June 19, 1873. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETIGDLTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



4S3 



stronger. This may account in some measure for tie want of 

 success attending Mr. Downing's experiments with Shepherdia 

 seedlings. I would suggest that his next experiment be made 

 by retaining the pulp ou the seeds through the winter. — 

 W. JIuiB, CI«;(o«. PnrJc. 



HAEDY IBERISES. 



A SHOET time ago there was a discussion in your pages about 

 hardy Iberises and their nomenclature. I send you a sprig of 

 each of the three kinds which we grow here. Though late in 

 the season, and the flowers consequently small, they never- 

 theless show sufficient distinctness of character to be entitled 

 to separate names. As each has separate claims on the atten- 

 tion of cultivators of hardy plants I append a few notes, having 

 grown these Candytufts rather extensively for some years, but 

 I leave it to others to say if the names I give them are the 

 right ones or not. 



1. Iberis SE3IPERVIRENR. — This is white-flowered with no 

 tinge of lilac, and flowering in umbels on stems somewhat 

 t;Jler than I. corifolia. Its leaves are long and narrow, but 

 not pointed, and the plant, as its name implies, evergreen. It 

 is also very hardy, and is not particular as to situation. 



2. Ibekis cokifolia. — I believe this is sometimes called I. 

 correa'folia, from the genus Corra^a, and I have had it with 

 the name of I. Tenoreana, under which I have certainly met 

 with it in more than one pubUc garden ; but I find it is 

 more often called I corifoUa; so, whether right or wrong, I 

 call it so. Perhaps, however, some one will be good enough 

 to give us the correct name. In the Manchester Botanic Gar- 

 den I see it is named I. Tenoreana. But, whatever be its 

 name, it is an exceedingly handsome hardy plant, somewhat 

 dwarfer than I. sempervirens and more compact ; the foliage 

 also is shorter and broader, and it flowers in a sort of spike 

 rather than in imibels, or the dense mass of florets which 

 compose the head form a sort of round-headed column of 

 pure white, the authers only being yellow. I place it amongst 

 the most useful and ornamental hardy plants which we have. 

 We have some edgings of beds formed of it that may be two 

 years old ; they are a pjif ;ct mass of flowers, and being low 

 they look exceedingly pretty. It is in my estimation by far 

 the best of its class, and superior to most other plants of a 

 like characler. Certainly with me it is much prettier than the 

 old but scarce dwarf white Eocket, as the latter is at best un- 

 certain and makes an uneven row. I have never observed it 

 ripen seeds, but it is easily propagated by cuttings. 



3. Iberis gibraltaeica. — This diS'ers widely from either of 

 the two above named, being more irregular in its growth, often 

 becoming straggling, and I am not sure if it is so hardy, as I 

 have lost plants occasionally in winter ; nor does it present 

 that thrifty evergreen appearance in winter which renders the 

 others so cheerful to look upon ; its blooms, too, are widely 

 different, being when flrst opened of a deep hlac, which fades 

 into a paler colour as time advances, but they present an even 

 uniform umbel, and look pretty. It appears to be most at home 

 on rockwork, where its irregular or rather straggling growth 

 would find a congenial substance to rest upon ; and I think 

 it lilies to be dry , or to be planted in a dry position. Its foliage is 

 slightly wedge-shaped, being narrow at the base. It is, when 

 the plant is healthy, much larger than that of either of the 

 two kinds previously mentioned, but is often confined to the 

 tips of the shoots, leaving long naked stems destitute of leaves. 

 In my estimation it is far short of I. corifoha in beauty and 

 general utility, but is, nevertheless, weU worth growing as a 

 distinct kind.^T. Eobson. 



Leeds Hoeticultukal Society. — I have just returned from 

 the Leeds Show, where I acted in the capacity of Judge with my 

 friend Mr. Peach, and I can testify that the Show was a great 

 credit to Leeds, and to the spirited Committee under whose 

 managemeut it was can-ied out. I'he plants were exhibited in 

 some of the finest tents I have ever seen — real tents, not large 

 frames covered with canvas. Here were arranged some splendid 

 collections of stove and greenhouse plants, notably those con- 

 tributed by Messrs. Cole & Sons ; while the Pelargoniums, 

 Show, Fancy, and Zonal, were infinitely beyond anything I have 

 seen in or near the metropolis. Of course Mr. Ward's collec- 

 tions are to be excepted ; but then, instead of a couple of com- 

 petitors in each class, there were five or six collections of twelves 

 and sixes, while Zonula were really grand. Eoses were not up 

 to the mark, but then it was late for pot Eoses. Pansies were 

 shown in large quantities, and the table decorations and bouquets 

 were reaUy some of them of exquisite taste. So far for the Show. 



