IN A DUNEDIN GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14857, 11 June 1910, Page 9

IN A DUNEDIN GARDEN

Bl ftjAEAPSKABEKA, Christina Rossctti says: —

" If hope grew on a. bush, And joy 'grew on a tree, , What a nosegay for the Mucking . There would be!" But I think that hope and joy do grow in oroy .garden, else whence does the gardener draw his supplies? No pessimist could, .1 fancy, be a gardener or enjoy a garden. 'Can you. imagine"riioh" an one sowing sweet peas or other hardy annuals in the autumn in She liopo o'f enjoying their. beauty and fragrance'in tho'o'arly summer? If one did it for'him ho wouid prognosticate diio ''failure, the .winter wouiil be severe and kill, them, or they would fall a prey, to slugs or sparrows. . Your, gardener'.must bq of a sanguine disposition, always looking- fpr. the results of his labours.and, though meeting;.with many a. disappointment,' never 'discouraged; Winter is perhaps tJie"se#wi that' makes' Wio strongest demands on his store of but here winter is" not tho dull dreary time it. is itni the Homelands. ' " One can always find .something in flower in the gaMen—a rose in June is no imcommort sight here, though June corrcfponda 'to December. Moreover, \yhile our June rosebuds may be' battered a little by the weather there are" other flowers whio.ti alway? open their petals to the' wintry 'ky. Here i* »' rhododendron looking as frajh and bright as though'. it Were the spring time of the year. 1' prize it greatly both because of its beauty andi of its flowering at this season. Its bright pintc is a pleasant shade"and, coming as it dobs whef flowers are few, it is doubly weloomo. _ When I first got xriy plant of Nobleaniini it had three flower buds op it, and I' wiw delighted lyhen the first' one' openkl, but just ss. it jvas at its and the other buds were showing tho colour through the bursting sheaths, m heavy snowstorm come on and I feared that tie beauty of my bush was lost for the season at least. After the storm, however, I found that the tritss whioh had been, in full bloom was battered and spoilt, but the other Wq' came out as beautiful as if they had passed through no trying ordeal.- Is not sucli a plant a most desirable acquisition?' But it is not tho only shrub in flower now, 'for' I think' that tree ivy in 'its. own way is as handsome with its bunches" of small white flowors,'borne in round clusters'pn the ends of tho white branching* flower stems which riso above the glossy'.greeri"digitaM leaves. While I have' callcd it the tree ivy, as that seems an. apprcipriato name; you will not find it so designated. in any nurseryman's, catalogue, but 'usually Aralia siobpldii, or sometimes I'atsia jiiponica. I liavonotioeii a'curious mistake which has crept into savml "catalogues' of late yoaVs in the spelling of. the' former name, as a "t" is often inserted between tho "d :l and the double " ii" ~in "sleboldif.'' Such errors are npt infrequent, however, in catalogues.' One of the most ; amusing i« the name of one'of the Rosa rugds'a hybrids vhicJi was raised by a' Frenchman and put !>ri 'tho market'as Coubert's double white, only he "called it Blanc" double s 'do Coubert. This has been trjjjismogrified into Blanche Coubert, with several athM variations. This is a' divergence from our flowering ivy tree tfhftft''is"'worth growing j for the foliage alone. The flowers- attract tho flies on a bright day', but my '■ plant I has nevei set its' berries. I

Though the eeason his been mild, winter is with ue, for the thjrushes hav.e begun to ting—not the full-throated anthem they pour forth later, for their oafliest' notes arc pitched on .ajpiypi; Jw, And ,tbe native birds are visitants to the garden. Hoote

