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JOURNAL OP HOETICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. [ Noyember 26, 1868. 



ficate in 1018. When the modaetery of Saint Croix, in Alsace, 

 was foanded, he stipulated that the brethren should send to 

 the pope yearly a Gulden Eose. The ceremony of its pre- 

 sentat'oa to and b nediction by the pope takes place at Eome 

 on the fourih Sunday in Lent. Our Edward I. was not only a 

 CrQB«'i«r, but so aided the popes in their Sicilian wars, and so 

 enoi|>t«ou8ly furnished their table with a golden service, that 

 it is probable " the Golden Rose " was presented to him, and 

 that consequently he adopted it as his badge. At all events, 

 he was the first English monarch who adopted the Eose as a 

 badge, and his was a golden Rose on a green stalk. The red 

 BoBO was first assumed by the Duke of Lancaster, John of 

 Obent (Gaunt as uaunlly erroneously pronounoeJ and spelt), 

 in tSie reign of Edwartl lU., but Henry IV. was the first of our 

 kini;8 to adopt that badge. Edward IV., among other badges, 

 had the white Rose, and it was a white Eose in soleil— that is, 

 sarronndod by rays. The succeeding kings had the same badge, 

 tat Henry VII. bad for his badges the white and red Rose 

 joined. Henry VIII. had both the red Eose alone and the 

 white and red Eoses joined and crowned. Queen Anne Boleyn 

 Iiad a white crowned f.ilcon, holding a sceptre in htr right claw, 

 pettthedoa a golden trunk, which bore both white and red Eoses. 

 Catherine Parr had a maiden's head crowned, issuing out of a 

 bash of white and red Roses, very appropriate, considering the 

 etarroip escape from the executioner she had as Henry VIII. 's 

 mfe. Edward VI. 's badge was of red and white Roses com- 

 bined. Mary had a red and white Rose and a Pomegranate, 

 in oomplimeut to her Spanish husband, knit together. Eliza- 

 beth had not only the red and white Eoses, but many other 

 dances. James I. bad for his badge a demi Rose crown, im- 

 paled with a demi Thistle. Anne had the Eose and Thistle 

 borne fay one stem, and so had George J. Queen Victoria's 

 badge is a red and white Rose united. — G. 



pant of the garden if I can help it. I am also strongly in 

 favour of a good depth of soil for the beds, finding that it suits 

 either wet or dry seasons better than beds composed only of a 

 few inches of soil. Most of our beds consist of from 18 inches 

 to 2 feet deep of prepared soil. — John Mason, Prince's Park, 



BEET AS AN EARLY BEDDEK. 



I HAVE much pleasure in again replying to Mr. Eobson's in- 

 quiries (nee page 350), as to the merits of Beet for decorative 

 porposee, and this time I will be a little more explicit than I 

 was in any former article on the same subject. 



The following is the treatment I adopted with it in the past 

 season, and if Mr. Eobson should feel disposed to give the 

 same variety a trial under the same or similar treatment, I am 

 sangattie enough to think that he will not be disappointed, and 

 will find it equal to any of its compeers for early decoration. 



The seed was sown in a shallow seed-pan in the middle of 

 March and placed in a propagating house, where the pan re- 

 maned until the plants were showing their second leaf from 

 the soed leaf. They were then taken to a cool greenhouse 

 where they remained in the seed-pan for about a fortnight, 

 when they were pricked out into boxes and shallow pans at 

 about 3 inches apart, and again placed in the greenhouse ; 

 there thay were kept until finally planted out in the flower 

 garden in tbe end of Msy, by which time they were good stiff 

 pl&ots i or 5 inches high. 



_ In moving them out of the boxes and pans at planting-out 

 time, care was taken to lift as much of the soil with the roots 

 as possible so as to prevent flagging, and as the sun was rather 

 powerful just at that time, I had them shaded for a few days, 

 in the middle of the day, by placing & flower-pot, inverted, 

 over each plant, so that the plants never received any sudden 

 cheek to their growth, and I assure Mr. Eobson that by the 

 end of June they were in advance of Pcrilla planted out at the 

 same time, and were quite in character with Pelargoniums, 

 Calceolarias, and the other occupants of the flower garden. 

 As with me early effect is of as great importance as late, I 

 would not give the Beet the character I have done unless I had 

 proved it to be gnod throughout the season. 



I/tst season being the first I had ever used the Beet for deco- 

 rative purposes, I had grave doubts about its continuing all 

 the Be&son without running to seed, through being sown so 

 early, and in order to be prepared against anything of the kind 

 ooeorring, 1 made a second sowing in May, so as to have a 

 reserve to replace any plant that might " bolt," but I am happy 

 to 8a.y that I did not require to fall back on the reserve stock, 

 as-not a single plant out of the early sowing went to seed, or 

 showei! any symptoms of doing so, and every plant was almost 

 as Gniform as if cast in one mould. 



