168 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  24,  1899. 
AN  AMATEUR’S  GREENHOUSE —No.  3. 
It  might  well  be  imagined  that  after  detailing  the  aspect  of  my 
greenhouse  in  the  earlier  months  of  the  year,  and  in  Jane,  I  should 
have  nothing  in  it  worth  noticing  later.  True,  nearly  all  the  plants  that 
then  made  the  house  so  attractive  have  now  been  put  on  one  side.  The 
Pelargoniums,  show  and  decorative,  which  succeeded  the  bulbs,  have 
been  cut  down  and  nut  out  of  doors  to  harden  their  wood  and  make 
growth  for  another  year,  and  yet  I  venture  to  say  that  there  are  some 
plants  in  my  house  at  present  which  you  would  not  find  in  many 
structures  of  far  greater  pretensions.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
as  I  have  no  heat  I  can  only  grow  such  as  will  thrive  in  a  moderate 
temperature. 
Fuchsias. 
At  this  time  of  the  year  one  naturally  depends  somewhat  on 
Fuchsias,  and  some  of  the  best  of  these  I  have  now  in  flower.  I  am 
obliged  to  keep  them  within  bounds  or  they  would  soon  become  too 
large  for  the  hous°,  and  probably  most  of  the  plants  I  now  have  will 
be  thrown  on  one  side  after  cutting*  have  been  taken  from  them  for 
next  year.  Amongst  them  is  the  curious  little  Fuchsia  procumbens 
from  Nexv  Zealand,  which  we  hoped  would  be  a  great  addition  to  our 
rockeries,  but  unfortunately  like  so  many  of  the  New  Zealand  plants  it 
■is  not  quite  hardy  ;  it  inkht  survive  such  a  winter  as  1898-9,  but  then 
that  was  exceptional.  It  may  probably  be  hardy  in  Devon  and  Corn¬ 
wall,  but  it  is  ceriainly  not  so  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  kingdom.  It 
is  for  the  want  of  sufficient  heat  that  I  am  unable  to  grow  any 
■  Gloxinias,  a  flower  of  which  I  am  very  fond,  and  that  has  been  so 
greatly  improved  of  late  years. 
Streptocarpus. 
There  is,  however,  another  plant  somewhat  similar  to  it  in  shape 
which  I  can  manage,  that  is  the  Streptocarpus.  Formerly  we  used  to 
know  only  one,  Streptocarpus  Pihexi,  but  the  introduction  of  other  species 
and  the  efforts  ot  the  hybiidiser  have  given  us  a  number  of  very 
pretty  and  enduring  flowers.  As  yet  they  are  mostly  white  striped 
with  laveuder  and  shades  of  that  colour,  and  therefore  they  lack  the 
'brilliancy  of  the  Gloxinia,  but  there  is  no  knowing  what  the  efforts  of 
the  hybridiser  may  do  for  us.  We  aie  now  beginning  to  get  rose 
uid  red  markings  in  them,  which  may  be  indications  of  something 
better  to  come.  Of  course  many  nurserymen  have  been  engaged  in  these 
efforts,  but  those  Avhich  I  have  come  from  two  sources — Messrs.  James 
\  eitch  &  Sons,  who  were  the  first  to  set  the  bah  rolling,  and  Messrs. 
Laing  &  Sons.  The  flowers  are  larger  now  than  they  originally 
were,  and  the  markings  are  much  brighter.  These  plants  during 
the  winter  are  stored  on  one  of  the  shelves  in  the  greenhouse,  and 
in  the  spring  are  brought  down  and  placed  in  the  back  patt  of  the 
stages  first  and  brought  forward  as  they  come  into  flower. 
Tuberous-rooted  Begonias. 
