482 



JOUENAL OP HORTICULTUBB AND OOTTAQE GABDENEB. 



t Jane 28, 1877. 



erected in the Castle Sauceries, which will be enclosed and 

 specially devoted to the purposes of the Exhibition. 



— — The gakdens of the Rotal Botanic Society, Regent's 

 Park, are in excellent order. The shady walks are always 

 enjoyable during the summer months, and the beds and 

 borders are gay with flowers, the object being to provide an 

 early summer rather than a late autumn display. A new 

 flower garden of an attractive design has been laid out by Sir. 

 Coomber ; it is near the American garden, and is effectively 

 planted. It is refreshing to find that many old-fashioned 

 perennials, and even annuals, are cultivated in these gardens, 

 and produce a pleasing effect. Especially cheerful are such 

 old plants as Foxgloves, Delphiniums, Campanulas, Pyrethrnms, 

 Irises, etc., as planted in the open spaces between newly planted 

 shrubs, the contrast of the colours with the surrounding 

 greenery being very telling. Foxgloves are particularly suit- 

 able for planting amongst shrubs, as the plants require little 

 or no care after being planted. Seed should be sown at the 

 present time, and if selected from a good strain noble spikes 

 of finely spotted flowers will be produced in a year from the 

 date of sowing. 



We understand that H.R.H. the Princess Mary Ade- 

 laide and H.S H. the Duke of Teck have expressed their wish 

 and intention, if possible, to honour the Show of the National 

 Rose Society with their presence at St. James's Hall on 

 July 4th. The Exhibition is expected to be a very fine one, 

 and quite worthy of Royal patronage. 



Newcastle Flower Show. — The Botanical and Horti- 

 cultural Society of Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle- 

 on-Tyne, continues, we are informed, rapidly to increase in 

 popularity and annual subscribers. The latter now number 

 about 2700, including the M.P.'s, Mayors, many of the Magis- 

 trates and leading families of the two northern counties, being 

 an increase of 2300 members during 1877. The summer show 

 will be held in the Leazea Park on the 13th and 14th Jaly, 

 when prizes of the value of upwards of £500 will be awarded. 

 The recent spring show was attended by 4905 visitors, in ad- 

 dition to 3000 school children who were admitted free. The 

 Society has recently been admitted into union with the Royal 

 Horticultural Society of London. 



The Herefoed Rose Snow, which is to be held on 



July Cth, is expected to be a very good one, the date being 

 favourable for the present rather late Rose season. £200 are 

 provided in prizes. Entries close on July 3rd. Rev. C. H. 

 Bulmer, Creilenhill Rectory, Hereford, is the Honorary Secre- 

 tary of the Show. 



Mr. B. S. Williams has sent to the Oporto Exhi- 

 bition a choice collection of his new and rare plants, including 

 Ferns, Crotons, Palms, Drac£enas, and Ixoras ; also a col- 

 lection of Orchids. 



Double Geraniums are not generally popular for bed- 

 ding purposes in consequence of their disposition to produce 

 vigorous foliage, gross shoots, and a corresponding paucity of 

 flowers when planted in the open ground. A few of the 

 dwarfer growers, notably Wonderful, which may be described 

 as a double Vesuvius, may flower with tolerable freedom in 

 beds, but the stronger growers are seldom satisfactory as 

 bedders. In order to check their exuberance and to foster a 

 low habit of growth a plan we saw the other day at Fnrzedown 

 Park, Tooting, the beautiful residence of C. Seely, Esq., MP., 

 is noteworthy. Mr. Laing, the gardener, had planted a bed 

 of the ordinary double varieties in mixture — old tall plants, 

 the stems of which he had pegged close to the surface of the 

 bed, distributing the points of the shoots regularly. They 

 were showing flowers freely, and there is a prospect of a dwarf 

 and floriferoua bed resulting; at any rate the mode adopted of 

 utilising old plants of strong-growing double Geraniums is 

 worthy of mention. 



There are now about five hundred blooms of Cypri- 



pedium spectabile in a bed 9 feet by 4 feet at the Newton 

 Nurseries, Chester (James Dickson A' Sons), where this beauti- 

 ful North American Orchid is cultivated most successfully as a 

 perfectly hardy plant. 



We have received from an amateur, " Respice Finem," 



a collection of flowers which he has grown in his greenhouse. 

