CHAPTER VIII.
THE FLOWER-GARDEN, AND THE CULTURE
OF FLOWERS.
Whatever doubts may be entertained as to the practicability of a lady attending to the culture of culinary vegetables and fruit-trees, none can exist respecting her management of the flower-garden, as that is pre-eminently a woman’s department. The culture of flowers implies the lightest possible kind of garden labour; only, indeed, enough to give an interest in its effects. This light labour is, in fact, one of the reasons that the culture of flowers is so generally a favourite occupation; as, though it is one of the conditions of our nature that we shall never enjoy what is too easily obtained, it is equally true that we cannot associate the ideas of pleasure with anything that gives us very much trouble. The culture of flowers is exactly in the happy medium between what is too hard and what is too easy. There are difficulties in it, but they are such as may be readily surmounted; and the result at once gratifies our own sense of what is beautiful, and our pride at being the means of presenting, so much that is worthy to be admired, to others.
Laying out a Flower-Garden.—Very little need be said of the aspect of the flower-garden, as, in most cases, it depends on circumstances quite beyond the control of the cultivator of flowers: when, however, a situation can be chosen, the best is one open to the south or south-east, and sheltered on the north. It must be observed, however, in all situations, that flowers never do well under the shade of trees. Where no ground can be spared for a flower-garden but a spot surrounded by tall trees, it is better to give up at once the idea of growing flowers in it in beds, and to ornament it with rock-work, fountains, vases, statues, &c., interspersed with a few flowering trees and shrubs, so arranged, that though their flowers, if produced, would augment the beauty of the scene, the want of them may not destroy it, if they should fail. Flower-gardens are of two kinds,—those that are called natural, and which are planted without any regard to regularity, and those that are called geometrical, and which consist of beds forming some definite figure.
The natural, or English style, as it is called abroad, however beautiful it may be in pleasure-grounds, is very ill adapted to a flower-garden, which is essentially artificial. The principal beauty of a flower-garden consists, indeed, in the elegance with which it has been arranged, and the neatness with which it is kept; or, in other words, in the evidence it affords of the art that has been employed in forming it. This being the case, it is quite clear that an artificial mode of arrangement is more suitable to it than any other, as it is best adapted for keeping up the harmony of the whole. In all cases, therefore, where the garden is large enough to show a formal figure to advantage, the artificial mode of arrangement should be adopted; and wherever it is adopted, the beds should be planted so as to form masses of different-coloured flowers. Where, however, the garden is very small, and no part of it can be set entirely apart for flowers, no attempt should be made to produce masses of colour in regular forms; but the plants should be arranged along the borders singly, or in patches, as may be best adapted to display the individual beauties of each. In some cases, flowers may be planted in borders, so as to form a miniature representation of the natural system: as, for instance, first there may be planted anemones and ranunculuses, interspersed with patches of Flos Adonis, larkspurs, &c. to come into flower when the anemones and ranunculuses have done flowering; next should be some poppies and fumitories; and next, stocks and wall-flowers. In this manner, the beds might be arranged, by mixing perennials and annuals, so as to form an ornamental botanic garden during the whole of the flowering season; and the flower-garden would thus become not merely a source of elegant amusement, but also actually of scientific knowledge, without any appearance of formal arrangement.
When the flower-garden is to be a geometrical one, the best way of designing it is to draw a figure on paper consisting of angular, circular, or serpentine forms, to represent beds, and arranging them so as to form a whole. This may appear easy at first, but to do it well, requires a great deal of both taste and ingenuity; as each form should not only harmonize well with the others, but be handsome in itself. Where the space to be laid out is small, the figure may be more complex, and the separate beds more grotesque in their shapes, than where the garden is large: but where a large space is devoted to flowers, only simply formed beds should be adopted. The reason for this is, that where the beds are of bizarre shapes, they require to be seen at one coup-d’œil to have a good effect; whereas simple and uniform shapes may be seen either together or alone, without producing any disagreeable impression on the mind. Thus, in large flower-gardens, a succession of circles or ovals at regular distances, so as to form continually changing vistas to the spectator who walks through them, will have a much better effect than any geometric figure, the parts composing which appear ridiculous when disjointed. Whatever figures may be adopted, as soon as they have been sketched on paper, each bed should be coloured; to try what arrangement of colours will be best suited to the form of the beds, &c. The colours, of course, should be those usually found in flowers: for example, yellow, scarlet, blue, pink, orange, and purple; and they should be arranged, not only with a view to effect, but with regard to the practicability of filling the beds with suitable flowers. The colours above mentioned may, however, generally be procured, and a bed of white flowers may be added at pleasure wherever it may appear necessary.
The forms of the beds having been decided on, the next step is to mark them on the ground, and this is done in several different ways. One is by covering the figure with squares, and then forming much larger squares with pack-thread over the ground; that part of the outline of the figure contained in each of the small squares is then to be transferred to the corresponding large square, by tracing it on the ground with the point of a stick. When the pattern is regular, it is sometimes marked on the ground by stretching a garden-line from one point to another by means of pegs. When this line is so arranged as to form the proper figure, it is chalked, and made to thrill between the pegs, so as to transfer the chalk in the proper lines to the ground. When circles are to be traced, it is done by first fixing a stake in the centre, and then forming a loop at the end of a cord, and putting it over the stake. One end of the cord being thus fastened to the stake, the other end should be stretched out to the extremity of the radius or half-diameter of the circle, and a short pointed stick should be tied to it, with which, the circle may be traced all round. An oval is made by tracing two circles, the outer edge of one of which just touches the centre of the other; a short line is then drawn at the top, and another at the bottom, and this, when the central lines are obliterated, forms the oval. Many other ways will suggest themselves, and may be adopted: the essential points in all being to have the ground first dug, and made perfectly smooth and level; and then to have the figure clearly and accurately traced out and tested by measurement, before any of the beds are formed, or the turf or gravel laid down.
Planting the beds and forming the walks require nearly as much care as tracing out the figure. Many persons, however, are not aware of this: they think, if the figure be good and accurately traced on the ground, that nothing more will be required; or, if any thing more be necessary, it is only to indicate the proper colours of the beds to the gardener.
