AUGUST
Leycesteria -- Early recollections -- Bank of choice shrubs -- Bank of
Briar Roses -- Hollyhocks -- Lavender -- Lilies -- Bracken and Heaths --
The Fern-walk -- Late-blooming rock-plants -- Autumn flowers -- Tea
Roses -- Fruit of _Rosa rugosa_ -- Fungi -- Chantarelle.
_Leycesteria formosa_ is a soft-wooded shrub, whose beauty, without
being showy, is full of charm and refinement. I remember delighting in
it in the shrub-wilderness of the old home, where I first learnt to know
and love many a good bush and tree long before I knew their names. There
were towering Rhododendrons (all _ponticum_) and Ailanthus and Hickory
and Magnolias, and then Spiraea and Snowball tree and tall yellow Azalea,
and Buttercup bush and shrubby Andromedas, and in some of the clumps
tall Cypresses and the pretty cut-leaved Beech, and in the edges of
others some of the good old garden Roses, double Cinnamon and _R.
lucida_, and Damask and Provence, Moss-rose and Sweetbriar, besides
tall-grown Lilacs and Syringa. It was all rather overgrown, and perhaps
all the prettier, and some of the wide grassy ways were quite shady in
summer. And I look back across the years and think what a fine
lesson-book it was to a rather solitary child; and when I came to plant
my own shrub clump I thought I would put rather near together some of
the old favourites, so here again we come back to Leycesteria, put
rather in a place of honour, and near it Buttercup bush and Andromeda
and Magnolias and old garden Roses.
[Illustration: CISTUS FLORENTINUS.]
[Illustration: THE GREAT ASPHODEL.]
I had no space for a shrub wilderness, but have made a large clump for
just the things I like best, whether new friends or old. It is a long,
low bank, five or six paces wide, highest in the middle, where the
rather taller things are planted. These are mostly Junipers and
Magnolias; of the Magnolias, the kinds are _Soulangeana_, _conspicua_,
_purpurea_, and _stellata_. One end of the clump is all of peat earth;
here are Andromedas, Skimmeas, and on the cooler side the broad-leaved
Gale, whose crushed leaves have almost the sweetness of Myrtle. One long
side of the clump faces south-west, the better to suit the things that
love the sun. At the farther end is a thrifty bush of _Styrax japonica_,
which flowers well in hot summers, but another bush under a south wall
flowers better. It must be a lovely shrub in the south of Europe and
perhaps in Cornwall; here the year's growth is always cut at the tip,
but it flowers well on the older wood, and its hanging clusters of white
bloom are lovely. At its foot, on the sunny side, are low bushy plants
of _Cistus florentinus_. I am told that this specific name is not right;
but the plant so commonly goes by it that it serves the purpose of
popular identification. Then comes _Magnolia stellata_, now a
perfectly-shaped bush five feet through, a sheet of sweet-scented bloom
in April. Much too near it are two bushes of _Cistus ladaniferus_. They
were put there as little plants to grow on for a year in the shelter and
comfort of the warm bank, but were overlooked at the time they ought to
have been shifted, and are now nearly five feet high, and are crowding
the Magnolia. I cannot bear to take them away to waste, and they are
much too large to transplant, so I am driving in some short stakes
diagonally and tying them down by degrees, spreading out their branches
between neighbouring plants. It is an upright-growing Cistus that would
soon cover a tallish wall-space, but this time it must be content to
grow horizontally, and I shall watch to see whether it will flower more
freely, as so many things do when trained down.
