274 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



thing unpleasant, delicate fingers never 

 soiled, and then what a gem when cut. 

 " Do you know they will last a fortnight 

 in a glass?'' "Oh yes, madam ; and if you 

 are fearful the old enemy, Jack Frost, will 

 touch your favourite, that is the best way 

 to bloom it late in the season." They 

 throw up three spikes, or perhaps we 

 should say, three gladioli of (lowers ; and 

 if allowed to seed, the seeds can be made 

 to produce flowering plants in a year's 

 time. Gladioli will certainly make their 



outside. This is not a very learned defi- 

 nition, but we hope it is a plain one. The 

 petals should be close, and nicely fill up 

 the figure, having something of the cup 

 form. The colours are very various ; in 

 fact, the shades are most beautifully 

 blended one into the other, and if planted 

 with the desire to effect a rainbow, no 

 flower can answer better. 



We give the names of the six best 

 reds, or dark, and of the six best whites, 

 or light straw, shown by Mr. Staudish, at 



way in the world ; and in order that our 

 readers may be able to arrive at the stan- 

 dard of perfection in form — colour is a 

 matter of taste — we give a sketch of a 

 perfect gladiolus. On carefully examining 

 the cut, it will be seen that the outside 

 petals form a triangle one way, and the 

 inside petals a triangle reversed. Now, 

 ■what kind of triangle should it be ? An 

 equilateral, or, as the mathematicians ex- 

 plain, one that has all its sides equal ? 

 The inside triangle must be similar to the 



the Crystal Palace ; though we know, since 

 then, he has bloomed some more seed- 

 lings that are finer than any yet shown : — 

 Red: John Standish, Garibaldi, Samuel 

 Waymouth, Dr. Blount, Herr Rosenburg, 

 Harlequin. White : Mrs. Standish, Duchess 

 of Sutherland, Diana, Minerva, Mrs. Rid- 

 ley Hunter, the Belle of Bagshot, and one 

 that called forth much praise and titter, a 

 pretty, little, wee thing, " Our Baby." 

 These are all seedlings, and will not be 

 " let out " till next year. 