of waveyes are busy in Iho orchard whero some pears have beon loft hanging, fcaeting head downwards and in other uncomfortable positions, yet always looking graceful. npd iicat. Fantails, both blacic and pied, may bo Been'' hawking insects amotigfit 'the shrubs, often visiting' the verandahs in search of their proy. What lively merry little creatures they are— always on tho movo, flitting hither artd -thither, apparently without object, but in reality in pursuit .of insects often so tiny as to bo imncrocptjblc-by us, spreading and flirtdiij" thoir 'fan-liko tajls from wihich thoy derive their popular name. The only feature' of 'this bird ivliich does not oroke "iy adpjration is its voice. Its ordinary ohirp is harsh, and its song is ■ a creaky, unpleasant warble. Fortunately, its volume is small, as if it wore as loud as the song of a, blackbird I fear the singers would bo .quickly exterminated to suppress the quKjmoe. Hqw' different are the" melodious notes of tiio bell bird! One paid me literally \& flying visit the other day. Ho alights<j in. a tree, chimed a. few* notes, an< l sway. Perhaps ho miseed banksia tree which I cut out recently. Liko ! ...Australian planfs this flowered in wnter. .an(J its yellow bottle-brush blooms to bb visited by the bell birds, but !! l ¥ n QW gone, and a golden wattle which ls A lu W flower failed .to attract hiin. Ono of the most satisfactory of Austra*. Jian uuntor-floworing shrubs is the cpncris, or Australian • heath, which is mr i ro,ws s ' both-'nink and-white, the Jong 6prayß m sonfewhat .stiff, yet are not to be despised for house dccoratlon- ...A, TOU p'° of are on the table now filled with roses and tlieir leaves, from Hvhich rise sprays of cpacris, relieving the otherwise squat appearanco of the former. Tho shortness of stem of the ordinary Christmas" rosea is a drawback, and I used to 'a'<topt v all sorts of deviws to draw, thpm iip, such ns puttine a bottomless box tound the plant with a shoot or two of glass over the top, but a year or two aeo I got some additional varieties from Holland,- which I find more more useful'for gathering. Ths best of them is Helloborus Niger Madame Four---Ca,de,_but giganl(sum is also good. Maxiimis is thp «*rli?st to /lower, but with me the re(l on the exterior of the petals is rather too deep in shado for my fanov,' and I prefor Madame Foufeade, which 'is mite. The secret- in growingChfistmas roses is to grow'them in the .shade. Once m another garden I saw a Jons row ,o tnom growing on the shadv side of tho house, but one end of tho rowgot the sun .to some extent, and there the plants w.orc 'poor, improving as t-hey got less and less sun, till at the further ond, where they its rays almost, if not entirely, they were healthy and vigorous. 'I wag assnfed by. the owner that the soil and other conditions were the same throughout, and that tho extent of the shade was tho only difference. It was certainlv an •object lesson m the growing of Christmas roses.

On the sunny side of the house one of tJio yellow jasmines is in full flcw-ei- and is etudded with its (jripht gold stars which .aro tie more prominent in that the hviis ore lpajjess, for it is known to botanists as niidiflqrum or tho naked flowered jaemine. The powers at a little distance looked so star.-li[c-2, though tho points of tho petals are rounded, that they -ecalJ JL«ngfeUo\T 6 lines:—

olden'''' WS '' ln ' ,a "? w ß e quaint and 0"? V l '-? dwalleth by the'castled Rhine, •vß®' 1 . «S .Wlfei tbo flowers so blue'and goktau". Stars that in earth' 6 firmament do shine. As thoro aro several yellow-flowered jas- 1 mines, anyone desiring tho winter flowering species should b,e sure to order tho naked-flowered kind. It, has the dbdvantages of having small,-leaves and. of making long, 4«igirlins: growths, -so .'that jn UIS siunmer it is not very ornamental, but I can forgive it theso drawbacks for the eake of its brig-ht flowers in winter. Another winter flowerer of a totally different character, just now, ■but I must \y4vu anyone against introduc2nE it into tho fiower borders, as it is a terrible, runiicr and .difficult "to eradicate. Aor is jt particularly desirable for its flowers, in which a dingy purple is tho prevailing hue, but they "havo a pleasant soent from winch it .derives the, name of winter heliotrope. Perhaps, however, it is better, knowa 35 the butter bur. Why. I know not, for 1 can see -nothing suggestive of cither. burs'or butter.. Certainly not the latter, but perhaps someone with a vory lively imagination hiight seo somp resemblanoo-to a" bur in'the shape of its_ inflorescence. _ ' Tho plant has its uses, for, if grown iiii 1, 60 me wild cornor,'' damp -preferably, its 'roitlid leaves; aro riot unhandsome. I-lere is a plant which the colouring of tho flowers of tho buttor bur recalls, .as its curiously, shaped blossoms are whlto spotted with: dull purple. ! It is Japanese, aritl I havo not found it quite as a sharp frost spoils the fjowors, "which aro i not at all conspicuous. Tricertes hirta is tho only name X know !'t by, and it lias not much to recommend' it besides the fact of its flowering at this season, though, vchen looked pt closely, it has undoubted beauties of its own On the whole, however, I should describe it as j inore curious than pretty. It is \ery different from its more lowly neighbour, the Algerian Iris, whose light lavender blue renders it a conspicuous object. This usually' flowers towards 1 the end of ™Jer. but for some reason it has (his year bppn bcgyilod into flowering earlier, though probably, it will flower more freely later, as do the violets, a few of wheels sweet scented blooms, may. be gathered, enough- o'F them to miako quite a respectable button-hole bouquet. , But to return to'tho ins styJosa for'a moment. If tho flowers •bo picked when quite open they will wither quickly When put in water in the liofise, but if gathered when tho budo aro nearly open, (hoy will, come fully out in the 'yflse and last much longer. ' Tho garden contains two varieties of this pretty' plant, thg whito form and a smaller <tark-hued'OM called Elizabetta 1 , but thoy, .especially tile latter, hslvo proved shy bloomers. _ Another wrinklo with rcfercnoe to tlioso irises is to.leave them alone, as they' resent transplanting by withholding their flowers for a season.. Still, ifc is necessary to move a'iid break them up sometimes, but. in that «ase it will bo well not to do so with the whole of them in any one year.

