JOURNAL  OP  BORTICVLTURE  APD  COTTAGE  GARdPNPR. 
fiecember  i,  1898. 
Ohriat-mofcher  sat  one  night,  and  wept  over  her  sleeping  infant,  the 
result  being  that  the  Yew  was  thenceforth  evergreen.  Tennyson, 
in  a  pensive  mood,  surveying  a  tree  that  was  iu  bloom,  is  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  even  the  sombre  Yew  has  a  period  when  it  puts 
forth  those  flowers  that  are  part  of  the  host  which  Nature  exhibits 
as  emblems  of  joy,  though  they  are  inconspicuous,  and  soon  vanish 
from  view.  Always  observant,  he  does  not  fail  to  notice  its 
abundant  pollen  • — 
“  01(3  warder  of  these  buried  stones, 
And  answering  now  my  random  stroke 
With  fruitful  cloud  and  living  smoke. 
Dark  Tew,  that  graspest  at  the  stones. 
And  dippest  towards  the  dreamless  head, 
To  thee,  too,  comes  the  golden  hour 
When  flower  is  feeling  after  flower.” 
But  the  crimson  berries  that  follow  help  to  enliven  the  gloomy 
foliage  during  autumn.  Amongst  our  modern  novelties  we  have 
several  varieties  of  Plum-fruited  Yews.  Britain  is  not  rich  in  native 
evergreens,  bat  another  kind  is  the  Arbutus,  some  species  of  which 
have  also  the  name  of  Bearberry  ;  occasionally  these  have  been 
confused  with  both  the  Whortle  or  Bilberry  and  the  Barberry. 
The  red  Bearberry,  A.  Uva  Uni,  is  a  northern  plant,  a  trailing 
species  which  is  said  to  represent  a  “  friendly  welcome  its  flowers 
are  reddish,  the  berries  scarlet,  so  rough  that  even  birds  shun  them. 
Pliny  is  reported,  long  ago,  to  have  given  the  Strawberry  Tree  fruit 
a  name  which  it  still  has,  expressive  of  its  uninviting  nature,  but 
in  South  Europe,  where  Arbutus  Uhedo  grows  to  a  large  tree,  the 
fruit  is  more  agreeable  thau  it  is  here.  It  occurs  wild  in  some 
parts  of  Ireland.  The  Snowberry  suggests  “  celestial  purity,”  and 
the  Bladder  Senna  or  Colutea  reminds  us  of  “  frivolity.”  Symbolic 
of  “  firm  friendship  ”  are  the  various  species  of  Thuia. 
There  is  a  tree  found  in  some  of  the  Mexican  forests  which, 
from  the  peculiarity  of  the  flower,  the  Aztecs  are  said  to  have 
called  the  “  Hand-flower  Tree;’’  scientifically  it  is  the  Cheirostemou. 
I  am  not  certain  whether  it  is  to  be  seen  in  any  of  our  con¬ 
servatories,  but  the  likeness  is  in  the  scarlet  stamens,  which  are 
joined  at  their  base,  then  divide  into  five  curved  clawlike  parts,  the 
who'e  somewhat  resembling  a  hand.  Of  course  the  numeroui 
exotic  Palms,  symbols  of  “victory,”  took  name  from  the  shape  of 
the  leaves  of  some  species.  Some  of  the  resemblances  between 
flowers  or  leaves  and  animal  forms  are  not  very  marked,  and  we 
have  to  call  in  the  aid  (jf  imagination  ;  others  are  obvious,  as  in  the 
little  plant  Myosurus  minimus,  or  Mouse-tail,  an  annual  occurring 
about  corn  fields,  which  has  no  stem  and  numerous  fleshy  leaves  ; 
the  seeds  are  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  pointed  flower-stalk, 
which  really  does  suggest  a  mouse's  tail. 
The  plants  called  Cat’s-ear,  of  which  Hypochceris  maculata  is  an 
example,  grow  in  pastures  and  Tarnip  fields  ;  this  species  had  its 
leaves  rough  with  short  hairs,  but  another  species  has  them  smooth. 
The  yellow  flowers  close  in  the  afternoon.  Again,  some  folks 
fancied  that  the  buds  of  Lamium  Galeobdolon  resembled  a  weasel’s 
snout,  henoe  one  old  name  ;  it  is  alsothe  Yellow  Archangel,  a  funny 
appellation  which  belongs  to  several  of  the  Dead  Nettles  orLaminms. 
