King’s Delightful Grounds and Gardens

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 82, Issue 305, 24 December 1938, Page 20 (Supplement)

King’s Delightful Grounds and Gardens

QUEEN MARY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR MAGNIFICENCE

FAME OF SANDRINGHAM ROSES

QUIPS AND CRANKS A writer wonders when turkey wiil lose its appeal as the staple Yuletide dish. The answer, of course, is on Boxing Day. If you want to remember thing*, tie a string around your finger. If you ] want to forget things, tie a rope round your neck. Before it is publicly announced may we mention that the number of parcels dealt with by the post office thi* Christmas will be a record. Temporary' postmen helping to deal with the Christmas rush are not piovided with uniforms. This, of course, makes it very puzzling for the pooi dogs. A contemporary wonders what hap pens to old worn-old telephone aAu ' telegraph poles. There is a rumour! that they are used as Scottish Christ-' mas trees. A Christmas traveller has been summoned for throwing eggs at a Communist speaker. He shouldn't have done that with eggs at their present price. A traveller who hast* just returnee for Christmas from the Continent say j that little English is to be hear< there. The French, it seems, are stiP speaking quite a lot of French.

/ Sandringham House, Norfolk, is the only palace in England owned by King ■George as a private individual. All 'the others in Great Britain, with the J exception of Balmoral, are owned by !the State. It is perhaps natural that • the gardens at Sandringham rank • highest among the gardens on the , several Royal estates. The 40-acre gardens of Buckingham Palace are a wonderful example of what can be done in the heart of London, and those on the Windsor ■ Castle estate can claim great anjtiquity, but it is to Sandringham that jthe greatest personal and direct hor- ( ticultural interests of the Royal Family has gone. ' Sandringham House dates only ! from 1863, and the building itself has i been largely rebuilt during its 74 ’years of life, yet the gardens are outistandingly beautiful. I Actually they owe their splendour more to Queen Mary than to our present Sovereign, although His Majesty 'has known them from his earliest i days, for it was at York Cottage on 1 the estate that he was born and spent 'much of his childhood. To-day the •Sandringham gardens also have the <2erest of another la*y who possesses considerable horticultural knowledge, I for Queen Elizabeth has already taken la lively interest in them. ' Whoever originally suggested this ‘Norfolk district as a good site for a

I (Royal residence, in spite of its at times hat her awkward isolation, could only (have been a gardener at heart. There can be few spots in the country where (beautiful gardens equid more easily be cultivated. This is shown by the iwealth of rare wild plants and flowers I which has been found there. They now number almost a hundred varieties, and the northern part of the estate has been allowed to continue '■largely in its natural state. I The other parts of the estate have | been very carefully cultivated. Sandi ringham is famous for its herbaceous i borders, of which there are more than |a quarter of a mile. The flowers for (these borders have been carefully 'chosen to make them a blaze of coljour continuously from April to Nojvember. In addition, contrasts of 'height as well as contrasts of colour .have been arranged. Queen Mary, to (whom a large part of the success of (this scheme is attributable, has a liking for vivid colours, and to-day orange predominates where the • darker shades of red formerly held sway. i Her Majesty has been responsible, too, for the replanning of the Dutch ( gardens, and she has also redesigned ; the west garden, making fuller use

of water and stone . Queen Mary considered this treatment, against a background of pine, birch, whin and willow, to be ideal. A list of the Sandringham gardens is itself a somewhat formidable task. In addition to the West garden and the Dutch garden, already mentioned, there is more than one lovely rock garden, an old-world sunk garden, a lavender garden, a topiary garden, a raised garden, and, of course, wonderful rose gardens. The Sandringham roses are so outstanding, and are in bloom for such an unusually long period, that bunches are even sent to the other Royal residences for the Royal tables and apartments. Though gardens of every kind fascinate Queen Mary, rose gardens

.are her favourite, and at Sandringham [one of the most magnificent rose gardens in the world occupies a site im- | mediately before Her Majesty’s apartJments. Glasshouses provide further decorations for the Royal residences, thousands of carnations, among other varieties, being grown. Many of the flowers grow in special pots, made to fit the table bowls, so that growing blooms may be used to decorate the tables at Royal dinner parties and banquets. I The rose arbours and pergolas are too well known to require detailed 'reference, but it may be pointed out ; that the arches of the pergolas are [made of old beams specially 'strengthened to resist the gales which

sweep from the North Sea in winter. A whole avenue of limes was razed by a storm at Sandringham in 1908. and it is all the more surprising that the gardens should have such a quiet and luxuriant beauty. Novelties are introduced from time to time which sometimes prove to be of benefit to British horticulture in general. It was at Sandringham that a few years ago first experiments were made with the cultivation of Scandinavian' flowers in England. Plants sent by Queen Maud of Norway (Queen Mary’s sister) were tried out, and were so successful that similar plants are now being cultivated on the other Royal estates, including the gardens at Harewood House, the home of the Princess Royal. Another novelty is a Japanese dwarf tree garden, an idea suggested by Queen Mary, who has a library which is probably the world’s most complete private collection of books dealing with flowers and miniature trees. Flowering Trees and Shrubs At the other end of the scale come the “ordinary" trees on the estate. “Ordinary” is not quite the right word, for it takes no notice of the skill and care which have been lavished on them, of the skilful manner in which

the natural features have been added to the estate in other ways. On the northern side there are many ornamental foliaged trees and shrubs, conifers being predominant. Some 50,000 spring bulbs have been planted, but if this should seem to contradict the statement that the north side of the estate is uncultivated, it should be remembered that the estate covers 8000 acres and the northern half is by far the larger. Spring flowers present an entrancing early-year picture in an enclosure in the woods where Queen Alexandra cultivated primroses in profusion. There are violets here, too, and baskets of these are often sent to London hospitals. In conclusion, a brief survey of some Sandringham characteristics may be interesting. Though many little-known flowers are cultivated, the general effects are invariably obtained with homely popular favourites. Flower beds on the lawn, for instance, are filled with geranium and dahlia. Experiments are conducted in less conspicuous spots, for the gardens in general have an atmosphere which has been developed over many years, and it is thought unwise to introduce really drastic changes. The novelty which will probably most swiftly make itself known to the horticulturally-minded visitor is the series of arches behind one of the herbaceous borders. These arches, ten feet high, are covered, not with climbing plants, but with fruit trees.

SAPPHIC DREAM I (By Gloria Rawlinson.) I When the silence shouts and the night i has eyes, I What terror should I feel—i Who builds across the abysses ol darkness | Bridges bright as steel? ; When soundlessly the wind of sunse, passes, For what world should I care— Who sees the westering suns of othei Worlds in her hair? II join no more the restless quest fo< I beauty, Having no cause to seek; When her white hand moves the moon across the heavens, I hear her speak. 1 1, who had loved her in the long ago. I Garner with time no loss— ISince all of ancient loveliness is under I The Southern Cross. The breath that sends the barbed I thistle sailing. | The same imperative hand Scatters the red pohutukawa needles I In Maori land.

_ A correspondent declares that <J Yuletide people should realise it is the little men who have ruled the world. He does not mention who lifted him upon post the letter.