THE FLOWER BORDER IN JULY
Towards the end of July the large flower border begins to show its
scheme. Until then, although it has been well filled with growing
plants, there has been no attempt to show its whole intention. But now
this is becoming apparent. The two ends, as already described, are of
grey foliage, with, at the near end, flowers of pale blue, white and
lightest yellow. The tall spikes of pale blue Delphinium are over, and
now there are the graceful grey-blue flowers of _Campanula lactiflora_
that stand just in front of the great Larkspurs. At the back is a white
Everlasting Pea, four years planted and now growing tall and strong.
The overblown flowers of the Delphinium have been removed, but their
stems have been left just the right height for supporting the growth of
the white Pea, which is now trained over them and comes forward to meet
the pale blue-white Campanula. In front of this there is a drift of Rue
giving a beautiful effect of dim grey colour and softened shadow; it
is crowned by its spreading corymbs of pale yellow bloom that all rise
nearly to a level. Again in front is the grand glaucous foliage of Sea
Kale. A little further along, and towards the back, is a bush of Golden
Privet, taking up and continuing the pale yellow of the Rue blossom,
and forming a kind of groundwork to a group of the fine Mullein
_Verbascum phlomoides_ now fully out. Just below this is a clump of the
Double Meadowsweet, a mass of warm white flower-foam. Intergrouped are
tall Snapdragons, white and palest yellow. Then forward are the pale
blue-green sword-blades of _Iris pallida dalmatica_ that flowered in
June. This is one of the few Irises admitted to the border, but it is
here because it has the quality, rare among its kind, of maintaining
its great leaves in beauty to near the end of the year. Quite to the
front are lower growing plants of purest blue--the Cape Daisy (_Agathea
cœlestis_) and blue Lobelia.
Now we pass to a rather large group of _Eryngium oliverianum_, the
fine kind that is commonly but wrongly called _E. amethystinum_. It
is a deep-rooting perennial that takes three to four years to become
strongly established. In front of this are some pale and darker blue
Spiderworts (_Tradescantia virginica_), showing best in cloudy weather.
At the back is _Thalictrum flavum_, whose bloom is a little overpast,
though it still shows some of its foamy-feathery pale yellow. Next we
come to stronger yellows, with a middle mass of a good home-grown form
of _Coreopsis lanceolata_. This is fronted by a stretch of _Helenium
pumilum_. Behind the Coreopsis are _Achillea Eupatorium_ and yellow
Cannas.
Now the colour strengthens with the Scarlet Balm or Bergamot,
intergrouped with _Senecio artemisiæfolius_, a plant little known but
excellent in the flower border. A few belated Orange Lilies have their
colour nearly repeated by the Gazanias next to the path. The strong
colour is now carried on by _Lychnis Chalcedonica_, scarlet Salvia,
_Lychnis haageana_ (a fine plant that is much neglected), and some of
the dwarf Tropæolums of brightest scarlet. After this we gradually
return to the grey-blues, whites and pale yellows, with another large
patch of _Eryngium oliverianum_, white Everlasting Pea, Calceolaria,
and the splendid leaf-mass of a wide and high plant of _Euphorbia
Wulfenii_, which, with the accompanying Yuccas, rises to a height
far above my head. Passing between a clump of Yuccas on either side
is the cross-walk leading by an arched gateway through the wall. The
border beyond this is a shorter length, and has a whole ground of grey
foliage--Stachys, Santolina, Elymus, _Cineraria maritima_, and Sea
Kale. Then another group of Rue, with grey-blue foliage and pale yellow
bloom, shows near the extreme end against the full green of the young
summer foliage of the Yew arbour that comes at the end of the border.
Again at this end is the tall _Campanula lactiflora_. In the nearer
middle a large mass of purple Clematis is trained upon stiff, branching
spray, and is beginning to show its splendid colour, while behind, and
looking their best in the subdued light of the cloudy morning on which
these notes are written, are some plants of _Verbascum phlomoides_, ten
feet high, showing a great cloud of pure pale yellow. They owe their
vigour to being self-sown seedlings, never transplanted. Instead of
having merely a blooming spike, as is the usual way of those that
are planted, these have abundant side branches. They dislike bright
sunshine, only expanding fully in shade or when the day is cloudy and
inclined to be rainy. Close to them, rising to the wall's whole eleven
feet of height, is a _Cistus cyprius_, bearing a quantity of large
white bloom with a deep red spot at the base of each petal.