Obviously,  the  Goat’s-beard  (Tragopogon  pratense)  took  its  title 
from  the  fuzzy  brown  cluster  of  stalked  seeds  displayed  on  the 
receptacle.  An  emblem  of  “laziness”  this,  since  it  closes  the 
starry  flowers  about  midday,  so  that  it  has  also  been  called  “  Jack- 
go-to-bed-at-noon.” 
The  Herb  Paris  (P.  quadrifolia)  is  not  named  in  honour  of  the 
Trojan  hero  of  eventful  history  ;  the  idea  was  the  parity  or  equality 
of  its  structure,  four  leaves  in  a  whorl  (though  sometimes  there 
are  five  or  even  six),  sepals  and  petals  also  four,  stamens  eight,  the 
crossed  leaves  suggested  that  it  was  a  token  of  “  true  love.”  Green 
flowers  are  generally  to  be  suspected,  but  Linnajus  has  reported  that 
the  Herb  Paris  owns  good  qualities  as  a  medicine.  In  some  gardens 
we  are  reminded  by  the  Alyssum  that  “worth  excels  beauty  such 
is  its  significance  as  a  flower,  yet  it  is  not  unornamental,  especially 
the  border  species  A.  saxatile,  with  yellow  flowers,  and  A,  variegata, 
which  has  mottled  leaves,  and  is  used  in  ribbon  bedding.  Another 
cultivated  species  is  A.  maritimum,  having  hoary  foliage  and  a 
honey-like  scent,  but  it  occurs  wild  on  cliffs  near  the  sea.  An  old 
name  for  this  was  “  Madwort,”  which  implies  some  bygone  belief 
in  its  curative  properties.  The  flowers  are  brilliaut  white,  densely 
clustered,  turning  violet  when  fading.  Fields  of  Flax  yield  now 
and  then  specimens  of  A.  sativum,  which  had  the  odd  name  of 
“  Gold  of  Pleasure its  seeds  are  enclosed  in  pouches  or  pods  that 
are  pear-shaped  and  inflated. 
Neglected  gardens  sometimes  exhibit  a  free  growth  of  the  Pearl- 
wort  (Sagina  procumbens),  the  slight  stems  with  tiny  pointed 
leaves  spread  in  all  directions  bearing  inconspicuous  greenish  white 
flowers,  which  represent  “  purity.”  The  plant  belongs  to  the 
Chickweed  tribe.  Then  the  Soapwort  (Saponaria  ofiBcinalis)  was 
also  emblematic  of  purity  or  cleanliness  ;  housewives  used  to  boil 
the  plant  and  wash  linen  in  the  liquor,  also  it  was  planted  about 
gardens,  its  clusters  of  pale  pink  flowers  being  admired.  Mithri- 
date  Mustard  our  ancestors  called  Tbaspe  arvense,  a  plant  at  home 
in  nearly  every  country  of  the  globe  ;  the  seeds,,  acrid  and  black, 
were  an  ingredient  in  the  old  Mithridate  Confection.  It  was  also 
the  Penny  Cress,  because  the  pods  are  about  the  size  of  a  silver 
penny.  The  Alpine  T.  sylvestre  has  a  purplish  calyx  and  anthers  ; 
its  seed  pod  is  rather  heart-shaped.  Our  native  Balsam,  Impatiens 
noli-me-tangere,  became  a  symbol  of  “  impatience  ”  from  the 
capsule  bursting  with  the  slightest  touch.  Named  from  Mount 
Parnassus,  but  found  in  English  hills,  that  favourite  Parnassia 
palustris  and  its  hundred  garden  species  flower  on  till  October  ; 
emblems  of  “  freedom.” — J.  R.  S.  C. 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
Looking  out  upon  the  garden,  or  venturing  into  it  in  these 
short  days,  we  feel  that,  as  the  poet  gays,  “  The  melancholy  days 
are  come,  the  saddest  of  the  year.*'  In  times  past  we  told  of  its 
glory  which  has  vanished  long  ago,  bat  now  we  have  to  tell  of  it  in 
its  gloomy  days.  Gloomy  indeed  are  they  now,  for  the  Frost 
Spirit,  which  came  to  scatter  desolation  among  the  flowers,  has 
gone  again,  and  in  his  place  have  come  fog  and  rain  and  sunless 
days.  When  he  came  he  brought  with  him  sparkling  hear  frost 
and  snow-capped  hills  ;  but  now  the  earth  is  dark  and  damp,  and 
the  hills  are  shrouded  by  thick  vapours.  Clear  skies  and  sunny 
if  cold  days  gave  brightness  ;  but  now  the  sun  is  veiled,  and 
sadness  reigns. 
