144 

 BOUGAINVILLEA SPECTABILIS : 



"WILL IT THRIVE ANYWHERE IK A COOL CONSEEYATOEY IN BRITAIN ? 



LADY writes, from a village near Algiers, to the follow- 

 ing effect : — " May not the Bougainvillea spectabilis 

 succeed in a Cornish or Devon climate without hothouse 

 treatment ? Nothing can be less like stove atmosphere 

 than the air of this place. Both air and soil are very- 

 dry, the winds are often tempestuous, and the thermometer in our 

 apartments often falls to 53°, and yet the lovely Bougainvillea grows 

 and flowers so abundantly on the neighbouring cottage walls as quite 

 to give a feature to the village." 



I send this information for what it may be worth. May not 

 plants of this glorious creeper referred to succeed better in a Cornish 

 conservatory, if brought from Algiers, where they appear to be 

 acclimatized, rather tban such as we have hitherto had from their 

 native tropical habitats ? 



Any remark on this subject from Mr. Hibberd will be greatly 

 esteemed by the writer I have quoted, and by his obliged and con- 

 stant reader, Commelina. 



[We put this in large type that it may have the fullest possible 

 attention, but we cannot at present say anything more about it than 

 this — that a flue plant of Bougainvillea, planted out in a London 

 conservatory, is under experiment, and will be reported on some 

 day.] 



FORMING: AND PLANTING VINE BORDERS. 



BY WILLIAM COLE, 

 Head Gardener, Ealing Park, Middlesex. 



HAD no intention of entering into the important sub- 

 ject of making and planting vine borders, when I penned 

 my short paper of last month, on selecting the best 

 varieties of grapes for the several purposes and seasons. 

 But, since then, several letters of inquiry have come to 

 hand, which, aided by the request of one or two amateur friends, 

 have induced me to say a few words about it. My only reason for 

 not saying anything about forming vine borders was simply because 

 so much has been written, that I fancy people must be getting sick 

 of the subject. I will be as brief as possible, and content myself 

 with saying what should be done, and leave the theoretical part of 

 the question to those who have more time than I have for writing. 

 In low- lying gardens, with a damp subsoil, the whole of the border 

 ought to be above the ground level, with a nine-inch wall to keep 

 the soil in its place. But in ordinary situations, with a dry subsoil, 

 there is no advantage whatever in having them beyond a foot or so 

 above the surface. My vine borders here, which I made a few 



