June  15,  18J9. 
493 
■JOURXAL  OF  HORTIGULTCRE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
<  Imiin  aft.T  column  uiiglit  be  culled  from  the  tale  of  the  months, 
but  Hilly  <  ne  or  two  morn  extracts  can  bo  taken.  Of  Dahlias  as  garden 
flowers  .Miss  Jekyll,  in  speaking  ot  the  defects  of  many  flowers,  pretty 
in  themselves,  but  of  bad  habit,  says: — “  For  however  charming  in 
Humanity  is  the  virtue  modesty,  and  however  becoming  is  the 
iinolitrusive  betring  that  gives  evidence  of  its  jicssession,  it  is  quite 
misp'nce'i  ill  a  Dahlia.  Here  it  beconHs  a  vice,  lor  the  Dahlia’s  first 
<lntv  in  lile  is  to  flaunt  and  to  swagger,  and  to  carry  gorgeous  blooms 
xvell  above  its  leaves,  and  on  no  account  to  lurng  its  head.” 
4  rom  “  October  ”  the  following  is  taken  as  an  example  : — “  Passing 
-along  the  wide  path  in  front  of  the  big  flower  border,  and  through  the 
]tergola  that  forms  its  continuation,  with  eye  and  brain  full  of  rich, 
warm  colouring  of  flower  and  leaf,  it  is  a  delightful  surprise  to  pass 
througii  the  pergola’s  last  right-hand  opening,  and  to  come  suddenly 
upon  the  iMichaelmas  Daisy  garden  in  full  beauty.  Its  clean,  fresh, 
pure  colouring  cif  pale  and  dark  lilac,  strong  purple,  and  pure  white, 
a uu.ng  masses  ot  pale  green  foliage,  forms  a  contrast  almost  startling  , 
niter  the  warm  colouring  of  nearly  everything  else ;  aad  the  sight  of  ' 
n  I'egion  where  the  flowers  are  fresh  and  newly  ( j^e  icd,  and  in  glad  ' 
but  the  luore  wo  know  the  more  we  see  the  truth  of  what  IMiss  Jekyll 
says,  “'Ihe  more  ignorant  the  questioner,  the  more  difli cult  it  is  to 
answer  helpfully.”  iMost  amusing  is  it  to  read  of  the  ladies  who 
had  got  a  simple  border  plant  and  “  had  made  a  nice  hole  with  their 
new  trowel,”  and  had  bought  and  emptied  into  the  bole  a  “  whole  tin 
ot  Concentrated  Fertiliser!”  Vet  the  [ilantdied  !  The  chapter  on  the 
“  I  lower  Border  and  Pergola  ”  must  be  read  as  a  whole.  It  is  hopeless 
to  attempt  to  convey  in  a  few  words  its  suggestiveness  and  valu 
Miss  Jekyll’s  Primroses  are  well  known,  but  one  of  the  shortest  of 
the  divisions  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  her  Piimrose  garden.  Pong 
belore  we  come  to  this  we  have  learned  that  the  authoress  is,  what 
she  terms  herself,  a  “working”  amateur;  if  we  had  not,  we  would 
have  seen  it  from  her  account  ot  the  two  days’  work  dividing  the 
Muustead  Primroses.  It  is  practical,  j'et  idyllic,  and,  like  many  other 
iilylls,  has  behind  it  something  prosaic.  In  this  case  it  is — the  midges. 
Those  who  write  about  flowers  xvili  learu  much  from  the  “Colours 
ot  I  lowers,  ’  although  we  may  be  pardoned  fur  saying  that  it  is 
si)ring-like  profusion  when  all  else  is  on  the  verge  of  death  and  decay 
gives  an  impression  of  satisfying  refre sf  ment  that  is  hardly  to  be 
equalled  thioughout  the  year.”  While  we  could  extract  many 
pa.ssagos  of  similar  tone,  it  is  not  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  e 
fo'in  the  whole  of  the  teaching  of  the  chapters  on  the  months.  They 
abound  with  “practical  and  critical”  notes  of  culture,  arrangement, 
.and  colours  of  many  plants,  spoken  of  in  the  most  helpful  way. 
The  chapter  on  “Large  and  Small  Gardens”  is  one  which  gives 
•many  useful  hints,  not  only  to  those  who  are  about  to  form  or  improve 
-a  garden,  but  to  others  as  well.  Here  is  a  little  bit  with  which  it 
'•pgins  :  “The  size  of  a  garden  has  very  little  to  do  with  its  merit. 
Tt  is  merely  an  accident  relating  to  the  circumstances  of  its  owner.  It 
IS  the  size  of  his  heart  and  brain  and  goodwill  that  will  make  his 
garden  either  delightful  or  dull,  as  the  case  may  be.”  Pleasant 
pictures  of  gardens  are  given  in  appreciative  word.s,  and  a  few  graphic 
sentences  give  the  ctmtrast  nlforded  by  what  is  aptly  termed 
“monstrous  gardens.”  The  beauty  of  an  “orchard  garden”  is 
s])"ken  of,  and  a  touching  page  or  so  about  the  window-box  of  a 
factory  lad  reveals,  unconsciously  to  the  authoress,  th'at  innate 
kindness  of  heart  which  some  of  us  have  experienced. 
“  Beginning  and  Learning  ”  is  enjoyable  to  those  who  have  passed 
vlllij  initial -difficulties  of  gardening.  Our  “learning”  is  never  done, 
:  exceedingly  difficult  to  express  these  as  we  would  like.  We  have 
'  asked  people  working  all  their  lives  among  ribbons  and  other  coloureil 
“fabrics’’  to  name  the  colour  of  a  certain  flower  and  have  found 
them  at  a  loss.  Only  those  living  among  flowers  and  trees  could  have 
written  the  delightful  passages  on  the  “Scents  of  the  Garden.”  It 
reminds  us  of  a  walk  in  Dublin  Trinity  College  Gardens  with  their 
talented  curator,  j\Ir.  F.  W.  Burbidge,  and  the  revelations  had,  not 
only  of  t  le  perfumes  to  be  discovered  as  the  plants  are  passed  bjq  bur 
of  those  which,  like  the  uses  of  adversity,  are  only  known  when  the 
leaf  is  bruised. 
The  “  Worship  of  False  Gods,”  “  Novelty  and  Varietv,”  and  the 
“Bedding  Fashion,”  show  Miss  Jekyll  in  her  most  critical  vein. 
Emphatic  as  are  the  criticisms,  through  them  can  be  seen  that  element 
of  toleration  already  alluded  ro.  Is  it  the  subject  of  “  Commissions  ” 
to  which  Miss  Jekyll  refers  as  a  “  great  evil  that  calls  loudly  for 
•edress  ?  ”  Lovers  of  “Geraniums”  will  be  grateful  to  the  anthores.s 
for  the  kindly  way  in  wl  ich  she  speaks  of  the  plant,  which  has  been 
made  so  common  and  degraded  by  its  use  as  a  trim  bedding  plant,  that 
it  is  overlooked  when  plants  are  wanted  for  plans  for  which  the  bright 
flowers  of  the  scarlet  or  pink  “  Geraniums  ”  come  in  so  well. 
Perhaps  no  part  of  “  Wood  and  Garden”  will  give  r  sc  to  so  much 
difference  of  opinion  as  that  on  “  IMastcrs  and  Men.”  I.  is  difficult  to 