The soil of our flower beds is light but good. The only 

 ioaaore I ever apply to our flower beds is leaf mould, which 

 E Qse rather freely, being no advocate for starving any occu- 



SUBTROPICAL GARDENING IN THE NORTH. 



Noticing in your number, dated September l'2th, page 357, 

 an article on subtropical gardening, I send these few words to 

 encourage others who may feel interested in this my favourite 

 branch of horticulture. I may say that with care and atten- 

 tion, combined with a little study of the nature and habitat of 

 the plants used, even the inhospitable north is capable of this 

 style of gardening. I live in a bleak, exposed spot on a high 

 table land in Wigtonshire, yet this year my first attempt had 

 considerable success. 



To speak briefly, I planted out beds of Dracaena terminalis, 

 Maranta fasciata and zebrina, Alocasia metallica and maoro- 

 rhiza variegata, Tradescantia discolor ; Begonia Hfil^ne Uhder, 

 Keramis, Marquis de St. Innocent, Adolphe Pollack ; Caladiums 

 Cannartii, Wightii, and picturatum, among the smaller-growing 

 plants. Among the larger there were Bananas (Musa Caven- 

 dishii), Ferdinanda eminena, Solanums, Cordyline indivisa, 

 Latania borbonioa, Seaforthia elegans, Wigandia caracasana, 

 Monstera deliciosa, Indian-rubber plants, several sorts of 

 Cannas, Castor Oil plants, Aralia papyrifera, Calla ajthiopica, 

 and Chamairops humilis. These were all young plants, have 

 done well, increased visibly in size while planted out, and are 

 now taken up quite healthy to store up for next year. The 

 only things to mar the effect were a little scorching on the lower 

 leaves of the Dracaenas, and some of the Cannas being exposed 

 too much to the high winds prevalent in this part of the country ; 

 the foliage, however, was only a little damaged. Next year I 

 hope still more to extend the collection. Should this be con- 

 sidered worth printing, I will give a more detailed account o£ 

 my method of procedure at a future time. — Geoege E. Hab- 

 KioTi, Killiemorc Lodtie, Kirkcouan, Wiytonshire. 



THE FLOWER BORDERS DURING LAST 



SUMMER. 



Let me say a few words about our borders now that the 

 summer is ended. 1 will begin with the Eoses. With us they 

 have been all that could be desired during the season. Pillar 

 Eoses have been forced upon us, owing to our exposure and 

 Buffering from the winds, which compelled us reluctantly to 

 give up the cultivation of standard Eoses. When they had 

 attained any size we frequently found them in windy weather, 

 in spite of all our watchfulness, sweeping a certain space, dis- 

 figuring all around them with dirt, and spoiling themselves for 

 months, after all the care exercised to preserve them from the 

 insects and diseases they are subject to. 



The Crimson China Eoses iu beds have this season been re- 

 markably fine, and a large bed of that fine old kind, Gfiant des 

 Batailles, makes a display of no mean order ; or, if thought 

 desirable, one can have a splendid contrast by planting the 

 centre of a bed with Mrs. Bosanquet or others of that class, 

 then a belt of the Geant, with a ring of Bourbon Queen, or 

 something of that kind, finishing with the Crimson China Eose. 



For the borders we have adopted the pillar system. Our 

 plan is to put in good strong poles or stakes 6 feet apart, then 

 prepare the place to he planted by mixing the best loam we 

 can obtain with well-rotted manure, charred refuse, and a little 

 coarse sand, fiUing-in the compost some time previous to plant- 

 ing in order to allow for settling. After planting we mulch as 

 may be necessary, and we take up the plants every second or 

 third year and renew the soil if requisite, keeping the plants 

 secured to the stakes. We are well repaid for our labour in 

 pursuing this mode of treatment, by the abundance and con- 

 tinuance of the beautiful flowers which are produced, and the 

 roots are numerous and under control. During the past season 

 the plants have been the admiration of all who have seen them, 

 their rich foliage adding to the charms of their blossoms. 



Most of our Eoses are on the Manetti stock, the remainder 

 on their own roots, which I much prefer. To enumerate any- 

 thing like the collection would be quite foreign to my present 

 intention, but I will name a few of the varieties which are 

 doing good service as pillar Eoses : — Baronne Picvost, Ccilouel 

 de Eougemont, Charles Lawson, Paul Perras, Madame Hector 



