JuLv 1885.] EDITORIAL NOTES. 151 



Editorial Kotes. 



The Season. — It was the fashion in weather articles written 

 during May to lament the long-delayed summer. Flowers and 

 foliage, backward fully three weeks in the Edinburgh district, seemed 

 to leap into joyous life in the first days of June. Up to the period 

 we are writing, ramblers in the woods and fields have been gladdened 

 hj foliage of a fresher green than usual, as well as the greater perfection 

 of flowering trees and shrubs. In the Botanic and City gardens the 

 eye is dazzled and relieved by the variety of gorgeous colour inter- 

 mingled with the untiring green of various shades. We purpose 

 reverting to the most interesting items of tree growth in the various 

 public parks of the district. Meanwhile our space compels us to 

 limit our notahilia to Dalkeith Park and its surroundings. 



Horse-Chestnuts have there been especially well displayed, 

 including the double white, red, and yellow-flowered kinds, as well 

 as the typical variety. The common Laburnum has this season 

 presented a perfect shower of its golden blossoms. So, too, has 

 the Scots Laburnum, a tree of less graceful habit, but with flowers as 

 profuse and of a richer golden tint ; while the Laburnuvi Adami, 

 with flowers of different colour on the same branch, and with colour 

 varying in most capricious manner, has been specially notable. 



The show of Thorns, from the common Hawthorn with its sweet 

 " May blossom," to the double varieties, such as the white, pink, red, 

 and Paul's scarlet, abundantly testifies that these choicest of our 

 flowering trees should be freely employed in ornamental planting. 



Azaleas and Ehododendrons have flowered in their best form ; 

 especially where planted in woodland glades, where they are proof 

 against vermin, they form an excellent cover, besides lightening up 

 the scene in a manner unequalled by any other shrubs. So much for 

 the natives of Dalkeith Palace woods. But an exotic now flourishes 

 in the midst of their summer beauty, which deserves a special 

 paragraph. 



The Blue Gum of Tasmania at Dalkeith. — Mr. Dunn, of the 

 Palace Gardens, exhibited at the June meeting of the Edinburgh 

 Botanical Society a branch with a number of unexpanded flowers of 

 Eucalyptus globulus, taken from a tree, raised from seed sent from 

 Australia in 1880. When about 5 feet high in the spring of 1882, 

 it was i^lanted out in a sheltered spot in light well-drained soil, 

 where it has grown freely, and is now about 20 feet high. After 

 passing through the recent two mild winters iminjured, it began to 