There  is  one  flower  which  must  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  the 
greenhouse  at  this  season  ;  this  is  the  tuberous-rooted  Begonia,  both 
single  and  double.  What  a  change  has  taken  place  in  this  plant  !  It 
is  not  many  years  since  the  quantity  of  named  flowers  crowded  every 
.catalogue,  and  bulbs  were  offered  at  10s.  6d.  and  1  guinea  each,  but 
now  there  are  very  few  who  grow  them  under  name,  as  they  seed 
so  readily,  a  id  the  seedlings  grow  so  quickly,  that  any  number  of 
plants  may  be  raised,  and  if  s  ovn  early  the  tubers  will  flower  the 
same  year.  Messrs.  J.  Laing  &  Sons  and  H.  Cannell  &  Sons  have  run 
a  neck-and-neck  race  in  producing  the  best  novelties,  and  now  1 
understand  a  Iresh  start  has  been  given  to  them  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Ware, 
Ltd.,  Tottenham.  I  need  hardly  ssv  that  they  are  most  easily 
managed,  and  when  they  have  done  flowering,  and  the  tubers  are 
sufficiently  dry,  they  can  be  laid  under  the  stage,  or  in  any  place  free 
from  frost,  until  the  time  for  repotting  them  comes  round.  Their 
varied  colours  and  large  flowers  make  them  a  great  boon  at  this 
time  of  the  year.  Of  that  quaintly  beautiful  flower  the  Salpi- 
glossis,  so  suggestive  of  enamel,  I  have  also  a  few  pots  on  the  stage. 
Liliums. 
After  all,  however,  the  glory  of  the  house  at  this  time  are  a  few 
Lilies.  One  is  L.  Alexandra  ;  it  is,  in  truth,  a  pure  white  L.  auratum. 
I  do  not  know  whether  it  will  partake  of  the  capriciousness  of  the 
type,  but  my  bulb  of  it  is  not  very  strong.  Lilium  Lowi  is  also  a 
beautiful  new  Lily,  imported  by  Messrs.  Low  &  Co.  from  Burmah ;  it 
is  a  bell-shaped  flovrerof  good  size  and  substance,  with  markings  in  the 
inside  which  vary  from  violet  to  red.  Unfortunately  the  bell  hangs 
downwards,  so  that  it  is  difficult  to  see  the  inside  markings.  But  the 
grandest  of  all  Liliums  I  have  in  flower  is  one  I  received  from  Messrs 
Wallace  &  Co.  this  spring.  Thev  received  it  from  a  grower  in 
Japan,  who  seems  to  hold  a  stock  of  it.  It  appears  to  be  a  natural 
hybrid  between  L.  auratum  and  L.  s|  eciosum.  The  flower  is  simply 
magnificent:  it  is  as  large  as  auratum,  being  9  inches  across,  densely 
marked  and  spotted,  brownish  crimson  at  first,  which  fades  off  a  dark 
chocolate.  The  plant  is  about  4  feet  high,  and  appears  to  possess  a 
vigorous  constitution.  If  my  forecast  of  it  be  correct  it  will  be 
one  of  the  grandest  introductions  of  this  beautiful  tribe;  the 
perfume,  in  which  that  of  auratum  predominates,  has  still  a  suspicion 
of  speciosum  in  it.  It  is  doubtless,  like  other  Lilies  of  this  class, 
quite  hardy,  and  will  form  a  grand  addition  to  Lilies  for  our  borders. 
Pisa  grandiflora. 
I  have  yet  another  plant  in  flower  now  which  I  believe  many  a 
larger  garden  than  mine  does  not  contain,  that  is  Disa  grandiflora.  I 
have  grown  it  now  for  a  good  many  years  wflth  varying  success  ; 
sometimes  very  vigorous,  and  at  other  times  dwindling  away  without 
any  apparent  cause  ;  but  I  have  known  some  of  our  most  distinguished 
nurserymen  making  the  same  complaint  concerning  it.  There  are  so 
many  seedlings  now  that  one  often  meets  with  indifferently  coloured 
blooms,  but  mine,  I  am  glad  to  say,  is  brilliantly  coloured,  and  the 
blossom  of  good  size.  I  have  also  a  flourishing  plant  of  Disa  Veitchi, 
a  hybrid  raised  at  the  celebrated  Chelsea  establishment ;  the  plant 
is  very  vigorous,  but  as  yet  I  see  no  signs  of  its  flowering,  and  I  do 
not  think  it  is  likely  to  surpass  the  beauty  of  D.  grandiflora.  It  will 
be  thus  seen,  I  think,  that  my  little  greenhouse  has  amply  done  its 
duty,  and  one  must  now  begin  to  make  preparations  for  another  season. 
Bulb  catalogues  keep  tumbling  in,  but  I  suppose  I  shall  be  contented 
with  such  as  have  given  me  pleasure  in  the  past.  I  may  say  that  I 
see  a  flower  coming  on  Lilium  sulphureum  ;  but,  unfortunately,  it  is 
a  very  late  blooming  species.— -D.,  Deal. 
ROCK  GARDENS. 
