MAY 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



695 



FROM OUR ENGLISH EXCHANGES. 



The Gardeners' Chronicle. 



DRACAENA VICTORIA. —This is 

 ;iii importation t'loiu liriizil, ami re- 

 sembles D. Lindeni, but retains its 

 golden variegation as it grows older. 

 The recurved lanceolate loaves taper 

 to each end, and are of a bright gold- 

 en yellow, with a central band of 

 green, marked with narrow, cream- 

 colored linear streakt;. It is one of 

 the handsomest of its class. 



WIREWORMS. — Many cultivators 

 have lately used the ordinary commer- 

 cial flour of mustard against wire- 

 worm, and as this substance will not 

 injure plants, it would be well to dig- 

 in a good dressing of this. The worms 

 would be very likely to destroy your 

 bulbous irises if you take no means to 

 get rid of them. 



this season it carries no fewer than 

 290, and measures "\U feet across. I 

 think this close pruning worth repeat- 

 ing, even if one has to wait two years, 

 as the quantity of (lower and intense 

 blue is the admiration of all who have 

 seen it. 



AZALEA INDICA CRAFTED ON 

 RHODODENDRON COELESTINUM. 

 • — At an evening meeting, on Kebruary 

 12 last, of the Horticultural Society 

 of Vienna, Herr Hofgartuor Bayer sur- 

 prised those present with a magnifi- 

 cent collection of llowering azaleas 

 which were grafted on Rhododendron 

 coelestinum. By employing this spe- 

 cies as a stock for the azaleas, strong 

 growth is obtained, together with 

 much freedom to flower, and great en- 

 durance in the flower. The adaptabil- 

 ity of azaleas on this stock for forc- 

 ing purposes is not impaired. 



Syringa pubescens, Turcz., is the only 

 one with violet anthers; that S. Emo- 

 di is the latest to come into leaf, and 

 the only one with protruding sta- 

 mens; that all syringas may be divid- 

 ed into two very distinct groups, in 

 one of which the inflorescences are 

 borne directly on the wood of the pre- 

 ceding year (S. pubescens, oblata, vul- 

 garis, ix'isica and dubia), while in the 

 other they appear at the extremity of 

 the shoots of the same year (S. Emodi. 

 Brotschneideri and Josikaea). 



BEGONIA GLOIRE DE LORRAINE. 

 — Good sturdy cuttings sprang up 

 from the base of the old plants; these, 

 having been subjected to a short rest, 

 were duly cut down; upon the old 

 plants being placed in a high tempera- 

 ture, strong suckers were plentiful; 

 these were the ones selected, and they 

 proved to lie the best. Cuttings of 



M gnonette grown by William Scott. 



ROSES FOR A PENNV-IN-THE- 

 SLOT. — M. Albert Maumene describes. 

 in a recent number of La Nature, a 

 new variety of the automatic distrib- 

 uting machine, from which roses can 

 be obtained. The idea originated in 

 Germany, and the falling of ten pfen- 

 ni,ge ensures the movement of a rose 

 from its position behind a glass screen 

 to a place where it can lie reached and 

 drawn out by the purchaser. The 

 machine is stocked every day or every 

 alternate day with fresh flowers placed 

 on view in little tubes of water, 

 whence they move. a.=! said above, to 

 a place where they can be obtained liv 

 those desiring them. 



HYDRANGEA HORTENSIA.— I tor- 

 ward a head or two of the above, and 

 think you will agree with me that the 

 blue tint is tar more intense than 

 what is usually met with. The plant 

 stands somewhat in the shade, and we 

 always find that plants so situated are 

 a far better blue than those in a sun- 

 nier aspect. Two years ago I hard 

 pruned this bush, as it was trespass- 

 ing over the walk too much; last year 

 it only had ten or a dozen heads, whi'e 



ROSE SOILS.— The National Rose 

 Society has olitained a series of analy- 

 ses by Dr. Bernard Dyer, of certain se- 

 lected soils on which roses of exhibi- 

 tion quality have been grown for 

 years past. The result, so far as the 

 soil is concerned, is negative, and it is 

 evident that the factors are numerous 

 and complex, and do not permit any- 

 one to say with accuracy: "Ah! so- 

 and-so's soil is much better than mine; 

 no wonder he can grow roses." Whilst 

 soil is not without its influence, it is 

 evident that many other circum- 

 stances must be taken into considera- 

 tion. 



DISTINGUISHING THE SPECIES 

 OF SYRINGA.— M. L. Henry has late- 

 ly published in Le Jardin a table 

 summing up very succinctly and clear- 

 ly the marked distinctive characteris- 

 tics of the species of lilac properly so 

 called, now known. Their determina- 

 tion can now be rapidly arrived at. 

 and with certainty. Certain peculiar- 

 ities which appear not to have been 

 previously noted, are indicated in this 

 work, and deserve to be remembered. 

 Thus, the facts that, of all the lilac:--. 



these were, during the last week in 

 May, inserted singly in small pots (2- 

 inch), plunged in the propagating 

 case, where a steady bottom heat was 

 maintained. Rooting having taken 

 place, the small plants were stood 

 upon a shelf near the glass in the 

 same house in direct sunlight, the 

 usual potting being taken in hand as 

 soon as the plants required it; and 

 the plants were again placed upon the 

 shelf in the same position, which was 

 one facing southwest. The potting 

 materials at this stage consisting of 

 equal parts of peat and good fibrous 

 loam, with a large addition of sand. 

 ample drainage being provided, the 

 growth became both rapid and free, A 

 thin staive inserted in the center of 

 each pot allowed the growths to be 

 looped up readily, and the plant be- 

 ing naturally of a branching habit, no 

 stopping or pinching was necessary. 

 As the plants became too large to re- 

 main on the shelf, they were trans- 

 ferred to a warm pit, the growth not 

 being checked. They were fed occa- 

 sionally with artificial manure, in the 

 proportion of a tablespoonful to a gal- 



