2U 



THE GARDENER' i^ M 0X121 LY 



[August, 



with its Imltil, suir^osts to mo {\w probability of 

 its bi'iiiji a bybrid botweoii the ycHow Scaiidi- 

 Davian Alpine WalltlowtT (C. alpiiuis) or C. 

 «coparius of TcneriHe and one of the purple 

 Madeiran species — either C. mutabilis or C. , 

 nrbusciilus. I think it would be interesting: if 

 it eoiild be proved; and perhaps Mr. Allen, 

 who has paid inueh attention to the ^enus Cheir- 

 nnthus, or some other skilled hybridist, will 

 assist in vcniilatiuij; this imiuiry.'" 



A Ci'HE FOIJ Tiruips. — A correspondent of 

 the Journal of Jlorticuliure, says: 



"Finniiratini; once a fortni;^ht the houses in 

 which it is present is a good means to adopt for 

 eradicating it; and we have found that syring- 

 ing the plants, &c., infested with a solution of ^ 

 soft soap and tobacco water is also efTectual if 

 applied once a week, at a temperature of 100° to 

 120°. Prevention, however, is better than cure, 

 and if the plants are kept liealthy by due ventila- 

 tion and abundance of moisture both in the air 

 and soil, the insect may be usually banished." 



Okciiids. — "We had a good illustration recent- ! 

 ly, of the ease with which orchids may be 

 grown. A Cattleya Mossiae, which had been 

 " kicking about " in a florist's greenhouses with 

 ■other plants, was flowering beautifully in an 

 •old basket. It was impossible to conceive of 

 anything more utterly neglected and even 

 abused. "We should not be surprised to find 

 these pretty things among the most popular of 

 plauts for window gardening, some day. 



NEJV OR RARE PLANTS. 



LlJCULiA GRATIS8IMA. — This is a vigorous 

 greenhouse shrub or small tree of the Cinchona 

 family, a native of Nepal, and though by no 

 means a recent introduction, it is nevertheless 

 quite rare in our gardens. One of the finest 

 bloomed specimens of it I ever saw, is now 

 <Dec. 10th,) in perfection at Such's nurseries 

 South Amboy, N. J. It is planted out in the 

 bed of a Camellia house, is some eight or nine 

 feet high, has one hundred and five compound 

 closely compacted panicles from six to ten in- 

 •ches in diameter, of large and showy rose-colored 

 flowers, that are so powerfully and deliciously 

 fragrant as to perfume the whole greenhouse. 

 The plant has grown very thriftily, having 

 produced several four feet long shoots this year: 

 but Mr. Taplin tells me he cuts it in pretty close- 



ly every year. It is never so satisfactory aa a 

 pot plant as it is when planted out where it re- 

 (luires 11(1 nnMe care than a Camellia — plenty 

 water and Irecjuent syringing while growing, 

 and in "Winter a temperature not under 4()° Fah., 

 if possible. Its extreme fl«)ral wealth, and 

 that too at a time — Christmius week — when 

 llowers are in demand.certainly commends it to a 

 lirst position among greenhouse shrubs. Time and 

 again I have known Ijiculia gratissima to have 

 been imported from Europe, but it was always 

 dead when it got here ; indeed, last year we got a 

 l)lant of it from Kew, packed in a Wardian case 

 along with dozens of other exotics, so that not a pot 

 was shaken or a leaf disturbed, but the Luculia 

 was dead as usual, and all the other plants but 

 one, were almost as fresh as when they entered 

 the case. 



The following note from the Botanical Mafra- 

 zine, G8, Tab. .''.940, may be of interest : '" It is im- 

 possible, says Dr. "Wallich, to conceive anything 

 more beautiful than this tree, when covered 

 with its immense rounded panicles of pink- 

 colored, very fragrant, large blossoms. It 

 is a native of Nepal and Silhet, in the for- 

 mer country growing in great abundance on 

 Nag-Urjooro and some of the other smaller 

 hills in the valley, also at Bechiako and Koola- 

 kan. It delights in exposed, rather naked situa- 

 tions, flowering, accprding to the locality in 

 which it is to be found, nearly the whole year 

 through." F. 



Luculia Pinciana, — is another species, in leaf 

 and habit very like the preceeding,but the flowers 

 on the upper side are pure white, changing in 

 age to cream tinged with blush; the outside is 

 deep blush and the tube red. It was raised from 

 seeds received from Napal by Pince, of Exeter, 

 England, and is reputed as finer than gratissima. 

 The immense compound cymes being larger and 

 sweeter. I am not aware of its being in this 

 country. F. 



New Zonal Pelargonium, Dr. Denny. — 

 AH new varities of Pelargoniums, heretofore, 

 have generally had a great deal of sameness 

 about them, but in the new Zonal, Dr. Denny, 

 there seems to be a variety that looks as if it 

 were to be the forerunner of an entirely new 

 class. 



' In the Florist and Pomologist for June, there 

 is a beautiful illustration of this variety, the 

 flowers appear large and of good form, the petals 

 are nearly blue, and at the base of the upper 



