288 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  23,  1897. 
any  mishap  occurring  that  may  mar  the  future  well-being  of  the 
plants.  To  bring  them  into  full  light  at  once  is  almost  suicidal,  as  it 
is  to  allow  the  mould  to  be  like  dust  at  one  time  and  mud  at  another. 
For  the  tirst  few  days  put  brown  i«iper  over  the  jiots,  following  with 
white  paper,  and  eventually  discarding  the  shading  entirely.  The 
only  object  in  its  use  is  to  inure  the  plants  to  the  light  to  which  they 
are  unaccustomed.  In  a  very  few  days  a  move  will  be  made,  the 
crown  will  expand  and  elongate,  and  no  check  should  now  be  per¬ 
mitted  whether  the  plants  are  in  a  greenhouse  or  in  a  room.  Water 
judiciously,  using  clear  and  manure  w'ater  alternately,  the  latter  being 
given  very  weak  or  it  wdll  do  more  damage  than  good.  I  pin  my 
faith  on  guano,  oz.  to  a  gallon,  and  soot  water.  Either  w’ould  perhaps 
do  alone,  but  I  am  a  believer  in  a  simple  change  of  diet  as  well  for  my 
bulbs  as  for  myself. — II.  Hose. 
(To  be  continued.) 
AUTUMN  FLOAYERS. 
The  rain  and  storm  wdiich  so  lately  stole  the  glory  of  the  autumn 
flowers  have  gone.  Sunlight,  chastened  though  it  is,  and  soft  warm 
winds  have  come  by  day.  Yet  everything  reminds  us  that  we  are  on 
the  brink  of  winter  and  shall  soon  be  plunged  into  its  dreary  days. 
The  nights  grow  long  and  chill.  The  sw'allows  have  gathered  on  the 
house-tops  and  gone  in  search  of  a  sunnier  clime.  The  ^'irginian 
Creepers  have  changed  their  colouring,  and  cover  with  blood-red  leaves 
the  garden  or  house  front  wall.  Humbler  plants  have  followed  suit, 
while  others  have  assumed  a  different  colouring.  We  hear  with  sad  ear 
the  rustle  of  the  falling  leaf,  though  it  drops  to  the  earth  to  the 
accompaniment  of  the  redbreast’s  song  ;  for  the  little  bird  is  back  again 
to  spend  the  w'inter  beside  our  homes.  We  look  with  yearning  eyes 
at  the  flowers  we  are  so  soon  to  lose.  How  w'e  shall  miss  them  when 
they  are  gone.  They  grow^  dearer  every  year,  and  their  silent  com¬ 
panionship  more  satisfying  as  time  goes  on.  Yet  why  meet  trouble 
half-way  ?  Though  the  nights  grow  more  chilly,  and  shorter  and 
cooler  the  sunny  days,  there  are  many  flowers  yet ;  even  some  still  to 
come  to  give  us  heart  while  we  await  the  coming  of  spring. 
There  are  soft-coloured  Asters,  pillars  or  pyramids  of  bloom  ; 
golden  St.  John’s  Worts,  showy  Sunflowers,  white  and  blush  and  pink 
Japan  Anemones— none  more  beautiful  than  those  of  purest  white. 
Hardy  Fuchsias  are  very  beautiful,  with  the  coral-red  and  purple 
drooping  flowers,  to  which  gather  in  crowds  the  humble  bees  in  search 
of  store  for  the  coming  wintry  days.  Great  bushes  of  Hydrangeas 
are  in  some  of  the  gardens ;  by  the  sea  winter  for  these  has  few 
terrors.  The  lace-like  Gypsophila  paniculata  is  nearly  over,  but  the 
graceful  Statices  still  give  us  airy  bouquets  of  bloom. 
Early  Chrysanthemums,  which,  by  the  way,  do  not  seem  to  grow 
much  in  favour,  are  masses  of  colour,  and  Kudbeckias  and  Heleniums 
stand  near,  to  give  witness  that  North  America  can  give  us  flowers  as 
well  as  China  and  Japan.  So  say  the  Phloxes,  too,  although  the  original 
flowers  are  small  beside  those  from  the  florists’  hands.  There  are  yet 
some  Bellflowers,  too,  although  their  glory  is  greatly  over.  A  few  of 
the  dwarfer  ones  are  again  in  bloom,  and  the  exquisite  flowers  of  the 
Platycodons  attest  the  worth  of  the  genus  which  includes  them  among 
its  attractive  flowers. 
