184 
JOUBNAL  OF  ffOBTlGULTtJRE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  3,  1898. 
Holland,  under  the  name  of  C.  Olivieri  Suterianus.  This  is  not 
correct,  as  0.  Olivieri  and  C.  Suterianus  are  considered  by  authorities 
on  the  genus  to  he  distinct.  So  far  as  one  can  judge  the  Crocus  is 
C.  Suterianus.  It  is  a  small  but  pretty  flower,  deep  orange  in  colour, 
and  less  liable  to  injury  from  the  storms  of  the  early  season  than 
larger  varieties.  The  hybrid  Chionoscillas  have  begun  to  bloom. 
There  are  many  from  seeds  saved  from  one  of  the  true  Chionoscillas — 
i.e,  the  progeny  of  a  Chionodoxa  and  Scilla  bifolia.  Some  have  gone 
back  to  the  Glory  of  the  Snow,  others  are  Scilla  bifolia,  and  nothing 
more  ;  while  some  few  show  their  hybrid  origin,  and  are  Chionoscillas. 
A  few  hybrids  between  some  of  the  other  Chionodoxas  and  other 
Scillas  ought  to  give  us  new  and  welcome  forms. 
Very  beautiful  are  the  Lenten  Roses,  and  those  who  have  plenty 
of  space  might  well  devote  some  of  it  to  raising  and  testing  seedlings 
of  these  Hellebores.  The  charms  of  a  great  number  are  only  revealed 
to  him  who  lifts  up  the  blossoms  to  examine  the  interior  of  the  flower. 
Rich  purples,  pale  roses,  whites,  and  other  shades  present  themselves, 
with  some  beautifully  spotted  forms  as  well.  Those  who  cannot  save 
seeds  from  their  own  plants,  or  who  are  not  possessed  of  Lenten  Roses 
of  the  most  advanced  types,  will  find  that  good  strains  can  be  obtained 
which  will  yield  flowers  of  the  greatest  beauty.  As  the  seeds  are 
generally  slow  of  germinating  they  may  with  advantage  be  steeped  in 
tepid  water  for  twenty-four  hours  before  sowing.  I  prefer  sowing  in 
pots  and  keeping  these  under  glass,  but  some  are  fairly  successful  in 
raising  seedlings  in  the  open  ground.  One  very  good  gardener  of  my 
acquaintance  grows  many  from  seeds  sown  in  the  border  under  an 
Apple  tree;  they  are  slightly  covered  with  soil,  and  then  with  a  slate, 
which  is  pressed  down  on  them  and  left  until  the  young  plants  have 
made  some  growth  round  the  edge  of  the  slate.  I  had  intended  to  say 
something  about  the  best  of  the  Lenten  Roses,  which  may  almost  be 
reckoned  among  florists’  flowers,  and  also  a  few  words  anent  the 
several  Helleborus  species  of  less  striking  colours  but  of  a  modest  but 
attractive  character.  Space  will  not  permit  at  present,  and  a  brief 
resume  must  suffice  for  what  mention  remains  of  other  flowers. 
There  are  patches  of  Squills,  bright  blue  and  effective,  amid  the 
snow.  Scilla  bifolia  in  several  varieties  and  S.  sibirica  are  there,  and 
even  when  the  snow  has  gone  they  contrast  with  the  Galanthi,  which 
will  remain.  The  earlier  Snowdrops  will  soon  be  over,  but  there  are 
several  species  or  varieties  w’hich  have  not  reached  their  full  beautjq 
Poppy  Anemones  look  gay  though  a  little  tarnished  by  the  weather. 
They  are  not  numerous  yet,  but  cast  in  the  shade,  so  far  as  size  is 
concerned,  the  exquisitely  beautiful  flowers  of  Anemone  blanda.  Bright 
are  the  bushes  of  Erica  carnea,  red  and  white;  pleasing  are  the  early 
Saxifrages  apiculata,  Boydi  alba  and  Burseriana ;  welcome  are  the 
Primroses  and  the  few  Auriculas  which  keep  them  company.  The 
Snowflake  is  not  yet  over,  and  the  charming  Rhododendron  prmcox 
has  thrust  its  coloured  petals  through  their  enveloping  sheaths,  and 
only  awaits  a  few  days’  sun  to  open.  Faint-coloured  and  faded  have 
grown  the  Winter  Aconites,  but  Iris  reticulata  major  will  open  soon,  and 
Dr.  Stuart’s  variety  of  the  bright  Primula  marginata  has  commenced 
flowering.  As  the  sun  strengthens  with  the  advancing  day  the 
clumps  of  Crocus  open  and  display  their  glowing  various-coloured  cups 
before  our  eyes.  Though  winter  is  with  us,  they  entice  us  to  lay 
down  the  pen  and  go  into  the  garden  to  see  their  beauties — familiar, 
yet  ever  new. — S.  Arnott. 
