April 21, 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE! GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



THE PEACH AS AN ORNAMENTAL FLOWERING 

 PLANT. 



EACH blossom ! Is there anything more 

 lovely '.' Everyone admires it. We are all 

 charmed with it. Do we, however, make the 

 most of it, or have it in that abundance or 

 in that perfection which we might '.' We 

 cultivate the Peach, it is true, abundantly, 

 but for the fruit, not the flowers. Might we 

 not, however, give these a little study '? Are 

 they not worthy ? Our orchard houses are 

 at this season one glorious mass of beautiful 

 pink in all its various shades, from light to deep rose— the 

 most pleasing, the most enjoyable of spectacles to be found 

 in a garden. Most probably it is owing to the repose 

 the trees had last season from fruit-bearing that we have 

 such beautiful wood this season, and such an abundance 

 of magnificent bloom. Never have I seen the blossoms 

 more abundant, or larger, or finer, or more beautiful than 

 this season ; and thus I have been more than usually 

 impressed with the importance of the Peach as an orna- 

 mental flowering plant. 



" Peach blossom — very pretty ! but the Peach is a fruit 

 tree, not a flower," I hear some one say. Precisely, and its 

 being so makes it all the more valuable. It gives it, as it 

 were, a double value. The Peach is well worthy of being 

 grown for the flower alone, independently of the fruit, and 

 it is for this that I venture to write. Many of the varie- 

 ties of Peaches have really most lovely flowers (all Peach 

 flowers are not so) which are fit objects for the adornment 

 for the gayest conservatory of flowers. The double-blos- 

 somed varieties are, of course, well known for their exceed- 

 ing beauty, yet even they are not nearly so much culti- 

 vated as they really deserve to be, or so well as they might 

 be. and, as a consequence, they do not present that charm- 

 ing appearance which better cultivation would produce. 

 Care may be taken to force the plants into flower, but no 

 care is taken, after they have ceased flowering, for the 

 wellbeing of the wood for the succeeding year, and so the 

 trees very soon become miserable objects. 



Peaches, both the double and single-flowering varie- 

 ties, are very easy of cultivation, and force well, so that 

 a supply of their beautiful flowers ma}' be maintained from 

 Christinas to the present time — three months. The ordi- 

 nary practice is to procure the young maiden plants from 

 the nursery, pot them, and place them in the forcing house. 

 The plants, if the}' do not die after such treatment, are 

 grievously injured. To complete the injury, they are then 

 put out in the cold at the back of a hedge, or in some 

 similar position, to endure the frosts on the shoots which 

 may have been formed, and to be left a prey to the ravages 

 of all sorts of insect pests. The Peach, when grown for its 

 flowers, should have the same care in its cultivation as 

 when it is grown for the fruit. After flowering, the plants 

 should be kept under glass, and the pinching of the shoots 

 attended to, as well as keeping clear of insects, water- 

 ing, pruning the wood, &c, as in ordinary practice, and 

 then the results will be found well worth the trouble. 



No. 47S.-VOL. XVIII., New Series. 



They may be grown in any form — bush, pyramid, or sCsua- 

 dard, and to any size. Planted out in the open borders 

 the double-llowering Peach is also a very attractive fcai 

 beautiful object when grown in the standard form. Here, 

 also, rather more care is required, to make the best of it, 

 than is usually given. It should be planted in good soil, 

 so. as to make the shoots grow strong, and they shoalfi 

 then be pruned back, thus keeping up a supply of 

 wood upon which the flowers are produced. 



What a pretty feature at some of our early spring ezte- 

 bitions would be a bank of Peach trees in flower— the 

 double, the single in all their various shades of colouring 1 . 

 The managers of our exhibitions want novelty and some- 

 thing attractive ; surely here is a feature which would e»a- 

 trast favourably with many other subjects put before ac. 

 I would, therefore, suggest that prizes be offered for double- 

 blossomed Peaches in flower, and for single-biosssiMfl 

 Peaches in flower. 



In the double-blossomed class we have — 1, The Dc-xak) 

 White ; 2, The Double Carnation or Pink ; 3, The Bou&lc 

 Crimson. end- 



For the single-blossomed class we have an almost arge 

 less supply. It is divided, first, into varieties with lincfc 

 and small flowers. Of the former, we have three dist aa^ 

 classes — 1. The pure white flower. Examples: At 

 blanche, Blanche d'Amcrique, Incomparable a fleurs et *• 

 fruits blancs. 2, The deep rose or pink, with a dark disc. 

 Examples : Stanwick, Pitmaston Orange, and Pine Apple 

 Nectarines. 3, Pale pink : Malta and Noblesse Pea/:b.e«, 

 and new White Nectarine. 



Then, again, of the small flowers, we have — 1, 

 a much deeper rose, nearly red, than in any of the othem. 

 Examples: The Prince of Wales Nectarine and Eariy 

 Albert Peach. 2, Pale dull red : Chancellor and Eoyrf. 

 Vineyard Peaches. 



In some of Mr. Rivers's numerous seedlings we '. 

 more distinct varieties of the flower, some of which .''.?.'« 

 been produced by crossing with Double Crimson, so thai 

 there is abundant variety to make an excellent 

 and I hope to see it. — Auchambaud. 



ON THE DECLINE IN THE CULTURE OF 

 FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 



Tin: excellent letter of Mr. Charles Turner in the JoizxjS 

 of April 7 th has suggested to me that it may probably fesas 

 well to say something on the decline, or supposed 

 in the culture of what are ordinarily called florists' flowers. 



There has always been a difficulty in defining wkai ae 

 exactly meant by florists' flowers, and what flowers are to 

 be included in the category, and what excluded. Tfeirj 

 difficulty is on the increase, for every year seems to msk& 

 the circle wider than before. It has invaded the greem- 

 house as well as the frame, and we know not whether tJse 

 stove and the Orchid house may not ere long make it EtiH 

 greater ; for if by florists' flowers be meant those " 2aw«*o 

 which are kept in collections of named varieties," is in 

 clear that the Azalea, the Gloxinia, and the Achimeues ms& 



No. 1125.- Vol. XLIII., Old S-^-^r„ 



