-May i, 1903. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
9 
all the strong shoots of the present season 
for next year’s flowers. 
THE JAPANESE WINEBERRY, 
Rubus pheenicolasius, is slowly finding its 
way into our gardens. This isa most de- 
sirable plant, perfectly hardy, and easily 
cultivated, which produces a fruit of deli- 
cious flavor in August, and is always de- 
corative, with its rich red-brown stems, 
covered with a rufous tomentum, and 
tright! scarlet bertiies, changing to a- 
clear cornelian as they become ripe. This 
rubus should have, if possible, a sunny 
place, where its long autumnal shoots will 
be well ripened; and rich soil, with a 
mulch of cow manure in spring, lor 1b suf- 
fers much during a drought unless its sur- 
face roots are covered. It will then pro- 
vide a fine crop of fruit, and its new 
growths (sometimes twelve feet in length) 
can be tied over in arches, in the sime way 
as raspberries, when they will bloom and 
fruit at every shoot the following season. 
As soon as the fruit is over in September, 
all the old wood should be cut down to the 
ground, and the fresh growths may, if pre- 
ferred, be pegged down into the soil, when 
the tip of each will produce a new plant in 
the spring, after which it can be cut off 
just above the young plant, and trained in 
arches, as before suggested. This is an 
excellent plant to hide a fence about six 
feet high. _ iw 
Tr SyriAn Hrpiscus, 
Hibiscus syriacus and varieties, is a very 
pretty shrub, with handsome blossoms ; 
and Escallonia macrantha (although per- 
haps too delicate for a cold position) is 
very beautiful when its dark green shining 
leaves are covered with rich pink blos- 
goms. It may safely be cultivated in the 
south of England, and in Ireland, but an 
extra severe winter is apt to injure it 
somewhat. The same may be said of 
Tue MeExIcAN ORANGE, 
Choisya ternata, but it is well worth a trial 
for its handsome foliage and the masses of 
orange blossom it produces in June. 
Linacs, 
especially the large flowered varietiés, Phi- | 
ladelphus coronarius, the Mock : Orange, 
and the lovely. flowers of Weigela rosea, 
must not be omitted, for these three old 
favorites should: be in every garden.— 
“Amateur Gardening.” 
rCESESESS' S 
TABLE DECORATIONS. 
(From “The Gardener.”) 
— 
‘ 
Well as one may know Dielytra formosa 
in the border, one must see it thus, with 
the white cloth beneath it, to have any 
adequate idea of its exquisite color and 
formation. In this case a veritable 
wealth of the pink sprays had been picked. 
At another time the beautiful spurred 
and named varieties of these latter day 
Columbines were used. Columbine is a 
much more charming name than Aquilegia 
for these flowers, and as I have the autho- 
rity of the dear, old-fashioned ihilip: Mil- 
ler for so choosing to call them, I hope I 
shall be forgiven. 
Now these, again, are flowers that by 
reason of their drooping habit of growth 
fail to display much of their beauty out in 
the open border, and need to be picked and 
enjoyed at close quarters. In the table 
decoration in question the Columbines 
were mixed with Maidenhair fern. As a 
rule, one thinks twice before putting this 
fern with out of door and hardy flowers, 
but there need be no hesitation in placing 
if with so dainty a type of blossom as the 
Columbine. The result is all that can be 
desired. There are few flowers more 
beautiful in coloring or form than these. 
The white blossoms have a touch of cream 
in‘them ; the yellows in some cases are al- 
most transparently clear, in others toning 
to buff; while the variety in which yellow 
and pale mauve are combined is perhaps 
the most beautiful of all. 
A. June table decked with these flowers 
is a picture long to be remembered and 
cherished. 
Other hardy flowers that are beautiful 
as table decorations are the pale lavender 
blue blossoms of Seabiosa Caucasica. 'They 
are, perhaps, the coolest looking flowers 
that we possess, of easy culture too, and 
blossoms are yielded over a long period. 
The flowers last well in a cut state, and are 
borne singly on long, slender stems. 
