THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 24, i905. 
h 14 
it was a wonderful display. A more Won¬ 
derful array of Phyllocacti I have never seen. 
1 may have seen as many and as good varie¬ 
ties exhibited, in this country, but being 
able to see every plant at once set out to its 
best advantage added an indescribable charm 
to this exhibit. 
When I saw the name Lemoine et Fils, 
Nancy, I was prepared to see a good show of 
Deutzias and Lilacs, and I was not disap¬ 
pointed, for the exhibit contained all the 
newest and best productions of this well- 
known firm of specialists. It also contained 
a fine plant in flower of Paeonia lutea superba, 
decidedly the most handsome plant found in 
the genus. 
The Roses, instead of being shown in cof¬ 
fins or with paper frills and collars, were 
shown on the plants, and these Were not 
crowded into corners with inferior plants 
bungled underneath to form a groundwork. 
Roses here were exhibited as naturally as 
they could be, in the form of a Rose-garden 
on a beautiful lawn. Instead of seeing a mass 
in a comer, one was greeted with beds of 
all the best Roses set on the grass. Thei 
quality was, perhaps, inferior to- that of the 
exhibits set up in this country, but the effect 
and usefulness of the exhibits were all that 
could be desired. 
The florists’ exhibits were wonderful and 
very lavish, but certainly some in the section 
for dinner-tiable designs should not have 
been awarded honours. As table decorations 
they were superb, but there were few that 
one could see through, and as one who has 
seen a fair amount of table decoration in this 
country, I have no hesitation in saying that 
if I had put up such displays on the dinner- 
table I should have been discharged. One 
should certainly be able to see through every 
piece on the table. On some of the chief ex¬ 
hibits here one could not possibly carry on 
conversation with the other side of the table 
unless one stood up. A pretty exhibit of 
funeral displays was made entirely from 
Moss, Lichens, and Marchantias. In the 
wedding designs simjde Myrtle effects were 
the fashion ; very few massive or elaborate 
" A 
QUR PRIZE C OMPETITIONS. 
ESSAY COMPETITION (2). 
Prizes.— 
(1) What you state it costs for the 
up keep of your garden per ami. for three years. 
(2) do. do. do. two years. 
(3) do. do. do. one year. 
Open to London suburban amateur readers 
only. (Competitions for readers in other towns 
will be announced later). 
“ What I do with my Small Garden; 
what I get out of it, and what it costs 
me per annum.” 
The garden may be any shape, but the size 
must be between 500 and 800 square feet. Give a 
rough plan of the garden, showing beds and 
walks, and state if it is enclosed -with a brick 
wall, open or closed tencing. If part of the gar¬ 
den is in the front of the house, state how this is 
utilised ; also whether the walls of the house are 
covered with climbers, fruit trees or otherwise. 
Denote the position of the house and the north 
end of the garden. State what you grow in the 
first instance, and about what it costs you to 
-tock the garden, and what it costs yon per annum 
for up-keepi, including the cost of seeds, plants, 
and fertilisers. The essay should be from 500 to 
1,000 words, and should be sent in on or before 
July 1st. Mark envelopes left-hand corner with 
the words “ Small Garden.” 
V . _ J 
pieces were shown. As I sat and mused and 
feasted on the beauty of this exhibition my 
mind went back to England to the neighbour¬ 
hood of \ ictoria Station, and when i found 
myself speculating on the might-have-beens 
had we- Before I say too much about Re¬ 
gent’s Park I must leave off. 
Garden City. F. J. Cole, 
THE_ 
LARGE WOOD LILY. 
(Trillium grandiprum■) 
Some three years ago I had the pleasure of 
visiting Canada, and on my way to Van¬ 
couver I spent a month on a ranche in British 
Columbia. I arrived there in the month of 
May, and the snow had melted from the top 
of the mountain on which this ranche was- 
situated, and there was abundance of water 
flowing in rivulets down to the river, which 
formed one of the boundaries! of the settle¬ 
ments, or in some parts water very distinctly 
permeated the soil. A part of the land had 
been cleared, but a great deal of that kind of 
work still remained to be done, and many of 
the grand trees of the old forest had yet to 
be cut down, whilst a bewildering “bush,” 
sometimes as high as your- head, seemed to 
extend in every direction. 
The day that I arrived at the hospitable log 
house the general living room had assumed a 
very festive appearance, there being so many 
beautiful white and pink flowers, evidently 
fresh gathered. I had never seen flowers like 
them, and was told they were the Canadian 
Lilies, and that they were growing wild in 
almost every part of that bush. Many days 
after that we used to go and gather fresh 
flowers, but I do not think I ever heard it 
called by its proper name, nor have I seen it 
growing in England, although I should think 
it would flourish in Devonshire. 
