July 23, WH I 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTORE AND COTTAGE QARDENEB. 



S» 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



JULY 23-29, 186a 



pontefntct T'lowcr Show. Exhibition of 



[SrafToriiHliiro florticuUuml Kociftv. 

 Royiil llorticiilturfil Kocioty, Promenade. 

 7 BONDAV AjTEtt Tnj.-^ixy. 



Buckinghiim UorticnUnrnl Show. 

 Louxhborongh Uortioaltural Show. 



Avorni^o Tomperaturo 

 near London. 



Riun In 



last 

 41 yeoTB, 



Day. 

 71.0 

 71.1 

 7:18 

 780 

 7)8 

 76.8 

 76.0 



Nli;ht 

 t,l C, 

 51 9 

 40.1 

 602 



r> .9 



61.0 

 50 4 



Miinn. 



(12.8 



(!2.5 



(12 6 



(12.1 



(•>-.>.4 



em 



632 



Days. 



20 

 14 

 12 

 2) 

 IH 

 20 

 18 



Ran 



RitKIB. 



m h. 

 12 af 4 



8nn 



Sots. 



b 

 C!) af 7 



Moon 

 Ristja. 



ra. h. 



40 :>i a 



7 10 



2! n 



after. 

 45 1 

 62 2 

 55 a 



Moon 



S«tg. 



m. h 

 Oaf 10 

 27 10 

 61 10 

 21 11 

 53 U 

 raorn. 

 2S 



Moon's 

 Age. 



DaVN. 

 4 

 6 

 6 

 J 

 8 

 9 

 10 



Olock 

 b«fore 



aan. 



12 

 fi 18 



14 

 14 

 6 18 

 6 12 

 6 11 



"7 

 Year 



200 



5oe 

 201 



208 

 21)9 

 210 



From obsorvations taken near London dnrini? tha lant forty-one yoarn, the average day temperature of the week is 74.2"; and its »1k1 * 

 tompenitnre60.7\ The groatost heat was 92', on the 25th, 1841 ; and the lowest cold 32', on the 2Srd, 18<}3. The greaieal fall of rain 

 was 1.S9 Inch. 



THE VERBENA, SPECIES versus VARIETIES. 



^^ij^^^'^ELDOM is it thot the points aimed at by the 

 florist and flower gardener are alike, more 

 often thi^y run in direct opposition. The 

 florist tries all he can to obtain a flower so 

 constructed as to comply as nearly as possible 

 with an ideal standard which he has set up, 

 repardless of the number of flowers or the 

 habit of the plant. On the other hand, the 

 flower gardener wants a plant of good habit 

 that will supply him with the greatest num- 

 ber of flowers in close succession fur the longest possible 

 time. Sometimes an attempt is made to unite these two 

 qualities in one, but it is not often successful ; either the one 

 or other feature is regarded as the more important, and it 

 rarely happens that a plant producing flowers of the most 

 approved colour or shape furnishes these flowers in such 

 numbers as other plants of a kindred kind less improved 

 by hybridisation, or any other mode adopted for the pur- 

 pose ; and much as such improvements have done for us in 

 tlie way of furnishing additional colours in plants that in 

 a natural state presented only one hue, there are, neverthe- 

 less, instances in which the tints of the original cannot be 

 surpassed for brilliancy. 



I may ask if the best scarlet Verbena known is any 

 advance on the original imported one V. melindres ? Cer- 

 tainly in point of habit and constitution many are in 

 the rear of it ; and as these notes are mostly directed to 

 the culture of this plant, its rise and uses in the flower 

 garden, and, shall we say, its decline '■' perhaps it may 

 give offence to some of its best friends to say this, but it 

 certainly held a higher position in the flower garden ten 

 or fifteen years ago than it does now. If this is not a 

 decline of popularity it is a proof that other plants have 

 eclipsed it, wliich is about the same thing : and as there is 

 a feeling setting in to disregard what florists call " quality " 

 in many of the occupants of the flower garden, we may 

 yet hope to see the hitherto disregarded qualification of 

 constitution more attended to than form in the Verbena, 

 and in so doing we may obtain plants capable of with- 

 standing the attacks of mildew and other enemies which 

 mar the appearance of many of the best bods of Verbenas. 

