a 
THE OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN 
WHEN SUMMER WANES. 
There are many winding pathways in the 
old-fashioned garden. The long borders 
that meet these pathways run back in 
many places to a background of flowering 
and other shrubs. Now it is easy enough 
to find flowering subjects for spring and 
early summer, but later than that the task 
is more difficult. But in this old garden, 
where flowering shrubs are so great a fea- 
ture, a careful selection has been made of 
these later-flowering varieties. 
Spirea Bumaldi takes the place of 
honor, and is represented by a goodly num- 
ber of specimens.. This shrub comes to us 
from Japan; it commences to flower in 
July, and continues to blossom for a con- 
siderable period. The pink flowers suffer 
little from the weather, or from heavy 
storms. In habit of growth it is very ef- 
fective, and of great value from a decora- 
tive point of view. This is to say, it is 
a dense, dwarf-shrub;-with blossoms from 
the topmost twig to within a few inches of 
the ground. I think that I may well say 
that of all our late summer-flowering 
shrubs there is none so worthy a good posi- 
tion in our gardens as this. ; 
“Few people have words of praise for the 
familiar Privet; but, then, few people are 
familiar with one yariety of this summer- 
flowering shrub that, while in blossom, is 
nothing short of beautiful. From amid the 
bright green leaves appear huge loose 
‘bunches of feathery white flowers of most 
‘graceful and dainty appearance, so that one 
hardly regards it as a Privet at all, but 
rather as some unknown, and truly beau- 
tiful summer shrub. The Lavender also 
may be classed as one of these late-flower- 
ing shrubs, for plants of this old favorite 
become in time of generous proportions. In 
this old garden it grows in long and formal 
_lines at the summit of a terrace slope, and, 
in fact, hedges in a croquet lawn. Does not 
such a position for sweet Lavender com- 
mend itself to you, reader? Here, in the 
intervals of the game, we can enjoy the 
sweet old-world scent, and how infinitely 
- more in keeping is a delightful subject such 
as this than, say, a line of Laurel or Ber- 
~ beris. 
I have discovered that it is difficult in- - 
deed to find a man or woman who hag not, 
in the depths of his or her heart, a. feeling 
of sentiment, not unmixed with affection, 
for Lavender; and this long, unbroken 
line, when covered with its thousands of 
violet spikes, and shedding its perfume on 
every side, evokes more exclamations of 
approval and admiration than anything ~ 
else that the old garden may contain. 
Lavender may be so quickly established. 
Large pieces broken off and planted rather 
deeply in the ground root with great cer- 
tainty, and good-sized flowering plants are 
thus obtained by the following summer. 
Being perfectly hardy they need no at- 
tention through the winter, provided the 
_ cuttings are planted firmly enough not to 
be loosened by winter frosts. 
There is one plant that no old-fashioned 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
garden can afford to be without. It need 
not have a veny prominent position, but 
somewhere 6ut in the sunshine the grand, 
upright stems of some well-grown Mulleins 
should appear. Iam aware that the gene- 
rality of gardeners, if they find a place at 
all for this old-fashioned plant, are con- 
tent to place it in some out-of-the-way and 
half over-grown corner. Plants in such a 
position cannot compare with those put 
into good, well-worked soil, where sun and 
air can circulate about them. I well re- 
member a wide edging of the tiny dwarf 
Veronica rupestris, out of which, by acci- 
dent, there grew the noble rods of the lar- 
gest Mullein I ever saw. It was suffered 
to stay, not one year only, but three or 
four, and each season became a thing of 
beauty. The Mulleins blossom after the 
Foxgloves have gone, and, as in leaf 
and in habit of growth, there is consider- 
able resemblance between the two, it seems 
to me that, on that account alone, they 
should find-a welcome, as they come in a 
happy and delightful sequence... 
August and Hollyhocks—the two are in- 
separable, and we may well tell ourselves 
that we can never enjoy August to the full 
unless we have had a glimpse of these 
August flowers. Here, in this old gar- 
den, they are held in high favor. They 
grow in front of an old stone wall, and 
face the south, not two or three only, but 
more like sixty or seventy. There can- 
not be too many of these most glorious 
of summer flowers. They are homely 
flowers, it is true, for the Hollyhock makes 
no claim to appearing as a particularly 
high type of plant. But, for all that, there 
is not a garden in the land in which the 
Hollyhock could be thought out of place. 
