440 



JOUENAL OP HORTICTJLTUEE AKD COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ November 28, 1865. 



was not in flower, but it appeared to me remarkably like 

 Garcinia mangostana celebica, a sort -n-liich will not fruit in 

 England." Now, as regards the tree at Sion House, about 

 midsummer 1855, a drawing of the Maugosteen appeared in 

 2'lie Illustrated London News, where it was stated that it 

 was " considered by those conversant with the difficulties 

 attending the labour, as one of the greatest triumphs of mo- 

 dem horticulture ; this being, we beheve, the only success- 

 ful attempt made since the introduction of the plant into 

 England in 1729. It is to the care and skiU of Mr. Iveson, 

 head-gardener to the Duke of Northumberland, Sion House, 

 that this successful result of exotic-fruit culture must be 

 mainly attributed." 



How many years ago was it that " J. H." saw the tree at 

 Allestree ? I will suppose there are those amongst your readers 

 who may have known Walcot Hall, Salop, some thirty-five 

 years ago ; if so would they be good enough to assist us with 

 their memory as to whether the Earl Powis of that day was 

 not the first person who fruited the Mangosteen there about 

 that time, and did he not present one of its fruit to T. A. 

 Knight, Esq., of Downton Castle, the then President of the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society, as being the first of " all the 

 fruits of the East" ever brought to perfection in England? 

 Such was the fact, I beheve ; and to all who know what an en- 

 thusiast the then Earl was, and to what a practical extent he 

 entered into horticultural experiments at Walcot, they will 

 cease to wonder at any extraordinary achievement having been 

 arrived at there. — Upwakds and Onw.vkds. 



[The Mango was fruited at Walcot in 1826, but we are not 

 aware that the Mangosteen ever was at that place. — Ens.] 



ALPINE PLANTS. 



{Concluded from 2>age 357.) 



OxAiiis TiiOP^OLoicES, leaves deep purplish brown, flowers 

 hright yellow ; effective for rockwork and as an edging plant ; 

 loam on gravel. 



OnoBus VEEN0S forms a compact tuft with showy purple 

 flowers, appearing in spring ; sandy lo.im. 



Papaver alpinum, leaves finely cut or divided, flowers yeUow, 

 on long slender footstalks. P. uudicaule, with beautiful clear 

 yellow flowers, may be found effective for grouping in masses ; 

 moist turfy loam, peat, and grit. 



Phloxes. — Of these Nelsoni, white ; frondosa, pink, with 

 dark centre, and verua, rose, are very effective ; loam, peat, 

 and sand or grit. 



Plumbago LAKPEHT^E.with blue flowers, produced in aiitumn, 

 though usually grown as a tender plant is certainly hardy ; 

 loam on gravel, or peat, loam, and grit, weU drained in sunny 

 exposures. 



Polygonum vAcciNiiroLiuH, a pretty creeping plant, with erect 

 spikes of pink flowers in autumn ; sandy loam. 



PoLEMONiuM HUMiLE, dwarf and pretty, flowers purplish ; 

 loam on limestone. P. cceruleum variegatum, excellent for 

 edging borders. 



PoLYGALA CHAMiEBuxus, cvergrcen, flowers yellow, produced 

 in spring, fragrant. P. vulgaris forms a showy tuft, with pur- 

 plish flowers ; loam and limestone, and a sunny aspect. 



Pkimulas, suitable for rockwork, are numerous. P. formosa 

 forms tufts of silvery leaves, and the flower-stems are covered 

 with a white powder and surmounted with clusters of pink, 

 rose, and sometimes crimson flowers. Of this there is a white 

 variety (alba), also a stcmless form (acauhs). Of all the Pri- 

 mulas this is the prettiest for ledges of rockwork, kept constantly 

 moist in summer by filtration from above, with perfect di-ainage 

 at aU seasons. P. viscosa is a remarkably free-flowering rosy 

 Mnd. P. marginata has fine large heads of lilac flowers. P. ni- 

 valis differs little in its general appearance from P. cihata ; 

 the flowers, however, are a little less in size and white ; and 

 P. scotica is nearly like P. farinosa but dwarfer, and the flowers 

 have a purple eye. P. integrifoha is very dwarf, and has rose- 

 coloui'ed flowers tinged with purple. P. ciliata is a dwarf Auri- 

 cula-Uke plant, having pmrplish crimson flowers with a yellow 

 eye, and P. calyeina is likewise dwarf, and has purplish pink 

 flowers. The Alpine Auriculas are also fine, and the double 

 varieties of P. acaulis of various colours are WeU laiowu, and 

 do excellently on the moist and rather shady parts of rockwork. 

 All do well under the treatment recommended for P. farinosa, 

 except P. marginata, which requires to be grown in a some- 

 .what dry situation. 



Pyrola rotundipolia, flowers large, fragrant, rose-coloured. 

 Only adapted for moist ledges of rockwork. P. media, ever- 

 green, flowers creamy white ; sandy leaf mould with good drain- 

 age, but kept moist, and a shady situation. 



