C 
z Feb. 1, 1904 
—— 
the grey leaves look as if the mines of the 
Rand, Klondyke, and Australia had been 
called upon to yield their wealth to de- 
orate our spring gardens. _ The common 
single Alyssum saxatile has few real rivals. 
in this way in spring, but its floral dura- 
tion is less prolonged than that of its off- 
spring with double flowers, known in cata- 
logues as A. saxatile fl. pl., a variety with 
blossoms of the same color, but lasting 
considerably longer in bloom, and standing 
' the trials of bad weather in a better man- 
ner. Like the type, it prefers a rather 
light soil and a sunny position, and is no-.. 
_ where so fine as. on a rockery, where it will 
give an unsurpassed effect in its season. 
its propagation is effected by means of cut- 
tings, and for this there is nothing better 
than the good old-fashioned plan of taking 
the slips off with a heel of the old wood 
and putting them under a handlight, water-, 
ing them. well after making the soil about 
them rather firm. The glass should then 
be put on and shaded until there are‘signs 
of growth, when the air may be gradually 
admitted, and the plants exposed to the 
light. They can be put in their per- 
manent positions in early autumn. I 
generally propagate as soon as the flower- 
ing season is over.—S. R. Norv. 
TWO DWARF VERONICAS. 
‘The country folk of East Anglia call the. 
little wild Veronica officinalis, or Speed- 
well, by the expressive name of Bird’s Eye. 
This wild species is perhaps more beauti- 
ful in color than our garden varieties, but 
in habit generally it does not compare with - 
such a sort as V. rupestris. This dwarf 
plant, with flowers of an intense blue, is 
extremely useful in the rock garden, as it 
blossoms after the great mass of spring 
flowering subjects is past, and, therefore, 
comes at a time when its blue blossoms are 
very acceptable. It is one of the diffi- 
culties of the owner of the rock garden to 
provide plants that yield summer flowers, 
but in this little Veronica a grand one is 
secured. 
It should not find a place among very 
minute and delicate subjects, or they may 
be choked and overrun, for this Veronica is 
a rampant grower. But give it a bold 
space to cover, or a great slab of rock over 
which to hang, and then, indeed, the mass 
of vivid blue is a sight to be remembered. 
I have never, however, seen this plant 
grown to such perfection as an edging as 
in a cold, heavy, clay soil. Small pieces 
were dibbled in one autumn. By the fol- 
lowing June it had become a close dwarf 
edging, literally hidden by blue flowers. 
By the second autumn it had become | yard 
across; and now every year a sharp spade 
is taken, and it is simply cut away to the 
This edging of blue is 
required width. 
backed by the white Clove scented flowers 
of Mrs. Sinkins Pink, and behind . that, 
again, the pink blossoms of that most desir- 
able of all the Hybrid Tea Roses Caroline 
Testout. It often happens that the 
_ Veronica, the Pinks, and the Roses are in 
hlossom at the same time, and then, in- 
deed, the combination proves a most happy 
one. 
The second dwarf Veronica that I would. 
mention is the dwarf V. repens. Beauti- 
TAH AU-TRALIAN GARDENER: 
ful as it is, it always seems to me less ac- 
ceptable than the foregoing, as it flowers 
considerably earlier, that is to say with the 
mass of spring subjects. But the dense 
carpet of green is so thickly covered with 
its exceedingly dwarf blossoms that it 
never fails to win admiration. One au- 
thority describes the color of the blossoms 
-as milk white—if the milk happens to be 
watery that description very happily - 
describes them. As an edging this plant 
is most useful for the spring display, or it 
may be used to carpet the ground between 
bulbs.—F. M. Wetts. 
NEMESIA STRUMOSA SUTTONT. 
This is one of the most charming in the 
whole list of annuals. A subscriber has 
sent us a bunch of the flowers from a bed 
20 ft. long and 3 ft. wide grown in the hills. 
In general appearance the flower is like a 
small Snapdragon, but the brilliancy of the 
dark shades is like that of the finest. Cal- 
ceolarias. They vary from deep velvety 
crimson through brown, bright red,. bronze, 
orange, gambage, sulphur yellow, white, 
heliotrope, &c., with combinations of 3 or 
4 colors in many of the flowers, some hay- 
ing sulphur yellow in the lower half, white 
in the upper, and tipped with heliotrope. 
We have never seen such uncommon and 
striking combinations of color in any other 
flower. . 
The plants grow to about 12 inches high. 
