June 23, 1906 



H O RTICULTURE 



785 



The Great Temple Show of the Royal Horticultural Society 



One of the most successful of the many Temple 

 .-hows held by the Royal Horticultural Society was 

 that which took place in London on May 29, 30, 31. 

 Glorious weather favored the occasion and the tents and 

 tlic lawns were thronged with crowds of enthusiastic 

 visitors. This early summer show, which is held in the 

 gardens of the middle Temple, delightfully situated by 

 the River Thames, is now quite an important function 

 and attracts a large and distinguished assemblage. 

 Three enormous tents are filled with a bewildering va- 

 riety of exhibits of the very finest plants, flower^, and 

 fruits, while groups of hardy shrubs and other plants 

 are arranged- on the lawns outside. 



The largest of the three tents, the contents of which 

 form a magnificent flower show in themselves, is given 

 up almost entirely to hardy flowers. The second tent 

 is filled chiefly with greenhouse and hothouse plants, 

 while tl e third one contains the orchids and rose-. 



A detailed report would probably have little of inter- 

 est for your readers, but I will endeavor to draw atten- 

 tion to some of the most remarkable exhibits and the 

 new plants. The most coveted award is the handsome 

 Veitchian Cup, value 50 guineas, presented to the ex- 

 hibitor of the finest display in the whole show. It is 

 given to no particular class of plants, but simply to that 

 exhibit which in the opinion of the council is the most 

 meritorious. On this occasion the Veitchian Cup was 

 won by Sander «x Sons, the famous orchid growers and 

 importers of St. Albans, England, and Ghent, Belgium. 

 Their exhibit was a magnificent exposition of some of 

 the loveliest and rarest orchids of the day and for qual- 

 ity and for elegance of arrangement has perhaps never 

 been excelled. One of the most remarkable plants in 

 the group was a specimen of Cattleya Skinneri having 

 150 blooms. One of the finest new orchids was Laelio- 

 Cattleya Golden Glory with canary yellow sepals and 

 petals and pale crimson lip,, a strikingly beautiful 

 flower. The finest of the odontoglossums, of which 

 many were to be seen in Sander's group, was crispum 

 variety Leonard Perfect . a large flower blotched with 

 light red upon a while ground color. M. Ch. Vuyls- 

 teke exhibited a collection of some of his wonderful 

 varieties of spotted Odontoglossum crispum. Several 

 of ill. 'in received the award of merit. 



The rare and comparatively new orchid, Cymbidium 

 rhodochilum, was shown in the exhibit from William 

 Bull & Sens. This is a handsome flower and peculiarly 

 attractive on account of its unusual coloring. The 

 sepals are green, tin 1 petals too are green spotted with 

 black, a color combination that is most pleasing. A 

 fact which still further enhances the beauty of this 

 cymbidium is that it has a crimson lip. 



The roses wen 1 perhaps admired more than any other 

 exhibits. They filled the major portion of one tent 

 and by reason of their grace, variety, and richness of 

 coloring made most beautiful displays. Most of them 



were similar in arrangement: they had a groundwork 

 of dwarf bush roses in many varieties of tea, hybrid 

 lea and hybrid perpetual and dwarf polyanthas. Ar- 

 ranged here and there among this groundwork of dwarf 

 plants were standards and pillars of some of the loveliest 

 free growing rambler varieties. The group from Wil- 

 liam Paul & Son was one of the finest. The large plants 

 in pillar form of Crimson Rambler, Lady Gay, Dorothy 

 Perkins, Waltham Bride were covered with their showy 

 flowers and attracted much attention. 



Most beautiful of all the new roses was Hiawatha, a 

 single flowered variety. The flowers, which are about 

 an inch across, are of a soft crimson or rich deep rose 

 color; the centre of t lie blossom is almost white, al- 

 though this, which adds to the beauty of the flower 

 later, is hidden for the time being by the bunch of 

 yellow stamens. These, too, add a distinct charm to 

 the flower. The blossoms are produced most freely and 

 the plants of Hiawatha were generally pronounced to 

 be the most striking feature in the show. Evidently 

 this rose is the result of a cross between a multiflora 

 and a Wichuraiana : tin 1 influence of the latter seems to 

 be most marked. The growth is a good deal similar to 

 that of the other well known Wichuraiana forms, al- 

 though the leaves are larger. This rose was shown by 

 several exhibitors. It received an award of merit. 

 Kathleen, another very charming single flowered ram- 

 bler rose, also received a similar award. Its flowers are 

 rich pink in color, a most pleasing shade. 



The rose Richmond, which is apparently a favorite 

 with American growers, and described here as a glorified 

 Liberty, was well shown, and the new David Harum 

 (hybrid teat pink with beautifully formed reflexing 

 petals was noticeable in the exhibit from Paul & Son. 



An award of merit was given to Rhododendron 

 Marchioness of Tweeddale, shown by John Waterer, 

 Bagshot. This is a beautiful new variety, rich rose 

 with a pale yellow blotch on the upper petal of each 

 flower. The truss is well filled up and stands erect. 

 This was the only new rhododendron to receive an 

 award. John Waterer showed a magnificent lot of his 

 famous Pink Pearl rhododendron. 



Jackman & Sons set up a very fine lot of clematis in 

 many good sorts. A new variety called Lady North- 

 cliffe, a large flower of the Jackmani type, and nearly 

 pure white, received an award of merit. 



Some magnificent new double begonias were shown 

 by Blackmore and Langdon, begonia specialists. 

 Begonias Alice, buff with rose margin; Mrs. Blackmore, 

 deep salmon-pink, and Millicent, clear pale salmon, 

 obtained an award of merit and were' much admired. 

 Vitis Henrvana is a beautiful new Virginian creeper 

 with bronzy green leaves, silvery mid-rib and veins. It 

 is a very attractive hardy climbing plant. It was 

 found by Dr. Henry in China and introduced by Dr. 

 Wilson for Messrs. .Tames Veitch & Sons. It was 

 exhibited at the Temple Show by Hobbies, and obtained 

 an award of merit. 



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