June  4,  1903. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
487 
Flowers  of  the  Season. 
To  many  of  us  May  is  one  of  the  most  dclij^litful  months  of 
the  year.  Harsh  as  are  her  u  inds  at  times,  and  sharp  as  may  be 
her  nights,  it  bring.s  with  it  much  that  we  gardeners  have  longed 
for,  and,  unlike  some  of  the  later  months,  full  of  beauty  as  they 
are,  she  seems  to  bring  with  her  coming  none  of  the  premoni¬ 
tions  of  approaching  winter,  when  the  gardener  will  be  bereft  of 
lu.s  pleasures  in  the  open  air.  May  is,  indeed,  a  very  treasury 
of  beauty.  Her  greenery  is  of  the  most  charming  tints :  her 
blossoms  are  sweet  and  fresh  ;  her  air  free  from  the  sultriness 
which  so  often  comes  with  some  of  the  later  months.  Need  we 
wonder  that  she  has  been  a  favourite  of  the  poets,  who  in 
pleasant  numbers  have  sung  her  praises?  It  is  not  for  we 
gardeners  to  endeavour  to  emulate  their  melodious  notes. 
Prose  alone  must  be  our  medium.  Yet  we  have  surely  amono:  the 
flowers  of  May  those  which  will  suffice  to  inspire  us  with  more 
than  pro.saic  thoughts  and  words,  meet  for  poetic  role. 
Even  in  the  smaller  gardens, 
where  space  forbids  the  acres 
of  fruit  trees,  clad  in  beauty 
of  the  highest  type,  when  Plum 
and  Cherry,  Apple  and  Pear, 
put  on  their  bridal  attire, 
there  may  be,  besides  some  of 
these,  many  flowers  of  similar 
kinds.  Such  double  Cherries 
as  Cerasus  Watereri  fascinate 
one  with  their  tinted  leaves 
and  lovely  flowers.  Pretty 
Magnolias,  from  the  magnifi- 
oent  M.  Yulan  to  the  unaspir¬ 
ing,  but  equally  charming. 
Magnolia  Halleana  or  st  el  lata, 
arrest  our  steps  and  bid  us 
stand  and  admire.  Lovely 
Bi’ooms,  reminding  us  of  the 
royal  Plantagenets,  give  sheets 
of  golden,  pale  yellow,  or  white 
flowers ;  Cytisus  scoparius  An- 
dreanus  coming  in,  with  its 
gold  and  chocolate  flowers, 
which  at  a  distance  seem  like 
old  gold  to  the  eye.  Some 
droop  like  cascades  of  bloom  ; 
others  are  more  erect ;  while 
yet  some  creep  almost  to  the 
ground  ere  thej^  flower,  when 
they  throw  up  their  spikes  of 
yellow.  It  is  hard  to  tell 
which  is  the  most  beautiful. 
Spiraeas  give  their  pretty 
flowers,  S.  arguta  in  particular 
being  a  picture,  with  its  thin 
twigs  garlanded  with  tiny 
white  flower.s.  On  the  walls 
the  old  double  Kerria  japonica 
is  bright  with  its  golden 
button-like  blooms;  the  yellow 
Piptanthus  nepalensis  gives  its 
Pea-shaped  flowers,  to  be  sur¬ 
passed  before  long  by  the 
lovely  sprays  of  the  Labunium 
and  the  candelabra-like  blooms 
of  Lupinus  arboreus.  Jaimnese 
Quinces  show  brightly  from 
their  branches,  and  other 
trees  and  shrubs  with  no  scant 
benison  give  us  a  wealth  of  their  own  peculiar  charms.  If, 
however,  we  turn  to  the  lowlier  inhabitants  of  the  garden,  we 
are  more  bewildered  still  by  the  attractions  they  present  to 
engross  us.  It  .seems  impossible  once  the  eye  has  rested  upon 
them  to  raise  it  to  those  things  of  which  one  has  essayed  to  tell, 
so  full  of  loveliness  are  these  more  humble  flowers.  “  More 
humble”  one  says  with  some  rc.servation ;  for  there  is  no 
evidence  of  humility  among  the  majority  of  the  Tulips,  surely 
the  most  gallant  of  all  flowers  Avhich  ever  graced  a  garden.  As 
one  looks  upon  them  one  wonders  if  the  poets’  who  wrote  dis¬ 
dainfully  of  them  had  ever  known  the  Tulip  ti'uly.  Had  they 
seen  it  as.  we  gardeners  see  it  they  would  have  recognised  its 
.stateliness,  its  lovely,  if  often  brilliant  colouring,  and  the 
many  delightful  traits  it  presents  to  those  who  have  learned  to 
look  at  it  otherwise  than  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  mass  of 
colour  in  a  parterre.  It  has  its  crimsons  and  its  scarlets,  its 
yellows  and  its  other  striking  shades:  but  it  ha.s  also  its  chaste 
whitene.s.ses,  its  soft  yellows  and  creams,  and  its  delicate  pink 
and  blush  harmonies,  all  in  the  shapeliest  of  cups  and  chalices. 
If  we  hav'e  a  grudge  against  May  in  the  garden,  it  is  because 
she,  almost  parts  us  from  the  Narcissus,  though  she  may  leave 
with  us  for  a  brief  space  the  old  ivc.urved  Poet’s  Narcissus  and 
the  sweet  double  Gardenia-flowered  Narcissus.  They  bring  the 
reign  of  the  Narcissus  fitly  to  a  close  with  their  fragrant  love¬ 
liness;  but  we  pass  reluctantly  from  the  reign  of  the  Daffodil  in 
ail  its  branches,  even  though  in  the  new  regime  we  are  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  the  flowers  of  June.  How  many  followers 
INlay  has  in  her  train  of  flowers  it  seems  impossible  to  tell. 
