Jnly 3, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL. OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Pnv 

 of 



Month 



Week. 



TO 

 W 



Tri 

 F 



s 



SDH 

 M 



JULY 3-9, 1866. 



Acmadcnia totragona. 

 Acronychia Cunninghaml. 

 Actinotus heUanthi. 

 Adenandra foaffrana. 

 Adosmia uspallatcusis. 

 6 Sunday afteii Tuinity. 

 Adesniia viscosa. 



Avernpo Temperature 

 Dear London. 



Day. 

 74.1 



75.9 

 70.4 

 76.2 

 73.8 

 78.9 

 73.8 



Nicht. 

 511.5 



r.u.3 



50.0 

 61.3 

 51.0 

 49.8 

 49.7 



Mean. 

 62.3 

 63.1 

 63.0 

 68.8 

 |62.4 

 61.8 



Gl.H 



Kain in 



last 

 39 years. 



Sun 

 Rises. 



DayH. 

 17 

 13 

 16 

 17 

 20 

 19 

 17 



h. 



50 at 8 



Sun 

 Sets. 



m. h. 

 17af8 

 17 8 



Moon. 

 Bisi I 



Moon 

 Sets. 



m. h. 

 BlaflO 



18 11 

 48 11 

 morn. 

 17 

 53 

 35 1 



m. h. 

 4fi at 9 

 57 10 

 after. 

 27 1 

 40 2 

 68 8 

 10 5 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Days 

 21 

 22 

 ( 

 24 

 25 

 20 

 27 



Clock 

 before 

 Snn. 



Day 



of 



Year. 



184 

 185 

 186 

 187 

 188 

 189 

 190 



From observations taken near London during tho last thirty-nino years, tho average day temperature of the week is 74.9° ; and its nigbt 

 tem^m*™*' ThT£e*Zt heat was 97% on the 5th.l852 ; and the lowest eold 38°, on tbe 9th, 1863. The greatest fall oS rain was 

 0.82 inch. " 



N.B.— The Calendar contains tho namos of plants flowering in the greenhouse. 



LIHR, 

 NEW ' 

 30TAP 



UARl 



ALTERNANTHERA SPATHULATA, 

 ALTERNANTHERA SESSILIS AMCENA, 



AND TELEIANTHERA FICOIDEA VERSICOLOR. 



AVING exhibited the above 

 plants at the International 

 Horticultural Exhibition at 

 South Kensington, I have 

 received so many letters in- 

 quiring as to their habit, 

 size, height, hardiness, where plants can be procured, &c, 

 that I fear all have not received the information sought ; 

 and as I still receive letters respecting them, the following 

 few remarks, I trust, will give the required information. 



In the first place I received one plant of each of the 

 above last autumn from Mr. B. S. Williams, of the Victoria 

 Nursery, Holloway, and I was so pleased with their ap- 

 pearance that I determined at once to propagate a stock 

 of them. This I did, and I have bedded out about two 

 thousand. If I mistake not, these plants will prove one of 

 the greatest boons to the flower garden that have been 

 secured for some time, the Iresine excepted. My pre- 

 dictions respecting the Iresine give me every confidence. 

 I was the first to recommend it for flower-garden decora- 

 tion ; and although I have had many hard battles to light 

 in its favour, I believe I have come off a conqueror, and 

 if further proof is required with regard to its usefulness 

 and beauty, I may state that upwards of five thousand 

 plants of it are here bedded out this season. 



Alternanthera SPATHULATA (Brazil). — This is of close 

 compact growth, and will be found a beautiful plant for 

 edgings or ribbon-borders. I have a plant of it 20 inches 

 in diameter, and only 5 inches in height. It is a delight- 

 ful little plant, and a free grower ; it has been bedded-out 

 about three weeks, and has withstood 5° of frost without 

 injury. Its colours vary with the situation in which it is 

 placed, being pink and green, maroon, &c. ; full exposure 

 to the sun will, I believe, be found most suitable to its 

 colouring. 



