DECEMBER JI, 1902. 
that this class is not quite neglected. Sur- 
yise wad manifest at a number of Gloxinias 
in bloom. Mr. Cole explained that these 
out-of-season blooms were some very late 
ones of a batch of seedlings, the seeds of 
which were sown about November of last 
ear. Some of the sowing bloomed in the 
autumn, and the remainder of apparently a 
different strain came later and threw some 
yery fine blooms. A small tricolor Coleus 
made a pretty basket plant. A few palms 
completed the general list of beauties in 
the glasshouse, the best representatives 
being Kentia belmoreana and K. Forsteri- 
ana and a Macrozamia. 
THE FERNERY AND GROTTO. 
The eastern doorway of the glasshouse 
opens into the fernery, and as the door 
swings back the visitor hesitates to enter. 
The scene presented holds him in contem- 
plation upon an imitative picture of 
Nature in her most fascinating beauty. 
One feels as it were suddenly transported 
to one of those sequestered little glens, 
which have given the Blue Mountains of 
New South Wales a reputation of romantic 
beauty. The mind involuntarily travels 
to such beauty spots as the Leura Falls; 
and lingers by one of the many little nooks 
where Nature in all the loveliness of her 
pristine beauty holds the visitor transfixed 
in admiration. It would seem that one 
of these little spots of beauty had been 
lifted bodily out of Nature’s hiding places 
and dropped into Montefiore. It requires 
no great stretch of imagination to realise 
this, but rather has one to pinch himself 
to know that he is not dreaming. Certain 
it is that the scene before him recalls the 
stories of fairylands of childish memories, 
and of the ancients who peopled every 
woodland dell and stream with airy crea- 
tures. While the fancies of memory are 
thus actively engaged in the stories of long 
ago, or upon the actual beauties of moun- 
tain scenery, or recalling the poetic charm 
of Shakespeare’sNature studies, the voice of 
the gardener bids you enter. To him the 
daily avocation of planting and caring for 
the details of this little scene are prosaic 
enough, and he naturally wonders at one’s 
contemplation. The little spell of reverie 
- is broken, and you trespass upon the moun- 
tain footpath. Now, how to describe this 
rockery is much more difficult than to 
think about it. The pathway rises on the 
left to about 8 ft. high in a winding way 
of steps leading on to a rustic bridge cross- 
ing at an angle a miniature ravine. Upon 
this bridge our picture shows Lady Way, 
whose presence gives a living charm to the 
surroundings. From the vantage point of 
the bridge the visitor can turn to every 
view of the scene and break the calm 
silence, save for the music of the rippling 
waterfall, by exclaiming, “It is beautiful.” 
Not being a poet he has to think out all 
his feelings, which lacking of genius is a 
decided disadvantage. | Moving across the 
bridge, the pathway of stepping stones 
descends between rocks graced with lovely 
foliage and mosses to the romance of a 
grotto. Peering into this little eerie of 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
5 
Nature’s imitation one almost voluntarily 
looks for elves and sprites, but these are 
lacking. There are stalactites and 
stalagmites, not fanciful, but real, and the 
imagination grows stronger and quicker. 
The only break tothe fanciful picture is the 
little incongruity of pure white stalactites 
suspended from the decidedly discolored 
limestone formation of the cave. This is 
an artistic fault. But no blame to the 
art builder, who perforce had to use the 
only material available. Despite this the 
grotto is a splendid copy of Nature, and de- 
lightfully picturesque. Turning to the 
right a flight of stone steps leads the way 
to the top of the grotto, and near the roof, 
where yet another pretty panoramic view 
of the place is obtained. Retracing the 
steps passing in front of the grotto another 
flight shows the way by a passage alongside 
the wall’ to the entrance, leaving the bridge 
on the left. But the journey is not com- 
plete until the miniature ravine below the 
bridge has been traversed. 
