MAY. 129 



THE CINERARIA. 



We have this month given an illustration of four beautiful new 

 varieties of this spring-tlowering plant, and we feel assured they 

 will become popular favourites. Mrs. Trulove is a striking and 

 distinct flower ; colour, pure white ground, heavily tipped with 

 dense crimson-purple, with dark purple disc ; it was raised by 

 Mr. Ivery, Nurseryman, Peckham. Optima and Lady ^lary 

 Labouchere were both raised by Mr. Bousie, gardener to the 

 Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, Stoke Park, near Windsor. The 

 former is a large, well-formed flower, clear white ground, with a 

 medium belting of deep mazarine blue, small dark disc, and of 

 excellent habit. The latter variety is a most constant and beau- 

 tiful flower ; clear white ground, with a narrow margin of deep 

 lavender-blue, and of excellent habit. Sir Charles Napier was 

 raised by Mr. Chas. Turner, of Slough, and is a striking variety, 

 of dwarf habit, and a profuse bloomer ; colour intense dark blue, 

 and of good form. 



Sir Charles Napier, Mrs. Trulove, and Optima have been 

 awarded Certificates of Merit at the National Floricultural So- 

 ciety, and Lady Mary Labouchere obtained a first-class Certificate 

 from the same Society, as well as from the Royal South London 

 Floricidtural Society. 



Where is there a plant, during the autumn, winter, and early 

 spring months, so gay and beautiful as the Cineraria ; or which is so 

 useful for exhibition or decorative purposes, or for the embelhshment 

 of the flower-vase or bouquet ? By artificial light, the colours of 

 some of the rose, crimson, and purple varieties are extremely brilliant ; 

 while the white varieties, margined with the preceding colours, are 

 matchless. Add to this, that many of the kinds are deliciously 

 fragrant, and you have nearly all the qualities which constitute a good 

 flower. In treating of the Cineraria as a plant for exhibition, or of its 

 value for decorative purposes (and, in the early part of the season, 

 the plants make a fine display), we cannot refrain from stating that 

 their cultivation should be much improved, and indeed must be before 

 they will assume their wonted standing upon our exhibition-tables. But 

 a few years back Cinerarias were" but a lot of poor, starry things, with 

 narrow, flimsy petals, and flowers supported by tall, unsightly stems ; 

 but now, thanks to the desire for improvement, the best varieties are 

 dwarf and compact, and, when properly grown, produce perfect trusses 

 of stout, and, in some few cases, of almost perfectly-formed flowers. 



When high cultivation is aimed at, peculiar treatment (which we shall 

 presently describe) is required to produce stout, healthy cuttings, as 



NEW' SERIES, VOL. IV. NO. XLI. K 



