September 11, 1866. ) 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



SEPTEMBER 11—17, 1866. 



nibiiefolia. 

 l:],»ri i erlooides. 

 BlftndfoidJa intermedia. 

 Bosaiiea linophylla. 

 Brachytona nereifolia. 

 16 8mn>A? \fter Trinity. 

 Brongnimltia sericea. 



Average Temperature 

 neur London. 



Day. 



68.4 



68 8 



67:7 



66.7 



67.1 



68.2 



IX.'.I 



Niuht. 

 ■H',.5 

 41.-. 

 46.7 

 46.8 

 46.4 



47.3 

 45.6 



Mean. 

 67. 1 

 56.7 

 66.7 

 56.5 

 56.7 

 57.8 

 57.3 



Rain in 



hist 

 39 years 



DavB. 

 ID 

 1., 

 18 

 20 

 20 

 18 

 15 



Son 

 Rises. 



m. h. 



30 al 5 



31 6 



68 S 



35 S 



88 B 



88 6 



:'..) 5 



Snn 



Seta. 



m. h. 

 24 .11 8 



21 



19 8 



17 8 



14 6 



12 6 



10 6 



Moon. Moon 

 Rises Sets. 



m. }j. 

 lafx 

 5 9 



8 10 



9 11 

 after. 

 1 



52 1 



m. h. 

 •20 af 7 

 45 7 



45 10 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Davs 

 o 



8 



4 



r, 

 7 

 J 



Clock 



after 



Sun. 



a st 



8 17 



Day 



of 



Year. 



264 



255 

 256 

 LT,7 

 238 

 259 

 260 



From observations taken near London daring the last thirtv-mno venrs, the avemco day toroneratnre of the week is 68.0'- ; and its night 

 temporatnre 40.0". The irreatest heat was 86", on the 12th, 1858 ; and the lowest cold 28', on the 12th, 1860. The greatest Jail of rain was 

 0.90 inch. N'.li. — The Calendar contains the names of plants flowering in tho greenhouse. 



VIOLA LUTEA AND MONTANA. 



OR bedding-purposes these, 

 like Viola cornuta, will be 

 found invaluable. Viola lutea 

 has a bright yellow flower, 

 and the plant is of a very 

 neat dwarf habit. It is quite 

 as free as Viola cornuta, and will become a valuable addi- 

 tion to the flower garden. Viola montana is rather stronger 

 in habit, and grows taller than either V. cornuta or V. lutea. 

 It possesses a pleasing grey shade of colour. This season 

 some large beds of Viola montana var., dotted with Pelar- 

 gonium Boule de Feu. in the Liverpool Botanic Gardens, 

 are very fine ; some small beds of V. lutea were also very 

 effective. I consider both Mr. Tyerman's Violas valuable 

 additions to the flower garden, and have much pleasure in 

 calling public attention to them. These, like Mr. Tyer- 

 man's beautiful Dactylis glomerata. will become general 

 favourites for flower-garden decoration. Mr. Tyerman 

 thinks some of the Campamdas may be used with good 

 effect as summer bedding plants. He suggests the follow- 

 ing arrangement, which, I have no doubt, woidd have a 

 very pleasing effect as a ribbon-border : — 1st row next tho 

 grass, Viola lutea I var. Tyerman) ; 2nd row, Viola cornuta ; 

 3rd row, any scarlet Verbena possessing a good dwarf 

 habit ; 4th row. Campanula carpatica alba ; 5th row, Cam- 

 panula carpatica (blue) ; 6th row, Pelargonium Beauty of 

 Oulton. 