 They consist of Stephanotis, Gardenia, Achimenes, Cleroden- 

 dron Balfcurianum, Paspiflora, and Gloxinias, with Ferns and 

 Panicnm variegatnm. The flowers are extremely fine, and 

 reflect much credit on the cultivator. They arrived also as 

 fresh as if just gathered. The stem of each was wrapped in a 



little damp wadding, which was surrounded with tinfoil to pre- 

 vent evaporation. Oar correspondent proposes sending us an 

 account of his " three-years experience in a greenhouse." We 

 wish he would do so, for if he can teach other amateurs to 

 grow similar flowers to those which he has sent ua he will 

 afford them much satisfaction. 



Me. Gilbert, Burghley, writes to us as follows on tha 



FRUIT crop in Northsmptonshibe : — Gooseberries and Currants 

 are a first-class crop of good-sized clean fruit, not at present 

 spoiled with honeydew. Apples and Pears, both bushes, 

 standards, and on walls, must be called a failure almost entirely. 

 Apricots and Plums, the former a very fair sprinkling, but the 

 trees have been badly affected with grubs, and I never remem- 

 ber so much of the wood going dead. Plums are but few and 

 far between. Peaches and Nectarines are a fairly good crop ort 

 south walls, but on the west where we generally have them 

 fine there are none. The most perplexing to me is the failure 

 of my orchard-house Peaches. The flowers set by thousands, 

 'out the fruit dropped when the size of Peas. I notice others 

 have done likewise. This ought to form a subject for the 

 Scientific Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society. I£ 

 they could tell us the reason of this failure they would com- 

 mand our hearty thanks. 



" Some time ago," writes a correspondent, " Mr. Har- 

 ding, in an interesting communication on Campanulas, directed 

 attention to the attractiveness of Campanula Cymealaria when 

 well grown in pots. It is indeed a charming plant for placing 

 in the front row of a conservatory or greenhouse, also for 

 vases and general decorative purposes. Some plants of this 

 Campanula are now dense masses of lovely bright blue flowers,, 

 and which are much more admired than well-grown plants of 

 blue Lobelias, effective as are these popular edging plants. 

 This Campanula is of easy culture. The plants can be wintered 

 in a cold frame and growu-on in the same structure, the chief 

 requirements being sound generous loam and an abundant 

 supply of water daring the growing and flowering season. I 

 can recommend it with confidence where graceful fringe planta 

 are required daring the summer months. The colour of the 

 flower is particularly bright and pleasing, and can hardly fail 

 to be admired by all visitors; such, at least, is my experience, 

 and I am sanguine it will be the experience of others who will 

 grow this dwarf Campanula well." 



For the decoration of large conservatories and for 



associating with Ferns, Palms, and other " foliage " plants in 

 the ornamentation of halls, staircases, &c., plants of the old 

 white Lily, Lilium candidum, are extremely suitable. W© 

 recently noticed some good examples of this Lily in the con- 

 servatory at Furzedown, where they produced an excellent 

 effect. When cultivated in pots and are afforded slight pro- 

 tection they flower early, affording a good succession to Lilium 

 longiflorum, and continue until L. laucifolium in variety, 

 L. auratum, and other late-flowering Lilies are in beauty. 

 Common as the old white Lily may be, not many of the tribe 

 are more really beautiful in the month of Jane, and none are 

 more easily cultivated. 



The Akeria Quinata which was recently alluded to by 



Mr. Lnekhurst grows, says the American Cultivator, in wild 

 luxuriance in Japan, running over tall trees and festooning them 

 with its long slender stems and neat trifoliate leaves, completely 

 covered with small clusters of dark brown flowers delightfully 

 fragrant. For some time after its first introduction it was 

 cultivated as a greenhouse plant, but it was found subsequently 

 to be quite hardy in England, and a trial of it in our gardens 

 has proved it to be as hardy as own Virginian Creeper. When 

 first planted, like most nursery plants, it makes shght pro- 

 gress ; but as soon as well established it grows with great 

 vigour, making annual shoots 10 to 15 feet long. The foliage 

 somewhat resembles the Clover leaf, of about the same size, 

 and about the last of May the flowers appear at the axils of 

 the leaves in remarkable profusion. They are small in size, 

 of a novel dark-brown colour, and deliciously fragrant. Its 

 hardiness is really remarkable, even the smallest plants ma- 

 turing without covering without the loss of a single branch. 

 For covering arbours or trellises it is one of the most desirable 

 of our climbing plants. 



The American " Gardener's Monthly," in quoting from 



the Joiininl ()/ Horticulture the heights of the Wellinotonias 

 at Poltimore, Killerton, Cotlands, and other places, says it is 

 provoking to read of the fine trees of Sequoia gigantea which 

 they have in England, when we cannot grow it here in its 

 native country. The only placs we ever knew it do well was 



