Gardening World, September 12, iqc 8 . 
An Amateur s Letter to Amateurs. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
ipples and pears lay strewed in heaps 
iround, 
d the plums-loaded branches kiss'd the 
iround ." —T heocritus. 
CONTENTS . 
.nateurs Letter to Amateurs. 581 
1 nual. A Showy (illus.) . 586 
■ tirrhinums, from Cuttings, 
Propagating (ilus.) . 5^5 
(rysanthemums : September . 583 
(mpetition Awards . 582 
limpetition. Prize Letter . 5^4 
liquire Within . 5$9 
ower Garden, The (illus.). 5^7 
i ait Garden, The (illus.) . 587 
1 eenhouse, The Amateurs . 5^8 
Itchen Garden, The (illus.). 587 
Yllow-Wort, A Spanish (illus.) ... 584 
chids for Amateurs. 588 
inching - and Disbudding, Hints on 582 
] ppy, The Blue-flowered . 594 
insy, The Silver-leaved . 5S5 
iyme (Wild) on a Stone (illus.) ... 583 
’ getable Marrows, Growing . 5S2 
eeds . 5 86 
ork of the Week . 5^7 
indfall Potatos. 
A thrifty voung housekeeper had some 
adfall Plums and Apples offered to her 
a low price in a greengrocer s shop 
so, thank you,' 1 she said, u but I will 
se a pot of potatos, if you have any 
the same sort, not too much bruised. 
w Gardens. 
sits enthron'd in vegetable pride 
iperial Kew by Thames glittering 
side; 
led'ient sails from realms unfurrow d 
bring 
>r her the unnam'd progeny of spring ; 
jtendant nymphs her dulcet mandates 
hear, 
id nurse in fostering arms the tender 
year, 
ant the young Bulb, inhume the living 
seed 0 
lop the weak stem, the erring tendril 
lead-, 
' fan in glass-built fanes the stronger 
flowers 
ith milder gales, and sleep with 
warmer showers. 
Erasmus Darwin. 
CLX. 
Summer Flowering Bulbs. 
It is a true but rather curious fact that 
we use our summer flowering bulbous 
plants in a manner quite different from 
our spring flowering varieties. We grow 
a number of these flowers of the early 
year in great colonies, either in grass or 
under the trees of the garden woodland, 
for we have learned how beautiful a thing 
it is to have some of our flowers that know 
nothing whatever of the narrow and con¬ 
fining limits of box, or other edging. But 
with the summer flowering varieties it is 
another matter ; they do not lend them¬ 
selves to these wide masses and stretches; 
they are, at any rate, here in our English 
gardens, among our choicest border sub¬ 
jects. And whereas we want our spring 
flowering bulbs by hundreds of this or 
that, .with the summer bulbous plants we 
are often content with mere patches in the 
border or bed — and very effective they are 
too when used in this manner. You will 
notice, for one thing, that almost without 
exception the flowers that spring from a 
bulbous root are intensely bright and 
clear in colouring, or, if white, then the 
white is singularly pure, so that they 
have a wonderful colour value. And it is 
at the present time, while still the garden 
is full of its summer subjects, that we can 
best set ourselves to look round carefully 
and ask ourselves if we are growing these 
summer bulbous plants in sufficient 
quantity and if we have them placed to 
the most advantage. I find, and I speak 
from experience, that Lilies, especially, 
perhaps, the beautiful white Madonna 
Lily and the showy L. croceum, flourish 
and flower well on a border that gets very 
dry in summer, though it enjoys sufficient 
moisture at other seasons. Such a 
border is very difficult to provide with a 
good show of colour from the end of June 
onwards, and that is why we find these 
Lilies so exceedingly useful in positions 
such as these. It is a good plan, if the 
weather is very dry when the Lilies flower, 
especially the Madonna Lily, to git e it a 
good soaking with -water when the flowers 
are expanding, as they ane then more 
lasting. The present is the best time m 
the whole year to plant or transplant 
these Lilies, as they are at resj. now, and 
we have to realize that their resting period 
is of a curiously brief description. As 
soon almost as they are absolutely dor¬ 
mant they seem to begin to wake up 
again. In the case of buying plants, I 
would strongly urge the superiority of 
English grown bulbs, because they will 
not have had their roots mutilated, as 
happens with bulbs that are packed for 
shipping. It is interesting to know that- 
a large industry in home-grown bulbs is 
growing up round about the neighbour¬ 
hood of Wisbech, and also in other parts 
of England. It is very disappointing to 
plant our newly-purchased Lily bulbs and 
then find that two or three seasons pass 
before thev have recuperated sufficiently 
to flower satisfactorily. Once they are 
planted they do not need frequent divi¬ 
sion and transplanting, and may be left 
undisturbed for some years, until, in fact, 
the clumps are overcrowded with bulbs. 
Lilium croceum and Delphiniums. 
The Lilium croceum I am always care¬ 
ful to plant in close proximity to the blue 
Delphiniums, the strong contrast of the 
orange and the blue makes a bit of 
colouring of almost oriental splendour, 
and that at the height of summer, when 
more than at any time we may welcome 
the most gorgeous and radiant colour 
schemes. Perhaps the effect of these 
Delphiniums and L. croceum in a very 
small garden might be too violent, but in 
ample surroundings and with a wide 
stretch of garden-scape beyond and 
around, it is a wonderfully telling com¬ 
bination. 
Bulbous Plants in the Bedding Scheme. 
I am myself particularly fond of a pro¬ 
portion of* bulbous flowering plants in the 
bedding-out scheme — where bedding-out 
is practised. How effective is the stern, 
straight-edged foliage of bulbous plants 
in such a scheme, even before the flowers 
claim attention. For one thing, the in¬ 
troduction of plants such as these affords 
a variety in the height. It counts for a 
good deal to counteract the dead level of 
monotony so often to be found in summer 
bedding, that it seems to me instructive 
and helpful to study any plans and 
schemes that seek to obviate this. 
In addition to the bulbous plants I have 
mentioned, Montbretias (especially the 
fine hybrid varieties that have been reared 
of late years), Alstroemerias, Spanish and 
English’ Irises, many more varieties of 
Lilies than those I have named, Antheri- 
cums, Watsonias. may all find a welcome 
place in the summer garden. 
F. Norfolk. 
-- 
The crop of Lavender this year is es-^ 
pecially fine. Lavender has much in¬ 
creased in popularity of late. 
An Onion Proverb. 
Onion's skin very thin, 
Mild winter coming in ; 
Onion's skin thick and tough, 
Winter will be cold enough. 
The Greenwood Tree. 
For the tender Beech and the sapling 
Oak, 
That grow by the shadowy rill, 
You may cut down both at a single 
stroke, 
You may cut down which you will. 
But this you may know, that as long as 
they grow, 
Whatever change may be, 
You never can teach either Oak c~ 
Beech, 
To be ought but a greenwood tree. 
T. L. Peacock. 
