491 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ June 20, 1872. 



ing (loop blue species which flourishes in orcliuary garden loam. 

 G. gelida throws up stems from 'J inches to a foot high, with 

 five or six light blue flowers. I only grow these three sorts, 

 but others are equally pretty. G. bavarica and G. Pneumon- 

 antho should also be grown. Lithospermum prostratum, a 

 trailing plant with deep blue flowers, and a continuous bloomer, 

 is not particular as to soil. Eranthis hyemaUs, Winter Aco- 

 nite, opens its pretty deep yellow flowers with the Snowdrops, 

 and is much admired. 



The Hepaticas, red, white, and blue, double and single, and 

 the five-lobed species H. augulosa, with its very pretty sky- 

 blue flowers, must occupy a place in the front rank. Some of 

 the dwarf-growing Campanulas form perfect masses of white 

 and blue bell-shaped flowers. Of the dwarf-growing species 

 may be enumerated C. carpatica.blue and white; C. Bai'reUieri, 

 blue; C. Elatiue, blue ; C. gai'gauica, blue and white ; C. tur- 

 binata, blue and white. Many of the traUiug species are ex- 

 cellent for basket and vase work. Then, who would be with- 

 out the Wood Anemone, A. nemorosa, and its varieties, in 

 their gardens, and its lovely companion A. apennina ? also 

 Scillas of the different early spring-flowering species, such as 

 S. amcena, S. bifolia, blue, white, and rose-coloured, and S. si- 

 bmca or proecox, which flowers in February ? The summer- 

 flowering species are not so well known as they ought to be. 

 Of S. peruviana, white and blue, the blue is by far the finest, 

 and an excellent species for pot-culture ; the plant is hardy, 

 but it will not continue to flower if planted permanently in the 

 open border. 



Of taUer-growing plants for back rows we have an abundance 

 to select from. The autumn-flowering Phloxes are very sweet 

 and effective. Numerous fine varieties have been raised from 

 P. pyramidalis and P. decussata. Since I have Uved in the 

 neighbourhood of London I have seen but few of the first- 

 named ; they do not succeed well here, and the decussata 

 section are fai' preferable to them ; but in Scotland those of 

 the pyramidalis section are cultivated with much success, and 

 are jjreferred to the late-flowering sorts. A continuous suc- 

 cession of robust plants must be kept up by striking a batch 

 of cuttings every year. As soon as the young shoots are 

 2 inches in length they may be taken off and inserted in small 

 pots ; if this be done early in spring the plants will flower well 

 the first year, but two-year-old plants are the best for back 

 rows in the herbaceous border. 



Delphiniums are exceedingly showy, and in evei-y respect 

 ■well adapted for planting in the background ; they are of va- 

 rious heights, from 2 to 5 feet. The varieties, both double 

 and single, are numerous. I will name only two which ought 

 to be in every garden — D. formosum, deep purplish blue, and 

 D. Madame Henri Jacotot, bright sky-blue. They axe easily 

 propagated by dividing the roots. 



Pentstemons are also very useful for maldng a continuous 

 display early in autumn ; thej' ai'e easily propagated from 

 cuttings, and many fine varieties may be raised from seeds. 

 Seedlings are the best for ordinary border purposes. The 

 plants throw out numerous side shoots, which are very useful 

 as cut flowers. 



Acjuilegias, or Columbines, cannot be dispensed with. Some 

 of the species are very strildng and effective, aU of them make 

 a distinct feature in a weU-arranged border. A. -STilgaris, the 

 common Columbine, and its numerous varieties are well known 

 and appreciated in cottage gardens, flowering in May and June. 

 Of the species not so well known, but well worthy of cultiva- 

 tion, are A. alpina, A. cajrulea, A. glandulosa, and A. Skirmeri. 



As a striking contrast to the above we have the brilliant 

 scai'let colour of the tall-growing species of Lobelias, L. splen- 

 dens and L. fiUgens. These elegant plants are not hardy in 

 every position out of doors during winter, but with a little 

 protection they may be wintered out of doors in dry borders. 

 Damp is then- worst enemy ; I have seen plants of these taH- 

 growing Lobehas lifted in autumn and potted, yet the greater 

 number of them died during winter from damp. In the case 

 alluded to the plants were overpotted. Small pots ought to 

 be used, and the potting material shoidd be light sandy loam, 

 with some leaf mould and pieces of charcoal added to it. The 

 pots may be plunged to the rim in a cold frame, or placed on 

 shelves near the glass in a heated structure. The jslants are 

 increased by division. 



