MRS. LAWRENCE'S GARDEN. 



just beneath the rim. This hoop is furnished with two strong hooks, one on each side, 

 beneath which two hand spikes made to fit them are placed, and the plant is then carried 

 as if it were on a hand-barrow. 



In the greenhouses the most perfect ventilation is provided for by opening all the side 

 lights, so that during the hottest weather the houses may be kept comparatively cool; 

 and, after the occurrence of great moisture, they may likewise immediately be dried. 

 Beneath the stages, moreover, there are small slides or shutters, for further ventilation; 

 and these are very useful in winter, as the air they will admit passes over the heating 

 pipes. By their means, likewise, the floor and lower parts of the house can be kept dry. 

 The stages are, for the most part, covered with a thin coating of gravel; and, to bring the 

 plants as near as possible to the glass, and secure to them a greater amount of air, and 

 guard them against becoming too moist, each of the specimens is generally raised on a 

 large pot, so as to stand from 18 to 30 inches above the stage. 



It will of course be impossible, were it even worth attempting, to do more than point 

 out some of the general features of this collection. The two principal greenhouses contain 

 nothing but specimens. The plants in them that are most conspicuous are Boronias, 

 Epacrises, Polygalis, Eriostemons, Pimeleas, Leschenaultias, Croweas, Chironias, Choro- 

 zemas, Hoveas, &c., with a few climbing plants trained to low trellises. Crowea saligna, 

 Coronia crenata and scrrulatu, Chorozema cordata, Pimelea spectabilis, all the Erioste- 

 mons, especially JiJ. buxifolium and intermedium, and the charming old Leschenaultia 

 formosa, are some of the plants here cultivated, which flower abundantly in all stages of 

 their growth, and are of a free and excellent habit. Some idea of the size of many of the 

 plants will be conveyed by mentioning that Pimelea spectabilis is 27 feet in circumference, 

 and that, from the edge of the pot over the whole surface of the plant, there is scarcely 

 space enough to allow of the hand being introduced between any of the branches. Nearly 

 every one of the shoots is crowned with a bunch of blossoms in the summer. Gompholo- 

 biumpolymorphum grandiflorum is treated as a bush,and makes a beautiful plant in this state. 



Ih the stove the plants are equally good of their kind. A great many handsome climb- 

 ers are here grown to trellises, and a few of this tribe are also trained up the slender 

 pillars which support the roof. The Jlllamanda cathartica, Schotti, and grandiflora, 

 Stephanotis floribunda, Convolvulus pentanthus, Jloya imperialis and JSedwilli, sever al 

 species of Ipomcea, Echites, uTJschynaiithus, and Combretum, Clerodendron splendens, 

 &c., are some of the principal dwarf climbers, and are in great perfection. Medinilla 

 spcciosa, a rare and exceedingly ornamental species, with very large leaves and conspicu- 

 ous drooping spikes of pink flowers succeeded by showy crimson fruit, is in an excellent 

 state, and blooms for several months. 



A glass partition, with a light iron frame (the rest of the houses being of wood,) sepa- 

 rates the commoner stove from the orchid houses, and from the compartment devoted to 

 the jimhcrstia. Of this last, there is an extraordinary specimen, which is, perhaps, the 

 greatest feature of the whole collection. It is now quite a little tree, although it has only 

 been here four or five years, and has flowered here for the first time in Europe, very few 

 other plants of it existing in England. At the present time (January, 1851) it is again 

 showing a quantity of bloom, which usually expands about April. The leaves, which are 

 pinnated, and are paler in the young state, are of the handsomest and amplest character, 

 forming a head of the most graceful kind. The flowers are vermillion-colored, and are 

 produced in large drooping racemes, after the manner of a laburnum or Wistaria. It is 

 a native of the East Indies, from whence it was obtained through Dr. Wallich; and 

 reached its present state of perfection here in a surprisingly short period of time 



