Ill' 



__ SdiM^liL' b'9 fe'OilTICULl?tjRB"AyD 'SOTTAQE GARDENER. ^ March a. MM. 



been, the plants foofc very scrabby, and Itey are now just 



showing for blocm.—G. S. ■ • 



CAMELLIAS IN THE OPEN AIR 



The excellent article on oat-otdoor Camellias by Mr. EDb- 

 aon (page Hi), leaves but little for me to Bay on the eubjeot ; 

 this little I simply offer as addiUonal teetimouy from a different 

 looality aa to the possibility of extending to out-of-door culture 

 one of the most interesting and beautiful of all flowers. 



Of the hardiness of the Cimellia there need not be a shadow 

 of doubt, at least as regards the south of England ; and al- 

 though this fact has been known to horticulturists for many 

 years, yet it does not appear to be generally believed, probably 

 from the circumstance that the plant is almost alivays met 

 with under the protection of glass structures ; and if here and 

 there a solitary plant is found iu the open ground, its condition 

 is not always such as to inspire conEdenoe in the adaptability 



the Camellia as a subject for garden decoration. No in- 

 quiry has been oftener repeated by visitors to my garden than, 



How do you protect yonr Gimellias iu winter ?" "How well 

 they look I" &3., and when assured that the plants have no 

 protection, an intimation of surprise always follows. I quite 

 agree, therefore, with Mr. IJubson that tho sooner the impres- 

 sion of non-hard'nesE is removed .the better. 



I have seven plants of different varieties that have now been 

 five years out of doers ; they have, therefore, during that time 

 been exposed to nearly all the vicissitudes of weather and ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold thjit our climate presents. Their 

 history is simple, but sufficiently conclusive to establish the 

 claim of the Camellia to receive some further attention and 

 trial as an oatof-door subject for cultivation. The merits of 

 the plant as regards flower, foliage, and habit are so woli known, 

 that the greatest inducemeuts are thus held out to extend tho 

 range of its uaefuluess, and while confident that it may be 

 considerably extended, I am far frum advocating an iudisciimi- 

 nate planting of Camellias in quantity iu any situation, under 

 our present limited experieuce of it as an out-of-door plant. 

 Single plants or groups misht be put iu many spots at present 

 occupied by leas interesting objects, and afford. so much the 

 greater pleasure to the owuer. 



My pUnts were planted in the open ground in a group in 

 April, 186-1, after they had shed their bloom for that season ; 

 they were not large, but perfectly healthy and of good form. 

 They were set in light turfy loam, procured from a neighbour- 

 ing common, and have uniformly made goo3 growth every 

 snccessiva year. They were placed in the warmest and most 

 sheltered spot ia tta garden, under the impression I then had, 

 which I now find may be much moditied, that they should 

 have the warmest spot possible. They have also bloomed 

 freely, and at the present time (February '27 tb), are loaded with 

 bads, many of which are expanded ; but these are chiefly of 

 the Double White variety, which has always opened its flowers 

 earliest. The time of flowering has varied with the season — 

 with a severe winter, such as we had two years ago, the bloom 

 was retarded till the middle of April ; at other times the 

 dowers have been well opened during March. 

 . The chief drawbacks to these Camellias have been rain and 

 wind while in flower, an exness of wet while iu bud, and the 

 direct raya of the sun upon tho foliage in hot weather. Eain 

 and wind npon the expanded flowers destroy them iu a day, 

 successive days of suufhine also shorten their duration, and 

 too much wet while in bud causes the buds to drop off; very 

 many did so iu the riiny weather ct last Deceinber and Janu- 

 ary, bat this does not appear to be altogether a disadvantage, 

 M they were too numerous, and the bloom, consequently, 

 would have been inferior. The effect of too much sun on the 

 foliage is to change its hue to a lighter or even yellowish green, 

 but the effect is partial ; the lighter kiuds are affected to a 

 mnoh greater degree than the scarlet or darker- flowered vaiie- 

 ties, some of which retain the deep glossy green of their leaves 

 under all ciroumsfances. , 



Prom the time of their being Srst planted out till now, the 

 plants have received but little treatment at my hands. After 

 flowering I have generally removed a few handfuls of soil 

 around the plants, and replaced it with some cool peat earth. 

 I cannot state positively that this has done any good, but it 

 hfts certainly done no harm. The spaces between the plants 

 have been kept free from weeds, and the soil slightly stirred 

 with a fork when that appeared, needful. One. summer, when 

 (he vreathar was very dry Bud hot, I watered copiously with 



water that had stood in the sun all day. This did no good, or 

 rather it did harm, for the foliage curled and dropped in abund- 

 ance, so much, indeed, as to cause some apprehension for ft 

 time for the safety of the plants. I have never watered since, 

 and during the drought of last year they braved the ordeal 

 satisfactorily, — Adoli'hu.s H. Klnt. 



