A Resident's wife in Nigeria

by Constance Belcher Larymore

I think I can claim to have given them a fair trial—I brought out the usual ‘collection’ from England, made experimental sowings in boxes on the verandah, nursed and watched them tenderly, but I got no results in the blossom line except from the convolvulus. I then tried a collection from a French firm, and from these seeds, I succeeded in coaxing blossoms, from zinnias, marigolds, nasturtiums, balsams and petunias—the rest were a complete failure.

My third experiment was with acclimatized seeds from India, and these gave far the best results. The first success was a splendid bed of portulacca, blazing with crimson, white, mauve and gold, rejoicing in the sun which shrivelled everything else. I should like every one to make a point of raising this beautiful little flower, for it is easily grown, and gives a real reward for very little trouble. It should be sown at the end of the rains, in boxes on the verandah, sheltered until the little plants look sturdy and fleshy, then planted out in bed or border, and shaded from the sun for a day or two, until growth is started, the plants will then begin to spread and blossom into a carpet of glowing colour.

Balsams, marigolds, sunflowers, vinca and zinnias will do well sown out in the open, under moderate shade, especially the last-named; the finest zinnias I have ever seen were a bunch presented to me out of a bachelor’s little garden at Zaria. Sunflowers attain an immense height and blossom magnificently; I had huge plants, almost trees, at Bussa, fourteen and sixteen feet high, bearing masses of flowers. Balsams I have always been a little contemptuous over, but the best double kinds are well worth while cultivating. A special packet from Sutton, called, I think, ‘Rose,’ gave splendid results, thick clusters of delicate rosy pink blossoms, resembling pink carnations or rosettes of chiffon, flowered in one bed continuously from July to December, and established themselves on the firmest basis in my affections. All varieties of convolvulus can be sown outside, and will climb and twine and riot delightfully everywhere, clothing hideous walls and bare fences. In Lokoja I have taken great pains to cultivate freely that most charming creeper, the sapphire blue Clitoria, a climbing pea of the greatest beauty, and a free grower, bringing, in the first instance, twenty seeds from Government House in Sierra Leone! It has rewarded my efforts so well that now no one need want for quantities of seed; there is also a white variety which is just as beautiful and satisfactory. Cannas flourish, and make capital patches of colour, the finer kinds, some of which are very gorgeous, doing just as well as the ordinary scarlet sort, which grows all over the country, and from the seeds of which Mahomedan rosaries are made. Phloxes, nasturtiums and asters can be induced to flower with a good deal of preliminary care and watering; but those who, not unnaturally, desire to achieve the maximum result with the minimum effort, will do well to concentrate their endeavours on zinnias and sunflowers, especially the single Japanese sunflowers, as they are eminently decorative. Vinca is a flower which might be dubbed uninteresting, but it has a special virtue, that of blossoming practically all the year round, and being available, when everything else is shrivelled and dead, in the dryest season.

Another public benefactor is salpiglossis, an exquisite plant with velvety glowing flowers of all shades—no well-regulated Nigerian garden should be without it.

To my mind the wild flowers of the country are by no means to be despised in the garden, many are really extremely beautiful; all are indigenous to the soil and therefore no trouble to grow, and I believe that the main reason that they are not more frequently seen in gardens is that the gardeners have never had the opportunity of noticing them in the ‘bush.’

There is a splendid coreopsis with golden daisy-like blossoms some three or four inches in diameter, the seed of which I gathered on the march a year ago, and subsequently sowed in large round beds. The result was a perfectly glorious blaze of brilliant yellow blossoms for weeks together, when the rains had finished. Terrestrial orchids in their mauve, purple, yellow and green beauty would be exquisite dotting the grass, as would the crimson and white striped lilies, fragile babianas, and the lesser gloriosa, which is not a creeper. A tiny scarlet salvia has often appealed to me and the little plant, Striga Senegalensis, would form a carpet of deep cool mauve, delightful to see.

The Lawn

It is said to be very dear to the heart of every Englishman to own a lawn, and it certainly should be doubly so to John Bull in exile; in a tropical country well-kept turf is much to be desired, there is nothing so cool and refreshing to tired eyes dazzled with the glare of sunshine and baked earth, and, perhaps, nothing that gives such a home-like and cared-for look to a West African compound. This demesne is usually reclaimed bush, which in nature grows rank, reed-like, coarse grass, and the ground destined for a lawn must be thoroughly and deeply dug up. It is worse than useless to attempt to remove it by merely pulling up the grass. After digging and turning, all the roots must be picked out most carefully, for it is indeed heartbreaking to see the enemy reappearing all over your infant lawn.

If the fine short grass, called in India ‘dhoob’ grass, can be found in the neighbourhood, and it usually can be, especially along the edges of roads, it should be brought in quantities (with its roots), planted closely in tiny bunches all over the prepared ground, watered daily, patted down to encourage spreading, and your lawn will be fairly started. Another method is to chop up the grass in lengths of about four inches, mix it with good soil and water, and spread the mixture all over the lawn, but, on the whole, I think the planting will be found most satisfactory. If ‘dhoob’ grass is not to be had, English grass seed must be sown, but this is an experiment I have never had occasion to make. I have seen what is called Bahama grass grown with great success in Sierra Leone, and fashioned into lovely velvety croquet lawns.