Plate 102, 

 COLEUS, EMPRESS (Bull's). 



The sensational plant, as we may justly call it. of the season 

 has been the ('ulcus. The announcement thai a set of twelve, 

 raised in the Horticultural Society's Gardens, were to be of- 

 fered by public auction, set the gardening world on the qui 

 vive; and the high prices at which they were bought, amount- 

 ing to nearly £400, showed how much had been thought of 

 them, while at the same time other growers, notably Mr. Bull, 

 of Chelsea, had been following the same course in hybridizing, 

 and with equally successful results. 



We however by no means agreed with all this ; the prices 

 were extravagant, and, we imagine, only remunerative to the 

 Horticultural Society, for few, if any, of the purchasers could 

 have clone much with them ; and we do not believe 1 that after 

 the present season they will be much thought of while unques- 

 tionably some of those raised by other growers, such as Tel- 

 fordia aurea, sent out by Mr. Wimsett, ami several of those 

 raised by Mr. Bull's hands are far more striking in appearance. 



The introduction of Coleus Veitchii&nd Gibsoni, both of which 

 have been figured in the ' Floral Magazine,' crossed with Co- 

 leas VerschaffelMi, still the most brilliant in colour of all, has 

 opened the way to this fresh strain. We find the seedlings 

 partaking of the character of both parents; nothing, for instance, 

 can be more marked than the decided cross in the richly- 

 coloured variety, figured in our Plate; the frilled characti - 

 the leaves at once suggests Coleus Verschaffeltii, while the rich 

 crimson-brown of the centre is as evidently the crimson of the 

 same species, toned down by the rich deep colour of Coleus 

 Veitchii. 



They are of the most easy culture, can be propagated as 



