510 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
June  4,  1896. 
and  plants  of  the  former  were  carrying  long,  straight,  young  fruits  that 
ought  to  be  excellent  eating.  Of  Tomatoes  a  large  supply  is  wanted, 
and  to  meet  it  succession  sowings  of  seeds  are  made,  and  sturdy  plants 
raised  by  the  score.  Some  were  only  just  through  the  soil,  while  others 
were  in  large  pots,  so  that  all  being  well  there  will  be  plenty  of  fruit  for 
some  time  to  come. 
In  conclusion  we  would  draw  attention  to  the  neatness  and  cleanli¬ 
ness  that  are  everywhere  so  apparent.  The  walks  are  all  alike  clean 
and  well  kept,  while  of  the  lawns  mention  has  already  been  made.  On 
the  plants  and  fruits  under  glass  there  was  the  happiest  possible  dearth 
of  insect  pests,  which  alone  speaks  well  for  the  attention  that  is 
bestowed  on  all  of  them.  Our  visit  to  Caen  Wood  Towers  was  a  most 
enjoyable  one,  thanks  to  the  kindness  and  courtesy  of  Mr.  Eeckitt,  and 
to  the  trouble  taken  by  Mr.  Burt  in  showing  us  all  that  there  was  to  be 
seen  on  this  beautiful  London  estate. — H.  J.  Wright. 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
The  garden  is  at  the  moment  of  writing  the  source  of  both 
hope  and  fear.  The  cloud#  have  not  yet  given  us  enough  mois¬ 
ture  for  the  plants  which  so  eagerly  desire  it  at  this  season,  and 
the  little  rain  which  fell  was  soon  absorbed  by  a  high  north  wind, 
which  not  only  licked  it  up  as  by  fire,  but  shattered  and  disfigured 
several  fair  flowers.  We  look  many  times  a  day  at  the  barometer 
to  see  if  it  will  tell  of  a  coming  change,  of  which  the  skies  and 
weather  signs  of  the  country  give  no  warning  as  yet.  Welcome 
will  be  the  change,  for  on  our  light  soil  many  of  the  taller  flowers 
show  signs  of  distress.  Watering  all  is  impossible,  and  it  is 
reserved  for  some  parts  of  the  garden,  where  it  i*  thoroughly  done. 
Still,  these  signs  of  distress  are  apparent  in  drooping  and  yellowing 
leaves  and  dwarfer  growth  with  smaller  blooms. 
The  Pyrethrums,  which  add  so  much  to  the  garden’s  beauty  in 
the  end  of  May  and  the  beginning  of  June,  droop  their  leaves  in 
the  glare  of  the  sun,  and  give  us  smaller  flowers  than  those  with 
which  they  are  wont  to  delight  us.  The  Delphiniums  feel  the 
drought  too,  and  show  by  their  flagging  lower  leaves  and  by  their 
weaker  spikes,  which  seem  at  a  standstill,  that  they  long  for  more 
of  that  element  so  necessary  to  vegetable  life.  Yet  though  these 
things  sadden  us,  and  give  us  fear  lest  that  beauty  is  doomed  to  an 
untimely  end,  we  cannot  but  think  of  the  joy  given  by  so  many 
other  flowers  which  shine  from  the  rock-garden’s  slopes  or  from 
the  dust-dry  border  give  brightness  and  grace  of  form.  So  let  us 
in  the  present  forget  our  fears,  and  for  the  time  the  toil  of 
watering,  and  think  of  the  flowers  now  giving  the  garden  its 
charm. 
The  Dianthus  or  Flower  of  Jove  is  in  its  various  species  and 
their  varieties  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  all  flowers.  The  many 
charming  double  Pinks,  now  in  bloom,  and  the  splendid  and 
delightful  Carnations  and  Picotees  are  sufficient  to  attest  this,  even 
were  we  without  the  many  beautiful  Dianthi  which  have  been 
transported  from  their  native  mountains  in  order  that  our  gardens 
may  be  full  of  gem-like  beauty.  These  little  Mountain  Pinks,  in 
many  cases  at  least,  are  small  and  unobtrusive  in  stature,  but  make 
up  for  this  by  bearing  flowers  of  great  size  as  compared  with  the 
height  of  their  stems.  Such  is  the  case  with  Dianthus  glacialis, 
the  Glacial  or  Glacier  Pink,  which  is  one  of  the  most  prized  of  our 
alpine  flowers,  and  viewed  with  delight  by  all  lover*  of  flowers  who 
are  not  wedded  to  the  tassel-like  blooms  of  the  double-flowered 
ones.  It  shares  with  D.  alpinus,  D.  neglectus,  and  one  or  two 
other#  the  honour  of  being  indispensable  in  the  alpine  garden.  It 
is  difficult  to  tell  of  its  charms  through  the  medium  of  pen  and 
ink,  and  one  must  essay  it  feeling  all  the  time  that  a  look  at  a 
plant  in  flower  is  worth  twenty  descriptions  such  as  may  be 
penned. 
