3 
Itlljr  2,  1898. 
:j(faB.i:TAL  OP  ilORTTOtJLTURE  AND  COW  ACE  GARDENER, 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
A  WEEK’a  absence  from  home  reveals  to  ns  many  changes  on 
our  return.  There  are  flowers  which,  having  done  their  fall  duty, 
have  now  their  once  fair  blossoms  “faded  and  gone.”  There  are 
also  others  in  full  flower  which  on  my  departure  showed  only  buds 
as  the  promise  of  the  beauty  they  now  present.  Aud  there  is,  too, 
much  work  to  be  done  amongst  them.  More  rain  has  fallen  here 
than  in  the  portion  of  the  Emerald  Isle  in  which  some  delightful 
days  were  passed,  and  the  over-luxuriance  of  some  flowers  requires 
to  be  checked  and  confined  within  moderate  bounds.  There  are  some 
bits  (a  good  many,  indeed  !)  where  its  owner’s  hand  can  alone  be 
trnst'Kl  ;  and  looking  at  some  of  these  this  morning  I  was  reminded 
of  the  description  of  the  field  of  the  slothful  given  in  Iloly  Writ. 
Thus  there  is  need  for  weeding  and  fastening  up  flowers  rather 
than  of  vrriting  about  them  ;  and  yet  amid  the  tangled  luxuriant 
growth  there  is  so  much  to  attract  that  it  is  well  to  try  to  portray 
some  of  the  many  flowers  which  compose  the  picture  of  floral 
delight. 
'  On  the  house  front,  over  the  garden  summer  house,  and  in 
other  places  hang  clusters  of  small  white  Ayrshire  Boses,  and  a  fine 
plant  of  another  small  climbing  Rose  with  semi- double  white 
flowers  seeks  to  veil  a  part  of  the  walk  behind  the  house  with  its 
clusters  of  perfumed  flowers.  Others,  too,  there  are,  more  modern 
and  alike  full  of  beauty  in  the  borders  or  on  the  wall,  scenting  the 
air  with  perfume  and  delighting  the  eye  with  their  perfect  forms 
and  colours.  The  Long-flowered  Lily,  the  Madonna  Lily,  and 
other  forms  of  these  beautiful  flowers  appeal  to  us  with  their 
trumpet  shaped,  wax-like  blooms,  their  turned  back  petals,  or  their 
brilliant  cup-shaped  flowers.  The  Delphiniums,  or  perennial  Lark¬ 
spurs,  though  dwarfed  in  height  by  the  drought,  have  to  some 
degree  recovered  their  vigour,  and  are  pictures  of  stately  beauty 
with  their  long  spikes  of  blue  and  purple  flowers.  They  have 
friendly  rivals,  though  held  in  lesser  estimation,  in  the  Mulleins, 
whiehywith  stately  spires  of  yellow,  white,  or  copper  colour,  mingl.e 
with  the  border  flowers. 
The  Bellflowers  are  most  beautiful,  too,  in  these  midsummer 
days,  with  their  almost  endless  variety,  and  their  grace  and  charms 
of  colouring.  We  cannot  wonder  at  their  popularity,  when  we 
Eftudy  the  purity  and  beauty  of  the  Great  White  Peach-leaved  Bell¬ 
flower  (Campanula  persicifolia  grandiflora  alba).  Then  there  are 
the  beautiful  shades  shown  by  the  several  varieties  of  this  charm¬ 
ing  Bellflower,  beside  such  as  Campanula  latifolia  macrantha  and 
its  white  variety,  and  a  host  of  others  of  lesser  stateliness  and 
minor  charms.  They  are  favourites  with  me,  and  one  could  look 
long  enough  over  the  tall  spikes  or  the  dwarf  carpets  clothed  with 
these  bell-shaped  flowers. 
The  Pinks  still  give  ns  flowers,  and  though  the  Carnation  has 
come  to  enchant  us  with  its  form,  its  colour,  and  its  sweet  odour, 
we  are  not  yet  tired  of  its  more  modest  relative,  which  is  content 
to  uplift  its  flowers  less  highly  above  its  ,  glaucous  narrow  leaves. 
