The Modern Home
April Garden Notes
" Welcome sweet April ! thou gentle Midwife of May's Pride and the Earth's green Livery. Methinks I hear the little sweet birds making ready their warbling Accents to entertains the Rising Sun and welcome him from those remoter Regions that have all this Winter robbed us of his comfortable beanies and benign influence It were a World to set down the worth of this Month ; for it is Heaven's blessing and the Earth's Comfort. It is the Messenger of many pleasures."—The Twelve Moneths, 1661.
APRIL as ever has not failed to be " the Messenger of many pleasures." In the yearly miracle of an English spring there is one phase which never fails to occur—a long period of bitter cold winds when the gardener looks in vain for the soft warm showers and then at last they come, followed by the first tender veil of green leafage. The almond trees are still in flower, for they were late this year. They look as though they held the secret of eternal youth, but even though we have grown them in these islands for over 300 years they never look quite at home in our gardens. Best of all for the small garden is the dwarf variety P. nana (only three to four feet high) which is frequently smothered with its wealth of bright pink blossoms as early as February. Of the early flowering shrubs forsythias are now the most commonly grown. Even in the smallest gardens one sees at least one variety and small wonder, for their golden bells give such a generous wealth of spring colour. They do best against a wall, for birds are uncommonly fond of the buds, and they seem to attack those grown in the open most. Forsythias have wellnigh supplanted those old favourites the American flowering currants, which is a pity, for red is all too rare a colour in the garden at this time of year. The best are those which are true to type with blood-red flowers ; many of the pinkish shades look washy and poor. Their warm, aromatic scent too is delicious, and they have a certain homely look which is always attractive. A delightful shrub to associate with the flowering currants is Coryopsis spicata, also very suited to small gardens, for, though wide- spreading, it does not grow more • than about six feet tall. I suppose the reason it is not more commonly grown is because it is apt to be crippled by spring frosts. The foliage turns a lovely metallic blue in autumn—always a beautiful colour to mix with the browns and yellows of that season. C. pauci flora is only for protected districts, and it likes sandy loam. Both the spring and autumn tints of the foliage are beautiful.
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