Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

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Miss Ellen Willmott is now one of the .leading authorities in England upon all sorts of horticultural subjects. She has a wonderful place not far from London, at Brentwood in Essex. We had the good fortune to be entertained by Miss Willmott at tea and supper, and herNgenerous invitation was extended for the night also. ‘‘The Gardens of Warley Place are regarded as a Mecca by all plant lovers” “Miss Willmott’s collec- tion of living plants including varieties as well as species probably exceeds one hundred thousand.” She showed us her nursery where she propagates shrubs and trees to perpetuate her interesting collection. The place was at one time the property of John Evelyn, the “diarist.” He first laid out the gardens and planted the chestnuts and walnuts which are still there. As he sold it in 1655 these trees claim,'great age- Miss Willmott has developed and added to the gardens, and knows every stick and stone, bush, tree, flower and herb on th,e place. Her rock garden is one of the loveliest 1 have seen. A sunken garden with an informal outline and irregular paths and stones ov.er which the rock plants climb, droop, form a mat or stand sturdily as is their habit, with a pool of water, also irregular in outline, at the base. It is hard to confine'oneself to one’s subject. I could write a whole paper on rock gardens in England. But 1 must mention one or two more things about Miss Willmott. She has had a number of plants named for her. The tulip Miss Ellen Willmott we all know, late, pale yellow and a lov.ely combination with the Darwin tulips Rev. Ewbank (lilac) and Clara Butt (pink). The little campanula Miss Willmott, just the thing for a rock garden, a mass of blue bells close to the ground in a mat' of color, we saw at a number of places. There is also a lovely potentilla, Miss Willmott, intense scarlet. Miss Willmott has written a most valuable book on the “Rose,” with profuse illustrations. It is a rare and valuable book and embraces all that one could wish to know on the subject. lt is selling for . 1 hope very much that some copies can be sold in this country, as Miss Willmott has been financially hampered by the war and the high taxes. A copy of it is now at the Farm and Garden ofnce in New York, 414 Madison avenue, and may be seen there. Miss Gertrude Jekyli at Godaiming is a well-known and delightful writer on gardening. Her house, as everyone knows who has read her books, is built from timber cut on her own place, and all the beams are adzed by hand. The charming house is so well hidden rrom the road that it took us some time to discover it, and we finally entered on a venture a small gate, almost entirely hidden by shrubs. Penetrating through the shrubs for only 10 or 15 fe,et we found ourselves almost at the door of a low gray house with many interesting gables. We spent a long-to-be-remembered afternoon going over the place with her. We saw the long border she describes in her book and it was indeed lovely. The piace is divided by hedges into gardens for different seasons, and various effects—the wild garden, the spring garden, the garden of herbs. At both Miss Willmott’s and Miss JekylTs we saw a campanula which was new to us and verv effective—Campanula Lactifiora—a inll plant 5 to 6 feet high, pale pinkish lilac in color and he main flower stalk “Hied like a candelabra- We saw this aiso at Frogmore. 6

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supply as had happened in.the United States. The government failed to buy up a foreign crop before the speculators got hold of it, and a corner in sugar and high pric.es resulted. I had been commissioned by the president of the board of directors of the School of Horticulture to visit and report upon the various schools of gardening for women which exist in England, as well as to report upon conditions pertaining to women in horticultural work. In connection with the latter we visited a number of beautiful estates and gardens and met many interesting people Miss Hilda Loines, my traveling companoin, member of the Council oi the Woman’s Farm and Gard.cn Association of America, and I, a member of the association, had also been appointed as delegates from that association to the Women’s Farm and Garden Union of England, with which the American society is affiliated. It would be impossible to expr.ess our appreciation of the great kindness shown to us by our English neighbors. Largely through the efforts and interest of the charming secretary of the Farm and Garden Union, Mrs. Miles Benson, and her office, many invitations w.ere extended to us, and an interesting itinerary planned for part of our stay. The members of the Union were delightfully cordial, and I hope it may be my good fortune to be given th.i opportunity to show hospitaltiy to many of them in America. H. R. H. the Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, sister of King Edward, is the president of the English society, and on our arrival in London a tea was given for us by the club, and the Princess received us. This was, of course, a great honor and gave us a splendid introduction. We had previously b.een instructed as to our manner of presentation to the Princess, but we were particularly struck with the simplicity of the arrangements and with her cordiality and friendliness. She laughingly declined a large arm chair which had'been prepared for b.er and preferred to make no distinction between her kind of chair and ours! She expressed herself as much interested in a suggestion that at some future date an .exchange scholarship of some sort between the English schools and ours might be arranged. Tffe only ceremonial attached to the interview was that we should curtesy on being pr.e sented and address her as “M’Am'’! Never “Madam” we were ,told! The light was in our ey.es as we entered the reception room and a lady in black, with a black lace picture hat, stepped forward right by the door and cordially shook hands. After we had been talking to her for a minute it dawned upon us both that we were talking to the Princess hers,elf and alas! we had made no curtsey! That we were forgiven we felt sure, as sh.e chatted pleasantly‘while we sat either side of her drinking tea and eating delicious sandwiches and strawberries, such, as I believe on y England can grow . She made several suggestions to us as to places to visit, and subsequently sent us an invitation to the Royal Gardens at Frogmore, Windsor Castle; and on hearing that we were at the Rose Showr of the Royal Horticultural Society the afternoon that slu-was there, included 11s among the fewr who were taking tea with her that afternoon. This was on the suggestion of Miss Ellen WiTmott, I belie v? who had been acting as guide to the Princess. 5

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Miss Jekyll, although she says she is an old woman, walks with a vigorous step, and is still laying out gardens and writing books. One of her clients came in while we were there and she had to leave us to show her plans. Miss Jekyll has also felt the pinch of the war very keenly. We noticed the effects of the war very often in tffe fact that the gardens in many places had become somewhat overgrown from lack of labor. Weeds had crept in and plants which should have be,en divided had been left to themselves. Very little was said about it, the condition had gone on too long to be commented upon. At Frogmore, in the royal gardens they lacked about 40 men. They had had women during the war and the gardener had found them very satisfactory. I gathered from his manner that there was something in the labor sitaution which prevented his employing them at present. (To Be Continued.) ELIZABETH LEIGHTON LEE. AUTUMN Keen, live air, with a tang of frost And a hint of Winter storms, Royal meadows, all purple and gold, And wee, living things in swarms. The tree-covered hills, all burning red. Or glowing russet and gold, And everywhere a song of joy— Oh, Nature knows how to grow old! HARDY CHRYSANTHEMUMS By JOHN C. WISTER The Hardy Chrysanthemum is one of the most important of our garden flowers because it brightens up our gardens when all our other flowers have been killed by frost, and it is easily grown and kept from year to year. Plants may be propagated inthe garden by division ; or whole clumps may be taken from the garden in December, and placed in a cold frame, and brought into th greenhouse about the 15th of January or the first of February. Such plants will produce good cuttings by the first or fifteenth of March. Oniy strong cuttings two or three inches long should be taken and if greenhouse conditions are good all of them should root within five or six weeks. They may then be potted in two and one-half inch pots, placed first in the greenhouse ; then hardened in frames and afterwards planted in the garden as danger of frost is over early in May. These plants should have one pinching when four or five inches high, either before or after setting in the open ground and should be pinched once or twice more to make the growth stocky, once in June and once in July, preferably not later than the middle of July. If this is done most varieties will not need staking. The plants should be well cultivated and kept growing fast. For slight infestation of aphides, a simple syringing with water may be sufficient, but if such attacks continue the plants should be sprayed occasionally. 7