LAWNS  AND  ALLIED  SUBJECTS. 
(^Continued  from  page  170.) 
In  connection  with  our  last  paper,  chiefly  occupied  with  effective 
lawns  from  a  landscape  view,  as  well  as  the  advantages  derived  from 
judiciously  planned  open  stretches  in  the  matter  of  keeping,  it  would 
be  scarcely  fair  to  our  beautiful  trees,  the  Coniferre  principally,  to 
exclude  them  from  a  passing  thought  not  irrelevant  to  our  subject. 
In  the  pleasure  grounds  nought  but  the  greensward  as  a  groundwork 
can  give,  as  a  rule,  the  most  pleasing  effect;  and  in  turning  from  ideal 
primness  to  the  picturesque  beauty  of  those  grounds  probably  known 
as  the  shrubbery,  and  probably,  too,  not  in  the  immediate  line  of 
vision  from  the  windows,  a  greater  freedom  from  that  ultra-neatness, 
which  is  never  to  be  condemned,  is  in  fact  essential  to  the  lawn  proper, 
gives  full  facility  in  the  way  of  top-dressing  or  other  means  to  the  end 
of  doing  the  trees  justice. 
Here  their  arch  enemy,  the  lawn  mower,  shall  not  come  to  mangle 
their  lower  members  or  bark  their  trunks.  Being  still  in  the  kept 
grounds,  however,  obviously  a  margin  on  each  side  of  the  walk, 
entailing  one  or  possibly  two  breadths  of  the  mower  to  keep  all  in 
order,  is  necessary,  especially  to  prevent  grasses  seeding  upon  the 
gravel.  In  deep  bays  or  in  the  background  where  groups  or  specimens 
of  ornamental  trees  can  be  made  happy,  a  couple  of  scythe  mowings 
during  the  season  will  be  all-sufficient.  This  system  provides,  too, 
for  the  naturalisation  of  favourite  flowers,  such  as  nodding  Daffodils, 
“  that  come  before  the  swallow  dares,”  with  the  humbler  Snowdrops, 
Crocuses,  Scillas,  and  Dogstooth  Violets.  These  will  be  well  over  and 
sufficiently  matured  for  the  first  scythe  mowing,  which  is  no 
impediment  to  their  welfare;  another  mowing  at  the  end  of  the 
summer  will  keep  all  presentable  so  far  as  this  position  is  concerned.  I 
may  be  pardoned  in  straying  a  little  from  the  text  if  readers  will  contrast 
such  trees  dotted  about  a  lawn,  probably  starved,  possibly  damaged, 
with  the  more  natural  condition  obtaining  with  “  unkept”  gra.ss,  and 
above  all  things  justice  must  be  done  to  the  lawn  proper,  to  which  we 
now  return. 
Making  New  Lawns  and  Renovating  Old  Ones. 
From  early  autumn  and  well  on  into  spring  a  fairly  long  season 
obtains  for  those  who  perforce  of  circumstances  cannot  always  do  what 
is  felt  to  be  the  right  thing  at  exactly  what  is  known  to  be  the  right 
time.  As  a  rule,  we  may  take  it  that  autumn  for  laying  turf,  and 
spring  for  sowing  the  seeds,  is  the  soundest  policy  whichever  of  the 
two  methods  is  adopted.  In  the  matter  of  turfing,  if  the  operation 
can  be  concluded  before  severe  frost  is  to  be  expected,  it  is  a  wise  course 
for  several  reasons,  one  of  which  is  that  if  the  new  turf  can  be  laid 
early,  ere  the  soil  has  cooled  down,  root  action  is  promptly  induced, 
the  grass  is  fairly  established,  and  better  able  to  withstand  a  spell  of 
parching  weather  should  such  occur  the  following  season.  Delays 
often  bring  difficulties,  too,  in  the  matter  of  a  quantity  of  frozen  turves 
on  hand,  as  I  once  found  when  caught  in  the  act  of  carrying  out  some 
rather  extensive  alterations  by  a  spell  of  Arctic  severity,  for  after  some 
considerable  time  ere  we  could  proceed,  not  only  discolouration  of  the 
grass,  but  a  good  deal  of  tiisintegration  of  the  rolled  up  turves  by  the 
action  of  frost  gave  considerable  trouble  in  the  laying  process. 
