October 10, 1865. ] 



joukxabp of horticulture and cottage gardener. 



280 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Montli 



Day 

 Week. 



Tn 

 Vf 

 Th 



F 

 S 



Sun 

 M 



OCTOBER 10—16, 1905. 



.\sh leaves full. 

 Elm seeds ttirn yellow. 

 H<ineysuckle Icuves fall, 

 StilT Wheat Grass ripe. 

 SwiiUow last seon. 



IX Sl'NDAY AFTEK TeINITV. 



Uazcl leaves fall. 



From observations tnkon near London during the last thirty-oiRht vears, the average day temporature of the week is 60.8°, and its night 

 temperature 42.1'. The greatest heat was 74°, on the 15th, 1812; and the lowest cold, 24-, on the 15th, 1860. Tho greatest fall of 

 rain was 1.04 inch. 



CYCLAMENS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



YCLAMENS being haiul- 

 sdrae both in their foliaj:;c 

 and ilowcrs, dcservcJly rank 

 liigh as ornamouts lor tho 

 gi'eenhouse and di'awing- 

 room ; indeed, few plants 

 rival them in the p-acefiilness and beantj' of all their 

 parts, besides wliich theu' gi'owth is conllneil to a small 

 (■onijiass. The nomenclature of Cyclamens is the most 

 difficult part of the subject ; for they are grown imder 

 many diifcrent names. I hope, however, to avoid adduig 

 any confusion to that which alroadj' exists, hut if in error, 

 I shall be happy to be corrected. 



Cyciamen coum. — Leaves orbicular, green above, without 

 any marbling, red on the under side : flowers bright red, pro- 

 duced for the most part external to the lea^'es, to wliich they 

 form a margin. It blooms from .January to March, aud 

 occasionally as early as November. There is a variety, 

 ainieuDi. in wluch the flowers are of a pale flesh colour, 

 but variable in hue. Besides the above there are nu- 

 merous varieties, called C. couni in the trade, that have 

 slight markings of C. persicum on the leaves, but which 

 ai'e not worth having. Cyclamen coiun is a frame x^erennial. 

 It is not fragrant. 



C. NE.\poLiT.\NCM (liederiBfolium of some), is hardy and 

 blooms in autumn before the leaves are produced. The 

 flowers are red or a fine rosy pink, rise tUrectly from the 

 root, and are succeeded bv the foliage, rendering the plants 

 fine objects tlnoughout the winter. It usually blooms frcjin 

 the latter part of September to near Clu-istmas. It goes 

 to rest in April or May. 



'_'. neapiilitnniiiii nlhum only differs from the preceding in 

 having white flowers. Both are inodorous. 



C ECRo'i'.EUJi. — Leaves heart-shaped, uiclined to be or- 

 bicular in some instances, but not nearly so i-ound as those 

 of C. coum. Sometimes they are entne or but very slightly 

 crenated, haviug the marbUug on the upper surface aCnost 

 equal to that of C. persicimi, and being much smaller 

 than the rest, and finer in textm-e ; in other cases the 

 leaves are decidedly toothed, and hut slightly marbled on 

 the upper surface, and never orbicular in shape ; wlulst 

 in others again they are double the size that they are in 

 the two preceding form';, and the plant is aU but an ever- 

 green and continuous-blooming. Tliis form of C. euro- 

 pa?,um is not generallj' met «itli, but is by no means scarce. 

 The bulbs, or, more strictly, corms. of C. europa^imi vary 

 much : in some cases they are round, smooth, and flat, 

 but generally they are very ii-regular. being covered with 

 knotty excrescences: they also throw up stems, in some 

 cases of considerable length, on whicli the leaves aud 

 flowers appear. These stems are sometimes veiy niunerou.s 

 No. 237.— Vol. IX., New Series, 



and appear on the crown, rising erect, and also from the 

 sides of the conns beneath the soU. These also vary in 

 colour ; some arc brown, others a pale yellow, and occa- 

 sionally but rarely wliite. C. em-opanim blooms in August, 

 occasionally, but very rarely, in July, and is decidedly a 

 summer bloomer, the flowering being prolonged into early 

 autumn. The flowers varj' in colour, in some forms they 

 are red or rose, but not so bright as in C. coum, and tho 

 shades become paler in others till pure white is reached. 

 The fi'agi-ance of the blooms of this species and all its forms 

 is most delicious. It is tho C. Clusii, fragi'ans, ancmoides 

 (of tho Dutch), and autuinnale of some. 



C. REr.\ND[TM (hedera'folium, neapolitanum. and resti- 

 vum). — I take this to be the true C. hcderxfohum of Britain, 

 for it is the only one like C. neapolitanum that blooms in 

 the spring ; but all the forms of the Ivy-leavi;d Sowbread 

 of Sufl'cilk orighi with \\'liich I am acquauited. invariably 

 bloom in autumn, and are not distmguisliable fi"om C. nea- 

 politanum. How is this? They are said to bloom in spring ; 

 but after a couple of years' gi'owth they bloom in autumn. 

 I fear the Suft'olk I\-;\--leaf is not now to be obtained, but 

 others are palmed oft' for it. C. repandum difl'ers Httle 

 from C. neapolitammi, except in blooming in the spiing, 

 usually about the end of Apidl. The flowers are bright 

 rose. This species, which is quite hardy, is much con- 

 founded with C. ueapolitanmu, the autumn bloomer, and 

 is much more scarce. It may easUy be distinguished fiom 

 C. neapolitaiuun by its blooming in sprhig. it being the 

 last to bloom of all the C3'clainens, commencing with 

 C. europsEum. 



C. VKUNUM. — This should have been named autumnale, 

 or hyemale. as it is an autumn or early-wmter-blooming 

 kind. The leaves are orbicular and entire, the lobes over- 

 lapping at the base, and they are marked on the upper sur- 

 face with an iiTegular band of white, and are bright red on 

 the imder side, more so than those of C. coiuu. They are 

 larger than the leaves of C. coum, and double the sLze of 

 many of the smaUer-leaved kinds of that species and of 

 C. eiu'opauim, but only a trifle larger than good-sized 

 leaves of these species. The flowers are a sha(h} lighter 

 than those of C. coum, and are of a decided reddisli pmple, 

 especially at the tips of the segments, otherwise they 

 ditt'er little from those of C. coum, except in Ijcing a little 

 larger. Tliis Cyclamen blooms in November, aud continues 

 in flower ior tliree months, or until February, and often 

 March. It is exactly lilce C. coiun except in tlircc particu- 

 lars — ^•iz., it is larger eveiy wa}', the flowers have a decided 

 purple shade, and the leaves a wliite marking. After all 

 it is a very questionable species. Did any one ever cross 

 neapolitammi with coiun '? Surely the result would be 

 vernnm. I may state that it comes very true from seed, 

 quite as true as C. coum generally does ; but the seedlings 

 are exactly like Cyclamen coum for two or three years, yet 

 when they arrive at a blooming state their foliage acquu'es 

 an UTegular band of white marbling distinclivi; of vernum. 

 Take this marbling away aud it is not distmguishalile fi'om 

 C. coum. I have seedlings of vernum one, two, and three 

 years old. as well as blooming pLants ; the onc-yc ar-o?d 

 are all like coum, so aie the two-year-old, but of those 

 Ko. 850.— Vol. XXXIV., Olc Sekies. 



