 
On the other hand, the soil must not be kept 
m a sodden condition, but in that happy 
medium which is favourable to the roots of 
a large number of hard and soft-wooded 
plants in winter. 
A Cornish Water Garden. 
The centre picture in our double page sheet 
of illustrations shows a view in the grounds of 
a private establishment in Cornwall. Readers 
will notice a variety of subjects in the back¬ 
ground closing in the scene. The more select 
subjects are placed in front of this, which 
serves the double purpose of sheltering them 
and showing them off to advantage. 
On the right hand of the water are some 
large plants of Cordylines, better known in 
gardens as Dracaenas. When compared with 
London gardens in winter such a scene must 
be looked for on the south or west coast of 
England or in Ireland or the Channel Islands. 