The  stateliness  of  the  Gladiolus  is  of  a  different  kind  from  that  of 
the  Kniphofias,  or  Torch  Lilies,  which  have  thrust  their  flaming 
flow'ers  high  above  their  long  reed-like  leaves.  Gay,  too,  are  the 
Montbretias,  which  remind  us,  as  do  many  other  plants  as  we  look  at 
them,  of  the  achievements  of  the  gardener’s  art,  which  has  given  them 
birth.  Meadow  Saffrons,  Crocuses,  Violas,  Golden  Pods,  Sea  Hollies — 
these,  and  more  besides,  are  yet  in  flower.  In  gardens  in  whi^h 
annuals  and  half-hardy  flowers  are  largely  grown  we  have  other  types 
of  beauty  still.  Dahlias,  Sxveet  Peas,  Dianthuses,  veined  Salpiglossis, 
Nemesias,  Clarkias,  Godetias ;  beauties  innumerable  fill  up  the  feast 
of  Flora’s  maturest  time. 
Where  can  we  begin,  and  with  what  shall  our  thoughts  be 
occupied  in  detail,  as  we  try  to  fix  them  on  a  few  flowers  of  the  time? 
The  true  hardy  Chrysanthemums  of  the  latifolium  and  maximum 
type  have  of  late,  in  the  hands  of  the  seedling  raiser,  given  us  so 
many  varieties  that  we  fear  that,  before  long,  they  must  be  reckoned 
among  the  florists’  flowers,  which  only  a  specialist  in  that  particular 
flower  can  hope  to  say  much  about.  The  day  of  “named”  floxvers  in 
some  races  has  gone  by,  or  is  rapidly  passing  away,  so  high  is  the 
standard  of  excellence  which  has  been  attained  in  raising  seedling 
forms.  AVhen  we  see  these  great  Ox-Eye  Daisies  numbered  by  the 
dozen  or  two  we  feel  that  such  a  time  may  be  at  hand  for  them  too. 
Even  now  it  takes  a  good  one  to  be  distinct  enough  to  find  for  itself  a 
space  in  gardens  where  already  these  Chrysanthemums  are  well 
represented.  Amongst  the  finest  I  have  lately  seen  is  IMrs.  IPad.  It 
is  large  and  of  the  purest  white  in  its  ray  petals.  Yet  it  is  not  in  size 
or  in  purity  that  it  is  distinguishable  from  others  now  in  gardens.  It 
is  from  a  peculiarly  pretty  and  informal  poise  of  these  florets  that  it 
earns  and  deserves  a  place  in  our  gardens,  and  merits  its  use  as  a  cut 
flower  to  fill  large  vases  or  for  other  decorative  effects. 
It  seems  some  time  since  I  last  spoke  in  detail  of  any  of  the  Bt. 
John’s  Worts,  whose  golden  blooms  are  incidentally  referred  to  in  a 
preceding  line.  Long  have  they  been  held  in  favour  by  the  super¬ 
stitious  on  account  of  their  marvellous  powers  to  ward  off  or  drive 
away  evil.  Traditions  and  legends  have  clustered  around  the  plant — 
not  in  our  own  country  alone,  but  in  others  beside.  Its  flowers 
reminded  the  ireople  in  olden  times  of  the  sun  with  its  brightness  and 
power  to  dispel  darkness  and  evil  of  various  kinds.  Very  beautiful 
are  these  sunny  blooms  with  their  exquisite  boss-like  centres;  a 
beauty  reinforced  in  most  of  the  sjiecies  by  the  pleasant-looking 
green  leaves.  There  is  much  variety  among  the  species;  some 
trailing  over  the  ground;  others  with  erect,  herbaceous  stems,  and 
others,  again,  with  shrubby  or  sub-shrubby  habit. 
For  notice  now  Hypericum  olympicum  is  selected,  not  because  it  is 
the  best — for  who  can  venture  to  say  as  much  of  any — but  because  it 
is  beautiful  enough  and  good  enough  for  any  to  admire  and  praise. 
Less  informal  than  some  are  its  starry  flowers,  with  their  small 
central  boss  and  conspicuous  stamens.  The  colour  is  less  deep,  too, 
than  in  some  species,  but  a  good  plant  with  a  number  of  flowers  fully 
open  attracts  notice  with  its  clear  yellow  flowers,  which  are  larger  in 
size  than  one  xvould  expect  from  the  plant  before  it  comes  into  bloom. 
It  is  by  repute  a  greenhouse  species,  but  is  hardy  in  my  garden  on  a 
rockery  with  an  eastern  aspect,  where  it  has  lived  and  bloomed  for 
several  years.  It  has  round  stems,  and  has  rather  elliptical-lanceolate 
leaves,  which  are  full  of  pellucid  dots,  for  which  the  genus  is  remark¬ 
able.  A  light  soil  with  a  projjortion  of  peat  in  it  is  the  compost  in 
which  it  is  grown  here.  It  comes,  I  believe,  from  the  Bithynian 
Olympus,  whence  it  was  introduced  in  1706,  and  is  easily  raised  from 
seed. 
