iE Gardening World, March 21 , 1908 . 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
•‘Flowers and fruits are always fit presents. 
■Emerson. ~ . 
CONTENTS. 
chimenes for Baskets . 194 
mateur's Letter to Amateurs, An ... 193 
eans (Runner) Ornamental Kinds 200 
light, The American . 198 
irnations: Work for March . 200 
ompetition Awards . 194 
ompetilion, Prize Letter . 196 
nquire Within . 204 
lower Garden, The. (illus.) . 201 
ruit Garden, The (illus.) . 201 
reenhouse, A Gas-heated . 196 
reenhouse, The Amateur's . 202 
orseradish, The Culture of (illus.) 197 
itchen Garden, The (illus.) . 201 
ily, An Annual . 197 
ncidium, The Large-flowered 
(illus.) . 203 
•rchids for Amateurs . 201 
eas (Culinary) for Exhibition . 194 
ink, The Chinese (illus.) . 199 
tatice, A Fine Annual (illus.) . 195 
eronica, A Dwarf (illus.) . 199 
alls, Beautifying . 195 
ork of the Week (illus.) . 201 
-- 
ome things on earth are best before they 
gain 
heir ripe fulfilment. Dawn is far more 
fair 
: han later noontide’s restless heat and 
glare; 
he murm’ring brook that sings a sweet 
refrain 
las not the wider river’s soil and stain; 
he bud, half opened to the light, doth 
bear 
loveliness no full-blown flower may 
wear. 
So the maturer June can ne’er attain 
The dewy freshness of the early spring 
That singing, makes the world to 
understand 
Her message, till the human heart doth 
sing 
In sympathy. Spring waves her magic 
wand 
Until the hidden life in everything 
Doth quicken, making music in the 
land. 
May H. Timms. 
CXXXV. 
A Capital Plant for Late Autumn. 
When the garden generally is becom¬ 
ing rank and overgrown it is a good thing 
to have a few plants at their prime, not 
merely summer and early autumn sub¬ 
jects in their latter days, but subjects 
that are only due to flower at this late 
season. Among these Aconitum Wilsoni 
ranks high. It has been introduced for 
some seasons now, but it is not so gene¬ 
rally known as it deserves to be. I saw 
it flowering freely late in November, and 
was struck with its excellent decorative 
effect. The blue and white blossoms, 
always a cheery-, happy looking combina¬ 
tion of colour that are large and borne 
well above the foliage, and like other 
Aconites, this variety enjoys a moist posi¬ 
tion and cool, retentive soil, if the best 
results are to be attained. 
Besides this plant there are the Chry¬ 
santhemums and the Michaelmas Daisies ; 
and, except in the south, I often think 
people err in growing too large a propor¬ 
tion of late varieties. My own experience 
goes to show that early-flowering Chry¬ 
santhemums and perennial Asters con¬ 
tinue in bloom quite late enough and give 
far better results than those varieties that 
do not continue to bloom until the dull, 
dark days. 
Colour in the Garden. 
In choosing our annuals, or the rooted 
plants of any perennials we may wish for, 
it is well to remember what a good carry¬ 
ing colour, as well as a beautiful one, is 
rose colour. We cannot well have loo 
much of it. To my mind it is charming 
with the blooming time of the Hollyhocks 
and Phloxes and Carnations to have this 
colour flushing the whole place, and to 
help forward this the annuals may be 
chosen with this end in view. 
The Daphnes. 
These shrubs to my humble thinking 
hold a unique place. The garden needs 
them, if you know what I mean—and no¬ 
thing can quite make up for the complete 
lack of them. They do not become mere 
factors in a mass of shrubs, but remain 
individual, distinct, and, as it were, apart. 
As I write D. Mezereum is in full flower 
bud, and like so many of the spring¬ 
flowering shrubs, it flowers before its 
leaves expand. I think most of us will 
allow that there is a distinct charm in this 
habit, and if we ask ourselves whence the 
charm we acknowledge that instinctively 
we associate these blossoms on bare 
branches with the mystery, the subtlety, 
the glamour of Eastern lands. It is worth 
a great deal to have the power to asso¬ 
ciate our garden favourites with the lands 
of strange delight — to have the sight of 
them call to mind, perhaps, some spring 
thought of old Omar. This Daphne is 
never placed more happily than in the 
rock garden; the close proximity of great 
slabs of stone suits it, I scarcely know 
whv. It is one of the easiest of all shrubs 
to rear from seed, and is not at all par¬ 
ticular as to soil. 
From time to time I have taken especial 
notice of a specimen of D. Blagayana in 
the rock garden at Kew. It is of too 
straggling a habit to be very effective, 
but it is an interesting plant, and the last 
time I saw it, three or four years ago now, 
it had received a top dressing of old mor¬ 
tar rubbish : it was in flower by the first 
week in April. It is a true Alpine, I be¬ 
lieve. And there is D. Cneorum, also a 
charming subject for the rock garden, 
a miniature shrub, with ample foliage 
and innumerable little heads of bright 
pink flowers. It grows into a wide mass, 
and I have never yet succeeded in propa¬ 
gating it by cuttings. It is easy to in¬ 
crease it, however, by layering, and this 
may be done almost at any time. It is 
spring-flowering, and to tell you its power 
to chafm and fascinate those who fall be¬ 
neath the spell of its beauty I could re¬ 
late how a trip to Switzerland was ar¬ 
ranged to fit in expressly with its flower¬ 
ing season in its native haunts by an ex¬ 
traordinarily keen amateur gardener. 
And for their fragrance do many of the 
Daphnes impel our appreciation. There 
are many far more showy things I would 
lose from the garden than an old D. 
Laureola. It flowers in May—terminal 
heads above its evergreen foliage, of pale 
greenish flowers. All day you pass it by 
unnoticed ; but after sundown it fills ..the 
air about it with fragrance. \\ riters extol 
the perfume of the Rose, the Mignonette, 
the Night-scented Stock, Heliotropes, 
Carnations, and other flowers, but I know 
no scent on earth quite so exquisite as 
this Daphne in the May evenings—and 
yet there are hundreds, thousands of gar¬ 
dens that know it not. In this case, too, 
layering is the best means of propaga¬ 
tion. It is one of the toughest and most 
leathery stemmed shrubs I can recall, 
and cuttings do not often root success¬ 
fully. 
Some Novelties Among Annuals. 
Almost every season we have new strains 
of favourite annuals. Among the pretty 
low-erowing Nemesias, Orange Prince 
and Blue Gem should receive careful at¬ 
tention. And there is another variety that 
strikes a slightly different note: it is 
known as N. strumosa tigrina. It is that 
last sub-title that always takes my fancy, 
and of course takes the fancy of all who 
have an especial affection for beautifully 
marked petals. These Nemesias are half- 
hardy annuals, and do not exceed a foot 
in he'ight; the flowers are small, but they 
are borne with great profusion, and in all 
cases the colouring is singularly clear and 
brilliant. 
Among the new Asters of annual growth 
is Triumph of Paris. It will appeal to 
those who admire flowers with a 
“ quilled ” centre. The colouring is strik¬ 
ing ; the outer florets are white, while the 
quilled centre is yellow. 
F. Norfolk. 
