Decfmbeb 27, 1913. 
THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 
97.3 
<♦ 
EVERGREEN SCROLLS 
AND 1 
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❖ 
MONOGRAMS. 
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The sixteenth century saw the art ot'the 
topinrist attain its zenith; in the seven¬ 
teenth century it was still in favour, but 
after this it steadily declined before the 
claims of a less artificial system, eventually 
giving place to the informal or natural 
gardening so prevalent to-day. It is an 
exotic art, whose severe and austere for¬ 
mality found an echo in much of the life 
and architecture of the period in which 
it flourished. To its advocates and vota- 
Box, yew, and, less freouently, holly^ ai*e 
employed for work of this nature; they 
are naturally of slow growth, and live to 
a great age, while they bear with impunity 
the constant clipping and pinching neces¬ 
sary to retain the desired form. Where 
a simple outline is wanted, as iij Iwrder or 
scroll, the normal green will usually give 
the best effect, particularly if it comes 
into close proximity with other colours. 
A\Tiere, however, an intricate design has to 
COLLETIA CRUCIATA. 
Thi^ Oolletia, which, in some places, is 
just now flowering, is in every way a strange 
shrub, which cannot bt' confounded with 
any other. It is practically leafless, the 
ehtire specimen l^ing,^ as* it were, built 
up of large, thick, flattened triangular- 
shaped spines, arranged in pairs, each pair 
l)eing set crosswise. » to the next. The 
spines'are of a deep grt»en tint, and the 
flowers, borne in little clusters from the 
lower part of these spinesj are small and 
tirn.shaped. They are of a greeni.sh-white 
colour and wax-like texture, and scarcely 
noticivable unless the bush be closely in- 
speot<xl. 
C. oruoiata is a native of Uni^^uay, and 
SCROLL-WORK, MONOGRAM, AND CREST AT NUNEHAM PARK, COMPOSED OF EVERGREEN SHRUBS. 
ries alone can its misfortunes be attri¬ 
buted for an excessive and extravagant 
use o^ the art frequently brought it into 
ridicule. . 
Topiary may often be introduced with 
good results, possibly only in the form 
of a border or scroll, with simple forms 
clipped, and giving emphasis or directness 
to the scheme. As illustrating the extreme 
limit to which this art attained I may mte 
the examples at Elvaston, in Derby^irc, 
and Levens Hall, in Westmoreland. Th^®^ 
are^ however, the work of past decades; 1 
am' able, nevertheless, to reproduce an ex. 
ample that is essentially modem, highly 
original in its conception, and that 
trates the higher art of the topiarist. The 
view is in the gardens of Nuneham Park, 
in Oxfordshire, the residence of the Right 
Hon. L. Harcoiirt, and shows the Haroourb 
monogram and crest clipped in shrubs tha i 
are evergreen. 
be executed, then, by the addition of the 
variegated forms, practically any pattern 
may be reproduced. 
Yew has some advantages in that it is 
more serviceable, while the small foliage 
does not exhibit the mutilation wrought by 
the workman’s shears in so violent a manner 
as holly; the latter offers a wider range 
in the development of the art, as not only 
in colour, but the form of the leaves, ex- 
hilnt great variation. 
Where work of a diminutive or perfectly 
flat character has.to be reproduced the 
dwarf form of box, usually employed as 
edging, has much to recommend it. Other 
plants that may be introduced with it, as 
contrasting colours in an intricate scheme, 
are SantoUna incana, Veronica buxifolia 
and V. carnosula, the various coloured 
forms of shimbby thymes, and also the 
dwarf forms of erica. Thomas Smith. 
Coombe Court Gardens. 
is sometimes known by the specific title of 
C. bictonensis, but C. cruciata is a parti¬ 
cularly descriptive name. There is an¬ 
other oolletia known as C. hon-ida or C. 
spinosa, whicn is simply a mass of stout, 
awl-shaped spines. This plant, thougli 
widely reinov^ from C. cruciata in general 
appearance, was long regarded as a dis¬ 
tinct species, but many instances have 
occurred of shoots of one kind being pro¬ 
duced from specimens of the other, thus 
proving it to be a very remarkable case of 
dimorphism. 
All the Colletias are quite hardy in the 
South of England, but scjarcely so in 
the colder districts. Despite their un¬ 
promising appearance they are not diffi¬ 
cult to strike from cuttings, if these are 
taken in the summer, inserted in sandy 
soil, and kept in a close fi*ame until 
rooted. S. W. 
