THE GARDEN. SEASONABLE NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1674, 22 December 1883, Page 14

THE GARDEN.

SEASONABLE NOTES.

Our Flower Show last week proved tc us that horticulture is just now quite in advance of the season. It would, in fact, be nearer the truth to affirm that modern horticulture aims at making summer perpetual. It goes far towards linking all the seasons into one grand perpetual galaxy of beauty and plenty. There may be some reason to complain of the perpetuity of beauty. Nature's order in most climes is first bare boughs, then in succession tender herbage, glorious blossoms, and last of all rich luscious fruits. Were spring or autumn permanently with us neither would be so keenly enjoyed. Change not only quickens the perception, but intensifies our enjoyment of beauty. Time is also needful for each season to make : ts proper impression, hence there may be some danger in overaccelerating the order of Nature. There is more still in upsetting it by presenting a permanent'mixture of all the seasons, but what is gained in this direction is lost in freshness and distinctness ; and change of scene or of subject is as needful to the gratification of a healthy taste as' change of food is to the preservation of our bodily health. The dawning of a new year suggests such changes, though every season they become mcc difficult to make. We shall soon have to follow j in the footsteps of England, • which has already so changed the seasons and mixed them | up that autumn, as represented by hosts of pelargoniums, may be found overlapping such characteristic spring and summer beauties as , lilies of the valley, cyclamens, hyacinths, nar- ) cissus, tulips, violets, lilacs, spiraras, dentzias, roses, primroses, &c. Azaleas and camellias, in not a few cases, too, seem about to exchange places, the former flowering earlier, and the latter later than was the case originally. Then there is the emphatically winter-flowering chry- j santhemum, no longer satisfied with lighting up the English November fogs, but flowering in the open air at midsummer ; and some of the later Japanese varieties attempting to soften the> stern wings of March with the rich glare, of their beauty. This is too bad'; and however we may condone the mixture of the seasons by other plants, the chrysanthemum might surely be content to warm up, if not chase away their dreary November fogs. With us jn New Zealand, where our November and New Year are more given to sunshine than foga, the change would not be so perceptible. Still, with the New Year ought to come new plants and fresh arrangements— perhaps we ought to add more verdure and less glare. The latter cannot well be 'overdone in England, where from November to January, if the sun ; be not altogether out of sight, it is very much j out of power, and there is consequently little fear of an excess of colour. But with us it is very different, and here, I think, the verdure j ought to predominate. Spring-like verdure' is | seldom more welcome under glasß than in I December. The fresh, tender leaves of roses, , lilacs,' &c. are welcome to' the eyes after the] glare of pelargoniums and' camellias, which, if | over- bloomed, are deficient in verdure. On the other hand few plants preserve' a better' balance qf green and gay; still their leathery ■

