30 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  ■ 
July  9,  1903. 
Flowers  of  the  Season. 
As,  each  month  comes  round  the  garden  inay  lose  some  of  its 
fascinations,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  receives  fresh  accessions 
of  beauty.  June  seemed  no  less  charming  than  May ;  and  now 
July  is  as  delightful  as  the  months  which  have  gone  before.  Nay, 
she  is  more  charming  in  some  ways,  for  the  weather  is  more 
grracious  both  to  our  flowers  and  ourselves,  and  we  are  enchanted 
with  all  around.  The  breezes  are  soft  and  warm,  and  we  can  sit 
in  the  garden  and  list  to  the  sounds  they  make  among  the  trees 
and  the  plants,  as  they  seem  to  .sing  the  praises  of  the  flowers 
among  which  they  pass  with  their  gentle  breath,  stealing  mean¬ 
time  from  the  blossoms  the  fragrance  they  exhale.  And  we  can 
sit  and  delight  ourselves  with  the  many  flowers  wliich  around  and 
about  are  the  silent  witnesses  of  the  Great  Power  which  calls 
them  forth  from  Mother  Earth  to  deck  the  world— even  this  little 
spot  of  ours  we  call  a  garden — with  the  forms  of  beauty  we  see 
beside  us. 
There  are  Roses  many  and  of  the  most  glorious  beauty.  It  is 
true  that  the  queen  of  flowers  has  .smiled  upon  us  with  less 
urbanity  than  is  her  wont.  The  w'inds  of  spring  were  less  benign 
with  this  sweetest  flower  than  she  deserved,  and  so  .she  has  been 
unable  to  yield  to  the  full  her  greate.st  bounty.  Yet  we  expect 
that  when  autumn  come.s  she  will  more  than  compensate  for  our 
pi-esent  loss ;  and  it  must  be  said  that  had  we  not  known  the  pro¬ 
fuse  gifts  the  Rose  can  give  us  in  favoured  years  we  had  not  felt 
any  disappointment  at  all,  for  truly  there  are  Roses  in  plenty 
with  us  now.  Hybrid  Teas  and  Teas  are  less  plentiful,  but  others 
have  been  impressive  in  their  loveliness.  It  is  for  the  rosarian, 
however,  and  not  for  me  to  tell  fully  as  ought  to  be  told  the  im¬ 
pressive  beauty  of  the  Rose  in  all  her  forms.  She  is  the  s^mmwn 
bontiin;  the  perfection  of  perfections;  the  gift  of  gifts  to  the  lover 
of  flowers. 
The  regal  Lily,  too,  has  entered  upon  that  annual  conflict  of 
which  the  poets  have  told.  One  should  hardly  call  it  a  conflict ; 
for  rather  is  the  Lily  the  companion  than  the  challenger  of  the 
Rose  for  pride  of  place.  One  may  adopt  the  imagery  of  Percival, 
who  turns  the  languages  of  flowers  into  ver,se,  and  says ; 
The  Rose  is  a  sign  of  joy  and  love. 
Young  blushing  love  in  its  earlier  dawn. 
And  of  its  companion  the  Lily  : 
Innocence  shines  in  the  Lily’s  bell, 
Pure  as  the  heart  in  its  native  heaven. 
If  we  look  upon  them  thus  we  shall  acknowledge  that,  as  the 
Rose  symbolises  joy  and  love,  the  Lily  the  symbol  of  innocence, 
is  therefore  an  inseparable  associate  of  our  queen  of  flowers.  She 
has  come  to  us  in  other  forms  at  first,  but  it  is  in  Lilium 
candidum,  the  Madonna  Lily,  that  we  have  at  this  season  the 
embodiment  of  the  graces  and  beauties  of  this  flower. 
Then  we  have  the  Iris  with  us  as  well.  The  Flag  Irises  of  the 
barbata  section  have  been  somewhat  churlish  in  their  gifts  of 
flower  this  season,  but  there  are  yet  others  which  have  been  more 
liberal.  Perhaps  of  them  all,  the  English  Irises  have  been  finer 
than  usual,  and  as  the  month  of  July  begins  we  are  delighting  in 
these  shapes  and  colours  of  loveliest  beauty.  Had  we  never  had 
the  Rose  and  the  Lily,  the  Iris  would  have  stood  high  in  the  list§ 
had  we  to  choose  among  our  hard,v  flowers  for  a  royal  plant. 
Whether  or  no  it  was  the  ancient  fleur  de  lis  under  whose  banner 
was  enrolled  so  much  of  the  chivalry  of  past  days,  it  is  a  noble 
flower  and  impre-ssive  in  its  charms  and  graces. 