Pbdnella grandiflora, large heads of showy purple flowers ; 

 loam and limestone on sunny slopes. 



Eanunculus montanus, flowers large bright yellow. The 

 plant forms a compact tuft, and blooms in spring. K. alpestris, 

 flowers white, soUtary. The plant forms a dwarf tuft of glossy 

 deep green leaves. Peat, loam, and sand kept moist. 



Eeododendkon ferrugineum and hiesutum are low, shrubby, 

 evergreen species. Fine for rockwork. R. chamiecistus is a 

 bushy evergreen, not exceeding 6 inches in height, and has 

 pink flowers. 



Salvia argentea, a fine sUvery-leaved bedding plant. 



Santolina alpina forms a dense, prostrate, sUvery-grey tuft ; 

 light loam and sand, and a wanu aspect. 



Saponaria ocymoides, with pink flowers produced in abim- 

 dance ; and S. CEespitosa, rose ; require to be grown in sandy 

 loam kept moist. 



Saussurea alpina, flowers purple, fragrant, leaves silvery 

 beneath ; loam, peat, and grit, well di-ained, but kept moist. 



Saxifragas are numerous. I may name aizoides, yellow 

 spotted with orange ; S. earyophyUa with large white flowers, 

 plant dwarf and dense ; S. ceratophylla, white, fohage deeply 

 divided; S. cj'mbalaria. Ivy-like leaves, and sulphur-yellow 

 flowers spotted with orange, produced in long succession ; 

 and S. oppositifoha with purphsh rose flowers, a beautiful 

 plant for the slopes and ledges of rockwork. It likes moist 

 but well-drained loam and gravel, or grit, and a sunny aspect. 

 There are white, rose-coloured, and crimson varieties. S. pal- 

 mata is a fine dwarf species, having large and effective white 

 flowers. S. cotyledon produces fine long racemes of white 

 flowers. S. juniperiua, with yellow flowers, forms a dense tuft ; 

 and S. pectinata, with silvei-y-edged fohage, is neat for edgings. 

 Of the other Saxifrages the foUowing are well worth a place, as 

 they will grow almost anywhere, forming fine masses of foliage 

 when not in bloom, and being sheets of yellowish or white- 

 spotted flowers at other times — Saxitraga Aizoon, Andrewsii, aegi- 

 lops, aretioides, Bucklandii, capillaris, csespitosa, cristata, geum, 

 glacialis, hirta, hirsuta, hypnoides, icelandica, iutacta, nervosa, 

 nivaUs, poUta, pulcheUa, Ehiei, rotundifolia, spathulata, tenella, 

 and umbrosa (London Pride). They requu-e moist loam and 

 grit, but they soon leave this material and run over rockwork 

 in all directions. 



Sedum. — These, with Saxifrages are the most useful of rock 

 or alpine plants. They love the rock, but it must be very 

 porous, and then they quickly fill the chinks and hoUows 

 though there may be scarcely a particle of earth. What there 

 is should be sandy loam well drained, and the aspect should 

 be warm. I may name — album, anglicum, and albicans, white ; 

 coeruleum, lilac ; Forsterianum, yellow, a plague on our gravel 

 walks here in the Principality ; glaucum, white (there is another 

 kind called glaucum which is yeUow, the first being properly, I 

 believe, Andersoni) ; pallidum, pale rose ; and pallidum roseum, 

 a trifle deeper in colour ; purpureum, purplish rose ; populi- 

 folium, white ; reflexum, yellow ; rupestre, yellow ; spurium, 

 pink ; and virescens, greenish yellow. 



Seiipeetivum aiuchnoideum, netted like a spider's web, 

 hence its name ; S. caUfornicum, forming green rosettes, tipped 

 with reddish brown, globuliferum, montanum, and tectorum, 

 require loamy soil and a dry situation. 



Senecio incanus forms dwarf, dense tufts of very silvery 

 leaves, whiter even than those of Centaurea candiilissima, and 

 would make the dwarfest and whitest edging plant known, if it 

 would succeed with the same treatment as bedding plants. 

 Sand v;ith a little loam kept moist. 



SiLENE acaulis forms on the Welsh mountains large, dense 

 masses of pink or rose flowers. There is a white variety. 

 S. maritima alpina, and S. alpestris, areflne, and another of the 

 same tj^je as the last is S. saxifraga, both having fine white 

 flowers. S. Schafta has niunerous pretty pink flowers in au- 

 tumn. Loam and grit. 



SoLD.iNELLA MONTANA, vBry closB to S. alpiua, but the leaves 

 are larger, and the flowers of a purple, with more blue in it. 

 S. alpina has deepl.V-fringed drooping bells. The leaves are 

 small, roundish, and evergreen. Peat, loam, and grit, well 

 di'ained, but kept moist. 



Statice alpina, caspica, sinuata, and tatarica, are pretty for 

 flssures of loam and sand. ^ , 



Symppttum caucasicdm, of dwarf and creeping habit, flowers 

 blue, in spring ; loam and sand in fissm-es. 