A "contrast'in colour is tho kaflir lily of autumn ixia as'"it is variously called, the' Schizostyiis coccinea, whose bright orison-flows.* aro usually earlier and more numerous .than they aro this year, from which I infer that the dry weather lias been p-e----jucheial to it. In this sheltered eoruor where" a bright pink flowered statice (S. Dieltsomi) is growing 'awl tearing its beautiful ?PF.?y s „s f papery flowers,' a few leaves 'glowing scarlet, linger on the Ampelopsis veitchu, which js a moat delightful climber though. its autumn tints are not displayed to full advantage hero. We have no popular name for it locally, but in America it is known'as Boston ivy. A Jady friend "met with a great disappointment over it. She had "wad a rapturous description of t-ho Boston i,vy, anil, longing to possess it, wrote to Amorica for if. 'Whep'it arrived in due course improved to ly) nothing but Veiteh's a'mjelpp&is, which alio .already had. Theso few- leave? are glmqst tho Jast'lingering tint of the Hand of autumn, but some", hips and berries still remain, a;\d tho grey beards of the clematis vh-giniana, which is springflowering and of graveoleus and puniculata •which flower in autumn are now rendered more' conspicuous ' by the falling of tho leaves. There' aro winter beauties other arising frjjm the fow (lowers or the skd vresels "of" various plants. Most people'' havo 'admired the bright yellow twigs of the golden osier, but.horo is a bramble which "displays an unusual form of winter decoration. 11 is known as the white-washed brqmble, and is well named, for its tall canes look exactly as if they had received a coating of whitewash. Tho costing is -very th'in and emjfy rubbed off, as where two branches chafe it disappears and ' comes "off''.when''the stem is lightly touohed with the finger. What purpose this strange covering serves in the economy cf 'tbe life of the plpt I am at a lo?a to Conjecture,' but" it certainly makes it a conspicuous object' in the shrubbery, whore the canes rise to a "height of about eight test. This white coating is peculiar to two specfa pf; I{. Leucodermis and'R. Bifloriis,' but contrary to expectations raised by the name of the former, the latter is the whiter skinned of the two. By way of contrast, I have planted near it the white dogwood (Cornbe alba),' the twigs of .'which in winter are a bright red,'almost scarlet. It" was several seasons before T'seeur&H the proper dogwood, as, several '"of"them' have reddish' bjrky and' I di<l not think that'the whito dogwood would be the reddest,. The variety of C. alba,' Siberica, is the best and brightest twigged'form'.' There are many little .wrinkles of Ihdt sort that only experience will - teach", r as I have' not' found in any book-many of the things I have at times wanted; to know, too, are tnisleading. 3Tor example, the statice to which ! referred i 8 undoubtedly pink, and I got jt under the name I have given above, Dieksqnii, but in "Johnston's Gardeners Dictionary (ho ,s!at:c<>' of that na'mo' is descried as ''purple.' Now, whether T .have " got "a 'pink form of a usually purple flower or some other statice tinder a wrong nanie I do "n<jt knov<. Perhaps" I jtfdy ai&ip.ver tho truth some day.