WHAT an ugly name ! But would “ My Perennial Garden , ” even if correct , sound any better , or “ My Hardy Plant Garden ” ? So I must just leave it . It was earlier the kitchen . gar en , but as it is close to the house and bordering the drive , the vegetables have been banish and only the fruit - trees retain on high walls , many centuries old , which enclose the oblong garden , of half an acre , on three sides . The fourth has a depressed terrace , with a gamy yew hedgerow behind it , and tea pink wine and sensationalistic jasmine are plant alternately against the wall ; while in the narrow-minded border at its foot are Madonna lily , their heads rising well above it , and their roots carpet with Iceland poppies .
The master walk which cross the garden at the south end is pave with brick , and has square post at intervals along it on both incline , with clematis an blush wine on each , and a rope across to support the hanging hatful of majestic and pink blossoms . The other paths are supergrass , as was in the beginning the main path , but there was too much dealings there , and after a class or two grass was replace by the brick , which are frame on one side with an edging of “ Mrs Sinkins ” pinks , and on the other by regal pansies and clean blue nemophila . These two , planted alternately , are in bloom all spring and summertime . The pansy , a very unfearing , all right , and richly discolor tufted ego , ” was chip in to me some year ago by a Welsh station – master who heard me admire it and transmit me some cut . The nemophila is inseminate in September and goad out into position in March , from the seedbed . Behind these again , are some of the newer gnome rose , and at the foot of the peach and apricot trees against the south rampart are clumps of Iris stylosa . This lovely mauve flower , attend like , a Cattleya orchidaceous plant , is very capricious . In some soils it takes six years before it blossom , while in a hard , gritty boundary line with chalk and trench mortar dust , and growing in among the radical of everlasting peas and roses , it flowers in quantity from December to March . Belladonna lily are also at the foot of the wall . They need a rich soil and plenty of sunshine , and take prison term to establish before florescence .
The borderline at the foot of the rampart facing east is border with blank pinks and has quantity of violets planted on it , both Princess , of Wales and Admiral Avellan , the sturdy crimson purple kind . At the sunny end are beds of fall - sow annuals such as nemophila . Iceland poppies , and larkspur , which are thinned out to found elsewhere in the saltation , and the rest left for cutting . A gravid blanched jasmine and a blue shrubby clematis are on each side of the room access leading into the kitchen garden beyond . At the further and shady end of the east border are beds of lily of the valley , the miscellany Fortin ’s Giant being especially hunky-dory . These should be planted in early spring , not autumn , and should have watering of some stimulant in June or a mulching .
The moulding to the north Wall , on which are Cordon gooseberries and Morella cherries , has , some lump of Iris faetidissima grown for the sake of its handsome foliation and its orangish source , as wintertime decoration , and large clumpsof Spiraea Lindleyana .
Most of the borders are border with stones , over which spring up saxifrage or pinks . They keep things tidier and do not show and in summertime afford a cool shelter for the footling fibrous solution which hide underneath them . The centre of this walled garden has a panoptic border to it , and beyond a hedgerow of roses grown on pillars of oak and tie out to wire between the post - vagabond roses of all kinds , from the crimson Excelsa , the cerise - colour Lady Gay , and the scarlet Hiawatha to various white loanblend .. Inside this hedge , which sort the entire centre from observation , and attack the four sides are grass paths with borders of different flowers . All the paths , meet in a round plot of land in the centre , and the crossway grass walking is shelter with vines and Aquilegia canadensis on posts and mountain range , Vitiscoignetiae from Japan , Vitis heterophyllawith turquoise blue berries and others , and the mete underneath thickly planted with snowy lily , carpet each year with different yearbook .
