HTOKAGE ITEM PROCESS ING-CNE Lpl~Cl7A U.B.C. LIBRARY III ,i^ ! 11 LOWERS WALTER P. WRIGHT ^Hi ^^^■' ^^^^^^H< THE LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Gift F. E. Buck ^V«i W, K. IIAKIM'.OV, ^ ^ A ( V :■'.>) -";j<- rr:^Vi m^ ^M POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Uniform with this Volume THE GARDEN WEEK BY WEEK THROUGHOUT THE YEAR A Practical Handbook to Gardening Operations for every Week in the Year and to the Culture of ALL Important Plants IFziA Coloured Plates and Engravings and One Hundred Practical Illustrations Price 6s. net THE PERFECT GARDEN : How to Keep it Beautiful and Fruitful With Coloured Plates and Engravings, and with \ 9 Plans for Gardens, etc. Price 6s. net Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from University of British Columbia Library http://www.archive.org/details/populargardenfloOOwrig POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS ANEMONES: ASTERS: BEGONIAS: CARNATIONS: CHRYSANTHEMUMS: CROCUSES: DAFFODILS: DAHLIAS: GERANIUMS: GLADIOLI: HOLLYHOCKS: HYACINTHS: IRISES: LILIES : PANSIES : PHLOXES : PRIMULAS : SWEET PEAS : STOCKS: TULIPS: ROSES )c BY WALTER P. WRIGHT AUTHOR OF "the PERFECT GARDEN" "the garden week by week," etc. IV/T/I SIX ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR AND FORTY-EIGHT REPRODUCTIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS LONDON GRANT RICHARDS LTD PUBLISHERS Printed by Bai.i.antyne, Hanson 6* Co. At the Ballantyne Press, Edinl)iirgh 1911 PREFACE Systems of gardening are not of much use unless supported by good plants, of which the best varieties are selected for thorough cultivation. Many amateurs grow too many kinds of plants. They crowd their beds, borders, and rockeries with a heterogeneous assembly of genera, many of which are of no special value. They would find gardening equally interesting, and far more effective, if they selected a few of the great flowers which have been developed by florists, studied the habit and requirements of the plants, and made themselves acquainted with the best varieties. By making good use of such great bulbous flowers as Daffodils, Tulips, and Hyacinths for spring ; Begonias, Roses, Sweet Peas, Zonal Geraniums, Asters, Carna- tions, Hollyhocks, Irises, Lilies, Paeonies, and Pansies for summer ; and Dahlias, Chrysanthemums, Phloxes, Michaelmas Daisies, Japanese Anemones, and Gladioli for late summer and autumn, it is possible to have a garden full of beauty and interest for the greater part of the year. In *^The Perfect Garden" I dealt with systems of gardening and plans of gardens. In a second work, *'The Garden Week by Week," I described the routine of garden operations throughout the year. In the pre- sent one, which completes the trilogy, I take all the most important plants and deal with them fully, showing V a 2 VI PREFACE their history, the origin and pronunciation of their names, their position in Hterature and folklore, their value as modern garden plants, their culture, and the best varieties of them. Garden interests are kept clearly in view throughout, and the book is not the less practical because literary associations are referred to. Every important cultural item has received attention. I feel sure that garden- lovers will not grow their favourite flowers with less of either interest or thoroughness for knowing something of their place in history and literature. Although the various plants are dealt with primarily as garden flowers, I have thought it wise to refer briefly to the indoor as well as the outdoor culture of such as are used for both greenhouse and garden adornment, and even to offer hints for the guidance of exhibitors. This has been done for the sake of completeness. In the case of such particularly important plants as Carnations, Chrysanthemums, and Roses, which are specialised by thousands of people, I have supplemented the practical information with a summary in the form of a monthly calendar of cultural operations, which will guard the amateur from the ill effects of neglecting im- portant operations or performing them out of season. WALTER P. WRIGHT. March^ 191 1. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. Anemones (Windflowers) i II. Asters, China and Perennial .... 13 III. Begonias 24 IV. Bell-flowers (Campanulas) and Canterbury Bells 32 V. Shrubby Border and Bedding Calceolarias . 38 VI. Canary Creeper and other Nasturtiums and Tropceolums 42 VII. Candytufts and other Annuals ... 47 VIII. Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks . . .51 IX. Christmas and Lenten Roses (Hellebores) . n X. Chrysanthemums 84 XI. Clematises iii XII. Columbines (Aquilegias) 119 XIII. Crocuses 126 XIV. Daffodils and Narcissi 134 XV. Dahlias 150 XVI. Feverfews (Pyrethrums) 163 XVII. Forget-me-nots (Myosotis) 167 XVIII. Foxgloves 171 XIX. Geraniums 176 XX. Gladioli . 186 XXI. Hollyhocks 196 vii vili CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE XXII. Honeysuckle 202 XXIII. Hyacinths 208 XXIV. Irises 218 XXV. Jasmine 232 XXVI. Perennial Larkspurs (Delphiniums) . . 237 XXVII. Lilies 243 XXVIII. Pteonies 263 XXIX. Pansies, Violas, and Sweet Violets . . . 270 XXX. Phloxes 285 XXXI. Primulas— Auriculas, Oxlips, Polyanthuses, and Primroses 294 XXXII. Roses 303 XXXIII. Snapdragons and Sweet Williams . . .339 XXXIV. Sweet Peas 345 XXXV. Stocks and Wallflowers 355 XXXVI. Tulips 3^2 INDEX 371 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR Lilies and Roses Frontispiece Hollyhocks and Herbaceous Phloxes . . . Facing page i()6 Perennial Larkspurs „ 236 White Lilies .....*... „ 242 Rose Borders , . „ 304 Sweet Peas „ 346 BLACK AND WHITE Hepaticas „ 8 A bed of Japanese Anemones „ 10 Annual Asters „ 20 Double Begonias „ 26 Canterbury Bells „ 32 A bed of the Peach-leaved Campanula persicifolia . „ 36 Carnations in a vase „ 62 Double Pinks „ 64 Double Indian Pinks ,, 68 Single Chrysanthemums as cut flowers ... „ 84 Prize Japanese Chrysanthemums .... „ 94 Single Chrysanthemum A. Ferguson ... „ 96 ix X LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Decorative Chrysanthemums . Double white annual Chrysanthemums . Chrysanthemum (Pyrethrum) uliginosum Clematis Montana Columbines Crocuses in grass under trees . Narcissus Emperor Cactus Dahlias A bed of Dahlias Alpine Forget-me-not (Myosotis dissitiflora) Foxgloves in the wild garden . Gladioli A well-bloomed Hollyhock Honeysuckle on an arch .... Beds of Irises at Kew .... Iris Sibirica massed for effect on the margin pond at Kew A border of Irises A bed of Delphinium (perennial Laikspur) donna Lilium auratum Lilium longiflorum Lilium speciosum Belladonna Lilies Tree Paeonies Violas or Tufted Pansies .... Perennial Phloxes Primroses Rose Felicit^-Perp^tue .... A bed of the beautiful Rose Eleclra A Rose Pergola in the Royal Gardens, Kew of a Bella Facing page 98 }} 100 )> 104 »5 114 » 120 » 132 » 148 J> 160 )> 162 J» 168 >J 172 JJ 190 JJ 198 55 204 55 220 55 226 55 230 ,, 238 55 248 254 :} 258 55 260 ;) 264 5» 276 55 286 55 294 5' 304 - 324 ;) 332 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi Pentstemons Facing page 340 348 358 362 364 368 370 Sweet Peas Ten- week Stocks .... Tulips and Arabis (While Rock Cress) Beds of Tulips at Kew A border of Tulips with Lilac above Cannas I ON ANEMONES (WINDFLOWERS) AS ALL-THE- YEAR- ROUND PLANTS To many lovers of flowers the Anemone is merely a charming denizen of the woodlands. When it is men- tioned, radiant pictures of the shady undergrowth of the forest rise into memory. The listener recalls bright spring mornings in the secluded forest dales, when the first note of the cuckoo was heard, and the startled rabbits scurried at the sound of his footsteps. The Windflowers spread in sheets at his feet, the white or tinted flowers rising a few inches from the pretty green leaves. But the Anemone is also a garden plant of outstand- ing beauty and value. There are many species of it, and these have their varieties, differing to some extent in form and colour. Many bear little resemblance to the Wood Anemone. They are of larger growth, the flowers are many times the size, and the colours are rich and varied. With culture, we can have some of them in flower every month of the year. It is these beautiful Anemones that I now propose to consider. Garden-lovers who trace the folk-lore and literary association of flowers, grow them with a deeper interest from the knowledge that they have become the subject of tradition or rite with the multitude, or have come under the special observation of great writers. Research is carried to excess if the flower-lover deteriorates as A 2 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS a gardener in proportion to his development as an antiquarian, but most people find no difficulty in main- taining their cultural standard, while learning all that there is to know about the plants which they grow. A beautiful flower is worth studying from two points of view — its value as a garden object, and the part that it has played in life and literature. In the former capacity it adds to the pleasure of the present, in the latter it links us with the past. The brilliant Anemone, the first of our list of popular garden flowers, is a typical example of a flower that has the double interest of garden beauty and legendary association. In its different species and varieties it is a garden plant of great value, owing to its hardiness, the long period over which it blooms, and its brilliant colours. The flower gardener loves it, because it gives beautiful flowers for practically every month of the year, and is particularly generous in winter and spring. The litterateur regards it with special interest as the flower referred to by Shakespeare in ** Venus and Adonis " : " By this, the boy that by her side lay killed Was melted like a vapour from her sight, And in his blood that on the ground lay spilled, A purple flower sprang up chequered with white." The gardener might object that the flower which Shakespeare had in view when he wrote these lines could not have been the Anemone, inasmuch as it was neither purple nor chequered. But it has to be re- membered that with the mediaeval writers ^' purple " had a much wider application than it has at the present time. In the Latin purpureus it was used to describe the Poppy. And with respect to chequering, it was ON ANEMONES 3 applied as freely to spots of various shape as it was to square markings. A red flower with any kind of white markings might easily be '^ purple chequered with white " in Shakespeare's time. The Adonis Flower of his day was certainly the Anemone — note Ross's statement in 1647 that ^'Adonis was turned into a red flower called Anemone." The Anemone is the flower of the wind. The name comes from the Greek anemos — wind. What was the Greek idea ? Pliny says that the plant was so named because ^' the flower hath the propertie to open but when the wind doth blow " ; but as this does not con- form to the habit of the Anemone, it can only be supposed that he had some other flower in mind. Our Anemone became the Windflower because several species inhabited exposed, wind-swept places. That the early classical writers had another Anemone than ours is shown by Sir William Jones's lines : " Youth, like a thin Anemone, displays His silken leaf, and in a morn decays." The modern Anemone is not a fleeting (fugacious) flower, and this figure could not be used correctly in reference to it. We have anglicised the name by adopting an accen- tuation of our own. We ought to make it An-e-mo'-ne ; we make it A-nem'-o-ne. It is interesting to note that the scansion of the lines quoted above point to our method of pronunciation being held in the days of the old poet, but it is possible that he introduced an arbitrary pronunciation for the sake of his metre. The Windflower has its popular names. There is the ** Poppy " Anemone {coronaria)^ and there is the ^* Star " Anemone (hortensis). These represent two 4 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS great sections of early bloomers. The popular name of one of our native Anemones comes from its season of flowering : it is Pulsatilla — the Pasque or Passe Flower — the Easter Flower. Then there is the Japanese Ane- mone {A. Japonica) a later bloomer, and likewise a taller grower, than most other species. Several of the most important species have a bevy of beautiful daughters, but before considering these we might tabulate the most important kinds, and show their normal period of flowering outdoors : — Species. Flowering Season Outdoors. When to Sow or Plant. Apennina Spring Plant in autumn. Blanda .... Late winter and early spring Plant in autumn. Coronaria April to June Sow seed the pre- vious spring, or plant tubers in autumn. Fulgens .... April Sow seed previous spring, or plant tubers in autumn. Hepatica February, March Plant previous March. Hortensis (stellata) April Plant tubers in autumn. Japonica ( August to \ \ October | Plant early in pre- vious spring. Narcissiflora . April Plant previous spring. Nemorosa April Plant previous au- , tumn. Pulsatilla March, April Plant previous spring. Sylvestris April Plant previous spring. The gardener extends the flowering season of some of these, as we shall see in our consideration of the different species. Anemone Apennina^ sometimes called the Italian Windllower, owing to its being a native of the Apen- ON ANEMONES 5 nineS; is a pretty blue species with creeping, tuberous roots. It may grow on rockwork, or naturalised in the woodland. There is a double light blue form (flore- pleno), a white (alba), and a mauve (purpurea). All grow about six inches high. Blanda is a charming Windflower often in flower in January in sheltered places. It is blue, varying in shade, but also produces white and pink flowers. There are two exceptionally desirable varieties, namely, atrocaerulea, dark blue, and scythinica, white and blue. Like Apen- nina, the Blandas have creeping, semi-tuberous roots. They grow about four inches high, and are suitable for the rockery. Poppy Anemones, — Coronaria, the Crown, Poppy, or \ Garland Anemone, is the most valuable of all. The origi- ^ nal species, introduced from the Levant in 1596, had single striped flowers. It is not much grown, but its offspring, single, semi-double, and double, are cultivated in thousands of gardens. The flowers are large, brilliant, and varied. The foliage is attractively cut (laciniated). The Poppy Anemones make beautiful beds, and by judicious man- agement can be had in bloom over a long period. They are tuberous-rooted, and can be planted in autumn to flower the following spring ; but they are easily and \ quickly raised from seed, and a large stock of flowering plants can be raised in a year. The double Poppy Anemones are particularly prized, and the following are fine varieties or strains : — Alderborough, a mixed strain. Chapeau de Cardinal, cerise. Chrysanthemum-flowered, a mixed strain. King of Scarlets, beautiful form and brilliant colour, no seed. L'Ornement de la Nature, azure. Queen of Roses, rosy-carmine, no seed. 6 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Rose de Nice, rose. St. Brigid, a mixed strain. Salmon King, salmon. Sir Joseph Paxton, light violet. The singles are not so keenly sought after as the doubles, but they are beautiful. Scarlet, white, and blue varieties can be procured. All the Poppy Anemones grow about a foot high, and they thrive in most kinds of soil. If they are grown from tubers they should be planted in autumn for spring bloom, and in spring for summer flowering. If the tubers are examined, the incipient buds can be dis- tinguished, and these should be uppermost. The tubers should be set two inches deep and six inches apart. I Heavy clay soil is not supposed to suit the Anemones, but I have had excellent results from it when well drained, so that moisture had no chance of collecting and becoming stagnant. If I had undrained soil to deal with, I should either plant on a bed the level of which had been raised, or in spring. Given these provisions, clay soil is good, especially for summer blooming, as it supplies the moisture which these plants love so well. Poor soil should be well enriched with decayed manure. After the flowering the leaves will gradually die away, and when they have withered the roots of the spring- flowering plants may be lifted, dried, and stored in thin layers in a dry place. On a cool, fertile clay soil in a mild district in Kent I found seedling Poppy Anemones a source of great pleasure and interest. Some of the plants flowered the same year, others the following spring. As the seed is fluffy, and given to close adherence, thin sowing is not easy until the seed has been rubbed up in sand or fine soil. After this has been done it can be spread ON ANEMONES 7 readily. It should be covered with about half an inch of fine moist soil. If the plants come up thickly they should be thinned, and they may be subsequently trans- planted if desired, but it is not indispensable. The seed bed should not be allowed to get quite dry. The seed may be sown in a frame or greenhouse if the grower has either. By making special provision it is easy to have Poppy Anemones in bloom for several months. By sowing seed in spring and planting in frames in autumn, flowers can be had in January and February. In March, out- door plants from tubers inserted in autumn will begin to bloom in sheltered places, and there should be bloom in April and May. Flowers can be had in June and July by planting tubers in February or March. Autumn and winter bloom should come from seed sown in spring. Thus it is possible to get Anemones from one class alone nearly every month in the year. The specialist will grow all the varieties of the Poppy Anemone which he can get, but others will be content with the St. Brigid mixture and King of Scarlets. These will give some of the finest forms. The St. Brigids embrace a great diversity of beautiful colours, and the /flowers are as large as breakfast-cups. Most of them S are semi-double. Considering their beauty and cheap- ness (the best strains only cost about five shillings per 100 tubers) they should be grown by every flower- lover. FulgenSj the next on our list of Anemones, is the well-known scarlet Windflower, and a most brilliant one it is. It grows about a foot high, and has several varieties, notably annulata, crimson with white base ; flore-pleno, double scarlet ; graeca, scarlet, with black boss ; oculata gigantea, scarlet, with pale yellow eye ; S POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS and The Queen, salmon pink. The flowers of oculata gigantea are of great size. The treatment of this class is very similar to that of the Poppy Anemone, and flowers can be had for several months by the same procedure. They like a sunny position. They are tuberous-rooted. In the ordinary way they will bloom in spring from seed sown the previous spring or tubers planted in autumn. If there is room to spare in a cold frame, it is always worth while to put in a few tubers of Anemone fulgens, as the brilliant scarlet flowers are very cheerful at mid-winter. Hepaticas. — Our next species is Hepatica, that little plant which has received the popular award of a generic standing, and is grown, not as Anemone Hepatica^ but as the Hepatica, in thousands of gardens. It is not a tuberous species, and this fact, coupled with its inclu- sion in the catalogues of most florists apart from the Anemones, deceives non-botanical flower-lovers, who do not look on it as an Anemone at all. The common Hepatica, with its three-lobed leaves (triloba) has single lilac flowers, and is a very pretty plant. There are several varieties, such as single red and white, and double red, blue, and white. The last is very rare, and is too expensive to plant in quantity. Angulosa, blue, with its white and rose varieties, is also a Hepatica. The Hepaticas have fibrous, not tuberous, roots, and grow about six inches high. With their low, dense growth, early period of blooming, and abundance of bright flowers, they would be valuable rockery plants but for the fact that they cannot endure a sunny position. They love a cool, moist soil and a shady I place, and thrive under__tjees. They should be planted in March, or as soon as the flowers have decayed and ON ANEMONES 9 the young foliage shows. When estabHshed they should be left alone, as they do not relish frequent disturbance. Hortensis [stellata), — With the star Windflower we get back to the tuberous-rooted class. The botanists make hortensis embrace fulgens as well as stellata ; both, they tell us, are forms of the one species. Doubtless this is correct, but we have grown into a way of regard- ing hortensis and fulgens as distinct in gardens. The species produces scarlet, purple (or blue), and white flowers. It has several varieties, notably White Gem, an exquisite silvery flower with dark anthers. Jewel, violet, with white centre, is also charming. All grow nine inches to a foot high, and bloom in spring. The culture is similar to that of coronaria and fulgens — that is, they may be raised from seed sown in spring or tubers planted in autumn ; but they will not thrive so well as the Poppy Anemone in heavy soil. They like a light, warm, well-drained soil, in a sunny position, and are suitable for rockwork. The Japanese Anemone^ Japonica, which came from Japan in 1844, is a glorious herbaceous plant, producing its beautiful flowers on long, arching stems in August, September, and October. A fibrous-rooted species, it will grow almost anywhere. I have seen it really good in a London suburban garden. It loves a deep, cool, 1 rich soil ; and in such a medium is a very different plant from the ones that are seen in thin, poor, sun- baked soil, often rising to four feet high. The type has red flowers, and is less popular than the white variety Honorine Joubert, which first appeared in the garden of a French horticulturist named Joubert (or Jobert) at Verdun-sur-Meuse. The latter produces its large, white flowers in great abundance, and as the stems . are long, the plant is valuable to cut from. lo POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Many fine varieties of the Japanese Anemone have been raised from seed, and the following may be named for the benefit of gardeners who want to specialise this beautiful plant : — Alba (Honorine Joubert), white. Beaute Parfaite, double white. Collarette, white, yellow anthers, semi-double. Coupe d' Argent, white, double. Couronne Virginale, white, tinted. Honorine Joubert, white. Lady Ardilaun, white, larger than the preceding. Mont Rose, rose, semi-double. Vase d'Argent, silvery, double. Whirlwind, white. The Japanese Anemone and its varieties are delightful for herbaceous borders. They may be planted in spring. Propagation can be effected by division, or by taking cuttings of the roots in spring, placing them in pots, and putting them in a heated greenhouse or warm frame. Narcissiflora is not a very important species, but it is a pretty one, with its umbels of white flowers in April and May. It grows about a foot high. It will thrive on the rockery if the position is partially shaded. It may be planted in spring, and divided, if propagation is neces- sary, at the same season. Wood Anemones. — In nemorosa we have the Wood Anemone, so much admired in the shady glades of the forest in spring. It abounds on the chalk hills of Kent, the colour varying from white to pale rose. It is not much grown in gardens, but the large, beautiful, lavender- coloured variety Robinsoniana is, and few more charming dwarf spring-blooming plants exist for the rockery or for naturalising. Other pretty varieties of nemorosa are alba flore-pleno, double white ; Alleni, blue ; bracteata, .^Ji, ■. v».,,1 < z o Q H ON ANEMONES n the flowers of which are surrounded by a green frill ; and grandiflora (major), large single white. All of the Wood Anemones are creeping-rooted, and flower in early spring if planted in autumn. Pulsatilla^ the Pasque Flower, is a popular mauve- flowered herbaceous species, loving chalky soil. It blooms in spring from seed sown the previous March. Plants may be put in when growth starts in spring. It grows about a foot high. There is a charming white variety named alba, which is rare and rather expensive. Limestone chips should be placed round this plant in order to prevent moisture collecting at the ground level and causing decay. Sylvestrisy the Snowdrop Windflower, is a fragrant and beautiful species that opens in April. Before expan- sion the flowers resemble Snowdrops. There is a larger variety called grandiflora, and a double called flore-pleno, both lovely. All grow about a foot high. They are herbaceous plants, and are charming for mixed borders. They enjoy a position that is somewhat shady, and light, well-drained soil. Early spring is a good time to plant. The foregoing are the principal Windflowers. Of the remaining species perhaps Alpina, which grows a foot high, produces white flowers in May, has fibrous roots, is best planted in early spring, has a pretty sulphur- coloured variety called sulphurea, and is useful either for borders or rockwork ; Baikalensis, one foot high, with drooping white flowers in June, a fibrous-rooted species useful for the border and the rockery ; palmata, which has yellow flowers in May, kidney-shaped leaves, and likes a damp site ; and ranunculoides, a dwarf sort with small yellow flowers in spring, are the most desirable. The list of species and varieties which I have given is much too long for owners of small gardens, but I have \ 12 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS thought it well to describe all the principal sorts, in order that the reader may have the salient facts about the best Anemones before him. When it comes to a selection, there need be no difficulty in making a choice. The I Poppy and Japanese Anemones — the former for spring, " the latter for autumn — are the two most valuable classes. Both are easily grown. Both thrive in most soils. Both give large, brilliant flowers in abundance. As different from each other in bloom as in foliage, they are, never- theless, sisters, and a more charming pair could not be found. II ON ASTERS, CHINA AND PERENNIAL It comes as a shock to lovers of the China Aster, which has been a familiar object in every garden that they have known since childhood, to learn that it is an interloper in the Aster genus. The triumphant botanist will grant you that there is such a plant as an Aster, but he will produce irrefutable evidence that the "China" is not it. He will show you that the true Aster is a plant of respectable antiquity, with something of a history of its own, and, so to say, a family portrait gallery. And he will prove that the annual varieties are mere modern upstarts, practically without a history, and sadly lacking in family weight. Those uncompromising botanists who object to "popular" names for plants will follow up the advan- tage that they have gained in showing that the " China Aster" is not an Aster by proceeding to demonstrate that the plant which really is an Aster is called generally by some other name. " Perceive your folly," they will thunder ; " the name Aster is not simple enough for the plant which owns it, and so you must needs call it the Michaelmas Daisy or the Starwort ; but Aster is quite simple enough for another plant which has a name of its own." Truly, the botanist has us on the hip, and we can but hang our abashed heads in a becoming meekness. Shall we, however, mend our ways ? Shall we accept 13 14 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS admonishment in a chastened spirit, and ^^ do better next time " ? That were too much to promise. It is one thing to acknowledge that the botanist has scored a point, but it is quite another to give him an under- taking to accept in future every name that he chooses to give us, and ^* use no other." We love our old garden names almost as much as we love the flowers them- selves. They come '^trippingly off the tongue." They revive old memories. Mignonette might smell as sweet if we had to grow it under the name of Reseda, but it would not seem the same to us. The Sweet Pea would sparkle as brightly in the sunshine with Lathyrus odoratus on the label as it does now, but we could not discuss it under that name as familiarly as we do at present. The botanist, let us remind him, has his weak spot as well as we. He is much given to growing dissatisfied with the names which he has given to the plants, and to changing them in consequence — or, to be more exact, to changing the names given by other botanists. If two botanists give different names to a plant, there is surely some excuse for ordinary folk giving it a third. By a remarkable coincidence, two botanical names have been given to the China Aster, one being Callistephus and the other Callistemma. Have we not now given the botanist a Roland for his Oliver ? We have, and, being quits, we will part in good humour. The Michaelmas Daisy is, then, the real Aster. Time was when it fell little short of weed-dom. It was a rampant grower, with a most aggressive root system, and its flowers were not so very striking. But the modern varieties are mostly compact growers, with large flowers of brilliant colours. So much improved has the plant been, indeed, that it is now extremely useful. Its intrinsic beauty is considerable, and is ON ASTERS 15 supported by late blooming. The Michaelmas Daisy now ranks with the Dahlia and the Chrysanthemum as an autumn flower of the first rank, and not a few gardeners prefer it to either. Without making comparisons which might be painful to the feelings of Dahlia and Chrysanthemum specialists, we may throw into relief two of the merits of the perennial Aster. In the first place, the genus is made up of a large number of species and varieties varying greatly in colour, height, and period of flowering. This means that it provides us with material for our beds and borders that we can utilise (a) for particular colour effects, (d) in different parts of the borders, (c) for blooming over a long period. Instead of planting a dozen of one particular sort, and so having a block of one colour at one place at one particular period, we can plant several sorts, thus getting bloom in different places and at different times. In the second place, they will grow in almost any soil and situation. Students of hardy plants are fully alive to the import- ance of the modern Michaelmas Daisy, and have set up such a demand for it as to make it worth while for clever cross-fertilisers to specialise it. This means that a con- stant stream of new and improved varieties is flowing into the nurseries, just as there is of new Roses, new Chrysanthemums, new Carnations, new Dahlias, and new Sweet Peas. The old school of flower gardeners have no adequate conception of the modern Michaelmas Daisy. They neither know what it is, nor what it is capable of doing. Before me as I write is a clump of the violet-coloured variety Framfieldi (a variety, I ought to say, for the sake of botanical accuracy, of the old 1 6 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS species amellus, which grows about two feet high, has blue flowers with yellow disc, and came to England from Italy as far back as 1596.) It is mid-October, and the plant, which has been in flower several weeks, is still full of bloom. It is growing in thin, fibreless soil on a chalk bank, in spite of which it has spread to a yard across by two and a half feet high, and is bearing scores of flowers. (By the way, if the chalk bank does not conduce to vigour, it does, I think, to richness of colour ; and I may be pardoned a brief digression, the object of which is to allude to the effects of chalky soil on blue flowers. The blue annual Love-in-a-mist (Nigella) luxuriates in chalk, bears huge flowers, and colours brilliantly. Certain wild flowers that may be white or pink on black lands become blue on chalk. Veronicas form one example, and the blue Wood Anemone, Robinsoniana, is found wild on the limestone.) The beauty of my particular plant of Framfieldi is typical of many others. Some bloom in August, some in November. All are perfectly hardy. Many of the species come from North America, others from Siberia, and consequently no extremity of severe weather that we have in Britain injures the plants. What does some- times happen is the tarnishing of the flowers by frost, but even this is not always fatal to the beauty of the plants. If the assault is not a heavy one, and if the sun does not strike direct on to the flowers early in the morning, the flowers freshen up again. They justify the figure of Dante in the Divina Commedia : " As florets, by the frosty air of night Bent down and closed, when day has blanched their leaves, Rise all unfolded on their spiry stems ; So was my fainting vigour new restored, And to my heart such kindly courage ran, That I as one undaunted soon replied." ON ASTERS 17 The colours of some of the Michelmas Daisies are not to be matched by any other flowers of autumn. They are not vivid and dazzHng, but in most cases they are rich, warm, and harmonious. Some of the tones are exquisitely refined. Others have a tawny, subdued glow which is both arresting and appealing. Invariably the plants bloom abundantly. Flower-gardeners who like warm effects in their borders should draw largely on the perennial Asters. By selecting a few of the best varieties of each species, having in view differences in height, colour, and flower- ing season, beautiful effects can be had from mid-August to mid-November. The following table will give an idea of the material available. Except where otherwise stated, the height of the variety is approximately the same as that of the parent species : — Species. Height in Feet. Flowering Season. Varieties. Acris I August Nanus, lilac. Alpinus I June, July Purple species. Amellus . 