If  the  Violas  and  Pansies  are  “stepmothers,”  as  the  old 
Continental  name  would  indicate,  they  come  with  no  harsh  or 
unkindly  mien.  Quaintlj'  beautiful  are  all  the  Pansy  and  Viola 
race,  and  their  very  daintiness  makes  one  think  smilingly  and 
happily  of  the  quaint  conceit  of  the  rustic  name  of  the  south. 
“  Kiss  me,  love,  at  the  garden  gate,”  by  its  length  reminds  one 
of  some  of  the  botanical  names  with  which  some  of  our  prettiest 
flowers  are  burdened  :  but  it  tells  something  of  the  dainty,  shy, 
yet  saucy  looks  of  the  Viola  in  all  its  forms.  There  are  many 
in  bloom  in  the  gardens  at  this  time. 
From  these  old  and  quaint  conceits  of  names  it  is  only 
natural  to  turn  to  the  Primroses  and  Polyanthuses,  and  “  Ox  ” 
and  “  CoAv’s  lips  ”  Avhich  are  about  the  garden.  Our  progenitors 
gave  some  of  them  ciuaint  and 
old-world  names,  tiiat  those 
who  grow  them  like  to  think 
of  now.  “Galligaskins,”  “Pan¬ 
taloons,”  “  Hose  -  in  -  Hose,” 
“  Jac,kana.pes  -  on  -  Horseback,” 
and  such-like  soubriquets  tell 
us  how  familiar  were  these 
flowers  to  the  olden  gardeners, 
who  loved  the  blossoms  of  May 
as  well  as  we,  and  who  had 
not  at  their  command  the 
almost  beAvildering  array  of 
plants  noAV  blooming  in  our 
garden  here.  Of  these  but  a 
Avord  or  tA\'o  more. 
Saxifrages  abound.  Some 
are  Avhite,  like  hypnoides  and 
many  more ;  some  are  pink  or 
red,  like  Rhei,  Guildford  Seed¬ 
ling,  Fergusoni,  or  muscoides 
atro-purpurea,  or  the  unique 
Grisebachi.  Others  are  golden, 
like  the  delightful  little  cym- 
balaria,  Avhile  above  the  grey 
rosettes  of  the  enermsted  ones 
rise  spires  of  floAver,  either 
Avhite,  or  AA'hite  spotted  with 
red  and  yelloAV.  Could  the 
raisers  of  the  neAv  spotted 
Zonal  Pelargoniums  but  copy 
these  Saxifrages  in  their  mark¬ 
ings,  they  would  achieve  a 
triumph  indeed. 
Mounds  of  yelloAV  Aly.ssums, 
or  MaclAvorts,  accompany  the 
Rockfoils,  and  .sheets  of 
Aubrietias,  of  almost  all  shades 
of  lilac  and  purple  and  ro.se, 
.share  Avith  the  Arabis  the 
honour  of  giving  the  garden 
its  masses  of  bloom  Avhich  hang 
from  the  rockeries  or  bi'ighten 
the  patliAvay’s  margin.  The 
Arabis,  despised  by  many,  is 
not  de.spised  by  the  bees,  and 
Avhen  the  single  form  has  lost 
its  Avhiteness  the  Stock-like 
spikes  of  the  double  form  give 
their  softly  fragrant  flowers 
for  long  afterAvards.  There  are  Avhite  Candytufts,  too.  There 
are  Cardamines,  from  the  double  variety  of  the  Lady’s  Smock 
to  the  remaining  floAvers  of  the  Dentaria  section,  a  floAver  attrac- 
tiA^e  to  those  Avho  see  it  first,  and  not  to  be  despised  after  many 
years  of  its  acquaintanceship.  Anemones  are  bright,  and  ireA'er 
pall  upon  our  eyes.  From  the  purple  PasquefloAver,  A.  pulsa- 
tilla,  to  the  Poppy  Anemone,  Avith  its  many  colours,  or  the 
Wood  Anemone  and  the  Narcissus-floAAered  one,  all  are  delight¬ 
ful.  Doronicums,  LungAvorts,  Candytufts,  Pi'imulas,  Geums, 
Potentillas,  and  others  bloom  away.  Rut  the  cMl  of  “Hold, 
enough!  ”  seems  inevitable,  even  though  the  floAA'ers  of  May  an- 
not  half  told.  Gardening  has  its.  toils,  its  troubles,  and  its 
trials  :  but  Avhen  May  comes  she  lightens  our  present  labours, 
and  makes  us  forget  those  Avhich  have  gone  before.  We  are 
too  liappy  among  our  floAvers  to  think  of  these. — S.  Aunott. 
- •  - 
Sale  of  a  Yaluab’e  Orchid. 
At  a  ‘^alo  of  Orcliifls  held  by  Me.ssr.s.  Protheroe  and  Morris,  at 
Cheap.side,  on  May  28,  a  plant  of  Odontoglossum  crispum  Ray¬ 
mond  CraAvshay  (described  a.s  a  fine  plant  Avith  two  bulbs  and  one 
heAv  groAvth)  realised  250  guineas. 
Dendrobium  Wardianuni. 