How  modestly  beautiful  are  these  maiden  Pinks  “  of  odour  faint,” 
which  dangle  over  the  stones  of  the  rockeries  or  ornament  the 
rocky  edgings  of  the  border  !  How  sweet,  and  yet  how  wonder¬ 
fully  beautiful  are  some  of  the  laced  Pinks — the  pride  of  so  many 
florists  of  times  both  old  and  new  ! 
Then  there  are  Sidalceas  and  Malvas,  conspicuous  among  which 
is  the  grand  Sidalcea  malvseflora  Listeri,  which,  when  well  grown, 
is  among  the  finest  of  all,  though  its  relative  S.  Candida  is  a 
beautiful  flower,  with  its  silky  white  flowers.  The  Evening  Prim¬ 
roses  have  also  come  to  light  the  garden,  some  in  the  full  glare 
of  the  midsummer  sun,  and  others  waiting  until  it  has  spent  its 
force,  when  they  open  their  great  white  or  pale  yellow  flowera  to 
greet  our  admiring  eyes  as  we  wander  among  the  flowers  when 
“evening  shades  prevail.”  Of  the  former  (Enothera  Fraseri  and 
CE.  Youngi  plena  are  very  beautiful,  and  of  the  latter  who  can 
forget  the  tall  OH.  Lamarckiana,  with  its  soft  yellow  flowers,  or  the 
magnificence  of  the  white  flowers  of  CE.  coespitosa,  just  raised 
among  its  exquisite  foliage  ? 
Houseleeks  and  Stonecrops  on  roof,  on  wall,  or  on  rockery, 
creeping  or  hanging  down  or  erect,  give  us  red  and  purple  and 
pink,  white,  grey,  pale  yellow,  or  deep  orange  flowers.  They 
revel  in  sunlight  and  heat,  and  little  wonder  is  it  that  they  were 
looked  upon  in  old  days  as  giving  perfect  security  to  the  houses  on 
which  they  grew  from  lightning  or  from  fire.  We  smile  at  these 
things,  but  they  give  an  added  interest  to  such  plants  as  these, 
which  in  themselves  have  many  points  of  beauty. 
There  are,  too,  some  lace-like  Asperulas  or  Woodruffs  with 
their  faint-scented  flowers,  useful  and  beautiful  in  many  ways,  the 
tall  A.  hexaphylla  being  very  serviceable  for  cutting.  The  old- 
fashioned  Feather  Grass,  Stipa  pinnata,  is  very  beautiful  also, 
its  elegant  plumes  floating  idly  with  the  slightest  breath  of  wind. 
Poppies  are  still  fine,  and  pleasing  ia  it  to  walk  in  the  garden  in 
the  morning  hours  ere  they  drop  their  fragile  petals — emblems  to 
Burns  of  the  evanescent  nature  of  pleasure,  for  as  he  has  said — 
“  Pleasures  are  like  Poppies  spread — 
You  sei7.9  the  flower,  its  bloom  is  shsid.” 
One  cannot  but  think,  however,  that  the  poet  knew  little  or 
nothing  of  the  pleasures  of  gardening  in  his  brief  and  chequered 
life,  for  the  delights  of  its  pursuit  are  many,  and  though  the  bloom 
of  the  flower  has  passed  away  the  picture  of  its  beauty  remains  in 
memory’s  storehouse  ready  to  be  recalled  even  in  winter’s  dreary 
days. 
Brief,  though,  is  the  time  which  remains  to  tell  of  the  pro¬ 
fusion  of  other  flowers  blooming  in  the  garden  now.  There  are 
long-spurred  Linarias,  delicate  or  bright  in  colouring,  and  beautiful 
in  form  ;  single  and  double  Potentillas,  Yiolas  in  many  shades. 
Snapdragons,  Clematises,  erect  or  climbing  ;  Anthemises,  St.John’s 
Worts,  with  their  beautiful  yellow  flowers  ;  Lychnises,  white  and 
red,  and  pink,  and  purple;  plumed  Spirseas  and  Astilbes,  hardy 
Orchises,  Irises,  such  as  Kaempfer’s,  lusitanica  sordida,  and  the 
beautiful  English  Irises. 
