Mftj 13, 1876. ] 



JOURNAIi OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



367 



first with dwarf massive plants with larpe well-colonrecl flowers 

 of good form and of great merit, the varieties were Crown Prince, 

 Unique, Magnificent, Achievement, Hamlet, Canary, Admira- 

 tion, Enchantress, and Sir R. Napier; Mr. Clark, gardener to 

 W. Shnter, Esq., Harapstead, being second witli larger plants and 

 very good ; the third prize going to Mr. Herrington, gardener, 

 Thornton Rise, Clapham Park. The class for show Auriculas 

 was empty ; for Alpines, Mr. Dean aud Messrs. Dobson & Sons 

 staged small plants, and had first and second prizes respectively. 



Mr. S. Coulter, gardener to L. J. Baker, Enq., Haydon Hall, 

 Middlesex, exhibited splendid pyramids of Mignonette 4 feet 

 high and 2< feet in diameter at the base. Tlie plants were 

 trained on wire trellises, and covered with medium-sized trusses 

 from base to apex. Mr. F. Barnes, gardener to A. Chancellor, 

 Esq., The Retreat, Richmond, staged .^imaller plants extremely 

 good in foliage, and covered with splendid spikes. These col- 

 lections were excellent examples of culture, and merited ofEoial 

 recognition. 



Messrs. James Carter & Co. exhibited fine pyramids of bouquet 

 Mignonette, excellent alike in culture aud quality ; a basket of 

 the distinct aud brightly painted Coleus Duchess of Edinburgh, 

 and variegated Musk. A gay miscellaneous group of decorative 

 plants were also brought from the Society's Gardens. 



Prdit Committee. — Henry Webb, Esq., in the chair. Mr. 

 James Batters, gardener to Mrs. Willis Fleming, Chilworth 

 Manor, Romsey, Hants, sent a collection of forced vegetables, 

 which were much discussed, as they were grown in 8-inch pots, 

 and therefore were considered by the Committee to possess 

 great interest to those having small gardens. A cultural com- 

 mendation was unanimously awarded them. Excellent bundles 

 of Connover's Colossal Asparagus came from Mr. Dancer of 

 Chiswick, and Mr. Allen, gardener to Lord Suffield, Gunton 

 Hall, Norwich. 



From Mr. Sidney Ford, gardener to W. E. Hubbard, Esq., 

 came a collection of well-kept Apples, to which a letter of thanks 

 was directed to be sent. A fruit of Sephanotis floribunda came 

 from Mr. Welsh, gardener to B. T. Coombe, Esq., Taunton. 

 A dish of Beurre Ranee Pears was sent by Mr. Coles, gardener 

 to W. K. Wigram, Esq., Twickenham. A letter of thanks was 

 awarded on account of their being so well kept. They were also 

 of very good flavour. 



A basket of Morels was sent by Mr. Barclay, gardener to the 

 Earl of Roseberry, The Durdons, Epsom. These arrived too 

 late to be placed before the Committee, which is to be regretted, 

 for they were very fine indeed. 



FtiORix Committee. — Dr. Denny in the chair. A first-class 

 certificate was awarded to Mr. Louis Van Houtte, Ghent, Bel- 

 gium, for Bertolonia Van Houtteii ; the colour of the leaves is 

 brownish green, the venation being relieved by pinkish steel- 

 blue glossy streaks of metallic lustre. It is a charming plant. 

 A first-class certificate was also awarded to Mr. Wm. ]?aul for 

 his fine Rose Star of Waltham ; it ia a noble Rose with great 

 substance of petal, good colour, splendid foliage, and, what is 

 more, delicious perfume. Mr. B. S. Williams sent Azalea Flam- 

 beau, a rich crimson scarlet and fine for decorative effect, to 

 which was given a second-class certificate. A botanical certifi- 

 cate was awarded to Mr. Green for Senecio macroglossa, an 

 Ivy-leaved-trailing plant, with large straw-coloured, Daisy-like 

 flowers. Cultural certificates were awarded to Mr. Braid for 

 Pelargonium Duchess of Edinburgh, very dwarf and free ; and 

 to Mr. Miles for hybrid dwarf Mignonette, of extraordinary 

 vigour and high perfume. A vote of thanks was given to Messrs. 

