378 THE GARDENER. [Aug. 



fection, we see a dislike to any improvements taken in hand at a later 

 time ; and as for going back to single forms of double flowers, as in 

 the case of the Pyrethram and the Dahlia, it is a thing they cannot 

 tolerate. This spirit of setting up a standard of excellence, and work- 

 ing for and up to it, is a good one. Through this spirit all the im- 

 provements we have to-day in flowers have been attained. Even 

 amongst those who sneer at the florists and their doings, the same 

 spirit is noticeable. Though they do not condescend to notice flowers 

 which the florist has set his stamp upon, except in a more or less 

 depreciatory way, we yet have them praising others which show an im- 

 provement in size, form, or colour, or all three. 



In bringing the merits of hardy florist's flowers before the num- 

 erous readers of the ' Gardener,' I do not think it at all advisable 

 to stick to any hard and fast line as to what constitutes such flowers. 

 They are yearly increasing in numbers. A lover of flowers here, and 

 another somewhere else, make a favourite of a plant, seed it — find that 

 it breaks into various colours, and that its habit of growth is improved 

 — until by-and-by another flower has been added to the ranks of the 

 florist's types. The common bedding Viola, for instance, has not as 

 yet attained to the standard of what may be called a florist's flower, but 

 there is just a possibility of its doing so. The number of really effec- 

 tive bedders capable of flowering till Geraniums give in, may be 

 counted on five fingers ; the great majority, therefore, are grown for 

 some peculiarity of colour, or habit, or time of blooming in early 

 spring. But the other day a gentleman who has been in the front 

 rank as a hybridiser of Violas, showed me blooms which had all the 

 points of good florist's flowers, though the individual size was not 

 larger than a shilling. Another instance of a flower which has been 

 made to yield a great variety in form, habit, and colour, of late 

 years : Aubrietia grseca is generally well known as a lilac-flowered 

 species. A gentleman took to it, and has now all shades of 

 colour up to rich crimson, with larger flowers and great variety in 

 habit. Of course these do not constitute Aubrietia gr^eca a florist's 

 flower, but it yields an instance of how plants may be brought on to 

 rank as such. 



To the great majority of gardeners florist's flowers must be tested by 

 their suitability as decorative plants and the simplicity of their cul- 

 ture. Not one gardener out of a hundred can or ought to trouble 

 himself as to the nice points which exercise the mind of the florist 

 proper. His employer does not want him to know, and on his own 

 part there is no necessity that the knowledge should be attained. The 

 gentleman whose gardener gives him unlimited numbers of Pansies, 

 or Phloxes, or Gladioli, in the greatest number of varieties possible, 

 and cultivated in the best manner, has something to be thankful 

 for, no doubt. But we would prefer the garden where a great 

 number of flowers of this type were grown, and where a dozen or two 