This, however, is not enough; low plants producing abundance of flowers must be chosen, and these must be carefully trained, or pegged down, so as to cover the beds entirely, or the effect will be destroyed. If, for example, a bed of scarlet be wanted, a lady would probably think that her gardener would have no trouble in finding abundance of scarlet flowers; and having told him the colour, she would give herself no further trouble. Now the kind of scarlet flower to be used, depends entirely on the position of the bed, and the kinds of flowers used in the other beds. If these flowers have been dwarfs, and trained so as entirely to cover the ground, the scarlet flower used, should be the verbena melindres, (or chamdrifolia as it is now called,) or some of its varieties, and each stem should be pegged down close to the ground. Thus treated, and supplied with abundance of water, being grown in rich light soil, on a porous subsoil or well drained, the verbena will soon become a splendid mass of scarlet, almost too dazzling for the eye to bear, unless it be relieved by grass walks between the beds. If, on the contrary, the bed in question had been planted with one of the scarlet lobelias, or even scarlet geraniums, the effect would have been quite different, from the taller growth of the plants, and the greater proportion of leaves to their flowers. Where geraniums are grown to produce an effect in beds, the plants should be kept bushy while in the green-house or frame, by continually shifting them into larger pots, or frequently taking off the points of their shoots; and when planted out, they should be at least a foot or eighteen inches asunder, increasing the distance, if the plants are very large. The kind should be the Frogmore or Dropmore varieties; and the plants should be well watered, and frequently pruned wherever they throw up long shoots. Other plants should be treated in a similar manner; and great care should be taken to keep all the plants in the beds which are to combine to form a figure, of the same height, and equally covered with flowers. The centre bed alone may have taller plants. Where the walks are of gravel, a greater proportion of leaves may be allowed to the flowers; but a geometrical flower-garden never looks half so well on gravel as on grass.
The walks of a geometrical flower-garden, if of grass, may be laid down with turf, or sown with grass seeds; and in either case they should never be pared (as that would enlarge the beds, and destroy their proportion to the walks), unless some part should accidentally project into the bed, when it should be removed, and the turf pressed down so as to form the same gradual slope from the bed to the walk as in the other part. Where the walks are of gravel, the beds should have a neat edging of box, or any other plant that may be preferred, kept quite low and narrow, by frequent pruning, but which should never be clipped.
The Culture of Flowers.—The ornamental flowers grown in gardens may be all arranged under the heads of annuals, biennials, perennials, bulbs, tubers, corms, flowering dwarf shrubs, climbers, twiners, trailers, and rock plants; and as the culture of the plants in each division is nearly the same, I shall say a few words on each, particularizing those plants which require a different treatment from the ordinary routine of their kind.
Annuals.—Most of the hardy annual flowers should be sown in March, April, or May, in the open border where they are intended to remain. The usual method of sowing in the borders, is, first to loosen the ground with a fork, and to break it very fine; after which it should be made perfectly level, and raked. A circle is then made by pressing the bottom of a flower-pot saucer, three or four inches in diameter, on the ground; and six or eight seeds are spread over the level surface thus formed: a little soil is then sprinkled over them, and the surface slightly pressed again with the saucer. If the weather, or the soil be dry, a slight watering should be given to the seeds after sowing, with a watering-pot having a very fine rose; but this must be done carefully, as too much water would wash the seeds out of their place. It is usual, after sowing, to stick a flat stick into the ground in the centre of the patch with the name of the flower upon it; and it is better to write these names very plainly, with a rather soft black-lead pencil than with ink, as the ink is very apt to run, and to render the words indistinct. Very neat little tallies, called monogrammes, made of very smooth wood, and prepared for writing on, are sold at the principal seed shops. It is customary with many gardeners, after sowing flower seeds, to turn a flower-pot over them; and this practice is useful in keeping the seeds moist by preventing evaporation, while the hole in the bottom of the pot admits enough light and air for germination. The flower-pot should, however, be removed as soon as the young plants appear above ground; as if kept on longer, the plants would be drawn up, and their stems would become so elongated, and consequently so weak, that they would never recover their strength or beauty. Flowering plants should always be kept dwarf and compact; not only on account of the superior neatness of their appearance, but because tall, ill-grown plants never produce fine flowers. For this reason, as soon as annuals attain their second pair of leaves they should be thinned out; and again, when about a foot high, if necessary. As the plants grow they should be watered occasionally; and when of a proper height, staked and tied up, if of a kind to require support. As soon as the flowers fade they should be cut off; unless, as is sometimes the case, the plant has very ornamental seed pods, in which case they may be left on. It is seldom worth while for any lady to save her own seed; but when she does so, the plants for that purpose should be grown in a back garden or reserve-ground, as they greatly disfigure a flower-garden. All annuals, indeed, should be taken up, and carried to the refuse heap as soon as they cease to be ornamental; as in their withered state, they only call up unpleasant images in the mind.
Tender annuals are raised on a hot-bed, and though generally sown in February, are not planted in the open ground till May. When they have been raised in pots, the contents of each pot should be carefully turned out, and put into a hole made to receive them without breaking the ball of earth that has formed round the roots of the plants. As some plants, as for example stocks, and all the cruciferæ, require a rich soil, a hole may be dug in the border a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, and about the same depth, and filled with a rich compost of equal parts of garden mould, decayed leaves, and well rotted manure, or what is much better, with either the remains of the trenches in which celery was grown the preceding summer, or the earth used in covering, or that laid round, manure while fermenting for a hot-bed. The hole should be filled with this compost, so as to raise it about six inches higher than the rest of the border, to allow for the new earth sinking, and the annuals should be planted in the centre, and carefully shaded for a few days by a flower-pot being turned over them. The mode of making and managing a hot-bed has been already given in the second chapter of this work; but the readiest way for the inhabitants of a suburban villa to obtain half-hardy annuals, is to purchase them from some nurseryman when ready for transplanting. The usual price is from two-pence to four-pence for a dozen plants; and thus, for a couple of shillings, a sufficient number of plants may be procured to make a splendid display for a whole summer. No one should, indeed, attempt to manage a hot-bed, who has not some person to pay constant attention to it; as one day’s neglect respecting giving air, watering, &c. will often destroy the hopes of a whole season.