As a distinct feature, graceful and elegant, some of the 

 Spirfeas should be cultivated. S. palmata, a receutly-intro- 

 dnced species from China, is one of the most distinct and 

 beautiful of herbaceous plants ; nearly all the species have 

 vrhite flowers, or white tinged with rose ; the inflorescence of 



S. palmata is quite crimson, and freely produced. S. Ulmaria, 

 the common Jleadowsweet, of which there are three or four 

 distinct forms, one with double flowers, is much admu'ed. 

 S. FUipendula is a free-growing species with creamy white 

 flowers, and of vigorous habit. 



Many more interesting and beautiful herbaceous plants may 

 be named ; and the border, if a proper selection has been made, 

 will contain something in flower nearly aU the year round ; 

 and except for a few — a very few indeed — of the more delicate 

 species, no glass protection is necessary. Nearly all the taU- 

 growing species enumerated require deep, moderately rich loam 

 2 feet deep at least. It ought to be remembered that a deep 

 liighly-cultivated soil is the best for neaiiy aU of them, and 

 the plants will requii'e but little attention as regards watering 

 in such soils. There is one objection which may be urged 

 against having a border composed entirely of herbaceous plants, 

 and that is, when the spring-flowering plants die down the 

 borders have a bare and patchy appearance. In this case some 

 land of bedding plant may be put in, taking care not to mjure 

 the dormant roots of the permanent plants. — J. Douglas. 



PLANTS THAT ENDURED 52° BELOW 

 FREEZING. 



I NOTICE that your correspondent " Expekto Crede" men- 

 tions the satisfaction he has had in his hardy Cactuses. In 

 addition to those he writes of, the Opuntia vulgaris of our 

 Northern States, quite common in our neighbourhood, is ex- 

 tremely hardy. The flower is of considerable size, and, to my 

 taste, very beautiful, being of a clear dehcate yellow. How- 

 ever, what I chiefly wish to say is that I have from the far-oft' 

 Rocky Mountains three distinct members of the Cactus family, 

 all of which stood out entirely unprotected during our last 

 winter — a winter severe almost beyond example. These Cac- 

 tuses endured a cold of at least 20° below zero — 52° of frost ! 

 They were not ni the slightest degree injur-ed, and are now 

 growing with the utmost vigour-. So fai' only one has flowered 

 with me. This plant seems to belong to the Mammillaria 

 section. The flower is about IJ inch across, and of a blush 

 colour. 



It may interest some of your readers to know, that among 

 other plants which endured in my garden these 52° of frost, 

 may be mentioned Yucca filamentosa variegata, Acorus ja- 

 ponieus variegatus, Lilium anratum in aU sizes, even down to 

 bulblets no larger than a pea, the varieties of Lilium lanci- 

 foUum, and the very lovely CaUfornian Lilium Washington- 

 ianum. Sciadopitys verticillata is also thoroughly hardy under 

 the above-mentioned amount of cold. — Geokge Such, South 

 Amhoy, New Jersey, U.S.A. 



[Mr. Such is in business as a florist ; we rejoice over such 

 communications, and we hope to hear from him again and 

 again. — Eds.] 



THE GLADIOLUS DISEASE. 



An elaborate paper has appeared in the Gardeners' Chronicle 

 by " R. C. T.," who has collected all the evidence that has 

 been brought forward on the subject, dismisses as incon- 

 clusive all the suggestions, ideas, notions, that have been 

 given on the subject, and, enraptured by a visit to Mr. Kelway's, 

 launches us into a charming sea of certainty and clearness, 

 attributing the disease to exliausted bulbs. I have, as allusion 

 was so frequently made to myself in the paper, briefly rephed 

 to it, reservuig a fuller statement of my reasons for dissenting 

 therefrom to my o-mi proper sphere, for " every cock likes to 

 crow on his own mixen." 



There is an old Latin saying, " Omne iynotiimj'ro magnifico" 

 of which I heard a very good equivalent in Ireland the other 

 day — " Cows in Connaught have vei-y long horns." I have 

 never seen Mr. Kelway's collection in bloom, and I am quite 

 sure I have missed a treat, for the specimens which he exhibits 

 at our London shows clearly point him out as om- foremost 

 cultivator ; but if I am called on to believe that Mr. Kelway 

 has no diseased bulbs, or, if any, a very small number, I must 

 decline to do so. It is said of Beau BrummeU, that once when 

 a friend was visiting the poor king at his toilet, and when he 

 had succeeded in adjusting one of those marvellous neckties 

 which made him the leader of fashion, that he saw a heap of 

 some height in the corner. " What are these ?" " Oh ! tfiey 

 are only my failures." And as the swells who saw him that 

 day admired his tie but never saw the heap he had spoiled, so 