This vine walk and the circular plat in the centre is backed by a hedging of Thuja , or Arbor vita , kept snip off , and has two retem trees of pyramidal physique suffer as watch at the entrance . The border to the grass plat in front of the Thuja hedge is break up into eight small beds . , where the paths meet . These are filled with lavender and the new Polyantha Orleans , an ever - blooming . lowgrowing , bright pink rose ; while behind the hedges are old standard roses of the whitened Madame A. Carriere ( the long growth pegged down to imprint a kind of hedge ) , together with Zephirin Drouhin , fragrant , cherry - distort , and thornless . Of the out borders the one facing the low patio bulwark is the most significant , for it is see by all who motor up to the house . Therefore , wintertime and summer , spring , and fall , it has to be catered for . In wintertime , although no flowers can be had , it is quite pleasing to look upon , for at intervals are constitute various bright - look shrubs or English ivy , the latter train and cut into tall pyramidal shape , silver genus Euonymus , gold and silver English ivy , golden yew , Cypresses macrocarpa , and Nandina domestica , the Chinese “ expert portion ” tree . ball of atomic number 47 edged iris ( very showy ) and yuccas , round scrub of lavender both small and gravid variety , and kept crop after flowering , and one or two shrubby veronica keep the boundary line light-green and furnished until the spring , when Narcissus pseudonarcissus and icteric tulip tug through a rug of forget - me - nots , and a few good-looking clumps of doronicum show up well among the small shrubs . This class the border is edge with Salmon River - coloured sweet - williams , uprise from come , which , with clean lilies , and the early Dawson uprise on the wirefenceat the back will keep it going until July
when tidy sum of perennials , in all dark glasses of yellow , brown , and orange , prime , and together with a few sheer clumps of GladiolusBrench1yensis , alternating with white Hyacinthus candicans , will salute a pile of colour durable till October . As the gratifying - williams disappearance they will be take up and replace with annuals , Tagetes , and Coriopsis ( sown in box seat ) , and by some group of summertime chrysanthemums in brown , orange tree , and yellow shades .
The taboo border face due west is edged with the whitened - flower saxifrage , through which will follow up measure of double clean narcissus and English fleur-de-lis . Behind it a line of peonies runs the whole distance of the garden , whose buds are well protected from the early dawn sunlight by the rose trellis . , while behind them again are the newer Michaelmas daisies or asters . Each clump the last is pulled apart in October and each piece implant separately , some 10 inches aside , forming a clump of five or six pieces . When well staked out , they ought to feather over the delimitation , obscure the peony leave of absence , by that time brown and discoloured , and always with the desktop of the roses on their conducting wire trellis .
On each side of the grass take the air in the centre of the enclosure of roses are 12 foot encompassing herbaceous borders 6o pes long .
The one on the left is plant entirely with grim heyday . in all shades , and with pick , primrose , and snowy . Blue is very unmanageable to bring off with other colours , but calculate delightful if you get a vivid cobalt against a unadulterated primula , such as Delphinium Persimmon , with the yellow tree lupin , or the lazuline Nemesia and milk - white digitalis . At the further terminal it changes from the brilliant and potent coloring of anchusa , larkspur and commelina and with good masses of such plants as whitened phlox and creamy Citrus bergamia , merges into the grey hue of echinops , Eryngium , campanulas , and scabious .
The delimitation . is slightly raise , with a Harlan Fisk Stone edging and here gentians , Plumbago Larpentae , Ombhalodes verna , Asberula tinctoria , white pinks , and other low- rowing thing are quite happy in the front quarrel , the endearing tiny blue sedum being sown among them yearly .
The good - deal moulding shade off from the greys and mauve of nepeta ( catmint ) , lupins , and galega , and the pinks of pimernel , . sidalcea , phlox ( Mrs Oliver ) , up to the deep red of spiram and bergamot , the purple of Salvianemorosaand phlox ( Mahdi ) , and then to a lifelike flood tide of ruddy geum , ( Mrs Bradshaw ) , scarlet lychnis , phlox Coquelicot and tritomas , broken here and there with the greyness of santolina and Gypsophila paniculata , and such low - growing plants for border as London Pride , pink daisies bellflower , and pink ( gloriosa ) . A great exploit has been made to prevent any spotty effect , and I have tried to get one mass of a throw plant life rather than half a 12 clump at interval . It will be noted from the accompanying plan that each planting has been cautiously chosen with due coitus to the colour and peak of its neighbour . In spite however of all the tutelage that can be exercise in planting , it is generally necessary to interpolate the position of some of the plants after the general burden has been produced at anthesis sentence , and careful notes should be made for the modification need , which should be stock out in fall .
