August  1,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
107 
Flowers  under  Difficulties, 
As  I  walked  last  autumn  through  the  tiny  market  place  of  the 
small  town  near  where  I  have  come  to  live,  I  was  very  much  struck 
by  the  wonderful  display  of  Mums  in  the  parlour  window  adjoining 
the  shop  of  the  jeweller  and  watchmaker.  They  were  very  remarkable 
for  their  qualit' ,  variety,  and  size,  so  remarkable  that  1  paused  long 
before  them.  The  grouping,  too,  was  good,  and  the  window  gave  me 
an  immense  amount  of  pleasure.  The  display  was  kept  up  for  a 
1  ong  time.  At  first  I  was  inclined  to  think  the  plants  were  bought, 
but  the  difficulty  was,  where  from? 
quantity  of  various  Lobelias,  and  I  do  not  know  how  many  varieties  of 
Sweet  Peas  planted  out,  Eckford’s  of  course.  I  was  quite  lost  among 
the  multifarious  treasures,  all  in  the  pink  of  perfection. 
There  was  a  propagating  case  at  one  end,  and  a  lovely  variety  of 
Trojgeolum  from  New  Zealand  fes'ooning  the  roof ;  cold  frames  outside 
full  of  Mums  and  “  Calcies,”  herbaceous  patch — you  can  hardly 
speak  of  a  border  in  so  small  a  space  ;  a  tiny  lawn  and  standard 
Roses,  with  several  good  fruit  trees,  not  an  inch  wasted.  I  tremble 
to  think  how  they  suffered  so  warm  a  summer.  And  this  is  not  the 
work  of  a  man  of  leisure.  No  ;  there  is  the  shop.  The  gardener 
is  his  father’s  right-hand  man,  and  we  don’t  go  in  for  early  closing 
here.  Fiom  his  profession  he  is  deft  and  neat.  I  am  not  neat  in  my 
own  actions,  and  I  do  admire  neatness  in  others.  My  friend  finds 
GROUPS  AT  SWEET  PEA  SHOW,  ROYAL  AQUARIUM. 
(Mr.  H.  J.  Jones,  in  front;  Hobbies’,  Ltd.,  in  extremity.) 
I  could  not  grasp  the  fact  that  they  weie  reared  on  the  premises, 
for  just  in  that  part  of  the  town  the  shops  are  crowded  together  as 
closely  as  in  Bond  Street ;  where  the  back  yards  c  uld  be  I  could  not 
tell,  there  seemed  no  space  for  even  the  sport  of  cat  swinging.  As 
the  season  advanced  the  Mums  disappeared,  only  to  have  their  places 
filled  by  Primulas,  Narcissi,  Spiraeas,  Tulips,  and  a  host  of  pleasant 
spring  flowers.  Now  there  is  a  show  of  Primula  obconica  and 
Musk.  I  always  scheme  to  pass  that  window,  just  for  the  sake  of 
the  bit  of  brightness,  and  I  have  found  out  the  manufactory. 
Behind  the  shop  and  house  is  a  tiny  garden  facing  south,  and  a 
beautiful  little  greenhouse  as  neat  as  a  new  pin,  and  full  of  nice  things 
as  ever  it  can  hold.  Of  course  there  is  that  valiant  soldier  Marechal 
Niel,  the  Arum  “Lily,”  the  tree  Carnation,  the  red  Salvia,  a  lot  of 
seedling  Pelargoniums  Irom  Cannell’s  seeds,  and  some  capital  ones  too,  a 
time  to  read  at  least  three  gardening  papers  a  week.  He  is  a  musician 
too,  although  I  don’t  suppose  it  is  by  his  lute  he  charms  weeds  away. 
L'ke  all  true  workers,  there  is  not  a  grain  of  conceit  about  him  ;  he  is 
so  willing  to  give  you  a  hint  or  a  plant  or  a  cutting,  and  so  obliged 
for  a  bint  in  return. 
Just  imagine  what  a  charm  this  young  man  finds  in  a  life  that  he 
is  living  to  such  good  purpose.  There  is  nothing  more  refining  and 
elevating  than  the  worship  of  Flora,  and  this  is  not  half-hearted 
worship.  He  brings  his  best  to  her  shrine,  and  is  an  ardent 
votary.  I  am  not  quite  sure  he  arranges  the  plants  in  the  window. 
There  is  a  pretty  sister  in  the  background,  and  I  always  believe  that 
woman  is  best  at  a  colour  scheme.  Well,  he  is  too  good  a  brother 
to  grudge  a  sister  her  morsel  of  credit.  After  all,  if  it  were  not 
for  him,  where  would  be  the  plants  to  arrange  ? — The  Missus. 
