SPRING GLORY

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 82, 3 October 1931, Page 14

SPRING GLORY

AT BOTANICAL GARDENS

It is always a little doubtful in Wellington as to, what, typo of weather spring will bring with it, but the beauty of flowers is always constant, and those wishing to see spring flowers at their best cannot dp better than visit the Botanical Gardens. There is perhaps nothing more beautiful from the nature-lover's point of view than the golden glory of the kowhai growing in- the bush, and the white flowers of the clematis appearing above the tops of trees, but there are many who like to stroll beside wellkept flower beds, and there is much t« interest in this respect in the gardens. The main walk from the main gates is bordered by beds of wallflowers, intermixed with narcissi, polyanthus, and violas. Another pleasing combination is that of the narcissus buttercup and the stock beauty of Nice. A bed of the anemone La Brilliant that has been the admiration of many visitors for weeks past is now on the wane. The rockery near the front gates is bright with masses of alyssums, aribis, and aubretias. The severe frosts of the late winter show in the nipped appearance of the cinerarias < arid the blackened tops, of the tree fernß and whau or native cork trees. Around the pond the rhododendrons and primus mume are a red mass'in the dark foreground, while the flowering cherries show just a trace in their half-openea blooms of beauty yet to be. The feature of the bank near the main walk is the magnolias with their giant cream cups, below which are beds of scarlet anemone fulgens and the tulip, Kiser Kroom. ■' The ladies' rest room has a beautiful setting of wallflowers in many shades intermingled with hyacinths and anemones. Thr kowhais are a mass of yellow, so much so that not a leaf is seen. The Maori tradition is that when tho kowhai blossoms in such profusion it is a forecast of a wet summer. Among the bush, up from the Glen track, the clematis is showing its white bells above the dark ti-tree. The Chatham Island forget-me-not, with its massive blue trusses, and the mountain celmesia, with its daisy-like flowers, fully throe inches across, stand out among the floral gems near the fernery. Below the director's residonce the narcissus bank shows many thousands of blooms, in spite of yesterdajr'a southerly storm. -■: ; , j ■ ■