296 



JCUENAL OF HOBTICUIiTOEE AND COTTAGE GABDENER, 



[ October 22, 1868. 



in dry hot weather, will also Bncoeed better than others in 



wet. 



Scarlet.— Yicioi Emmanuel, Er. Lindley, Vivid, Eclipse, 

 and Glorious. 



Of these, Victor Emmanuel, Vivid, and Eclipse are nearly of 

 the samo shade of colour, and this season did vei-y well, except 

 in the very hottest weather ; but both Vivid and Eclipse are of 

 too strong growth for wet seasons. Dr. Lindley is not free- 

 flowering enough, and the habit of the plant is too upright. 

 Glorious is a very good dwarf, nearly of the same colour as Eoi 

 d'ltalie, and would do best in wet seasons, as, if the plants are 

 bedded out too small, they burn up in diy weather. 



Ct'i-ist'.— Herald of Spring, Trentham Bose, Morrimae (Le- 

 moine), and Comte de Morny. 



These are all good, and I thi]ik Trentham Kose not surpassed 

 yet in its colour. Comte de Morny has a Cue branching habit, 

 and the flower is of a distinct shade of colour, with a large 

 truss. Herald of Spring is rather too strong and upright in 

 growth for wet seasons, but stands dry weather better than 

 most Zonals. Merrimao is also very good, and has a fine truss, 

 but is rather too upright in its growth. 



PfH/j.— Brookfield Pink, Gloire de France, Christine, and 

 Eose Kendatler. 



Of these, Eose Eendatler is by far the best pink, though of 

 rather too light a colour, but its immense flower trusses on 

 fine stiff stalks enable it to resist both dry weather and wet 

 better than any other pink. Brookfleld Pink is a sport from 

 Trentham Eose, propagated and made constant by A. Walker, 

 Esq., of Brookfield. It will not, however, stand sun. Christine 

 is useless in dry weather. Gloire de France is not free-bloom- 

 ing enough. 



Salmon.— Uaiame BndersdorS, Francois Desbois, and Ma- 

 dame Werle. 



Of these, Madame Eudersdorfi is the best, and is very free- 

 blooming, especially in dry weather. Madame Werle is of too 

 strong and upright a habit of growth, and ought really to be 

 called white, with a pink eye. Frau(;-.ois Desbois is good, but 

 not so good as Madame Eudersdorfi. 



Tr/iiVc— Madame Vaucher and White Tom Thumb. I can 

 detect no difference between them. They are the best whites 

 as yet sent out, but are neither free-blooming nor constant 

 enough, and in wet weather, though the white is purer and less 

 pink, yet the plants become too coarse. A good white is, as I 

 before said, still a desideratum. 



Amongst others I did not put into self beds, and which can 

 be recommended, are Eoi d'ltalie. Excellent, and Eose Per- 

 fection. The last I think very promising. Excellent will be 

 well known by most of your readers. I do not like it myself 

 so much as others of its colour. I forgot among the Nosegays 

 to mention Pink Stella, which I am in hopes will be a good 

 pink, and Lady Cnllum, lilac Nosegay, which is good for variety, 

 though many would say it has rather a washed-out look. 



I will now conclnde these notes, and send you, with your 

 permission another time, some remarks on the Variegated 

 Bicolor and Tricolor sections, and also on the winter manage- 

 ment of bedding Pelargoniums, as I am sure much harm is 

 done by the general recommendations which are so common 

 in all gardening periodicals at this time of the year. " Keep 

 all plants cold and dormant during the winter, giving no more 

 water than is absolutely necessary." The consequence is. 

 Pelargoniums lose all their finer fibrous roots in the winter, 

 many damp oii altogether from want of growth, and they are at 

 least a month later in coming into bloom in the spring than 

 they ought to bo. 



To sum up, the best Pelargoniums of those sufficiently long 

 before the public to be well known, are Waltham Seedling, 

 Lord Palmerston, Stella, Cybister, Violet Hill, Amy Hogg, 

 Indian Yellow, Orange Nosegay, Eose Eendatler, Herald of 

 Spring, Comte de Morny, Trentham Eose, and Madame Vaucher. 



I have named one of each shade of colour sufficiently distinct 

 to bed as a variety, the different shades of cerise differing only 

 in tone.— C. P. Peach. 



THE CHERRY PLUM, PRUNUS MYROBALANA. 