A  good  plant  forms  a  little  hillock  of  compact  habit  with  darker 
green  and  less  spiny  leaves  than  those  of  D.  neglectus.  It  differs 
also  from  D.  alpinus  and  D.  neglectus  in  not  forming  running 
shoots  below  the  surface,  as  is  done  by  these  species.  The  plant 
when  in  flower  is  only  from  2  to  3  inches  high,  and  the  single 
bright  rose-coloured  flowers  are  sometimes  an  inch  and  a  quarter 
across.  It  comes  from  the  eastern  Alps  of  Europe,  being  found 
from  the  Canton  Grisons  to  Transylvania,  and  occurs  on  the  granite 
at  a  height  of  from  about  5700  to  7500  feet.  IJagnke  is  the 
authority  for  the  name.  In  its  native  habitats  it  is  said  to  flower 
in  July  and  August,  but  in  this  country  flowers  much  earlier.  It 
will  grow  in  the  flower  border,  but  is  more  likely  to  be  protected 
from  being  overgrown  by  other  plants  if  planted  upon  the  flat 
terrace  of  a  rockery  facing  south  or  west,  and  in  a  good  loam  with 
the  addition  of  some  granite  grit.  It  ripens  seed  freely,  and  may 
also  be  increased  by  means  of  division. 
June  may  well  be  called  a  month  of  Irises,  although  this  year 
some  of  the  June  bloomers  have  taken  time  by  the  forelock  and 
greeted  May  with  their  beauty  instead  of  smiling  only  upon  the 
“  leafy  month.”  Amid  the  wealth  of  these  charming  flowers  it  i* 
difficult  to  select  one,  and,  even  at  the  risk  of  leaving  more  attrac¬ 
tive  ones  unspoken  of,  I  take  for  the  subject  of  this  note  one 
which  is  very  moderate  in  price,  and  is  well  adapted  for  growing  a* 
a  semi-aquatic  or,  if  so  desired,  in  a  dry  border.  This  is  I.  vers;- 
color,  a  variable  species,  and  the  common  Iris  of  a  great  part  of 
North  America,  from  the  Northern  United  States  northward  to 
Hudson’s  Bay.  It  is  a  little  stiff  in  appearance,  but  is,  nevertheless, 
pretty  and  interesting  enough  to  be  looked  upon  with  pleasure.  I 
am  always  diffident  about  describing  the  colours  of  Irises  above  all 
flowers,  and  as  the  flowers  of  this  species  change  from  day  tq  day  it 
is  more  difficult  to  tell  of  its  colouring.  Mr.  J.  G.  Baker  describe* 
the  type  as  having  a  claret-purple  Jimb  and  “the  claw  veined  with 
purple  on  a  yellowish  white  ground ;  ”  but  the  descriptions  given 
by  some  of  the  specialists  in  Irises  are  good  enough,  though 
concise.  Thus  we  have  varieties  with  lilac  standards  and  falls, 
with  red-lilac  standard*  and  falls,  and  others  with  various  falls  and 
spots. 
My  representative  of  the  species  came  from  a  generous  corre¬ 
spondent  in  the  United  States,  and  has  lilac  purple  standards  and 
falls.  I.  versicolor  grows  about  3  feet  high  in  a  moist  situation, 
but  in  a  dry  border  of  light  soil  will  only  reach  about  2  feet, 
although  it  will  flower  freely  in  such  even  in  full  sun,  which  I  find 
suits  Irises  better  in  my  garden  than  any  other  aspect.  A  pretty 
variety  of  I.  versicolor  is  figured  in  “  Maund’s  Botanic  Garden,” 
but  the  height  the  author  gives  is  only  15  inches. 
