November 17, 1863. 



JOITRNAL OF HOETICTJLTtlRE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE. 



387 



robert, Dumflet, Cedo NuUi, Helene, Eose TreTenna, and 

 La Sultana, all of wMcli were very evenly grown, neatly 

 trained, and covered with bloom. Mr. Oubridge had Trophee, 

 mottled rose ; and others already named. 



In thi-ees, Mr. Forsyth had fine specimens of Helene, 

 General Canrobert, and Lilac Cedo N>illi. Both of the above 

 exhibitors also brought large groups of well-grown plants, 

 which contributed much to the effect of the Show. 



In the Amateurs' Classes, Mr. Howe, of Shacklewell, was 

 very successful, gaining fii-st prizes both in the Class for six 

 plants, and in that for tlu-ee, with excellent plants of Lord 

 Eauelagh, Draco, Golden Christine, Chevalier Domage, 

 Annie Salter (very fine), and Alma. 



In Pompones, Mr. Parker, of Stratford, had remai-kably 

 fine plants, upwards of 3 feet across, of General Canrobert, 

 Cedo Nulli, Golden Cedo Nulli, Dm-uflet, Lilac Cedo NnUi, 

 and Andi'omeda. He received the first prize in the Class for 

 sixes, Mr. Bolton being second, and Mr. Howe third ; and 

 in the Class for three, Mr. Bolton took the first prize, and 

 Mr. Parker the second. 



Mr. Howe also contributed a fine gi-oup of pyramid Pom- 

 pones, some of which were perfect models, and in beautiful 

 blooro, and lai-ge-flowering kinds, both on tall stems and 

 trained in bush form. 



In Specimen Plants, Mr. Monk had a first prize for a very 

 large and fine plant of Golden Chiistine, Mr. Howe being 

 second with Lady Harding, also fine. 



In the Pompone Class, Mr. Forsyth and Mr. Bolton took 

 the two highest prizes for Saint Thais, and Golden Cedo 

 Nulli, both of which were good specimens. Some very good 

 pyraraid Pompone Anemones were also shown by Mr. Ward, 

 and Mr. George, among which were included Mr. Astie, 

 Eeine des Anemones, Marguerite de WUdemar, and Antonius. 

 Mr. Ward had a first prize for these, and Mr. George a 

 second. 



Of Cut Blooms, which were exhibited ia the galleries, there 

 was a most extensive display, though, owing to the great 

 length of the tables, the stands were not so close together 

 as desirable for producing effect. 



In twenty-fours, Mr. Monk had the first prize for a fine 

 stand, among which we remarked Queen of England, 

 Cherub, Themis, Jardin des Plantes, Alfred Salter, Mrs. W. 

 Holborn, Lysias, Cassandi-a, White Globe, Nil Desperandum, 

 Novelty, and Goliath. Ills. Wai-d was thh-d, and Mr. George 

 fourth, in the same Class. 



In twelves, Mr. Monk was again first with beautiful 

 blooms of Queen of England, Jardin des Plantes, Cherub, 

 Themis, Goliath, Lady Harding, Novelty, Lysias, White 

 Globe, and A Ifred Salter. Mr. George was second, Mr. 

 Ward thh-d, and Mr. Wyness, Buckingham Palace Gardens, 

 and Ml-. Salmon, equal fourth. 



In sixes, Mr. Monk was also first; Mr. Eowe, Stamford 

 Hill, being second. 



Large-flowering Anemone vaa-ieties were well shown by 

 Mr. Wai-d and Mr. Monk, who were awarded the first and 

 second prizes for that Class. Among the sorts they ex- 

 hibited were George Sand, Gluck, Marguerite d'Anjou, 

 Louis Bonamy, and King of Anemones. 



In the Class for Anemone Pompones, the positions of the 

 above exhibitors were reversed, both, however, showing very 

 creditably. 



Collections of Cut Blooms were contributed by Messrs. 

 Monk, Eowe, George, and others ; and in the Nurserymen's 

 Classes, by Mr. CatteU, of Westerham, who had fine 

 examples of Queen of England, Jardin des Plantes, Beauty, 

 Aimee Fei-riere, Chinese Orange Incurved, &c. ; also, by 

 Messrs. WUkinson, Forsyth, Men-ey, and others. 



Large Anemone-flowered kinds were also well repre- 

 sented, especially by Mi-. CatteU, who had some immense 

 blooms of Lady Margaret, each about 5 inches across ; 

 Handel, a fine dark rose; and Louis Bonamy, remarkably 

 fine. In Anemone Pompones, Mr. Forsyth took the lead. 