The Californian annuals require peculiar treatment. These plants are very hardy, and though many of them are of short duration in flower, they may, by proper management, be contrived to produce a brilliant effect during the whole summer. For this purpose a well-trodden path, or a piece of very hard ground, should be covered about an inch thick with very light rich soil; and the seeds of any of the Californian annuals should be sown in it. These will stand the winter, and in February or March, when the flower-beds have been dug over, and made quite smooth, the annuals should be taken up with the spade in patches and laid on the bed; the spaces between the patches being filled up with soil, and the whole made quite firm and compact, by beating each patch down with the back of the spade. As soon as the patches have been removed, fresh earth should be spread on the hard ground, and fresh seeds sown in it, the plants springing from which will be ready to transfer to the beds as soon as the first series have done flowering; and in this way a succession of flowers may be kept up nearly all the year, observing to dig over the bed in the flower-garden to which the flowers are to be transplanted, and to rake it smooth every time the old flowers are removed, in order to prepare it for the new ones.
Biennials are plants which do not flower till the second year. They are generally sown in March, April, or May, and are transplanted in September, to the situations where they are to flower the following year. The best known of these flowers are the different kinds of hollyhock, snapdragon, Canterbury bells, wallflowers, sweet-williams, Œnotheras, and Brompton stocks; but there are many others extremely beautiful and equally well deserving of cultivation. Most of the biennials may be propagated by layers or cuttings, and thus treated, they will last four or five years.
Perennial herbaceous plants are so numerous, that few general directions can be given for their culture, and it will be necessary to treat of the principal families separately. Perennial flowers are generally propagated by layers, cuttings, offsets, suckers, and division of the root; for when raised from seed, many of the kinds do not blossom for several years. When propagated by layers, the earth which is pressed over the pegged-down shoot, should not be kept too moist; as layers of herbaceous plants, particularly where the stem has been partly slit through, are very apt to rot. The same remark holds good as to cuttings; and they should generally have fewer leaves left on, than cuttings of trees and shrubs. Many plants produce offsets, such as the potentilla, the wild geranium, &c., and these only require separating from the parent, and planting in spring; all the flower-buds should, however, be pinched off the first year, to strengthen the plant, and to encourage it to send down roots. Suckers are treated in exactly the same manner as offsets. Division of the roots is, however, the most common way of propagating perennials. To do this the plant is generally taken up, and the roots pulled asunder if dry, or cut into pieces if fleshy, and replanted; care being taken to cut off any part of the fibrous roots that may have been wounded, or broken, by the removal. The plant itself is also generally pruned or cut in, and some of its leaves are taken off before replanting, and carefully shaded and watered till it has recovered from the effects of its removal. All perennial plants should be occasionally taken up, thinned, and replanted with the same precautions: and the ground dug over, and renovated, before they are replaced.
The most remarkable kinds of herbaceous plants are those called florists’ flowers. This name indicates plants grown principally for the purpose of exhibiting at some show to gain a prize, and on the culture of which an extraordinary degree of care has been bestowed. Most of these are either bulbs or tubers, but some few come under the present head; and of these the most remarkable are the auricula, the polyanthus, the carnation, the pink, the heartsease, and the chrysanthemum.
Auriculas are well-known and favourite flowers; the wild plant is a native of Switzerland, but it is almost as different from the cultivated kinds, as the wild cabbage is from brocoli or cauliflower. The garden auriculas have almost innumerable names, but they are all divided into four kinds, very distinct from each other. These kinds are the green-edged, the grey-edged, the white-edged, and the selfs. The beauty of the flowers depends upon their size, the clearness of their colours, and their roundness and flatness; these last qualities being often assisted by art: the anthers of the stamens should also rise above the pistil; as when the pistil is seen above the anthers, the flower is called pin-eyed, and is esteemed of little value by florists. The culture of the auricula, when it is to be grown as a prize-flower, demands a degree of care and attention that no one but a professed florist would think it worth his while to bestow. The great points appear to be to make the soil as rich as possible, only, however, using the cold manures, such as cow-dung, &c.; to let the pots be very well drained, by placing about an inch and a half deep of broken pot-shreds in each pot; and to keep the plants well and regularly watered. When the flowers expand, they are generally shaded with square pieces of board, tin, or paste-board, supported by a stick just over the flower, so as to shelter it from the direct influence of the sun, but to admit a free current of air, and sufficient light. This precaution is said to improve the clearness and intensity of the colours, which otherwise are apt to become dull and clouded. Those persons who grow auriculas for sale, generally show them on what is called a blooming-stage, and shade them with an awning like that used for a tulip-bed. The plants are propagated by offsets, or dividing the root; and new varieties are continually being raised from seed. Auriculas are occasionally double or semi-double, but these varieties are considered by florists very far inferior to the single kinds.
The Polyanthus is of the same genus as the auricula, and of the same species as the primrose. It is, however, a very distinct variety of the last; and it is said to take its name of polyanthus, which signifies many-flowered, from its producing its flowers in trusses like the auricula, while the flowers of the primrose are produced singly, each on a separate stalk rising from the root. The qualities of the polyanthus resemble those of the auricula as to form and shape, but there is not the same variety as to colour, as the polyanthus is always of a very dark brownish red and golden yellow. The best flowers have generally a narrow edging of a bright golden colour, and as clear and distinct as possible, round the margin of each petal; and no flower is at all esteemed that has what is called a pin-eye; that is, as before mentioned with regard to the auricula, when the pistil projects beyond the anthers of the stamens. The polyanthus is propagated by slips, and division of the root, and new varieties are raised from seed.
The Primrose differs essentially from the polyanthus and the auricula, in being only esteemed when double, while they are not considered to rank as florists’ flowers unless they are single. The primrose, indeed, is not a florist’s flower; and its pretty double pale yellow, dark scarlet, lilac, and white varieties are only grown as common border flowers. They like a rich loamy soil, rather moist than otherwise, and a shady situation; and they are propagated by division of the roots.