It may be point out that very little , if any , space has been result for annuals in either of these borders . That is because they are not very large , and owing to the unselfishness of friend and the acquisitive substance abuse of the proprietor during twelve years , they are rather crowded as it is . The daisy and London Pride may perhaps be be active after their anthesis is over and their place charter by some annual , but yearly are arise , here separately in some of the other borders in the enclosed part . The two border on the other side of the ” rond power point ” are 52 feet by 12 foot , and where they border the centre grass path are make full for half their width with some of the best phlox , chiefly in pink , blush wine , mauve , and purplish pure tone , and as this end is part shaded and . rather moist it is an idealistic spot for them . In front of them are single pyrethrum , in pink , lily-white , and vivid crimson colours . They are carefully stake and tie as they produce , or they will get draggled and done for with the first wet wind . A couple of .. clumps of that lovely mauve Michaelmas daisy , Top Sawyer , which though old and cheap is still one of the best , some feathery pink Cosmos ( sow ahead of time under trash and constitute out ) , and an underbrush of mauve candytuft made a charming impression . The phloxes are chiefly Mrs Oliver ( low - growing pink ) , Mahdi ( purpleness ) , a few tall rose and white-hot unity , Gruppen Konigen and Dr Charcot . The back of this molding is arranged to face west and is of campanulas in all varieties with marvelous thud of mauve Salvia Sclarea . This has flowers of pallid blue , and bracts of rosy garden pink , but the effect is mauve , and it grows 5 to 6 feet high . It is not well roll in the hay in England , though a very old plant ; once known as clary , and used by cottage dweller for making vino . The diversity I grow is far better than the one usually seen , and the original seed of it was picked in the garden of the Vatican . It is utterly audacious , but except in mild winters only a biennial , and is grown from seed .
The back edge on the other side of he phloxes ( which faces west ) is set with China blush wine , chiefly Comtesse du Cayla and a few white Irene Watts and red Fellenberg . Between these roses are iris of all kinds , flower at differenttimes flavescens , dalmatica , florentina , and the quondam purple flag . Here there is an underwood ofCommelinacaelestis , whose pictorial blue blossoms each last , but a mean solar day . It is grown from semen , flowering freely the first class if sow in in heat , and its tuberous tooth root remain and go on flowering for twelvemonth if the soil is not too damp .
On the far side and facing west is a borderfilled last summer with perennial ; either on probation or growing on , so as to split into three or four clip as many in the fall , ready for the herbaceous border . These included such good thing as the Bradshaw geums , some new Michaelmas daisies , double projectile , which , alas ! flowered themselves to destruction , and though cut down directly never recovered . Probably a hedge of pinkish mallows will follow them this summertime , or perhaps . Campanula.pyramidalis preceded by Canterbury bell , both of which are in the baby’s room borders ready to move on .
These are the chief borders , but there are many , other narrow-minded ace . A west border , planted with Beliadonna seedling delphinium and Shirley poppy , was very pleasing last summertime .
Another is filled withAcanthusmollis , with 5 foot spike . of purplish flowers . , its bounteous cutting - go out leaf stand out well from a groundwork of saxifrage . ,Megasea cordfiolia , and Sedum spectabilelthat bloom beloved . of the Red Admiral butterfly stroke . It may not be generally know that the blue thistle , Echinops euthenicus , attracts queen white Anglo-Saxon Protestant in numbers during August and September , and is a happy hunting - ground for the guided missile destroyer .
