426 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



FEBRUARY 3, 



sand and elevated ou the bench well 

 up to the light, in a temperature of 55 

 to 00 degrees. When well rooted they 

 are potted into thumb pots and placed 

 in a temperature of 50 degrees, where 

 they remain over winter. Great care 

 is taken not to overwater them, and 

 they remain in the same pots until bed- 

 ding-out time. In planting out they 

 should be placed about eight inches 

 apart. Where one grows higher than 

 the otheis the tip should be cut out to 

 induce bushiness and maintain an even 

 height. They should never be watered 

 overhead except in the morning of a 

 bright day. Otherwise the moisture 

 stays in the foliage, and on warm 

 nights the plants will damp off. This 

 is apt to occur during warm, rainy 

 weather. There is not so much danger 

 of this if the plants are used as an 

 outside border instead of being set 

 closely together in a mass, as then the 

 air has more opportunity to get in and 

 dry out the moisture. This also ap- 

 plies to the variegated thyme, the Mme. 

 Salleroi geranium :ind the lobelia. The 

 Mountain of Snow geranium requires 

 more water tlian any other geranium, 

 and should not be planted in an ele- 

 vated position where apt to quickly be- 

 come dry. It should also be planted 

 quite close together, as growth is not 

 rapid enough to quickly cover the 

 ground if planted far apart. 



The Bismarck is the best bronze ge- 

 ranium Mr. Stromback now has. The 

 growth is strong and the foliage holds 

 the color well. He has discarded Earl 

 Roslyn, which became weak and dis- 

 eased. Achyranthes Lindenii is used 

 merely to line out and separate the sev- 

 eral divisions of the bed. This achy- 

 ranthes is also useful as a border 

 around and between plants that require 

 a support, such as heliotrope, vincas, 

 etc. 



In the foreground of the picture ap- 

 pears a section of a bed of geranium 

 La Favorite, semi-double white. This 

 Mr. Stromback considers the best white 

 geranium he has. He has discarded 

 Mrs. J. M. Garr. finding its constitu- 

 tion too weak. He will hereafter grow 

 only La Favorite for white. 



OUR LONDON LETTER. 



[From our Special Correspondent. 



Begonia Julius. 



This is another welcome addition to 

 the hybrid whiter flowering bego- 

 nias, raised by Mr. Heal of Messrs. J. 

 Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, London. This 

 begonia has been raised by crossing th'^ 

 species B. socotrana with a selected 

 •variety of the tuberous rooted class. 

 B. Julius is even finer than its prede- 

 cessors. It is of a compact, leafy 

 growth, the flowers delicate pink, and 

 borne with great freedom. They show 

 up well under artificial light. 



Begonia Gloire de Lorraine. 



This hybrid begonia of Messrs Le- 

 moine has been exhibited largely on 

 more than one occasion this autiamn. 



The plants have been in 5 or 6-inch 

 pots as a rule, and smothered with the 

 small bright pink fiowers, which show 

 up well under artificial light, either gas 

 or electricity. Each year this begonia 

 becomes more largely grown here, and 



Phylasis Franchetti. 



this is not surprising, considering its 

 easy culture, brightness, and the time 

 its wealth of blossoms Is produced. 



A New Grape. 



The well known fruit growers of 

 Sawbridgeworth, Messrs. Rivers & Son, 

 received at a recent meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society an award 

 of merit for a grape of considerable 

 promise. Tlie berries are of fair size, 

 round in form and excellent in flavor, 

 a point of no small importance, while 

 the almost deep black color is at- 

 tractive. It has the merit, too, of 

 keeping well over a long season. 



The CIrrysanthemum Season. 



is now over, but it has been as pro- 

 longed and popular as ever, the prizes 

 being valuable at the exhibition of the 

 National Chrysanthemum Society, and 



the Scottish Society, whose show at 

 Edinburgh was magnificent. We sup- 

 pose the fashion will decline, but the 

 Koyal Aquarium, in which the 

 great London show was held, 

 was uncomfortably thronged through- 

 out the three days during which 

 the exhibition remained open. We 

 are pleased to see that exhibiting 

 the Howers in a bold way is more usual. 

 Mr. Norman Davis of Framfield, and 

 Mr. H. J. Jones of Lewisham, both had 

 large vases filled with one variety, a 

 splendid effect being the result. 



Chrysanthemum Juha Scaramanga. 



From the examples of this I noted at 

 the last November meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, I should 

 think that it was the finest new Japan- 

 ese reflexed variety of the present year. 

 The flowers were of big dimensions, 

 reminding one in every way of those 

 of Mme. Carnot, but more graceful, 

 and in color, what is best described as 

 terra cotta, touched with rose, in the 

 case of flowers from late buds, but 

 early buds give blooms of a rose- 

 bronze shade. 



Clirysanthemum Mme. Verlat. 



Those in search of a really good 

 white incurved flower to go with such 

 as Chas. H. Curtis, should make a note 

 of the above named variety from Mr. 

 Wells, Redhill, Surrey. It is a large 

 flower, and very dense. 



The Great Storm. 



The fearful storm that raged over 

 the British Isles in the last November 

 days inflicted severe damage, not 

 only to shipping and our coast 

 towns, but to gardens generally. 

 The storm swept the Isles, uprooting 

 many an old tree, smashing glass 

 houses, and generally creating con- 

 siderable anxiety. No such storm has 

 been known for many years. 



Phylasis Franchetti. 



Tills hardy Japanese winter cherry 

 has been exhibited largely during the 

 autumn. There is no question as to 

 its decorative value. The big bladder- 

 like calyces, enclosing the crimson 

 fruit, are of a bright orange red color, 

 and three or four times as large as 

 those of the well known P. Alken- 

 kengi. The strong stems bear several 

 of the "Chinese lanterns," as they 

 have been not inaptly called. Though 

 bold and handsome in form and color- 

 ing, the type is welcome, too, being 

 more graceful. 



LI\aSTONA HOOGENDORPII. 



This handsome palm bears some re- 

 semblance to Livistona rotundifolia 

 while quite small, but as it attains age 

 it becomes very distinct, having longer 

 leaf-stalks, a more drooping habit and 

 usually much stronger growth. The 

 leaves are also frequently darker in 

 color than those of the above men- 



