August  4,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
93 
TOWN  GARDENING. 
The  unwritten  edict,  surely  the  most  tyrannical  and  irrational  to 
which  suffering  man  ever  bent  his  neck,  which  decrees  that  well-to-do 
folk  who  have  spacious  country  homes  shall  desert  them  for  at  least 
three  of  the  fairest  months  in  the  year,  and  immure  themselves  in  costly 
and  narrow  town  quarters— that  edict,  I  say,  seems  so  immutable,  that 
it  is  wisest  to  accept  it,  and  render  it  as  endurable  as  possible. 
Nothing  less  than  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  can  ever  render 
London  an  open-air  city.  That  “  Queen’s  weather,”  which  made  the 
•Jubilee  summers  of  1887  and  1897  memorable  among  decades  of  fitful 
or  adverse  seasons,  would  enable  us,  could  we  count  on  it,  to  give  our¬ 
selves  al  fresco  airs,  to  line  our  pavements  with  cafd  chairs,  to  dine  and 
sup  under  the  stars,  and  use  our  houses  only  for  work  or  sleep  ;  but, 
as  things  are,  we  have  to  pay  the  penalty  of  disregarding  the  obvious 
lesson  of  Nature,  so  long  as  we  persist  in  swarming  into  London  when 
it  is  least  habitable,  instead  of  putting  off  our  work  and  amusement 
there  till  winter,  when  coal  fires  make  the  town  comfortable. 
Window-boxes — why  are  they  so  few  ?  Partly  because  people  who 
take  a  house  for  a  few  weeks  or  months  often  grudge  the  expense  of 
furnishing  them.  The  mode  prescribes  table  decoration  on  a  liberal  and 
costly  scale.  Many  a  dinner  table  is  decorated  at  a  price  that  would  fill 
every  window  of  the  street  front  with  flowers — flowers,  too,  that  would 
give  pleasure,  not  for  a  couple  of  hours  to  a  score  of  indifferent  guests 
who  care  more  for  the  plats  than  the  parterre,  but  to  every  dweller  in  the 
house  and  to  every  passer-by  in  the  street  ;  flowers  that  would  not  wither 
in  a  night  and  add  to  the  morning’s  mass  of  decaying  refuse,  but  living 
flowers  that  would  flourish  till  the  autumn  frosts,  each  green  leaf  doing 
its  work  in  sweetening  the  atmosphere  for  a  million  pair  of  lungs.  Be  it 
far  from  anyone  to  discourage  the  flower  trade  ;  may  it  long  flourish 
pretty  and  prosperous  !  Only,  if  there  is  money  to  spend  on  it,  shall  it 
all  be  on  flowers  for  a  night,  and  not  part  of  it  on  flowers  for  a  season  ? 
From  my  writing-table  I  have  across  my  flowerless  sill  view  of  twenty- 
four  house®  over  the  way,  in  some  of  which  I  have  partaken  of  liberal 
hospitality  at  tables  laden  with  lovely  flowers  ;  but  only  two  out  of  these 
four-and-twenty  houses  display  growing  flowers  in  the  windows.  Fashion 
is  conveniently  impersonal.  Let  us  lay  the  blame  on  her,  and  reflect  if 
we  could  not  get  more  lasting  enjoyment  out  of  our  flower  bills  for  our¬ 
selves  and,  less  selfishly,  for  the  man  in  the  street. 
Much  as  may  be  got  out  of  window  gardening,  there  is  still  more 
to  be  made  out  of  our  areas.  In  window-boxes  the  plants  are  popped 
out  in  full  flower,  and  the  wayfarer  cannot  mark  his  calendar  by 
expanding  bud  and  lengthening  spray.  It  is  the  exception  to  see  any 
of  the  green  things  of  the  earth  trained  against  the  dreary  leagues  of 
brick  and  stucco  of  western  London,  unless  it  be  the  American  mock- 
vine—  Ampelopsis  or  Virginian  Creeper.  That  vigorous  climber  is 
certainly  something  to  be  grateful  for,  so  bravely  does  it  thrive  in  that 
alternation  of  torrid  drought  and  noxious  vapour  which  constitutes 
London  climate  ;  in  autumD,  when  all  the  gay  people  have  fled,  it 
waves  its  long  tresses  generously  over  many  an  ugly7  object.  But  it  is 
very  late  in  habit  ;  often,  as  happened  this  year,  the  last  sands  of  leafy 
June  are  running  out  before  the  mock-vine  spreads  its  green  mantle. 
There  are  other  good  things,  hardly  less  patient  of  London  air,  for 
training  on  house  fronts,  which  one  very7  seldom  sees.  Roses,  Honey¬ 
suckle,  even  Ivy,  must  be  despaired  of ;  these,  and  many  other  fair 
things  cannot  endure  the  scorching  of  the  sun  refracted  from  walls  and 
pavement.  Here  and  there,  indeed,  Ivy  may  succeed,  but,  as  a  rule,  all 
evergreens  are  hopeless. 