2 August, Bessarabicus, purplish- September lilac. j> • • 2 Sept. & Oct. Distinction, rosy- mauve. 5J 2 5) ff Framfieldi, violet. Cordifolius 3 August Elegans, lilac, 4. " — » Ideal, lavender, 3J. Dififusus . 2 October White species. » • • — 5) Coombe Fishacre, bluish-rose. )) — J> Horizontalis, lilac-rose. Dumosus . li >f Mauve species. Ericoides . 3 September Golden Spray, white, yellow disc, i^. 5> — » Freedom, white, yellow centre. » """■ » CHo, white, i^. B i8 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Species. Height in Feet. Flowering Season. Varieties. Grandiflorus 2 November Blue species. Laevis A September Hon. Vicary Gibbs, reddish-blue. Novae-Angliae . 4-5 >j Mrs. J. F. Rayner, rose, 4. Mrs. S. T. Wright, rosy- purple. Lil Fardell, pink. Novi-Belgii 4 >j Arcturus, blue. Captivation, pale pink, 3 Robert Parker,lavender Top Sawyer, lilac. White Spray, white, 5. Shortii 3 October Lavender species. Tradescantii 4 August White species. Turbinellus 2i October Lilac species. » 55 Albus, white. Vimineus 3 September Blue species. The foregoing is really a small selection, and as many varieties as are named in it could be found in one popular section, such as Novi-Belgii, alone. Alpinus is suitable for rockwork. Amellus and its varieties, diffusus hori- zontalis, and the ericoides varieties are suitable for posi- tions from the middle to the front of the border. The Novae-Angliae and Novi-Belgii varieties are suitable for sites from the middle to the back. In order to have each variety well represented in characteristic form, it is advis- able to put at least three plants in each clump about eighteen inches apart, wider or closer according as the soil is rich or poor. Soil. — With reference to this question, while the Michaelmas Daisies will grow in almost any ground, they give the best effects in deep, rich, moist ground, attaining to noble proportions and flowering in great profusion over a long period. If there is any marked ON ASTERS 19 difference in the soil, the tall, strong growers may be given the poorest, but it is a bad principle to provide poor soil in a herbaceous border, which the Asters, after all, only share with other plants. The most that should be done is to abstain from manuring the ground for the strong growers. Propagation, — They must be taken up every three years at the most, however, and the clumps split up, as the root system is very strong and impoverishes the soil rapidly. By this division a larger number of plants can be secured, but it is best to keep the outside por- tions for propagation, as they are stronger than the hearts. Young shoots taken off in spring and struck as cut- tings in sandy soil afford another means of propagation. The plants come readily from seed too. The suburban gardener must be careful not to over- look the Michaelmas Daisies, as they are good near-town plants ; and the fact that they will grow in borders under walls and fences where the soil is none too good is a great advantage from his point of view. We have seen that they are not at their best in such ground, but it is not clear that the suburbanist wants their best, if by this we understand the greatest vigour of grow^th. His circumstances are quite different from those of the country gardener who has plenty of room, and can afford to smile when his plants spread into broad masses. The suburbanist wants compactness ; he wants neat, comparatively restricted growth, with as much bloom to the square inch as can be had. For him, such small but free-blooming varieties as Amellus and its varieties, diffusus and its varieties (particularly horizontalis), and the dwarf varieties of ericoides, are the most suitable. With them in good form he can very well do without 20 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS I the taller, looser sorts like the Novae-AngUae and Novi- Belgii varieties. China Asters. — Suburban and country gardeners alike will grow China Asters, which, being annuals, grow from seed in spring and die in autumn. Like the worker bees, they have a few months of bright, bustling life, and then depart into the shades. They are adorable little plants, and have a time-hallowed association with ten-week Stocks ; indeed, one might speak of the two in com- mercial language as " Messrs. Stocks and Asters, speci- alists in garden decoration, established over one hundred years." f The original China Aster came over in 1731. Bot- anists called it Callistephus chinensis. The first name means "beautiful crown," the second indicates the habitat. Whence the popular name of Aster ? It is probably derived from astevy a star, in allusion to the somewhat stellate form of the flowers. (Remember that the original was single, not double.) Be this so or not, the name Aster was given, and it stuck. It is as Asters that we know the Callistephuses to-day, and it is ^s Asters that our descendants will grow them a thousand years hence. The original Aster had mauve flowers, and the flower- lover who is sufficiently interested may get seed of it from a few of the larger seedsmen, under the name ) of Callistephus sinensis. It is a really pretty thing, worth growing for its own sake, as well as for the interest which springs out of a comparison between the earliest and the latest forms. Such a comparison pays a re- markable tribute to the skill of the florist, who has not only developed fresh colours, but also new forms. The unversed amateur who opens a seedsman's catalogue with the view of finding the cost of a packet of Aster Annual Astp:rs. ON ASTERS 21 seed, is often astonished to find many different classes offered. He sees Quilled, Paeony-flowered, Ostrich Plume, and many others, and knows not the difference between them. The following table gives the principal types, with a brief description of them : — Type. Colour. Form. Chrysanthemum- flowered . . Comet .... > Various •) Various Round, florets over- lapping evenly. Florets broad and flat. Crown or Cockade . Various Florets somewhat in- curved. Dwarf Bouquet Various The feature of this type is the low, com- Ostrich Plume Pasony-flowered Quilled .... Various Various Various pact growth. Loose feathery flowers. Florets incurved. Florets rolled. Victoria .... Various Florets reflexed. Up till comparatively recent times the Chrysanthe- mum-flowered and Victoria were the two most popular annual Asters for the garden, and the Quilled for ex- hibition. They are still grown extensively, but the newer types, Comet and Ostrich Plume, have increased so rapidly in popularity as to dispute the position of the old favourites. The Ostrich Plume is particularly beautiful, as the flowers, although large and rich in colour, have a light and feathery appearance. It grows eighteen inches to two feet high, very little more than either Comet or Victoria, but the habit is a little looser. Unless space is very precious, I should recommend the i Ostrich Plume in preference to any other type. If a compact grower is wanted, the Dwarf Chrysanthemum- flowered had better be chosen. The Dwarf Bouquet 2 2 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS is smaller still, but it is more suitable for edgings than anything else in the garden. The seedsmen offer the various types in separate colours as well as in mixture, so that gardeners can make special arrangements if they wish. As a large number of plants can be raised from a packet of seed, the cost of which need not exceed sixpence, and may be as little as a penny, the Aster is one of the cheapest of flowers to grow in quantity. Whole beds can be had for a few pence. Culture. — Little skill is required to grow the plants, the principal points being to keep them uncrowded and free from black-fly while in the seedling stage. A simple way of getting a stock of plants is to fill some shallow boxes with fine soil in March, draw drills half an inch deep and three inches apart, sprinkle the seeds thinly, and place the boxes in a frame or greenhouse. In the absence of both, stand the boxes on a layer of ashes in the garden in April, and cover with squares of glass. Immerse the boxes in a tub of water as deep as the level of the soil when the latter becomes dry. Seedlings raised in a greenhouse should be kept on a shelf close to the glass, in order to prevent their getting drawn or weak ; but Asters are best in an unheated frame. Abundance of air should be given in fine weather. When the seedlings have developed sufficiently to begin crowding, they should be set three inches apart all ways in other boxes, or they will spoil each other. They can remain in the second boxes until the ground is ready for them in May or June. If they are attacked by black-fly (and a sharp lookout should always be kept for this injurious aphis), sprinkle them with water in which a handful of quassia chips, which chemists ON ASTERS 23 supply, has been soaked for several hours. Or dust some tobacco powder on them, and wash it off a few hours later. No small part of the value of China Asters lies in their adaptability for bedding. Those who fill their flower-beds with bulbs, Wallflowers, and Forget-me-nots in autumn, should always raise or buy a supply of Asters in spring, so that when the spring flowers are over they can be cleared off at once, and the beds, after being dug, replanted at once. The beds can either be filled with Asters alone, or with Asters associated with graceful Salpiglossis, Tobacco (Nicotiana), and Snapdragons, which can also be raised from seed in spring. The soil need not be manured heavily for any of the plants which I have named, and particularly for the Asters. If very poor, a light dressing of decayed manure can be worked in, otherwise it will suffice to dig in some burnt refuse, saved from the last garden fire. I need hardly say that the use of China Asters is not limited to bedding. Groups of them look charming in herbaceous borders, if the colour blends with those of the permanent plants. Wherever there is a gap in the garden, be it in bed or border. Asters may be pressed into service ; and the sensible flower - gardener will always have a box or two of sturdy seedlings by him in May, ready for strengthening any weak spot. Ill ON BEGONIAS, MOST BRILLIANT OF BEDDING PLANTS The tuberous Begonia, as we grow it in our gardens to-day, is an entirely modern production. Begonias, and Begonias with tubers, were known a good many years ago, but flower gardeners took very little notice of them, because they were either straggly and ungainly in habit, or had drooping, ineffectual flowers. " Begonia " is derived from Begon, the name of a French floriculturist. There is little of the interest of folk-lore or literary association in the Begonia. When the reader who is interested in the beginnings of popular plants looks up a botanical dictionary, he finds the names of an enormous number of species, but nearly all were introduced in the nineteenth century. Nitida is one of the oldest, and that came from Jamaica in 1777 ; it has not played any part in the development of garden Begonias, and we can pass it over. Modern garden Begonias have come in the main from six species, the salient facts about which are set out in the following table: — Species. Boliviensis Clarkei . Davisi Pearcei . Rosaiflora Veitchi Colour. Vermilion Rose Scarlet Yellow Pink Vermilion Year of Introduction. 1864 1867 1876 1865 1866 1867 34 ON BEGONIAS 25 All of these came from South America, and their offspring are not hardy. The earliest to arrive came, we see, as recently as 1864, so that it is vain to ransack libraries in search of ancient rites and ceremonies, or old beliefs, or literary references, in connection with this now popular flower. It is as modern as torpedo-boats, and society newspapers, and electric tramcars. It can hardly be said to have a history at all. Florists have rushed it into being just as engineers have rushed iron- clads and type-setting machines. The history of the development of a popular flower is briefly as follows : — (i) The introduction of certain species. (2) The crossing of these species, resulting in the production of hybrids. (3) The intercrossing of hybrids, resulting in the pro- duction of varieties. (4) The intercrossing of varieties ad infinitum. Botanists generally keep records of the crossing of species, and often of the intercrossing of hybrids, but when florists take to crossing varieties the herbarium authorities give up in despair. In case the reader is interested in the derivation of garden Begonias, I may give a table showing a few of the early crosses : — A Cross between Gave Boliviensis and an unnamed species . Boliviensis and Veitchi .... Boliviensis and Sedeni .... Sedeni and Veitchi Clarkei and Sedeni Sedeni. Intermedia. Chelsoni. Stella. Vesuvius. But this has no practical value, because none of the off- spring, or the offspring of the crosses which immediately 26 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS followed these, are grown now, with the possible excep- tion of Vesuvius. We see that the hybrid Sedeni was produced by crossing two species, and that this hybrid was almost immediately used as a parent itself, resulting in the sub-hybrids Chelsoni and Vesuvius. Thence- forward the work of crossing was no longer botanical. Trade florists, both in this country and abroad, crossed and re-crossed ; and they kept the records of the various crosses to themselves. One of the first of the nursery- men to become famous as a raiser of Begonias was the late John Laing, and he was followed by Pope, Cannell, Lascelles, Blackmore, and Langdon. They all did good work, but none of them published details of his crosses, and it may be said truly that it is a wise J Begonia child which knows its own father. Laing did not begin till 1875 or 1876, but things moved so fast that by 1906 we had a magnificent array of varieties, including many shapes and colours. At the present time they could be classified by form if desired. Some are single and others double. The former could be classified as plain and frilled, the latter as Camellia- shape, Hollyhock-shape, Rose-shape, and Water-lily shape. All the doubles are beautiful, whatever their form, as long as they have only one centre, and that symmetrical. It is an interesting fact about single Begonias that the flowers are generally borne in clusters of three, the |l central one being a male, and the other two females. Double Begonias are sexless, as the organs of fertilisa- tion are transformed into petals. Single and double alike are now distinguished by good habit. The flowers do not hang nerveless on slender stems, but are borne erect on strong stems, and show up in handsome clusters above the leaves. This is Double Bkosaias. ON BEGONIAS 27 a great advantage when the plants are bedded out. The leaves are thick and handsome, borne on fat, reddish or brown stems. The florists have not given us a blue Begonia yet. This colour baffles them almost as effectually in Begonias as it does in Zonal Geraniums and Chrysanthemums. We should be glad to have it, if it was a real blue, and not a wishy-washy, lilac-cum-lavender-cum-purple, the exact shade of which could not be found even in the colour chart ; but we can do very well without it. The fact that the parentage of our best modern Begonias is unknown will not worry the majority of flower-gardeners ; it will be enough for them that we have the varieties. Here is a table of good bedding sorts : — Variety. Single or Double, Colour. Washington Doris Major Hope . Marquis of Stafford Hilda Lafayette . Double Double Double Double Double Double Scarlet. Rosy-pink. Rose. Crimson. Salmon. Crimson-scarlet. Singles are generally labelled to colour, and sold as such for bedding without names. The best colours are white, crimson, rose, scarlet, pink, and salmon. If the grower buys varieties under name he will have to pay more for them than for unnamed sorts, and further, he will feel himself under the obligation of label- ling them, propagating them, and storing them separately. As a set-off to the extra work he will have the advantage of being able to arrange his colours exactly to his taste, and the interest of comparing his varieties with those of / 28 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS other growers. He will have to propagate by cuttings or dividing the tubers to keep them true. He could save seed of the singles perhaps, but it would not give the form and colour of the parent plant. Cheap Begonias. — Most gardeners do very well with unnamed Begonias. The florist can sell these cheaper than named sorts, because he has not the expense of growing them separately. I open the catalogue of a good florist, and I find the following : — " Begonias for bedding, singles, specially selected, free bloomers with erect flower stalks, colours mixed, large tubers, 2s. 6d. per dozen ; doubles, mixed, 4s. per dozen." This is quite a genuine offer, and a dozen other reliable dealers would make it in slightly different words. It is perfectly safe to buy these cheap mixtures so long as the florist is a man of repute. How to Start, — It is a good plan to buy the tubers in March, embed them six inches apart in soil in shallow boxes, and put them in a greenhouse or frame. The compost may consist of two parts loam, one leaf mould, and half part sand. When growth starts the boxes should be placed close to the glass, and water should be given when the soil becomes dry. The grower will first see a thick, reddish stem push up ; the leaves will form at the top of it. Growth will be slow in April, but fast in May, and by the end of the merry month the boxes will be full of foliage. By this time the spring flowers will be over, and the beds can be cleared of them. The ground should be dug deeply and dressed with decayed manure if poor ; but if it is in good condition, a couple of hand- fuls of superphosphate to the square yard will do. A hot, dry position should be avoided, as Begonias love \ partial shade and abundance of moisture. The plants ON BEGONIAS 29 should be put in a foot apart. If the soil is shallow it will be wise to spread on a coating of manure or cocoa- nut fibre refuse after planting. Soakings of water in dry weather, with a Hberal drenching of liquid manure once a week, will go a long way towards producing good results. Raising from Seed. — A stock can be secured by sow- ing seed; and this certainly gives a large quantity of plants cheaply. The habit of the plants and the quaHty of the flowers will be all that can be desired if the seed is bought from one of the large firms who specialise the principal florists' flowers. But full beds must not be relied on the first year. If the seed is sown early, if the treatment is good, if the soil is fertile, and if the season is a damp one — if, in a word, all the circumstances are favourable — there may be a nice bed the same year as the seed is sown. But the circumstances must be favourable. The seed, which is very fine and needs careful hand- ling, ought to be sown on the surface of very fine moist / soil in January, and merely settled down with a film of silver sand. The pan should be covered with glass shaded with paper until germination has taken place, when the seedlings should be inured to the light by degrees. When the soil gets dry it should be moistened by lowering the pan into a vessel of water. Pouring water on to the surface, even through a fine-rosed can, is dangerous, as it is liable to displace the seed or seed- lings. The pan should be put near the glass, and air given in fine weather. Planting, — The seedlings can be removed on the end of a label when they begin to crowd each other, and set three inches apart in a shallow box. As they have to form tubers, they must not be expected to move as fast 30 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS as young Cinerarias or Primulas, which only have to form a few fibres ; Begonias develop very slowly. When they have grown sufficiently to crowd in the boxes each may be given a small pot, and on their progress after this shift, and the weather, turns their future for the current year. If they grow to six inches high and through by mid-July, and the weather is moist, they may be planted out, as, in the absence of early frost, they will have three months in which to develop, and that should be sufficient — given good soil and plenty of moisture — to bring them into beauty. Begonias are often at their very best in October, as they love the cool nights and heavy dews. And their best is something that no other " bedding plant " can equal. The colours are not more brilliant than those of Zonal Geraniums, but the flowers are finer, and the foliage is more handsome. Some of the shades are exquisite, notably the soft pinks, yellows, and blushes. The whites are as pure as snow. The tubers should be taken up when the plants wither or are blackened by frost, dried, and stored in a dry, frost-proof place to which mice cannot gain access. Fibrous Begonias. — Several varieties of a fibrous-rooted Begonia named semperflorens exist. The species, a Brazilian plant with pink flowers, is generally used for pot culture ; but the varieties are planted out in the garden. Being of neat, shrubby habit, and flowering profusely for many weeks, they are very attractive. In addition to pretty flowers some of them have tinted leaves. When cold weather comes on they may be lifted, put into pots, and placed in a warm greenhouse, where they will give winter bloom. The following are charming varieties : — ON BEGONIAS 31 Coral Pink. — Coral, large flowers. Crimson Gem. — Red flowers and bronzy red leaves (some- times grown under the name of Vernon). Crimson Bedder. — Crimson flowers and dark red foliage. Fairy Queen. — Pink (there is also a white variety). These pretty fibrous-rooted Begonias come readily from seed, which may be sown in a similar way to that of the tuberous varieties. As the seedlings have no tubers to form they grow faster than the latter, and soon make nice plants for the beds. They only grow eight to ten inches high, and should be put at the front of beds which contain large plants. IV ON BELL-FLOWERS (CAMPANULAS) AND CANTERBURY BELLS AS BEAUTIFUL BORDER PLANTS There is better ground for the popular name of the Campanulas than there is for many of the English names which are given to plants. Here, the popular and the botanical names are associated. Campanula comes from campanay a bell, and is, indeed, one of those endearing diminutives which the Latin races love, meaning '' little bell." It flows softly from the tongue however it is accented, and lingers on the ear with a memory of the tinkle of sheep bells on Alpine slopes. The pronuncia- tion is Cam-pan'-u-la. Repeat it, lingeringly — Cam-pan- u-la-a-a-a. How sweetly it falls, suggesting song ! But the poets have not dealt kindly with the Cam- panulas. Shakespeare does not mention them. Does some alert and swift-moving reader bound to his shelves and, first shaking a protesting finger at me, then point it to Act iv. scene 2 of Cymbeline^ where Arviragus cries : " With fairest flowers While summer lasts and I live here,'Fidele, I'll sweeten thy sad grave ; thou shalt not lack The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose, nor The azured Harebell, like thy veins, no, nor The leaf of Eglantine. ..." I reply that the Harebell of Shakespeare was not our Harebell, Campanula rotundifolia, but the Wild Hyacinth, Scilla nutans^ which is often called Bluebell. 3a Canterbury Bells. ON BELL-FLOWERS 33 *^ At least the Canterbury Bell has been immortalised," some one will say, ^^and it, too, is a Campanula." Oddly enough, the Canterbury Bell, popular flower though it is, seems to have received scant attention. You turn up reference book after reference book, and '^ See Cam- panula " meets the eye with exasperating iteration. And when you get to Campanula you merely find ^^ Medium, the Canterbury Bell." Writers seem to have troubled about it very little ; in fact, they have not even asked themselves how it got its popular name. If the South- Eastern Railway had existed when it was christened I might have suggested that some traveller had called it the Canterbury Bell because of its abundance on the sides of the chalk cuttings on the Elham Valley line near the old cathedral city. The Canterbury Bells are very happy there, and nowhere is their blue more sparkling than on chalk, though to be sure the plants do not grow with anything like the vigour that they display on the deep clay. These wildlings have doubtless strayed out of gardens, and we may assume that the Canterbury Bell has long been a popular flower in East Kent. It is one of the oldest Campanulas that we have, \ having been introduced from Germany in 1597, one year later than the Peach-leaved Campanula, persicifolia. Stevens and Leebault included Canterburie bels in the garden of the Maison Rustique, published in 1600. Those grand old botanists, Gerard and Parkinson, both gave illustrations of the Canterbury Bell, but the draw- ings are almost as quaint as the descriptions. Philip Miller referred to it in his Gardener s Dictionary^ telling us that it grew wild in Austrian and Italian woodlands, but was appreciated by English gardeners for the beauty of its flowers. His description is minute : — *' There are the following varieties : the blue, the c 34 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS purple, the white, the striped, and the double flowering* This hath oblong, rough, hairy leaves, which are serrated on their edges ; from the centre of these a stiff, hairy, furrowed stalk arises, about two feet long, sending out several lateral branches, which are garnished with long, narrow, hairy leaves, sawed on their edges ; from the setting on of these leaves come out the footstalks of the flowers, those which are on the lower part of the stalk and the branches being four or five inches long, diminish- ing gradually in their length upward, and thereby form a sort of pyramid." New forms and colours have been added to the Canterbury Bells since Miller's day. We have rose and mauve as well as blue and white, and we have the cup- and-saucer Canterbury Bell {Campanula medium caly- canthemd) in various colours. The calyx of this is coloured like the corolla. Many people prefer it to the plain type, but the latter is quite good enough for the majority of flower-gardeners when it is well grown. All the Canterbury Bells belong to the class known as hardy biennials, which are sown in late spring in the open ground, flower the following year, then seed and die. They often come up year after year in the same place, but it is not a case of fresh growths from the same rootstock ; the new plants are self-sown seedlings. Having grown Canterbury Bells on heavy soil and on light, I have to confess a preference for the former. Given strong, moist ground, they branch freely. On thin, dry ground they make very little lateral growth. Plants with strong side shoots are much more hand- some than those with only one stem. Those who want to get the best out of these fine old flowers (and their best is really well worth having) should enrich the soil, f ON BELL-FLOWERS 35 if poor, with well-decayed manure, taking care to dig deeply. Sowing. — There is no dijEficulty in getting strong plants by autumn if seed is sown thinly at mid-May, and the plants are put out nine inches apart in a spare plot a month or so later. They will not grow very fast through the summer, as they move slowly while quite young, but they will have filled their allotted space nicely by October, when they can be planted out in their perma- nent positions if convenient, otherwise being left till spring. If the soil is good they should be put a yard apart. The plants will bloom early in summer, and will last u^ {-^^ a long time in beauty, especially if the first flowers are picked off as soon as they fade. There are many biennial Bell-flowers beside the Canterbury Bell, but the majority are not of much value, and we have to look for the best of the other Campanulas among the perennial species, which (in the case of the hardy ones at least) come up from the samB rootstock in the border year after year. There are