I UAVE a Camellia jaj>onica, planted during la38 by my 

 father, in a north-east angle of the house. It has never had 

 the least protection since it was planted, covers a space of 

 21 square feet, flowers beautifully onnually, and is generally 

 in flower at the beginning of the year. It has at the present 

 time (March 1st), upwards of two thousand blooms out. I 

 have likewise in the shrubberies two large plants of the Double 

 White, 10 feet high, covered with blossom. They are quite 

 pictures, but unless we have a mild winter they do not flower 

 BO well. We Lave had Laurels and other shrubs killed by 

 frost, but the Camellias have never been touched by it, — Thomas 

 Sprino, Cofvdroy Park, Sv^sex, 



PLANTS IN FLOWKR DURING FBBRUAUY. 



Feb 



4. Andromeda floribunda. 



Ulmua moutana and varie 



ties. 

 Syroplipricarpua vul^ris. 

 Oydonia japoaica. 

 Anjygdalus coDiuninis. 

 Berberia ner^-oan. 

 Diantbus barlmtus. 

 Anemone liorteneia. 

 lllmua Cftinpestris an( 

 varidiee. 

 . Draba verna. 



\'ibiirLiaui lucidinn. 

 Arabia nlbida. 

 MjoBotis paluatria. 

 Uulbocodium vomum. 

 I^rica cnrnta. f 



K<?rri:L japonica. 

 L'. Crocus aureua. 



vernus. 



Bualanua. 



Cloth of Gold. 

 Hyacinths. 



Erytbromum dens-ca&is. 

 Populus tremula. 

 '3uniperuo cbineaais. 

 Oalaathug plicatus. 

 Karcissu.4 'ucoiupajabilis. 



psendo-Narcissna. 

 OmpbaloJes veiiia. 

 Berberis IBcalii. 

 Thuja orientalia. 

 Ulmus suberoaa, 

 Phlos frondoaa. 

 Uofee Gloire dc Dijon. 

 .. ta. Scilla bifjlia. 



HolieborcB niger. 



— M, H., Achla-yi Hall, MiddlcsirovgHrWl-fcfA' 



Feb. 13. Holleborua footidus. 

 viridia. 

 Primula acautia. 

 Daphne me^ereum, 

 Bibeu sanguinea. 

 Alnua fjlutiDoea. 

 ,, 16. Hepatica triloba. 

 Phlox aetacea. 



verna. 

 Aimeuiaca vutgavia. 

 Potentilla alba. 

 Corylus avellana. 

 f :i . Buxua aempervireus. 

 ■ Vibuinum tinua. 

 ', •: 1 Salix alba. 

 , „..:S4i.I>oronicum cauoaaicum. 

 ,, I. -;, Vinca niajor. 

 minor. 

 Tritoma uvaria. 

 Viola odorata. 

 CarpinUB belalus. 

 Chimonnnthus fragreina. 

 AinypdaliH p<rHica, 

 Triteleia nniflora. 

 Ulex europroa. 

 „ 27. Pulmonaria officiualia. 

 Port^ythia viridiuaima. 

 Double Daisies. 

 PopiiluB bal.samifera. 

 SuK-ilraga cordifolia. 

 Folyanthua. 

 Orobus vcrnus. 

 Gel-man Wallflowers. 

 Hhododendron dauricam. 

 Alysauro BSKatile. 

 I>ieiytra spcctabilis. 



I'ROPAGATING VERBENAS. 



I iniNK your correspondent Mr. E. Wilson, page 104, uses 

 rather too decided language in inferring, as he evidently does, 

 that Verbenas kept in store pans must necessarily be decrepit 

 and covered with mildew. I, in common with many others, 

 adopt that plan, and generally find that it answers my purpose 

 very well. There is nothing new in mj way of carrying it out ; 

 but for the benefit of your readers who may be inclined, after 

 Mr. Wilson's condemnation, to give it up, I will relate it ; and 

 as I have now between two and three dozen pans with quite a 

 hundred good strong cuttings in each (the best are those of 

 Purple King, by some considered rather diflicult to winter), I 

 will take my last season's mode of proceeding as a guide. 



In the last week in August wo forked up a bed in a pit in 

 which Melons had been grown, added a little half -spent litter 

 and leaves, just sufficient to produce a gentle lasting heat, and 

 in four or five days, we covered the bed with inches of saw 

 dust. I had our'paus, which are from 12 to 14 inches across, 

 well washed and crocked, put over the crocks a loyer of old 

 mushroom dung, and then filled up with equal parts of good 

 loam and leaf soil to within 1 inch of the top, placing over aU 

 a thin layer of silver sand. We of course took the best cuttings 

 we could find, and pricked them in about an inch apart all 

 over the pans, which wo then placed in the pit, plunging them 

 up to the lim. We dumped the cuttings over through a fine 

 rose morning and evening on bright days, and in about three 

 weeks they were struck ; not 10 per cent, failed. The rooted 



