ft \rdening World, December 12 , 190S. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
“ More springs up in the garden than the 
ardener sows there.”— Proverb. 
CONTENTS . 
mateur’s Letter to Amateurs, An ... 761 
jrder Plant, A Little Grown (illus.) 763 
hrysanfhemum Mrs. Hazelhurst 
(illus. . 7^5 
hrvsanthemums, Work for Decem¬ 
ber . 77- 
ompetition Awards . 7 62 
ompetition, Prize Letter . 774 
yclamen, Hardy- . 7 ^ 2 
nquire W ithin . 7^9 
lower Garden, The (illus.) ..7^7 
ruit Garden, The (illus.) . 7^7 
ruit Growing for Amateurs (illus.) 764 
umitory, A Grey-leaved (illus.) ... 766 
heenhouse, The Amateur s . 7^8 
itchen Garden, The (illus.) . 767 
ilies in Pots . 7 ^ 2 
obelia Kathleen Mallard . 762 
lectarines and Peaches, The Cul¬ 
ture of (illus.) . 764 
iotes on New : Books . 773 
Irchids for Amateurs . 7^S 
inks as an Edging . 77 2 
.ose Growing for Amateurs. 7^3 
fork of the Week . 7^7 
Sum SMI 
. . The time shall come when the fields 
long bare 
And the woods that w 7 ept for the W in¬ 
ter’s wrong 
hall stand new-clothed in the April air, 
With a flush of flow 7 ers, with a shout 
of song; 
-S thou, old world, who has hoped in 
Vain, 4 
With a hope grown s.ck, w 7 ith a heart 
grown sere, 
halt yet break loose from thy wintry 
chain, 
Shalt laugh in the'light of a happier 
year. 
•oubt's thy heart of Peace, in its age¬ 
long war? 
Doubts the earth's of Spring, in the 
night-frosts numb ?- 
he vision is faint and the time is far, 
'Yet the time shall come. 
S. Gertrude F ord. 
CLXXIII. 
Lamb’s Ear. 
Stachy-s lanata or Lamb's Ear as the 
familiar plant sometimes is called, cer¬ 
tainly 7 makes a good edging in poor soil, 
an effective one too, for the silvery-grey 
foliage seen in long line is as furnishing, 
as we might call it, almost, as a line of 
w'hite flowers. from a distance. I do not 
think I valued the decorations of this 
plant sufficiently until I read Miss Jekyll s 
interesting book—“ Colour in the Gar¬ 
den.” In it she speaks much and often of 
her “ grey borders’’—borders that are 
largely 7 planted w 7 ith grey-foliaged plants, 
amid them such flowering plants as would 
beautifully and harmoniously tone with 
them. Now, amongst these pale-foliaged 
plants this familiar old Stachy 7 s lanata 
apparently play’s an important part. W e 
have to remember that it is absolutely 7 
hardy, that wind or weather never mars 
it, that it grows rapidly, and that it is 
effective both for the near and the further 
distance—all strong points in our garden 
flowers. Another subject Miss Jekyll 
mentions as of real value in the “grey 
borders” is Artemisia stelleriana. This 
subject grows to about two feet in height 
and its whiteness is almost astonishing ; 
among really hardy plants, it makes a 
capital substitute for the less hardy 
Cineraria maritima, and on this account 
many will be glad to use it if they have 
not alreadv made the discovery for them¬ 
selves. There is another variety which I 
may also call to mind as giving us charm¬ 
ing foliage effect: I mean the deeply cut, 
Fern-like, Artemisia tanacetifolia. 
I suppose 1 need scarcely say that the 
“ grey borders” of white or silvery- 
foliaged plants are suitable, and suitable 
onlv for an open and sunny position. 
Fofiage, while bv reason of these many- 
downy hairs, or by any other means, is 
characteristic of sun-loving plants, and 
is Nature’s natural shield and means of 
protection against the too-scorching 
effects of intense sun heat. In fact, if we 
plant certain white-leaved, that is to say, 
downy-leaved plants, in shady sunless 
positions they-will become green m time. 
Variegated Plants. 
I often think a variegated plant m an 
edging of mixed plants has a wonderful 
charm I am recalling a raised edging 
raised with slabs of sandstone and planted 
freely with rock-loving and dwarf peren¬ 
nials. Saxifrages, Dianthuses, Sweet M il- 
liams, Aubrietias. dwarf Campanulas and 
others; and among these I remember how 
truly telling was a plant, here and there, 
having variegated foliage. Among them 
was a patch of variegated yellow and 
cmeen Arabis ; and, again, m a cooler and 
shadier position a handsome clump or two 
of Lung wort, the variety being Pulmon- 
aria saccharata, with its really beautiful 
marbled leaves. Of this plant we have 
to bear in mind that its foliage is hand¬ 
somest and largest when the plant is 
bearing, neither flower buds nor blossoms. 
I often think I will prevent my own speci¬ 
mens from producing flowers because, 
after all, these are insignificant compared 
with the foliage. 
The Potentillas 
These may not be among our showiest 
plants, and yet I always find that there 
are especial uses for plants that produce 
their flowers above long slender stems, 
leaving their foliage far beneath them. 
They have a lightness, a daintiness, and 
other characteristics that we do well to 
exploit for all they are worth in a border. 
Such plants have a very 7 distinct and 
decorative use—for the foliage in low 
tufts close to the soil hides nothing; 
then the slender flower stems rising, per¬ 
haps, a height of two or more feet, are of 
a graceful and singularly delicate type 
more often than not, and these plants we 
can grow far forwarder in a border of 
mixed plants than the generality of sub¬ 
jects that bear their flowers at this height. 
They may 7 , practically speaking, be used 
among the dwarfest subjects, and lend that 
variety of height that is so acceptable. 
Of the varieties suitable, more especially- 
for the mixed border, it will be found that 
the double flowers are more lasting than 
the single. There is a goodly number of 
named hybrids that are quite inexpensive, 
and these are, perhaps, on the whole, 
more satisfactory- to grow, than it is to 
buy- the seeds, and rear plants. 
But among the Potentillas we may also 
seek and find some varieties that, once 
grown, we shall come to regard as indis¬ 
pensable plants for the rock garden, or 
the rockery edging. Beautiful in them¬ 
selves, they are also to be prized on ac¬ 
count of the particular time that sees 
them in bloom ; this is at the height of 
the summer season—a time when gay- and 
radiant-flowering plants in the rock gar¬ 
den are none too plentiful. To yield a 
rich mass of almost dazzling colour I 
must place first and foremost P. nepalen. 
sis, which is quite one of the show-iest 
plants for the rock garden I know, and I 
remember being struck v-ith its decorative 
value even among the many- beautiful 
and striking plants that grew- round about 
it in the rock garden at Kew. P. hop- 
woodiana gives us also a grand clump of 
bright rose colour. Some of the y-ellow- 
flowered varieties are almost equally 
desirable, and I would mention the large- 
blossomed P. Detommassii, also P. 
davurica and P. alpestris. Personally-, I 
am content to dispense with the white- 
flowered varieties, as I feel that we have 
other subjects that flower at this, summer 
season that are more effective. 
F. Norfolk. 
-♦♦♦- 
Vanda caerulea var. R. Chollet. 
The flowers of this varety are of large 
size, w-ith broad segments of a sky-blu? 
checkered with a much deeper blue shade. 
First-class Certificate bv the R.H.S. 
when shown by Messrs. F. Sander and 
Sons, St. Albans. 
