THE ENGLISH LOVE OF GARDENING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 142, 18 June 1938, Page 15

THE ENGLISH LOVE OF GARDENING.

This Years Display Of Flowers at Chelsea.

(By XELLE M SCANLAN.)

It would be difficult to say exactly what lies at the root of the English love of gardens. Climate, no doubt, has something to do with it and that love of home which makes every cottage an Englishman s castle. No other country in the world can offer such a display of flowers, and no other people take such a drey and personal interest in their gardens.

lou can begin at the top, where the Royal tamily moke the choosing of plants and flowers a personal matter. Wherever Queen Mary goes, she must have flowers. The King and Queen, too, are enthusiastic gardeners, and the enterprise of the two little Princesses, who* have their own wee garden outride their miniature cottage ut Royal Lodge, lias done much to stimulate ideas for nursery gardens. The Duchess of Kent contents herself with a marvellous window display at her London house, and her window boxes are always gay and attractive. At their country home, Coppins, they have more scope, and here thev, too, are developing a beautiful garden. The Royal Family, in full force, visit the Chelsea Show on the day before the public opening, and select and order new varieties, being among the first to add novel and lovely things to their gardens. The country homes of England are rightly famous for their gardens, and j when economies are demanded the gar ! den is often the last to be affected, j Every year throughout the summer, one by one, these great gardens are thrown open to the public, at a charge of a shilling, and people flock to see them, the proceeds being given to the Queen's Xursing Fund, and a large sum is made annually by this means. The cottage gardener cannot hope to compete with these magnificent displays, where often 20 or 40 gardeners are employed the whole year round, and they have every aid that money can buy. I have wandered through the famous rhododendron garden at a fine old home in Hampshire, where the owner thinks nothing of paying £30 or £40 for a new variety. His present show covers several acres. And when it comes to orchids, the ri?h mans hobby, hundreds of pounds are paid for a special plant. Coming down the social scale, or the scale of income, I should say, the same keen interest is shown. Retired colonels, admirals, city men, actors, authors and a host more find in their later years their chief solace in a garden and their books. That is the English way. Young people of ambition, no mater where they sre born, usually have their eye on London. That is the mecca of youth. First a room, then a flat, but, as they achieve success and accumulate wealth, they can t get out of London too soon. Their j work may remain centred in the town, but as their [nippy days pass and they get tired of chasing their tail round j night clubs and parties and dances and solx*r down into responsible years comes the urge to have a place in the country, first a week-end cottage, and then later, aspiring % little higher, they join the majority who find in country life, with its inseparable garden, the most satisfying outlet for their energy. So we come down to the villas on the outskirts of the towns, and, as you pass by in train or car, you will see the neatly-trimmed lawn, no bigger than a room, and the beds of gay flowers. Best of all I like the cottage garden, those tiny bright patches which have grown up under tender hands. There is no rose garden, no blue garden, no scparato territory for bulbs, no herbaceous borders, no sweep of nodding daffodils under the trees in the park. Every inch of soil is used, a cutting from a friend, a slip from «. neighbour, a few packets of seeds from the sixpenny stores, an exchange with fellow-garden-ers, and the result a mixed bouquet, so vivid in colour, so profuse, that it is quite enchanting. These cottage gardeners do not treat roses as snolx>, to l>e set apart from more homely flowers, but they mingle on equal terms with scarlet poppies and blue Canterbury bells, rearing their heads above a mat of forget-me-not and yellow and purple pansies. and the cat drowses on the border of purple catmint. Universal Ajipeal. It is this universal appeal of gardens that makes the Chelsea Flower Show unique. And perhaps the best test of the sincerity of an emotion is that people will make a sacrifice—often a considerable sacrifice—for it. The first day of the Chelsea Flower Show is 10/, and soon after breakfast people are actually queued up eager to pay their 10/ to get in. The second day is 5/, and even the last day, when it is 2/6, it must mean a sacrifice to many poorer people to find that sum. But their are there, with pencil in hands, noting the names of plants and flowers, not buying perhaps, for that is beyond them. Tlie wealthy go the first day, and usually with the head gardener in attendance. "I'll have a dozen of that, and two dozen of this," and the gardener writes it down. And so does the salesman, for every nursery garden in England, Scotland, Wales afcd Ireland has a show here, and the orders they take keep them busy for many months to come. Our now famous "drought spring" has played havoc with many gardens and. though at the moment it is raining, a soft, gentle rain, there has been nothing to penetrate the gTound more than half an inch since February. But the Chelsea Show did not suffer from the drought. Professional gardeners have ways of defeating any climate. Somehow they manage to produce perfect blooms from spring, summer and autumn flowers at the same time for exhibition here. Though the roses are scarcely out anywhere yet. tliey had marvellous exhibits, and the dahlias, which are not due for some months to come, were equally good. The first day had a snivelling shower or two, enough to make the ground damp outside, nothing more. Part of the show is under the spreading trees of the Chelsea Pensioners' Hospital, i Here are the rock gardens, complete with streams and pools and tiny cascades, with rock formations, and gravelled paths, all specially built for the occasion. Rock gardens grow in popularity every year, and any new variety of gay, mat-like flower which will thrive in rocky soil is accorded a royal welcome.

