12 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[^January, 



no fire on ftccouiit of the water rising to within 

 six inches of the surface of the ground, so it 

 dried off the Eueharis enlirel}', and they were 

 standing from January until April in a cold 

 moiat temperature, many nights aH low as 40°. 

 In April I took pans one foot in diameter, well 

 drained them, and plai\ted six bulbs in each pan, 

 using soil composed of one part peat, two parts 

 loam, with a little well decomposed manure and 

 some leaf mould added. They were then placed 

 in a close frame, having a strong bottom heat, 

 maintaining a high temperature, wiiere they 

 soon commenced to grow. I gave them plenty 

 of water, both at the root and on the foliage, and 

 gradually a little air, until the beginning of Au- 

 gust, when they were taken to a cooler place and 

 kept more dry until early in September ; they 

 were then again placed in heat, and well sup- 

 plied with water at the root and on the leaves. 

 The first flowers opened the last days of Septem- 

 ber, which are most beautiful, being large and 

 pure white, and deliciously fragrant. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



The Verbena.— If in a multitude of counsel- 

 lors there is wisdom, Verbena growers will be 

 happy to-day. It is a Verbena number. But 

 the Verbena is worthy of all the space the articles 

 occupy. 



MusA ENSETE. — This beautiful ornamental 

 Banana does not seem to throw up suckers as 

 other species do, and propagation is slow. This 

 is why the plants are scarce and dear. One who 

 could increase it faster than now would find it to 

 his profit. 



Duchess of Edinburg Rose.— Some fear has 

 been expressed that there may be a spurious va- 

 riety of this under culture. We do not think 

 there is — the variations we have seen being not 

 unusual in cases where the heavy propagation of 

 a desirable thing is going on. We can say, 

 however, that a bud from Mr. Chitty, Superin- 

 tendent of the Bellevue Nursery, Paterson,N. J., 

 shows that that firm has the true kind. 



Covent Garden Bouquets.— The following 

 from the Journal of Horticulture tells what the 

 best bouquets are made of in London : "Some 

 exceedingly effective bouquets are always to be 

 found in the Central Avenue of Covent Garden 

 Market. We noticed one recently which, though 



formal, wa.i very striking. A white Camellia 

 formed the centre, and from this to the outer 

 edge of the bouquet were six rows at equal dis- 

 tances apart of single pips of Stephanotis flowera 

 — six pips in each row — the angles being filled 

 with Violets, and the whole edged with Maiden- 

 hair Fern. Other bouquets were made princi- 

 pally of Camellias. Roses, and Euchariscs, with 

 sprays of white and scarlet Bouvardias slightly 

 elevated above the more massive flowers. This 

 arrangement was ver>' chaste and pleasing." 



NEW PLANTS. 



DiANELLA aspera. — By the following from the 

 Gardener's Chronicle this plant must be very or- 

 namental : " One of the finest blue-berried plants 

 with which we are acquainted is Dianella aspera, 

 and a good example we have recently seen in 

 the temperate-house at Kew. The panicles are 

 very compact, in one case 9 inches long with 

 forty-eight berries, closely arranged on short 

 branches. The berries equal in size a small 

 Solanum Capsieastrum. Several of this genus 

 would be highly ornamental in fruit, but for 

 their excessively lax habit." 



Double Geranium — Bishop Wood. — Mr. Har- 

 ris sends us a specimen of his new geranium, 

 " Bishop Wood," and it proves to be an excel- 

 lent addition to this beautiful class of plants. 

 The shade of color, which perhaps the ladies 

 would call cherry rose, is novel in double gera- 

 niums. The flowers are very large, one in the 

 truss measuring two inches across. The truss is 

 rather small, measuring four inches over, but 

 Mr. Harris says it comes much larger in season. 



Sweet-scented Rhododendrons. — A corres- 

 pondent recently referred to the house culture of 

 Rhododendrons — an excellent idea. The new 

 sweet-scented class of hybrids are worth attend- 

 ing to in this connection. The following new 

 varieties of this class have recently appeared in 

 England : 



Countess of Derby. — This is the most beautiful 

 of all half-hardy kinds, being of a compact,bushy 

 habit, and bearing on even the smallest plants, 

 trusses of large pure white deliciously fragrant 

 flowers, a single flower being sufficient to give a 

 delightful scent to a bouquet. A number of 

 plants were exhibited at Manchester last year, 

 and were awarded a First-class Certificate of 

 Merit. 