The Carnation has long been a favourite florists’ flower; and, as it is not quite so difficult to grow to a considerable degree of perfection as the auricula, it is also a favourite border flower. The florists’ carnations are of three kinds, viz.—the flakes, which are striped with broad bands of two colours; the bizarres, which are striped or streaked with three colours; and the picottees, which are much the hardiest, and are only bordered with a narrow margin of some dark colour, or dotted with very small and almost imperceptible spots. The carnation, in its wild state, is a native of England, and is generally found on the walls of some old castle, or other ruin, or growing in very poor, gravelly, or calcareous soil. The cultivated plant, of course, requires different treatment; and the following directions have been kindly given to us by one of the first growers of carnations in France, M. Triquet de Blanc, Rue de la Madelaine, Paris:—“The compost should be a fresh mellow loam, mixed with an equal quantity of what the French call terre de taupinière, and we, casts from mole-hills; to this mixture should be added a fifth of well-rotten cow-dung, so thoroughly decayed as to have become quite black. The soil thus prepared should be pressed firmly into the pots, more so, indeed, than for any other plant: thus there should be twice as much earth as usual in pots for carnations. The pots are placed in the sun till the 15th or 20th of November, and watered a little at a time, but often. After the 20th of November, at latest, the plants should be kept entirely in the shade, so that they may not be exposed to the sun at any time during the day; and it is also absolutely necessary that they should be kept under a roof where they may be sheltered from the rain and snow; but they must not be put in a hot-house, as a cold situation suits them much better. During frosty weather, they should be very little watered, in order that the soil in which they grow may not freeze very hard. They are thus left in the shade till the end of April, when, there being no longer white hoar frosts to fear, they may be exposed to the east, so that the sun may shine upon them from its rising to the middle of the day, but no longer. Thus treated, they will grow luxuriantly, and produce a magnificent show of flowers.”
The best places for carnations in London, are, Groom’s, Walworth; and Hogg’s, Paddington Green.
Carnations are propagated by layers and cuttings which, as we have before mentioned, are called pipings. The layers are made when the flowers are in full blossom, and several are made at once, as the operation frequently kills the old plant, and consequently cannot be practised with advantage unless a great many plants are ready to take its place. The layers are cut half through as usual; and covered half an inch deep with mould. As the stalks are very brittle, when they are wet and succulent, it is customary to place the plant in the sun for about half an hour, or an hour, to render it flaccid before the layers are made. The layers will generally be well rooted in a month or six weeks, and will then be ready to be separated from the parent plant. The mode of treating pipings has been already described. When the buds begin to form they are frequently tied round with a strand of bast mat, to prevent them from bursting; and just as they are opening, a bit of paste-board curiously cut is slipped under the flower to keep the petals in their proper place. Each flower is also furnished with a paper or tin cap to shade it from the sun, and a stake to tie it to, in order to keep the stalk erect. Clove-carnations bear the same relation to florists’ carnations, as unbroken tulips, or self-coloured auriculas do to the finer flowers. The tree-carnation is a half-shrubby variety of the same species, and the mule pink is a hybrid between the carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus) and the sweet-william (Dianthus barbatus.) All these may be treated as common perennial border flowers.
The Pink.—It is remarkable that though the pink is a commoner and hardier flower than the carnation, it is not known in a wild state, and it does not appear to have been much cultivated till the latter half of the last century, though it is said to have been introduced in 1629. Its origin is indeed very uncertain; some botanists considering it as a variety of the carnation, and others making it a distinct species, under the name of Dianthus plumarius. There are now many named sorts, and the best laced pinks rank as florists’ flowers; their culture being the same as that of the carnation. The other kinds are considered inferior, and are grown like common herbaceous plants in the open borders.
The Heartsease has only within the last few years ranked as a florist’s flower. It had long been a favourite in gardens as its innumerable popular names may testify; but it was reserved for a young lady, aided by an industrious and intelligent gardener, to show the world the extraordinary variations of which the flower is susceptible. About the year 1810 or 1812, the present lady Monck, then Lady Mary Bennet, had a small flower-garden entirely planted with heartseases in the garden of her father, the late Earl of Tankerville, at Walton-upon-Thames. The young lady naturally wished to get as many different sorts into her garden as possible; and at her desire, the gardener, Mr. Richardson, raised as many new kinds as he could from seed. From this small beginning the present passion for heartseases took its rise. Mr. Richardson, astonished at the great variety and beauty of his seedlings, showed them to Mr. Lee, of the Hammersmith Nursery. Mr. Lee instantly saw the advantages to be derived from the culture of the plant; other nurserymen followed his example, and in a few years the heartsease took its place as a florists’ flower. The heartsease mania was at its height from 1835 to 1838; but during the last year, it has appeared somewhat on the decline. The most splendid flowers grown for exhibition are generally hybrids, which possess, in a great degree, the qualities of both parents. Thus, though almost every heartsease has sprung partly from the wild kind, (Viola tricolor,) its other parent may be traced by its general appearance. The very large dark purple and yellow flowers are descended from Viola grandiflora, a species with large yellowish flowers; other large flowers, with dark purple upper petals, and the lower ones of a bluish tinge, are descended from V. amœna; and the offspring of V. lutea are nearly all yellow, strongly marked with very dark branched lines. The hybrids raised partly from V. altaica are of a very pale yellow, and the petals have an undulated margin; those from V. Rothomogensis, or V. hispida, are of a pale blue; and those from V. bicolor are white, slightly veined with purple, and tinged with yellow at the base. All these vary exceedingly by continual crossings, but some of the characteristics of the parents always remain.
The culture of the heartsease requires much attention. It is the habit of the plant to ripen a succession of seed during the whole of its flowering season: thus it bears flowers and ripe seeds at the same time during the whole summer. The seeds should be sown in a bed of rich garden mould, at least eighteen inches deep, and highly manured, and the young plants should be suffered to remain till they have flowered, when all the plants should be taken up, the best replanted eighteen inches apart if in a bed, or in pots or boxes, and the inferior ones thrown away. The best soil for replanting the heartsease, particularly if they are in pots or boxes, is rich loam, mixed with one-sixth of sand and one-sixth of vegetable mould; and in large towns, all these soils may be purchased in small quantities from the nurserymen. The pots and boxes should also be well drained; for it must be remembered, that though the heartsease is very liable to be scorched by the excessive heat of the sun, and will require constant watering in hot weather; it is also very liable to be damped off by cold and wet in winter. The best varieties are propagated by cuttings, taken off in spring, which grow rapidly so as to flower the same summer or autumn. These cuttings should be taken from the points of the shoots, cutting them off immediately below a joint; and they should be struck in pure white sand, as when the cutting is put into earth it is very apt to damp off. The cuttings when made should not be watered, but should be covered with a bell glass, and shaded for several days, on account of the succulent nature of the stems, and great evaporation from the leaves. Heartseases are sometimes propagated by layers, in which case the branch should be only pegged down at a joint, and not slit, on account of its tendency to damp off.