We  must  also  rejoice  in  the  Campanulas.  Some  are  well 
named,  for  they  are  graceful  Campanile.s,  supporting  noble  bell¬ 
like  flowers  on  which  we  might  fancy  the  fairies  and  sprites 
sounding  the  chimes  to  welcome  in  the  opening  day.  In  them 
by  day  the  bees  sound  forth  their  booming  notes  as  they  seek  for 
nectar  in  these  shapely  flowers  of  blue,  of  purple,  or  of  white. 
Such  are  the  noble  Campanula  persicifolia  grandiflora,  the  chaste 
C.  persicifolia  alba  grandiflora,  the  salver-like  flowers  of  Cam¬ 
panula  grandis,  or  the  fine  purple  or  white  bells  of  O.  latifolia 
macrantha  and  C.  latifolia  macrantha  alba.  Then  there  are  the 
dwarf  members  of  the  race,  siich  as  C.  pumila  or  the  fine  purple- 
blue  blossomed  C.  Portenschlagiana  grandiflora,  as  w;e  ought  to 
call  the  “  Bavarian  ”  form,  delightful  just  now  hanging  from  a 
rough  wall  or  veiling  the  .stone  steps  of  the  ascent  to  a  small  roof 
garden. 
There  are  also  stately  spires  of  the  noble  Delphiniums,  with 
the  lighter  but  equally  beautiful  spikes  of  some  of  the  species 
untouched  by  the  modifying  hand  of  the  hybridist.  It  i.s  needless 
to  name  these  hybrid  Delphiniums,  for  are  not  their  names 
familiar  to  the  readers  of  our  Journal  who  read  the  accounts  of 
the  Kelwayian  and  French  perennial  Larkspurs  ?  Then  there  are 
the  sulphur  yellow  of  D.  zalil,  the  orange-red  of  D.  nudicaule, 
and  the  various  colours  and  shades  given  by  others  more  or  less 
distinct. 
In  the  Cistuses  and  Helianthemums  we  have  true  children  of 
the  .sun;  more  correctly,  one  plight  say,  perhaps,  “children  of 
the  morning  sun,”  for  most  of  them  open  with  the  early  hours, 
and  have  lost  thei*^  beauty  ere  king  Sol  has  sunk  far  past  his 
meridian.  Here  is  h  noble  bush  of  Cistus  laurifolius,  more  than 
6ft  high,  and  at  present  spangled  with  fine  white  flowers.  In  a  ^ 
day  or  two  it  will  be  well  nigh  covered  with  them.  Here,  again, 
is  C.  albidus,  and  there  C.  salvisefolius,  both  pictures  of  loveli¬ 
ness  ;  while  the  dwarfer  Helianthemums,  or  Sun  Roses,  have  nob 
yet  donned  for  the  year  the  sober  grey  garments  in  which  they 
seek  obscurity  when  their  time  of  beauty  has  gone  by. 
Then  with  fragrance  unspeakable  is  not  the  garden  dowered 
by  the  Carnation  and  the  Pink  ?  The  Carnation  is  dearer  to  the 
heart  of  the  specialist  in  the.se  flowers  than  to  many,  but  all  must 
acknowledge  its  loveliness  and  its  sweetness.  And  the  Pink  in 
its  many  forms  has  devotees  many ;  from  him  who  spends  his  time 
and  lavishes  his  affections  upon  the  laced  ones  or  the  chaste  white 
and  coloured  border  varieties,  to  him  who  studies  with  earnestness 
and  devoted  admiration  the  numerous  species  dear  to  the  heart  of 
the  hardy  plantsman  or  the  “  alpinist.”  All  these  forms  are  here, 
and  all  are  lovely ;  though,  it  must  be  said,  even  if  with  bated 
breath,  that  all  are  not  fragrant  wdth  that  sweet  odour  which  i.s 
the  special  gift  of  .so  many  O'f  these  Pinks. 
And  as  we  look  around  at  other  flowers  the  eye  wanders  with 
pleasure  from  plant  to  plant,  scanning  their  beauty  or  lingering 
upon  some  of  more  than  ordinary  charms  or  interest.  Here  is  a 
group  of  the  hybrid  Mimulas  Burneti ;  there,  by  the  Water  Lily 
pool,  a  patch  of  M.  luteus  and  one  of  M.  cupreus  Brilliant.  The 
Nympheeas  themselves  have  come  into  loveliness,  and  open  their 
charms  to  the  admiration  of  the  brilliant  sunshine.  Be.side  them 
are  some  of  the  Spiraeas,  or  Meadow-sweets,  giving  their  masses 
of  plume-like  flowers  in  profusion.  Delightful  are  they,  whether 
flourishing  well  in  a  dry  one,  as  is  the  manner  of  the  bright  little 
crimson-flowered  .shrubby  S.  bullata,  now  coining  into  bloom,  or 
in  a  moist  one,  as  is  the  way  of  S.  palmata  or  the  noble  S.  aruncus. 