The  preparation  of  the  ground,  whether  for  turves  or  for  seeds,  is 
of  primary  importance,  considering  the  permanent  character  the  lawn 
is  to  hold.  Unfortunately,  in  the  case  of  new  buildings,  a  considerable 
quantity  of  excavated  subsoil  is  too  often  available  for  finishing  off 
surface  levels,  and  responsible  for  bad  work  in  the  best  po.ilion — near 
the  house;  this,  of  course,  in  cases  where  the  subsoil  is  sour,  tenacious, 
and  generally  unfit.  But  recently  an  example  came  under  notice 
where  similar  uncongenial  soil  had  been  formed  into  mounds  near  the 
dwelling,  and  planted  at  some  considerable  expense  with  choice 
shrubs,  which  lately  stood  as  the  dead  or  dying  witnesses  of  a  mistake. 
In  the  matter  of  lawn-making  such  mistakes  are  costly  in  more  senses 
than  one. 
Too  much  pains  cannot  be  taken  in  a  thorough  prepara'  ion  of  the 
siil,  first  by  the  vigorous  removal  of  old  tree  stumps  or  other  obstruc¬ 
tions,  and  then  by  eiraining  at  an  adequate  depth  if  the  subsoil  renders 
any  draining  necessary ;  in  fact,  ail  the  preparations  considered 
necessary  for  a  good  kitchen  garden,  so  far  as  the  soil  is  concerned, 
may  well  be  given  where  the  object  is  to  make  a  perfect  lawn,  and 
retain  it  in  perfection. — Sylva. 
(To  be  continued.) 
BROWNEAS. 
Anyone  who  has  the  room  at  his  disposal  in  a  large  house  that  can 
be  kept  at  a  stove  temperature  would  do  well  to  include  one  or  more 
species  of  this  genus  among  its  occupants.  The  recommendations  in 
their  favour  are,  that  in  most  cases  they  take  high  rank  as  foliage  plants, 
and  in  almost  every  instance  they  are  among  the  finest  of  stove  flowering 
shrubs. 
At  Kew  several  species  may  now  be  seen  in  flower  in  the  Palm  house. 
B.  grandiceps  is  there  represented  by  a  plant  20  feet  high.  The  hand¬ 
some  pinnate  leaves  of  this  particular  plant  are  between  2  and  3  teet  in 
length,  and  are  made  up  of  from  eighteen  to  twenty  pairs  of  leaflets, 
many  of  which  are  8  inches  long.  The  flowers  are  bright  red,  and 
produced  in  round  heads  6  to  8  inches  across.  Near  by  is  a  dwarfer  but 
much  better  furnished  plant  of  B.  Crawfordi.  This  is  a  hybrid  between 
the  former  and  B.  macrophylla.  The  leaves  are  not  so  long  as  in  the 
former,  but  the  leaflets  are  larger.  The  heads  of  flowers  are  quite  as 
bright-coloured  as  in  B.  grandiceps,  and  if  anything  larger.  This  plant 
is  planted  out,  and  grows  far  more  luxuriantly,  and  at  the  same  time 
flowers  more  freely,  than  plants  in  pots.  Others  are  to  be  seen  in  flower, 
but  at  present  these  are  the  most  showy. 
An  additional  item  in  favour  of  Browneas  as  ornamental  foliage 
plants  is,  that  when  the  leaves  are  first  developed  they  are  beautifully 
mottled  with  brown  and  green,  and  contrast  finely  with  the  dark  green  of 
the  old  foliage.  Although  a  large  house  is  necessary  to  grow  these  plants 
to  perfection,  plants  a  few  feet  high,  which  have  been  rooted  from 
cuttings,  can  be  flowered  successfully. — D.  K. 
