414 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  16,  1901. 
Spring  Flowers. 
The  first  rush  ot  spring  flowers  is  over;  the  Cyclamens,  Snowdrops, 
the  early  flowering  A  lemones,  Chionodoxas,  Scillas,  and  Aconite 
hive  done  their  best  to  gladden  us  in  the  opening  days  of  the  year,  but 
to  one  who  has  passed  the  fourscore  years  there  is  an  element  of 
sadness  in  all  this.  I  am  no  pessimist,  but  am  rather  inclined  to 
take  a  hopeful  view  of  things,  but  one  cannot  help  asking,  Shall  I 
ever  see  these  plants  flower  again  ?  Of  course,  you  will  say  this  is 
a  question  we  may  always  a-k  ;  true,  but  it  becomes  more  impressive 
as  years  roll  on.  And  now  “that  the  spring  has  set  in  wi'h  its  usual 
severity,”  we  are  endeavouring  to  comfort  ourselves,  in  the  midst  of 
hot  suns  and  biting  easterly  winds,  with  such  flowers  as  follow 
immediately  after  these  first  messengers  of  warmer  weather,  and 
unquestionably  the,  first  place  must  be  given  to  the  Daffodil — a  flower 
which  has  come  so  much  into  favour  of  late  years. 
Daffodils. 
Of  these  there  are  a  great  many,  perhaps  too  many,  varieties, 
commencing  with  those  early  flowering  ones  minor  and  minimus, 
and  going  on  to  the  more  stately  forms  of  the  beautiful  trumpet 
varieties,  of  which  we  have  such  grand  and  striking  examples.  Of 
these  perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  are  the  Horsefieldi  section,  and  I 
think  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  find  anything  more  imp  sing  than 
those  two  grand  sorts,  Emperor  and  Empress,  which  are  now  cultivated 
wherever  the  Narcissus  finds  a  home.  Although  many  of  the  varieties 
are  much  like  one  another,  yet  they  varyas  to  their  times  of  flowering, 
so  that  their  b  ooming  season  is  much  prolonged.  The  ordinary  form 
of  what  we  call  Lent  Lilies,  and  which  come  amongst  the  early 
flowering  ones,  have  been  very  bright  in  the  small  grass  paddock  in 
the  front  of  my  house.  They  have  spread  considerably  during  the 
last  twenty  years,  and  now  the  pretty  and  very  distinct  variety 
Narcissus  poeticus  is  coming  into  flower,  and  will  remain  with  us 
another  fortnight  or  three  weeks. 
Fritillarias. 
The  Fritillarias  are  now  also  in  full  flower,  and  as  a  native  plant 
they  are  very  acceptable.  They  do  not  grow  wild  amongst  us  here 
in  Kent,  but  in  Oxfordshire,  Berkshire,  and  other  counties  they  are 
very  abundant.  I  think  the  white  one  is  the  most  pleasing  of  them 
all,  and  I  received  seme  roots  of  it  from  my  friend,  Mr.  Strange  of 
Aldermaston,  some  years  ago,  which  now  give  me  an  ample  crop  of 
bloom.  They  are  so  easy  of  cultivation  that  I  wonder  they  are  not 
more  generally  found  in  gardens;  they  grow  almost  anywhere,  and 
require  but  little  care  and  attention.  Those  which  we  know  as 
Crown  Imperial  are  in  full  flower  now,  and  both  the  yellow  and 
red  varieties  are  Bure  to  attract  attention.  There  is  also  another 
which  is  intermediate  between  the  Crown  Imperial  and  low-growing 
Fritillarias,  Fritillaria  pallidiflora.  I  have  had  this  for  some  years  on 
one  of  my  rockeries,  but  I  do  not  find  that  it  increases.  It  only  throws 
up  one  stem  with  a  couple  of  blooms  on  it  about  18  inches  high,  and 
of  a  pale  yellow  colour. 
