HERALD OF SPRING

Evening Star, Issue 22451, 23 September 1936, Page 6

HERALD OF SPRING

GLORIOUS DISPLAY AT GARDENS VIVID SPLASHES OF COLOUR The daffodils in the Upper Gardens are indeed a glorious sight and are now at their best. Wandering amongst them, one may see thousands of selfsown seedlings, many of which are more beautiful than those originally planted. Eor those who visit the Gardens this week the following brief descriptions of other features may be helpful as a guide. The azalea garden, though not vet enhanced by the azaleas themselves, is, nevertheless, well worth a visit. There are the dazzling blues of the chionodoxas, scillas, and grape hyacinths, combined with the rich yellows of the polyantha primroses and golden kowhais in the background.

Borders devoted to South African and South American plants provide a unique feature in the Opoho section of the Gardens beyond the Tea Kiosk. There are lachenalias, which here are usually grown _ under glass, blue echiums, and giant flowered proteas, displaying a wide range of colour, in a setting of double-flowering peaches, not to mention the polygaia gilpinsii with its glorious mauve, pea-like flowers.

In the Himalayan rhododendron collection, near the blue gums, the shell pink, plant-covering blossoms of rhododendron ciliatum provide an attractive splash of colour in front of a bright green laurel hedge. Other very interesting shrubs in the Upper Gardens are viburnum carlesii, with its fragrant, pink-flushed flower heads; Eorsythia intermedia, var. spectabilis, quite the best of the genus; Cytisus pallidus and the Canary Island species, Cytisus fragrans; and the particularly attractive species of japonica Cydonia maulei and Cydonia japonica, var. astrosanguinea; all in' full bloom.

The rock garden in the Lower Gardens is now a mass of colour, and there are many rare alpines in full bloom from the Swiss. Himalayan, and other alpine regions that are attracting much attention, such as primula glaucesecns, alpine cyclamen, anemones, species of lithospermum, alyssum, and iberis. In the Shakespeare Garden the red-and-white double-flowered daisies are a charming combination of colour that contrast well with the pale blue of the forget-me-not. The main borders of polyantha primroses are at their best, and these are making splendid growth. They will continue to flower for several weeks, and among them may be observed many fine and richly-coloured forms, the result of careful selection and cross-pollination in the nursery. In the Winter _ Gardens are good displays of cinerarias, both stellata and tho large-flowered forms, also primula malacoides, primula obconica, primula sinensis, and stellata, cyclamen, and hippiastrums.