DECEMBER I, 1902. 
New Zealand Daisy. Of course, it rejoices 
in a long botanical name besides, which I 
will omit, as I bear the plant no grudge, 
only profound gratitude and admiration, 
because it flowers for about nine months 
out of the year. At present it is a pinky- 
white mass of diminutive blooms. It en- 
closes a bed of yuccas and pampas grass, 
and forms a little solid rampart at their 
base, where, if there are any defects, as 
sometimes happens with the best regulat- 
ed yuccas, they are mercifully concealed, 
and the whole effect is excellent. 
Wandering here and there over the soft 
turf, the eye continually attracted by some 
striking group of foliage or harmony of 
color, compelled to pause in admiration be- 
fore a “chestnut with a thousand lamps,” 
a perfect hemisphere of fresh green foliage 
and roseate blooms, the water garden is 
reached. This has quite a Japanese effect. 
The stonework has been so constructed as. 
to give the impression of having been irre- 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER, 
15 
a sight it will be. Just in time to see 
a rambling bust of Fortune’s yellow before 
its blossoms fall. It grows right on the 
water’s edge, and is one sheet of flower 
from top to base. It throws a blurred 
reflection of pinky yellow into the lake. 
Beside it, vieing in purity, if not quite in 
beauty, a sister from China, Fortuniana, 
almost a dazzling gleam of white. It only 
needs the palms growing in rich profusion 
about the margin of the water to complete 
this Eastern picture. 
And now to the “Gardens of Giil in their 
bloom.’ La belle Rose has very wisely 
been made a specialty, and a portion of the 
space consecrated to her sole and sacred 
use. Here they have the full benefit of the 
morning sun, the pure, ambient, uncon- 
taminated atmosphere of the requisite 
amount of protection and repose. As a 
mark of their appreciation of these con- 
siderations they grow. How they do grow! 
That is the delightful part of it—not a sus 
descend to reveal their charms. Marechal 
Neil and Niphetos are notable examples. 
They demand an arch or a pillar. If they 
are placed low one must lift their heads to 
admire them. This seems rather a liberty, 
caressing them under the chin as it were. 
It was observable in this rosarium that 
their respective habits had been carefully 
considered. 
Belle Siebrecht was so conspicuously 
lovely that she must have a word 
all to herself. When she crossed 
the Atlantic some years ago and 
took up her abode in this country, 
the Americans got very excited about her, 
and paid astonishing sums for single 
blooms, and when we see her here, grown 
to perfection, the flower a deep rich pink, 
the petals curling back after the manner of 
the most approved La France, standing 
head very erect on a stout, sensible stem, 
large handsome leaves, and the bush cover- 
ed with equally beautiful blooms and large 
gularly carved by the action of the water 
and the hand of Time. In one place it 
projects in a sharp, rugged promontory ; in 
some cases clothed with a thick growth 
of Virginian creeper ; in another it recedes 
in a deep bay. Somewhere about the 
centre the lake is partially crossed by a 
bridge of stone, on which is a thick growth 
of vegetation, mingling with the bold out- 
line of Aloes and the Wistaria, whose lin- 
gering blooms reflect themselves in the 
water below. The foundation of this 
structure seems to have been undermined 
by the action of the water, and through 
these natural openings is a peep of Golden 
Iris and their broad, shimmering leaves, 
ranging higher and higher until they rise 
out of sight. Irises, including the noble 
Koempferi, and a luxuriant Papyrus occupy 
little islands dotted about, and the water 
is completely covered in parts with varie- 
tics of Nymphaea. During the month there 
will be hundreds of blooms afloat, and what 
Malvern Gardens. 
picion of aphis, and every bit of wood 
covered with flowers or big, fat promising 
buds and broad, generous leaves. The 
plants range in size from modest brilliant 
Princess de Sagan to tall pillars for their 
back. There are rustic devices for their 
support, about which they fling long loving 
arms. © They are arched, arcaded, and fes- 
tooned from pole to pole, through, over 
and under which peeps and vistas of more 
Roses—a bewildering, dazzling display. 
An attempt to describe them individually 
would be almost presumptuous, for when it 
comes to this even their most ardent wor- 
shippers have to drop from the height of 
their superlatives to abrupt succinctness, 
thus: “Cupped, imbricated, deep crimson, 
very free,” leaving a world to the imagina- 
tion. «. ee es ; 
There are some Roses that were evi- 
dently born to high places, having heavy 
pendulous blooms. If you gaze up at 
them in awe and reverence they will con- 
Nymphaea in the Water Garden. 
_the best remedy. 
. swollen buds, she seems to fully justify her 
popularity. And there is Viscountess Fol- 
keston and Salamander, and so on and so 
on. One feels instinctively for a notebook 
and pencil, but where to begin and where 
to stop; and each year adds at least an- 
other line to the catalogue, another em- 
barrassment to one’s choice, another pang 
to one’s poverty of space and pence. 
PHSSSOSO C800 > 
- Soursops.—How to rid your garden of 
soursops, is no.doubt a vexed question. 
Constantly turning up the ground is 
While doing this a 
brood of strong healthy chickens willhelp 
you materially. Geta wire-netting coop 
without a bottom, and place it on the 
ground you have just turned up. 
While you are digging, the chickens will 
keep pace in scratching and devour- 
ing the bulbs. The coop is easily shifted 
as you work along. 