Galega is another cool looking subject, 
whose beauty is much enhanced by ° the 
white tablecloth, and it has a charming » 
look during hot weather. re eo 
This same housewife has a way of mak-— 
ing a striking table decoration composed of 
fine heads of the ordinary yellow bedding 
Calccolarias, mixed sometimes with the 
early blossoms of double Helianthemums. 
Few summer arrangements, however, 
exceed in beauty a combination of white 
and pale blue Campanula persicefolia. It 
may be noted that this is more successful 
- for the lunch table.than for. lamplight,.as - 
the blue’ loses much of ‘its charta in artifi- 
Gialslieh bom ces erin crear: aie sete 
‘In autumn the Cactus Dahlia makes a 
pleasant: change. Noone would ever 
dream of putting Maidenhair fern with. the 
older forms of this plant, but with these 
Cactus Dahlias no sense of incongruity 
arises at the combination, and the beauty 
of the flowers is considerably enhanced. 
There are people with skill to make a 
delightful table decoration of so common- 
place a flower as the Nasturtium. This 
artist housewife is one of these, and she: 
was quite ready to explain the secret of 
success. . She is always careful to gather 
for each vase a whole plant—flower, leaves, 
and root together. The roots, together 
with superfluous leaves, are cut off. Some. 
times one plant can be broken into two or 
three parts, and thus suffice for as many 
vases. ‘These plants, or portions of plants, 
are the foundations into which blossoms 
picked separately—and thereby ensuring a 
variety of coloring—are arranged. She 
also added that Nasturtiums need to be 
picked and put into their vases as many 
hours as possible before they are wanted 
for the table, as the flowers and leaves 
have a habit of settling themselves into 
the most artistic positions if left alone for 
some time. Another flower that is treated. 
in the same manner as the Nasturtium is 
the spring Forget-me-not. ea i ceke eN 
Shirley Poppies are a favorite decora: 
tion. Sometimes they are used with Mai- 
denhair fern, and sometimes without; the 
delicacy of the texture of their petals, and. 
their beautiful coloring justify its use. The 
Poppies are invariably gathered early in 
the morning, and immediately have their 
stems sealed by being held over a lighted 
taper. Thus treated, they last for two 
days. ; } 
_ Speaking of this subject of sealing the 
stems of Poppies, which holds good for the 
Shirley and Iceland varieties does not an- 
swer in the case of the larger Oriental 
kinds—they last long in water if exactly 
opposite means are employed, i.e., they re- 
quire their stems to be split up for two or 
three inches. 
The above is only a small selection of 
the charming subjects grown in the “table 
border,” and of the rest I hope tae Kditor 
will give me the opportunity to say more 
another day. F. M. We ts. 
FECSSSO 6858 => 
A NEW USE FOR SUMMER 
Ke CLIMBERS, 
_ By setting up a few of the now fashion: 
“able bamboo poles, or even humbler-look- 
ing wooden stakes, at 6 feet intervals 
around a small lawn, and festooning a 
light chain or a stout wire between these, 
a, pretty support for summer climbers is 
obtained. I have seen even; a rope used 
hetween the poles, drooping, of course, not 
stretched tight, and the effect: was good 
when the climbers had covered it; before 
this desirablesconsummation there was a 
suggestion of washing day! 
1 Of course, a few poles, with wire’ net- 
ting stretched between them, make a most 
useful erection at the end of a small ten- 
nis lawn, to keep the balls trom invading’ 
a neighboring garden, and this can all -be 
creeper covered if the wire netting is 
painted. over. 5 
Canary Creeper, which grows so maryel- 
lously fast, and makes such a show in one 
season, is quite one of the prettiest annual: 
climbers to treat in these styles; Convol- 
vuli make more of a screen, and Nas 
turtiums are most brilliant, besides offer- 
ing seed pods that some persons delight in 
pickled! The pergola kind of arrange- 
ment first suggested makes a pretty avenue 
bordering to a gravel walk. 
Those who cultivate the beautiful 
Cobcea scandens, either in the purple or 
white variety, will find this a good way in’ 
which to show off the plants——M, Haw- 
therne in “The Gardener.” ey 