 In quest of this we must go back to some of tlie original 

 species of this genus, and perhaps we may find some of 

 them even in their normal state far from despicable objects ; 

 in fact, it is a matter of doubt if some of them do not excel 

 their progeny in many of the points which are now of 

 importance. 



Of the earlier species or varieties of Verbena my recol- 

 lection of Verbena venosa is the oldest. This was followed 

 by V. pulchella, and subsequently by V. melindres ; the last- 

 named, I think, in 1829, altliough it might be known else- 

 where before that time. About half a dozen years after- 

 wards a pink one presented itself under the name of V. in- 

 cisa, which was speedily followed by a white one of strong 

 vigorous habit, called tencrioides. contemporary with which 

 was a sort of .annual one called V. Aubletia, also of a loose 

 coarse habit. Verbenas began to multiply about 1833 or 

 No. 382.— Vol. XV., New Sekies. 



1839, a deep rose-coloured kind called Tweediana being 

 amongst the first that I can call to mind, and some lilUe 

 surprise was felt in the floral world by a yellow one being 

 announced ; unfortunately, however, it proved to be only 

 a dirty white. This was a time when the Verbena as a 

 flower-garden plant was in about its greatest popularity, 

 which might be said to be from 1840 to 1H55. After the 

 latter date the varied forms of the Pelargonium began sue 

 cessfully to compete with the plant, until in most places they 

 have exceeded it. This, however, would not have been the 

 case had the class of Verbenas of the present day been as 

 vigorous in constitution as those in use twenty years ago, 

 or the seasons less favourable to their growth now than 

 they were then. One or other of these causes has lessened 

 the services of the Verbena as an ornament in the parterre, 

 and it is not likely to regain its place unless a class of plants 

 adapted to the requirements of the times be forthcoming, 

 and to accomplish tliis the standard of the florist will, I 

 think, have to be disregarded, and quantity not quality of 

 tlie flowers be the order of the day, coupled with the im- 

 proved constitution of the plant. 



There are a few varieties which, I believe, have not 

 gone out of fashion yet — viz , Emma, St. Margaret, Atro- 

 sangninea, and Robinson's Defiance, with some others, 

 and, with the exception of Purple King, I am not aware 0/ 

 any in general use at the present day that have continued 

 so long in public estimation ; but I expect that even where 

 they are retained (if they really are so), they no longer 

 exhibit tlie long-continued floral beauty they did at or 

 before the time of the building of the first Crystal Palace^ 

 I am not sure that the same remark holds g(X)d with 

 respect to all Verbenas, and it is with a view to call alten 

 tion to those which really still continue to do well with os 

 that I now write. As it is manifest that the better ^ arieties, 

 as they may be called, are more prone to succumb to the 

 evils by which they are surrounded— insects, mildew, lack 

 of vigour, and the like, a return to kinds that have done 

 dnty something like half a century with a character less 

 sullied by these faults, must have an important claim on 

 our attention, and even if these varieties, or rather species, 

 possess not the required form of the florists' standajd, they 

 may approach much nearer to it than the small and in- 

 significant bloom of Tagetes pumila does to that of the 

 best variety of French Marigold, and in point of eoIoHr 

 they may rival the best results of the cross-breeder's 

 skill. 



In urging the claims of distinct species on the gardening; 

 public, it will be seen tliat much variety cannot well be 

 attained ; but possibly something may be done by going 

 back to them as direct parents for breeding from. The tw» 

 species I here urge more especially on the flower gardening 

 world are Verbena venosa and V. pulchella, the two very 

 distinct, and both deserving more attention than they 

 receive. The claim of the first-named was many ye«ra 

 ago urged strongly by the late Mr. Beaton for the formatiott 

 of shot silk beds, and I believe Mr. 'Ihomson, of Areher- 

 field, uses it extensively in other ways. Its hardihood »nd 

 otlier qualities entitle it to a more conspicuous place than 

 it often occupies. Pulchella, althongh less grown, perhaps 



No. 1CS4.— Vol. XL., Old i 