The arrangements seemed to be equally good. There was a go 

 in whole thing different from the dolcc far nientr style one is 

 accustomed to in some places. The Mayor opened the Show ; 

 the Committee worked with a will ; and the indefatigable Se- 

 cretary, Mr. Birbeck, must have been pleased at the result of 

 his labours. I think one may augur well for horticulture iu the 

 north when one sees such an exhibition held in a place so un- 

 favourable to the growth of plants as Leeds must be. — D., Deal. 



GARDENING IN THE WEST.— No. 2. 



B.\TH.— 2. 



The other public places that claim attention iu Bath are 

 the Sidney Gardens and the Abbey Cemetery. The former are 

 situated at the end of Pulteney Street, and their formation 

 dates as far back as 1795. The grounds are tastefully laid out 

 and planted, and the trees, which have now attained gigantic 

 dimensions, contribute to make this charming retreat a pro- 

 menade of great beauty. Here it is that the shows of the 

 Bath Horticultural Society are held, and every evening through- 

 out the season there is a promenade with music. The ancient 

 restriction of " No dogs or livery servants admitted'' has been 

 removed, and those who are not subscribers are admitted on 

 payment of sixpence, irrespective of their being dogs or livery 

 servants. The Abbey Cemetery is interesting in one respect 

 only, as being the last work of Loudon. Its scope is limited, 

 and there is nothing remarkable in the design. The planting 

 may, however, command a passing observation, as exhibiting 

 less of the dull, heavy, sombre effect which is too frequently 

 seen in cemeteries. Here there is a Uveliness and a compara- 

 tive cheerfulness, to which we are unaccustomed in these places, 

 by the introduction of flowering trees and shrubs. Scarlet 

 Horse Chestnuts, Double and Single Scarlet Thorns, Cratiegus 

 of various species. Double Furze, Laburnums, Eoses, Weigelas, 

 Gueldres Eoses, and many others, not dotted here and there, 

 but liberally difi'used all over the ground in groups and lines. 

 And when we read, as we enter, such inscriptions as " licsurg- 

 am,'' " God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, " we 

 feel that there is harmony around, and that the sentiments 

 which these inscriptions convey and the truths they teach are 

 helped and strengthened by the beautiful and bright sur- 

 roundings of the new life which every retm-ning spring brings 

 with it. 



We have already stated in a former paper that, although 

 there is great encouragement of horticulture in Bath, there 

 are no great gardens or places where gardening is carried out 

 either generally or specially. The city and its suburbs abound 

 in detached villas, varying in size from an eighth of an acre to 

 two or four acres. Thoy all have theh' gardens, and most of 

 them a conservatory, and their style of decoration assumes 

 the "bedding-out" form. The consequence is, the gardening 

 taste taken collectively is very great, and the places are indi- 

 vidually very small. These terraces upon terraces of detached 

 villas embosomed iu trees remind us of Moscow, and if their 

 roofs were painted as those of Moscow ai-e, the resemblance 

 would not be unlike. 



An exception to all the places in the immediate vicinity of 

 Bath is Vellore, the lovely residence of the rector of the Abbey, 

 the Eov. Charles Kemble. It is situated at Bathwick, on an 

 eminence a little above the Sidney Gardens, and within an 

 area of about twelve acres is concentrated every feature and 

 representation of gardening. The pleasure grounds are artisti- 

 cally designed and planted ; and although there are basins, 

 fountains, statuary, rockwork, and grottoes introduced, there 

 is no crowding, no discord, and nothing to offend the eye by 

 its incongruity. The lawns, the glades, the terraces, the flower 

 beds and shrubberies are all spacious ; the trees are tastefully 

 grouped and embrace a great variety, and at the tune of our 

 visit the Scarlet Horse Chestnuts and the Thorns were gorgeous 

 in their spring array. The glass structures occupy an area of 

 an acre, and consist of a glazed corridor leading from the house 

 which serves as a conservatory. Then there are a stove, a 

 Palm house. Fern house, and smaller stove, a large orchard 

 house, in which the trees are planted out in the borders and 

 covered with fruit ; vineries, pits, and, in short, every form of 

 garden structure it is possible to imagine. Close to the house 

 there is an orchard of pyramidal trees well managed, and 

 showing a good crop of fruit. The place is kept iu the most 

 beautiful condition, and everything is done in the best style of 

 gardening, reflecting great credit on the skill of Mr. David 

 Wicks, who has been gardener here for the last twelve years. 



It is not among the upper classes alone that this love of 

 gardening is fostered. It descends even to the labouring 