But  why  extend  the  list  ?  It  could  be  lengthened  much,  so 
many  are  the  charms  of  midsummer  in  the  garden.  Perennial 
Peas  are  clambering  up  the  hedges  and  over  summer  seats,  as  if 
claiming  a  word  in  their  favour,  and  many  more  with  equal  claims 
meet  the  eye.  From  memory’s  recesses,  too,  come  reminders  of 
many  beautiful  flowers  seen  in  “Erin’s  Isle,”  of  which  I  hope  to 
tell  ere  long.  Thus  one  must  atop  after  feebly  attempting  to  show 
that  our  rosarians  have  not  all  the  field  to  themselves  even  now. 
Their  favourites  are  so  beautiful,  and  their  absence  from  the 
garden  would  be  so  irreparable,  that  we  wish  them  good  speed  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  “  queen  of  flowers.”  May  they  have  a  happy 
time  in  her  presence,  not  grudging  us  our  modicurq  of  space  to 
praise  her  humbler  satellites. — 8.  Arnotx. 
PLEASURE  AND  PROFIT. 
Modern  gardening,  compared  with  its  history  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  century,  appears  to  have  entered  upon  a  phase  in  which 
the  commercial  spirit  largely  prevails,  and  not  only  entered,  but 
made  considerable  progress  therein.  There  are  but  few  private 
gardens  now  in  which  its  presence  U  not  felt  directly  or  indirectly, 
and  in  our  day  at  least  there  is  more  than  a  remote  connection 
between  pleasure  and  profit,  for  the  very  existence  of  some  notable 
examples  of  gardening  is  dependent  upon  a  self-supportive  basis. 
It  would,  indeed,  be  difficult  to  disaisociate  the  two — pleasure  and 
profit — although  it  might  in  some  instances  require  a  closer  analysis 
to  reveal  the  tie.  It  may  be  for  generations  to  come  ere  the  sum 
total  on  the  profit  side  will  be  shown  against  the  liberal  outlay 
upon  the  parks,  promenades,  or  pleasure  resorts — the  gardens  of 
the  people  ;  but  the  influence  of  these,  if  of  slow  growth,  is  far 
reaching,  mighty  in  its  power.  It  is,  indeed,  the  purer  pleasure 
elevating  a  people  conducive  to  the  national  good  ;  and  when  the 
history  of  our  own  times  is  read  in  the  future  by  that  light  which 
becomes  the  more  impartial  the  farther  it  is  removed,  then  will  it, 
I  venture  to  predict,  be  not  the  least  of  the  bright  pages  of  a 
remarkable  era. 
But  as  strongest  lights  throw  the  deepest  shadows,  so  are  there 
sterner  facts  to  be  faced  in  the  field  of  horticulture,  and  as  waning 
profits  pertaining  to  the  purely  commercial  side  of  gardening 
become  more  persistently  forced  upon  our  notice,  so  do  the 
pleasures  of  those  engaged  in  its  pursuits  dwindle  away  in 
corresponding  ratio.  Even  with  those  few  staple  commodities 
which  have  as  yet  kept  a  fair  balance  between  supply  and  demand 
the  cultivator  cannot  but  await  his  returns  with  some  degree  of 
anxiety,  knowing  not  the  day  or  the  hour  when  he  will  be  forced 
to  feel  that  a  certain  thing  is  overdone,  and  but  the  smallest  margin 
of  profit,  if  any,  will  reward  his  labours.  Why  is  it,  then,  that 
growers  increase  in  so  marked  a  degree,  entering,  apparently  with 
confidence,  into  this  keener  competition  and  adding  to  it  ?  Various 
answers  can  doubtless  be  given  to  the  question,  a  ad  probably  the 
force  of  those  examples  where  unqualified  success  has  been  the 
re^^ard  lures  many  to  hope  that  a  good  living  at  least  may  be 
obtained  on  the  same  lines  that  have  made  fortunes. 
However  it  may  be,  it  is  certainly  not  the  policy  of  this  paper — 
the  Journal  of  Horticulture — to  deter  prospective  growers  from 
entering  into  its  field  of  work  ;  rather  is  it  its  direct  aim  and  object 
to  point  out,  to  impress  on  each  and  all,  the  accessible  means  to  its 
chief  end — viz,,  the  advancement  of  gardening  in  all  its  branches, 
of  gardeners  of  all  degrees.  In  fact  to  promote  the  pleasures  of 
all  as  well  as  the  profits  of  the  many  who  seek  from  their  work  the 
wherewithal  to  live.  Whilst  there  is  no  present  need  to  bring 