We  gaze  upon  bright  hard.y  Geraniums  and  Erodiums ;  upon 
Alstromerias,  or  on  the  spin.y-looking  but  lovely  Eryngiums.  In 
the  borders  and  about  the  rockeries  are  many  Violas  of  all  colours 
we  find  among  the  race,  while  Poppies  flaunt  their  great  blooms 
among  the  other  flowers.  Valerians  give  their  unimpasing 
racemes  of  blue  or  white,  and  Veronicas  are  masses  of  blue,  either 
in  carpet  on  the  rockeries  or  in  upright  clumps  in  the  border. 
The  earliest  annuals  have  begun,  and  help  the  effect,  of  the  nia.ny 
other  flowers.  Over  all  is  the  sun,  flooding  the  garden  with 
brightness  and  light.  Each  plant  is  a  study  of  light  and  shade, 
each  flower  a  vision  of  loveliness.  Truly  Summer  brings  with  her 
bounties  for  all  of  us  ;  and  none  have  more  cause  to  bless  her  tlian 
those  who  love  their  gardens  and  cherish  their  flowers. — 
S.  Arnott. 
Cryptomeria  elegans. 
Amongst  the  many  beautiful  Conifers  from  Japan  this  is,  with¬ 
out  doubt,  one  of  the  most  ornamental,  easy  of  propagation  by 
cuttings,  cultivation,  and  hai-dy.  It  is  not  particular  as  to  soil 
and  situation,  bearing  also  with  impunity  sharp  frosts,  boisterous 
winds,  and  heavy  rains;  in  fact,  it  revels  in  plenty  of  moisture, 
but  to  bring  out  its  bright  and  rich  coloui'ation,  the  best  condi¬ 
tions  are  a  light  porous  sub-soil,  and  an  airy,  sunny  situation, 
with  plenty  of  room  for  development.  In  the  earlier  stages  of 
growth  a  certain  manipulation  of  its  branches  should  be  practised 
to  ensure  an  upright  and  symmetrical  habit  of  growth,  as  it  has 
a  strong  tendency  to  produce  a  multiplicity  of  leaders  and 
.straggling  lateral  branches,  giving  the  plant  an  irregular  and 
unsymmef rical  contour.  To  form  the  main  stem,  the  central 
leaders  should  alone  be  preserved,  and  the  duplicate  ones,  with 
all  straggling  laterals,  well  i^inched  back ;  whilst  all  branches  up 
to,  say,  bin  or  Sin.  at  the  base  of  the  main  stem,  also  any  suckers 
should  be  cut  away  entirely.  This  Cryptomeria  was  discovered 
in  1863  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Gould  Veitch.  There  is  a  large 
proportion  of  the  species  belonging  to  the  different  genera  of 
the  Conifers  distingui.shed  for  their  alternation  of  foliage  colour¬ 
ing,  but  none  more  so  nor  more  striking  than  the  subject  in 
question,  which  a.ssumes  in  the  late  autumn  and  winter  season  a 
rich  bronzy  red  colour  on  the  exterior  stems  and  foliage  exposed 
to  full  sunlight,  wdiilst  the  shaded  portion  retains  the  ordinary 
green  colour,  thus  rendering  the  plant,  whether  growdng  singly 
or  several  in  a  group,  a  most  conspicuous  and  ornamental  object, 
not  surpassed  by  any  other  evergreen  tree  or  .shrub.  Planting 
them  en  masse,  however,  is  hardly  to  be  recommended,  as  if  planted 
too  closely  together  the  contour  of  the  plant  is  destroyed. 
One  of  the  finest  specimens  known  in  England  (according  to 
Veitch’s  “Manual  of  Coniferse”)  was  at  Linton  Park,  near  Maid- 
stojue,  in  1881,  being  20ft.  in  height,  and,  according  to  the  excel¬ 
lent  illustration,  it  must  have  presented  a  fine  and  remarkable 
appearance.  The  author  says  that  C.  elegans  was  first  discovered 
by  the  late  Mr.  John  Gould  Veitch,  who  met  with  it  only  in  cul¬ 
tivation  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Yokohama,  but  he  had  never 
known  of  its  growing  in  a  wild  state.  There  is  said  to  be  a  form 
of  it  called  C.  elegans  nana — a  low,  dense,  bushy  shrub,  with 
leaves  more  crowded  than  the  preceding,  wdiich  retains  all  the 
intensity  of  the  glowing  crimson  hue  of  C.  elegans  during  the 
winter  months,  with  the  exception  of  the  pendulous  tops  of  the 
branchlets,  which  continue  green.  The  resemblance  of  C.  elegans 
during  the  growdng  season  to  Araucaria  Cunninghami  is  very 
apparent. — W.  G. 
