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22 chapters
THE BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS AND OTHER PLANTS WHICH THRIVE IN THE OPEN-AIR OF ENGLAND
THE BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS AND OTHER PLANTS WHICH THRIVE IN THE OPEN-AIR OF ENGLAND
BY HARRY ROBERTS AUTHOR OF "THE CHRONICLE OF A CORNISH GARDEN" WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS REPRODUCED FROM DRAWINGS BY ETHEL ROSKRUGE JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD LONDON AND NEW YORK. MCMI Turnbull & Spears, Printers, Edinburgh. TO HOMELY UNAFFECTED PEOPLE WHO APPRECIATE HOMELY UNASSUMING FLOWERS " The precious metals are not often found at the surface of the earth. "— Sir Arthur Helps " I speak with the lowliest of the meadow flowers as readily as with the highest fir-trees. "— Heine [vii
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THANKS
THANKS
Many years ago an ingenious writer compiled a book dealing with a subject with which he had no practical acquaintance. The whole of his alleged observations were second-hand, being derived from previous writings on the subject. In order, however, to hoodwink the public, this author laid great stress on the uselessness of mere book knowledge, saying that an ounce of experience was worth a stone of theory. Like many other foolish sayings, this one has been regarded as an inspired utterance, and ha
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SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
A garden should, as I believe, be an emanation from the spirit of its owner, and, just as some men are formal and some informal, some prim and some Bohemian, some careful and some rash, so should their several gardens vary in style and feeling. I have laid down no laws as to the arrangement of flowers with a view to producing "colour schemes," for I have never seen colour schemes which surpass those chance effects of the hedgerow and the meadow, or of those pleasant gardens where the gardeners'
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OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS
OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS
"St George in Box; his arm scarce strong enough, but will be in a condition to stick the dragon by next April. "A green dragon of the same; with a tail of ground-ivy for the present. " N.B. —Those two are not to be sold separately. "Edward the Black Prince in Cyprus.... "A Queen Elizabeth in Phyllirea, a little inclining to the green sickness, but of full growth. "An old maid of honour in wormwood. "A topping Ben Jonson in Laurel. "Divers eminent modern poets in bays." As a matter of fact, what
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A GARDEN BY THE SEA
A GARDEN BY THE SEA
That man's garden was a real living creation: it was indeed a "great work." And it is in everything true that great natural possessions, though they may render life more comfortable and possibly more apparently successful, yet make the battle the tamer and less interesting. Indeed the greater the odds to be overcome, the more magnificent will every victory appear, and the gardener who creates a flowery Eden out of a piece of bare and starving desert has scored a greater success than his who but
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COTTAGE GARDENS
COTTAGE GARDENS
And these old common plants thrive as well and flower as beautifully in the garden of the shepherd as in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The wind blows from the same quarter, the rain falls equally, and the frost is as severe in the one as in the other. I like each garden to contain some one feature of special and unique interest—some well-grown plant which is not much cultivated in the neighbourhood, or some brilliant floral pageant peculiar to the particular garden. Thus, one garden which I kno
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THE GARDEN IN WINTER
THE GARDEN IN WINTER
A plant somewhat related to the Hellebores, though smaller in every way, is the pretty little Winter Aconite ( Eranthis hyemalis ), which brightens the ground early in January with its yellow cups resting on the daintiest of green ruffles. It looks its best when it has become well established and naturalised in grass, or among trees and shrubs. Long after the flower has fallen, the beautiful foliage continues to drape and decorate the earth during the early months of the year. In warm, sheltered
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THE GARDEN IN SPRING
THE GARDEN IN SPRING
Even in the seventeenth century Parkinson describes twelve varieties, but since his day numerous species have been discovered. Among those best for growing are F. Meleagris and its varieties; F. Moggridgei , an Alpine species, with yellow bells beautifully marked with brown and red on their inner surface; F. aurea , and the brilliant, though somewhat tender, F. recurva . The Fritillary was so called because of its chess-board-like markings, and for the same reason Gerard spoke of it as the Ginni
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THE GARDEN IN JUNE
THE GARDEN IN JUNE
June is a great month for old-fashioned flowers—the flowers of sentiment, as time and literature have made them—"gold-dusted Snapdragon," "Sweet William with his homely cottage smell," "Woodbine hanging bonnilie," "Foxglove cluster dappled bells," Pæony, Lilac, Laburnum and "fresh Hawthorne," each full of tender associations, and each very beautiful in itself. In June a spirit of indolence begins to come over the gardener who grows his flowers in the open air. All through the months of spring, t
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HOW TO GROW ROSES
HOW TO GROW ROSES
Order from a reliable florist early in October, requesting that the roses may reach you early in November. The ground having been trenched and manured some weeks previously, the roses should be carefully planted immediately on their arrival. For each rose should be dug a hole about a foot square, and of such a depth that the planted rose shall have the junction of its stock and scion about two inches below the surface of the soil. In this hole the plant should be placed, and its roots (which may
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THE GARDEN IN JULY
THE GARDEN IN JULY
The beautiful form of the flowers of the various species of Dianthus—Pinks, Carnations and Sweet Williams—partly accounts for its distinguished position, but the characteristic fragrance has been even more contributory to its reputation. The old name of July-flower, gilli-flower, or gylofre was but a corruption of caryophyllus—the nut-leaved clove tree—which name it earned by its delicious spicy scent. Much more regard was paid to fragrance by the old gardeners and flower-lovers than seems to be