Next comes a patch of the handsome _Bambusa Ragamowski_, dwarf, but with
strikingly-broad leaves of a bright yellow-green colour. It seems to be
a slow grower, or more probably it is slow to grow at first; Bamboos
have a good deal to do underground. It was planted six years ago, a nice
little plant in a pot, and now is eighteen inches high and two feet
across. Just beyond it is the Mastic bush (_Caryopteris mastacanthus_),
a neat, grey-leaved small shrub, crowded in September with lavender-blue
flowers, arranged in spikes something like a Veronica; the whole bush
is aromatic, smelling strongly like highly-refined turpentine. Then
comes _Xanthoceras sorbifolia_, a handsome bush from China, of rather
recent introduction, with saw-edged pinnate leaves and white flowers
earlier in the summer, but now forming its bunches of fruit that might
easily be mistaken for walnuts with their green shucks on. Here a wide
bushy growth of _Phlomis fruticosa_ lays out to the sun, covered in
early summer with its stiff whorls of hooded yellow flowers--one of the
best of plants for a sunny bank in full sun in a poor soil. A little
farther along, and near the path, comes the neat little _Deutzia
parviflora_ and another little shrub of fairy-like delicacy,
_Philadelphus microphyllus_. Behind them is _Stephanandra flexuosa_,
beautiful in foliage, and two good St. John's worts, _Hypericum aureum_
and _H. Moserianum_, and again in front a Cistus of low, spreading
growth, _C. halimifolius_, or something near it. One or two favourite
kinds of Tree Paeonies, comfortably sheltered by Lavender bushes, fill up
the other end of the clump next to the Andromedas. In all spare spaces
on the sunny side of the shrub-clump is a carpeting of _Megasea
ligulata_, a plant that looks well all the year round, and gives a
quantity of precious flower for cutting in March and April.
I was nearly forgetting _Pavia macrostachya_, now well established among
the choice shrubs. It is like a bush Horse-chestnut, but more refined,
the white spikes standing well up above the handsome leaves.
On the cooler side of the clump is a longish planting of dwarf
Andromeda, precious not only for its beauty of form and flower, but from
the fine winter colouring of the leaves, and those two useful Spiraeas,
_S. Thunbergi_, with its countless little starry flowers, and the double
_prunifolia_, the neat leaves of whose long sprays turn nearly scarlet
in autumn. Then there comes a rather long stretch of _Artemisia
Stelleriana_, a white-leaved plant much like _Cineraria maritima_,
answering just the same purpose, but perfectly hardy. It is so much like
the silvery _Cineraria_ that it is difficult to remember that it prefers
a cool and even partly-shaded place.
Beyond the long ridge that forms the shrub-clump is another, parallel to
it and only separated from it by a path, also in the form of a long low
bank. On the crown of this is the double row of cob-nuts that forms one
side of the nut-alley. It leaves a low sunny bank that I have given to
various Briar Roses and one or two other low, bushy kinds. Here is the
wild Burnet Rose, with its yellow-white single flowers and large black
hips, and its garden varieties, the Scotch Briars, double white,
flesh-coloured, pink, rose, and yellow, and the hybrid briar, Stanwell
Perpetual. Here also is the fine hybrid of _Rosa rugosa_, Madame George
Bruant, and the lovely double _Rosa lucida_, and one or two kinds of
small bush Roses from out-of-the-way gardens, and two wild Roses that
have for me a special interest, as I collected them from their rocky
home in the island of Capri. One is a Sweetbriar, in all ways like the
native one, except that the flowers are nearly white, and the hips are
larger. Last year the bush was distinctly more showy than any other of
its kind, on account of the size and unusual quantity of the fruit. The
other is a form of _Rosa sempervirens_, with rather large white flowers
faintly tinged with yellow.
[Illustration: LAVENDER HEDGE AND STEPS TO THE LOFT.]
[Illustration: HOLLYHOCK, PINK BEAUTY.]
Hollyhocks have been fine, in spite of the disease, which may be partly
checked by very liberal treatment. By far the most beautiful is one of a
pure pink colour, with a wide outer frill. It came first from a cottage
garden, and has always since been treasured. I call it Pink Beauty. The
wide outer petal (a heresy to the florist) makes the flower infinitely
more beautiful than the all-over full-double form that alone is esteemed
on the show-table. I shall hope in time to come upon the same shape of
flower in white, sulphur, rose-colour, and deep blood-crimson, the
colours most worth having in Hollyhocks.
Lavender has been unusually fine; to reap its fragrant harvest is one of
the many joys of the flower year. If it is to be kept and dried, it
should be cut when as yet only a few of the purple blooms are out on the
spike; if left too late, the flower shakes off the stalk too readily.
Some plantations of _Lilium Harrisi_ and _Lilium auratum_ have turned
out well. Some of the _Harrisi_ were grouped among tufts of the
bright-foliaged _Funkia grandiflora_ on the cool side of a Yew hedge.