Chrysanthemums are principally winter flowers, and they are valuable for affording a brilliant show at a season when there are few other flowers to be seen. In November and December, when no other flowers are in blossom, these flowers are in full beauty; and Mr. Loudon tells me that he has seen the walls of two small street-gardens, one belonging to Mr. Ingpen at Chelsea, and the other to Mr. Allen, Chapel Street, Edgware-Road, so completely covered with them as to present a most brilliant and dazzling appearance. Chrysanthemums may therefore be safely recommended as most valuable flowers for both town and country; and their great number and beauty make them particularly interesting. There are, indeed, numerous varieties of every possible shade of yellow, brown, orange, buff, pink, reddish-purple, lilac, and white, but not blue. All the different varieties of chrysanthemums, and there are nearly a hundred named sorts, may be referred to six distinct tribes; and these are the following: 1. Ranunculus-flowered; 2. Incurved; 3. China-aster, or Daisy-flowered; 4. Marigold-flowered; 5. Tassel-flowered, or Quilled; and 6. Half-double Tassel-flowered. The ranunculus-flowered have generally small flowers, in clusters, like little roses; but the rest have large, handsome flowers, particularly the tasselled kinds, the quilled petals of which are very long, and hang down like tassels. The culture of the chrysanthemum differs according to the use which it is proposed to make of it. When it is to be flowered in pots, cuttings are taken from the tops of the shoots in April; and as soon as they have taken root they are transplanted into very small pots, where they are planted in a compost formed of equal parts of sand, loam, and peat. As soon as they begin to grow, and send out plenty of roots, they are removed into other, rather larger, pots; and this shifting is repeated eight or nine, and sometimes ten or twelve times. This constant shifting will keep the plants bushy, without the cultivator being under the necessity of pinching off the ends of the shoots; a practice which, though it answers the desired end of keeping the plants of a compact habit of growth, has yet the inconvenience of making them throw out so many shoots and leaves as to weaken the flowers. When the chrysanthemums are to be planted in the open border against a wall, their roots should be parted in autumn or early spring, and planted in very rich and highly manured, but light soil, at the foot of a south or west wall, against which they should be trained like a peach-tree, and all the superfluous shoots cut off. When planted, they should be carefully watered, not only at their roots, but all over their leaves, with a fine-rosed watering-pot, or garden-engine. They should afterwards be watered three times a-day, and occasionally with soap-suds, or manured water, that is, water in which manure has been steeped. Thus treated, the plants will grow six or eight feet high, and their flowers will not only be produced in great abundance, but they will be of enormous size, and very brilliant in their colours. The best chrysanthemums in London are at Chandler’s nursery, Vauxhall.
Bulbs and Tubers.—The most interesting bulbs in a flower-garden are the tulip, the hyacinth, and the crocus; and the most interesting tubers are the ranunculus, the anemone, and the dahlia. There are, however, many other flowers of both kinds highly deserving of cultivation. The culture of all the bulbs is nearly the same; but that of the tuberous-rooted flowers differs in different plants.
Bulbs are generally planted in autumn to flower in spring; and are taken up when their leaves begin to wither, to be kept out of the ground a month or two in complete repose before they are replanted. They are generally propagated by offsets, which are produced by the side of the old bulb; or rather, by the side of the new bulb, which is formed every year to supply the place of the old one, which wastes away. The new bulb sometimes forms beside the old one; and sometimes below it or above it; and this is one of the principal reasons why bulbs should be taken up and replanted every year; as, when this is not attended to, those bulbs that form every year below the old bulb, sink so low in the course of a few years, that they become too far removed from the air to vegetate; while those that form above the old bulb are pushed so high out of the ground that they are often killed by frost or drought. In this way, valuable plants often disappear from gardens, without their owners having the slightest suspicion of the cause. It is, however, rarely worth while to take up the common garden bulbs: such as the snow-drop, the crown-imperial, &c., every year; particularly as they generally form their new bulbs at the side of the old bulb: but even these kinds should be taken up every two or three years. When raised from seed, bulbs are generally from three to five years before they produce flowers; and they are never propagated by layers or cuttings.
Tulips.—Experienced florists raise tulips from seed to obtain new varieties; but as the young bulbs are frequently from five to seven years before they flower, this mode of propagating tulips does not suit amateurs. Even when seedling tulips do flower, they produce only self-coloured flowers, for the first two or three years, and in this state they are called breeders. To make them break, that is, produce the brilliant and distinct colours which constitute the beauty of a florist’s tulip, they are subjected to the most sudden and violent changes of soil, climate, and management. At one time, they are grown in poor soil, and only allowed enough water to keep them living; and then they are suddenly transported to the richest soil, abounding with food and moisture. Sometimes, to change the climate effectually, florists send their tulips to be grown for a year or two twenty miles or more from the place where they were raised; and then they are brought back to their native air. This laborious and unscientific mode of proceeding is, however, now rapidly giving place to a proper method of hybridizing; after which the young bulbs are brought forward by means of bottom-heat, water, and frequent shiftings, so as to flower and break the second or third season. Florists’ tulips are generally divided into four tribes, viz.—1. Bizarres, which have yellow grounds shaded with dark red or purple, and which are sub-divided into flamed, in which the red or purple is in a broad stripe or band, rising from the bottom of the petal,—and feathered, in which the dark colour forms a marginal edging to the petals, descending into them in various little delicate feathery veins. 2. Byblœmens, having white grounds shaded with violet or dark purple, and also sub-divided into flamed and feathered. 3. Roses, having white grounds shaded with rose-colour or cherry-red, and divided into flamed and feathered; and, 4. Selfs, being either a pure white or yellow. In addition to these, the French have Baguettes, very tall-stemmed tulips, the flowers of which are white, striped with dark brownish red; Baguettes Rigauts, which resemble the former, but have shorter stems and longer flowers; and Flamands, which are the same as Byblœmens. The Dutch have also a kind they call Incomparable Verport, a very finely-shaped flower, white, and feathered with bright shining brown. All these kinds are said to be varieties of one species, Tulipa Gesneriana, a native of Italy; and they all ought to have round, cup-shaped flowers, clean at the base, and with all the marks and different colours quite clear and distinct. Besides these florists’ tulips, several other species are occasionally grown in gardens: the most common of which are the little Van Thol tulips, which were named after the Duke Van Thol, and which are scarlet, edged with yellow; the wild French tulip, which is a pure yellow, and very fragrant; and the Parrot tulip, which appears to be a variety of the last, and the petals of which are yellow, irregularly striped or spotted with green, scarlet, and blue, and fringed at the margin.