one or two good annual species, notably Loreyi, purplish-blue, and ma crostylf^, light violet with purple spots. The name of the latter- comes from the large, brown, spindle-shaped style (the " style " of a flower is that portion of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma). These annual kinds flower in summer from seed sown out of doors the same spring. The perennial Bell-flowers vary enormously in habit. One, Raineri, a charming little Hlac-flowered Italian species, only grows three or four inches high. On the other hand, we have the Chimney Campanula, pyrami- dalis, which grows six or seven feet high under good culture. The latter, by the way, is not considered to be yiM 36 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS hardy, but it is far from being tender, and often passes severe winters unharmed. The following is a representative table of perennial Bell-flowers : — Species or Variety. Colour. Height in Inches. Allionii . . ... Violet-blue 6 Carpathica Blue 9 „ alba White 9 „ pallida . Light blue 9 Garganica Blue 6 Glomerata dahurica . Indigo-blue i8 Grandiflora (Platycodon) Blue i8 Latifolia . Blue 30 „ alba . White 30 Macrantha Deep blue 24 Persicifolia Blue 30 „ alba plena White (double) 30 „ Moerheimii White 24 Portenschlagiana (muralis > ) Violet-blue 6 Pyramidalis Blue 60 „ alba White 60 Raineri Blue 3 Rotundifolia (Harebell) Blue 24 Trachelium Blue 30 „ alba plena White (double) 30 Turbinata . Purplish-blue 6 „ alba . White 6 Seed of nearly all of these is procurable at a cheap rate, ^ and if it is sown out of dpprs^ in early summer, and the plants thinned, they will bloom the following year, and propagation can be effected afterwards by division in spring. They are beautiful border plants, and the dwarf sorts are good for the rockery. It will be observed that in all cases the species is blue, J and if it be true that this is Nature's most difficult 1 colour, which she has been longer elaborating than the ►J O < < U Q > < W u <: tii H b O Q W pa ON BELL-FLOWERS 37 rest, the Bell-flowers must have come late in the stages of evolution. If I had to pick out what I regarded as the most precious of the foregoing Campanulas, I should be dis- posed to take the double white form of the Peach-leaved (persicifolia alba plena). It is a graceful, lasting, and beautiful plant, which in my experience is not fastidious as to soil, and is well suited for a suburban garden. It is stocked by all the hardy plant dealers, and costs but a small sum. Grandiflora and glomerata dahurica are two valuable species. All the Campanula like cool conditions in the summer ; they enjoy a semi-shady position and a friable soil. Little summer attention is needed except staking. ON SHRUBBY BORDER AND BEDDING CALCEOLARIAS The garden Slipperworts have lost some of the import- ance which they possessed in the days when ^' bedding- out" was popular. Inasmuch as flower-gardening has spread so much during these latter years it is probable that if a Calceolaria census were taken it would be found that the plants are grown in greater quantities than they ever were ; but florists pay little attention to them, and it is rare for a new variety to come out. If one did, very little notice would be taken of it. It would certainly not be surrounded by a thick crowd of admirers at a show like a new Rose or Sweet Pea. The Slipperworts were misused in days gone by. They were associated with red Zonal Geraniums and blue Lobelias in the famous ^'ribbon border," of which cultured people grew so weary that they could not see, read, or hear of it without an impatience that almost amounted to anger. And as if the ribbon border were not enough, it was common to fill the principal beds with Geraniums and border them with yellow Calceolarias and blue Lobelias. In fact, flower-lovers became so surfeited with this eternal red, yellow, and blue (and all on plants that required glass protection in winter), that they could hardly look on the triumvirate without loathing. There is nothing inherently repulsive in a Calceo- 3« ON SHRUBBY BORDER 39 laria : on the contrary, it is a pretty and pleasing little plant; neat in its growth, very free blooming, and so bright in colour as to be as cheering as a sunny morn- ing. It is the gardeners who over-used it, and not the | ^ plant itself, that we ought to condemn. Now that it has settled down to the modest position to which its merits entitle it, we can well afford to regard it with favour. The shape of the flower gave it its name. The re- semblance to a slipper {calceolus) is not very close in modern flowers, which come nearer to the form of a tobacco-pouch than that of a slipper, but doubtless the flowers have become rounder with cultivation. Florists always try to take angles out of flowers, and make them smooth and round. Although Calceolaria is a botanical name the public has taken kindly to it — so kindly, in fact, that it is often affectionately reduced to the diminutive *^ Calcie," which might almost be the name of a favourite daughter. The pronunciation is Cal-se-o-lair'-i-a. The fancies of the people with respect to plant names are past comprehen- sion. Calceolaria would prove a troublesome mouthful, one might have thought, to the class of gardener that gives plants popular names ; but apparently it did not discom- mode them. To be sure, the bedding Calceolarias are comparatively modern plants, most of the species from which the bedding varieties have sprung having been introduced during the nineteenth century, so that the plant plays no part in folk-lore or tradition. Integrifolia {rugosa) came over in 1822, and we know that this was used as a parent by hybridists. Perhaps floribunda [petiolaris) and violacea were also used as parents. These were introduced in 1843 and 1853 respectively. All three species came from South America, and this being so, we should not expect them to be hardy. 40 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Good Varieties. — Very few people who grow Calceo- larias in the garden trouble about names ; nay, the nur- seryman who grows a particular variety by the thousand to sell in spring may not know its name. There are, nevertheless, several distinct varieties, and they can be had under name if desired. Gaines' Yellow is a famous variety, and it is probably used more largely than any other ; it grows about a foot high and blooms abun- dantly, so that it makes a good bedder. A newer variety called Golden Glory is larger both in growth and bloom than Gaines' Yellow ; it is a splendid sort, but more expensive than the older one. The red, orange, and purple varieties are not much used, but can be bought if wanted under the respective names of Bijou, Prince of Orange, and Sultan. All grow about a foot high. Propagation. — The bedding Calceolarias differ from I the greenhouse sorts, being evergreen shrubs. The^ greenhouse Calceolarias lose their stems after flowering, and are generally raised from seed annually, although occasionally cuttings are taken when young shoots push up from the rootstock. Propagation by cuttings is general with the bedders, and the shoots, which are taken off and inserted in sandy soil in a cold frame in autumn, retain their leaves all the winter. They are so nearly hardy that they do not require any protection in mild winters, but it is well to put a mat over the frame when severe frost threatens. If the cuttings are taken early — say with those of Zonal Geraniums in August — they start growing before autumn, and the new wood is i likely to be injured by frost. October is early enough. / The young plants begin to grow in March if the weather is mild, and by mid-April they are bushy little fellows. They ought to be planted then, as if they get well established before the hot weather comes on they ON SHRUBBY BORDER 41 will not be likely to fall a prey to the fungus which kills so many yellow Calceolarias every year. The soil should be deep and fertile, to encourage healthy growth. Well-grown ^' Calcies " are worth dropping into borders in clumps of six or sO; and they also make a cheerful border, but I must guard against saying any- thing that might arouse painful memories in the minds of my middle-aged and elderly readers. Suburbanists will find the yellow Slipperwort a useful plant, alike for their gardens and window-boxes, if they will avoid the error of planting it late in poor, shallow, sun-scorched soil ; and remember that it shares with most other plants the weakness of enjoying a few gallons of water (with an occasional dose of liquid manure) in dry weather. VI ON THE CANARY CREEPER AND OTHER "NASTUR- TIUMS" AND TROPCEOLUMS The Canary Creeper is one of the most familiar of summer ramblers^ and at the first glance there is little to connect it with the ^'Tom Thumbs" of our garden borders, which have round leaves and large, open- throated flowers. Its blossoms are small and crinkled, and its leaves are much cut on the edges (five-lobed). But it is closely related to the so-called *^ Nasturtiums " in spite of this, for all are Tropoeolums. The Canary Creeper probably got its popular name from the colour of its flowers, which resembles that of the feathered songsters so often to be found in the parlours of elderly maiden ladies. True, it is sometimes given the name of Canariense^ and this would indicate the Canary Islands as its home if it were accurate, but it is not. Canariense or Canariensis is a seedsman's name, and has no support from the botanists. The plant did not come to Britain from the Canaries, but from New Grenada, the year of its advent being 1810. By some odd happening ^^Canariensis" has become adopted as a popular name, and it is not at all uncommon to hear it used by amateurs in place of Canary Creeper. In case the reader is not content to leave the plant without a specific name, and demands that, since he is told that Canariense is not correct, he should be in- 43 ON THE CANARY CREEPER 43 formed what is, I tell him that the botanists have made two attempts, the one being aduncum (reference to the basal hook) and the other peregrinuniy or wandering, i The former is now the accepted botanical name. The Canary Creeper is certainly a peregrinating plant. It loves to ramble, peering here and there. It enjoys sprawling along a rustic fence, climbing a trellis, and creeping up an old bole. The one thing that it does not like is tiresome restriction, and it looks least happy '/ when it is led on a piece of string, like a slum urchin's flea-bitten and doleful-looking dog. One may plant it at the front of window-boxes and large tubs, allowing it to droop over ; it is not so vigorous as usual when so treated, much preferring to climb, but it looks bright. A more humane way of using it in a window-box is to press the ends of a bamboo rod in the ends of the box, thus forming a bow or arch over it, and let the plant ramble over that. Sowing. — It is a charming plant for one of the pillars of a pergola, or the rustic work often employed in summer- houses. If the basal position is shaded part of the day, all the better, because it likes to have its roots in cool, moist soil. But so far as the shoots are concerned, the more sunshine that falls on the long gay streamers the more cheerful the plant looks. It is classed as a half hardy annual, and the plants in this section are generally raised under glass in March or April, and planted out in May or June. The angular, purplish seeds may be put three inches apart and an inch deep in a shallow box of soil, and placed in an unheated frame. Some twigs should be put among the plants if they cannot be planted out by the time they are four inches high, other- wise they may cling round each other and be difficult to separate. 44 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS I have known the Canary Creeper seed itself in a place that it liked, and come up year after year. One such colony, however, was invaded by a Dorothy Perkins Rose, and even the Canary Creeper had to knuckle under to that robustious plant. There are, of course, many beautiful Tropoeolums besides the Canary Creeper, albeit we call some of them Nasturtiums. This name has stuck so tightly, in spite of the fact that it is Latin, that we have never been able to get rid of it, and never shall. There actually is a genus Nasturtium^ so that the case presents a parallel to Geraniu7n and Pelargonium^ the Zonal Pelargonium being almost always called Geranium, in spite of the fact ' that a totally different class of plants owns the name. Nasturtium and Tropoeolum are really further away from each other than Geranium and Pelargonium ; and it is curious to find the reason of the application of the name '^ Nasturtium " to the Tropoeolums. The true Nasturtiums are Cresses, N, officinale being the well- known Water Cress. ^^ Nasturtium " comes from nasus, nose, and tortus^ tormented, in allusion to the acrid smell of the Cress. The leaf of the Tropoeolum has much of the pungency of Cress, and was consequently called the Indian Cress. (Why Indian is not clear, as I the Tropoeolums are natives of South America.) From this stage it was easy to reach the next, and decide that if the Water Cress was a Nasturtium the Indian Cress must be one also. Country folk often corrupt Nastur- tium to *^ Sturshon," and when we hear this we realise how far the Tropoeolum has gone. The cottagers do more — they use the green seeds as a substitute for capers. Nasturtiums. — It is generally the hardy Tropoeolums which are called Nasturtiums, only the tender varieties being given their proper name. Readers arc familiar with ON THE CANARY CREEPER 45 both the dwarf (Tom Thumb) and tall hardy annual Nas- turtiums, which bloom so brightly in summer and far into the autumn, flowering when almost every other annual has gone. They certainly bloom more profusely on chalk ] ^ (jf\ than on rich, strong soil ; and the colours are excep- / '^ tionally brilliant. The explanation of the more abun- dant bloom is the less vigorous and succulent growth. Leaving out Sweet Peas, they are my best late annuals on chalk, only the Candytufts and Love-in-a-mist making a real effort to vie with them. The suburban gardener soon proves their worth on his often poor and baked soil. The Lilliput strain of dwarfs is almost better than the Tom Thumb, as the flowers are thrown up more boldly above the leaves. This habit is particularly valuable in rich soil. The strain can be had in separate colours, like the Tom Thumb, or in mixture. In the Queen of Tom Thumbs, in Variegated-leaved, and in Cloth of Gold, we get coloured foliage. These are attractive before any flowers appear. Colour of flower and marking of leaf are both re- peated in the tall (majus) section, the members of which are excellent for training over rough ground, as well as over trellises, arbours, and railings. There is an Ivy-leaved variety with yellow flowers that is very pretty. The reader who has never tried orange, salmon, and | yellow Nasturtiums for table decorations should do so. If cut with long trails of stem and bloom, they will give beautiful and uncommon effects. Two or three of the species of Tropoeolum are grown in the garden, notably polyphyllum^ a prostrate perennial with yellow flowers, thriving in dry, warm spots if left alone ; and speciosunty the Flame Nasturtium. The latter is a glorious rambler in Scotland, and one 46 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS occasionally sees it succeeding in southern England, but only when the roots are in a cool, shady place. It likes association with some other plant, which gives it protection and partial shade. Tuberosum, which has red and yellow flowers, will pass the winter safely in sandy soil and a sheltered place, but it is not really hardy, and, as a rule, the tubers are taken up and stored for the winter. The Lobbianum section, such as Ball of Fire, are charming trailers, and although often grown under glass, are quite suitable for window-boxes and balconies in summer. Erasmus Darwin wrote of the Tropoeolum in ^^The Loves of the Plants " : " Ere the bright star which tends the morning sky Hangs o'er the flushing east his diamond eye, The chaste Tropeo leaves her secret bed ; A saintlike glory trembles round her head ; Eight watchful swains along the lawns of night With amorous steps pursue the virgin light." The *^ watchful swains " are doubtless the stamens of the flower. The poets, therefore, have not neglected this old garden flower. VII ON CANDYTUFTS AND CERTAIN OTHER ANNUALS There are a few kinds of annuals which possess such outstanding qualities — whether of colour, perfume, or habit — that every flower-gardener feels that he must grow them. The most remarkable example is, of course, the Sweet Pea, which combines every merit, and is of such importance as to claim a chapter to itself. Falling below it in beauty and utility, yet still valuable, are a few particular kinds that stand out from the bulk of their class. Of such are Asters, Candytufts, Chrysanthe- mums, Clarkias, Godetias, Larkspurs, Mignonette, Pe- tunias, Phloxes, Poppies, Stocks, and Sunflowers, while Sweet Alyssum, Convolvuluses, Coreopsis, Cornflowers, Eschscholtzias, Lavateras, Leptosiphons, Linarias,Linum, Lupins, Love-in-a-mist, Marigolds, Nemophilas, Sapona- rias, Sweet Scabious, Silene, Salpiglossis, Sweet Sultans, Virginian Stocks, and Zinnias, follow them closely. It is only when the flower-lover sees a large collec- tion of annuals on the trial grounds of one of the great seed firms that he fully reahses the beauty of the class. He is astonished alike at the range of colours, the splen- did habit, and the duration. And when he realises that seed of all can be bought for a few pence a packet, he fully appreciates the strength of their claims. Town and suburban amateurs are great people for annuals. Many a small back-garden would go bare 47 48 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS but for these beautiful flowers. The suburbanist's borders are comparatively narrow and restricted, as a rule, and he cannot get the pleasure and satisfaction out of hardy herbaceous perennials which people more fortunately situated can. For a modest half-crown he can buy a collection of several kinds of annuals, each packet containing enough seed to yield a considerable number of plants — sufficient in the aggregate, indeed, to fill his garden with beautiful and fragrant flowers through the summer and into mid-autumn. If the amateur supports a penny-packet firm, he could get a packet of each of the kinds which I have named for two shillings and eightpence. It is good indeed to think that so much beauty is available for so modest an outlay. Let me take the Candytuft (Asters have been dealt with in Chapter II) as typical of the annuals. On April 7 I sowed a packet of Giant White Hyacinth-flowered (the seedsman said the spikes would be nearly as large as Hyacinths when at their best, and so they were) in front of a Rose-bed, and to-day (October 11) the clumps are still full of bloom after several weeks of incessant flowering. The packet cost threepence, and by dint of careful sowing, the seed being sprinkled very thinly over an area of half a square yard in each case, I was able to make it provide me with several clumps. This I Candytuft, with its great white spikes reminiscent of \ Hyacinths, has been as much a feature of the garden as any of the herbaceous plants. The spikes are very reluctant to part with their flowers. At their best they are, of course, all bloom ; as the seeding instinct asserts itself the lower flowers wither, leaving seed-pods ; and this process repeats itself, but very slowly if the plants are growing unrestricted, and many weeks elapse before / ON CANDYTUFTS 49 the clumps show serious signs of decay. It is, however, only fair to say that culture has much to do with dura- tion of bloom. Plants with plenty of room, growing in fertile and moist soil, flower much longer than others \jM that are crowded together in poor dry soil. The latter go to seed prematurely in sheer self-defence, anxious to perpetuate their kind before they seek an early grave. Other Candytufts besides the Giant White Hyacinth- flowered, and other annuals besides the Candytuft, re- spond with equal generosity to such little labour and care as are involved in digging soil deeply, manuring it if poor (but not heavily, especially for Nasturtiums), pre- paring a fine surface tilth, sowing thinly, thinning out, and watering in dry weather. The double pink Clarkia and the double pink Godetia will rival the Candytuft in length of blooming ; and both will come in admirably for vase decoration. The touch of orange at the base of some of the Godetias makes them associate very well with salmon-coloured Sweet Peas, like Henry Eckford, in wide bowls. Larkspurs are long lasters, but it is ;l>S-» important to get a dwarf strain, as the tall are very straggly, and apt to look gawky and untidy. Poppies are not, in the main, lasting flowers ; their value lies in the brilliant blaze of colour which they make at mid- summer ; but the doubles are not nearly so transient as the singles, and the flowers are nearly as large and rich as Paeonies. The Eschscholtzias, with their orange flowers and finely cut leaves, are long lasters. So are the Rose Mallows (Lavateras), and the blue Love-in-a- mist (Nigella). Not so durable, but free growers, free bloomers, and bright in colour, are the Coreopsis, Leptosiphons, Linarias, Linums, Lupins, Nemophilas, Silenes, and Virginian Stocks. D 50 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS The principal half-hardy kinds (which respond to the treatment indicated for annual Asters in Chapter II) also last well. Petunias, Phloxes, Salpiglossis, and Stocks blow well into the autumn if the plants are roomily grown and watered in dry weather. Mignonette, Night-scented Stock (Matthiola), Sweet Alyssum, Sweet Scabious, and Sweet Sultan give us per- fumed flowers. The two first are long lasters, especi- ally, I think, on limestone soils. Certainly Mignonette gives me far more bloom on chalk than on clay, although, oddly enough (yet perhaps not so odd, since the position is bleak) it is later to open on the former. While I am a strong believer in giving annuals good culture, on the lines indicated above, I find that it is well worth while to broadcast a few kinds on any rough bank or chalky slope, and leave them to Nature. Such scatterings of seed may appear to be useless, since the conditions afford no sort of hope of success ; and per- haps half the summer passes without any result being observed, then suddenly some evening a whiff of perfume reaches your nostrils, and search reveals a lusty colony of Mignonette that had been overlooked. Clarkias, Eschscholtzias, Godetias, Linarias, Love-in- a-mist, Mignonette, Night-scented Stock, and Poppies are all particularly Hkely to succeed on this rough-and- ready system. VIII ON CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS From the earliest times the Carnation has interested flower-lovers deeply, and it interests them deeply to-day. The old writers loved it, the people loved it. With the possible exception of the Rose, it has figured more pro- minently m literature than any other flower, and it has loomed large in the customs of the proletariat. Monarchs have chosen it as one of their favourite flowers. Florists have specialised it, and formed societies to guard its interests. It is easy to find an explanation for the popular name Carnation ; it can be attributed to the colour — flesh colour. Note Shakespeare's — t( > A could never abide carnation ; 'twas a colour he never liked." — Henry V. Even so good a scholar as Dr. Johnson was satisfied with this. But the obvious is not always the correct, and this appears to be a case in point. In Lyte's Herbal the name is spelled Coronations, and now, when we read Spenser's ^'Shepherd's Calendar" — " Bring Coronations and Sops-in-wine Worn of paramours," and recall the old custom of wearing flower-crowns icoronce) by the Romans and Greeks, we arrive at the true derivation. The Carnation held a high place among 51 52 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS these garland flowers. Our flower being a popular one for head wreaths, it was called the coronation flower, and coronation became Carnation. The old writers called several plants Gillyflowers (this name was sometimes spelled Gilliflower or Gilloflower), amongst them being the Stock and the Wallflower ; but when they wrote of the two latter as Gillyflowers it was with the prefixes '' Stock " and '' Wall." When they re- ferred to Gillyflowers without any such distinctions it may be assumed that they referred to Carnations. It is true that Shakespeare alluded to them in such a way as to lead to the supposition that they were different plants. Note— " The fairest flowers o' the season Are our Carnations and streaked Gillyvors, Which some call Nature's bastards." — Winter's Tale. But it is probably safe to assume that the '< streaked Gillyvor" (Gillyflower) was merely another sort of Carnation. We may carry the interest of derivations a little farther. The botanist's name for the Carnation is Dian- thus caryophyllus. Dianthus comes from dios^ divine, and anthoSf a flower — Jove's flower. Caryophyllus means nut- leaved (see CoryluSj the Nut ; Carya, the Hickory ; Gary- ocarj the Butter Nut, &c., all deriving from the Greek karyon, a nut). As the Carnation has grassy leaves, dif- fering entirely from those of the Nuts, the specific name caryophyllus seems at first inappropriate and difficult to explain, but it was first applied generically to the Indian Clove tree, Caryophyllus aromaticus, and the name became attached to the Carnation through the latter having a smell of Cloves. Having got so far, the rest is easy, because Gillyflower is certainly a corruption of CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 53 caryophyllus. (Some authorities have suggested that Carnation itself is a corruption of caryophyllusy but this cannot be accepted). If the objection is raised that Gillyflower is very different from caryophyllus^ it may be replied that Gillyflower is a comparatively modern form of the word ; older forms are gillyvor and gilofre. Chaucer speaks of the '^clow gilofre" with " Notemuge to put in ale Whether it be moist or stale." Some writers think that he had the dried flower-buds (commercial cloves) of the Clove Tree in view here, since he speaks of nutmeg and other spices. Carnation flowers were, however, used to flavour wine and beer, and hence the name Sops-in-wine. In Blount's Antient Tenures ^^July-flower wine" is referred to, and writers are not wanting who declare that Gillyflower is simply a corruption of July flower. The correct explanation is probably as above. The name Picotee comes from the French picoUy *' pricked " or " marked," and was applied to flowers with colour marks on the edge. Our modern Picotees are really Carnations in which the colour runs round the edge of the flower, sometimes in a thin line, sometimes in a broad band. Picotees are classified by the depth of the edging. Pinks. — The origin of the name " Pink " would be sought naturally in the colour ; it would be assumed that the first flower which bore this name was pink in hue, and that the flower would be called, therefore, the Pink, i.e. the pink Gillyflower. The reverse is the case ; it is the colour that comes from the flower. According to that careful authority, Dr. Prior, Pink comes from Pentecost through the German word Pink- 54 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS sten. It was the Whitsun-blooming Gillyflower. The Pink does, in fact, bloom much earlier than the Carna- tion and Picotee, and is generally at its best in June. ^ The early forms were, of course, single. The flower was highly esteemed, as we may judge from the expression " the pink of courtesy." Note Romeo and Juliet^ Act ii. scene 4. — Mercutio. Nay, I am the very Pink of courtesy. Romeo. Pink for flower. Mercutio. Right. See also Spenser's — " Her lovely eyes like Pincks but newly spread." Pinks are of two classes, the Laced and the Garden or Feathered. The former are probably varieties of Dianthus caryophyllus like our Carnations, and the latter ^ (Pheasants' Eyes) of the feathered Pink {Dianthus plumarius). The Laced Pink has a coloured centre, which distinguishes it from the Carnation and Picotee ; and also a coloured band near the edge of the petal, but not on the margin, as in the Picotee ; there is a band of white on the outside. Like the florists' Carnation and Picotee, it is a smooth-edged flower. The Garden Pinks have cut-edged or serrated petals. The multiplicity of names may be taken as evidence of the popularity of the Carnation. Cultured and illiterate people alike loved and grew it. The clove-scented Carnation is a very old plant — cer- tainly one of the oldest of which botanical historians have any record. The old Roman writer Pliny describes it, and tells us that it was discovered in Spain. Plant dictionaries make no attempt to fix the period of its introduction to Great Britain, and boldly class it as a CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS SS native, which, in a sense, it is, inasmuch as it has grown as a wilding for centuries in some places. It is naturalised on some of the old castles of Norman construction, such as Dover and Rochester ; and this raises an interesting point : Was it introduced advisedly by the Norman builders, or accidentally with the stone which they quarried and shipped ? It was certainly a popular plant in Normandy, and it is probable that the barons brought it over to please their ladies, who doubt- less looked with scant favour on their new homes, and needed placating. It is not easy, either, to fix the period when flower- lovers in England began to specialise the Carnation. When we find so old a writer as Gerard (1545-1612) sa3ang that it would require a large volume to describe all the varieties of Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks, we may infer that it was a highly specialised flower as far back as 1597, when his Herball appeared. Shakespeare's reference to '^ streaked Gillyvors " in The Winter s Tale showed that Carnations differing from the old flesh- coloured Self (which he referred to in the same line) existed in 1601 ; and Gerard credits Lete with the intro- duction of yellow varieties in or about the year 1580. John Parkinson (1567-1650) appears to have had a large collection of different kinds, but not Picotees. These historical facts about Carnations increase our interest in the flower. They show us that it has long been rooted deeply in the national life. It is not an ephemeral plant, the interest of which passes within a few hours of its introduction, but a flower of abiding — one might almost say constitutional — interest. It is woven into the national fibre. As we move about among our collections to - day, propagating, potting, planting, so we may imagine Lete, Gerard, Stow, 56 