222 THE FLORIST. 



great profusion. It is a fine tree for a lawn, though the flowers do 

 not last very long in perfection ; they are now beginning to fade. 



In one of the hot-houses adjoining, which has lately been painted 

 and partly re-glazed, is a collection of Begonias, numbering about 

 fifty species. Several of them are at present in flower ; one species, 

 B. umbilica, is a dwarf-growing plant, with rose-coloured blossoms. 

 It is one of the prettiest of the tribe, is most suitable for growing in 

 a shallow pan, and has the good quality of being almost always in 

 flower. In the same house is a collection of magnificent tree Ferns, 

 from the East and West Indies and South America. A noble 

 specimen of the Dove Orchid (Peristeria elata) is also placed in this 

 hot- house for the flowering season ; it has five spikes of flowers 

 on it. 



The house used as a show-house for summer is at present very 

 gay with Pelargoniums, Fuchsias, Petunias, the red and white 

 varieties of Lilium lancifolium. Salvia bicolor, one or two speci- 

 mens of Hsemanthus coccineus, and a few other interesting plants. 

 Tacsonia mollisima is here growing luxuriantly, but at present it is 

 very scanty of flowers. Fuchsia venusta, planted out in an open 

 south border, and trained against the "wall, is now in bloom. This 

 plant has been recently introduced by Mr. Linden ; it is worthless 

 for an amateur ; the flowers are rather small, about the size and 

 colour of those of Zauschneria Californica. 



In a house with a north aspect, recently erected for the cultiva- 

 tion of Ferns from temperate climes, is Lilium Wallichii, in flower ; 

 it is eighteen inches high, the flowers are eight inches long in the 

 tube, and five inches across the limb, of a creamy-white, and fragrant. 

 Clerodendron fsetidum is also in flower here. This house is found 

 very useful for placing a few flowering plants in, having a still, quiet 

 atmosphere ; they last for a long time when once expanded. The 

 Venus's Flytrap (Dionea muscipula) and the curious side-saddle 

 flowers (Sarracenias) are grown here with advantage. 



The Sikkim Rhododendrons are making good progress : R. Camp- 

 beUiae and R. argenteum are sturdy plants, more than two feet high ; 

 the leaves of the latter are sixteen inches long. This appears a large 

 growing kind, the buds of it are very large, and will no doubt break 

 with vigour. Part of the plants are kept in a house with Azaleas, 

 and part are in a cold frame, and are exceedingly healthy. 



The plants in the herbaceous grounds appear to be past flowering 

 sooner this season than usual ; though so gay two or three months 

 ago, there is now scarcely any thing except composites to be noticed. 

 Rudbeckia grandiflora, a good border-plant with large yellow flowers, 

 and Helianthus multiflorus are among the b^st ; this latter has double 

 yellow blossoms three inches across. Pyrethrum uhginosum is a fine 

 autumn flowering plant, bearing abundance of large white flowers ; 

 it grows from three to five feet high, and is an excellent kind for 

 planting in the shrubbery. Emilia coccinea is a good border-plant, 

 the flowers are of an orange- scarlet, and resemble those of groundsel ; 

 it has been in flower for several weeks past, and will remain through 

 the autumn. Among Asters there is such proximity both in habit 