It is useless to try to describe the flowers themselves, but inside the vast tents there was such a blaze of vivid colour, such masses of rick reds and yellow, blue and pinks and mauves, that I got eve-strain as badly as I do in glaring sunlight, though it was raining outside and the light was dim. Everything is of super quality: such carnations, such orchids, such roses, such sweet peas. I'll stop at that, as I can't spell any of the others and certainly can't convey to you in words what these masses of blooms, piled to the roof, were like. Outside, beside the rock gardens, were miniature samples of designs for laying out gardens, each covering a space perhaps 40ft square. There were also exhibits of every known garden tool, ladder, sprinkler, mower; also hothouses, boilers for heating them, and a most attractive display of . garden furniture. The big gay umbrellas, the padded hammock with canopy, the summer house on a swivel that can be turned to face the sun at any hour of the day. Even the florists have come in, and some of the most noted firris had wonderful arrangements of flowers, the sort of thing they provide for weddings in big churches and receptions and balls. Many of these were arranged in great white pottery urns, and they had on sale a variety of white pottery vases in many sizes. The newest thing in floral decoration that I saw was a round glass bowl, standing Ift high, set on a metal base. Two or three roses, a spray of orchids, a posy of any flowers, in fact, is secured into the base and firmly held in position. The bowl is then slowly tilled with water, absolutely full, so that there is not enough air to form even a bubble, then the flowers are carefully inserted, head first, into the bowl of water, the base is screwed on, and there you have an artistic floral decoration. flowers under glass as it were, and they will last in this way for about a month. Princesses' Garden. I have mentioned the two little Princesses and their garden. One of the outdoor exhibits was a nursery garden, which should delight any child, and in a modified form is not beyond the reach of many people of moderate income. This one consisted of a stretch of trimmed lawn, with a shallow paddling pool about <»in deep. A swing dominated the centre of the lawn, with a post supporting a dovecot at the side. There was the addition of a robber's cave, which should enthrall any small bov« and girls, too. A sandpit with spades :;nd buckets should not be difficult, though this one was rather elaborate, and all around was a border of flowers. But ticthing that attracted me most were the two tiny vegetable gardens. Four your.u gooseberry bushes grew against a trellis at the back, two stakes with runner beans on one side and two stakes with green peas on the other, half a dozen proud spring onions were in front of the gooseberries, par-lev, mint and oth;r herbs studded about, but in the centre, formed with some tiny plant like cress, were the names "Marv" and "John" written in letters (tin long and lin wiie. Could any intelligent child ask more? And what an inspiration! Xo wonder each generation of English men and women is keeper than the last! This early training in the joys of gardening is bearing fruit, and the" result' is to be seen not only in 4he country, but in town. I passed a shabby house in a dingy street the other day, and outside the grated basement window was a tiny patch about Bft square. This had been transformed into the loveliest miniature garden, and there were few who passed that way who did not stop to look and wonder—-to wonder at this miracle of tulips and pansies and other flowers which had been made to flower in such drab surroundings. But that is the spirit of England.