AMONG THE FLOWERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1765, 13 February 1888, Page 2

AMONG THE FLOWERS-

Those who revel m ths beauties of tbe flower garden, who are susceptible to the oh&cmt of grace of form aud glory if color, should pay a visit to the grounds of Mr G. Smith, Smith's road. Those are chanted only about twenty minutes walk from the oentre of the to we, and well r^pay the trouble of a journey thither, while all aud singular may depend upou a courteous reception by the proprietor Just to th> left of the entranoe gate is a magnificent bed of gladioli, which is w«ll worth going to see.' It covers • epaoe of some 40 by 20 feet— perhaps more— and is a perfect bl.ee of colo<\ The bulba are set m shallow trenches, with ridges between, and were grown fr -m plants raised m the first Instance from imported seed. The bulbs thus obisined formed tbe parent stock which are planted m a row by themselves, all the rest t>ei g seedlings raised from these by Mr Smith himself, who h>s succeeded la obtaining a great number <>f varieties, m»i>y of them exceeding In size of bloom and beauty of tint the original stock, Mr Smith is hirase f of opinion that no each ext noire or *hoice collection of this very showy and attractive bedding plant is to be fouod m Canterbury, and we are disposed to back that opinion, for we have certainly never seen so fine a display at any horticultural show m Oanterbury or, for that matter, m the colony. There are whitM and oreams splashed with every hue, from lavender to orimson, white-throned and yellow-throated scarlets, crimsons and mauves, self-colora m pink, rose, and scarlet, all so charmingly beautiful that it U hard indeed to award precedence m loveliness. Not far frocn the gladiolus bad is one of double and single geranium*, the former principally, of every hue from wtiite to orimaon, which a week or two ago mast have baeq very fine, but are now past their prime. Then there are penatsmons, zinnias, plnka and roses all worth a peep, while away down by tbe side of the creek, whioh winds through a part of the grounds, are water lilies and water forget-me-nots. Climbing a tail pole Is a plant of hop, festooned with fhwers Blowing that were it not for our high winds hop cultivation would be by no means an impossibility In Ashburton. Tbea we come to a charming bed of pnlr>s Drummondii, and a chain or so away from tbis, and close to the greenhouses, there is another of the tall herbaceous phlox white, orrasoo, llho, and vaiiegated. Close ♦■•■"> the pathway here m a magno'U gra'idifl >ra jost c imlng out m blossom, its large white flowers, a? big as a sugarbasin, loading the air with a perfuove almost too rich to be borne. Peeping Into tbe greenhouses we see the grapes, Black Hamburghs, Muscatels, and Golden Drop, hanging m hundreds of rloh luscious clusters, and recgniee that Mr Smith is In the full enjoyment of the vory aarae of bleeaedness, as pourtrayed by Hebrew writers, for ac he oan certainly sit beneath the shade of his own vine, so also, if he pleases, oan he shelter bimsolf beneath the fig-tree, f»r we notloed the latter m foil bearing m the open air. ]Not that the figs are ripe though, and the worst of it is that they are never likely to be, for though the trees flourish the climate does not admit of 'he frott being brought to perfection except ouder glass. But fl mera and graphs are not the only products of Mr Bmlth ( 8 grounds by a long way. for here one passes by' iobg beds of ridge ououmbers, showing the tempting 000 l fruit m profusion, and there beslio row after row of fruit trees, npplej, pears, plume, and peaches, with gooseberry boshes literally crowded with fruli. These last Indeed, the gooseberries, have this season been so plentiful that they have not paid for pioklng for the market, and although a large quantity has been to* .ed into w ne, many hundredweights htna cri-inn nt.tarlv tn nanf.a. Anri n.it tha

I A 9V D ki^' U\J U <ivui 1 w «\j vw no uut #^ 11*1 VOv I- 11 W fruit as we can testify from experience, ia of splendid quality, large, aweet and delicious. There must be acres of apples, and though a few trees are loaded with gol'tpn and rosy fruit of fine stza and quality, y?t, as a rale, this spssjn the fruit is exceptionally small, owing, we p eßurae to* the for last ya»r the anms trees prnduoed fruit which emH not be bt-aum for c z', flavour, or quality, as was evidenced by tho fact that Mr Stui'h oar r lee 1 cff no less than twelve firat pr 2 a for applet 1 , suiaiuat all oomere, at laatyear'a Ohristohuroh Hnrtiou!tur\l Show. The pear* this year are bearing very sparsely and poorly, having mffired terribly from the dopredatlons of the disgnst'ng Jjttlp tree-loeoh, which Infeat* the pear, the cherry, the plum, and the hawthorn 1 especially. The peaches seem to be altogether a failure having suffered terribly from the blight whioh bai this year been universal. One of the sights of the gurden is a gUnt rhubarb, as much larger than the <% Victoria" variety as that is than the old fashioned cherry-red. One stem (and tbat only a fair specimen of the plant) measured nearly four Inches m diameter, and would have itaelf euffloed to fill a lprgp ple-dloh. There are ?n»ny other things worth noticing aud describing, but perhap* It will be better to leave thes* ' to be found for themselves by those of oar readers who determine to pay Mr Smith a visit, but before they co.ne *way, let us glvo them a bint to take a peep at 1 (fte canaries. These ocoupy a large space ' wired m !ftt °R« gnd of \bs seed ah op, which co»! alas some rorty or more he»)tby bir^a, principally yallow, bat eomeshowing a dfiih of greer (or, aa we beriave it ia technically termed, grey), nil bred and reared by Mr Smith himself. Theee little fellowp }?eep up a constant s'rerlm o£ §ong and pre ? we uhder.Bt&nd. o*otalnablo for a modest etyahralenfc per pair io poln of the