But  if  you  want  unfailing  summer  verdure  plant  a  Fig  tree  in  your 
area  ;  the  hotter  the  summer,  the  fresh  r  spread  the  splendid  leaves, 
purifying  the  air  for  many  yards  around — the  best  of  all  Cockney  trees 
of  lowly  growth.  The  common  Laburnum,  too,  is  a  charming  wall  shrub 
for  a  town  ;  two  only  I  know  of  in  London,  one  in  Belgrave  Square, 
another  in  Grosvenor  Square,  and  though  I  have  not  the  privilege  o: 
acquaintance  with  their  owners,  year  after  year,  as  regularly  as  May 
comes  round,  I  bless  them  for  these  pretty  trees.  Magnolias — most 
magnificent  of  flowering  trees  — seem  not  to  have  been  tried,  but  there  is  little 
doubt,  -eeing  how  well  they  flourish  as  standards  in  Hyde  Park,  at  Kew, 
Syon  House,  and  elsewhere  near  the  metropolis,  that  they  would  lend 
themselves  to  wall  decoration.  Only  it  must  not  be  the  evergreen  species, 
M.  grandiflora,  but  such  deciduous  kinds  as  exoniensis,  with  chalice  of 
ivory-white  ;  purple-stained  Soulangeuna,  or  the  myriad-blooming  parvi- 
flora.  The  Persian  Lilac  is  a  good  area  plant,  though  I  have  only  seen  it 
once  grown  in  that  position  — again  in  Grosvenor  Square.  The  scientific 
name  of  the  Lilac  is  Syringa,  but  among  the  shrubs  we  commonly  call 
Syringa  in  English — the  white-flowered  Philadelphus  — are  some  species 
which  it  is  almost  certain  would  thrive  in  the  town,  as  they  do  in  suburban 
gardens.  The  more  robust  species  should  be  chosen — Philadelphus 
grandiflorus  and  Gordonianus — which  are  simply  splendid  at  midsummer 
in  their  wealth  of  fragrant,  waxy  bloom. 
Of  the  effect  of  town  life  on  the  worthier  species  of  Clematis  I 
cannot  speak  with  confidence.  There  is  a  very  large  plant  of  some  kind 
of  Clematis,  apparently  the  white-flowered  C.  montana,  on  the  side  of 
Dover  House  facing  the  Horse  Guards  Parade  ;  but  it  is  pruned  so  closely 
every  year  that  it  never  flowers.  One  of  this  species  has  grown  15  feet 
high  on  my  own  house,  but  three  successive  Junes  have  passed  without 
rewarding  me  with  any  blossom.  I  do  not,  however,  despair  if  the 
officious  knife  of  the  pruner  can  be  kept  off  it,  for  this  is  a  kind  that 
flowers  only  on  the  growth  of  the  previous  year,  an  important  character¬ 
istic  to  remember  in  dealing  with  all  flowering  shrubs.  Many  a  fine 
Banksia  Rose  have  I  seen  defrauded  of  its  display  of  blossom  simply 
because  it  has  been  tightly  pruned  like  a  Hybrid  Perpetual,  which  flowers 
on  the  young  shoots.  . 
The  white  Acacia,  more  correctly  Robinia  pseud-Acacia,  one  of  the 
best  and  surest  trees  for  street  planting,  might  be  used  with  good  effect 
for  training  on  the  wall  of  a  town  house.  None  has  more  lovely  foliage, 
none  bears  greater  abundance  of  flowers  nor  carries  them  for  a  longer 
period.  The  rose-coloured  species,  Robinia  hispida,  is  even  freer  to 
blossom,  and  is  a  very  beautiful  plant ;  but  I  fancy  the  sticky  hairs  which 
cover  the  young  shoots  would  get  clogged  with  smuts  to  the  injury  of  its 
vigour. 
The  most  beautiful  area  plant  of  all  is  one  that  unluckily  flowers  too 
late  to  decorate  London  streets  during  the  season  ;  but  if  anyone  wants  to 
realise  the  extraordinary  heauty  of  Hibiscus  syriacus  (also  called  Althaea 
frutex)  lot  him  wander  down  Cheyne  Walk  some  September  evening. 
Needless  to  mention  the  number  of  the  house  ;  afar  off  he  will  see  a 
cascade  of  lovely  blossom — a  shrub  some  7  feet  high,  bearing  on  every 
twig  large  flowers,  white,  with  a  claret  stain  on  every  petal.  This  is 
only  one  variety  of  this  choice  Mallow-wort,  which  revels  in  all  the 
sunbake  it  can  get ;  you  can  have  it,  if  such  be  your  pleasure,  with  delicate 
lavender  flowers,  or  pure  white,  or  rose-coloured. 
The  last  wall  plant  that  I  shall  mention  as  suitable  for  London  is, 
strange  to  say,  a  Conifer.  Strange,  because  one  might  attempt  to  grow 
Pine  Apples  in  Franz  Josef  Land  or  Mangoes  in  Labrador  as  hopefully 
as  any  of  the  Fir  tribe  in  London,  e*  cept  the  Salisburia.  It  is  a  deciduous 
Pine,  with  leaves  like  a  magnificent  Maidenhair  Fern.  It  wants  the 
protection  of  a  wall  in  London,  for  the  upper  branches  die  back  poisoned 
when  grown  as  a  standard — witness  the  specimen  which  stretches  over 
the  wall  of  the  Apothecaries’  Garden  in  Flood  Street,  Chelsea  ;  or  another, 
equally  tall,  beside  the  main  street  of  malodorous  Brentford.  Trained  on 
a  wall  the  quaint  Salisburia  affords  a  covering  as  interesting  as  it  is 
beautiful. — Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  Bart,  (in  the  “  Daily  Mail.”) 