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Parkinson, and other old florists doing in the spacious Elizabethan epoch. These men were as eminent in floriculture as their contemporaries Spenser, Marlowe, and Shakespeare were in literature. But what different lives they led — John Gerard pursuing the peaceful art of gardening at Burghley and compiling his Herball in placid seclusion (cribbing freely from Dodoens' Pemp- tadesy however, according to some unkind biographers), Kit Marlowe carousing in the taverns, and getting killed in a vulgar brawl ! The Carnation presently began to develop on certain well-defined Hnes. The ^'streaked Gillyvors" became the ^* Bizarres " and ^' Flakes " of modern florists. The different character of the markings led to the flowers being separated into classes. When we open a Carna- tion catalogue to-day we find such sections as Bizarres, Flakes, Selfs, Malmaisons, Trees (or Perpetuals), Ameri- cans, and Fancies ; and all of these are subdivided by colour. Among Picotees we have Yellow Grounds and White Grounds, with sub-divisions according to the breadth of the marking on the edge of the petals and the colour. When the old florists had secured their sections they kept them distinct and good by formulating rules and standards. They fixed on an ideal flower, and worked up to it with their new seedlings, retaining only those that conformed to the standard, and keeping them true to form and colour by propagating from layers and cuttings. They gave us a round, smooth-edged flower, full in the centre, and with the petals overlapping each other evenly. They did their work so well that we have not been able to make improvements in form during the past 150 years (some of the old school declare mourn- fully that we are receding, since we have admitted the CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 57 cut-edged '^American" section to favour), but we have secured increased size and a larger range of colours. A brief description of the various sections may be of interest. A Bizarre is a flower the clear ground colour of which is marked radially with two or three other colours. According to the predominant colour in the flaking, it is a Scarlet, Crimson, or Pink and Purple Bizarre. A Flake is a flower the clear ground colour of which is marked radially with one other colour ; the shade of the mark decides whether it is a Purple, Rose, or Scarlet Flake. A 5^^ is a flower with one colour only, A Malmaison is a large-flowered sub-section of the Tree or Perpetual Carnation, flowering in spring and early summer. The original variety was blush-coloured, and was raised in France. Its full name was Souvenir de la Malmaison. The reader hardly needs to be re- minded that La Malmaison was the chateau occupied by Napoleon and Josephine, and he may suppose, if he pleases, that the Malmaison Carnation was grown and admired by these remarkable beings, but its origin can- not be traced. Josephine certainly loved Carnations, and grew the best varieties of her day. The Malmaison Carnations are self-coloured, and distinguished by their powerful clove fragrance. The stems and leaves are more vigorous than those of other Carnations, and the plants can be distinguished readily, even when not in bloom. Tree or Perpetual Carnations have a tall, upright habit of growth. They are winter and spring bloomers, and self-coloured. American Carnations are large-flowered Perpetuals 58 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS with cut-edged petals. They are winter and spring bloomers, self-coloured, long-stemmed, and very sweet. (What might be termed an Anglo-American class has been evolved, the members of which have the large flowers, long stems, rich colours and full perfume of the Americans, but smooth-edged instead of cut-edged petals. A cut-edged petal has always been an abomina- tion to British florists.) Fancies are flowers with irregular markings on coloured or white grounds. The Yellow Ground Fancies are a beautiful class, which has been greatly increased and improved in recent years. The body colour is marked with plum, pink, rose, or some other colour in stripes and flakes. Picotees may be first classified as Yellow or White Grounds ; secondly, as light, medium, or heavy-edged ; and thirdly, as red, rose, scarlet, or purple-edged. If the colour is a thin line on the very edge of the petal, the flower is a light-edge ; if it is a belt a sixteenth of an inch wide, or thereabouts, the flower is a medium- edge ; if it is a broader belt of something like an eighth of an inch, the variety is a heavy-edge. Thus a flower will be a ^^ White Ground, heavy rose-edge," if the body colour is white and the marginal colour a broad belt of rose. The Malmaison, Tree, American, and Anglo-Ameri- can Carnations are grown under glass most of the year, although it is not unusual to stand them out of doors on a bed of ashes in the summer. The Malmaisons are usually propagated by layering in a frame in spring, the method being the same as that which is to be de- scribed presently for garden Carnations ; but also by cuttings. They need great care in watering and venti- lating. They are not plants for the one-house amateur, CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 59 and are principally used by wealthy flower-lovers, who grow them in a house to themselves. The Tree, Ameri- can, and Anglo-American Carnations are propagated by cuttings of young wood inserted in sandy soil in small pots in winter or spring. Pot culture. — Exhibitors of Carnations grow the Biz- arres, Flakes, Selfs, Picotees, and Fancies in pots. They generally put two plants in a 7-inch or 8-inch pot, using a compost of fibrous loam, with a fourth of leaf mould, dried cow manure, and mortar rubbish (or road grit) in equal parts. They grow the plants, while quite young, in frames, and later in light, airy houses. It is only when the plants are thus grown that the exhibitor can rely on flowers of the standard which judges look for. Flower gardeners need not regard so old a garden favourite as the Carnation as an indoor plant, however. It is delightful to see flowers in perfect form and texture, but the flower-gardener need not deny himself a Car- nation-bed in order to secure perfection of outline and colour in a limited number of flowers on a show-board. He will the more particularly refrain from making this mistake when he sees that the exhibitor is never satisfied with the native beauty of the flowers which he has pro- duced at so much cost, but embellishes them by " dress- ing " with tweezers, and staging in ^^ collars" of white papers. Flower-gardeners will sympathise with the main work of the exhibitor, because they will recognise that it makes for quality of bloom. They will gladly take the beautiful varieties which his operations bring into being, but they will judge the sorts by a different standard — a standard of vigorous growth, free blooming, and clear, decided colours. The Selfs are undeniably the best garden Carnations. 6o POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS The Bizarres and Flakes, particularly the former, fail to strike a sufficiently bold and clear note. The Fancies are fairly good. The Picotees are pleasing at a close view, but ineffective at a distance ; they are, however, exquisite in pots. Every Carnation-lover who grows his favourite as a garden plant pure and simple should make a special study of the Selfs. He should note the bear- ing of the different varieties when he has opportunities of seeing them out of doors — in parks, in nurseries, in private gardens. He should look out for a good white, a good pink, a good rose, a good scarlet, a good yellow, and a good crimson. He should note which sorts grow strongly and which weakly, which bloom freely and which sparsely, which are decided in colour and which washy, which keep their shape, and which become deformed through the bursting of the calyx ; for all these points have a bearing on flower-garden results. The following are good Self garden Carnations in the various colours : — Scarlet. Banner. — A large bloom of rich colour. B arras. — Bright and strong. Hayes Scarlet. — A free bloomer, fine in form, habit, and colour. ''^Herbert J. Cutbush. — A splendid flower of brilliant colour. Crimson and Maroon. Agnes Sorrel. — Very dark crimson. ''^ Gil Polo. — Magnificent flower, crimson. Lady Hifidlip. — Fine flower, a light rather than a rich crimson. * Uriah Pike. — An improved Old Clove, very sweet. CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 6i Yellow. * Daffodil. — A modern sort, with a much larger flower than Germania, and very rich in colour. Germania, — Avery old variety, a strong grower, and clear in hue. Miss Audrey Campbell. — A well-proved sort, primrose in colour. White, Hildegarde. — Lovely flower, and a free bloomer. "^Mrs. Eric Hambro. — A strong grower, and with large, pure floweis. Trojan. — A large and beautiful flower. Vesta. — Good habit and a free bloomer. Blushj Pale Pink^ or Peach. Lady Nina Balfour. — Peach-colour, very strong grower, a great favourite in Scotland. Lady Ridley. — Cream, very vigorous, with long stalks. Mrs. Weguelin. — Blush, long stalk, very sweet. Seagull. — Blush, strong, a fine garden sort. Pink and Rose. Endymion. — Salmon-pink, splendid flower. *Exile. — Rose, very vigorous and free. Raby Castle. — The old salmon pink. Heliotrope and Lavender. Capuchin. — Large, handsome flower. "^Garville Gem. — A fine, strong, free border sort. Orange, Terra-cotta, and Apricot. Nabob. — Orange-buff, strong and free. *Sir R. Waldie Griffith. — Apricot, very vij^orous and flori- ferous, a great favourite in Scotland. Yellow Ground Fancy. Clio. Hudibras. Mrs. F. Wellesley. Zingara. 62 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS All the foregoing are varieties of proved merit, not untried novelties. They are inexpensive. They repre- sent the best type of garden Carnation, growing strongly and healthily, and giving abundance of bloom of good quality. Those marked with an asterisk (*) might be chosen for a smaller collection. While, however, the varieties are good for the garden, most of them are capable of being grown into exhibition form. The following are selections of the other sections : — Scarlet Bizarres. Admiral Curzon. Robert Houlgrave. Robert Lord. Purple Flakes, George Melville. Gordon Lewis. James Douglas. Crimson Bizarres. Harrison Weir. Master Fred. Rifleman. Pink and Purple Bizarres. Mrs. Barlow. Sarah Payne. Wm. Skirving. Scarlet Flakes. Alisemond. Matador. Sportsman. Rose Flakes, Rob Roy. Sybil. Thalia. Heavy Red-edged Picotees. Brunette. J. B. Bryant. John Smith. Medium Red-edged, Charlotte Bronte. Euripides. Lena. Light Red-edged. Mrs. Gorton. Thomas William. Violet Douglas. Heavy Rose or Scarlet-edged. Edith D'Ombrain. Mrs. Payne. Mrs. Sharpe. Mediwn Rose or Scarlet-edged. Clio. Daisy. Duchess of York. Light Rose or Scarlet-edged. Ethel. Favourite. Nellie. Carnations in a vase. CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 6^ Heavy Purple-edged. Mrs. Chancellor. Muriel. Zerlina. Medium Purple-edged. Amy Robsart. Jessie. Mrs. Kingston. Light Purple-edged. Ann Lord. Clara Penson. Mary. Yellow Ground Picotees. Gronow. Hy. Falkland. Lucy Glitters. Pilgrim. Malmaisons. Blush (original type). Lord Welby, crimson. Mrs. Trelawny, salmon. Nell Gwynn, white. Pink (original type). Princess of Wales. Tree or Perpetual. Deutsche Brant, white. Lady Carlisle, pink. Lord Roberts, yellow. Mdlle. T. Franco, light pink. Uriah Pike, crimson. Wm. Robinson, scarlet. Americans. Alpine Glow, salmon-rose. Beacon, scarlet. Enchantress, light pink. Harlowarden, crimson. Helen Gould, rose. Jessica, white, pencilled scarlet. Lady C. Waring, yellow. Robert Craig, scarlet. Winsor, silvery-pink. A nglo- American. Britannia, scarlet. Carola, crimson. C. W. Cowan, claret. Lady Ridley, cream. St. Louis, scarlet. White Perfection, white. The laced Pinks are, as we have seen, as closely related to the Carnation as Picotees are. The principal difference is in the arrangement of the colour bands. These beautiful Pinks have not kept pace with the Carna- tion and Picotee. There was a time when they ranked almost as high with florists, but that is long past. The grower who wants a small collection might choose the following varieties : — Amy. Harry Hooper. Arthur Brown. Morna. Empress of India. Old Chelsea. 64 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS The following are beautiful garden Pinks : — Anne Boleyn, purple. Ernest Ladhams, blush. Ascot, pink. Mrs. Lakin, white, pink centre. Brackleen, rose, white ground. Mrs. Sinkins, white. If we are to get beautiful Self Carnations in the garden, we must attend to a few important practical points. We aim at border clumps or beds in which the plants are strong, healthy, and bearing a number of large; brilliant, fragrant flowers. We cannot very well get such plants if the soil is bad or infested with wire- worms. We can get plants of a kind, but they will be small, weak, and incapable of producing flowers of the quality we desire. Sot'l. — There should be at least a foot in depth of soil, and if it is loam all the better, but clay will do if it is well drained and rendered friable by deep digging towards the end of winter. A light dressing of thoroughly decayed manure will improve it, and mortar rubbish, road grit, and wood ashes from a garden fire may be added with advantage. Light soil should be dressed with decayed turves that have stood in a heap for several months if possible, as this adds fibre, and Carnations like a soil with body in it. Wireworm and leather-jackets are not common, as a rule, in ground which has been cultivated for several years, but they are often abundant in new gardens, especially those that have been made out of meadow- land. Now, wireworms are particularly fond of Carna- tions, and will troop ravenously to them, feeding on the roots, and so worrying the plants that they have no chance of growing well. Small plants never '^get away," as gardeners say ; they remain stunted and sickly. If the Carnation-lover is going to plant on freshly-broken M D O Q CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 65 pasture, he had better dress the soil with vaporite or apterite, which seedsmen sell, a few weeks before plant- ing. These compounds are not expensive, and they certainly tend to reduce wireworm. Another plan is to work in kainit, a cheap chemical manure, at the rate of half a pound to the square yard, when the ground is being dug. It worries wireworm, and acts as a fertiliser to the soil at the same time. If the plants still refuse to grow, and, on one being taken up, hard yellow worms about an inch long are found at the roots, pieces of potato and carrot may be impaled on sticks and thrust in near the plants. It is better to keep taking up these than to take up the Carnations themselves ; and they form good baits. Planting, — When the grower is making a start with bought plants, he should buy in October or March. He can get nice young plants growing in small pots at a low rate, except in the case of novelties, which are dear. He should make the surface soil level and fine, and plant at once fifteen inches apart, making large holes for the plants with a trowel, sinking them to the lower leaves, and pressing the soil firmly round them. If making a bed, he should plant in diagonal lines thus — ♦ * * # * * * * * •» * « * * * * « * * •«• * * * * * * ♦ ^k * « ♦ * * After planting, the soil should be raked over and the bed left neat. If the plants are being grown in the borders, they £ 66 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS should be set near the front, in clumps of not less than three, the soil being prepared and the plants put in fifteen inches apart as before. If there is wireworm about, it would be well to put as many of the plants as pots can be spared for into five-inch pots, and stand them in a sheltered place on a bed of ashes, in order to grow them stronger before putting them out. Carnations do quite well if planted in May, provided they are put out with good balls of earth round them in showery weather, and watered if dry. While they are making root, and generally strengthening in preparation for their fight with the wireworm, the latter is being harassed and reduced by the vaporite, kainit, and baits. Disease, — While they are in pots (and, for the matter of that, when they are planted out also) they should be looked over regularly to make sure that no fungoid disease is beginning to attack the leaves. If any blotches show, pick off the leaves which are affected, and then spray the plants over with water in which liver of sulphur (sulphide of potassium) has been dissolved at the rate of half an ounce per gallon. Directly Carnations begin to grow in the beds and borders they become attractive. The flowering season may be a long way off, but the glaucous grey foliage is pleasing in itself ; and herein lies one of the great advant- ages of the Carnation as a garden plant ; as long as it is healthy, it is always handsome, whether in or out of flower. Old plants, it is true, are apt to be unsightly, because they show a considerable amount of bare stem at the base ; but no one need keep plants until they become ugly, because new ones can be raised easily. A bed of Carnations in free, healthy growth is beauti- ful and interesting all the summer. The plants throw out I CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 67 tufts of grassy grey leaves, and presently push flower stems. They will not need much cultural treatment until the stems are long, but the bed may be hoed to keep weeds down, and water may be given in dry weather. When the flower stems begin to bend over, stakes should be put to them. The loops made in tying should be loose, in order to avoid checking extension. Carnation experts use special supports which florists sell. Porter's and Sydenham's are both very good. When flower-buds show, the number on each stem may be reduced to three, if very nice flowers are wanted. If no disbudding is practised, there will be a larger number of smaller flowers. Exhibitors permit only one flower stem, and disbud, but many flower gardeners do not, preferring to let the plants bloom naturally. For towns, — The plants will come into flower in July, and will probably be at their best towards the end of that month. If they are healthy, and the flower stems strong, the beds or clumps will be objects of great beauty. And they can be had in town or suburban as well as in country gardens, for the Carnation is one of the best of town flowers. Several of the most successful exhibitors grow their plants in or near large towns. It may be said that of all the great popular flowers Carna- tions and Chrysanthemums are the two best for town and suburban gardeners to specialise. The propagation of garden Carnations is conducted by means of seeds and layers. Seeds give large, healthy, free-blooming plants if the strain and culture are good ; from a poor strain the flowers are small and of no special quality. They look charming in the garden, however, and are good for cutting. Seed should be sown thinly in June, in well-pulverised soil, and covered half an inch deep. If the seedlings come through in a mass, they 68 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS should be thinned. They can be planted out where they are to bloom in autumn or spring. Or seed may be sown under glass in March, to give bloom the same year. The propagation ot all varieties grown under names, and, indeed, of any sorts that the grower wishes to keep true to form and colour, is by layering. All the grassy side-shoots previously alluded to can be layered in August, and the process is simple. The grower slices the small leaflets from a short length of stem about three inches from the parent plant, cuts half-way through the shoot as though he were going to sever it, then changes the direction of the knife and runs the blade through the centre of the stem in the direction of the tip of the shoot to the length of an inch ; he then withdraws the knife. By this act he makes a slit in the shoot without separating it from the plant. A small pebble may be slipped in to keep it open. Each shoot is then depressed and the slit portion of the stem pegged down in a small mound of sandy soil put there for the purpose of receiv- ing it. Such is layering, and any amateur gardener may succeed in it with very little practice. Roots will form in and around the slit, and by mid- October they will be so numerous as to form a small mat of fibres. The shoots will no longer need support from the old plant, and may be cut away from it. The young plants procured by layering will be better than their parents a year later if all has gone well with them. Specialists often put them in small pots, and winter them in unheated frames on a bed of ashes. They then get larger plants, but a sharp watch must be kept for leaf spot. Amateurs would be well advised to plant them out, as the plants will probably remain cleaner than in frames, and there is not likely to be any Doublp: Indian Pinks. CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 69 serious loss from frost if the soil is well drained. In wet soil some sharp road or other grit may be sprinkled round the plants to prevent damp affecting the collar. Dry cold will not kill the plants. Pinks do not produce tufted side-growths so freely as Carnations; and are often propagated by division, or by pulling young shoots out of their sockets early in summer and inserting them as cuttings in sandy soil. These |i shoots are called pipings. The strong-growing Pinks * which produce vigorous side-shoots may be layered like Carnations. They are often used as marginal plants for beds and borders. As they will grow in almost any soil if rabbits are wired out of the garden, and bloom most profusely, they are invaluable plants to the amateur. A line of Pinks makes a neat and pleasing margin to a bed or border, besides yielding a large quantity of sweet and pretty flowers. Maggot, — Sometimes a blistered spot, with a brownish track running from it, is seen on a leaf. If so, the leaf should be sliced down at once with the point of a knife and a pair of small maggots searched for with the aid of a lens. If the attack is not observed, the maggots, un- checked by the grower, will work their way down to the stems, and whole shoots may become sickly and drop out. There are several beautiful plants grown in gardens as Pinks of different kinds, such as the Indian Pink {Dianthus chinensis)^ the Japanese Pink {Dianthus Hed- ' dewigii), the Cheddar Pink {Dianthus ccBsius)^ the Maiden Pink {Dianthus deltoides), and the Mule Pink, of which there are several hybrids, Napoleon III. being one of the best. The Indian and Japanese Pinks are generally treated as annuals. With the seed sown in winter or spring 1- i J^v* 70 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS under glass similarly to that of China Asters (Chapter II), the plants flower in July, and remain in beauty a long time. They are dwarf, free-blooming plants, bright and varied in colour, but have not the perfumed charm of the old garden Pinks and Carnations. The other species are suitable for the rockery. They may be planted in spring or raised from seed in summer. The Carnation-Grower's Year — a Summary January and February. — Border Carnations will be almost, if not entirely, quiescent during these months. It is only in mild spells that outdoor plants will make any visible movement. There will be little to do among them. If the grower lives in the country he must keep a sharp lookout for hares and rabbits, especially in severe weather. In districts where rabbits abound, the best plan is to go to the expense (not very serious) of fastening two feet of wire netting, one and a half inch mesh, to all the fences. The lower portion should be embedded in the ground a few inches, to prevent the rabbits scratching away soil at the ground level and getting under. If any leaves become blotched with disease, they should be picked off and burned. Pot plants in frames should be ventilated regularly, except in very bad weather. Diseased leaves should be picked off. Very little water will be needed. It is only in periods of severe frost that any protective covering need be placed on the lights. Tree and American varieties will be in bloom in warm greenhouses, and will need attention in respect to staking and watering. Young shoots may be struck as cuttings in small pots of sandy soil. If possible, give bottom heat till rooted, then place on a shelf nei^r the glass, CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 71 March. — Planting in beds and borders may be done in favourable weather. If any of the plants put out in autumn have done badly, they may be removed and fresh plants put in their places. Prepare the soil thoroughly. Young plants in frames should be planted out. Carnation seed may be sown in boxes and placed on a hotbed or shelf in a warm greenhouse. Continue the propagation of winter bloomers. If green-fly should appear on the cuttings, dip them in water at a tempera- ture of 100°. If the cuttings show a tendency to damp- ing off, put a tumbler or bellglass over them to check evaporation from the leaves till roots have formed. When the roots of struck cuttings have reached the bottom of the pots, repot them in a compost of three parts loam, one leaf mould, one decayed manure, and some coarse washed sand. April, — Plants in the garden will now be in active growth. The soil should be hoed regularly. Fresh plants may still be put in. Seedlings raised in March may be picked ofif three inches apart and put on a shelf in a greenhouse. Young winter bloomers may be re- potted as required, and kept in a light, airy greenhouse. From now onwards vaporising the house once a fort- night with a vaporising cone (which seedsmen supply) will keep down green-fly and other insects. Malmaisons will perhaps be in bloom. Meet their requirements for water judiciously, never letting the soil become parched, but at the same time guarding against keeping it sodden. May. — Bed and border plants which were planted in autumn or March will now be growing rapidly. By the middle of the month it is quite likely that the flower stem will begin to spindle up ; anyway, stakes should be procured and kept in readiness. Tying cannot be coqi- 72 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS pleted in one operation^ but must be done at intervals as the stem extends. Continue hoeing. If the soil is shallow and dry, a mulching of cocoanut fibre refuse or short manure may be spread round the plants. Seed- lings may be planted out from the boxes about the end of the month. Winter bloomers should have free ventilation in fine weather, and freshly struck plants may be put into frames about the middle of the month if the weather is mild. Give full exposure to air except in bad weather. Old plants may be stood on a bed of ashes in a sunny, sheltered place outdoors, and will flower again in autumn. June, — Continue the hoeing and staking of outdoor plants. Green-fly, the cuckoo spittle, and earwigs may now become troublesome. Vigorous syringing once or twice a week will harry the two first, and prevent them from doing serious damage ; it will also benefit the plants. If earwigs do damage, place hay in some small flower-pots, invert them on sticks among the plants, and examine them daily. Tying the flower stems will need regular attention. If the grower intends to exhibit, he should restrict each plant to one stem, and the buds may be thinned to three at the most when they appear. Some varieties are thinned more severely than others, only two, or in some cases even one, bud being left ; experience of the peculiarities of each sort will guide him. He should guard against severe disbudding at first ; to restrict a plant to one bud might mean a coarse bloom. The exhibitor will also prepare his show boxes. A stand for six blooms may be 13I inches long (from back to front), 8J inches wide, 4J inches high at the back, and 2\ inches high at the front. It should be perforated with holes large enough to contain the metal tubes which hold the stems of the flowers, and should be I CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 73 painted green. The flowers will stand in two rows of three each from back to front. A stand of this size will accommodate the largest flowers. Two such stands may be placed side by side to show twelve flowers. If several stands are to be taken to a show, a case fitted with ledges ought to be made for them. Cases, stands, and tubes can all be bought ready made from Carnation specialists. Round pieces of Bristol cardboard, about four inches across (rather more for large fancy flowers) may be procured, and a circle cut in the centre large enough to envelop the calyx loosely (the calyx is the circle of green segments just beneath the flower). A slit can be cut from the circumference of the card to the central hole, and by depressing one edge of this the stem can be slipped through. The preparation of exhibiting neces- saries betimes prevents any confusion when show day arrives. Repot winter-blooming plants as required, and stand them on ashes in a sunny, sheltered place. Attend to watering and the suppression of insects. July, — This is the flowering month, but the plants will not be in full bloom until the latter part, in most seasons. Continue tying, disbudding, and watering, as needed. If some of the opening flowers threaten to burst the calyx, slip an indiarubber band over it. Note hints under June as to exhibiting stands and collars. Before show flowers are finally put in the stands, in readiness for the judges, exhibitors make a practice of looking over them, and remedying any de- fects with tweezers. Thus, narrow, curled, or deformed florets in the centre of the flower are removed with a pair of ivory tweezers, together with ^' run " petals — that is, petals in Bizarres or Flakes coloured all over instead of barred on white, and Picotees with the colour leaving the edge for the body of the petal. The flower 74 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS is finally mounted and dressed in the following way : a small circular card — preferably of Bristol cardboard — is cut, with a star pattern in the centre, two-thirds the diameter of the pod, and the stem of the flower is then drawn through it. The points of the stars yield and bind round the pod. This small card serves as a ^^ plat- form," as it were, for the display card referred to under June. The small card does not, in clasping the calyx, interfere in any way with the movement of the petals, which must be quite free. The large card, with its central hole (which is large enough to allow the petals to move freely), is then fixed above the smaller one by drawing the stem through the slit edge. The top of the calyx is turned outward with a pair of steel tweezers, to allow the petals to move freely, and then the flower is dealt with. First