The culture of the tulip, as a florist’s flower, requires unremitting attention and care; but for common garden purposes, the tulip will be found hardier, and less liable to injury from insects, &c., than most other flowers. Where tulips are grown in a regular bed, the ground should be dug out to the depth of twenty inches, or two feet. A stratum of fresh earth is laid at the bottom of the pit thus formed, on that a stratum of rotten cow-dung, and on this a stratum of loam mixed with sand. The bed should be three or four feet wide, and its surface should be slightly raised in the middle. A fresh bed should be made every year, or rather the same bed should be filled with fresh soil every season; as the exudations from the tulips will soon poison the ground for plants of the same kind, though it will be very suitable for the growth of other bulbs, and tubers. The proper distance at which the tulips should be planted in the bed is seven inches apart, every way; and their colours and kinds may be arranged according to the fancy of the planter. It is customary, where the tulips differ a good deal in height, to place the tallest in the middle, and the lower ones on the sides; and when this is the case, the centre of the surface of the bed need not be raised. The bed is protected by hoops and mats, which are contrived to open to admit light, air, and rain at pleasure. When the plants are near flowering, a path is made round the bed; and over the whole is stretched a canvass covering, supported on a wooden frame, and so contrived as to open at the sides or the top, as may be required. The bulbs are planted about two or three inches deep, and are never watered, except occasionally by admitting a gentle rain, till they are in flower. When they have done flowering, the leaves are suffered to remain till they begin to turn brown, when the bulbs are taken up, and laid with the lower part upwards on shelves to dry. When this is the case, the dry leaves and the fibrous roots are pulled or rubbed off; and the bulbs are put into drawers or boxes, divided into compartments so as to keep the named sorts apart, till the season arrives for replanting, which is the last week of October or the first of November.
Mr. Groom, of Walworth, is the principal tulip-grower in the neighbourhood of London, and he has an exhibition of them of extraordinary brilliancy and beauty every May.
Hyacinths are perhaps the most beautiful of all flowers, and when grown in a bed like tulips, they are almost equally brilliant in effect. Mr. Corsten, a Dutch florist, residing at a place he has called Hyacinth Villa, at Shepherd’s Bush, has an exhibition of this kind every April, and I have seldom seen any thing more striking. Under a tent nearly two hundred feet long, and thirty feet wide, are two beds each about one hundred and fifty feet long, divided by a walk covered with matting in the centre, and surrounded by a similar walk, with seats at each end of the tent. In these beds are above three thousand hyacinths, the colours arranged so as to form diagonal lines, and the whole presenting a perfect blaze of beauty. Hyacinths are as numerous in their named varieties as tulips, but they are not divided into any distinct tribes, except as regards their colours. The principal distinctions are the white, the pink, and the blue; but these admit of various modifications, and there are some of a pale yellow, or rather lemon colour, and some of so dark a purple as to be almost black.
The culture of the hyacinth somewhat resembles that of the tulip; but it is more difficult, from the great length to which the roots of the hyacinth descend perpendicularly, and the necessity which consequently exists for preparing the ground for them to a very great depth. There is also another peculiarity in hyacinth culture which is rather difficult of attainment; namely, that the roots require a great deal of moisture, though the bulbs should be kept quite dry. The roots also require the soil to be very rich, but that the manure used should be of the kind called cold. It will easily be seen from this enumeration of the essentials for hyacinth culture, why Holland is so pre-eminently the country for hyacinths. The dry sandy soil, raised on the numerous dykes and embankments, by means of which Holland has been rescued from the sea, affords at once a proper bed for the bulbs, and a soil easily penetrable by the roots; while the constant evaporation rising from the water which is every where found below the dykes, is just what is required for the roots. Even the manure most easily obtained in Holland is precisely that best adapted for hyacinths, as it is cow-dung unmixed with straw; and which thus contains nothing to induce fermentation and consequent heat.