leaves are far more suggestive of wintry hardness than of springtide tenderness, and there is a most forcible contrast between camellias and rose leaves. Notwithstanding the growing love for ferns and foliage plants, it will hardly bo disputed that many show-houses are ruined by glare. There is little objection on ground of t<iste to a blaze of beauty now and again, but to have houses ever ablaze is well nigh as oppressive as if the sky were without a cloud from January to December. To cultivated tastes greens'are as grateful as clouds at sultry noon. By thus lessening the amount of bloom we heighten its effect ; but the chief point ; we wish to dwell on here is the desirability of adhering to seasonable arrangements inside as well as out, for outside the climate arranges this for us, and we need not blindly follow Nature either in regard to time or material. For example, instead of one spring a year we might have two or four, and the same holds good with other seasons. ' The main thing is to see that we have spring summer, and autumn ; in a word, to conjure up by our own arrangements any of the seasons at will. This would no doubt prove more difficult than the usual mixtures, but it is far more satisfactory. Indiscriminate mixtures result in monotonous weariness, while seasonable arrangements possess the charms' of freshness, naturalness, and novelty. There" is no need for the seasons inside and out to run abreast, in fact such arrangements would be a mistake— when winter reigned without, spring could be represented within. The adoption of some such ideas would do much to alter taere capricious or erratic modes of arrangement and lead decorators to reach a higher art of studying to imitate Nature in her best moods and richest seasons, and aim a fatal blow at that monotony which fetters taste and renders freshness and originality almost impossible. " What do you think of the Flower 'Show ?" As we wandered round and round tbeGarri^'n Hall last Friday admiring the many and varifcA exhibits, this inquiry was heard over and' oviP again, and the opinions expressed in turn were as varied as the speakers. Some said it was the best ever seen in Dunedin, while others thought they had seen quite as good, if not a littla better, in the days of the old Society It was a show fairly up to the average of our Dunedin shows ; and if many of the blooms were over - blown, and a little weatherbeaten, it is what might have been expected after the broken and blasty season we have had. Taking it all in all, and making ■allowance for the above drawback, we were well pleased with the show. We will not undertake to enumerate all the notable plants exhibited, as they have been nearly all mentioned elsewhere ; so we -will content ourselves with a few that Specially took cur fancy. The most beautiful flowers in the show we're the gloxinias. There were a number of, these in Mr Reid's collection, .but they' were scattered t°r kf"* 110 .* B«»t effect; but Mrs G. E. Ward's group must have attracted the attention of everyone that visited the show. • The cinerarias exhibited by Mr A. Forsyth, of Kakanui, were in fin condition and very attractive. The fringed I petunias were 'another very beautiful class of plants, and a great advance on some : of the older smooth-edged varieties. There were two specimens of cJerodendron balfouri (one of them labelled 'C. speciosa"), which were in flower, and were very handsome, the dark shining leaves setting off finely the white papery flowers, with their bright scarlet central por. fcion. In Mr Reid's large collection above mentioned there were many fine plants, and we noted especially a maranta lelrina. whose dark, well-marked, and large leaves had a good effect. Amongst the classes of plants poorly represented were the foliage plants, the heaths, and the cactuses . '- The absence of foliage plantß was very notice, able. There were only a few heaths, but those few were good. The cut, flowers were well represented, both from some of- our nurserymen in Dunedin and from Mosgiel and. especially from Messrs Martin and Son of the Fairfield Nursery, who showed some splendid roses', taking first prize ; some very fine bjooma of rhododendron, all seedlings, being raised at Fairfield ; and some blooms of that lovely and rare shrub the kalmia, which seemed to be admired by everyone. In cut blooms we were pleased to see a collection from Miss Kirkland, Green Island, and judging from the class of fine flowers of which" it was comprised, we may expect . something good for the March show, as we understand that Miss Kirkland, although new to the Dunedin Society's show, is well known for her successes in some of the Taieri Sooiety's exhibitions. We were also pleased to see that. native flowers were introduced to the show, hand and bridal bouquets being made upof natives .which, we think, have been too long neglected. Ferns were well represented, there being four entries for the 12 native ferns; while for the six native ferns there were also several entries. The exotic f«ms were well represented, the two stags-h orn ferns shown by Martin and Son and the Hon. G. M'Lean .being the finest ever shown in Dunedin, and would not have been easily beaten in a Lpndon : show. There are two points about the flower show that might be seen to with advantage a$ any future exhibition. First, there is scarcely aa much effect produced by the show as a whole as might be done by a more tasteful grouping or a more artistic arrangement of the plants,. Of course we know that the Committee cannot consider the show merely as a picture, aqd the * gardener's side and the amateur's must be kept separate. But still we think a little '"more could be done in staging the exhibits to h^io all of a class so arranged that .the public wJSJjL have some idea what plants were competing against each other. - The second matter ip that brass band. On the evening of the show we spent much thought in trying ' to find out the connection between a .brass band and a flower show, but. we failed utterly in tracing any connection. We have it on good authority that there is a time for everything, bub it seems to us that a strong brass band at a flower show is simply-rrwe cap find no other word that expresses it so exactly — an abominable nujsance. On that evening enthusiastic amateurs had to shout cousins, and aunts why they had got this prize, or had not got some other prize. . Conversa? tion was an impossibility. The sentimental young man who wished to whispar.to bis lass that the roses on the stands were as nothing compared with the roses on her cheeks was out of it altogether, and signs or looks had to take the place of words. The nerves of all were tortured by the continual din and shrieking and the short intervals during which the' playing was at a standstill were hailed with delight by the majority of those present. We would recommend to the committee, if they must have a band of such overpowering strength at the next Society's show, to, put it down in the cellar or else outside the bujld;ing,'aß distance would in this case certainly give the musicians increased power of charming. ' We have been requested to mention that amongst the 6xtra exhibits' was a' new garden pump, exhibited by Mr, G. Le Lievre on- behalf of the New Zealand Hardware' oompany. This pump will throw a distance of 40ft, and is sold at the reasonable price of 8s 6d;