the large outer petals (^' guard" petals) are drawn towards the edge of the large card and arranged in a ring, then the second row of petals is arranged over the edge of the first; other rows are treated likewise ; and, finally, the central petals are lightly curved over the centre. With prac- tice this can be done without giving the flower an unnatural and artificial appearance. If made to look very stiff, it would be regarded as ^' over-dressed." Seedlings in the beds should be examined as they come into bloom, and any very good ones marked for pre- servation and propagation by layering. Pot plants should be watered and syringed regularly. August. — Layer young shoots out of doors in mounds of soil in the manner previously described, beginning early in the month. Should the weather be very hot and dry, the layers ought to be watered daily to encourage rooting. Pot plants should be watered and syringed as in July. CARNATIONS, PICOTEES, AND PINKS 75 September. — The layers in the garden should be forming roots freely, and the process will be hastened by watering in dry weather. By the end of the month the layers made early in August ought to be well rooted, and, if so, they may be cut away and the young plants (for such they will now be) planted out where they are to bloom the following year. The soil should be prepared as previously advised, and pressed firmly round the plants. A few plants of special varieties may be potted and put on a layer of ashes in a frame as a reserve. Early pot plants will now be forming flower-buds, although the later-struck ones may not yet be doing so. All ought to be put in the green- house towards the end of the month. October. — Complete the planting-out of rooted layers and the potting of a few reserves. The latter, which may be potted firmly in three-inch pots, should be kept close for a few days after potting, but subsequently given abundance of air in fine weather. They will need very little water, and none should be sprinkled over the leaves, or mould may follow. Pot plants in the warm greenhouse will now be giving flowers, and if the batch is in different stages, some being from early and others from late cuttings, the display will be a prolonged one. A high temperature is not ne- cessary— 50° to 60° being ample. The house should be a light, well-ventilated one, and abundance of air admitted in tine weather. November and December. — If any plants out of doors are upheaved by frost, press them back again. Venti- late frame plants at every opportunity, and water very sparingly. Keep a sharp lookout for rabbits. Pick off any diseased leaves directly they are seen and burn theiiif Maintain a fresh, buoyant atmosphere in the 76 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS greenhouse. Give water when the soil is actually dry, but be careful not to overwater, and avoid spilling water about, thereby creating a damp atmosphere. Ventilate regularly, except in foggy weather. This treatment, combined with the above temperature, will insure abundance of flowers for a long period. IX ON CHRISTMAS AND LENTEN ROSES (HELLEBORES) Great as is the skill of the modern flower-gardener, and vast as is the number of plants at his service, he has not yet arrived at the point of being able to fill his beds and borders with bloom at mid-wnnter. He has liowers in abundance in spring, summer, and autumn, but the hard weeks from the end of November to mid-February are practically bare, the few unimportant and compara- tively ineffective plants which give odd flowers in sheltered places during that period hardly counting seriously. There is, however, one flower which does count, and that is the Christmas Rose {Helleborus niger). It counts as the best summer flowers count — with amplitude of growth, abundance of bloom, and real beauty of flower. It is not one of those little plants that we speak of as merely "pretty" or "interesting," and which we fondle in some corner of the rockery. It is a strong grower, capable of forming a bold break of bloom. When we have learned to give it the best of treatment, and to utilise it in the best way, we shall appreciate it more and more. We always think of the Christmas Rose as a white flower, and yet the dictionaries tell us that the original species was pink. Naturally we resent this. We have grown used to employing such terms as "snow-white" 77 78 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS and " pure as the driven snow " in relation to it, and we do not relish the idea of parting with our choicest figures of speech. The truth is that the Helleborus, which came to us from Austria in 1596, is pink exter- nally, but it is white within, and that is enough for us. It is a poisonous plant, yet not a dangerous one. The very name Helleborus points to poisonous qualities, as it comes from heleim^ to kill, and bora^ food. Both the leaves and roots are poisonous, and half a drachm of an infusion of the leaves has been known to kill an elderly man ; but no one is likely to prepare and drink an infusion, or to make a supper off the roots. There is no berry for children to pick and eat. The only circumstances in which the Christmas Rose is at all likely to do injury are when flower stems are put in the mouth, and when the plant is used as a drug by incompetent practitioners. Growers may be warned against the former, and, as to the latter, the plant has been discarded from the Pharmacopoeia. Some confusion arises at times owing to another poisonous plant, Veratum albunty being called the White Hellebore. The Hellebore powder used for destroying Gooseberry caterpillars is prepared from this plant. The case is an illustration of the muddle which may easily arise from a careless use of popular names. We hear of the White Hellebore, and we have a plant that we know to be a white Helleborus ; what more natural than that we should conclude them to be the same ? They are really quite different. The coiner of popular names who minted ''Christ- mas Rose " deserves more approbation than coiners in general. It is true that the flower is not in the least like most of the Roses which we grow in our beds — our Mrs. John Laings, our Frau Karl Druschkis, our CHRISTMAS AND LENTEN ROSES 79 Crimson Ramblers. It is single. But, after all, there are single Roses as well as doubles, and I have a single white Rose that is absurdly like the white Helleborus. The " coiner " had not that particular variety in his mind, because it is a modern variety, but he had another something like it. The word ^'Christmas" completes the charm. It wins our hearts and interest at once. The veriest Scrooge must admit its power when allied with a beautiful flower. There are two things inseparable from the popular conception of a cheerful Christmas — a roaring fire and a well-laid table. In the old days, according to every popular writer, the table " groaned " under its burden of turkey, roast beef, pudding, and other comestibles. Now, a groan is a sound of distress, and if a table of a normally cheerful disposition really did emit a note of agony (which I for one take leave to doubt), it was not because it had to bear an extra burden once a year — it would have done that cheerfully enough — but because it deplored the absence of delicate and refined touches. Anyway, no self-respecting Christmas table will be satisfied with a sprig or two of holly now- adays. There must be a plentiful supply of bowls and vases of flowers. Rather than leave these out, either the beef or the turkey must go. Situation. — The person who buys plants of Christmas Roses naturally does so with the object of having flowers at Christmas, but he does not always get them. The weather and the site have their say in the matter. If the plants are put in an exposed place, and the Clerk of the Weather should develop a cantankerous attitude, there will be no flowers on the poor Hellebores. They will be too pinched and miserable to think of blooming. The plant does not like being beaten and bullied by 8o POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS blusterous winds. It likes peace and quietude. Of course, it is hardy. It will not be killed by cold. But there is a difference between merely living and passing a happy, healthy, joyous existence. Lovers of the Christmas Rose who really want it as a Christmas flower should give it a sheltered position. There ought to be sheltered places in every border of any size, because the owner will have worked in a few evergreen shrubs or conifers. These divide the border into ''bays," and prevent the winter winds from sweep- ing in a savage, mad-dog rush from end to end, and tearing off every green leaf or blossom that ventures to show itself. Another plan of providing shelter is to leave the old stems of herbaceous plants on until spring ; but this is abhorrent to any mind with a sense of neatness and order. Christmas Roses will do perfectly well under trees if they have shelter of some kind, such as a windscreen in the form of a neighbouring belt of shrubs, or the fronds of hardy ferns around them. The latter have not the ugliness and disorder of decaying herbaceous plants when they are turning brown. Some pretty, dwarf, winter-flowering bulbs, such as Snowdrops, Scillas, and Glory of the Snow, may be dotted among the Christmas Roses. The last-named {Chiondoxa) is a beautiful little blue bulb that one can buy for about three shillings per hundred in autumn. With a reasonable allowance of mild weather in autumn, and shelter, there certainly ought to be flowers on the Christmas Roses at Yuletide ; in fact, if several different varieties are grown, there will be flowers before, at, and after Christmas. There are Christmas Roses that bloom early and Christmas Roses that bloom late. CHRISTMAS AND LENTEN ROSES 8i Sticklers would contend that a Hellebore which flowered in November could not be a Christmas Rose, but there are no sticklers in gardening. Planting, — The time to plant Christmas Roses is un- ; doubtedly September. During that pleasant month they begin to make roots, and it is desirable to shift them when the process is starting. To move them afterwards means the destruction of new roots, which is a slap in the face for Nature that she is quite likely to return with interest. The character of the soil is not of great importance as long as it is drained. Heavy soil and light will alike grow the plants well. But there should be no damp, no . stodginess. Light soil may be improved by digging in a dressing of well-decayed manure, and the ground should be moved to a depth of at least a foot — prefer- ably eighteen inches. Some growers, unable to find the ideal sheltered spot for their Christmas Roses, yet very desirous of having early flowers, place the plants in groups and put frames around and over them. Or they cover small clumps with separate handlights. The French gardener's frames | and cloches would serve this purpose admirably. But it is not every amateur who has frames and handlights to spare. At a pinch artificial shelter could be provided, in the form of a few armfuls of fern fronds thrown among the plants. These also form a soil-covering which prevents particles of grit being splashed up by rain on to the flowers. Should the flowers be caught by frost, it is a good plan to sprinkle them with cold water before the sun rises. The Christmas Roses begin to grow (in the ordinary sense) in spring, for it is then that the new leaves appear. When they are furnished with fresh foliage F 82 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS the old leaves can be dressed off. The season for pro- pagation is autumn, when the clumps may be divided. The Lenten Rose is a Hellebore, but not the same species as the Christmas Rose ; it is //". Orientalis, or the Eastern Hellebore, its native country being Greece. It is a handsome plant, with deep rose flowers and abund- ance of leafage. Blooming later than the Christmas Rose, it gives successional flowers, and the colours of the varieties are richer. It and its hybrids are plants to study for late winter and early spring blooming. A description of the best varieties and hybrids may bring our chat about Christmas and Lenten Roses to a close. Varieties. — Of the Christmas Rose there are two large varieties, one called major and the other altifolius or maxi- mus. Both have flowers which are rose outside and white within. The latter is the earlier bloomer, often flower- ing in October and November. Madame Fourcade is a pure white form. Angustifolius (meaning narrow- leaved), St. Brigid's Christmas Rose, is a beautiful pure white variety. It is a strong grower, and altogether desirable. These are a few of the best varieties of Helleborus niger^ but the reader need not allow himself to become perplexed by the difficulty of choosing among them. The old Christmas Rose is good enough for any- body when it is well grown, and it is the cheapest. The following are pretty varieties and hybrids of Helleborus orientalis : the Lenten Rose ; Apotheker Bogren, purple, spotted; Frau Irene Heinemann, purple, spotted ; Gretchen Heinemann, purple, red streaks; and Persimmon, white, with red spots. There are several green Hellebores, notably abchasi- cus, viridis, and odorus, the last of which has sweet flowers. H, foetidus has greenish flowers also. But CHRISTMAS AND LENTEN ROSES 83 while they are not without charm and interest, they lack the beauty of the Christmas and Lenten Roses. These are the real indispensables. Would that I could conclude by saying that they are good plants for the suburban gardener, but the truth is that the average garden near towns, with its poor soil and hot aspect, is not suited to them. Hellebores are plants for shady spots, for ferny glades, for woodlands, for cool banks ; and it is the exception to find such sites in the suburbs. But if they exist, Christmas Roses may be grown. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY To mention the Chrysanthemum is to arouse the interest of every lover of flowers. The professional gardener in large places thinks of his conservatories and corridors, the amateur of his general greenhouse, that threatens to be so bare of bloom in autumn, the flower-gardener of his borders, the townsman of the feasts of bloom pro- vided in the public parks during the gloomy days of November, the suburbanist of the small number of high- class plants on which he can draw, the lady of the house of her bowls and vases. All fall under the spell of the flower, for all have had ample proof of its beauty and value. The Chrysanthemum is one of the most remarkable of plants, alike for its season of flowering, the number of forms in which it can be grown, its adaptability for different conditions of growth, its indifference to impure air, and the extraordinary size, diversity of shape, and colour of its flowers. There are almost as many types of Chrysanthemum as there are of breakfast foods, and all are distinguished by a wide range of bright and cheerful colours ; moreover, they can be grown in many ways and places. History, — Our interest in Chrysanthemums, and our knowledge of the degree to which they have been de- 84 Single Chrysanthemums as cut flowers. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 85 veloped even in our own time, prompts us to speculate on their origin. We feel that the history of so great a flower must have much that is remarkable about it. But when we begin to probe into the heart of Chrysanthemum history we run against the stony obstacles of Oriental secrecy and passivity. The trail meanders away into the dust-tracks of past centuries — tracks sprinkled plenti- fully with boulders. We even read of references to the plant in the pages of Confucius, the immortal sage of China, whose memory still receives the homage of the Manchu emperors ; and Confucius was born as far back as 551 B.C. Who can follow the progress of a plant which was grown for hundreds of years before it reached Europe — grown, too, in the Far East ? The task is clearly impossible. We know that our modern Chrys- anthemums C' florists' " Chrysanthemums, not the com- paratively unimportant annual varieties of the summer garden) are the offspring of two species, indicum and sinense, both of which came from China, and had single flowers, the former yellow in colour, the latter variable. Those who are sufficiently interested to want to know what the early blooms were like may turn to the Botanical | ♦ Magazine^ that great picture gallery of plants, where tJ. 327, 2042, and 2556 portray the two parent species. It is common to indulge in playful badinage at the expense of the Celestial, but it would be somewhat dangerous in the case of the Chrysanthemums, for our own botanists seem to be undecided about the respec- tive parts played by Chrysanthemums indiacm and sinense in fathering modern varieties. One boldly attri- butes all of them to C, indicum. Another as roundly declares that C, sinense is the parent. In these circum- stances it behoves us to preserve a prudent silence, and reserve our gibes for a subject on which repartee would 86 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS be less embarrassing. That C, indicum and C, sinense have been confounded is probable, for one authority is silent as to the period of introduction of the former, but gives the year for the latter as 1764. Now, other records state that the first specimen of Chinese Chrysanthemum that flowered in this country was a small yellow species which bloomed in the Botanic Garden, Chelsea, in 1764. Surely this was C. indicum. The name was given to it by Linnaeus in his Species Plantarunty first published eleven years before the plant bloomed at Chelsea. It had been described previously by Breynius in his Podro- mus in 1689, but was referred to by him under the name of Matricaria Japonica maxima^ or the large Japanese * Matricaria. (Matricaria is closely allied to Anthemis, and, as we shall see presently, the unfortunate Chrysan- themum was given yet another name by botanists — I Anthemis artemisicEfolia), Breynius stated that there were several varieties under cultivation in Holland in 1689, and it seems peculiar that the plant should not have flowered in England until seventy-five years later. This fact lends colour to the supposition that there was con- fusion between two different species. As 1764 seems to be the first year that we can fasten on safely with respect to the appearance of the Chrysan- themum, we will accept it, and see what happened after- wards. The plant which flowered at Chelsea aroused considerable interest, and a dried specimen was pre- sented to the Royal Society by the Chelsea gardener, the famous Philip Miller. It is now in the British Museum. The plant soon died, and we have no further definite record of Chrysanthemum culture until 1790, when a large-flowered double variety was grown at Kew. It was said to have been procured from a French mer- chant named Blanchard or Blancard, who imported I ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 87 it, with two other varieties, the previous year. It was called the Old Purple, and considered to be a double form of indicum. It forms the subject of Plate 327 of the Botanical Magazine. Six years later a collection of plants was grown in Colville's nursery at Chelsea, and these, well cultivated and flowering freely, first taught the general public that an important new plant had arisen. That greatest of horticultural writers, John Claudius Loudon, called the Chrysanthemum Anthemis arte- misicefolia, Anthemis nobilis is the common Camomile, and the characteristic odour of the Chrysanthemum can now be located by the amateur. Loudon wrote of the varieties in 1822 : '^The Chinese are supposed, on good authority, to have fifty varieties or upwards ; there are fourteen described by J. Sabine as having flowered in this country, and as many more of recent introduction, which have not yet flowered. . . . J. Sabine describes as having flowered in the garden of the Horticultural Society the following : — The Purple. Golden Yellow. Changeable White. Large Lilac. Quilled White. Rose or Pink. Superb White. Buff or Orange. Tasselled White. Spanish Brown. Quilled Yellow. Quilled Flamed Yellow. Sulphur Yellow. Quilled Pink. From 1822, therefore, British florists had at least fourteen varieties to work on, differing both in form and colour. We see that there were white, yellow, lilac, purple, orange, and brown sorts. The terms '' quilled " and *^ tasselled" are not used in reference to Chrysan- themums at the present day, although we have quilled 88 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Asters. A flower is spoken of as quilled when the petals or florets are rolled or tubular, like the stem of a quill pen. The petals of many of our modern incurved and Japanese Chrysanthemums are quilled. Loudon might have had the former in mind, although there is no record of it till 1836. The term " tasselled " would fit the early forms of what we now call Japanese flowers, but this section was not introduced till 1 860-1862. Whatever the shapes, British raisers made haste to cross them, and so get a large number of new and im- proved varieties. They perceived immense possibilities in a plant which grew strongly and bloomed freely in autumn, when flowers were scarce. It is quite likely, however, that even the most far-seeing of them never foresaw the marvellous results of their work. They did not see huge halls full of brilliant flowers, nor conserva- tories in the public parks through which thousands of people passed daily to admire the beautiful forms and glowing colours. They did not picture groups of Chry- santhemums in almost every garden, a great market industry in the flower, and scores of societies specially devoted to the plant. By 1826 the Horticultural Society had forty-eight varieties, and three years later (although, according to some writers, it was seventeen years later) the first show was held in that grand old city, Norwich, whose gardeners are to this day as active, enterprising, and skilful a body as their craft can show anywhere. London claims to have followed. A Chrysanthemum Society was founded in Stoke Newington, and a show was held in 1847, which was not only to become an annual fixture, but was fated to start a host of others ; for the Stoke Newington Chrysanthemum Society became, in course of time, the National Chrysanthemum Society, and the flower which I ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 89 it had taken under its wing became one of the great flowers of the country, second only to the Rose in the number of its admirers. But the claim of London can- not be admitted, as a Chrysanthemum show was held at Birmingham in 1836. Famous Growers. — Let us put on record a few of the names most closely identified with the development of Chrysanthemums in Great Britain. One of the earliest raisers of seedlings was Isaac Wheeler of Oxford, who exhibited a batch before the Horticultural Society in 1832 ; and a Norfolk gardener, Freestone, followed him closely. In 1836 Chandler of Vauxhall exhibited im- proved varieties, and the incurved Chrysanthemum is said to have come into being about this time. Greater than any of these raisers, however, was John Salter, who, j although gardening at Versailles when he first seriously set himself the task of improving Chrysanthemums, was an Englishman, and, returning to England in 1848, I became a trade florist at Hammersmith. He began I about 1838, and made enormous improvements in the flower. In 1846 the '^Chusan Daisy" was introduced by Robert Fortune from China, and it developed into the Pompon Chrysanthemum. In the course of a second visit to the Far East (i 860-1862) he sent to England the flrst Japanese varieties, which constitute the most important section of modern Chrysanthemums. Thomas Pethers, a Channel Islands grower; Samuel B;oome, gardener at the Inner Temple, London ; Adam Forsyth, of Stoke Newington ; J. Dale, gardener at the Middle Temple ; Edwin Molyneux of Bishops Waltham ; George Mileham of Leatherhead ; W. Wells of Earls- wood ; H. J. Jones of Lewisham ; and Norman Davis of Framfield, may be named among the eminent raisers and 90 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS growers of Chrysanthemums who bring its development up to the present day. It would be impossible to give a complete chronology of the varieties, as the number pro- bably exceeds three thousand, and records of the parent- age of the great majority of these have never been published. The Blue Chrysanthemum, — The various raisers have given us a great range of colours in Chrysanthemums, but not a blue. It is interesting to hear that blue Chrys- anthemums appear on the splendid pottery of the Japanese ; and, in view of their usual fidelity, it is claimed that a blue Chrysanthemum must have existed at the time. The Japanese cultivated the Chrysanthemum with great ardour. They went, indeed, farther than the Chinese, exhibiting in this, as in so many other things, a more progressive and energetic spirit. They made it their national flower, and in 1876 the Mikado instituted the Order of the Chrysanthemum, consisting of a star in the form of a cross with thirty-two rays. A Chrysanthemum is placed in each of the angles formed by the prmcipal arms. The star is attached to a red ribbon by a gold Chrysanthemum, and this is entirely appropriate, for the Chrysanthemum is the Golden Flower, the name deriv- ing from chrysoSy gold ; and anthoSy a flower. The deco- ration is not for florists; it is an honour reserved for crowned heads and the highest dignitaries of states ; but the man who introduces a good blue Chrysanthemum will need no order to commend him to posterity. His name will be famous for all time. Classification. — We may begin our survey of present- day Chrysanthemums by a brief consideration of the various classes. To many growers a Chrysanthemum is a Chrysanthemum, neither more nor less; but to ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 91 the cognoscenti it is either an Incurved, a Japanese, a Japanese Incurved, a Japanese Reflexed, a Reflexed, a Large Anemone, a Japanese Anemone, a Pompon, a Pompon Anemone, or a Single. A system of classifica- tion for a popular flower is apt to alarm and irritate the amateur at the outset, but the more he learns about the plant, the more clearly he sees that it is desirable. He goes farther if he becomes an exhibitor — he sees that it is absolutely necessary. Varieties of totally different types could not be shown against each other in one class with satisfactory results. Picture Japanese flowers as large as footballs competing with Singles of the size of border Pyrethrums ! While describing the different sections, I may indicate a good type of flower for the guidance of would-be exhibitors. An Incurved Chrysanthemum has quilled florets turned in towards the centre. A good flower is globu- lar, not flat, with a smooth, even outline ; the florets are broad, gracefully curved, and fill up the centre so thoroughly that no hollow is discernible. A flat flower, with thin, pointed florets, and showing an ^^eye" or hollow centre, is defective. A Japanese Chrysanthemum may have flat, quilled, fluted, or thread-like florets. The class is a large and varied one, and consequently it is difficult to describe it in a few words. In most varieties the florets droop, but in some they are erect, while others, again, have erect central and drooping outer florets. A good show Japanese Chrysanthemum is from six to ten inches across, according to the variety, and the same in depth, measuring from the crown to the tip of the drooping florets. The colours are fresh and clear. A lop-sided, thin, dull flower is defective. 92 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS The Japanese Incurved Chrysanthemum has broad florets, but they are arched, so as to give the flower an incurved, globular form. Many societies do not make this a separate class, and when this is the case, exhibitors may exhibit them with ordinary Japanese. The Japanese Rejlexed Chrysanthemum has broad, flat florets, which are reflexed instead of being incurved or merely drooping. It is not kept separate from the ordinary Japanese by some societies. The Rejlexed Chrysanthemum is much smaller than the Japanese, and has broad, reflexed florets. A good flower is circular, with broad, overlapping florets. The Large Anemone Chrysanthemum has two sets of florets of different shapes, the one being quilled, and forming a raised disc or cushion in the centre ; the other flat, nearly or quite horizontal, and forming a ring round the disc ; the latter are called the ray florets. A good flower has a smooth, even disc, and broad ray florets evenly disposed. The Japanese Anemone Chrysanthemum has the cen- tral disc of the large Anemone, but the ray florets vary in shape and arrangement, being twisted, curled, or drooping. The Pompon Chrysanthemum is a small-flowered type, with globular double blooms, the florets of which may be flat, fluted, or quilled, in different varieties, but not differing in the same flower. The blooms do not exceed two inches across. The Pompon Anemone Chrysanthemum has a raised disc of quilled florets like the Large Anemone, and a ring of flat ray florets, but the flowers are a great deal smaller than those of the Large Anemone. The Single Chrysanthemum has a flat disc, and not more than two rows of ray florets. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 93 The foregoing ten sections contain types varied enough to please the greatest enthusiasts in Chrysan- themums. The Japanese is far the most important for indoor culture. The Incurved, though still prized for exhibitions, tends rather to recede than advance. Of the remainder, the Single and Pompon types are perhaps the most popular at the present day. The latter is even more useful than the Japanese for garden culture, owing to the dwarfer growth and neater habit. I may sum up by saying that the average amateur could get along very well with no other section than the Pompon for his garden. Varieties, — In view of the fact that the Chrysanthe- mum is still under development, varieties are superseded somewhat frequently, and selections tend to become out of date within a few years of being made. The fol- lowing sorts (page 94) have, however, sufficient merit to justify the belief that they will hold their places for a considerable time. The object of giving two selections of Japanese is to emphasise the fact that exhibition varieties are not necessarily, or even probably, good garden and green- house sorts. The amateur grower who goes to a show, and sees huge flowers of beautiful shape and colour, is apt to conclude that the condition in which he sees them is their normal one, and that it would be repeated if they were grown in his own little conservatory or back garden. The truth is that the condition is entirely abnormal, and is only brought about through treatment of a highly skilled and specialised character. Most of the show sorts do not shine under a simple system of cul- ture : the habit is not good, and the flowering is sparse. There are, however, varieties which grow naturally — or with very little training — into a suitable shape for 94 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Large Japanese for Show, Name of Variety. Colour. Bessie Godfrey Yellow. Brilliant Amaranth. Florence Penford Lemon, chrome reverse. F. W. Lever . . Cream. F. W. Vallis . Crimson. Henry Perkins Yellow, flaked chestnut. J. H. Silsbury Crimson, yellow reverse. Lady Conyers Pink, silvery reverse. Lady Hopetoun . Silver. Leigh Park Wonder . Dark crimson. Madame R. Cadbury Ivory. Madame Paolo Radaell i Blush or ivory. Madame G. Rivol Yellow, shaded rose. Magnificent . Crimson. Marquise V. Venosta . White. Melchett Beauty . Yellow, flaked rose. Miss Elsie Fulton White. Mr. F. S. Vallis . Yellow. Mrs. Barkley Rosy mauve. Mrs. A. H. Lee . Crimson. Mrs. A. T. Miller White. Mrs. G. Mileham . Rose, silvery reverse. Norman Davis Brown, yellow veins. President Viger . Lilac. Smaller Free- Flowering Japanese, Variety. Colour. Framfield Yellow . Heston White Madame F. Perrin Money Maker N. C. S. Jubilee . Niveus . Source d'Or . Vivand Morel Winter Cheer W. H. Lincoln . Yellow. White. Pink. White. Lavender. Late white. Orange. Pink. Amaranth. Late yellow. Prize [ai-anese Chrysantheml'ms. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 95 small houses and for garden use. The flowers are not nearly so large under any system of culture as those of the show sorts, yet they are beautiful. By making a prudent selection of varieties these free-flowering Chrysanthemums will give blossoms for many weeks, because some are naturally later bloomers than others. This is a great advantage, and the point has been borne in mind in making the selection. Fram- tield Yellow and Heston White will bloom in the ordi- nary way much earlier than W. H. Lincoln and Niveus, which are of similar colour. The two first are of par- ticularly good habit, and produce their flowers in abundance. They are beautiful sorts for growing in a small greenhouse or conservatory, for standing in porches, and for cut bloom. Large Incurved for Show, Variety. Colour. A. H. Hall . Buttercup Charles H. Curtis Godfrey's Reliance Lady Isabel . Mrs. G. Denyers Mrs. F. Judson Mrs. B. Hankey W. Biddle . Purple. Yellow. Yellow. Chestnut. Lavender. Pink. White. Mahogany. Lemon. I do not recommend this class for amateurs who want a profusion of bloom in the garden, or in a small house, because the selected Japanese already named will serve the purpose much better. The Incurved varieties have not the freedom and grace of the Japanese, they do not bloom so abundantly, and the habit of growth is less compact. The Incurved are really only quite at 96 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS home on the show-board, where well-finished flowers have the attraction which perfect form, smoothness, and richness of colour can impart to a flower. Experts gloat over them as highly finished examples of horti- cultural skill ; and to experts they may be left. Reflexed, This class gives effective pot plants. The most popular variety is Dr. Sharpe, magenta. King of Crimsons is also grown a good deal. One of the Re- flexed varieties, Progne, has agreeably scented flowers. Large Anemone, Descartes, crimson ; Gluck, yellow ; and Lady Margaret, white, are three of the most popular varieties of this not very important class. Pompon, Several of this class are included in the selection of garden varieties below. Of those grown in pots for greenhouse or show, Bob, brownish-red ; Mdlle. Marthe, white ; Mdlle. Elise Dordan, blush ; and Wm. Westlake, yellow, are the most popular. Single, This class tends to grow in favour now that varieties of good habit, free bloom, and beautiful colours, some flowering early and some late, have been raised. They are charming for pots, and the early varieties are suit- able for the garden. The later sorts may be tried out of doors if desired, but there is always the risk of early frost injuring the flowers. Single Chrysanthemum A. Ferguson. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 97 Variety. Colour. Season. Bronze Edith Pagram . Bronze Late. Canary Bird . Yellow Late. Crimson Queen Red Late. Dolly Iniff . Crimson Early. Distinction . Rosy cerise Early. Emile . Pink Late. Florence Gillham . White Early. Felicity .... Ivory Late. Gem of Merstham . Crimson Early Gaiety .... Salmon Late. Mrs Gwynn Powell Blush Late. Pink Beauty . Pink Early. Double Garden Varieties. In August, September, and October the flower- garden may be gay with beautiful Chrysanthemums, which will give brightness to the beds and borders when most other flowers are fading. Those who are planting borders have one great point to bear in mind — that the material which they employ must be capable of giving successional bloom. In many cases the gardener chooses a certain number of things that he particularly likes, and plants them, overlooking the fact that they are all summer bloomers, and that both spring and autumn are left unprovided for. The proper course when plant- ing a large bed or a border is to begin by choosing a few particularly good things for the various seasons — Daffodils, Tulips, and Pyrethrums for spring ; Irises, Lupins, Rockets, Paeonies, Delphiniums, Carnations, and Columbines for early summer ; Pentstemons, Phloxes, Snapdragons, Ox-eye Daisies, and Chrysanthe- mums for late summer and autumn. This insures bloom from March to November. There is no need, of course, for the gardener to restrict himself to these G 98 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS kinds ; he may introduce such others as he Hkes ; but at the same time he may rest assured that if he made good selections of the kinds named, and grew them well (and both good selections and good culture are described in the present work), he would have a beautiful and interest- ing garden, whatever else he left out. Chrysanthemums are not the least important feature of the late-flowering section. Beginning in August, they go on to November. Given a mild autumn, there is bloom when schoolboys are celebrating Guy Fawkes' Day, and crowds are cheering the newly elected Lord Mayor through the streets of London. /[ In Town Ga^-dens. — They are nearly as happy in town gardens as the crowd itself. Who has not seen Chrysanthemums on which a rain of smuts from an adjoining factory or railway is falling most of the year blooming cheerfully ? Fumes which shrivel up Roses like a blast of flame, and make Sweet Peas uncom/ort- able, have very little effect on Chrysanthemums. They will thrive, too, in most kinds of soil ; but no one should take advantage of this and leave them to make the best of poor, hot, shallow ground, especially if the site is one that is much swept by strong, cold winds late in spring. The grower should help his plants with deep spade work and liberal manuring. When the amateur reflects that, in addition to making charming garden pictures, by choosing good Chrys- anthemums and growing them , well, he can also provide his wife with abundance of light and pretty sprays for decorating the house, his arm will be strengthened. If his borders are so small that he can hardly find room for all the plants that he wants to grow in it, he can perhaps grow his collection of Chrysanthemums in Decorative Chrysanthemums. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 99 a spare bed somewhere, and, cutting back the early blooming plants when their beauty is past, plant the Chrysanthemums near the clumps. The Chrysanthe- mums will ''shift" quite safely in showery weather in August and September. Let us now make a selection of double garden Chrysanthemums, with their colours and usual month of flowering : — Variety. Colour. Months. Bijou Rose Pink September, October. Champ d'Or Yellow September, October. Firefly .... Crimson September, October. ♦Firelight Dark red September, October. Freedom Purplish-rose September, October. Goacher's Crimson Bronzy-red, yel- low reverse September, October. ♦Horace Martin Yellow September. ♦Le Cygne White October. Le Pactole . Bronze September, October. Lillie .... Pink September, October. ♦Madame Desgranges . White August. Market White White September, October. Maxim .... Chestnut September, October. Minnie Carpenter . Terra-cotta October. ♦Nina Blick . Bronzy-red September, October. Rabbie Burns Salmon-pink September, October. ♦September Belle . Pink, shaded salmon September. White Quintus White September. The six marked with an asterisk would form a good half-dozen, giving, as they do, different colours and seasons of blooming. Truly, when one thinks of the beauty of Chrysanthe- mums, of their tough constitution, and of their obliging disposition, one's heart warms to them. They have nothing in common with plants which demand that lOO POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS everything shall be just right before they will consent to grow and bloom. They do not pule and whine because their bread is not buttered on both sides. The wisest of plants, they take the good things of life with whole- hearted enjoyment when they are available, and do without them when they are not. There is one sin that they never commit — they do not cold-shoulder any earnest grower. They befriend him constantly, faithful to the end. Whether he be townsman, suburbanist, or countryman, he can rely on their fidelity if he give the smallest proof that he deserves it. Large Daisies. — The florists' Chrysanthemum, in the various forms which we have just been considering, dominates the genus so strongly that other species and varieties hold but a small place. Yet the perennial Ox- ^e, Shasta, and Pyrenean Daisies are Chrysanthemums, and very useful ones too, as they grow vigorously and bloom for a long period in summer and autumn. They are hardy perennials, will grow in almost any soil, and are easily propagated by division. The Ox-eye Daisy is Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum, which blooms in early summer ; and the Pyrenean Daisy is Chrysan- themum maximum. There are now several fine varieties of the latter available, such as King Edward, the Mun- stead variety, and Wm. Robinson. Another good hardy perennial Chrysanthemum is the tall, white - flowered, late-flowering plant commonly grown under the name of Pyrethrum uliginosum. Golden Feather. — The reader may be surprised to hear that yet another popular plant in the yellow Feverfew, or Golden Feather, is a Chrysanthemum [Parthenium) according to modern botanical classifica- tion, although it used to be called a Pyrethrum. This plant was in great demand in bygone days, when carpet Double white annual Chrysanthemum. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM loi bedding was in vogue, but it is not much used now. It was raised from seed sown in heat in spring, and when planted out was kept low and compact by being cropped with finger and thumb every few days. The Marguerites of our flower-gardens and window- boxes are Chrysanthemums, and their free blooming, duration, and neat habit render them extremely service- able. They are propagated by cuttings in spring or autumn, and thrive in ordinary potting soil. The hardy annual Chrysanthemums, double and single, are desirable, as they flower in a few weeks from seed sown outdoors in spring, and are suitable for cutting. They have come from the two old species carinattim (tricolor) and coronariuniy the former of which had purple and white flowers, the latter yellow. Bur- ridgeanum. Lord Beaconsfield, Morning Star, and W. E. Gladstone are popular varieties of carinatum. Segetunty the Corn Marigold, is also a hardy annual, and improved forms are grown in gardens, notably grandiflorum. The genus Chrysanthemum is not a large one, but when we survey the florists' varieties, the summer annuals and perennials, and the Marguerites, we recognise that it is in every way a remarkable one. It would go ill with flower-lovers now if they had to do without it. Having considered the scope of the genus, and picked out some of the best of the good things which it gives us, we may deal with the culture of the florists' section. Hardiness, — From time to time questions are asked, and discussions arise^ as to the hardiness of Chrysan- themums. This is hardly worthy of argument except on an academic basis, because it is a simple matter to procure a few fresh cuttings, rooted or unrooted, every spring ; and when new plants can be bought for a penny or twopence each, it is hardly worth while to keep old I02 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS ones. Personally, I have tried leaving Chrysanthemums in the open ground throughout the winter as the cottager does ; some have died, some have lived. But the type of plant that one gets by treating the Chrysanthemum as ( a hardy herbaceous perennial is not pleasing to me, and I will not assume that it is any more gratifying to my readers. If the plants are cut back in autumn, the root- stock generally survives the winter and throws up fresh growth in spring if the soil is light and well drained. In damp soil the rootstocks often die in winter. Propagation. — A person who particularly wanted to propagate from his own stock, and had stiff soil, could, if he liked, lift a few roots in autumn, pack them in soil in boxes, and keep them in a sheltered place till spring. They would probably live, and if put in a frame or in a warm place in spring would throw up shoots, which could be taken off and struck as cuttings in a greenhouse or frame. New plants could be raised thus, and they would probably give better results than old ones which had passed the winter out of doors. Many florists make a speciality of collections of rooted cuttings in spring, and sell excellent varieties at prices averaging twopence a plant or thereabouts. By buying fifty or upwards the cuttings can be procured cheaper still. If the cuttings are not rooted when they arrive they should be put into small pots or shallow boxes filled with a compost containing a considerable proportion of leaf mould and sand. It is wise to cover them with a bellglass or small handlight if convenient, but as a rule they will root without provided they are not exposed to hot sun and dry air, but are sprinkled if they flag. The soil should be kept just moist, but not saturated. Home- made cuttings may be treated in the same way. ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 103 When growth starts it may be assumed the roots have formed and a little more water may be given, but still care should be taken to avoid keeping the soil sodden. Air may be admitted to the plants, and they should be put close to the glass. The best place for them is an unheated frame. When they have filled the pots with roots they may be planted out. Soil, — The ordinary soil of most gardens suits Chrys- anthemums very well, as they are not fastidious plants ; but that is no reason why special provision should not be made to get them at their best. If the soil is very stiff it may be improved by the addition of leaf mould, road sweepings, or lime rubbish. These materials will lighten and enrich the ground simultaneously. In add- ing them, take the opportunity of digging deeply, breaking up the subsoil in the process. This will lead to increased vigour of plant and finer quality of bloom. If the soil is light, a liberal dressing of decayed manure will be the best addition to it. There is not a great difference in the height of the varieties of early garden Chrysanthemums. They grow from two to three feet high in most cases, and the habit is compact ; consequently they are plants for the front and middle of borders rather than the back. Groups of three can be set here and there in large borders, so placing them in association with earlier-blooming plants that they carry on the display of flowers, not putting them with late Phloxes, Michaelmas Daisies, and Sunflowers, and so having a part of the border full and a part bare. In small borders the plants can be put singly. They will not call for a great deal of attention through the summer. If the soil is hoed regularly, and a pail of water is given occasionally in dry weather, they will 104 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS grow steadily. Should any plants show a tendency to straggle, the tips of the shoots may be pinched off, in order to make them break from below and form a bush ; otherwise no stopping will be required. It is hardly likely that staking will be needed, but it should be done if the plants are badly blown about. If green-fly should attack the plants, they might be dusted with tobacco powder and syringed vigorously an hour afterwards. The course of treatment indicated ought to lead to great success with garden Chrysanthemums. As the present work is devoted to garden flowers, the cultivation of the Chrysanthemum as a pot plant for conservatories and exhibition hardly comes within its scope ; however, the principal items in pot culture may be included in the following calendar : — The Chrysanthemum-Grower's Year — A Summary. January, — Outdoor plants will be quite dormant. If there is much rain, mortar rubbish or dry litter may be put round the clumps. Keep an eye on any roots which are wintered in boxes, and moisten the soil only to prevent its getting dust dry ; do not let it get sodden. Strike cuttings of pot plants, choosing the suckers which spring up from the root when they are about three inches long. They root best in sandy soil under a hand- light. Put 3'oung plants from early cuttings on a shelf near the glass to keep them sturdy. They ought to be grown in a cool but frost-proof house to prevent their growing fast. Rapid growth is not desirable at this season. February, — If boxed stools of outdoor plants have begun to throw up shoots owing to mild weather, put them in a frame and give them a little water. Take the s id > H < >- O ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 105 shoots off when three inches long, and put them in small pots containing sandy soil. Early struck plants for pot culture should be kept as cool as possible, and not be repotted until the roots show freely at the drainage hole. Directly they are repotted they call for nearly double the space which they required before, and that is a serious matter for amateurs with very little glass. The plants may be shifted from a three-inch to a five-inch pot. Use more loam and less leaf mould than for cuttings. Give plenty of air to young rooted plants in fine weather, and water only to prevent flagging. March. — Cuttings of outdoor plants may be struck in any desired quantity this month. If cuttings are being bought, they may be procured about the middle of the month. Young pot plants which have not been repotted are certain to need a shift. They may go on to a bed of ashes in a frame at the end of the month, but a mat should be kept handy to throw over the light in case of severe frost. Ventilate freely in fine weather. More water will be needed as growth becomes more active. April. — Complete the propagation of garden varieties. Prepare the beds and borders, and plant strong rooted plants from earlier cuttings out. If they have been grown in an unheated frame they will be hardy enough to withstand any frost which is likely to come now. If the position is exposed to cold winds, some temporary shelter can be devised in stormy spells. Pot plants in frames will be growing fast, and must have water when the soil is dry. Take the lights right off the frames in fine weather. Late-struck plants may be put into five-inch pots. The tips may be pinched off if bushy plants are wanted. May. — Complete the planting out. As the weather may be hot and dry, take care to give a good soaking of io6 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS water if the plants flag. Pot plants will require regular daily attention. Many of them will have filled their five- inch pots with rootS; and directly the latter begin to creep out of the soil into the ashes on which the pots stand they should be shifted into seven-inch. As the available frame space may not suffice now, a sheltered place out of doors may be chosen, a coat of ashes spread on, and the plants stood out ; but a light frame- work of laths capable of supporting a cloth or mat should be kept handy, so that a protector can be speedily put over them if hard weather should come on. Some of the varieties form a flower-bud this month, with three incipient shoots below it. The bud should be picked off, and the three shoots grown on and tied to stakes in due course. To get flowers of exhibition quality, it is import- ant that the break of the shoots referred to should take place at the right time, and if it does not come naturally the tips should be pinched off. As the sorts vary a great deal, the beginner should send a list of those which he is growing to the trade expert from whom he buys his plants, or to a gardening paper, and ask for the varieties to be marked according as they break naturally or have to be stopped. Stem cuttings may be struck for yielding small plants in pots. June. — Outdoor plants ought to be in full growth now. Hoe the soil once a week, and give a soaking of water occasionally in dry weather. Pot plants grown for prize blooms ought to have their final shift, and if they are in seven-inch pots, they may go into nine-inch or ten-inch ; if in six-inch they may go into eight-inch or nine-inch. The pots should be drained with crocks surfaced with moss or leaf mould. The compost may consist of three parts fibrous loam, one part of leaf mould, one part of decayed manure, with half a peck of ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 107 sand to each bushel. The whole of the components should be well mixed and used in a moist state. Ram the soil in quite hard, and leave two inches at the top for water. Only give just enough water to prevent the plants from flagging until they have started growing again, then water regularly. Stand the pots on a bed of ashes in a sunny but sheltered place in the garden. The labour of watering, which is considerable, may be reduced by partially or wholly embedding the pots in ashes ; but still, water is sure to be required at least once a day in dry weather. Remove side-shoots from the three stems. July. — Many of the garden varieties will form flower- buds this month, and a few of the earliest, such as Madame Desgranges, may come into bloom. Pot plants will need daily attention. They must be watered liberally, and should never be allowed to get so dry that the soil cracks away from the side of the pot. Should such a thing happen, prompt and drastic measures must be taken. A tub of water must be procured, and the pot sunk nearly to the brim in it. The water will rise through the soil, driving air before it, and causing a rush of bubbles to the surface. Only when these have ceased should the pot be raised. It may rest on the edge of the tub for a few seconds to permit the surplus water to escape, and then be replaced in its permanent position. If flower-buds should form at the tip of the three shoots, with incipient shoots just below them, they (the flower-buds) should be removed, together with two of the three incipient shoots on each stem, the third being left to grow on and form another bud in August. An exception to this rule should be made in case of any variety which an expert adviser says gives its best blooms from '* crown" buds that form at the end of July. The io8 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS number of such cases will not be great, as most do best from later buds. Look out for green- and black-fly. If either should attack the plants, dust with tobacco powder and syringe vigorously an hour or two later. Should it be observed that any leaves are getting covered with white streaks, squeeze them to kill the maggots within. If small warts should appear on the leaves, touch them very carefully with methylated spirit, and then spray the plants with water in which half an ounce of sulphide of potassium per gallon has been dissolved. If the warts are allowed to develop, the plants may be destroyed by the fungoid disease called *' rust." August, — If any garden plants are being grown as a reserve in a spare bed they should be planted out after the first showery spell. Should the weather remain hot and dry, they may still be planted, but it would be wise to chop round the plants with a spade the day before they were shifted, to check root action, and then give a soaking with water. Moreover, they should be moved towards evening, and afterwards well syringed. Plants already established in beds and borders will be coming into bloom. A soaking of liquid manure will do them good. The majority of the varieties grown in pots for large blooms will show their crown buds the second or third week in August. The new growth shoots just below them should be pinched out at once, leaving the flower-bud standing alone. Continue the watering and treatment for insects advised under July. Bush plants in pots may be showing buds in clusters. Do not thin if plenty of small flowers are wanted, but disbud if a few larger flowers are required. Septembe7'. — Garden plants will be in full beauty this month. The flowers may be gathered freely, as with moisture and liquid manure fresh growth and flowers ON THE CHRYSANTHEMUM 109 will be made. Pot plants ought to be put under glass towards the end of the month — earlier if the buds are showing colour. The heavy night dews of September are enjoyed by the plants, but they are not good for the flowers. Should mildew appear, dust with flowers of sulphur. Keep the plants on the dry side for a few days after the housing, but as soon as they freshen up resume full watering. The plants should be arranged in a group according to height and colour. Ventilate in fine weather. October, — Outdoor plants ought to be yielding flowers still, but the earliest varieties will be over, and may be cut down when the growth begins to wither. Flowers will be developing rapidly under glass. Less water will be needed, but the soil should not be allowed to get quite dry. The hot-water apparatus ought to be started in damp, foggy weather to help dry the air, but the house must not be hot ; 55° should be the maximum temperature. Ventilate every fine day. As most of the shows are held towards the end of October and in the early part of November, the exhibitor should procure the necessary appliances early in October. Large stands are required for Japanese blooms, owing to the great size of the flowers. They should be painted green. A show- board for twelve Japanese should be twenty-eight inches long (left to right), twenty-one inches from back to front, seven inches high at the back, and four at the front. The holes for the tubes should be seven inches apart. For six blooms the stands should be fourteen inches long, and the other dimensions the same. For twelve Incurved the size should be twenty-four inches by eighteen, back six inches high, and front three inches, holes six inches apart; for six Incurved, twelve by eighteen. If several stands are to be taken about, a large travelling case fitted no POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS with side strips should be ordered for them. Zinc cups and tubes are required to fit into the show stands. They consist, as a rule, of three parts: (i) a socket an inch wide, provided with a perforated flange to screw on to the board ; (2) a cup four inches long, fitted with an external strip of brass which serves as a wedge, so that when the cup is put into the socket it can be raised or lowered, and fits firmly in any position ; (3) a cup four and a half inches long, fitted with a brass strip and a top flange two and a half inches wide, which supports the bloom, and can be slid up and down in the cup just as the cup can in the socket. The object of the whole arrangement is to facilitate fixing the various flowers at the heights which show them to the greatest advantage. Only No. 2 has a bottom ; it has to hold water. Steel tweezers in two or three sizes are required for dressing the blooms. Most large Chrysanthemum dealers supply stands, tubes, and tweezers ; and if they do not, they are always able to tell an inquirer of some one who does. November. — The last of the outdoor plants will now go out of bloom, and may be cut down. The roots of special varieties may be packed m boxes of soil, kept just moist, and wintered in a cool, dry, frost-proof place. Pot plants will be in full beauty. When they go out of bloom cut them right back and lift the pots to a position near the glass ; the root suckers will then become sturdy, and make good cuttings. Watering should be continued. Treat the cuttings as previously advised. December. — The remarks made under November apply to the closing month of the year. It is important to get good cuttings of pot plants and strike them early if prize flowers are wanted the following year. See remarks under January. XI ON CLEMATISES Dear old ramblers, these. We love them when we see them tumbling about the hedgerows almost as much as when they are covering our own summer- houses and pergolas. It is curious to learn that the name comes from the word klema^ a vine growth, in reference to their habit. The purists complain that the popular pronunciation of Clematis is wrong ; but what is the popular pro- nunciation ? As many people say Klem'-a-tis as Klee- may'-tis, but perhaps no more. The former is the better of the two, and I do not think that any flower- lover need be diffident about using it. The purists themselves oscillate between Klee'-ma-tis and Klee- mat'-is, and we must leave them to enjoy playing pendulum. Klem'-a-tis is good enough for us, and Klem'-a-tis, therefore, it shall be. Lovers of old English folk-names may say : '' Why Clematis at all ? Why not Traveller's Joy ? Why not Virgin's Bower ? They are charming names, and simple." True, but they belong to certain old species, and do not fit the new hybrids with their great brilliant flowers. You could not very well call Cle7natis Jack- manii blue Traveller's Joy or blue Virgin's Bower, though it may be assumed that travellers and virgins alike have fits of the blues. We may continue to call 112 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS our old plants by the old names ; but since the florists have given us such beautiful varieties we must, in ordinary courtesy, accept their names for these sorts. The wild Clematis, known as Traveller's Joy, Vir- gin's Bower, and Old Man's Beard, is the botanist's species vitalba. The French have one beautiful name for it, les cheveux de Jesus^ and also another that is not so pleasing. They sometimes call it Vherbe d gueux^ or Beggar's Weed, because unscrupulous mendicants blister their legs with a plaster of the leaves in order to assist their appeals for alms; or rub the juice into sores on their hands and arms. The reader may be surprised to hear of such uses of a plant that is not generally regarded as poisonous; but, in point of fact, the plant belongs to the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), and all parts of it are poisonous. If fresh leaves were chewed, ulcers would form in the mouth ; and if the juices were swallowed, they would probably produce severe dysentery. The name Traveller's Joy appears to have been first given to Clematis Vitalba by Gerard, tor we read in his *^ Herball " : *^ It is commonly called Viorna quasi vias ornans, of decking and adorning ways and hedges where people travel, and thereupon I haue named it the Trauveiler's loie." The specific name vitalba is in allusion to the white fluffy masses of achenes (an achene is a dry single carpel containing a seed, and it does not open when ripe) which give the plant its distinctive beauty in late summer. It grows luxuriantly in the tall thorn and hazel hedgerows on the chalk lands in East Kent, and also on the great blackthorn hedges which skirt the road from Hythe to Romney Marsh, covering both with a fleecy white mantle in August and September. Large hedges, with their tangle of ON CLEMATISES 113 Traveller's Joy, Brier, and Wayfaring Tree, are open to the criticism that they indicate slothful farming, and be sure that students at agricultural colleges have various instructive data tending to the discredit of the spreading masses ; but we cannot but rejoice in their free, untrammelled beauty. We remember, too, that it is to the English hedgerow that we owe our abund- ance of songbirds. Without the shelter and protec- tion of the hedges, feathered life must necessarily diminish. Pretty Species, — The Traveller's Joy is not much used as a garden plant nowadays, for there are many kinds far more suitable. The old species flammula^ which came from France as far back as 1596, is one ; the growth is much neater, and the flowers are fragrant. It is not entirely hardy, but in sheltered gardens it often lives for many years, gracing a gable or old roof with a foam of white blossom. But this good old plant has receded, in spite of its perfume, giving place to the earlier-blooming mountain Clematis (montana)y which has forged ahead in popular esteem with such rapidity that it is now grown in hundreds of thousands of gardens. Its popularity is easily explained. In the first place, it blooms as early as May, and there are few wall, arch, or porch plants that flower so early. In the second place, it is a very rapid grower and profuse bloomer. In the third place, it will thrive in almost any soil or position, not objecting to stiff land, or an eastern aspect, or a town atmosphere. The flowers are white, and of about the size of a half-crown. They are scented, although not so strongly as those of flammula. The perfume of C, montana led to its being also called C. odorus. The mountain Clematis is a native of the Himalaya, H 114 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS whence it was introduced in 1831. It may be planted to cover a house wall or a rustic summer-house. Have you an unsightly object in or near the garden ? Fix up a framework of rustic timber or wooden trellis-work, / plant the mountain Clematis, and it is hidden speedily. In most cases it goes away freely when planted ; but I have known it *^hang fire" when planted on chalky I ground in a position where it catches drip from a roof. The soil gets splashed away, and nothing but chalk is left. In such circumstances some of the chalk should be dug out to form a pocket, and with this filled with fibrous loam the plant has a much better chance of getting established. Another source of failure is to put in a plant which has stood a good while in a nursery pot - bound, and has a long, tough, vine-like stem, and leave it unpruned. Such a plant ought to be cut back. It is better to begin with a young one, and prune it back to a good bud a few inches from the ground. There will be a strong growth from the bud, and in two or three years a large area will be covered with flowering shoots. It is not wise to prune established plants severely. The plant bears the finest flowers on the wood made the previous year, conse- quently the bloom would be cut away if severe spring pruning were practised. The wood which has bloomed may be pruned out in autumn if there are fresh shoots to take its place. The mountain Clematis may be propagated by cuttings. There are not many hardy species grown in gardens now, as the hybrids and varieties are so much finer. Cirrhosa, a spring bloomer, with green and white .