1 e Gardening World, March 2, 1907. 
MOTTO FOR THE WEEK: 
No grain of sand but moves a bright and million-peopled land, and hath its Eden 
and its Eves, I deem.”— Blanchard. 
AN AMATEUR’S LETTER 
TO AMATEURS. 
CONTENTS. 
of 
An. 
/','ssum, Rock (illus.) ... . 
i ^ssum saxatile citrinum 
- lateur’s Letter to Amateurs, 
. uilegias (illus.) . 
] an, Dwarf Butter (illus.) 
( ina Aster, Earliest Market White 
illus.) . 
1 rysanthemums, Big Blooms 
1 ttage Gardening . 
1 mpetition Awards . 
1 mpetition, Grand New ... . 
1 icumber Ridge (illus.) ... . 
1 irrants, The Culture of (illus 
iquire Within . 
ix, The Alpine Toad (illus.) 
rwer Garden, The . 
uit Garden, The . 
uit Growing for Amateurs (illus.) 
1 eenhouse, The Amateur’s . 
tchen Garden, The ... . 
ly Bulbs, Potting (illus.) 
chids for Amateurs ... . 
tckfoils, Some Choice (illus.) 
xifraga (illus.). 
:eet Pea, Alice C. Finn ... . 
/eet Peas: An Experiment- . 
^eet Peas for Exhibition 
imato, Daniel’s King Edward VII 
illus.). 
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149 
141 
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152-vi. 
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hen buds their tender leaves unfold, 
And birds are blithe and gay, 
hen flowers are rising from their sleep 
To greet the lengthening day, 
nen Nature from her heart of gold 
! Begins to sing of May. 
be Snowdrop, pioneer of Spring, 
The Crocus, fair to see, 
re Daffodils and Hyacinths— 
The young year’s poetry; 
>r Nature's heart is full of songs 
That overflow with glee. 
how we hail the glad springtime, 
When life is young and fair, 
ad hopes, like blessed flowers that bloom 
Around us everywhere, 
hen the inspiring ’hest of Heaven 
: Breathes through the earth and air. 
how, in life’s springtime, we dream, 
iOur dreams are all sublime; 
e climb the ladder of our hopes 
With two steps at a time, 
as! there’s oft more bliss in hope 
Than conquest past its prime. 
LXXX. 
Decorative Grasses for the Garden. 
There are some plants that seem to 
raise the whole type and character of the 
garden by their presence. Among these 
is the handsome Pampas Grass, Gynerium 
argenteum. It is very stately, very beauti¬ 
ful, at a season when the flowers of the 
year are passing. The great plumes of 
Pampas Grass are then at the height of 
their beauty, and it takes away a great 
deal from the desolate, overgrown look of 
the late autumn garden to have, then, 
some grandly characteristic plant in the 
perfection of its maturity. These con¬ 
siderations make me regard the Pampas 
Grass as one of the indispensable plants 
for all but the smallest gardens. All, 
did I say—no not all, for I would never 
recommend the Pampas Grass for a dirty, 
smoky district where only dingy, 
blackened plumes can be produced. Be¬ 
sides the well known variety, there is an¬ 
other known as G. argenteum rpseum, and 
last autumn a correspondent wrote me 
enthusiastically concerning the beauty of 
this, and its success as a subject for the 
suburban garden. Another exceedingly 
handsome Grass is Eulalia japonica, ro¬ 
bust, graceful, and distinct. The type 
can easily be grown from seed, but it is 
unfortunately the fact that the variegated 
forms do not come true from seed. Both 
this and the Pampas Grass should have 
ample space to grow in, and if used in 
isolated positions the effect is far more 
characteristic and decorative. 
Among the annual Grasses that make a 
prettv variety in the garden I must men¬ 
tion Pennisetum villosum, growing about 
two feet in height, and not at all particu¬ 
lar as to soil. 
The striped Japanese Maize, otherwise 
Zea japonica variegata, is particularly 
handsome in a large mixed border. 
There is a dignity and nobility in the bold, 
stalwart growth that is of real decorative 
value. This Maize germinates very easily. 
It should not be sown too early, lest it 
becomes stunted and checked before it is 
safe to plant it in its flowering quarters, 
seeing what a vigorous subject it is. 
Sometimes some effective Grass as a 
pot plant comes in very usefully and orna¬ 
mentally; and, therefore, I must bring 
forward’ the name of Panicum plicatum. 
It is a charming subject, perennial in 
habit, and reaching nearly three feet in 
height. There are other hardier varieties 
that can be grown out of doors, such as 
P. altissimum and P. virgatum, while there 
is also an annual form in P. capillare. 
All the Grasses I have mentioned can 
be grown from seed, and they should offer 
no especial difficulty even for the novice. 
I must confess I like to sow in pots in a 
cold greenhouse, thin, and ultimately 
transplant to the border. 
The Month’s Bulb Planting. 
At the moment of writing, the ground 
is frost bound and as hard as iron. 
Directly the frost breaks up, however, we 
must take in hand, if not done in the 
autumn, the planting of Anemone and 
Ranunculus tubers. Both* these plants 
when in flower are so particularly striking 
by reason of their intense and vivid colour 
that to omit them from our garden sub¬ 
jects is to lose valuable material for 
early summer flowering, yet they are often 
omitted, and it is, I think, for the reason 
that their planting time is not quite that 
of the majority of bulbs, being later than 
the autumn planted varieties and earlier 
than the spring ones. In neither case 
should the tubers be too deeply covered, 
and, in the case of the Ranunculi, plenty 
of water must be given when the plants 
are growing vigorously. Manure from cow 
sheds is particularly beneficial to them. 
Astilbe Davidii. 
I wonder if any of my readers have the 
last few seasons tried to grow this grand 
hardy perennial. It has won the First- 
class Certificate of the Royal Horticultural 
Society. One of the strongest inducements 
to grow it is the fact that it makes an ideal 
subject for a shady border, as it rejoices 
in a deep moist root run, and grows into 
handsome and dense specimen plants. If 
any should be contemplating growing it 
from seed I would say be sure that the 
soil in the pots or seed pans does not 
suffer before or during the germinating 
period by becoming too dry. It is a good 
thing to keep the seed-pot covered with a 
piece of slate until the seeds show through 
the soil, and to sink the pot into another 
of larger size. My own experience is that 
the seed germinates slowly, so that this 
plan of keeping covered obviates the 
necessity for too frequent watering, which 
sours the soil. F. Norfolk. 
-- 
Curious Coincidence. —A correspon¬ 
dent of The Daily News , named Garlick, 
writes:—“Fifteen years ago I married a 
Miss Leake. The parson's name was 
Been, the registrar’s Rose, and the bride’s 
Lily.” “And yet,” adds our contempor¬ 
ary, “Mr. Garlick is not, so he tells us, a 
vegetarian !” 
To Grow Dwarf Trees. —Pretty dwarf 
trees may be grown in the following 
manner:—Cut an orange in half, scoop 
out all the fruit, and fill each half with 
fine potting earth. In the middle plant 
an acorn, which .will soon begin to 
spnout. The roots, too, will, quickly 
force their wav through the peel, but 
these must be kept clipped until the tiny 
tree is fully grown. 