Auriculas. 
r  Amongst  those  flowers  which  attract  horticulturists  at  this  season 
is  one  around  which  my  earliest  associations  cluster.  I  mean  the 
Auricula,  and  I  grieve  very  much  to  find  that  the  Southern  Show 
this  year  was  of  so  limited  a  character  ;  in  fact,  I  believe  that  it  was 
the  smallest  the  society  has  ever  held,  and  some  of  the  blooms  showed 
symptoms  of  having  been  subjected  to  forcing,  still  there  were  some 
things  worth  noting  in  it.  Several  new  varieties  have  been  brought 
forward ;  thus  in  Mr.  Douglas’  collection  there  was  Abraham  Barker, 
a  new  green  edge,  which  came  from  the  North,  and  belongs  perhaps  to 
the  most  attractive  class  of  the  edged  flowers.  Then  there  was  Mrs. 
Henwood,  bearing  a  name  much  honoured  among  Auricula  zealots  ; 
this  also  is  a  very  fine  green  edge.  I  saw  it  in  flower  two  or  three 
years  ago,  and  it  then  struck  me  as  a  valuable  addition.  Monarch,  I 
also  recollect  seeing  some  years  ago ;  but  Zola  I  have  not  seen.  In 
grey  edges  George  Lightbody  still  holds  the  field;  and  in  white  edges 
Magpie  begins  to  make  its  appearance.  It  was  raised  some  years  ago 
by  the  Rev.  F.  D.  Horner,  but  the  Auricula  increases  so  slowly  that 
these  newer  kinds  take  a  long  time  before  they  come  into  general 
cultivation. 
Auricula  virtuosos. 
I  cannot  mention  the  Auricula  without  referring  to  the  lamented 
death  of  my  late  friend,  Miss  Woodhead.  I  went  to  see  her  and  her 
brother  many  years  ago  at  Shibden  Head,  near  Halifax,  where  he  had 
commenced  the  most  careful  hybridisation  of  the  Auricula,  and  though 
for  only  a  short  time  engaged  in  it,  he  produced  some  flowers  which 
were  almost  always  to  be  found  in  winning  stands — these  were 
Rachel,  Mrs.  Dodwell,  George  Rudd,  and  Black  Bess ;  they  are  to  be 
found  this  year  amongst  the  winning  flowers.  After  Mr.  Woodhead’s 
death  his  sister  removed  to  Hipperholme,  a  more  accessible  place,  where 
she  continued  successfully  to  follow  up  the  cultivation  of  the  flower, 
which  she  did  quite  as  much  because  she  cherished  the  memory  of  her 
brother,  to  whom  khe  was  much  attached,  as  she  did  for  the  love  of  the 
flower  itself — and  so  one  after  another  the  cultivators  of  our  favourite 
flowers  pass  away  ;  but  there  are  still  some  left  among  us.  The  Rev. 
F.  D.  Horner,  the  facile  princeps  of  amateur  Auricula  growers,  still 
continues  to  cultivate  and  exhibit,  I  believe  ;  also,  Ben  Simonite, 
whose  name  is  cherished  by  those  who  regard  the  efforts  of  this  sincere 
and  honest  grower,  who,  amidst  great  difficulties  amidst  the  smoke 
and  dirt  of  a  large  manufacturing  town,  grows  and  exhibits  successfully 
the  flower  he  loves  so  much. 
Spring  Prospects. 
Trillium  grandiflorum  is  another  flower  which  is  conspicuous  in 
the  rockery,  but  not  so  much  so  as  I  could  wish  ;  our  climate  and  soil 
are  both  too  dry  for  it,  and  I  am  told  it  flourishes  most  in  damp 
places  and  in  woods.  And  now,  of  course,  we  shall  be  looking 
forward,  in  Kent  especially,  for  the  glorious  profusion  of  fruit  blossoms, 
with  which  our  orchards  will  be  presently  covered.  Already  the 
Pears  and  Cherries  are  showing,  and  the  trees  seem  to  be  full  of 
bloom ;  but  of  course  the  prospect  of  the  fruit  crop  depends  entirely 
upon  the  character  of  next  month.  We  had  such  an  abundant  crop 
of  fruit  last  year  that  we  can  hardly  anticipate  a  repetition  of  it. 
