128 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



the gloxinia leaves. Gisliurst compound is very dear, tliougli very good. lathe 

 majority of cases ahundance of water at the roots will cure roses of mildew. So 

 many papers have appeared in the Floral World on potting and propagating roses, 

 that we really must leave the subject alone a little while, or our readers will think 

 us rose-mad. In the volumes for 1860 and 1862 all the modes of propagating roses 

 are described and figured. 



Flora, of Nice, etc.— i. ISf. R. wishes to know of a good book containing 

 information of the ferns, flowers, land-shells, and butterflies found in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Nice, Mentone, the Vaudois Valleys, and "Wiesbaden. 



Ivy Border. — Mrs. R. — To make a nice ivy border is a very easy aff'air. The 

 ground should be dug and well broken, and some manure added. The breadth of 

 ground broken and manured for the purpose should be at least a foot wide, better if 

 eighteen inches. Procure a supply of pot plants of Irish ivy three to five feet high. 

 These may be obtained from almost any nursery at from one to two shillings per 

 plant. Cut them all to three feet in length, and plant them three feet apart. Wlien 

 planted, train them all one way, and peg them down, placing the branches six 

 inches apart, they mixst be planted firm, and have plenty of water when the weather 

 is dry all through the first season ; after which they will never want watering. 

 When they begin to grow, have all the old leaves cut off', but without damage to 

 the young shoots. Let them grow as they like all the season, but assiduously peg 

 the new shoots so as to cover the ground regularly. The after management is a 

 matter of clipping and pegging to taste. Common English ivy makes nice edging, 

 but is not so quick or luxurious as the Irish. Where expense is no object, we should 

 prefer for a green ivy edging, Hedera helix taurica, a beautiful small-leaved ivy ; 

 and for a silvery edging Hedera helix argentca, the most showy and free-growing 

 of the variegated kinds. But for all ordinary purposes the Irish ivy is the best, 

 and a well-made edging of it is beautiful afccr having been planted three 

 years. 



Culture of the Maidenhair Fern. — I wish to say a few words in regard to 

 the gi-owing of the fern called Adiantum capillus veneris, which I got at Tintagel 

 Castle in Cornwall. But not knowing anything of its habits, it all perished, as I 

 afterwards found, for want of water« Having now made it a study, I beg per- 

 mission to give a description of my plan of growing it. Choose your spot, and 

 dig a kind of small well of three feet deep in the centre ; having lined it securely 

 with brick or burnt clay, carry a pipe from the nearest water to it to keep it always 

 full of water, then build your fernery round it, taking care to build it so as to 

 allow the pool to be seen from the path, or grass plot in which it stands. If you 

 then place the roots of the maidenhair in the rockwork as near as possible to the 

 water, it will soon flourish, and the pool, besides benefiting the other ferns, will be 

 very picturesque. — Felix. [The short notes in the " Garden Oracle" of 1866 on 

 Ferns that require peculiar management dispose of a whole batch of difficulties in 

 fern culture, this among the number.] 



The Colchican Laurel. — B. B. — A high dry sandy soil is that which best 

 suits the laurel ; wet, cold clays are most inimical to its prosperity. Our occasion- 

 ally severe winters do more harm to laurels than ungenial soils ; in 1860 they were 

 everywhere cut about and disfigured by wet and wind and frost, and have not even 

 yet quite recovered. We call attention to the Colchican laurel, Laurus colchicus, as 

 a far superior plant to the common laurel ; it is, in fact, one of the most beautiful of 

 evero-reens, and is considerably hardit-r than the Laurel commonly in use. Instead 

 of the dull heavy green we are accustomed to in laurels, the Colcliican laurel has a 

 rich and lively green hue, and the leaves glisten as if varnished. It is also very 

 distinct in habit, the growth is regular, leaves longer, more taper, with a more dis- 

 tinctly serrated margin, and with longer foot-stalks than the common laurel. 

 Added to these advantages, the Colchican laurel is never injured by our winters, 

 and is therefore a safe and useful evergreen to plant in exposed situations where a 

 screen or belt is required. It will be found a valuable plant to cover walls where 

 plants of more delicate habit would not thrive ; and as it does not require a moist 

 soil, it may be tried on walls flanked by gravel paths, where it is often difficult to 

 grow anything better than ivy. We are informed by Messrs. Lucombe and Pince, 

 of Exeter that in their nursery, which is exposed to fierce gales at certain seasons 

 of the year, it far surpasses the common laurel in hardiness. 