| flowers ; Erecta, a very old white species, blooming in July ; Fortunei, white, brought from Japan in 1863 ; Ci.KMATis Montana. ON CLEMATISES 115 Florida, a white species introduced from Japan, blos- soming in June ; Lanuginosa, a blue June bloomer from China ; Patens, white, a Japanese plant blooming in June ; and Viticella, purple, an August bloomer, are well-known hardy species ; but they are better repre- sented by their varieties than in themselves. The last four have all given their names to sections. Jackmanii has also done so, but it is a hybrid. This remarkable Clematis is certainly the most popular of all the large flowered, rich-coloured class, and is familiar to almost every lover of climbing plants. It is beautiful on porches, roofs, trellis-work, pillars, and verandahs, bearing its large violet-blue flowers in great abundance in July and August. It was raised in 1858 by a Woking florist, George Jackman, who obtained it by crossing the old blue Japanese species lanuginosa with a hybrid called Hende7'sont. The latter was raised in 1835 ^Y crossing the species integrifolia and viticella^ and bore purplish-blue flowers. A hybrid called rubro-violaceay with purplish-maroon flowers, came from the same cross ; but although it is a good Clematis, it was over- shadowed from the first by Jackmanii. Clematis J ackinanii is one of the most profuse-bloom- ing plants ever grown in a garden. It becomes a mass of bloom in late summer, quite hiding whatever object it may be grown upon. Such a plant, if also hardy and a fast grower — and Clematis Jackmanii is both — is bound to become a great favourite, because it meets the wants of innumerable gardeners. Suburban as well as country amateurs love Clematis Jackmanii^ and town gardeners might succeed with it nearly as well as their rural brethren if they would provide better soil than they generally do, and use the knife with a little more courage, it is very rarely that the natural soil of a suburban ii6 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS gardener is really fertile, and in nine cases out of ten it is advisable to take out some of it, and make a hole big enough to hold a bushel of fibrous loam and leaf mould, which the local florist will provide for a shilling. The plant is worth that. Pruning, — The use of the knife should begin directly the plant is put in, and that should be either in November or March. Many plant late in April or in May, on a hot site, with the result that the plant is scorched up before the roots have time to get to work and feed it. With autumn or early spring planting the plant has a chance to make new roots before the hot weather comes on, and as these fibres begin to send up food at once, the plant is strengthened and can endure the sun. But a gardener who has once summoned up enough courage to cut back a Clematis Jackmanii after planting it will always be ready to repeat the operation in future plantings. If shortened to a bud near the ground all the energies of the plant are concentrated on that bud, and it pushes a fine, vigorous shoot, which is soon several feet long, and produces flowers the same year. The second year it will do better still, and in the third the plant will be at its best, covering an immense area, and producing hundreds of flowers. It may sound strange to the non-professional reader, but Clematis Jackmanii produces the finest flowers when all the flowering shoots of the previous year are cut back in spring. The reason of this is that the plant blooms on new wood. We cannot lump all the Clema- tises together and say that they should be pruned in such-and-such a way. Jackmanii^ we see, differs from montana ; and others differ from both. The amateur may protest that his Clematis Jackmanii blooms without any pruning at all. So it does — kindly, generous-hearted ON CLEMATISES 117 plant that it is ; but it often gets into a terrible tangle, and is not far short of being positively unsightly when the leaves have fallen. Moreover, as the soil becomes exhausted, the flowering falls off. The pruned, trained plant is never ugly, leaves or no leaves ; and it produces the finest of flowers — large and full of glorious colour. About every third year, some of the old soil should be forked away from the roots and a fresh coat of loam, leaf mould, and manure put on. A few pailfuls of liquid manure will do good. The white variety of Jacknianii is worth making a note of, but it is not so valuable as the blue. Some Clematis lovers like to mix the latter and Jlammula^ for the sake of the perfume which the latter possesses, j There was a movement to grow them as dwarf bedding plants trained over hoops a few years ago, but it has nearly died out. More convincing is the idea of grow- ing them on groups of tall pillars in a large bed. The bigger the boles used the better. If they are moderate- sized tree trunks twelve feet out of the ground, no matter, the Clematis will reach the top in one season if the soil is rich, and in the second will be sprawling over them, and dangling flower-laden shoots over the top as a kind of flag of victory. Beautiful Varieties. — Some of the large varieties ot the other sections may be used to support Jackmanii for this purpose. Their flowers are even larger than those of the famous blue, and they give variety of colour. For instance, there are The Queen, a beautiful lavender variety, and Lord Londesborough, mauve, both of the patens type. These bloom in early summer, and need no pruning except when they get very crowded. There are Beauty of Worcester, violet, and Venus Victrix, lavender, double, of the Lanuginosa section, which also ii8 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS need no pruning beyond thinning. There is Lady Bovill, Hght blue, of the Viticella type, which does best when cut back hard every autumn. And there is Madame Edouard Andre, red, of the Jack^nanii class, which, as already mentioned, should be pruned back to the old wood in spring. We see that there is great variety of habit and colour in the Clematises, and although this may, at the outset, tend to cause the amateur a little perturbation, he soon gets over it, and finds a deeper interest in the flowers from the demands that they make on his knowledge and skill. XII ON COLUMBINES (AQUILEGIAS) As the sweetheart of Harlequin, Columbine was a primft favourite in the days when we were young enough to love the pantomime ; and in the form of a distinct and graceful flower we give her a high place among our garden favourites. Her charming name comes, of course, from the Latin columbaj a dove, but we are not quite sure whether it is Lady Wilkinson or Dr. Prior who may be accepted as the true guide to the derivation. The former tells us that it arises from the fact that if we pull off a. petal with its attached sepals we see a semblance of the figure of a dove with expanded wings ; the latter, that it is due to the nectaries re- sembling the heads of pigeons arranged in a ring round a dish. There is a third view — that the dove association arises merely from the colour, and its supporters quote Chaucer — " Come forth now with thin eyghen Columbine." — The Marchau7ides Tale, But this is a little strained. It is a coincidence that the botanical name, Aquilegiaj is also supposed by many to arise from a bird, but a very different one from the dove. The derivation ascribed is that of aquila^ the eagle, in reference to the form of the petals ; but this does not satisfy some scholars, who prefer to trace Aquilegia to aquilegusy a. 119 120 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS water-collector, in allusion to the capacity of the flower for holding water. We see that in the case of both scientific and popular names there is fine scope for learned controversy, but it is probable that modern flower-lovers will be disposed to confine their discussions to the relative merits of the varieties. The poets have dealt richly with the Columbine. John Clare, the peasant rhymer, who was for a short period an under-gardener at Burghley, and who died in the Northampton lunatic asylum in 1864, included it iii some charming verse on old-fashioned flowers : " The Columbines, stone blue, or deep night brown, Their honeycomb-like blossoms hanging down ; Each cottage garden's fond adopted child, Though heaths still claim them, where they yet grow wild." Let us recall, too, John Skelton, the satirical poet, once Rector of Diss, in Norfolk, who was bold enough to make a fierce attack on the all-powerful Cardinal Wolsey in '*Why come ye not to Courte?" In '* Phyllyp Sparowe " he cries : " She is the Vyolet, The Daysy delectable, The Columbine commendable The lelofer amyable." Spenser uses the delightful comparison : " Her nekke lyke to a bounch of Cullambynes." Shakespeare refers to the Columbine in "Love's Labour's Lost " : Armado. Peace ! The armipotent Mars, of lances the almighty, Gave Hector a gift, the heir of Ilion ; A man so breathed that certain he would fight ; yea, From morn till night, out of his pavilion. Columbines. ON COLUMBINES 121 I am that flower ; — Dumaine. That Mint 1 Longaville. That Columbine. And again in " Hamlet" : Ophelia. There's Fennel for you and Columbine ; there's Rue for you ; and here's some for me ; we must call it herb grace o' Sundays. The Columbine clearly had the interest for great writers which all popular flowers must arouse ; and the repeated references to it by Shakespeare may be taken as a measure of its familiarity, for he was too astute a writer to weaken his appeal by drawing illus- trations from the garden that were likely to be strange to his readers. His observing eye took in and measured the influence of flowers as it did the power of human emotions. It is not every botanist who will admit that, popular as the Columbine has been from the earliest times of which we have any floricultural records, it is a true native plant ; but we need hardly labour the point, for it would be impossible to give its original habitat. The horticultural dictionaries state that the common Columbine, Aquilegia vulgaris, is a native, while quoting the exotic origin of several species which are them- selves comparatively old plants. The Columbine was specialised in the days of Parkinson (1567-1650), for he wrote of it as being *' carefully nursed up in our gardens for the delight both of its form and colour." Yet we might suppose that it had not been developed very highly, since George Chapman, translator of Homer and playwright, referred to it disparagingly in his bright comedy, "All Fools," which was produced in or about 1599, as follows : — " What's that — a Columbine ? No. That thankless flower grows not in my garden." /v/r 122 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS The Columbine was used in heraldic devices, and John Guillim (or Gwillim) (1565-1621), scholar of Braze- nose, Oxford; official at the College of Arms, London, and author of '^ A Display of Heraldrie," quotes *' a chevron sable between three Columbines," and speaks approv- ingly of the flower itself, as ^' pleasing to the eye, as well in respect of the seemly (and not vulgar) shape as in regard of the azury colour.'' He gave it, too, a good character in another respect — it was '^very medicinable for throat troubles." Select Species and Hybrids. — Aquilegia (pronuncia- tion, Ak-wil-ee'-ji-a) vulgaris was variable in colour, giving red, white, and blue forms. It comprised both single and double flowers. Other species gave larger flowers and a greater range of colours. Alpina is a beautiful blue species from the Swiss Alps, growing about a foot high, and being suitable for the rockery. It is the same as grandiflora, Ccerulea, blue and white, introduced from the Rocky Mountains in 1864, is a charming Columbine. It has long, slender spurs tipped with green. The height is fifteen to eighteen inches. CcBrulea hybrida is the result of crossing ccBrulea with chrysantha and other species. The Columbines were first hybridised by a florist who was later to become famous as a Carnation grower, James Douglas. He made a large number of crosses, and secured strains with large, long-spurred flowers, embracing many colours. The seedsmen have a strain called Calif ornica hybrida, the petals of which are yellow, and the sepals and spurs orange. It grows about two feet high, and certainly has the blood of chrysantha in it. The latter is one of the noblest of the Columbines, growing three to four feet high ; it has yellow flowers. Some botanists do not accept it as a species, but consider it to be a ON COLUMBINES 123 variety of leptoceras. The latter is blue and white, and very close to, if not identified with, ccerulea. Columbine- lovers will find a plate of it in the Botanical Magaziney t. 4497, and also one of chrysantha under the name of leptoceras chrysanthay t. 6073. Aquilegia chrysantha came from California in 1873. In itself, and also as a parent of the many beautiful hybrids, it is very valuable. The blue and white species glandulosa is regarded as precious by all lovers of Columbines. The flowers are large and graceful, and the height is about a foot. It is a Siberian plant, and therefore hardy, nevertheless it is short-lived in most gardens, and requires frequent renewal from seed, but that is a simple and inexpensive matter, fucunda is a variety of it. There is a lovely little dwarf Columbine named Pyrenaica, introduced from the Pyrenees in 181 8. It rarely grows more than nine inches high, and may therefore be put on the rockery. The colour is blue. Sibirica, lilac, is another species suitable for the rock garden. Skinneriy red and green, a Guatemalan species, is a popular Columbine, and is illustrated in the Botanical Magazine, t. 3919. Stuartii is a hybrid htiv^Qtn glandu- losa and a variety of vulgaris, raised in 1888. It is a dwarf grower, with dark blue and white flowers. A Columbine-lover who wanted to have a thoroughly representative collection might add canadensis, formosay ^nd /ragrans to the foregoing, as all are worth growing ; but one may not assume that every flower-lover can find space and time for cultivating a long list of species when there are so many other beautiful plants claiming a share. Nay, one is forced to assume that many gardeners will be driven to the extreme of cultivating Columbines as h^"^ Columbines, and nothing more. Even in this case they will not do badly if they procure a good strain of mixed ^' 124 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS hybrids, for they will have a beautiful display of flowers in late spring. Propagation. — The grower of Columbines learns from observation that they do not possess a spreading, fibrous root-stock, like, for example, Michaelmas Daisies and Sunflowers ; but form a hard, knotty stock. For this reason they do not lend themselves to propagation by division, although I have resorted to this method of increase on occasion, driving a sharp spade clean through the centre just as the growth started in spring. But the plant comes so readily from seed that division is uncalled for except in the case of double varieties. As a matter of fact, the Columbines sow themselves. The bees buzz around them busily in June, and a few weeks later one sees the peculiar pointed pods dis- charging their seeds. A word of warning as to this. The hybrid Columbines of the seedsmen are highly bred, and they soon deteriorate in quality when left to Nature ; if it is desired to keep the flowers up to the highest standard, the self-sown seedlings should be weeded out every few years, and a new stock of plants raised from fresh seed. The Columbines certainly have a good notion of making themselves comfortable in any quarters which they like. I have cleared an herbaceous border to make a shrubbery, been sure that every particle of growth has been removed, and had the soil deeply dug, but a Columbine has come up here and there among the shrubs the following season, and, enjoying the good fare and the partial shade, has grown into a sturdy specimen. Although they grow vigorously in strong loam and clay — as, indeed most plants do — they like chalk, and will make surprisingly tall growth and flower prokisely in comparatively poor soil overlying limestone. \ ON COLUMBINES 125 Those who raise Columbines from seed should sow thinly in a drill as soon as it is ripe, if they gather their own ; but if buying seed in spring, they had better sow in May. This seed will be of the previous year's sowing, and is often rather slow in germinating ; on this account it is worth while to go to the little extra trouble of sow- ing in a shallow box filled with moist fine loam, leaf mould, and sand. If kept dark, and the soil moist, in a frame, it will germinate in due course, and the plants must then have light and air. When they begin to get crowded they may be set six inches apart in a prepared bed in the garden, and transferred thence to their per- manent quarters in autumn. Lovers of this beautiful plant, who grow it mainly for garden effect, must still make themselves acquainted with the structure of its flowers, for they are of great interest. There are five coloured or petaloid sepals j (a sepal is not a petal — it is a segment of the calyx — while a petal is a segment of the corolla) and five tubular / petals ; each of the latter terminates in a horn-like "spur" or nectary, which resembles a bird's head. The abundant seeding of Columbines is perhaps due to the numerous series of stamens, which, fed by the nectaries, discharge a great deal of pollen. Interesting in its structure, a beautiful, hardy, and easily grown garden plant, endeared to us by long association, the Columbine is one of the greatest of our flower-garden favourites. XIII ON CROCUSES That cheerful harbinger of spring, the yellow Crocus, which often flashes back a greeting to the pale rays of the February sun, is one of the oldest of our popular garden flowers. Thriving in almost any soil, calling for no skill in culture, cheap, it is truly one of the flowers of the people. The Crocus is so old a plant, and its derivation so remote, that it has been admitted to the British flora ; but the species that grow wild have probably become naturalised. Old writers spoke of the ^^ Saffron Crocus" in general terms, but the Crocus that produces the saffron of com- merce is satzvuSy a lilac species which blooms in autumn. The saffron is made from the dried stigmas of the flower. It is a very old plant — too old for its history to be traceable. The word '^saffron" comes from the Arabic al zahafaran or zdfaran. It is easy to trace the old French safran, the Italian zafferano^ and the English saffron from this root. The origin of Crocus is hardly less clear. Theophrastus (372-286 B.C.), the Greek naturalist and writer on plants, referred to it. The Greek krokos is probably derived from the Arabic kurkum. In these days the name saffron is rarely used in relation to the Crocus, but is applied to Colchicum autumnale, the Meadow Saffron ; and there are probably ia6 ON CROCUSES 127 thousands of cultivators of Crocuses who have lost sight of the association of the flower with the saffron of com- merce. It is desirable to recall the fact, because it adds greatly to the interest of the plant, and brings us, through it, into touch with the old writers. How many people are aware that Saffron Walden, in Essex, takes its name from the introduction of the Crocus there ? It is the fact, however. Sir Thomas Smith (15 14-1577), Secretary of State to Edward VI., and author of De Republica Anglorum, was a native of that place; and he is credited with having introduced the plant with the object of founding a new industry for the poor. (The reader may safely ignore published statements that Smith introduced saffron into Essex during the reign of Edward III., as that was some two hundred years before his time.) Sir Thomas Smith may have been the first to start the cultivation of Crocuses for saffron - making in Essex, but it is hardly likely that he was the first to do so in Great Britain. The reader who is interested in the matter may read Hakluyt's references to saffron in the ''English Voiages," vol.ii., written only five years after Sir Thomas Smith's death. He says : •' Saffron groweth fifty miles from Tripoli, in Syria, on a high hyll, called in those parts gasian, so as there you may learn at that part of Tripoli the value of the ground and the good- nesse of it, and the places of the vent. But it is said that from that hyll there passeth yerely of that commodity fifteen moiles laden ... If a vent might be found, men would in Essex (about Saffron Walden) and in Cambridgeshire, revive the trade for the benefit of the setting of the poore on worke. So would they do in Herefordshire by Wales, where the best of all England is, in which the soile yields the wild Saffron commonly, 128 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS which shovveth the natural incHnation of the same soile to the bearing of the right saffron, if the soile be manured and that way employed." And Hakluyt goes on to say: " It is reported at Saffron Walden that a pilgrim, pro- posing to do good to his country, stole a head of Saffron, and hid the same in his palmer's staffe, which he had made hollow before of purpose, and so he brought the root into this realme with venture of his life, for if he had been taken, by the law of the country from whence it came, he had died for the fact." If Hakluyt is accurate, saffron -growing was introduced into Essex long before Smith's time, for the latter was contemporary with him. Saffron Hill, in London, also derives its name, accord- ing to Cunningham, from the crops of saffron which it bore. That delectable quarter is now the home of the Italian colony of organ-grinders, whose efforts turn many a harassed London writer of as bilious a colour as that of the '* snipt - taffeta fellow " described by Shakespeare in <' All's Well that Ends Well," whose "villainous saffron would have made all the unbaked and doughy youth of a nation in his colour." Flying to the wilds of Cornwall for solitude, the literary man finds nothing worse to remind him of the terrors which he has escaped than the saffron cake, so beloved of the Cornish folk. The references to the saffron Crocus by Pliny show that it was cultivated in Cilicia, a region in the south-east of Asia Minor, in his time ; and later writers, probably taking their cue from the Roman, referred to it as a Cilician plant. Thus Spenser's " Saffron sought for on Cilician soyle." It may have been a native of Asia Minor, but it v/as ON CROCUSES 129 grown in Persia and Cashmere in remote ages. Bird- wood speaks of saffron as a native of Cashmere, and states that "the Saffron Crocus and the Hemp plant followed the Aryan migrations together throughout the temperate zone of the globe." The writers of the Elizabethan epoch made many references to Saffron Crocuses, and did not limit the application to the lilac -flowered Crocus sativus. In *^The Tempest," Act iv. scene i, Ceres cries to Iris — " Hail, many-coloured messenger, that ne'er Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter ; Who with thy saffron wings upon my flowers Diffusest honey-drops, refreshing showers." And Shakespeare refers to saffron in several other of his plays. Gerard grew several species of Crocus, and was particularly enthusiastic about the yellow, which was perhaps introduced in his own day, as he writes : ^^ It hath flowers of a most perfect shining yellow colour, seeming afar off to be a hot glowing coal of fire. That pleasant plant was sent unto me from Rabinus, of Paris, that painful and most curious searcher of simples." Parkinson described thirty-one sorts of Crocus. Dean Herbert made a careful study of the genus, and published a monograph of the Crocuses in 1847, in which he de- scribed forty-one species, in addition to many varieties. Later, Mr. George Maw also published a monograph of the genus, in which he dealt with upwards of sixty species, besides varieties. These facts will show amateur gardeners who are tempted to hold the Crocus lightly because it is a some- what common flower, that it is really one of great importance. Insigniiicant as it may appear to some, it has its roots deep down in the world's history. It \ I30 POPULx^R GARDEN FLOWERS has been carried by wanderers all over the world, stolen by patriotic adventurers, and has maintained one of the oldest industries known to civilisation. Educated people will not grow the Crocus less frequently in their gardens for knowing the part that it has played ; on the contrary, they are likely to give greater attention to it than they have done hitherto. And, when they have begun to study it, they will find species of a beauty that they had never suspected. Probably seven out of ten of the growers of Crocuses know them only through the *^ Dutch " varieties — popular yellow, lilac, blue, white, and striped sorts, which are sent over from Holland in autumn in millions, to be sold by bulb dealers and auctioneers at a cheap rate, and to flower in February and March of the following year. The fact that they sell in such enormous quantities is a sufficient proof that they are appreciated, and their beauty is undeniable ; but, after all, they give only a very meagre idea of the variety and the beauty of the genus. They do not, for instance, touch the autumn bloomers at all, and they only represent the late winter or spring bloomers with moderate success. Crocuses for Rockwork and Pots, — In years gone by I grew a collection of Crocuses, which included some of the best species, in a London suburb. I learned thereby two things : that the Crocus is one of the best of town flowers, and that it includes plants the beauty of which far exceeds that of any of the Dutch varieties. I grew some of my Crocuses in the garden, and some in pots in the greenhouse. Their low growth suggests that the rockery rather than the open bed is the place for them outdoors. Given pockets to themselves in the rockery, and labelled, there is no risk of their getting overgrown ON CROCUSES 131 by larger plants, or dug out in general gardening opera- tions. They are both safer and under more complete control in the rock garden than in the mixed border. At the same time the exquisite flowers show up to greater advantage. The species can hardly be compared with the Dutch varieties as garden plants, although equally hardy. It will be conceded that a clump of perhaps half a dozen plants is much more likely to escape observa- tion than a whole row. However, in the absence of a rockery, an amateur who is interested in Crocuses may grow a few specimens in the front of a bed or border, and with a little special care will succeed with them. In the hope that some gardener has sufficient interest in Crocuses to grow a few species, I give a brief descrip- tion of the best of those which I have grown myself, classifying them into two sections — autumn and spring, although some of the latter really flower in winter. Autumn-blooming Crocuses, — One of the prettiest of this class is Boryi, which has white flowers. Hadriaticus is another beautiful white species. Iridiflorus (Iris-flowered) is one of the most exquisitely lovely of bulbous flowers. When expanded it is nearly two inches across, and of a rich blue colour. I found this to be a gem for pot culture, and a charming ornament for the front of the greenhouse stage. There is a large variety of it called major. LongifloruSy purple and lilac, is not only very pretty, but is also sweet-scented ; there are several varie- ties of it. NudifloruSy purple, is also good. Ochroleucus, yellow and white, is well worthy of pot culture. Sativus, as we have seen, yields the saffron of commerce, which the old writers dowered with many virtues. Note Gerard : '* The moderate use of it is good for the head, and maketh sences more quicke and liuely, shaketh off heauie and drowsie sleepe and maketh a man merrie." 