It will be seen that four out of tho six plants to be used 

 in the above arrangement are perfectly hardy, and very 

 easily propagated. This will save much trouble and ex- 

 pense in labour and material for covering up and shelter- 

 ing tender bedding plants from the early spring frosts 

 whilst the ordinary bedding plants are undergoing the 

 process of hardening-off, and will give much extra space 

 for other purposes : and if the Campanulas prove after 

 trial to be as useful as Viola cornuta, lutea, and mon- 

 tana, I shall consider it a step in the right direction. All 

 who cultivate bedding plants extensively well know what 

 a very large amount of time and space they require during 

 the spring months, whilst plants of the description named 

 above will bo growing in their nursery-beds, where they 

 have been all winter, and at the proper time will only want 

 carefully planting out -where they are to gladden the eye 

 with their varied array of pleasing colours during the 

 summer. They can be planted in then- proper places early 

 in March, if the weather is open and suitable, and will 

 very much assist their more delicate companions when 

 these are planted out in May or June by sheltering them 

 from the cold winds, (fee. ; for by this time they will have 

 linn hold of the soil, and by planting the intermediate rows 

 -ather thickly an immediate effect will be produced, which 

 No. 285.— Vox. XI., New Series, 



will continue throughout the summer and autumn. Tho 

 spaces between the rows should, however, be frequently 

 stirred with the hoc in April and May, so that the soil may 

 be in good condition for receiving the summer bedding 

 plants, and if the ground is not rich enough, a slight 

 sprinkling of guano should be sown over it. The plants 

 will be greatly benefited by this soon after they are planted 

 out. 



The ground in which bedding-out plants are too fre- 

 quently planted is often very poor ; but however poor it 

 is, some persons expect the plant to grow and produce tho 

 desired effect, and when it fails to do so it is often con- 

 demned, and said to be nseless for the purpose for which 

 it has been recommended. No plant has been more un- 

 justly abused than the Iresine Herbstii, solely because the 

 soil in which it has been planted was too poor for it, 

 and because the plants were not in good condition when 

 they were planted out. Plant the Iresine in a good rich 

 soil, and if the weather be dry after it is planted, supply 

 it once or twice a-week with manure' water, and I will 

 guarantee that it shall answer the most sanguine expecta- 

 tions. In a letter which I received from a nobleman in the 

 early part of last month, speaking of the Iresine, he says, 

 " The Iresine was just coming to its best, and was very 

 effective. It is absurd to compare this with Amaranthus, 

 to the discredit or merit of either. Both are valuable, and 

 Iresine takes up the effect just when Amaranthus is grow- 

 ing rather worse. Coleus beats both in climates where it 

 will grow." 



I have seen beds of Iresine Herbstii far surpassing tho 

 Coleus when dressed in its best garb. Let all who have 

 condemned the Iresine try it once more in rich deep soil, 

 and I venture to predict a very decided reversion of feeling 

 and opinion. Plant two beds of Mrs. Pollock Pelargo- 

 nium side by side, let the soil in one be composed of one- 

 half, or more, well-decomposed manure, and the soil of the 

 other bed contain very little or no manure, and see what 

 the effect will be. The plants in the poor soil will be 

 scarcely fit to look upon, wliilst those growing in the rich 

 ' compost will be models of health and beauty. The dit' 

 j ference in the appearance of the plants in the two beds 

 ' will be so great that they «ill scarcely be recognised as 

 the same variety; but water the plants in the ppor bed 

 three or four times a-week with moderately strong guano 

 water, and each time the bed is watered let it be well 

 soaked through, and in a fortnight or three weeks, if the 

 weather be warm and forcing, it will be equal in its appear- 

 ance to the bed that so much surpassed it only a short 

 time before. 



I saw Mrs. Pollock Pelargonium in great beautv with 

 Mr. Tyerman the other day ; in fact it looked better witK 

 him than any bed of it which I have ever seen. It was 

 one of a very pleasing group of beds which had been formed 

 on what originally was a rubbish comer. The beds in 

 this group are formed in a sunk panel, and. being raised 

 about 10 inches above the bottom of the panel, they were, 

 therefore, surrounded by a beautiful carpet of green grass. 

 Behind this beautiful group of beds there is a fine back- 

 ground of evergreens. The spaces between the beds 



No. 937.— Vol, XXXVL, Old Series. 



