426 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAKDENEE. 



[ December 1, 1683. 



delude purchasers, is acting like silly timid people, who are 

 afraid of going out after dark for fear of the Ghosts. StOl 

 there remains the simple fact that there are siUy people in 

 the world, that they constantly suspect the Ghost is near, 

 and that some unknown evU is working against them — in 

 other words, peojjle will suspect nurserymen are too anxious 

 to make money of their plants to care whether their cus- 

 tomers are taken in or not ; and this iact alone is sufficient 

 proof that an exhibition of bedding plants is most desirable. 

 We do not want more than one or two exhibitions in the 

 course of the season ; and these, necessarily, to make them 

 satisfactory, cannot be held till quite the end of June or 

 beginning of July, when the plants to be exhibited have been 

 fully exposed to the air for at least one month, so that then- 

 qualifications for bedding-out may be thorougldy tested by 

 open-ail- exposure. They may be planted in boxes or pots ; 

 but the grand test will consist in the constant exposure to 

 all the vicissitudes of the open au- for at least foiu- weeks — 

 longer if possible. 



I allude to this now, and bring forward the Golden Balm 

 customer as a strong case in point to prove the advantage 

 and protection which an exliibition of bedding jjlants would 

 be, though I have heard quite as unghostlike language used 

 against other firms, in the hope that dm-ing the next few 

 months something may be done to arrange satisfactorily 

 the mode, conditions, and time, for a grand exhibition of 

 bedding plants. 



"We have lost our leading authority on almost all subjects 

 of opeu-air gardening, and deejily grieved am I for one. 

 Though personally unknomi to me, the late Mr. Beaton's 

 writings have been of the greatest use in diffusing real 

 practical knowledge, provoking inquiry and experiment, and 

 in promoting a higher and purer taste in all that relates to 

 the flower garden. It is impossible, also, to read his articles 

 without being struck with the hearty spirit in which they 

 are wi-itten, as if he was in love with the subject, and was 

 only anxious that you should likewise understand and enjoy 

 it just as much as himself. Among nurserymen I believe 

 there is but one universal feeling of regret for his loss, 

 and of grateful remembrance of the benefits he confeiTed 

 upon gardening. For myself I shall be very glad to con- 

 tribute towards a moniament to be erected as a memorial of 

 him. 



But to resume. Tour pages are open to judicious sug- 

 gestions on all subjects connected with horticulture, and 

 1 look forward to reading many pleasant articles on open-air 

 flower-gardening even dui-ing the fi-ost and snow. May I 

 be allowed, therefore, to express a hope that such firms as 

 I have already alluded to may be induced to oiler any sug- 

 gestions they may think advantageous to make an exhi- 

 bition of bedding plants really useful to the public as well 

 as the trade ? A few attempts have been made even this 

 year. Mr. Holland showed some new colours in Gei-aniums, 

 and Messrs. Henderson tlieir lovely variegated seedlings ; 

 hut no encoiu'agement has been given in the form of prizes, 

 still less were the ch-cumstances under which they were 

 o-rown mentioned — and without the open-au- test the public 

 cannot expect to be satisfied of their suitableness for open- 

 aii' flower-beds. 



The only real exhibition, looking at it as a test of suit- 

 ableness, has been afforded by the various public gardens, 

 such as the Eoyal Horticultiu-al Society's at Kensington, 

 but more especially the Crystal Palace, Victoria Park, and 

 perhaps Kew. The Horticultm-al Gai'dens are too neai- the 

 London smoke to be of use as an experimental garden for 

 flowers ; but at the Crystal Palace they generally make use 

 of the round beds between the Ehododench-on-beds at each 

 end of the grand ten'ace for that purpose. These beds 

 make capital exhibition tables, for there the plants are right 

 before the eyes of all the public, and, whether the pubHc 

 has Ghost-seeing eyes or not, there are the plants. 



Well, well ! we have heard all about the Coleus and the 

 Amaranthus, but what about the two Centaureas ? As a 

 bedding plant I do not care for the gynmocarpa, but the can- 

 didissima is a love ; the Coleus being next to it, and the Cloth 

 of Gold round all. This candidissima strdces with me just 

 as easily as the Cineraria maritima. Do not coddle it too 

 much, and do not be in too great a hurry to get it to root. 