There  are  ghosts  in  the  garden  now ;  but  though  they  bring 
sadness  they  bring  no  feeling  of  revulsion,  for,  shadows  only  though 
they  are,  they  are  shadows  of  the  flowers  we  loved,  and  our  love 
can  again  clothe  them  with  their  beauty  and  their  sweetness. 
There  are  withered  stems  with  brown  or  yellow  or  blackened  leaves 
rustling  sadly  as  the  winds  drive  through  the  dead  stalks  ;  there 
are  seed  pods  and  feathery-tipped  seeds,  the  successors  of  the 
flowers  which  have  given  them  birth  :  but  though  we  look  to  them 
to  perpetuate  the  race  we  cannot  reap  from  them  now  the  joy  the 
flowers  themselves  have  given.  And  yet  how  slight  is  the  effort 
it  requires  to  recall  from  memory’s  depths  those  verdant  leaves 
and  the  fragrant  flowers  overflowing  with  beauty  of  form  and 
colour  !  That  Iris  with  yellow  leaves  is  green  once  more,  and  its 
stems  rise  surmounted  by  their  rainbow  flosvers;  that  Rose  is  again 
covered  with  those  flowers  which  are  the  grace  of  the  earth ; 
that  withered  Lily  stem  is  again  a  thing  of  life,  fair  and  dazzling 
to  look  upon  with  its  crimson-spotted  and  golden-banded  blooms  ; 
that  clump  of  decaying  leaves  and  stems  once  more  a  golden  Sun¬ 
flower  ;  that  one  a  bright  Phlox.  So  we  can  clothe  these  dead 
things  with  beauty,  and  mid  the  gloom  find  some  consolation.  As 
Whyte  Melville  says  of  the  Moss  Rose — 
“  And  now  more  than  ever  I  cherish  and  prize  her. 
For  Love  shall  not  falter  though  Beauty  depart.” 
Though  we  can  thus  people  the  garden  again  with  the  fair 
sisterhood  of  spring  and  summer  and  autumn  flowers  there  is  a 
longing  for  something  more  than  mere  memories,  hallowed 
though  these  may  be  by  their  purity  and  elevating  influences,  and 
we  must  seek  for  something  upon  which  our  eyes  can  rest  with 
pleasure,  something  we  can  touch  and  feel  to  be  existent  now. 
Among  the  wrecks  of  former  beauty  there  is  still  to  be  found 
something  nndefaced  or  something  which,  if  less  beautiful  than  in 
more  joyous  times,  can  still  give  gladness  to  our  longing  eyea. 
There  are  also  flowers  which  come  naturally  in  this  time  of  gloom, 
and  among  these  is  the  “queen  of  winter  flowers.”  It  is  in  vain, 
perhaps,  for  the  Chrysanthemum  seeking  to  bloom  outside  in  theae 
November  days  to  hope  to  excite  admiration,  satiated  as  we  may 
well  be  with  the  brilliance  and  magnificence  of  its  sisters  which 
have  opened  their  great  flowers  within  the  shelter  of  the  green¬ 
house.  And  yet  they  are  not  to  be  despised,  especially  where  they 
can  open  in  the  pure  country  air  free  from  the  defilement  of  smoke 
and  dust.  They  want  some  disbudding  and  the  shelter  of  a  wall 
or  fence,  bat  with  these  in  most  seasons  yield  a  recompense  for 
the  little  attention  they  receive.  I  paused  in  writing  this  to  go 
out  to  look  at  a  plant  of  Elaine  trained  against  a  trellis  on  the 
gable  of  an  outhouse.  Smaller  are  its  flower  than  those  grown  in 
pots  and  treated  in  the  ordinary  way,  but  very  beautiful  still. 
Only  one  of  them  is  discoloured,  and  it  bad  broken  loose  and  been 
dashed  against  the  trellis  by  a  high  wind,  some  of  its  petals  being 
injured.  The  others  are  of  perfect  purity  ;  not  a  ipeck  mars  their 
snowy  whiteness  as  they  show  brightly  against  their  dark  green 
background,  nor  is  one  seen  however  closely  they  may  be  examined. 
On  the  petals  are  the  clear  rain  drops,  but  no  shade  of  defilement. 
The  white  varieties  are  perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  outside  at 
this  season,  some  of  the  coloured  ones  requiring  the  shelter  of 
glass  to  bring  out  their  brightest  tints. 