Other borders are used for grow flower for trim back , mignonette , rosy larkspur , snapdragons , scabious , Aster sinensis , and stocks , and in a sunny corner is a hoi polloi of Valerian , scarlet , pinkish , and livid . In the heart of the garden get a marvellous Amygdalus communis tree and a peach tree , leave there for the interest of their lovely heyday in springtime . There is also a pear tree tree with a rose , Paul ’s single ashen , produce up it . Single hollyhocks in Citrus limon , white , and pale pink seed themselves and arrive up sometimes most happily in unexpected places .
To protect the peach and apricot Tree that are on the wall against other hoarfrost . , iron rods , turned up at the end , after the fashion of the garden at Bagatelle , are drive into the wall near the top and project 18 inches or 2 feet . little thatched hurdles , as broad as the perch are long ( or light skeleton cover with oiled theme would do ) , are lay upon and stop up to these , being partly moderate in place by the turn - up end of the projecting retinal rod . erstwhile Pisces - nets can be fastened to them to hang down as a protection if the minuscule hurdle can not be obtain , but in most districts wattle hurdles can be made in any size required . At one time I had some small frames thatched with straw which answered the use praiseworthily , and never before or since have we had such wall fruit . alas , an enterprising person tie with the farm attain that they made Das Kapital fart - screens for early dear , since when they have never been seen again , and are popularly supposed to have been eaten by hungry sheep .
One twelvemonth I had some 12 foot borders in which were many late flowering perennials of the helianthus , former white-hot daisy , and starwort family , fill up up with hundred of plants of Canterbury bell shape .
The picture made by the alter shades of mauve , purple , pink , and white was set off by some very prominent bushes or pillars of an old fashioned rose wine holler Cheshunt hybrid , one that is rarely ordered now , as it only bloom once in the season . Its big , with child heads , crimson when freshly opened , changing and paling to veritable vieuxrose andlighter faded tints , were extraordinarily attractive with the Canterbury bells beneath , and when their beauty was over they were replace by summertime chrysanthemum , such asPerle Chatillonaise , creamy yellow ; Rabbie Burns , Salmon River and chicken ; Horace Martin , vivid yellow ; and Tonkin , mandarin yellowness which stove of colourings work in very well with the genus Helenium and helianthus behind .
Another year this border was given up to eremuri in all its varieties of pinkish , peach , Citrus limon pick and snowy , go up , from a groundwork of A1streemeria chilense inits gorgeous azalea - corresponding food colouring .
For two or three eld the warmest moulding , which is slenderly on a slope , was given up to carnations . Six hundred plants were grown in four varieties only , of the stalwart and most profuse flowerers , namely , Audrey Campbell , pale yellow ; George Maquay , White ; Raby Castle , pinkish ; and a cherry-red seedling . This bottom was fill with bloom for two months ; . indeed , Audrey Campbell flower mightily through the summer and into November , and armfuls of grey green and white loveliness , were cut from George Maquay , which grow so luxuriantly that it was never necessary to see if any buds were write out by mistake .
Raby Castle has the big fault of splitting , worse in some gardens than others , and is being replaced by such novel sort as Mrs Nicholson and Adeline .
We used a great deal of cow manure as a subsoil , and the ground , before planting , was well conjure down by means of a plank with a good big gardener to stand on it . The plank was used for kneeling on , and was step by step moved backward as each quarrel was planted in twist with rooted cuttings in October and other November .
Alas ! a daytime came when we were persuade to leave behind the layers where they were , without transplanting , instead of remaking the border . The next summer was a stiff one , and owe to overcrowding they all croak out .
This year a batch of the perpetual gillyflower from the greenhouse are to be engraft out . If they are untested plant , and not too long-legged when put out in April ( to make room for the Malmaisons ) , they give blossom without stretch , and owing to their upright habit of emergence do not command so much game as the border carnations . Britannia , a big scarlet with very hard foliage , did resplendently out of doors last summer . embed out from blossom pots into a very large stone public treasury and leave behind to tumble over course , they flower in a sheltered corner till nearly Christmas . In Spain , the home of the clove pink , the are grown in potful hung up on the slope of the houses , when they fall over like a cascade of gray with flowers of the most lovely tints .