 It makes a magnificent dinner-table plant, or for a flower- 

 stand in front of wiuiow-curtains by candlelight it shines 



like silver. And then the Cloth of Gold. Difficult to get 

 up a stock of it 'i It does not grow fast, certainly — all the 

 better for an edging ; but it will grow fast enough if you 

 give it plenty of rich food. If you want a variegated Gera- 

 nium as a low edging, give it only plain soil ; but if you 

 want it to gi-ow rampant and strong it can feed and fatten 

 on the richest ; but do not give rich food to plain-leaved 

 Geraniums, or you will find them run all to leaf. Then 

 there was, if you remember. Magenta No. 2 (Beaton's), the 

 flower twice the size of No. 1, and such a colour ! But 

 there is another coming out to beat even No. 2. My choice, 

 however, of the new beauties exhibited at the Crystal 

 Palace this last season falls on Mrs. Whitty (Beaton's), 

 and Lucien Tisserand. Mi's. Whitty is a lovely pink, and 

 as exhibited at Sydenham in that soil decidedly superior to 

 Christine. The ibhage is something like the Hybrid Per- 

 petual Geranium Sidonia; the flower the same colour as 

 Christine, but more stellate ; and seed-pods tlid not appear 

 to disfigure it, as is the case with Christine. The Geranium 

 wluch took my fancy the most was Lucien Tisserand. It 

 was exhibited in the first round bed at the cast end of the 

 grand terrace, and formed an edging to it. It is of the Horse- 

 shoe race, a lovely orange scarlet, the flower round enough 

 to satisfy a florist, and in the Sydenham soil, very dwarf 

 and an abundant bloomer. 



It woidd be a good move on the part of the authorities at 

 the Palace, if they were to offer to place a portion of theii' 

 groimd at the service of the public as an Experimental 

 Garden. Say 1 want to test a seedling Geranium ; as soon 

 as I have stock enough for a bed, let it be in my power 

 to bespeak that bed, leaving it when planted to be managed 

 by the gardeners there. This would be an open-air test at 

 once sufficient to satisfy the trade and the public too. This 

 is, in fact, what the late Mr. Beaton did. Nearly aU his 

 seedlings were tested at the Crystal Palace or at Kensington. 

 His seedlings. Crimson Minimum, a charming dwarf Nose- 

 gay, of rich deep rose colour', not half enough known ; Loi'd 

 Palmerston, Magenta No. 2, and Mrs. Whitty were all 

 brought out in that way, and not served out to the public 

 tUl thus tested. 



And, now, if any of your readers happen to be in London, 

 with nothing particular to do for an hoxu- or two, and it is a 

 dull foggy day, let them pay a visit to Messrs. Henderson's 

 nui-sery at the WeDington Eoad, and ask to be shown the 

 two span-roofed houses containing the variegated Geraniums, 

 and they will see such a sight as will make them forget 

 November, and frost, and snow, and fog. Talk about flowers 

 and florists, why the leaves and leafists wUl run a neck-and- 

 neck race with them before long. We leafists can produce 

 gold, silver, scarlet, crimson, pink, and magenta aU shaded 

 off into each other, or drawn in distinct lines in such lovely 

 combinations as would make poor old Miller beside himself if 

 he appeared again, either under my auspices or Mr. Pepper's, 

 as a Ghost. — F. W. Adet, The Cell. 



TEITOMAS. 



While the great majority of herbaceous plants, that at 

 one time were extensively grown, have gradually disappeared 

 to make room for the plants considered more suitable for 

 the system of flower gardening which now exists, there are, 

 on the other hand, a very few which the massing and lining 

 of colours have increased in use a thousandfold. Whether 

 this be good or bad taste it is no part of my present purpose 

 to tliscuss. It will, however, be a happy day for many a 

 hard-driven gardener when a much greater proportion of 

 bedding plants shall consist of such as wUl be quite hardy 

 or nearly so. AU'eady a gentle tide has set in in this 

 direction, and it is to be hoped that it will swell and gather 

 both strength and beauty tUl many more really beautiful 

 additions have been made to the present limited show of 

 hardy plants that are available for the parterre. Among the 

 many variegated and other plants recently introduced from 

 Japan there may, perhaps, be a few which some day may be 

 pressed into our service for this purpose. 



Tritomas — some of the varieties at least— are among fie 

 few hardy plants of this description which have been, and 

 are still, extending into almost every gai'den with great 

 rapidity. Like aU plants which become general favourites. 