132 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Sativiis has purple or yellow flowers. Speciosus^ purplish lilac, is one of the best of the autumn Crocuses ; and zonattis, lilac and rose, is also lovely. Spring- flowering Crocuses. — Aureus is a good orange- yellow species, and has many varieties, including white, cream, primrose, and deep yellow. It has additional interest for us as the parent of the popular Dutch yellow. Biflorus has white flowers, and is not only pretty in itself, but has a family of charming daughters. Another fine species is chrysanthuSy orange, which also has a long list of varieties to its name. Fleischeri, white, with purple feathering, is worth growing ; and at least as much may be said of Imperati, a large, handsome and early-bloom- ing species, purple within, buff outside. There are several varieties of this splendid Crocus. Olivierij orange ; reticulatus, lilac and white ; Sieberi, lilac, a most charm- ing early bloomer ; Tommasinianus, lavender ; vernus, varying from white to purple ; and versicolor ^ striped, are other good Crocuses. Vernus is the parent of the Dutch white, striped, and purple. If the Crocus species are grown in pots, five corms (a corm differs from a true bulb in not having visible scales) may be placed equi-distant in a five-inch pot. The soil may consist of loam, with a quarter of leaf mould and some sand. The autumn bloomers should be potted or planted in summer, the spring bloomers in autumn. The pots should be covered with cocoa-nut fibre refuse until roots have pushed freely in the soil, when they may be put in the greenhouse and exposed to light. If planted on rockwork, pockets of loamy soil should be prepared for them, and they may be buried an inch deep. Cheap Dutch Crocuses. — The following are a few good varieties of Dutch Crocus : Maximilian, lavender ; Mont Blanc, white ; Purpurea grandiflora, blue ; and Sir o ON CROCUSES 133 Walter Scott, striped. These cost no more than 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per hundred, and are therefore cheap enough for long lines, masses, or planting in grass. The Yellow is generally sold in three sizes, and the price ranges from 2s. 6d. per hundred. The colour is the same in each case, but the large corms produce more and larger flowers than the small. Unnamed Crocuses in white, blue, and striped can be bought for is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per hundred. Crocuses in Grass. — Many flower-gardeners now plant Crocuses in quantity in grass. They take off the turf, stir the soil below, mix in bone flour at the rate of a handful per square yard, and replace the turf above the corms. It is a pretty idea to clothe a grassy mound with yellow Crocuses ; the effect is charming when the flowers are out in February. They will do under trees which are leafless when the plants are in bloom. The Crocuses may be put in six inches apart. Birds, — The amateur often finds his Crocus edgings spoiled by birds, which pull off the flowers. The sugges- tion that they do this ^'for mischief" is of doubtful accuracy. They probably find sweet moisture at the base of the flowers. The simplest plan of baffling them is to fix strings of black thread just above the blossoms. The amateur may plant his corms three inches deep in well-worked soil and leave them from year to year. When they have dwindled to very small proportions fresh corms can be bought. Crocuses do well in suburban gardens. XIV ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI We cannot think about Daffodils without a Hghtening of the heart. There is something irresistibly cheery about them. They are infectiously gay and enlivening. The Daffodils have been popular flowers for many hundreds of years. They are old, old favourites. Their early flowering has much to do with this, and it is interesting to know that some authorities trace the name Daffodil to the old English word affodyhy which means an early object. Another explanation is that it comes from Asphodel, and the Daffodil was certainly confused with that flower by Lyte and others. If the reader repeats the two names one after the other he will be able to appreciate the possibility of confusion arising through careless writing following faulty pronunciation. Asphodel is the popular form of the Greek Asphodelus. The plant is entirely different from the Daffodil, and no confusion ought to have arisen between them. The Asphodel belongs to the natural order LiliacecBj and the Daffodil to the AmaryllidacecB. Asphodelus comes from a, not, and sphallo, to supplant, the intention being to convey that the flowers are so beautiful that they cannot be surpassed. Whether Daffodil originated from Asphodel or affodyle, it appears to have come into possession of an initial letter which did not belong to it. It would 134 ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 135 probably be a futile task to endeavour to trace the cir- cumstances in which the '* d " became added. The Daffodil is not merely the Daffodil, however — it is also the Daffadowndilly ; so that at some time or other it not only acquired an extra letter in front, but several additional ones at the end. Dr. Prior thinks that Daffa- downdilly is a corruption of Saffron Lily, but it may have been manufactured by a poet to assist a metre. Constable (1562-1613) uses the word — " Diaphenia, like the Daffadowndilly- White as the sun, fair as the Lilly." And Milton speaks of ^' the Daffodillies " that " Fill their cups with tears." Our greatest poets have written of the Daffodil. Shakespeare refers to it repeatedly, and no lines relating to a flower are more familiar than those from ''The Winter's Tale," Act iv., scene 3, where Perdita cries — " Now, my fair'st friend, I would I had some flowers o' the spring that might Become your time of day ; and yours, and yours, That wear upon your virgin branches yet Your maidenheads growing : O Proserpina ! For the flowers now that frighted thou lett'st fall From Dis's waggon : Daffodils, That come before the swallow dares, and take The winds of March with beauty." And in the same play, so rich in allusions, which have now become classical, to flowers, scene 3 of the fourth act begins with Autolycus singing — " When Daffodils begin to peer, With heigh ! the doxy over the dale, Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year ; For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale." Herrick, Keats, and Shelley continued tfie Daffodil 136 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS garland of song begun by Constable, Shakespeare, and other early poets. The first-named wrote the lines — " Fair Daffodils, we weep to see You haste away so soon, As yet the early rising sun Has not attained his noon." Keats's famous lines beginning, ^^A thing of beauty is a joy for ever/' proceed — "In spite of all Some shape of beauty moves away the pale From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon, Trees old and young, spreading a shady boon For simple sheep ; and such are Daffodils With the green world they live in." The name Narcissus is scarcely less familiar than that of Daffodil. It stands as the botanical name of the whole genus with the bulk of amateurs, but florists call only the Trumpet Narcissi Daffodils, and use Narcissus for the rest of the family. They speak, for instance, of the Poet's Narciss, not the Poet's Daffodil. This, however, was a Daffodil with the old writers. It is the ^'chequ'd and purple-ringed Daffodilly" of Ben Jonson. Narcissus was the name of a vain youth who is said to have been turned into this flower — " That was a faire boy certaine, but a foole To love himself; were there not maids enough?" — Two Noble Kinsmen. Shelley writes of the flower under the classical name — " Narcissus, the fairest among them all, Who gaze on their eyes in the stream's recess, Till they die of their own dear loveliness." We may assume that the Rose of Sharon, mentioned in the *^ Song of Solomon," was a Daffodil, although some writers believe that it was a Rock Cistus, and may quote the words of Mahomet : *' He that has two cakes of bread, let him sell one of them for some flower of ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 137 the Narcissus ; for bread is the food of the body, but Narcissus is the food of the soul." The Jonquil is a Narcissus, and the word comes ivoinjunczfolius, which means rush-leaved. The Jonquil \ is therefore the Rush-leaved Daffodil. The old English Daffodil, the Daffodil of Shake- speare, is the Lent Lily, Narcissus pseudo-Narcissus of botanists. It is a native of this country. It is a cheap plant, and those >yho feel an interest in it may, if they like, plant it in quantity. But the modern Daffodils are so enormously superior that the Lent Lily does not receive so much attention as it used to do. It is, of course, thoroughly hardy, and it will grow almost anywhere. In heavy moist soil it multipUes almost too fast. Classification. — There are so many different types of Narcissus that a person used to the ways of florists will assume that they have been classified. They have. The old system was to group them according to the size of the central cup or crown. They were classified in three groups — Large-Crowns, Medium-Crowns, and Small-Crowns [Magni-Coronati, Medio- Cor onatiy Parvi- Coronaii). The true Daffodils, in which the crown was so large as to become a '' trumpet," were Magni- Coronaii ^ the Chalice-fiowered were Medio-Coronati, and the Poet's Narcissi were Parvi- Coronati. This system served until the florists had mixed up the sections by hybridising, when it broke down. Another was formulated, in which eleven groups were made, as follows: — 1. Trumpets. 6. Cyclamineus hybrids. 2. Incomparabilis. 7. Jonquilla hybrids. 3. Barri (including Burbidgei). 8. Tazetta and Tazetta hybrids. 4. Leedsi. 9. Poeticus varieties. 5. Triandrus hybrids. 10. Doubles. II. Various. 138 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS The trumpet Daffodils bloom early, and the Poet's Narciss late. Between them come the Chalice-flowered varieties. By making a selection from each of these three classes, the grower can have bloom from March to May inclusive. A table of select varieties will put the information which a beginner is likely to require before him clearly and succinctly : — Month Variety. Section. Colour. of Flower- ing. Almira Poet's White and orange May *Barri conspicuus Chalice Yellow and orange April Bulbocodium Trumpet Yellow March Capax plenus Double trumpet Yellow March Cernuus Trumpet Cream March Duchess of West- minster . Chahce White, creamy cup April Emperor . Trumpet Yellow March ^Empress . Trumpet Yellow and white March Glory of Leyden Trumpet Yellow March ■^Golden Spur Trumpet Yellow March Henry Irving Trumpet Yellow March *Horsefieldii Trumpet Yellow and white March Johnstoni Queen of Spain . Trumpet Yellow March M. Magdaline de Graatf . Chalice White, yellow cup April Maximus . Trumpet Yellow March *Obvallaris (Tenby Daffodil) Trumpet Yellow March Orange Phoenix . Double chalice Orange and yellow April Ornatus Poet's White and orange April *Pallidus praecox Trumpet Cream March ■^Poeticus plenus . Double Poet's White May *Sir Watkin Chalice Yellow April Sulphur Phoenix Double chalice Pale yellow April Telamonius ple- nus (Van Sion) Double trumpet Yellow March White Pearl Bunch-flowered White April The foregoing comprise twenty-four of the most popular varieties of Narcissus grown at the present time. Those marked with an asterisk are very cheap, ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 139 and, giving considerable diversity of colour and season of flowering, might be chosen for a small collection, or for planting in large quantities. They will not provide sufficient interest for the specialist however, and it may be well to add notes of a few varieties that are more likely to appeal to him : — Albatross. — White, with orange centre, a lovely variety of the Burbidgei class. Blackwell. — Yellow Chalice, cup shaded orange. Bullfinch. — A Barrii variety, with rich red cup. Cardinal. — Chalice-fiowered, red cup. Cassandra. — A lovely sweet Poet's. Cavalier. — White, with orange cup. A Burbidgei variety. Cernuus plenus. — Double cream trumpet. Elvira. — White and yellow Poetaz, very sweet. Firebrand. — A red-cupped Burbidgei. Glitter. — An orange-cupped Barrii. Gloria Mundi. — Red-cupped Chalice. Homespun. — Yellow-flowered Chalice of beautiful form, one of the most refined varieties we have. John Bain. — White, yellow cup, small crown. Katherine Spurrell. — White Chalice, with yellow cup. King Alfred. — Grand yellow trumpet. Lemondrop. — A Leedsii variety, with drooping, primrose flowers. Lucifer. — A white Chalice-flowered, with large rich orange cup. Lulworth. — Cream Chalice, with orange cup. Mrs. Langtry. — A Leedsii, white, with primrose cup. Nelsoni aurantius. — White, with orange cup. Sunset. — A yellow Poetaz. Victoria. — Yellow and white trumpet. Waterwitch. — White Leedsii, a lovely, drooping flower. Excel- lent for cutting. Weardale Perfection. — Yellow and white trumpet. White Lady. — A beautiful white Leedsii, with canary cup, one of the most charming of all. HO POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS It must be remembered that the majority of these are much more expensive than the varieties in the first Hst. With respect to the classes mentioned, the Burbidgei and Poetaz both belong to the small-crown section, of which the Poet's Narciss is the most popular example. The Burbidgei varieties are really hybrid Poet's. The Poetaz sorts, of which Elvira is a charming example, are hybrids between the Poet's and the Polyanthus-flowered . group, the latter of which is botanically known as I Narcissus Tazetta. The Chalice-flowered or Star Narcissi, of the medium-crown section, are the Naixissus inconi- parabilis of botanists. The resemblance of the crown to the wine chalice at the Lord's Supper table led to the term chalice-flowered being applied to them. The Barrii and Leedsii varieties belong to the same section. The yellow and white trumpets are frequently spoken of by florists as Bicoloj's. Hardiness, — After this brief glance at the history and classification of the Daffodil, and list of some of the best varieties, we may usefully consider cultivation. The amateur may wonder whether the work of the florists in improving the flower has led to any loss of hardiness or vigour on the part of the plant. Happily it has not. With one or two unimportant exceptions, all the Narcissi are hardy. All do not, it is true, multiply as fast as the old Lent Lily, but for the most part they are strong, and quite suitable for cultivation in the open air. Only in the case of a very expensive variety need pot culture be regarded as obligatory, and this not because the plant lacks vigour, but because it can be kept more closely under the grower's control in a frame or greenhouse than in the garden, where a careless spade-thrust might destroy it. ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 141 In Beds. — Where can we grow Daffodils ? How can we utilise them so as to get the most individual interest, as well as the finest collective effect from them ? Before we put one bulb into the ground, we have to remember that the plants bloom only at one parti- cular season. An amateur who developed an interest in Daffodils might rush a large collection of them into the ground in autumn, and after enjoying them to the full in spring, find himself embarrassed in May onwards by beds and borders full of nothing but decay- ing leaves. The Daffodils do not make the garden entirely — they only adorn it for a few weeks. From May to July, inclusive, they are worse than useless as decorative plants for the garden. The flower gardener should do one of two things: (i) Fill the beds with them in autumn, lift the bulbs in May, and lay them in a spare plot, then plant the bed with something else ; (2) plant them in groups among the other occupants of beds and borders, and sow annuals, or plant dwarf, free- blooming perennials near them in spring, to come on for summer bloom. In the public parks the first plan is adopted, and amateurs who do not mind the little trouble of lifting and replanting may follow it also. Let us suppose that an amateur has one flower bed which he wishes to be gay with Daffodils in spring, and with hardy plants — Asters, Petunias, Phloxes, Verbenas, Carna- tions, Begonias, Zonal Geraniums, or some other popular flower — in summer. He could plant his Daffodils in October, when the summer flowers were over. First, he should clear the bed ; then dig it deeply, and work in steamed bone-flour at the rate of four ounces per square yard. He should now plant the Daffodils. T42 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS Assuming that he has a selection of different varieties, he will be well advised to arrange them in groups, the number of bulbs in each ranging from three to a dozen, according to the size of the bed and the number of the varieties available. Six bulbs make a very nice clump. They should be set about six inches apart, and there should be a space of at least nine inches between the I different clumps. The larger sorts, such as Emperor, ' Maximus, and Sir Watkin, may go in the middle, and the bulbs may be covered with four inches of soil. Bear in mind in planting the poeticus varieties that they are May bloomers. Set a neat, unobtrusive label in front of each group, so that the name can be clearly seen w^hen the plants are in bloom. The bed may be finished off by planting a ring of Crocuses round it, or alternate tufts of mauve Aubrietia and white Arabis, or any other favourite edging plant. The bed will not require much attention throughout the winter. More than once in hard spells of weather, when the ground is frost-bound or deep in snow, the amateur will feel that he and his bulbs are parted for ever. But snow will melt, frost disappear, and warm sunshine come. Then the green shoots of the hardy Daffodils will appear, and soon the bed will be full. Early varieties, like Golden Spur, Henry Irving, and Obvallaris, will be out long before March is spent, most of the other trumpets will bloom in March and early April, and thence to the end of May there will be flowers. Primroses and Daffodils. — Those who love Primroses as well as Daffodils, may choose to plant the former as a groundwork, placing the groups of Daffodils farther apart to make room for them. Primroses, Polyanthuses, and hardy Auriculas are beautiful little flowers, and ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 143 they can be transplanted in spring just the same as the Daffodils. After Floivering. — At mid-May, or a little later if there is still a good show of bloom, the bed may be cleared by the simple plan of lifting each group of Daffodils in turn with a fork or spade, taking care to get the implement well underneath, in order to avoid carving up the bulbs, and placing it in a box or wheelbarrow with its label. The clumps may be replanted, as close together as is compatible with distinguishing between them, in a reserve bed. The bulbs and the lower part of the foliage, which will be yellow from contact with soil in the bed, should be covered with earth. The green foliage will droop as a result of the shifting, and, if the weather is very dry, the bed may be given a soaking of water once a week ; but, in any case, the leaves will gradually die away as the summer wears on. The bulbs will ripen and be ready for replanting when the summer comes again. The bed will be thoroughly re-dug in spring when the Daffodils have been cleared away, manured, and replanted with the chosen occupants for summer. In Town Gardens, — A border under a fence or wall in a town or suburban garden could be treated in ex- actly the same way as a bed. There is no better spring- blooming plant than the Daffodil for such borders. It thrives in town gardens, and a collection is both beautiful and interesting. It gives the amateur gardener a good start for the gardening year. It cheers, heartens, and encourages him. He has, so to say, a ^^good send-off." If the suburbanist's garden is so small that he cannot provide a reserve bed, he must either grow cheap 144 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS varieties and throw the bulbs away after blooming, or adopt Plan No. 2 of arranging in groups among other plants. Some of the finest Daffodils, such as Sir Wat- kins, Empress, Barrii conspicuus, Golden Spur, and Pallidus Praecox, are almost ridiculously cheap, and could be discarded after flowering without any sense of wastefulness. Inexperienced amateurs may consider that the plan of making two separate complete plantings of beds or borders in a year involves considerable time and labour. This is hardly so. A couple of hours will suffice to prepare and plant a bed, unless it is a very large one. The work is easy when once the ground has been broken up thoroughly and the soil brought into a friable state ; and the amateur must not measure the two annual diggings by the standard of the first one. When ground is first broken up for gardening it is generally stiff, and the work is rather laborious ; but if it is once well done and rendered friable by digging in road scrap- ings, ashes, and manure, it is ever afterwards easy to manage. The spade sinks in readily, and the whole task is enjoyable and healthful. Daffodils enjoy a good root run, and the ground cannot be broken too deeply for them. Eighteen inches should be the minimum. Light land should have a dressing of decayed yard manure if this is procurable. In heavy land bone-flour will suffice. They love mois- ture, and do not object to a shady place. Now for the second plan — that of treating Daffodils as permanent plants in beds and borders. There is no reason why they should not be used with good effect among perennials, provided that stations are allocated to them and clearly defined. There might be a fairly broad belt towards the front of every large border of herbaceous ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 145 things, which should be reserved for comparatively dwarf plants. Daffodils and May-blooming Tulips could be made to play an important part among these. They should not be planted in continuous lines, because after they had gone out of bloom and the foliage had begun to turn yellow there would be an unsightly band. They should be put in clumps, interspersed with Pyre- thrums, Leopards' banes {Doronictims)^ Columbines, and other things of about the same height that would be in bloom soon after them and carry on the display. , There is, of course, one perfectly simple way of dealing with clumps of spring bulbs directly they have gone out of flower, and that is to cut them off level with the ground-leaves, flower-stems, and all. Experts do not like this plan, arguing that as the leaves serve as lungs for the plants, the bulbs must suffer if the foliage is removed before it decays naturally. A safer plan is to draw the foliage together and tie it in a neat bunch, then to plant something else near, such as Annual Asters or Snapdragons. A little trouble of this kind is well repaid, as the border always looks fresh and neat. Daffodils in Herbaceous Borders. — If unskilled labour is employed in the garden, it is wise to keep a sharp eye on a man digging an herbaceous border containing bulbs. He should be taught to observe the position of labels or marking-stakes, and neither to drive a sharp spade into the middle of the clumps nor to put a huge boot on to an upspringing treasure. While splitting bulbs into fragments cannot by any stretch of imagina- tion be made beneficial to them, it does no harm to take the clumps up bodily in early autumn ; in fact, it is rather a good thing, as the soil can be freshened up, and the small bulbs separated from the flowering ones. Some of the Daffodils make many new bulbs every year, K 146 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS especially if they are growing in rich moist soil ; and with the mass of roots produced the soil is impoverished rapidly. Lifting them, digging and manuring the soil, and replanting are beneficial. Under the conditions, and with the treatment advised, the use of Daffodils in herbaceous borders is all for good. The smaller Daffodils, such as Johnstoni Queen of Spaiuy CyclamineuSy Minimus ^ Najius, Bulbocodimn (Hoop Petticoat), and Triandrus (Angel's Tears), are suitable for the rock garden. Cheap Gardening, — People who have fairly large gardens, and little spare money to spend on plants and skilled men, are often at a loss to know what to do for the best. Grocers', bakers', and butchers' bills, income tax, rates — all these have to be paid periodically, and when they have all been cleared off, together with odd accounts for clothes, boots, coals, and laundry, there is not a great deal left with which to carry on an acre or two of ground as an up-to-date garden. One way of reducing the expenditure on a garden is to sow a good deal of it down with grass and establish colonies of bulbs in it. They are in bloom in spring before the grass has begun to grow, and so the flowers show up well, even quite small things like Snowdrops and Crocuses making a bold display. It is of the essence of the scheme that the grass should not be regularly mown with a machine and rolled from the time that it begins to grow in April, because that would involve weekly expenditure in labour. The amateur gardener learns from experience that, if grass is kept trim, like a lawn, by mowing, rolling, and edge clipping, it gives as much work as an equal area of cultivated garden. The grass must be left to grow. Not only would the regular cutting cause expense in labour, but it would ON DAFFODILS AND NARCISSI 147 remove the leaves of the bulbs while still green, and we have already seen that experts condemn this practice. Only a belt of grass beside the walks and sufficient for a tennis or croquet lawn need be kept mown. The grass may be cut with a scythe twice in the season, the first cutting being in June, by which time the foliage of the bulbs will be sufficiently ripened to bear removal, and the second in September. These cuttings give crops of hay. The grass loses its fine quality of course, but if at any time the owner becomes ^'better off" he can soon restore it to lawn condition again by dressing with manure and fine soil, and regular cutting and mowing ; or he may make a compromise, by having the grass scythed over once a month throughout the spring and summer. This will be less exhausting to it than taking a hay crop ; but if the Poet's Narciss is planted, its late- blooming and early-ripening throw the first cutting so late that the grass is getting near the flowering stage when the scythe comes into play. The Poet's Narciss Naturalised. — And the Poet's is one of the most beautiful of all the Narcissi for natura- lising. It looks lovely on a shady bank in May — so beautiful that there seems no rhapsody even in the description of Forbes Watson : '' In its general expres- sion the Poet's Narcissus seems a type of maiden purity and beauty, yet warmed by a love-breathing fragrance ; and yet what innocence in the large soft eye, which few can rival in the whole tribe of flowers. The narrow yet vivid fringe of red, so clearly seen amidst the whiteness, suggests again the idea of purity, gushing passion — purity with a heart which can kindle into fire." Daffodils in Grass, — Amateurs need not fear that Daffodils will be unable to force their way through if planted under turf. They pierce it with ease ; and 148 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS providing that there is a good depth of strong, moist soil beneath them they seem to grow quite as strongly and to bloom as well on grass as on open soil. Where there is only a thin coat of soil over chalk under the grass the case is different, and the best results must not be expected unless the soil is prepared by taking out pieces of turf, stirring the soil, and adding fresh loam and bone-flour. Golden Spur, Henry Irving^ Obvallaris, PrincepSy Pallidus praecoxy the common Lent Lily, Emperor, Empress, Horsefieldi, Sir Wat kin, Barrii con- spiciiusy Telamonius plenus (double yellow), Orange PkosniXy John Bain, Johnstoni Queen of Spain, and Poeticus are all well suited for grass, and most of them are so cheap that they can be planted by the hundred, if desired, at no great cost. If planting is done in autumn after the turf has softened under the influence of rain the work is not laborious. The pieces of turf removed to admit the bulbs soon unite again if pressed down and rolled after rain. In Pots and Bowls, — Lovers of Daffodils may like to grow a few in pots or china bowls for their greenhouses and rooms. The bulbs do well in ordinary potting compost, such as loam with a fourth each of decayed manure and leaf mould, and a liberal admixture of sand ; and also in peat moss fibre mixed with broken shell and charcoal. Three bulbs may be placed in a five-inch, six-inch, or seven-inch pot according to their size. They should be plunged in ashes or cocoa-nut fibre refuse until they have rooted freely, and then placed in the full light. When grown in bowls of fibre they should not be plunged, but should be kept in a dark place for six or eight weeks. The fibre should be moistened thoroughly before it is used, and it must never be allowed to get dry. DBSs? ^r " ^'Jr*^ ^Va ^^P^ % Vk J lit, ■ ^ Mf^ Hivv^ flTilA: Rui H rS ^*ii ^ ^^^HHHHpw»^^4«Kt^|^^![9^«!!!^ i\ l"^: ■ ^ 1 1' 1 \