THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



1; 



tedious a process, lay the plants on 

 their sides in a row, and syringe the 

 under sides of the leaves with the 

 mixture. To prevent waste it would 

 be well to have made a " drenching- 

 board," as figured at page 121 of 

 the third volume of the Fi.oeal 

 WoEtn. 



Peopeettes. — An immense num- 

 ber of the seedling plants will promise 

 to be almost good, and the grower 

 must have the courage to destroy 

 them. The defect which is most 

 likely to meet with foolish indulgence 

 is irregularity in the " bars." some 

 flowers in a truss having the bars 

 good and complete, others being with- 

 out them altogether. The moet im- 



portant points are a circular outline, 

 a round eye, all the divisions of the 

 same size, and the edges smooth, 

 without notches or frilling ; the 

 ground colour deep and rich — it may 

 be crimson, maroon, or black — it 

 must be velvety ; the " bars" should 

 divide the flower into five principal 

 or ten secondary divisions, and they 

 ought to be geometrically precise in 

 arrangement, and sharp and bright, 

 nowhere blending with the body 

 colour. The truss should carry not 

 less than five blooms ; seven, if well 

 expanded, are to be preferred. The 

 flower-stalk should be stiff and strong, 

 the leaves large and of a fine bright 

 green. Fido Fides. 



ADVERSARIA. 



I hope to be able, under this head, 

 to convey a few useful hints and ad- 

 vices without consuming much space, 

 or taxing myself to write a long essay, 

 which, when written, might exhaust 

 your patience to read it. If " brevity 

 is the soul of wit," this will be a very 

 wittv paper. 



Blue rEYDRANGEA* may bp seen 

 in thousands at the Crystal Palace 

 this season. Those who wish to see 

 them must search for them ; and they 

 will be found chiefly in that part of 

 the grounds which is denominated 

 "the park," and which lies on the 

 side most remote from the railway 

 station, beyond the wing which is 

 appropriated to the orange trees. 

 These blue hydrangeas put me to 

 shame, and I confess myself a booby 

 to have said a word against them in 

 these respectable pages. They are 

 truly beautiful; I have never seen 

 the like of them ; the plants of great 

 size, covered with many large heads 

 of flowers, the colour of which very 

 nearly approximates to what, in de- 

 scribing hyacinths, is called "porce- 

 lain blue." There is no mystery 

 attaching to these hydrangeas. Last 

 year some blue flowers were produced 

 by Mr. Williams, who has charge of the 

 gardening in the interiorof the palace. 

 I saw those, and thought them poor. 



Indeed, I had those very examples in 

 my mind when I ventured to sneer at 

 blue hydrangeas, and was properly 

 rebuked by Mrs. Watney. Mr. Gor- 

 don, who superintends the whole of the 

 gardening and arboriculture outside 

 the walls of the building, struck a 

 vast number of cuttings of the blue 

 hydrangeas, and this season planted 

 them out in pure loam of that hazel 

 colour and silky texture in which the 

 common brake grows so luxuriantly. 

 The result is a grand display, which 

 is now in perfection, and will con- 

 tinue so for a few weeks to come. 

 When I first caught sight of them at 

 some little distance, I exclaimed, 

 "What! have yon been bedding out 

 Statice lJ olfordi?" Mr. Gordon re- 

 plied, "Wait a bit, you'll soon know 

 what they are." And I did soon 

 know. I hope you will also know for 

 yourself, and not rest satisfied with 

 my account of the matter. 



Standard Gebanitjms are often 

 grown for decoration, and they are 

 valuable both because of their beauty 

 and their uncommon appearance. 

 Countess of Warwick, Alma, Flower 

 of Spring, Mrs. Pollock, Sunset, 

 Luna, Cloth of Gold, and Golden 

 Chain, as the most distinct in their 

 several classes, are the best seven 

 kinds to begin with for the formation 