A  few  lines  which  remain  may  be  profitably  devoted  to  a  mention 
of  Polygonum  amplexicaule — the  .Stem-clasping  Knotweed — a  Hima¬ 
layan  plant  wmrth  growing,  but  seldom  seen  in  gardens.  For  some 
years  I  have  seen  it  in  the  garden  of  Captain  Stewart  of  Shambellie, 
Newabbey,  N.B.,  where  there  is  a  good  collection  of  herbaceous  plants. 
The  specimen  here  is  the  rose-red  form,  but,  according  to  Nicholson’s 
“  Dictionary  of  Gardening,”  there  is  also  a  white  variety.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  the  above  work  has  this  plant  marked  with  an  asterisk, 
thus  singling  it  out  as  especially  good  or  distinct.  It  comes  into 
flower  in  August  and  blooms  into  October,  and  the  flowers,  xvhich  are 
produced  in  racemes,  will  often  be  found  useful  for  cutting  purpo.«es. 
Its  height  at  Shambellie  is  about  3  feet — from  this  down  to  2  leet 
being  its  normal  growth.  The  name  is  derived  from  the  upper  leaves 
being  sessile  and  araplexicaul.  P.  amplexicaule  is  far  from  plentil'ul, 
and  is  but  seldom  to  be  found  in  nurserymen’s  catalogues. 
These  ai’e  but,  as  it  were,  fragments  of  the  least  picked  up  as  we 
go  among  the  flowers.  All  too  soon  will  they  pass  away  for  the  year, 
but  till  the  sad  time  has  come  we  may  enjoy  the  smiles  of  the  autumn 
flowers,  saddened  though  these  seem  by  the  thought  of  approaching 
decay. — S.  Arno'IT. 
PLANTS  FOR  WALLS. 
Almost  every  garden  has  its  iron  or  wood  trellis,  i)illars,  arches,. 
ornamental  or  rustic  wood  and  iron-work,  which  in  most  instances  it  is 
desirable  to  cover  with  climbers.  There  are  arcade  fronts,  arbours,  bowers, 
stumps  and  trunks  of  old  trees  ;  some  objects  pretty  in  themselves,  which 
it  is  considered  in  good  taste  to  enrich  with  lively  beauty,  and  other  sub¬ 
jects  objectionable,  which  when  clothed  with  foliage  and  flowers  become 
ornamental.  Walls  too  high  or  too  low,  sunny  or  shaded,  never  look  so 
well  as  when  so  adorned. 
It  is  not  always  advisable  to  cover  with  climbing  or  other  plants  every 
surface  suitable  for  their  training  and  successful  growth  ;  and  in  the  case 
of  buildings  it  is  not  judicious  to  train  plants  over  an  architectxrral  mansion 
— its  principal  parts,  perhaps  no  part,  ought  to  be  planted  against,  for  as 
a  work  of  art  it  should  be  seen  in  all  its  details.  Buildings  which  have 
many  enrichments  should  not  have  these  covered,  though  it  may  be 
advisable  to  clothe  the  intervening  spaces  with  foliage  ;  and  in  the  case 
of  brick  buildings  with  stone  dressings,  the  plants  ought  to  be  confined  to 
the  brick  portion  only,  and  they  should  only  be  taken  up  the  height  of  the 
stonework,  and  not  so  as  to  cross  it  with  the  view  of  covering  the  upper 
part  of  the  building.  The  plinth,  too",  if  of  stone,  ought  not  to  be  hidden, 
but  the  stems  of  the  plants  made  to  cross  it  in  the  angles,  or  in  the  least 
objectionable  manner.  A  well-designed,  well-built  mansion  needs  no  plant 
ornamentation  ;  but  there  are  some  buildings  so  mixed  in  character,  and 
so  inartistic,  that  it  is  desirable  to  cover  them  with  foliage.  Plain  build¬ 
ings,  especially  if  low,  may,  as  a  rule,  be  clothed  with  plants,  as  these  give 
an  appearance  of  height,  or  prevent  the  want  of  elevation  in  the  building 
from  being  so  much  noticed.  Nothing,  however,  is  so  incongruous  as  to 
have  tall  and  low-growing  plants  on  the  same  surface.  They  must  all 
attain  one  height,  and  be  kept  to  that  by  pruning.  I  do  not  think  they 
look  well  trained  higher  than  the  first-floor  window  sills,  or  if  there  be  a 
string  course,  they  should  be  kept  under  it ;  but  if  they  are  taken  higher 