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NIGHT IN THE GARDEN
NIGHT IN THE GARDEN
Although too delicate to be grown all the year through in the open air of this country, several of the Thorn apples or Daturas can easily be grown as half-hardy annuals, and during July and August are objects of great beauty. The mauve-tinged white trumpets of D. Ceratocaula which open and afford sweet fragrance [65] [66] at night are especially handsome, but some of the other kinds are almost equally worth growing. In addition to the evening primroses already referred to, there are several othe
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THE GARDEN IN AUGUST
THE GARDEN IN AUGUST
The hedges, or rather the wayside patches at the hedgerow's base, are very beautiful just at this season, with the yellow flowers of two of the Cinquefoils, the silky fern-like-leaved Potentilla Anserina (Silver weed) and the creeping P. reptans . The Cinquefoil much resembles the Strawberry, producing its honey by means of a dark-coloured ridge which runs round the tube of the flower near its base. Its stamens and pistil however develop coincidently, whereas the stigmas of the Strawberry ripen
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THE GARDEN IN AUTUMN
THE GARDEN IN AUTUMN
The vigorous Sneezeweeds or Heleniums are among the easiest of all plants to grow, and will exist on almost any soil. Like other hardy plants, however, they pay for deep cultivation and manure. They bear yellow [75] [76] composite flowers, and grow to a height of five or six feet. H. autumnale is the most generally valuable. The Cone-flowers, or Rudbeckias, are also handsome American plants, the best being R. speciosus , which bears orange flowers with dark yellow centres, and is a very fine blo
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SHELTER AND SHADE
SHELTER AND SHADE
That is a beautiful description of a perfect friend, but it might serve equally as a description of a perfect garden. The flowers of July are infinite in their number and exquisite in their beauty, yet, if they are grown in a large, tidy, treeless, shrubless garden, they will yield but little pleasure. A garden is not a place merely for the exhibition of floral wonders, but a place wherein to rest, to talk, to read or to dream. With the blazing sun of July beating on one's unshaded head, dreamin
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SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION
SOILS AND THEIR PREPARATION
If our soil be too light ( i.e. sandy) we may improve it by the addition of dried and powdered clay, meal and organic manure, from cowshed or stable; if it be too heavy ( i.e. containing an excess of clay) we may make it more suitable for our garden use by mixing with it sand, ashes, lime, gritty road-scrapings, or old mortar. We all know how very much hotter in summer and colder in winter is a starched linen shirt than is one made of flannel or of some cellular open-woven fabric. This is of cou
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MANURES
MANURES
The gardening beginner will be well advised to obtain the greater number of his perennials as plants; but there are some which are easily grown from seeds, and seed-sowing is the method by which all the hardy annuals and biennials are to be raised. In the case of annual and biennial plants, such as sweet-peas, mignonette, nasturtiums, convolvuluses, nigellas, and the rest, the seed may well be sown in the open borders or beds, if the soil be but well dug and finely divided. It is advisable, howe
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SEED-SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING
SEED-SOWING AND TRANSPLANTING
Most plants may be transplanted at any season of the year if the operation be properly performed. A dull day or an evening should be selected, and a ball of earth should if possible be removed attached to the roots. The ground into which the plant is to be removed, should be well and deeply dug, and a deep and capacious hole be made with a trowel or dibbler. Into this the plant is to be carefully placed, its roots being well spread out and well settled by means of water. For a day or two after b
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LAYERS AND CUTTINGS
LAYERS AND CUTTINGS
"Let the painfull Gardiner expresse never so much care and diligent endeavour; yet among the very fairest, sweetest, and freshest Flowers, as also Plants of most precious Vertue; ill savouring and stinking Weeds, fit for no use but the fire or mucke-hill, will spring and sprout up." So wrote Boccaccio nearly six hundred years ago, and the truth of his observation has not lost its savour in spite of the centuries—though I, for one, should be sorry to apply to any plant of my acquaintance the adje
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WEEDS
WEEDS
Vigorously growing plants are far less liable than are feeble ones to the attacks of the various living enemies which the gardener is called upon to combat. Therefore the most important item in the suppression of insect or fungoid pests is careful and correct culture. But, even in the best kept gardens, green-fly and earwig, slugs, snails and wireworms will appear, and must be dealt with by repressive as well as by preventive measures. The green-fly, which is sometimes such a trouble to our rose
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INSECT AND OTHER PESTS
INSECT AND OTHER PESTS
Birds are sometimes harmful, but on the whole they do more good than harm in a garden, and I am inclined to agree with an old gardener, who, having caught a blackbird among the gooseberries, was asked by his master what he had done with it. "Oh," he replied, "I just gave 'im a warning and let 'im go." 1. Grow no plant which does not strike you as either beautiful or interesting. 2. Learn the requirements of every plant as far as possible before ordering it, and have everything ready before its a
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POINTS
POINTS
8. Keep in a shed or in a corner of the garden a compost heap composed of two parts sand, one part fibrous loam (such as the top spit of meadow land), one part of two-year-old leaf mould, and one part of two-year-old stable manure. Whenever one is transplanting a herbaceous or other plant, it will be found very helpful to cover the roots with a few inches of this soil. Mixed with an equal quantity of sand it will also be useful to place round bulbs when planting them. 9. When planting, always di
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