It is impossible in England to obtain the advantages so easily attainable by the Dutch, without incurring a very considerable expence. Our soil is generally so adhesive that it requires to be pulverized to a very great depth to admit of the descent of the roots; and even when the soil is sandy it is very different from the beautiful silvery sea-sand, called Dünensande by the Dutch. The only way in which we can imitate this sand is by mixing nearly in equal parts what we call silver-sand and peat, or by growing the plants in silver-sand, with a very slight admixture of fine vegetable mould. Whatever the soil may be, it can hardly be too light, as the Dutch say that the hyacinth will never thrive unless in sand so fine as to be blown away in separate particles by a high wind. When hyacinths are to be grown to the greatest perfection in England, a bed, or rather pit, should be dug three feet or four feet wide, and six feet deep, the length depending on the situation, and on the quantity of flowers to be grown. A layer of stale cow-dung, without any mixture of straw or litter, should be laid at the bottom of this pit at least a foot deep, and the pit should then be filled up to within three inches of the top, with equal parts of peat and silver-sand, or with a mixture of three parts of silver-sand to one of light vegetable mould perfectly fine and without any stones. About three inches from the top should be spread a layer of pure sand in which the bulbs are placed at regular distances, and each with the pointed end, which the Dutch call the nose, upwards; and the bed is then filled up with the same mixture as the lower part, and a layer about three inches deep of pure peat is laid over the whole, to form a relief to the flowers. Dry weather should always be chosen for the planting; and when planted, the bulbs should be entirely covered with the sand, and should be about six inches below the surface of the bed, which should be raised at least three inches higher than the surrounding garden, to allow for its sinking. The layer of pure peat on the surface is only to afford a dark background to the flowers when they expand, and may be omitted if thought unnecessary for this purpose. The bulbs are planted the last week in October, or the first or second week in November, and they are placed about four inches apart every way. After they are planted, a mixture of cow-dung and water is generally thrown with a scoop over the bed, so as to form a thin coating over the soil, but not to penetrate into it. When the weather becomes frosty, a covering of dry litter, reeds, or tan is put over the beds; or hoops may be fixed over them on which bast mats are stretched. In March the covering is removed and the beds are cleared of weeds, and covered with a fresh coating of cow-dung and water. In April, an awning of thin canvass, is erected over each bed, under which the plants are to flower; and by the middle of this month they will be in all their beauty. As soon as the flowers begin to fade the flower-stalks should be cut off and instantly removed. They should never be suffered to lie on the bed, and should not even be put where by any chance they can mix with the earth intended for a hyacinth bed in another year, as the exudations proceeding from them in their decay would cause the bulbs to rot. This is not only because the exudations from the hyacinths are of course poisonous to other bulbs of the same genus; but because the flower-stalks appear to contain a kind of corrosive juice, as the labourers employed in Holland to cut them off the bulbs, frequently find their hands and bodies become red and inflamed, and sometimes so painful as to prevent them from sleeping.
When the leaves turn brown at the points, which is generally about the middle of June, the bulbs should be taken up. When this is to be done the leaves are first pulled off, or if they will not come off readily by pulling, they are cut off close to the bulb. The bulbs are then taken out of the ground, and laid on the footpath in rows, so as to keep the different kinds distinct. The bed is afterwards raked smooth all over, and a strip about a foot and a half broad is made flat and firm, in the middle of the bed, by being pressed with a plank, or beaten with the back of the spade, and on this the hyacinth-roots are laid, still in distinct rows: earth is then drawn over them two or three inches thick, and they are left for two or three weeks. This the Dutch call lying in the Käuil, and the time of remaining in it varies according to the size of the bulb and the weather, the largest bulbs being removed soonest. When taken from the Käuil, the bulbs are placed on shelves or wooden trays to dry, with the root end of the bulb inclining towards the south.
Where it is not thought advisable to sink the bed so deep as six feet, it may be made four feet deep, and the layer of cow-dung at the bottom mixed with soil a foot deep, leaving only about three feet to be filled with a mixture of peat and river sand, with about the proportion of a third to the whole of vegetable mould. The other treatment is the same as that detailed above. In all cases the soil should be very light and fine, and only cow-dung should be used as a manure. The roots should also always be watered very sparingly, and with a mixture of cow dung and water, though not so thick as that used for coating the bed. When the bulbs are planted, and again when they are taken up, they should be carefully examined, and all that are at all specked or mouldy, should be laid on one side, as they would infect the others. When the infected part is large, the bulb should be thrown away, or burnt with the stalks; but where the speck is small it should be cut out with a sharp knife, and the bulb planted, in not more than four-and-twenty hours after the piece has been cut out. Hyacinths are propagated by offsets, by dividing the bulb, and by seed, in which last case they are five years before they flower. When planted in pots or boxes, the pot or box should be half filled with broken potsherds, or some other material to ensure perfect drainage, and the bulbs should be planted in a compost of peat, sand, and very rotten cow-dung. The bulbs should only be about half covered with soil; and if in boxes they should be kept, if practicable, in a greenhouse, till they are ready to flower. If in pots, they should be plunged into a hotbed, or into a tan-stove; or where this cannot be done they should be buried in the garden, so that the point of the bulb should be at least four inches below the surface. Here they should remain till about six weeks before flowering, when the pots should be taken out, and placed where they are to flower; the sides of the pots being kept warm with moss, and the flowers brought forward by daily waterings. All hyacinths grown in pots and boxes will require abundance of water to make amends for the unnatural situation in which their roots are placed. After hyacinths have flowered in pots or boxes, or in water glasses, the bulbs are generally planted in the open ground, and being covered with about an inch of soil they are left to take their chance. Thus treated, the finer kinds generally perish, but the hardier ones will live and flower for many years, if allowed every autumn to retain their leaves, till their new bulbs are matured. Hyacinths that have been flowered in glasses, or pots, seldom however flower so well afterwards, at least not for several years, as they scarcely ever quite recover the shock they have sustained from the unnatural position of their roots; whereas the Dutch florists, by allowing the roots of their hyacinths plenty of room to descend perpendicularly, and taking up the bulbs every autumn, have been known to keep bulbs of their finest flowers twelve or even twenty years, and to have them produce splendid flowers every year.
It must be observed that the exudations of hyacinths are very abundant, and very injurious to other plants of their own genus. For this reason, the Dutch never grow their hyacinths in the same bed two years consecutively. The usual rotation is, first year, hyacinths; second, tulips; third, polyanthus-narcissus; fourth, crocuses; and fifth, hyacinths again. The Guernsey lily, the bulbs of which are generally thrown away in England as soon as they have flowered, will live many years if treated like the hyacinth.
Crocuses may be grown in the open ground, and they do not require taking up every year like hyacinths or tulips. If they are taken up and replanted every third or fourth year, it will be sufficient. There are above a hundred named varieties, and they will produce a very good effect if planted so as to form figures with their various colours. When this is the case, however, the corms should be taken up and replanted every year; to prevent the figure from becoming confused by the spreading of the offsets. Crocuses may be grown in glasses, or in pots or boxes, with very little injury, if planted in the open ground as soon as they have done flowering, and suffered to mature their leaves. In all cases the leaves of the crocus should be suffered to remain till they wither, and not cut off; though many gardeners, from a mistaken desire for neatness, cut the leaves off as soon as the flowers have faded, and thus seriously injure the corms. All the kinds of gladiolus or corn flag, the Irises, the Ixias, and, in short all the Cape bulbs, are corms, and require the same treatment as the crocus. Charlwood’s, Covent-garden, and Carter’s, Holborn, are the best places in London for procuring all kinds of bulbs and corms.