Alternanthera sessilis amcsna (Brazil). — I have not 

 so large a stock of this as of spathulata ; it is of much 

 stiffer growth, and appears to spread close to the ground. 

 This is likewise suitable for edgings. The foliage is much 

 larger than that of spathulata, and the habit is entirely 

 different ; the plant does not exceed, with me at present, 

 5 inches in height, and could be pegged down almost flat. 

 It was planted out at the same time as the preceding, 

 and sustained no injury from frost. 



Tei.eianthera ficoidea versicolor (India). — This is of 



much taller growth than either of the above. My largest 



plant is 2 feet in diameter and 1 foot in height. It differs 



from the Alternantheras in colour, and is a plant that attracts 



No. 275.— Vol. XI., New Sebies. 



the attention of every one. The foliage is much larger and 

 rounder than that of the Alternantheras. and its habit 

 strong and upright. Its colours are pink and maroon in 

 some positions, but in this respect the plant varies much 

 in different situations. I believe all the three plants named 

 will hear the full sun, and grow freely either in a dry or 

 moist situation. The Telcianthcra was bedded-out with 

 the others, and received no injury from frost. 



I have two circular beds planted as follows— viz., Alter- 

 nanthera spathulata in the first row, Alternanthera sessilis 

 amcena in the second, and Teleianthera ficoidea versicolor 

 in the centre, and if I am not mistaken these beds will 

 here be the gems of the season, notwithstanding the tens of 

 thousands of plants used in bedding and bordering at Osber- 

 ton. They are already very attractive, and much admired. 



I trust that those who have a stock of tbe three plants 

 will advertise, it b.ing just the time for planting without 

 risk and to give them a fair trial, so that they may not, 

 like the Iresine, be condemned in consequence of mere 

 mismanagement and an unfavourable summer. All the 

 above are easily propagated, and are of rapid growth. For 

 the present I will not speculate upon which is the best, or 

 speak more fully of them, but I shall content myself by 

 merely introducing them to public notice, with a strong 

 recommendation to try them. — Edward Bennett, Gardener 

 tn /,'. S. Fuljiimlic, Esq., Usbrrtim Hatt. 



ROSES ON THEIR OWN ROOTS. 



The facts that the Dog Rose, or Briar, is very prolific 

 in suckers on light soils, and that the Roses upon it are 

 short-lived, have caused attention to be paid to those who 

 advocated the growing of Roses upon their own roots, and 

 we have such plants offered for sale by the dozen, hundred, 

 and thousand ; and so great is the demand that very often 

 when a person decides on having a group of Roses on their 

 own roots tbe variety required is " sold out." 



Experience leads me to the conclusion that the days of 

 tin- Briar as a stock on many soils, and particularly on those 

 which are light, are numbered ; and though the Manetti 

 will make a vigorous plant in a very short time, yet even it 

 on light dry soils is not to live many days. I have had 

 Roses, both dwarfs and standards, on the Briar doing ex- 

 ceedingly well on cold. wet. heavy clay soil, where the Rose 

 on its own roots could not, did 'not, live, and the Manetti 

 on the same soil afforded a plant at first more vigorous 

 than the Briar, but not after the third year, neither it nor 

 the Briar trashing more than an occasional sucker. The 

 Manetti does better in a greater variety of soils than either 

 the Briar or Roses on their own roots, and for making a 

 plant soon it is vastly superior to either; but I cannot say 

 that it equals the Briar on heavy cold soils after the third 

 year, whilst on Light soils it may and does make a vigorous 

 plant, and affords a great show of bloom long before Roses 

 on their roots become what we may term established. After 

 the second year, however, it does not surpass them either in 

 plant or bloom, and would then poem to require removal, 

 as, after lifting, it makes a first-class growth, and no stock 

 seems to impart such a degree of vigour and to be attended 



No. 927— Vol. XXXVI., Old Sebles. 



