When he first sees the white cliffs of Dover gleaming in the distance, the bosom of the homecoming Englishman is supposed to swell with pride.
Mine does not. It swells with unmitigated hatred. Not because I have anything against England, but because I have everything against chalk. Or, as the gardener prefers to call it, lime.
Lime For Flowers
Lime may be all right for squalid rows of turnips, but I am addressing, I hope not vainly, people with souls above such things.
I am talking to flower gardeners about lime which, to many flowers, is death. Think about what you sacrifice when you make your garden on limey soil.
You might forget the pomp and circumstance of rhododendrons and all the colored hosts of that family branch called azaleas.
What You Cannot Grow In Limey Soil
With the important exception of the Erica carnea varieties, you cannot grow any heathers.
You have to give up camellias, and if you go in for hydrangeas, you must be content with the common pink.
Even if you deluge hydrangea plants with chemicals, you will never get that glorious blue as long as your soil is limey. You will never know the thrill of gentians nor of blue poppies.
And if you plant that most marvelous of all lilies, the Lilium auratum of Japan, your sole reward will be a sickly spike that flowers for only one year.
Such exciting shrubs as kalmias and eucryphias will give up the ghost in a year. Though tough as they come, even a large number of conifers, like the Douglas firs, will die away.
Start A Garden On Chalk
Of course, there are several wonderful things you can grow on lime, and in a moment, I will give you a list. But first, my advice to all of you to start a garden on chalk is very simple. Go for a walk. Yes.
Do, please, get in your car and drive into your countryside, and get out and stroll around, keeping your eyes open to what nature grows on chalk.
I can’t speak for America, but in my part of England, which is exposed and, often, deeply frost-bound, an astonishing number of wildflowers spring from only a few inches of turf above naked chalk.
Wildflowers Growing In Chalk
Wild harebells, for example. They tell me I can safely invest in campanulas, and there are wide lovely new varieties of these.
I note wild lupines, geums, and drifts of daisies, and I know I need not worry about most herbaceous stuff.
Wild roses abound, so I know the rose family is at my disposal. Wild white cherry and wild crabapple imply I need have no fear for all the fine examples of prunus and Pyrus.
I have wild daffodils, so now the bulbs are all right. And deeper in the woods, if I am lucky.
I see martagons and irises on the river banks. Pretty comprehensive, even if there are no rhododendrons.
If I were planning a new garden in this chalky country, I should build it around a few flowering crabs and cherries, particularly the weeping varieties.
(What is prettier than a double pink cherry with branches stretching to the ground?)
Rose Garden
I should certainly have a rose garden which would also do for tulips. I should go all out in my herbaceous border, emphasizing iris, lupin, peony, and delphinium, which stand for any amount of lime.
And I should have at least one sheltered corner for the Lilium regale. Next to the auratum, this is the loveliest lily in the world.
Silver petals flushed with old burgundy at the center and a scent that makes you want to fall on your knees and say thank you.
A few winters ago, my regales stood up to 17° degrees Fahrenheit without blinking an eyelash.
Successful with these in limey soil, I should have a go at the martagons. The white variety is very beautiful, like a flight of butterflies. But forbidden fruit, forbidden flowers, are sweet.
Lime-Free Soil
As you continue to garden, I promise you will encounter some flower or shrub without which life is nothing. What to do if it will not tolerate lime?
I’ll tell you what I do. First, I go around collecting old bathtubs from junk shops.
I take them home on top of my car, knock a few holes in the bottoms for drainage, and sink them into the sloping ground.
I fill them with acid (lime-free) soil and plant them with all sorts of enchantments like gentians and blue poppies.
When these come up, I fancy their small blue faces and stare around them surprised as though to say, “What am I doing here?” Then they feel the lime-free soil around their roots and are reassured.
Disadvantage Of This Hip-Bath School Of Horticulture
The only disadvantage of this hip-bath school of horticulture is that sometimes, after heavy rains, the earth is washed away from the top, and the white rim of the tub appears and looks peculiar.
But you can always run out and scrabble up some earth to cover the rims.
And, if in America, you cannot get ancient baths, anything watertight—an old barrel, a tank, or even a battered cracker tin—will do.
I have meandered through these pages from time to time and hope to continue to. You will, by now, have gathered I am slightly mad.
But believe this: there is a method in my madness. If I suggest something works, you will find it does. So now, please, put on your hat, drive into the country, and go for that walk.
44659 by Beverley Nichols