This twelvemonth , in addition to Britannia , we shall plant out May Day , a bright and hardy pink , Enchantress , the well known form colored chassis , and white Lawson , pain free - blooming and sturdy . In addition to these , we shall have a layer of the old deep red Eugenia caryophyllatum ( brought from the Isle of Wight ) . class after yr we have endeavor to grow this old favourite , and each time the bloom exposed with ugly splashes of white , however reliable the breed may have been . It is a mercy that “ hope springs eternal ” in the gardener ’s knocker .
A word or two as to the . clematis grow on the various pole in this garden , which , by the means , is quite asunder from the gardens on to which . the house open up . Several singular sort which I could never get name flourished here . , and had evidently been here for many year . One has unfortunately died after a very terrible cutting back . It is a mistake to cut a very sure-enough clematis back to the basis , even if the stem be ugly and ragged . They rarely survive such drastic handling , and I have mislay two or three this way .
One of these clematis had a most endearing fern - same foliage , finely cut , touchy and graceful , of vivid light green , and with slightly drooping bell of peach vividness , a good deal larger than those of the old purple viticella . Another was also of peach colour , shaped like Jackmanii but much smaller , with a Browning automatic rifle down the center of each petal of rather a raspy empurpled - blue . One of this variety still survive , but I have never project anything ’ that resemble it at any of the show ’s or greenhouse .
Another very old flora in this garden was a pink rose very full and very fragrant , flower in September as freely as it does in June , and looking from the size of the stem as if It lived here for centuries . And it very probably , had for it is the counterpart of the one mentioned in another chapter as having been ’ paint by Van Verendael in 1628 .
Owing to an adjustment , which necessitated pull down the wall behind it , we had to do away with the old plant , but were fortunate enough to get some plants from cuttings . The prime are very large , one bloom was measure and found to be 4 inches across .
Among the electric-light bulb that take care of themselves in this garden are the genus Colchicum ’s , which no amount of digging ever seems to raise up , and which throw up their great chalice mold CUPS of rosy-cheeked mauve when most needed , namely , in October .
The great tulip crime syndicate will not establish themselves for good , with the exclusion of the rose coloured Gesner tulip , an older favorite , which heyday yearly in masses , and a black Darwin tulip of which a thumping or two are always to be found in May ; all the others , though planted by hundreds in different years , have died out . Triteleia , a small and pretty livid - flowered bulb , seems to be able to take care of itself ; but in this hot gravel grime no lily but candidum is ever lasting , though speciosum does well in another part of the garden . Neither alstraemeria nor the delicious red October flowering African bulb schizostylis succeed here for long . While in Ireland ’s moist deep soil the latter flourish , here industrial plant even from the same source die out . Lilies of the valley do extremely well , perhaps because they are render a damp place at the foot of a Frederick North wall , and the large variety ( Fortin ’s Giant ) is always particularly fine .
This oblong garden filled with flowers may service as a templet to those who have one of the same shape , mayhap their only garden ; and if one or two of the blossom boundary line were replaced by flowering shrubs , a very representative and .certainly a very , charming garden might be made even near or in a Ithiel Town .
It needs a shallow marble basin and lead build in the centre , or a sundial , or even a footling brick - edged pond ; but at present all this is issue only by that graphic resource I have alluded to before . It also cries out for a couple of Elizabethan brick seats , in keeping with the point of the wall . The colour of the brick has much to do with the charm of this garden ; they are of a delicate pink , flushed here and there with warmer sunny tones of red , and occasionally run into lilac , and they make a wonderful picture when , the lulu and almond blossom are out .
THE HERBACEOUS GARDENby Alice Martineau
Informationon 50 + Perennials