NASTURTIUMS. 
Having  had  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  to  the  Messrs.  Suttons’  seed  trial 
ground  at  Reading,  in  company  with  a  member  of  the  firm,  I  consider  I 
have  seen  all  to  the  greatest  possible  advantage.  The  blaze  of  colour  and 
beauty  in  the  various  patches  alongside  of  the  G.W.R.  line  is  most 
striking.  “Flowers  of  all  hues  without,  alas!  the  Rose,”  to  misquote 
Milton.  Of  one  kind  alone  I  am  desirous  to  write,  partly  from  preference, 
and  partly  because  the  present  dry  season  was  showing  them  in 
their  greatest  perfection — I  mean  the  Nasturtiums.  There  they  were 
in  their  various  patches,  a  perfect  flower  carpet.  Well  fed  and  well 
watered  plants  are  apt  to  run  into  leaf  ;  these  hardly  showed  any  leaves  ; 
in  the  mixed  varieties  the  many  colours  and  changing  beauties  were 
extraordinary. 
It  is  one  of  the  charms  of  this  plant  that  the  wind  and  the  bees  are 
perpetually  starting  fresh  varieties  of  colour.  The  drawbacx  is  that  the 
same  forces  are  continually  altering  the  fancy  colour  when  it  is  gained. 
I  had  obtained  a  new  colour,  and  last  year  collected  a  fair  amount  of 
seed,  which  was  carefully  sown  in  a  bed  by  itself ;  this  year  only  four 
fdants  out  of  the  whole  patch  came  true  again  ;  in  the  rest  the  type  was 
ost,  or  had  run  back  to  some  self  colour.  These  seem  the  easiest  to  keep, 
and  they  were  outspread  in  all  their  glory.  Coeruleum  ro-eum,  with  its 
peculiarly  long  rose  ;  dark  and  dwarf  Tom  Thumbs,  the  truest  of 
edgings  ;  Aurora,  colour  of  daw  n,  almost  the  fairest  of  all  ;  whilst  a  huge 
long  bed  of  Cloth  of  Gold  was  especially  striking,  through  the  greater 
amount  of  foliage  its  golden  leaves  were  well  displayed. 
Now  that  this  plant  hasbeen  brought  to  such  perfection,  it  is  surprising 
that  the  old  dull  colours  are  continued  in  so  many  gardens.  There  is  now 
a  great  v  ariety  of  well-established  new  sorts.  It  is  an  interesting 
pursuit  to  go  in  for  a  new  colour,  which  a  careful  watching  over  of  a  good 
large  bed  of  “  Sutton’s  Mixed  ”  would  probably  give  in  the  course  of  a  hot 
summer  ;  then  the  plant  should  be  isolated,  and  the  seed  carefully 
collected.  The  cheapness  and  exceeding  beauty  of  this  plant  should 
make  it  even  more  grown  than  it  is.  It  has  yet  another  virtue  ;  instead 
of  being  rapacious  like  Roses  (I  regret  to  say)  and  so  many  plants  in  their 
demand  for  high  feeding,  the  Nasturtium  blooms  better  when  the  ground 
is  rather  poor  ;  and  will  go  on  contentedly  flourishing  on  the  self  same 
spot  for  several  successive  seasons. — A.  C. 
A  Fascinating  Flower. — Very  ancient  is  the  history  of  the 
Poppy  ;  it  was  wreathed  with  the  Lotus  in  Egypt,  and  twined  with  Thyme 
and  Parsley  in  Greece.  It  was  also  one  of  the  flowers  dedicated  to 
Venus  ;  and  the  witches  who  wrought  their  spells  and  muttered  their 
incantations  on  the  mountain  tops  cast  into  their  brew  the  horned  leaves. 
It  was  early  recognised  that  the  Poppy  in  its  simplest  form  is  one  of  the 
most  decorative  of  flowers.  Its  simplest  form  is,  of  course,  the  wild 
flower  of  four  petals.  It  is  treated  decoratively  in  a  number  of  ways 
either  as  a  flat  design  of  the  lifted  cup.  or  as  a  convential  representation 
of  the  four  petals  encircling  the  receptacle,  or  as  the  stem  upholding  the 
dome-like  and  sometimes  strongly  ridged  seed  pod.  But  after  all,  the 
most  marvellous  artistic  suggestions  are  found  in  the  sharply  outlined 
leaves,  which  rise  to  slender"  Gothic  point®.  These  serve  as  models  of 
leaf  design,  and  were  carved  boldly  and  delicately  in  the  stone  of  ancient 
cathed r al  s. — ( Indian  G ardening. ) 