No other plant gives us rods of 8 or 10 it. 
of gleaming crimson, and pink, and flesh 
color, of dazzling white and clear sulphur- 
yellow. Double Hollyhocks last so much 
longer than the single. There is sao much 
more body of color, and they are quite 
as, if not more, beautiful than the single 
varieties. I cannot help thinking that 
the double kinds have a look of higher 
cultivation than the single, and are, there- 
fore, more to be desired. 
These Hollyhocks have come to us from 
Southern Europe, and some from China. 
The sight of these grand plants, growing 
wild on their native slopes, must be a 
sight to treasure for a lifetime. They re- 
quire good rich soil, and a top dressing of 
short manure when a summer drought 
sets in. We are miserly indeed if we 
would grudge good food to these most 
generous of plants; for to induce them to 
_ give us a good display goes far to furnish 
our gardens in late summer with an abun- 
dance of bright and acceptable color. 
Many people show an especial pride when 
they can point to a particularly dark-color- 
ed specimen. But whatever these may say, 
there is not the same subtle charm about 
the very dark specimens, for the sun does 
not shine through them with that intense 
and half-transparent effect that it does on 
the lighter and brighter-toned pink, rose, 
and crimson hues. 
The Erigeron speciosus, that was in 
flower before June was out, is still covered 
- for the old clove-scented crimson. 
June I, 1904 
with pale mauve blossoms, and is one of 
the most refreshing and restful bits of 
color in this old-fashioned garden. It is. 
growing in front of some of the pale pink 
Hollyhocks, and there presents a combina- 
tion of coloring that is very charming and 
somewhat uncommon. 
This Erigeron is worthy of a little extra 
care when staking. It is particularly limp 
as far as the stems are concerned, and 
large clumps of it badly and tightly tied 
to a stake do not give any idea of the real 
beauty of this old garden favorite. It 
should never be allowed to grow tall and 
straggling before being attended to. Early 
in the season the clumps, which should be 
of moderate size only, should be neatly 
tied out. Hach clump needs three stakes 
at least. As time goes on, and the 
length and weight of the flowering stems 
increase, ties will be necessary higher up 
the stems. The work must be carefully 
done, so that the character of the plant is 
not lost. If well done, the stakes need 
not be at all apparent. They may, in 
fact, be completely disguised, and in all 
cases they must be near together, that the 
plant may not become unshapely. 
As the Roses were the glory of July, 
so are the Carnations the glory of August- 
Carnations are never so delightful as when. 
growing in long narrow beds, beds if pos- 
sible cut in the grass, so that the richly 
colored blossoms are silhouetted on the 
green. There is a great fascination in 
growing Carnations from seed. In these 
days we may well hope for success, for the 
seed is much more reliable than it used 
to be. 
In this old-fashioned garden there are 
several of these long narrow borders of 
Carnations. Sometimes the colors are 
mixed, but always one border is reserved 
I may 
say that every autumn much of the old 
soil is removed from these borders, and 
fresh brought in to take its place. In 
this way Carnations can be grown in the 
same position year after year. 
Other plants that are now making beau- 
tiful this old-fashioned garden are the Po- 
tentillas, the earliest Starworts, perennial 
Sunflowers, Evening Primroses, Dahlias, 
and Everlasting Peas. 
Over the arches that span most of the 
long straight walks, there is now a wealth 
of purple Clematis. There is one long 
walk that has twenty of these flower-clad 
arches. The path itself is very wide, and 
the arches give to it a charming quaint 
and formal look when spanning it in such 
numbers. The effect is particularly de- 
lightful when standing at one end, and 
getting a narrowing vista down the entire 
length. It is beautiful at all times. but 
now, when every arch is covered with its 
wealth of richly toned Clematis, it is diffi- 
cult to say how beautiful, and the wonder 
is that more garden lovers do not make 
use of such simple means of gaining a simi- 
larly quaint and delightful effect. 
F. M. Wetrs. 
A dressing of lime applied to many ol 
gardens would be the best manure that 
could he given. — 
