March 6, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



l'J7 



COKONILLA GLAUCA. 



T is in many respects fortunate that the rage 

 for new plants does not entirely drive out of 

 cultivation old ones of merit ; still there is as 

 much honour in restorinij an old acquaint- 

 ance to the position it justly deserves as in 

 introducing a new comer to notice. Many 

 old neglected plants are being brought back 

 to do duty in the same way as our fore- 

 fathers made use of them, or, by a different 

 mode of treatment, they are dii'ected into 

 some other channel of usefulness, and are then found 

 better than some recently-introduced plant which is both 

 scarce and costly. I, for one, have a weakness for old 

 plants, and amongst those which I admire for their beauty 

 and utility is that to which I now call attention. 



Coronilla glauca has long been known to the gardening 

 world, and had it been a stove plant, instead of one of the 

 hardiest of our greenhouse subjects, it is likely it would 

 have been oftener met with than it now is, but as it is 

 so easily cultivated, and all but perfectly hardy, I have 

 no hesitation in calling on all those who wish to have as 

 good a display as possible in the dead-winter months to 

 commence its cultivation. With ordinary care it wiU bloom 

 in the autumn, several months earlier than the Cytisus, 

 which it in some degi'ee resembles ; nay, the Coronilla 

 win in line sunny seasons set its flowers sufficiently early 

 in the season to expand into full bloom early in the 

 autumn. I think I have seen one growing out of doors 

 in full bloom by the middle of September, and I am not 

 sure if it was not much earlier than this ; the season, 

 however, was particularly warm and dry, alike favouring 

 early growth and the ripening of the wood, and also tend- 

 ing to hasten the embryo buds to expand into full blos- 

 som. The situation was sunny, but the ground in which 

 the Coronilla was grown was also occupied by neighbour- 

 ing plants and fruit trees. The Coronilla, checked in its 

 early progi'ess, finished its growth by well-ripened flower 

 buds, which quickly developed themselves into bright 

 clusters of rich yellow bloom wliich continued a long 

 time in perfection, and even wlien they were gone the 

 plant had not the bad appearance which many other flne- 

 flowering plants present when their flowering is over, for 

 its foliage is ornamental at all tunes. 



Perhajis the best way to manage this plant is to strike 

 a number of cuttings every year, and assuming them to 

 be in small pots at the end of the season, let them be put 

 into larger ones about the time they begin to grow, using 

 a good proportion of sand in the mixture. If it be con- 

 sidered necessary to repot a part of the stock again, it 

 should be remembered that the earlier in the summer 

 the growth is completed the sooner tho plants will be in 

 bloom. To potbound plants standing in the full sun, and 

 in a position where their roots are not tempted to run 

 into the ground below, water must, of course, be given 

 in sufiicient quantities to prevent flagging. Let them 

 have as much sun as possible, and, unless the latter part 

 of the summer be very dull and sunless, you wUl be 



No. 623.— Vol. XXIV., New Series. 



rewarded by weU-foi-med plants obtained without any 

 training, and loaded with flowers, wliich will come in at 

 times when bloom of any kind is acceptable. With good 

 management a succession of bloom may bo kept up till 

 the middle of February, after which the Cytisus and other 

 plants take their place. I may add that the Coronilla 

 will survive moderately-mild winters when gi'owing in 

 a favourable position, and in such places will bloom also 

 in autumn after a hot dry summer, but the chances of 

 its doing so are not sufficiently gi-eat to render in-door 

 culture altogether unnecessary. — J. Kobson. 



LOBD LONDESBOROUGH'S GAEDEN AT 

 COOMBE. 



All who have frequented the meetings of the Eoyal 

 Horticultural Society know how indebted they are for 

 some of their attractions to the very beautiful Orchids 

 which Lord Londesborough never fails to send up, and 

 which his able gardener, Mr. Denning, so successfully 

 cultivates. Hitherto they have been sent up a very long 

 distance — from Grimston Hall, near Tadcaster; but as 

 last year Grimston was sold, and his lordship had no 

 garden near London, it became necessary to obtain some 

 X)lace, and hence the origin of the garden at Coombe. 



Having been called up to London on a very sad duty, 

 and not caring to spend the day in the bustle of the gi'eat 

 city, I (although the weather was most wretched, a cold 

 raw easterly fog prevailingl, determined on making my 

 way into tho subm-bs, and so went down to Twickenham, 

 where I saw Mr. Little's Cyclamens, of which more another 

 time. What a quaint old stragghng village it is ! By- 

 the-by, let me recommend to all who wish a most read- 

 able book descriptive of English scenery to read " The 

 Strange Adventures of a Phoston," which gives charming 

 details of a drive through England, not the less readable 

 because a little romance runs through it all. On from 

 Twickenham I walked to Richmond, then went by rail 

 to Kingston, saw Mr. Looker's pottery, and then walked 

 on to Norbiton, taking Lord Londesborough's garden in 

 my way. 



I am not aware that it has as yet any distinctive name, 

 for really it is simply a garden and nothing more, and 

 your first idea on visiting it is that you have lighted on 

 some new mu-sery establishment. House there is none, 

 save that for the gardener; and in fact in August last the 

 place, which wUl, no doubt, make for itself a name, was 

 simply a Wheat field. Nay, £00 was given as compensation 

 to the farmer for getting off the Wheat, so as to enable the 

 workmen to commence their operations. There are no 

 shrubberies, avenues, parterres — nothing, indeed, of orna- 

 ment about it ; it is simply a plain garden, winch, how- 

 ever, by the excellence of its products, wfll make for itself a 

 name. The neighbom-hood is classic in horticultm-e. Not 

 far ofl' is Jackson's old-established nursery at Kingston, and 

 Mr. Veitch's place at Coombe Wood is about a mile dis- 

 tant. Since August last, then. Lord Londesborough has 

 erected on this piece of ground, or will have erected when 

 finished, about 1200 feet in length of glass, on an average 



No. 1276.— Vol. XLIX., Old Series. 