Just at the foot of the hedge is _Tropaeolum speciosum_, which runs up
into it and flowers in graceful wreaths some feet above the ground. The
masses of pure white lily and cool green foliage below are fine against
the dark, solid greenery of the Yew, and the brilliant flowers above are
like little jewels of flame. The Bermuda Lilies (_Harrisi_) are
intergrouped with _L. speciosum_, which will follow them when their
bloom is over. The _L. auratum_ were planted among groups of
Rhododendrons; some of them are between tall Rhododendrons, and have
large clumps of Lady Fern (_Filix foemina_) in front, but those that
look best are between and among Bamboos (_B. Metake_); the heavy heads
of flower borne on tall stems bend gracefully through the Bamboos, which
just give them enough support.
Here and there in the copse, among the thick masses of green Bracken, is
a frond or two turning yellow. This always happens in the first or
second week of August, though it is no indication of the approaching
yellowing of the whole. But it is taken as a signal that the Fern is in
full maturity, and a certain quantity is now cut to dry for protection
and other winter uses. Dry Bracken lightly shaken over frames is a
better protection than mats, and is almost as easily moved on and off.
The Ling is now in full flower, and is more beautiful in the landscape
than any of the garden Heaths; the relation of colouring, of greyish
foliage and low-toned pink bloom with the dusky spaces of purplish-grey
shadow, are a precious lesson to the colour-student.
[Illustration: SOLOMON'S SEAL IN SPRING, IN THE UPPER PART OF THE
FERN-WALK.]
[Illustration: THE FERN-WALK IN AUGUST.]
The fern-walk is at its best. It passes from the garden upwards to near
the middle of the copse. The path, a wood-path of moss and grass and
short-cut heath, is a little lower than the general level of the wood.
The mossy bank, some nine feet wide, and originally cleared for the
purpose, is planted with large groups of hardy Ferns, with a
preponderance (due to preference) of Dilated Shield Fern and Lady Fern.
Once or twice in the length of the bank are hollows, sinking at their
lowest part to below the path-level, for _Osmunda_ and _Blechnum_. When
rain is heavy enough to run down the path it finds its way into these
hollow places.
Among the groups of Fern are a few plants of true
wood-character--_Linnaea_, _Trientalis_, _Goodyera_, and _Trillium_. At
the back of the bank, and stretching away among the trees and underwood,
are wide-spreading groups of Solomon's-seal and Wood-rush, joining in
with the wild growth of Bracken and Bramble.
Most of the Alpines and dwarf-growing plants, whose home is the
rock-garden, bloom in May or June, but a few flower in early autumn. Of
these one of the brightest is _Ruta patavina_, a dwarf plant with
lemon-coloured flowers and a very neat habit of growth. It soon makes
itself at home in a sunny bank in poor soil. _Pterocephalus parnassi_ is
a dwarf Scabious, with small, grey foliage keeping close to the ground,
and rather large flowers of a low-toned pink. The white Thyme is a
capital plant, perfectly prostrate, and with leaves of a bright
yellow-green, that with the white bloom give the plant a particularly
fresh appearance. It looks at its best when trailing about little flat
spaces between the neater of the hardy Ferns, and hanging over little
rocky ledges. Somewhat farther back is the handsome dwarf _Platycodon
Mariesi_, and behind it the taller Platycodons, among full-flowered
bushes of _Olearia Haasti_.
