48 AMATEUR GARDENING 13 JULY 2019The views, information and opinions expressed during this series of extracts from past issues of AG are solely those of the individuals involved, at the time they were
written, and are not necessarily relevant or even legal today. Please treat these pages as a look back at how things were done in the past and not necessarily how they
are done today. AG accepts no responsibility if readers follow advice given in these articles from past issues.135 years of practical advice
The World’s Oldest Gardening Magazine
135 years of practical advice
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135 years of practical advice
TTTheheheWWWorldorldorldorldorld’’’
Amateur(^1884) TTT
135 years of practical advice
2019
These extracts from AG come from various issues
published in 1905 and focus on flowers that were
being talked about at the time.
The views, information and opinions expressed during this series of extracts from past issues of AG are solely those of the individuals involved, at the time they were
written, and are not necessarily relevant or even legal today. Please treat these pages as a look back at how things were done in the past and not necessarily how they
are done today. AG accepts no responsibility if readers follow advice given in these articles from past issues.
The flower garden
From AG 13 May 1905
The swamp pink
ONE hundred and fifty years have
elapsed since the swamp pink (Helonias
bullata) was introduced into this country,
and, strange to relate, it is unknown to
many garden and plant lovers. It is, as its
name implies, a bog plant, and I have
often seen miserable specimens in the
hardy plant border or wild garden; and
just at the time when the plant should
be surrounded with abundance of
moisture, which is so essential to their
welfare, the conditions were such that
even the best drought-resisting
subjects would suffer.
There is no doubt but that it can be
successfully grown in any open position,
provided the site is properly prepared;
and to this end clay is a capital medium,
a couple of feet or so, buried a foot
beneath the surface, and covered with
retentive loam and manure, and so
arranged that the site is a trifle below
the surrounding level.
When planted in this way, in the
absence of a bog or water garden,
such subjects must at all times receive
a great quantity of water; and to treat
them as ordinary plants spells failure,
and will account for their absence in
many gardens. Liberally treated the
growth is very strong, and the racemes
of pink flowers, with bluish-purple
anthers, are very pretty, and are
produced in the early summer.
W.H.A.
From AG 7 October 1905
Tiger flowers
WHY do we so seldom see these
magnificent irids in the garden? They
are fairly hardy, only needing a sunny
position, well drained in winter, to do
well. Or their corms may be taken up at
the end of November (when their foliage
has ripened away) and placed in a box
of soil, keeping them dry and cool until
March in a frame, or in the greenhouse;
when they can be replanted in the border.
An excellent position for these plants
is in a narrow border of good soil close
under the south wall of a greenhouse,
where they can be easily protected in
winter by means of a small frame light,
which should be fixed over their roots in
a sloping position from the wall, thus
keeping them dry and sheltered.
Few even of the exotic irids can rival
their splendid flowers in scarlet, white,
pink, apricot, etc, spotted in their central
cup with a contrasting deeper colour.
They look like oriental butterflies, when
in bloom, and, although each flower lasts
but a few hours, they are produced for
many weeks from July until October.
I.L.R.
From AG May 27 1905
The mountain clematis
CLEMATIS montana is a wonderful plant
for covering, growing with great rapidity,
and stretching long arms in all directions,
which are a mass of delicate white
flowers in May and early June. It is a
small-leaved clematis, and the separate
flowers are not one quarter the size of
the large C. ‘Jackmanii’ or C. lanuginosa
sections, but like all small-flowered
clematises, it makes up for the want
of size in its petals by the number of
blossoms. The long shoots are simply
smothered with silvery-white stars,
and few climbers are more beautiful.
If you want to increase your stock of
plants, make a layer, bending down a
long shoot (not a flowery one), split it half
through, cover it with earth, and put a big
stone on it. Layers taken in May will be
ready to move in 18 months, and will be
big plants by the time they are three
years old. Wait until October to plant a
bought specimen, though pot-grown
plants may be put out at practically any
time. A cold aspect should be avoided.
Ordinary soil suits it.
M.P.S.
The swamp pink (Helonias bullata)
The tiger fl ower (Tigridia pavonia)
Clematis montana ‘Elizabeth’
Growing conditions for the swamp pink, why tiger
flowers are seldom seen and uses for Clematis montana