Without close investigation it is difficult 
ta imagine that in the course of this jour- 
ney the visitor has been traversing a house 
whose dimensions are only about 35 ft. 
long by about 15 ft. wide. The pathways 
measure about 135 ft. in length. This 
rockery was designed by a gentleman 
named Robinette about twenty years or 
more ago, and does infinite credit to his 
artistic skill. It is built of the waterworn 
limestone from the River Murray, inset 
with roots of the mallee tree, which have 
been introduced by Mr. Cole for the bene- 
fit of the ferns, which show a distinct 1m- 
provement of growth. Cork is also largely 
used to gain effects with the natural rug- 
gedness of the rocks. p 
Now, to come to the more prosaic part 
of particularising a few of the plants which 
- give the artistic beauty of life to this place 
we note, of course, the elegant spreading 
fronds of the tree ferns Alsophila excelsa 
and A. Cooperi. Here, there, and every- 
where are the Adiantums and Polypo- 
diums, with a number of others lending 
variety in their nooks and crannies, while 
the edgings and beddings are of the soft 
Selaginella (club moss). Begonias, with 
their lovely broad leaved foliage of varie- 
gated hues, nestling in the rocks or stand- 
ing out boldly upon some prominent emin- 
ence, make a fine contrast to the grace of 
the ferns. Climbing, intertwining, and 
covering heights and distances are the 
beautiful deep green, delicate, feathery 
like foliage of Asparagus plumoga and A. 
aprengerii. 
But we must linger no longer here, for: 
we have yet other beauties to see, and we 
pass out with a sense of charming satisfac- 
tion to 
Ture Orcuip Hovss, 
which is hidden away in a most undeserving 
fashion alongside a sort of back. kitchen, 
through which yout have to pass to the trea- 
sured beauties. There is an incongruity 
about this after the fancy free inspired by 
the romance of the grotto. Facing the 
orchid house is a very fine collection of 
beautiful plumaged birds in long rows of 
roomy cages, and after admiring these 
feathered beauties we turn into the private 
apartment of a kitchen maid, who is busy 
polishing table cutlery, and where also ap- 
parently the “boots” labors on his shining 
pigments. The entry of a stranger into 
the sanctum of a deft-handed Phyllis causes 
a look of surprise, but no matter, we are 
on our way to see the orchids.. 
If there is one flower more than another 
that has caused excitement beyond enthu- 
siasm amongst specialists it is the Orchid, 
the aristocrat of the society of flowers, 
and at Montefiore we are introduced to a 
really fine collection, perhaps not so vast in 
numbers as may be seen elsewhere, but the 
plants are all in splendid condition, which 
is Saying a great deal, because so few gar- 
deners know how to deal with them. Woe 
noted extra fine pieces of Cattleya amethy- 
stina, Aerides odoratum, Vanda insigne, 
Cypripedium barbatum grandiflorum, and 
C. bellatulum. There was also to be seen 
Mr, Cole’s experimenting at hybridising 
Phalaenopsis amabilis on to P. Schiller- 
iana. The latter had not quite finished 
blooming. At its best this specimen was 
embowered in no less than 51 beautiful 
blooms. Aureum grandiflorum had also 
been hybridised, and had many promising 
seedpods. The beautiful butterfly, Onci- 
dium papilio, had still left on it some de 
lightful flowers, while the rich deep car- 
mine Anthurium Schilleriana was in full 
bloom. ~ Of all the other varieties nothing 
need be said’ further than that is was evi- 
dent that they were in the hands of a 
gentleman who understood and appreciated 
them. 
With this we say farewell to Montefiore, 
with yet another word} of praise to the head 
gardener, Mr. David Cole, congratulation 
to His Excellency and Lady Way, and ex- 
pressing the hope that we have not tres- 
passed too much upon their good nature, 
and that our readers will have learnt some- 
thing of how to maintain an ideal city 
garden. 
= GSSSSSESESES = 
Lifting Daffodils. 
2eSeoe= 
It is only those varieties of Narcissi or 
Daffodils which produce offsets freely that 
may. be lifted annually, and even with 
these it is not absolutely necessary. What 
_is meant by the annual lifting and drying 
" encouraging increase is that by .this means 
it is possible so to separate and plant the 
offsets that the stock is increased more 
quickly. To dry: bulbs of Narcissi in gene- 
ral after lifting them is not good practice, 
especially. if they are kept some weeks out 
of the ground. They should be lifted, 
divided, and replanted at once. The fact 
that your small offsets dried up shows that 
drying and keeping small bulbs out cf the 
ground is not advisable, nor is the separat- 
ing and planting of very small offsets ac- 
cording to the variety to be recommended. 
—‘“‘Queensland Agricultural Journal,” 
