1870.] NATIONAL TULIP SHOW. 3G3 



send you these few lines, in the hope that others will be induced to grow 

 them. For shrubbery margins, or for woodland walks, scarcely any- 

 thing can be more acceptable ; and being very hardy, as well as care- 

 less as to the nature of the soil, provided it be soil, there is no difficulty 

 about their management. Like other flowers, however, they amply 

 repay a generous treatment: in proportion to the stimulus they gather 

 from the soil, will be the beauty of their development. 



The seed may be sown where the plants are to bloom, but it is far 

 better to sow it in a pan; and when the plants are large enough, prick 

 them out on a shady border, and transplant them to their blooming 

 quarters in the autumn. The Foxglove is a biennial, therefore the plants 

 raised one summer will not bloom till the following season. If the 

 soil in which they are planted be good, they will grow to a height of 

 3 or 4 feet, with a spike of flowers at least 2 feet in length ; when so 

 grown, they are really beautiful objects. I have some white flowers 

 with crimson, others with purple, and some with brown spots; some 

 of these spots are small in size, others so large as to be actually blotches 

 of colour. The old type of Digitalis purpurea has been wonderfully 

 improved, and in its old form it should now be discarded from our gar- 

 dens. There are now several shades of purple — some so bright in hue 

 as to partake of a red colour ; others so soft as to be of a pale lilac 

 hue. William Plester. 



Elsexham Hall Gardens. 



NATIONAL TULIP SHOW. 



The following notes on some of the flowers exhibited at this exhibition have 

 been furnished to us by Mr Thomas Haynes of Derby, a successful cultivator 

 and exhibitor. After the awards were made, some of the leading growers went 

 round the show and noted down the flowers that were shown particularly well on 

 this occasion. It is gratifying to know that many cultivators of the Tulip are 

 readers of the ■ Gardener,' and the publication of these notes will be appreciated 

 by them. 



Class I. — 1. Mr Barlow Martin's No. 101 feathered Byblcemen, very pretty, 

 much in the style of Denman, but an improvement on that old variety. Sir J. 

 Paxton was grand, and deservedly obtained the premium prize as the best flamed 

 flower in the exhibition. Mrs Lea, good; Aglaia, good ; Charmer (Martin), a bright 

 rose, very beautiful, but the petals are rather narrow ; Duchess of Sutherland 

 (Walker), good ; Celestial, large and good ; Talisman (Hardy), feathered Byblce- 

 men, most beautiful ; Polyphemus, grand ; Sovereign, good ; Bacchus, good. 

 This stand was very closely run by Mr Headly's, whose flowers, however, were 

 a little past their best, and were being severely tried by the heat of the day. 

 2. Mr Headly — Wm. E. Gladstone, feathered byblcemen, is first-class, certainly 

 one of the best ; Circe, flamed Bose — the same may be said of this, quite 

 in the style of, and very like, a good Sarah Headly ; Prince of Wales, flamed 