There  is  here  an  attractive  little  Alpine  Wallflower  which  I  got 
some  time  ago  under  the  name  of  Cheiranthus  versicolor,  but  which 
is  also  grown  as  C.  Dilleni.  So  far  as  I  can  ascertain  it  is  really 
C.  mutabilis,  which  was  introduced  from  Madeira  in  1777.  A 
little  bush  of  it  on  one  of  the  terraces  of  a  rockery  facing  south  and 
west,  and  protected  from  the  north  wind  by  a  greenhouse  a  few 
yards  away,  has  been  very  attractive  for  a  good  while.  It  is  aptly 
enough  named  the  Changing  Wallflower,  as  its  flowers  change  very 
much  from  first  opening.  I  have  jcut  gone  into  the  garden  to  look 
at  it  again,  and  I  hardly  think  the  description  of  the  colouring 
given  in  a  good  work  of  reference  suits  my  plant.  This  description 
is,  “  At  first  cream-coloured,  afterwards  becoming  purple  or  striped.” 
The  colour  of  the  flower  on  first  opening  is  a  clear  light  yellow, 
certainly  deeper  than  “cream,”  and  this  becomes  paler  but  striped 
with  brownish  stripes,  which  increase  in  width  with  age.  It  forms 
a  dwarf  shrubby  plant  in  poor  soils,  where  it  is  fairly  hardy  if  well 
sheltered.  It  is  not  to  be  depended  on  in  cold  districts,  and,  like 
C.  Marshalli,  should  have  a  poor  stony  or  gravelly  soil .  It  is  readily 
increaseu  by  means  of  cuttings,  and  it  is  desirable  to  keep  a  spare 
plant  in  a  cold  greenhouse  or  frame. 
The  introduction  of  the  grand  new  Hemerocallis  aurantiaca 
major  is  likely  to  attract  increased  attention  to  the  beauty  of  the 
several  Day  Lilies  now  in  cultivation.  Some  of  these  are  very 
beautiful  with  their  long  Iris-like  leaves  and  their  rather  ephemeral 
flowers,  which,  by  their  fleeting  beauty,  show  how  appropriate  is 
the  generic  name,  derived  from  hemero  (a  day)  and  hallos  (beautj). 
One  feature  which  partly  compensates  for  the  short-lived  beauty 
of  the  flowers  is  the  abundant  succession  with  which  they  are  pro¬ 
duced.  There  is  a  pretty  dwarf-growing  one  in  my  garden  which 
is  H.  Dumortieri,  but  which  sometimes  does  duty  under  the  name 
of  H.  Middondorfi,  and  is  even  sold  as  H.  graminea.  H.  Midden- 
dorfi  does  not  appear  in  the  “  Kew  Hand  List,”  but  the  description 
of  this  plant  resembles  that  known  at  Kew  as  H.  Thnnbergi,  and 
the  true  name  of  H.  graminea  appear#  to  be  now  recognised  as 
H.  minor. 
H.  Dumortieri  is  said  to  be  synonymous  with  II.  rutilans  and 
H.  Sieboldi.  Dumortier’s  Day  Lily  does  not  seem  to  be  so 
ephemeral  in  its  flowering  as  the  most  of  the  others,  and  has  suffered 
very  little  from  the  dry  weather.  The  flower#  are  large  in  size  and 
are  of  a  bright  orange  yellow  tinged  with  brown  on  the  outside, 
which  has  the  effect  of  giving  a  deeper  effect  to  the  colour.  It  only 
grows  from  12  to  18  inches  in  height,  and  can  be  grown  in  ordinary 
soil  in  the  border.  It  comes  from  Japan  and  Eastern  Siberia.  A 
passing  remark  that  a  plant  being  sold  as  Hemerocallis  alba  is  not  a 
Hemerocallis,  but  Funkia  subcordata,  may  be  of  service  to  some. 
One  of  my  friends  was  unfortunate  enough  to  pay  a  good  price  for 
a  “White  Diy  Lily”  only  to  find  to  his  disgust  that  it  was  a 
Plantain  Lily  he  already  possessed. 
The  cool  of  the  evening  has  come  on  and  the  flowers,  which 
seemed  weary  of  the  hot  sun  and  the  want  of  moisture,  now  look 
rested  and  refreshed.  There  are  many  of  them  now,  and  a  stroll 
among  them  ere  the  lour  daylight  comes  to  an  end  reveals  much 
to  admire.  On  the  rockeries  the  charming  Dai«y-like  flowers  of 
Olearia  stellulata  are  crowded  on  the  little  bushes,  whose  leaves 
they  strive  to  cover.  Old-fashioned  Snapdragons  grow  happily 
beside  flowers  from  other  land#,  which  have  been  too  short  a  time 