When at Burghley Park Gardens, Stamford, last July, I 

 ob.?erved several good-sized trees of this pretty little Plum, 

 quite heavily laden with fruit. Mr. Matheson, the very excel- 

 lent gardener there, informed me that it was very much used 

 by the Marquis of Exeter's family, when quite ripe, for the 

 dessert, but principally for tarts, for which purpose it was 



greatly esteemed and more reUshed than the Morello Cherry, 

 which it somewhat resembles. The fruit is also used for 

 bottUng, and for preserving like other Plums and Cherries. 

 From one tree Mr. Matheson had increased the stock of this to 

 ten or twelve, and by the Marquis of Exeter's desire many had 

 been distributed amongst his tenants, so much are its qualities 

 estimated in that district. As a simple ornamental flowering 

 tree, this Plum, or Prunus, is generally to be met with. It is 

 a distinct species. It is the first of all the Prunus family to 

 blossom, in fact, the first-flowering tree of the season. It is 

 frequently covered with its small but pretty white blossoms in 

 the beginning of March as with a sheet of snow. Through 

 this habit of early flowering, however, we generally lose the 

 fruit by frosts, excepting in unusually open seasons, and in 

 some favoured situations, as at Burghley, which is high and dry. 

 The tree is of slender growth, but attains a great size— from 

 30 to 40 feet ; the leaves are very small and rounded ; fruit 

 medium-sized, of a slightly oval shape, its colour pale red, 

 with a long slender stalk like a Cherry. Indeed, when gathered, 

 a dish of them more nearly resembles one of red Cherries than 

 of Plums. The flesh is yellowish, sweet, with a slight acidity, 

 and juicy. Eipe early in July, but will hang on the trees a 

 long time. At Arundel Castle I recollect seeing some ripe fruit 

 of it on a small plant in the beginning of March ; this treo 

 flowered in October. It was there called Eoblet ; but it has 

 many synonymes, as Early Scarlet, Miser Plum, Virginian 

 Cherry, &c. 



As an ornamental early-flowering tree alone, independently 

 of the fruit, the Cherry Plum is worthy of a place in every 

 garden, — Aechahbaud. 



FLOWER-BEDS IN AUTUMN. 



SILVEH-EDGED VerSllS TRICOLOR PELARGONIUMS. 



Before the lingering beauties of the past summer are too 

 far injured by autumn dews and frosts, it would be well if every- 

 one would note the merits of the different plants composing 

 the summer display, and if such notes were coupled with others 

 taken at various times during the year, there might be collected 

 a large amount of information of greater value than the most 

 careful description made from the appearance of a plant at one 

 time only. Of course, where notes of this kind have not been 

 commenced, it is now too late to do more than examine the 

 condition of the plants at the present time (the middle of Oc- 

 tober) ; and calling to mind how they have behaved all the 

 season, we may, from a plant's long or short continuance in 

 beauty, give it a good or an indifferent character. 



Generally speaking, plants presenting the greatest abundance 

 of flowers at one time are not those likely to give a long con- 

 tinuance of bloom, and many plants having a tendency to ripen 

 seed abundantly are also liable to go off, and blanks are the 

 consequence ; but I will not enter into these matters just now, 

 but will simply look over the beds before they are disarranged, 

 and see what plants maintain their beauties tiU the last, and 

 on that account have a greater claim to our attention than 

 those presenting for a shorter period a good or passable 

 appearance. 



Another circumstance must also be borne in mind — the dis- 

 tance from which a plant is viewed. Some experience in the 

 latter respect has led me to form an opinion which I imagine 

 will bo pronounced heresy by the axithorities in such matters 

 at the present day ; but I nevertheless assert it, and call on 

 those having an opportunity to give an opinion, to do so. My 

 idea is this, that a good Silver-edged Pelargonium looks better 

 than the very best Tricolor one of the day at any distance 

 exceeding GO yards, nay, more than that, I may say that 

 Golden Chain looks better than Mrs. Pollock at that distance, 

 or beyond it. The reason is obvious, the eye cannot detect the 

 beauties of the markings in the leaf, and the dark zone mars, 

 rather than beEutifies the foliage, while the best Silver-edged 

 Pelargoniums present only two colours, white and green, and 

 the green portion of the leaf is often much paler in the white- 

 edged section than in any other, thereby helping to intensify 

 the already prevailing white. The presence of dew, Hkewise, 

 which at this advanced season hangs on plants during a great 

 part of the day, gives a richness to the white-edged Pelargo- 

 niums rather than otherwise, while it clouds the Tricolors. 



It may be asked why make the comparison now, why not go 

 back to July ? To this I am also agreeable. Inquire in what con- 

 dition most of the Tricolor kinds were at that time, and in most 

 eases the complaint would be, that the foliage was scorched and 