For the plains the seed should be sown 
early in the autumn, from April to June, 
and picked off into beds and treated the 
same as the Phlox Drummondi. A treat 
is in store for growers of this uncommon 
flower. 
ROOF GARDENS IN EUROPE: 
This fascinating form of gardening has 
become very popular in Berlin, Paris, and 
other large cities in the last few years, and 
in many cases it is done on quite a large 
scale. The houses 
stories high, srbstantially and in many 
cases artistically built. Although the 
streets are usually wide, the courtyards are 
small and cramped. 
When being built the roofs are usually 
covered with zinc, on which wood, cement, 
and asphalt are put to prevent the water 
from entering the building. On the top 
of this, gravel to whatever depth required is 
put, and then earth from a few inches to a 
foot deep. arly in the summer annuals 
or bedding plants previously wellgrown on 
are then planted out, with here and there 
foliage plants in pots, such as Cordylines, 
&e. 
PRUNUS PISSARDI. 
As this note is being written Prunus 
Pissardi is in full bloom, and it seems an 
appropriate time to call attention to the 
fact that itis a pretty flowering tree as well’ 
as. one. which is appreciated for its dark 
foliage. It thus serves a double purpose 
in the garden, giving a host of small white 
flowers early in the year, and following 
that up by its striking foliage, so useful as 
a background to light-colored flowers. I 
was once greatly struck by the pretty | 
effect. given by a small grove of trees of 
Prunus Pissardi, rather thinly planted, 
are usually several] | 
which had between them. a number of 
Doronicums.. At the time I visited the 
garden the golden Doronicums were in full 
- bloom, and the sun glinting down upon 
them among the dark-leaved trees made 
a wonderfully fine picture. It is not diffi- 
cult to contrive many pretty effects with- 
out the use of more than one or two trees 
of the Prunus. As a “host’’ for a white 
climber, or in a border surrounded. by white 
or pale colored flowers, it is delightful. It 
is not generally known that the branches 
of the tree cut when in bud and taken inte 
the house will open in water.—s. A. 
CAMPANULA VIDALII. 
Vidal’s sellflower is a plant not toe 
often seen in bloom in this country. This 
is not surprising, as it is one of the plants 
which are in the “no man’s land” of garden- 
ing, being neither a hardy nor a green- 
house plant, and so destined apparently ta 
linger in the shades of neglect, and to be 
seldom grown except in the cool green- 
house, where it is often crowded out by the 
more popular flowers of the day—an un- 
merited expulsion, for it is pretty enough 
to deserve a good home. 
As a plant from the Azores, it can scar- 
cely be expected to be hardy, and in this 
case one’s expectations are fulfilled, despite 
the many attempts to cultivate it in the 
open in this country. 
few gardens in the south of Kngland or in 
the Green Isle where it will survive most 
of our winters in the open, but it may be 
taken for proved that Campanula Vidaliz 
requires to be grown either as a cold green- 
house plant or as one which can only be 
cultivated in the borders or on the rockery 
in summer. 
It well deserves any attention it needs. 
It. is a pretty plant, with thick, fleshy 
leaves, notched or serrated at the edges. 
It grows from 1 foot to 2 feet high, and 
bears racemes of rather creamy white, waxy 
flowers of a pleasing form, such as is seer 
in few other members of the genus Cam- 
panula, which comprises so many charming 
plants. It is altogether a distinct’ and 
pleasing plant, deserving a better fate than 
the comparative neglect under which it 
suffers. : 
Campanula Vidalii has been in cultiva- 
tion for rather more than fifty years. It 
should have a rather dry and warm position 
when out of doors in summer, and when 
grown in a greenhouse is all the better for 
being placed outside for a short time after 
blooming. I may add that I have tried 
to winter this Bellflower in the open my- 
self, but the plants always perished._S. R: 
Norv. 
GLADIOLUS VITALITY. 
At a meeting of the Scientific Com- 
mittee of the Royal Horticultural Society 
on. October 21st, 1902, a spike of Gladiolus 
3 ft. 8 in. high was shown. It was the 
There may be a- 
—~ 
growth from a corm which had remained _ 
out of the ground and ‘neglected from ~ 
October, 1900, to June, 1902, when it was 
planted. 
[Ep.—We know of such cases , 
having occurred here in South Australia, . 
where, after being 21 months out of the 
ground, Gladiolus bulbs . have, whem 
planted, grown and flowered.] |. . 
