206 



JOUKNAL OF HOETICULTUEE AJ^fD COTTAGE GAEDENEE. [ September 15, 1863. 



of June, and up to the end of that month plants were occa- 

 sionally put in, but it was not until the middle of July that 

 any show was made, the Calceolaria and Lobelia having 

 done good service in the flowerintj way for some time. It 

 was now the time for the Amaranthus to show its good 

 qualities, for the di-y warm weather wliich set in with July 

 was just the weather that suited it, and just what the Cal- 

 ceolaria and Lobelia did not like. The Calceolaria, after an 

 unusual display of bloom in July and August, is now almost 

 done for; the dry weather not having favoured its growth 

 a succession of flowers has not been formed, and it is too 

 late to expect them now. The Lobelia has done better, and 

 is still gay and likely to be so ; the Geranium has made 

 little progress ; and now, as before stated, the Amaranthus 

 requires rather severe amputations to keep it in its due 

 proportion of height and width. 



Nov.', taking the merits of this Amaranthus in competition 

 with the Perilla, I have no hesitation whatever in giving 

 the preference to the latter for early and general work in 

 all but the most favoiu-ed places, as the Perilla may be 

 planted early in May and succeed well. Even seedling 

 plants taken from the hotbed with scarcely any hardening- 

 off, and planted out of doors, have done tolerably well, but, 

 of course, better when they were hardened-off a little. The 

 Amaranthus most certainly will never endure this. But it 

 has its merits : when it does grow and prosiJer it far excels 

 the Perilla in appeai'ance ; the rich hue it presents contrast- 

 ing strongly with the bronze tone of the Perilla, while the 

 habit of the plant is equally good — indeed better in many 

 respects, being more disposed to spread than the Perilla, 

 and as an individual plant much its superior. That it may 

 be so treated as to become a more useful member of the 

 flower-gardening family I have no doubt ; but I fear it re- 

 quires a greater amount of warmth or sunshine than it can 

 receive in the north of England, excepting in unusually 

 fine summers. It is, however, well worth trying ; and the 

 experience of the present year points out that it is not 

 prudent, even in favoured places, to plant it out before 

 June, and by so doing it is likely it may be made a useful 

 adjunct to the flower garden. 



CoLEtrs Vekschaffelti. — While speaking of the Amar- 

 anthus it is but right to mention this plant also, which was 

 announced as likely to answer as a bedding plant. In my 

 case, I am son-y to say it has fallen short of what the Amar- 

 anthus has become, but I did not plant so much of it. A 

 bed in a geometric garden was, however, jjlanted with this 

 Coleus, and as it was well sheltered fiom the north and east 

 I expected it would have done well ; but the j^lants, which 

 were, like most others, all planted before the middle of May, 

 made little or no progress untU the middle of August ; and 

 since then they have grown a little, but the colom- is not 

 that rich hue which the plant has while in the hothouse. 

 I will, however, speak of this plant later in the season, or 

 perhaj^s some one else will do so. My experience of it goes 

 to lu-ove that it is less promising than the Amaranthus, 

 but I believe this is not the universal opinion. Certainly 

 the only plants of it that I have seen doing well had not 

 been long out of the hothouse, so that they could not be 

 said to have grown out of doors. In hqt dry summers like 

 1858 ,and 1859 I have no doubt that it wUl succeed ; but 

 summers suitable for growing stove plants out of doors are 

 not of yearly occurrence, so we must wait for one to try 

 those delicate ornaments outside with sometliing like a 

 prospect of success. It is many years since I tried Torenia 

 asiatica as a bedding plant with Pentas carnea and some 

 others with a fair share of success in a hot year, but I met 

 with a complete fadm-e in a dull damp one. Since then 

 I believe Begonias have been tried with like success. That 

 it is desirable to make such exjjerimeuts cannot be denied, 

 but it is better to hold fast to such tried friends as never 

 deceive us for doing service in important places, and to let 

 those on probation have a berth to themselves which wUl 

 afford them every advantage for doing well ; .and if they do 

 so let their cidtiu-e be extended another year, ta.king care, 

 however, not to be deceived by the well-doing of a plant in 

 a, season well adajited for it, so as to be led to expect that 

 it will do equiUly well in one of a contrary description. 