In the Amateui's' Classes for twenty-four and twelve 

 blooms, Mr. James and Mr. Slade were respectively fii-st and 

 second in both, Mr. Eobinson, Islington, taking an equal 

 first in the Class for twelve. JIi-. Cakebread, who was first 

 for sis blooms, had a remarkably fine White Globe, Aregina, 

 and Jardin des Plantes being also fine. 



In the Islington Classes, Mr. Jeffries, the Secretary of the 

 Society, and Mr. Robinson, were the principal prizetakers. 



Anemone-flowered varieties of both kinds were also very 

 successfully shown by Messrs. Pryer, James, Butt, and 

 HiHeary. 



In New Varieties, Mr. Forsyth was awarded the fii-st prize, 

 for Duchess of Buckingham, white ; Beverley, a fine white ; 

 Her Majesty, a very pretty blush ; Prince Louis of Hesse, 

 and Cleopatra, rosy blush; AntoneUi, brownish-salmon. 

 Golden Eagle, dull red tinged with gold, came from Mr. 

 Moxham. 



Several pretty bouquets of cut blooms, interspersed with 

 Perns, &c., were shown by Messrs. CatteU, Glover, and 

 others. 



MisceUaneous articles were shown by Messrs. Butler and 

 McCuUooh, and Hooper & Co., of Covent Garden, consisting 

 of Hyacinth-glasses, baskets of Everlastings, ornamental 

 Grasses, &c. ; and Messrs. Sutton & Sons, of Reading, had a 

 very extensive collection of Gourds, Grasses both ornamental 

 and useful. Potatoes, and seeds. 



Messrs. Cutbush, WUliams, E. G. Henderson, Videon, and 

 Grimbley, contributed large numbers of fine-foliaged plants 

 and evergreens for the decoration of the sides of the HaU. 



A group of standard Pompones, with pyramidal heads, 

 from Mr. Whitbread, and which were covered with blooms, 

 formed beautiful objects, which we omitted to mention at 

 the proper place. 



FLOWEES OF THE PAST SEASON. 

 VEEBENAS. 

 " I WISH you would come up and have a hanging-day." 

 Such was the salutation wherewith a friend and neighbour 

 greeted me, who is known aU the world over as the first 

 Fuchsia^raiser of his day, and of some Verbenas which still 

 hold their own in the midst of novelties over and over again 

 announced to drive them out of the field ; and as his garden 

 contains neai-ly all Verbenas worth growing, and I have 

 generaUy a pretty fair coUection of the novelties of the 

 season, I think we can manage to form a pretty good opinion 

 of the worth or worthlessness of the claimants to public 

 favour : and so a hanging-day was named. It so happened 

 that when we met for the purpose another friend came also, 

 who, though now the rector of a London parish, had once 

 been our neighbour, and he is an exceUent florist and an 

 especially good judge of Verbenas. Thus, with Mr. Banks's 

 intelligent gardener, we formed a quartet, no way influenced, 

 I think, by partiality — with no flowers of our own to decide 

 upon, but simply to say what we thought about Verbenas in 

 genei-al. Previous to entering on our task we had a passage 

 of arms on a few points. One was the failures of the Verbe- 

 nas we were met to decide upon. For the past thi-ee years 

 this faUure has taken place. Formerly nothing could be more 

 luxuriant than these Verbenas ; but duiing the past three 

 or four years the failures have been lamentable : the plants 

 become rapidly mUdewed — they are infested with thrips, 

 and with another kind of insect, which seems to eat the 

 cuticle of the leaf and completely disfigures the plant. 

 Under a combination of such circumstances the plants in 

 many instances pine away, spaces are made in the beds, 

 and the appearance of the garden spoUed. Can any of yom- 

 correspondents suggest a reason for all this ? The plants 

 put out are perfect models, have been carefuUy struck in 

 the spring, are not planted out early (the end of May or 

 beginning of June being about the time selected), and yet 

 they wQl die. The ground is carefully prepared, and every 

 attention is paid to them. Then, again, we were each to 

 name a dozen of the best Verbenas for general purposes, 

 bedding, and exhibition ; and, as showing how much alike 

 our tastes were, and how superexcellent some sorts are, I 

 may mention that eight Verbenas in each of the four Usts 

 were identical. The judgment given in the foUowing notes 

 may therefore, I thmk, in general be relied upon; al- 

 though, doubtless, like all other judgments, there are mis- 

 takes, but at any rate there are no wUfuI ones. Another 

 point we had also to decide was what Verbenas out of the 

 vast number grown we should propagate and what discard. 

 Here again opinions may clash with our judgments, but I 

 give up all idea of getting people to be of one mind on the 

 merits of a flower. Look at Eoses, for example. I saw 

 the other day somewhere a list of good Eoses of 1861, and 