The Ranunculus.—M. Triquet de Blanc, who had the kindness to send me directions for the culture of the carnation, has given me the following directions for the culture of the ranunculus:—“In November spread well-rotten cow-dung, or thoroughly-decayed leaves, four or five inches thick over the beds which are to be devoted to the ranunculus, and dig it into the ground about four inches deep, digging the bed over several times, so as to mix it well with the soil. The surface of the bed is then raked smooth, and lines, or rather drills, an inch and a half deep, are traced on it so as to form squares, four inches on the side every way. The ground is then left till the beginning of February, when the ranunculuses are planted four inches apart, just at the point of intersection of the lines, and they are covered about an inch and a half deep (rather less than more) with the compost described above, or with fine garden mould. The advantages gained by digging the earth in November, though the roots are not planted till February, are—that the ranunculuses are thus planted on a hard bottom, which suits them particularly; and that the gardener is not obliged to dig the earth to mix the cow-dung with it in February, when the ground is generally sloppy, and in a very unfit state for being worked.”—When the plants are about to flower, an awning may be erected over the bed to protect them from the effects of the sun, which is apt to destroy the brilliancy of their colours. In frosty weather, they should be protected by a mat, day and night, as the sun will do them a serious injury, if they have been at all affected by the frost. The plants may be watered with a weak solution of cow-dung in water, and they should be constantly watered in dry weather. The tubers should be taken up as soon as the leaves begin to turn brown, which will generally be in July. Groom, of Walworth, is considered to keep the best ranunculuses.
The Anemones of florists are of two kinds: those descended from the garden or star anemone (A. hortense), and those descended from the poppy anemone (A. coronaria). The poppy anemones, which are generally single, are planted in September or October, and under shelter are frequently in flower all winter: the splendid Dutch anemones, and all the varieties of A. coronaria, on the contrary, are not planted till February or March; the latter month, or even the beginning of April, being preferred for the Dutch anemones, which are apt to rot if planted too early. Anemones should be planted three inches deep, and five inches apart every way, in a fresh, sound, yellow loam, without any manure. Care should be taken to keep the frost from them; but they will not need any other attention till the leaves turn brown, when the tubers should be taken up, and treated like those of the ranunculus and tulip. Old varieties are propagated by offsets, and new kinds are raised from seed.
Dahlias are either raised from seed, or propagated by slips or cuttings, or dividing the tubers. The seed is sown in pots in a slight hotbed in February, and the young plants are transplanted into the open air in June, where they are suffered to remain till they flower. In October, those which are thought worth preserving are marked, and the others taken up and thrown away. When the stalks are killed by frost, the tubers are taken up, and kept in some dry place till the season of planting the following year. The slips are taken from the collar of the root in spring, and the cuttings from the tops of the young shoots early in summer. Both are planted in very small pots, in light, rich, sandy loam, and placed in a hotbed frame, and shaded. In a fortnight they will have struck root; but they should be shifted into larger pots, and placed for a short time in a greenhouse, before they are turned out into the open ground. Dahlias have large tuberous roots, but stems will only spring from the eyes or buds in the crown of the root. If these eyes should have been destroyed, or be wanting, the root is said to be blind; and though it will live for several years in the ground, it will not send up a single stem. For this reason, before dividing the root, it should be planted in a gentle hotbed to develope or start the buds or eyes; and when it is divided, care should be taken that each piece includes a portion of the crown, which has an eye in it. Sometimes eyes are grafted in the herbaceous manner on blind tubers.
The best soil for dahlias is a sandy loam, not too rich, as, in rich or moist soils, the plant will produce more stalks and leaves than flowers. Where the soil of the garden in which dahlias are to be planted is rich, or heavy, a quantity of sand or gravel should be mixed with it. Striped or variegated flowers will soon lose their markings if grown in rich soil. The tubers of the early kinds are planted in April, to flower in June; but those of the finer kinds are not planted till May and June. When they begin to grow, the side-shoots are removed from one foot to three feet from the ground; the principal stem is then either tied to a stake driven deeply and firmly into the ground, or the whole plant is drawn through a set of dahlia rings. Dwarf plants are frequently suffered to trail on the ground, and are pegged down, so as to cover the whole of the bed, with which treatment they look extremely well. In dry weather, the plants should be regularly watered, but not too abundantly. When the leaves and stalks are killed by the frost, they should be directly cut down; but the tubers may be left in the ground a little longer, as, if taken up too soon, they will shrivel, and often become rotten. When taken up, they should be kept in a dry place, and covered with a mat to exclude the frost.
All the dahlias now in our gardens, numerous as they are, have sprung from two kinds, both natives of Mexico, viz.—D. pinnata, or variabilis, all the varieties of which are purple, crimson, rose-coloured, lilac, or white; and D. coccinea, the varieties of which are scarlet, orange, or yellow.
It is remarkable, that notwithstanding the numerous varieties that have been raised of these two species, there have never been any hybrids raised between them. Many attempts have been made, but all the plants raised have partaken exclusively of the qualities of one or the other of the parents, and none have partaken equally of both, as is the case with true hybrids. There are many other kinds mentioned in books, the most remarkable of which is the tree dahlia, D. excelsa, a specimen of which, in the Liverpool Botanic Garden, is now above twenty feet high. All the varieties grown in British gardens as florists’ flowers, may be divided into four kinds, viz.—Dwarfs, Anemone-flowered, Ranunculus-flowered, and Globe-flowered. The dahlia was first discovered in Mexico by Baron Humboldt, in 1789, and it was sent by him to Cavaniles, at Madrid, who named it in honour of Professor Dahl, a Swedish botanist. This name was afterwards changed to Georgina, in honour of a German botanist named Georgi, who resided many years in St. Petersburg, in consequence of the genus Dalea having been previously established by Thunberg. As, however, this name is neither spelt nor pronounced the same as Dahlia; and as the name of Dahlia was given long before that of Georgina, the plant is now restored to its original appellation. The dahlia was introduced into England in 1804, but it did not become a florists’ flower till about 1815.