By the middle of August the garden assumes a character distinctly
autumnal. Much of its beauty now depends on the many non-hardy plants,
such as Gladiolus, Canna, and Dahlia, on Tritomas of doubtful hardiness,
and on half-hardy annuals--Zinnia, Helichrysum, Sunflower, and French
and African Marigold. Fine as are the newer forms of hybrid Gladiolus,
the older strain of gandavensis hybrids are still the best as border
flowers. In the large flower border, tall, well-shaped spikes of a good
pink one look well shooting up through and between a wide-spreading
patch of glaucous foliage of the smaller Yuccas, _Tritoma caulescens_,
_Iris pallida_, and _Funkia Sieboldi_, while scarlet and salmon-coloured
kinds are among groups of Paeonies that flowered in June, whose leaves
are now taking a fine reddish colouring. Between these and the edge of
the border is a straggling group some yards in length of the
dark-foliaged _Heuchera Richardsoni_, that will hold its satin-surfaced
leaves till the end of the year. Farther back in the border is a group
of the scarlet-flowered Dahlia Fire King, and behind these, Dahlias Lady
Ardilaun and Cochineal, of deeper scarlet colouring. The Dahlias are
planted between groups of Oriental Poppy, that flower in May and then
die away till late in autumn. Right and left of the scarlet group are
Tritomas, intergrouped with Dahlias of moderate height, that have orange
and flame-coloured flowers. This leads to some masses of flowers of
strong yellow colouring; the old perennial Sunflower, in its tall single
form, and the best variety of the old double one of moderate height, the
useful _H. laetiflorus_ and the tall Miss Mellish, the giant form of
_Harpalium rigidum_. _Rudbeckia Newmanni_ reflects the same strong colour
in the front part of the border, and all spaces are filled with orange
Zinnias and African Marigolds and yellow Helichrysum. As we pass along
the border the colour changes to paler yellow by means of a pale
perennial Sunflower and the sulphur-coloured annual kind, with Paris
Daisies, _Oenothera Lamarkiana_ and _Verbascum phlomoides_. The two last
were cut down to about four feet after their earliest bloom was over,
and are now again full of profusely-flowered lateral growths. At the
farther end of the border we come again to glaucous foliage and
pale-pink flower of Gladiolus and Japan Anemone. It is important in such
a border of rather large size, that can be seen from a good space of
lawn, to keep the flowers in rather large masses of colour. No one who
has ever done it, or seen it done, will go back to the old haphazard
sprinkle of colouring without any thought of arrangement, such as is
usually seen in a mixed border. There is a wall of sandstone backing the
border, also planted in relation to the colour-massing in the front
space. This gives a quiet background of handsome foliage, with always in
the flower season some show of colour in one part or another of its
length. Just now the most conspicuous of its clothing shrubs or of the
somewhat tall growing flowers at its foot are a fine variety of
_Bignonia radicans_, a hardy Fuchsia, the Claret Vine covering a good
space, with its red-bronze leaves and clusters of blue-black grapes, the
fine hybrid Crinums and _Clerodendron foetidum_.
Tea Roses have been unusually lavish of autumn bloom, and some of the
garden climbing Roses, hybrids of China and Noisette, have been of great
beauty, both growing and as room decoration. Many of them flower in
bunches at the end of the shoots; whole branches, cut nearly three feet
long, make charming arrangements in tall glasses or high vases of
Oriental china. Perhaps their great autumnal vigour is a reaction from
the check they received in the earlier part of the year, when the bloom
was almost a failure from the long drought and the accompanying attacks
of blight and mildew. The great hips of the Japanese _Rosa rugosa_ are
in perfection; they have every ornamental quality--size, form, colour,
texture, and a delicate waxlike bloom; their pulp is thick and luscious,
and makes an excellent jam.
The quantity of fungous growth this year is quite remarkable. The late
heavy rain coming rather suddenly on the well-warmed earth has no doubt
brought about their unusual size and abundance; in some woodland places
one can hardly walk without stepping upon them. Many spots in the copse
are brilliant with large groups of the scarlet-capped Fly Agaric
(_Amanita muscaria_). It comes out of the ground looking like a dark
scarlet ball, generally flecked with raised whitish spots; it quickly
rises on its white stalk, the ball changing to a brilliant flat disc,
six or seven inches across, and lasting several days in beauty. But the
most frequent fungus is the big brown _Boletus_, in size varying from a
small bun to a dinner-plate. Some kinds are edible, but I have never
been inclined to try them, being deterred by their coarse look and
uninviting coat of slimy varnish. And why eat doubtful _Boletus_ when
one can have the delicious Chantarelle (_Cantharellus cibarius_), also
now at its best? In colour and smell it is like a ripe apricot,
perfectly wholesome, and, when rightly cooked, most delicate in flavour
and texture. It should be looked for in cool hollows in oak woods; when
once found and its good qualities appreciated, it will never again be
neglected.