There  are,  of  course,  a  number  of  things  showing  themselves,  such 
as  Lilium  testaceum,  L.  candidum,  L.  Browni,  which  are  rapidly 
pushing  up;  the  Ostrowskias  and  Eremuri  look  strong,  and  I  hope 
will  gladden  me  with  their  flowers  by-and-by.  Roses  have  as  yet 
made  hardly  any  growth,  and  are  very  backward ;  but  if  on  account 
of  this  we  are  saved  from  the  destructive  frosts  of  the  last  week  in 
May,  we  shall  not  mind  their  lagging  behind. — D.,  Deal. 
- - - — - - 
Blossom  in  Spring. 
At  tbis  season  of  the  year,  when  gardens  are  burdened  in  every 
corner  with  the  blossom  of  Apple  and  Pear  trees,  Bird  Cherries, 
Lilacs,  Laburnums,  and  white  and  crimson  Hawthorn,  it  does  not 
require  an  effort  of  imagination  to  picture  to  the  mind  the  beauty  of 
such  a  scene  as  that  which  we  illustrate  on  the  opposite  page.  Here 
wo  have  the  free  and  graceful,  albeit  magnificently  beautiful,  style  of 
pure  English  gardening.  “  The  Hawthorn’s  hoar  ”  and  “  the  fragrant 
Birch”  may  be  implied  as  lending  their  respective  qualities  and 
characteristics  here,  while  the  attractions  of  running  water,  and  the 
other  features  easy  to  detect,  are  all  of  them  valuable  for  effect  in 
garden  designing.  At  Kew  the  planting  of  Pyrus  Malus  floribunda, 
and  other  varieties  of  the  Apple,  in  front  of  a  back  range  of  dark 
Conifers,  has  been  successful,  and  has  in  certain  instances  added 
characteristically  beautiful  features  to  these  gardens  in  springtime. 
- - ♦♦O*  > - 
Edenhall,  Cumberland. 
This  fine  place  has  been  previously  described  in  the  pages  of  the 
Journal  of  Horticulture,  yet  a  visit  at  any  time  of  the  year  is  full  of 
interest.  Since  my  last  visit,  over  two  years  ago,  much  improvement 
has  taken  place  in  the  gardens  under  the  able  direction  of  Mr.  Smith. 
A  Rose  garden  was  made,  shortly  after  my  last  visit,  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  flower  garden,  in  which  over  a  thousand  Roses  were 
planted,  and  are  now  flourishing.  This,  in  many  places,  would  not 
be  a  great  undertaking,  but  here  the  natural  soil  is  not  suitable  to  the 
growth  of  the  Rose,  so  that  the  surface  tilth  had  to  be  removed  to  the 
depth  of  several  feet  and  fresh  and  more  adhesive  soil  brought  from  a 
distance.  The  garden  is  laid  out  on  turf,  the  Roses  being  planted  in 
oval  and  oblong  beds.  At  the  southeru  end  are  pillars  and  chains, 
against  which  are  planted  the  varieties  Carmine  Pillar,  Crimsoa 
Rambler,  and  Bouquet  d’Or.  Near  by  are  the  famous  Cedars  of 
Lebanon,  twin  trees,  whose  circumference  at  5  feet  from  the  ground 
is  27  feet  7  inches,  and  27  feet  5  inches  respectively — two  of  the 
largest  examples  in  the  country.  Ampelopsis  Veitchi  was  planted 
against  the  columns  of  the  portico  of  the  house  by  Mr.  Smith  six 
