SEl'TEMBKR, 199 



RANDOM NOTES ON GARDEN MATTERS. 



1. The Chinese Primrose. Those of the readers of the Florist 

 who have never used guano for this most useful and beautiful flower 

 would do well to begin at once. Of course every one who cultivates 

 plants at all has at least some Chinese Primroses. They are, in the 

 strictest sense of the term, every body's flowers. We frequently hear 

 persons complaining of the difliculty of growing them well. Tlie 

 truth is, I beheve, that in the main they are too much coddled. 

 Plants may be killed with kindness as well as with neglect. But I 

 am not at present about to write a treatise on the culture of the 

 pretty favourite in question, but merely to tell those who may be 

 ignorant of the fact, that guano-water improves wonderfully the 

 colour of the flowers and the general health of the plants. I'll just 

 say what I did with some, and how they progressed under the treat- 

 ment. At the time to which I shall revert to them, they were in 

 48-size pots, in which I intended blooming them. 'J'he soil was very 

 light, nearly half decayed leaves. As I did not wish them to be in 

 bloom till mid-winter, I picked out all the blossoms which appeared 

 during the autumn, using merely soft water for them when they 

 required any. By thus preventing the development of the blossom, 

 the plants accumulated vigour, became sturdy in stem and leaf, and 

 were in excellent condition for producing plenty of bloom when it 

 was required. It may be as well to observe, however, that for a 

 week or two before they were required to produce the flower-buds 

 intended to remain, water was given very sparingly, the plant often 

 being allowed to flag. After this a liberal treatment was gradually 

 aflforded them ; and when the heads of blossom were about half-deve- 

 loped, guano-water was applied twice a week, gradually increasing it 

 in strength. Nothing could be finer than the masses of bloom which 

 each plant produced. Compared with others to which no guano had 

 been applied, the colour was infinitely superior. The plants, though 

 small, were charming objects, and much admired for the beauty and 

 profusion of their blossoms. 



2. Lycopodium ccesium is a pretty Lycopod, generally treated in 

 a stove or warm greenhouse. But at the entrance of a grotto, in a 

 garden in Stattordshire, I remarked a plant flourishing in the open 

 air. 



3. One of the prettiest hardy climbers is Clematis montana which 

 is worthy of a more extensive cultivation than it enjoys. Few gardens 

 possess it, or, if possessing it, sufficient encouragement is not aftorded 

 it. During the spring I saw a most exquisite specimen in the garden 

 of R. Mangles, Esq., Sunning Hill, Berks. In the same garden, which 

 contains many fine specimens of Conifers, amongst which is a Pinus 

 Sabiniana worthy of notice, is a plant of Solanum crispum as a 

 shrub, some 10 or 12 feet high, and when in full blossom is a novel 

 and beautiful shrub. Trained to a wall at the end of the magnificent 

 range of houses in the Royal Gardens at Frogmore is another speci- 

 men worthy of attention when in blossom. G. L. 