It  will  be  readily  conceded  that  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
charming  features  in  a  garden,  where  the  conditions  will  allow,  is  a 
properly  constructed  rockery,  especially  in  combination  with  water, 
and  there  is  no  portion  of  a  landscape  gardener’s  vocation  that  requires 
more  artistic  taste  and  discrimination  if  it  be  his  desire  to  approach 
natural  effects.  It  may  be  argued  that  artificial  scenes  must  ever  be 
subordinate  to  natural  formations,  and  this  may  be  granted.  But  the- 
latter  do  not  always  afford  all  the  essentials  for  the  elaboration  of  a 
rock  garden,  in  which  it  is  desirous  to  introduce  a  varied  collection  of 
alpine  and  aquatic  or  other  suitable  plants,  whereas  that  artificially 
constructed  may  be  made  to  afford  means  for  the  growth  of  plants  not 
readily  available  by  the  natural  lormation. 
Thera  are,  however,  artificial  rockeries  and  rockeries,  and  those- 
artificial  incongruities  dignified  by  the  name  of  rockwork  would  not  be 
tolerate!  were  the  owner  to  study  Nature,  or  to  observe  a  properly 
constructed  and  furnished  pictu  esque  rockery.  He  would  probably 
become  out  of  conceit  with  his  own  crude  structure,  consisting  possibly 
of  a  mound  or  bank  of  soil  dotted  with  a  heterogeneous  collection  of 
rock  stones,  set  up  without  any  regard  to  stratification  or  in  imitation  of 
other  natural  disposal  of  rock  stones,  reminding  one  of  the  arrangement 
of  memorial  stones  in  a  gravegard,  instead  of  being  half  buried, 
flatwise,  or  slopingly  in  the  soil,  and  suitable  shrubs,  Ferns,  and  other 
plants  judiciously  interspersed  among  them. 
It  will  be  conjectured  that  the  foregoing  remarks  are  intended  to 
apply  more  especially  to  those  examp'es  too  often  seen  in  the  small 
suburban  and  similar  villa  gardens,  and.  unfortunately,  occasionally  in 
the  more  pretentious  domain,  where  more  harmonious  effects  ought  to 
be  found.  During  the  last  quarer  of  a  century,  however,  the  march 
of  improvement,  as  in  many  other  respects  pertaining  to  gardening,  is 
perceptible  in  the  designs  and  construction  of  “  rockeries  ”  and  rock 
gardens,  the  designer  having  evidently  sought  Nature’s  models  for 
guidance.  It  is  in  this  latter  respect  that  our  leading  artists,  such  as 
Pulhams,  have  proved  so  successful. 
A  notable  and  magnificent  example  is  the  rock  and  water  garden 
at  The  Uplands,  near  Birmingham  (the  charming  residential  abode  of 
T.  W.  Webley,  Esq.),  a  photograph  of  a  portion  of  which  appeared  in 
the  Journal  (fig.  16,  July  20th),  while  supplementary  to  which  is  now 
presented  by  the  accompanying  picture  a  special  illustration  of  what 
may  well  be  deemed  a  typical  artificial  rock  garden  and  streamlet. 
The  photograph  (fig.  35)  naturally  fails  to  convey  a  full  conception 
of  the  extent  and  intrinsic  beauty  of  the  scene,  partly  owing  to  the 
intricate  conformation  of  the  design.  It  is  really  a  series  of  gently 
overflowing  pools  and  ledges  along  the  route  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  at  the  edge  of  the  spacious  isle-centred  pool  below. 
Water,  whether  in  the  form  of  a  lake,  pool,  river,  or  streamlet, 
must  ever  form  an  important  feature,  an!  f<  rtunate  is  he  who  is 
possessed  of  it  in  any  natural  form  for  utilisation  in  his  garden  land¬ 
scape.  A  writer  on  the  attributes  of  water  observes,  “  Nature,  as  is 
well  knowD,  produces  some  of  her  most  charming  effects  with  the 
aid  of  water.  In  peaceful  moments  water  displays,  as  in  a  magic 
mirror,  the  world  around — the  delicate  flowers,  the  stately  trees,  rocks, 
the  tender  grass  blades,  the  scenic  skies  themselves,  which  thus  seem 
to  have  a  two-fold  existence  in  the  depths  below.  The  stream  in  its 
profounder  course  flows  smoothly  enough  along  ;  but  in  the  shallows 
it  leaps  and  bounds  on  its  way,  with  many  a  pleasant  cascade. 
Water  in  truth,  so  numerous  and  varied  are  the  combinations 