Wherever these immense forest trees have 
stood, probably for centuries, and shed their 
leaves each succeeding autumn, the soil of 
such leaf mould seems to nourish and develop 
an immense variety of wild flowers, and the 
ozone of the air may have great influence on 
the colouring of the same. I have seen crim¬ 
son, sweet-scented wild Roses growing in the 
bush between great blocks of granite. I do 
not remember any sand in the soil, which 
seemed too moist and open. 
The first breath of warm air acts like 
magic on all vegetation in this province of the 
great Dominion, and the trees really burst 
into leaf, and little seeds after having been 
sown only three days often thrust their little 
green spikes above ground, and in a fortnight 
Strawberry plants come into flower. The re¬ 
markable size of the flowers from English 
seeds is a great surprise, but when this was 
mentioned at one of the experimental farms, 
it was said that in time these plants go back 
to the same size as those in the Mother 
Country, having got used to their new sur¬ 
roundings and climate. 
No words can describe the wonderful effect 
of the variety and masses of wild flowers 
growing near the range of snow-capped moun¬ 
tains, and with a sky—the wondei'ful blue 
colour of an Italian sky—above it all. In 
such a scene we think of Wordsworth’s true 
words— 
“ And ’tis my faith that every flower 
Enjoys the air it breathes.” 
J. S. C. 
SAXIFRAGES. 
Being for the most part easy of culture, not 
particularly fastidious as to soil, this genus 
certainly deserves attention. Given a good 
position “ Saxifrages ” will give a delightful 
display during the spring and early summer 
months. 
It is easily seen by habit of growth that 
while some would require a sunny spot, others 
would prefer shade. In fact, the contrast of 
growth between the various species is very 
noticeable', as, for instance, between Saxifraga 
cordifolia with leathery leaves, S. Cotyledon 
pyramidalis with its rosette of long leaves, 
with a spike of flowers, sometimes reaching 
a height of 3 ft., compared with S. cochlearis 
minor, which is of a very dwarf habit, leaves 
glaucous, and bearing numerous white flowers 
on slender graceful istems. 
To obtain a succession of flower is com¬ 
paratively an easy matter. During March 
and April the large foliaged ones give an 
effective show of flower. In most gardens, S. 
cordifolia generally represents this section. 
This is surpassed in brightness of colour 
by S. ligulata, and its varieties. S. crassifolia 
and varieties are very handsome, and are not 
often met with. 
Others flowering in March are S.oppositifolia 
and varieties, S. burseriana, S. apiculata, 
and the two rare ones, S. Grisebachii and S. 
poropliylla. The greater number of species 
flower in April and May. If grown on an in¬ 
cline on the rockery, S. sancta forms a dense 
green carpet. 
It is rather a shy flowerer in some districts. 
S. hypnoides resembles a moss in habit, and 
is very useful for edging. The variety S. 
muscoides Rhei is a stronger grower ; and the 
new variety of this, “ Guildford Seedling,” is 
a further improvement with its red flowers. 
S. Boydii is a rare and yellow flowering 
species. The well-known S. sarmentosa is a 
handsome species. The green leaves veined 
with white would alone recommend it for the 
rockery. S. Sibthorpii, often known under 
the name of S. Cymbalaria, is a pretty little 
annual, and is useful to form a carpet for 
some of the shade-loving plants. 
One of the most floriferous is S. Walla,cei, 
which bears large white flowers. S. lingulata 
and varieties are extremely beautiful. The 
white flowers are freely produced in drooping 
panicles. In S. 1. lantoscana superba the 
pedicels are shorter. This variety cannot fail 
to become a favourite with its creamy white 
flowers. The “queen of Saxifrages,” S. longi- 
folia, is an acquisition to any rockery, not only 
for the pure white flowers, but for its orna¬ 
mental foliage. S. Hirculus grandiflora, as 
its name seems to suggest, is one of the large 
flowered Rockfoils. 
One section of the “Saxifrages” is service¬ 
able for edging floral designs and beds. Of 
these S. umbrosa, “ The London Pride,” S. 
hypnoides, S. muscoides, S. cuneifolia, S. 
apiculata, and S. sponhemic.a might be men¬ 
tioned. In fact, pages might be written on 
the value arid beauty of this genus. A. J. 
To Amend vhe Pharmacy Act.— Mr. Ail - 
wyn Fellowes gave a sympathetic reception 
to the deputation which waited on him ask¬ 
ing for an amendment of the Pharmacy Act, 
so as to legalise the sale of poisonous com¬ 
pounds used largely in horticulture and agri¬ 
culture by other than pharmaceutical 
chemists, who at present have a monopoly of 
the trade. There are now so many chemical 
preparations that the farmer and gardener 
liave to use that the high prices of the ordi¬ 
nary chemist have become a very real griev¬ 
ance. 