[Illustration: _WHITE ROSE LA GUIRLANDE; GREY BORDERS BEYOND._]
[Illustration: _CLEMATIS RECTA._]
Though there is as yet but little bloom in this end of the border the
picture is complete and satisfying. Each one of the few flower-groups
tells to the utmost, while the intervening masses of leafage are in
themselves beautiful and have the effect of being relatively well
disposed. There is also such rich promise of flower-beauty to come that
the mind is filled with glad anticipation, besides feeling content
for the time being with what it has before it. There is one item of
colouring that strikes the trained eye as specially delightful. It is
a bushy mass of _Clematis recta_, now out of bloom. It occurs between
the overhanging purple Clematis and the nearer groups of _Cineraria
maritima_ and Santolina. The leaves are much deeper in tone than these
and have a leaden sort of blueness, but the colouring, both of the
parts in light and even more of the mysterious shadows, is in the
highest degree satisfactory and makes me long for the appreciative
presence of the rare few friends who are artists both on canvas and in
their gardens, and most of all for that of one who is now dead[1] but
to whom I owe, with deepest thankfulness, a precious memory of forty
years of helpful and sympathetic guidance and encouragement in the
observation and study of colour-beauty.
[1] The late H. B. Brabazon.
* * * * *
One cannot write of the garden in July without a word of the Roses.
Besides the bushy garden Roses, and the kinds of special charm, such as
Damask, Provence, Moss and China, those that most nearly concern the
garden for beauty and pictorial effect are the rambling and climbing
Roses that flower in clusters.
In "Roses for English Gardens" I dealt at some length with the many
ways of using them; here I must only touch upon one or two of these
ways. But I wish to remind my readers of the great value of these
free Roses for running up through such trees as Yews or Hollies in
regions where garden joins hands with woodland, and also of their great
usefulness for forming lines of arch and garland as an enclosure to
some definite space. I have them like this forming the boundary on two
sides of a garden of long beds, whose other two sides are a seven-foot
wall and the back of a stable and loft. Just beyond the arch in the
picture (p. 60), and dividing the little garden in two, is the short
piece of double border that is devoted to August.
[Illustration: _DELPHINIUM BELLADONNA._]
[Illustration: _CANTERBURY BELLS._]
The other long beds in this region are for special combinations, some
of them of July flowers. Orange Lilies are with the beautiful _Clematis
recta_, a plant but little known though it is easy to grow and is one
of the best of summer flowers. One bed is for blue colouring with grey
foliage. Here is the lovely Delphinium Belladonna, with flowers of
a blue purer than that of any others of its beautiful kind. It never
grows tall, nor has it the strong, robust aspect of the larger ones,
but what it lacks in vigour is more than made up for by the charming
refinement of the whole plant. In the same bed are the other pure
blues of the rare double Siberian Larkspur, and the single allied kind
_Delphinium grandiflorum_, of _Salvia patens_ and of the Cape Daisy
_Agathea cœlestis_. Between the clumps of Belladonna are bushes of
white Lavender, and the whole is carpeted and edged with the white
foliage of _Artemisia stelleriana_, the quite hardy plant that is such
a good substitute for the tenderer _Cineraria maritima_.
Among the best flowers of July that have a place in this garden are
the Pentstemons planted last year. We grow them afresh from cuttings
every autumn, planting them out in April. They are not quite hardy,
and a bad winter may destroy all the last year's plants. But if these
can be saved they bloom in July, whereas those planted in the spring
of the year do not flower till later. So we protect the older plants
with fir-boughs and generally succeed in saving them. Old plants of
Snapdragon are also now in flower. They too are a little tender in the
open, although they are safe in dry-walling with the roots out of the
way of frost and the crowns kept dry among the stones.
Much use is made of a dwarf kind of Lavender, that is also among
the best of the July flowers. The whole size of the plant is about
one-third that of the ordinary kind; the flowers are darker in colour
and the time of blooming a good month earlier. It has a different use
in gardening, as the flowers, being more crowded and of a deeper tint,
make a distinct colour-effect. Besides its border use it is a plant for
dry banks, tops of rock-work and dry-walling.
[Illustration: _ROSE THE GARLAND IN A SILVER HOLLY._]
[Illustration: _ERYNGIUM OLIVERIANUM._]