Having extended the above remai-ks to a gi-eater length 

 than I intended, I must defer until another opportunity the 

 somewhat ungi'acious task of " weeding " the flower garden 



of its useless or superfluous occupants. I would also be 

 glad to have the opinion of others on this head, and would 

 suggest that each writer shoidd class his favourites under 

 different heads — as Class 1, which might include only the 

 vei'y best ; Class 2, a secondary section ; and Class 3, those 

 which might be used occasionally ; but any other aiTange- 

 ment that woidd convey the idea intended to be expressed 

 woidd do. The introduction of a new jjlant is not more 

 serviceable to the gardening community than the removal 

 of existing iiseless ones, and a good and tearless weeding- 

 out will be of much service. — J. Eobson. 



THE EOYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY'S 



EXHIBITION.— SEi'TKJiiiEu 9th. 

 On this occasion the Exhibition was held in the deserted 

 saloons of the French refreshment department of the Ex- 

 lubition building, and the attendance of visitors was such as 

 to render the propriety of holding exhibitions in September 

 very questionable indeed. Those who have country seats 

 have now retired to them ; those who ai-e sportsmen are 

 thinking of sport ; the larger class of tradesmen with their 

 families are either off for their hohday to the seaside, to the 

 north, or to the continent, or have just returned and have 

 no time to spai-e ; and there only remain those who are 

 chained to the wheel of business, and who, therefore, are 

 amongst the least likely to cozne in force to flower shows. 

 So numerous, too, have these been this summer, occiu'iing 

 week after week, and too often presenting the same general 

 features, that the jjublic have tu'cd of them, and would now 

 gladly rest for a season. Eain in the morning, continued in 

 some parts round London till noon, combined with a lowering 

 sky, warning drops of rain, and every indication of an ap- 

 proaclung thunder-storm, no doubt served, in addition to the 

 above causes, to deter many from visiting the Exhibition ; 

 but fortunately, however, during the time this lasted the 

 weather remained fair, though not fine, and it was not tfll 

 ten o'clock at night that a sharp thunderstorm came on, 

 accompanied by such a downpoiuing of I'ain as would have 

 ruined the hopes of many an exliibitor had it occurred on 

 the previous day. 



The productions which were exhibited were an-anged in 

 four divisions, no one of which could be seen fi-om the other 

 — an an'angement which from the internal natiu-e of the 

 building was inevitable, but which had the effect of spoiling 

 the Exhibition as a whole. It ju-esented no long vista, as at 

 the Crystal Palace, of flowers and fi-uit — no long array of 

 earnest gazers — and, consequently, being taken in detail, no 

 grand impression could be produced. The rapid demolition 

 going on in the Exhibition building, and visible in all its 

 nakedness through several glass doors, was also little in 

 harmony v/ith what should have been a scene of beauty, al- 

 though it seemed to be viewed by the visitors with a feeling 

 of complacency rather than otlierwise. 



We now come to the particulars of the Show itself, which, 

 with the exception of some things in the Miscellaneous 

 Class and those submitted to the Floral Committee, con- 

 sisted principally of Daldias, Hollyhocks, Asters, and Gla- 

 dioh, all of which, and particularly the first and last, were 

 shown in gi'cat perfection. 



Dahlias were even finer than they were at the Crystal 

 Palace, and Mr. Turner and Mr. Keynes again took off the 

 principal prizes in the Nurserymen's Classes. 



In 48' s no stand coidd have been finer than that of Mr. 

 Turner ; his blooms appeared at the Ciystal Palace as if they 

 could not have been surpassed, but on this occasion they 

 were still larger, still more perfect. It would have been im- 

 possible to have picked out an inferior bloom among the 

 whole, and it would be tedious to merely give the list of 

 their names, bat the following are some of the most striking 

 — viz., Norfolk Hero, Warrior, Sidney Herbert, Mr. Stocken, 

 Criterion, Goldfinder, Pre-eminent, Mrs. Henshaw, Lord 

 Palmerston, ChauTnan, Bob Kidlcy, Charlotte Dorhng, Earl 

 of Shaftesbury, Beauty of HUperton, Princess of Pi-ussia (a 

 beautiful canary yellow), Lord "Derby, Juno, and Hugh 

 Miller. In the second-prize stand fi-om Mr. Keynes, the 

 blooms were not generally so large, nor were some of them 

 so perfect as Mr. Turner's. Criterion, Lord Derby. Eegu- 

 larity, Fanny Purchase (a fine yellow). Sir J. Douglas, and 