 Veitoh &' Sons for Pioguicula grandiflora, an interesting and 

 also pretty insectivorous plant. Messrs. James Carter Sz Co. 

 Bent Gloxinia Duke of Conuaught, a fine seedling, rich and good. 

 Mr. Laing sent Caladium Madame de la Deransage, aud Mr. 

 Pounce Lomaria Pouuceii. 



PORTRAITS OF PLANTS, FLOWERS, AND FRUITS. 



Crocus chrysanthds. Nat. ord., Iridacefe. Linn., Tri- 

 andria Monogynia. — "Mr. Elwes, F.L.S., gathered it in Asia 

 Minor, probably (he tells me) near Smyrna, in March, 1874. 

 Here it was originally discovered by Friwaldsky, and collected 

 later by Balansa, who observes that it is abundant on hills 

 about 3000 feet high, flowering in March. It has also been 

 found in Macedonia and Thrace by Grieebaeh. Besides its 

 delicate lemon colour, C. chrysauthus has its sweet odour to 

 recommend it ; aud it appears to be a very free bloomer." — 

 (Bot. Mag., t. 6162.) 



Odontoglosscm Warscewiczii. Nat. ord., Orchidacese. 

 Linn., Gynandria Monandria. Flowers white, with light 

 purple blotch at the base. — " 0. Warsoewiczii was discovered 

 by Joseph von Warscewiez, the Polish nobleman who has 

 added so many fine plants to our stoves, in Costa Rica ; it was 

 first flowered by Messrs. Veitch in February of this year. It 

 is a very free bloomer, aud may, as Dr. Reicbenbach suggests. 



rival 0. vexillarium itself in the estimation of florists. Its 

 discoverer describes it as growing at a considerable elevation, 

 and being very scarce." — {Ibid., t. 6163.) 



HEMicHiENA FBHTicosA. 7^a<. ord., Scropbulariaceffi. Linn., 

 Didynamia Angiospermia. Flowers yellow, with crimson 

 anthers. — " A very handsome rock plant, but not likely to be 

 hardy; found originally by Hartweg in Guatemala, and de- 

 scribed by Bentham in 1839 as a new genus, which, however, 

 he immediately after, but on insufficient grounds, merged into 

 Leueocarpus. 



" Nothing further was known of Hemichsena till it was sent 

 from Costa Rica by Endrees, plants from whom flowered at 

 Messrs. Veitoh's establishment, July, 1873. Oabert Salvin, 

 F.R.S., an able ornithologist and assiduous collector of plants, 

 next found it growing on the Volcan de Alitau in Guatemala, 

 at an elevation of 10,000 feet above the B6&."— {Ibid., t. 6164.) 



Galanthub Elwesii. Nat. ord., Amaryllidacese. Linn., 

 Hexandria Monogynia. Flowers white. — " A native of the 

 summits of the Yamanlardagh mountains, north of the Gulf of 

 Smyrna, where it was discovered by M. Balansa in 1854, and 

 whence dried specimens were distributed under the name of 

 G. plicatus, being so named by M. J. Gay of Paris. I am 

 indebted to Mr. Elwes, of Miserdine House, Cirencester, a 

 gentleman who to an ardent love of scientific horticulture 

 unites the powers of a traveller, collector, and observing 

 naturalist, for pointing out its distinctive character from 

 G. plicatus, and which Mr. Baker has confirmed. Mr. Elwes 

 collected specimens on the mountains near Smyrna in 1874, 

 aud cultivated them in his garden at Miserdine, which bids 

 fair soon to contain perhaps the largest and best private collec- 

 tion of well-named bulbous plants in the kingdom. It flowered 

 iu February, and is quite hardy." — {Ibid., t. 6166.) 



E. G. HENDERSON & SON'S, WELLINGTON 

 NURSERY, ST. JOHN'S WOOD. 



Amongst English nurseries this establishment holds high 

 rank and a familiar name. It is not a great nursery in the 

 way of external grandeur, or by a limited number of perfected 

 specimen plants of immense size and great individual value. 

 It is not a nursery that confines its resources to the multi- 

 plication of plants to meet the popular demand of the hour. 

 In a word, it is not great for what some other nurseries are 

 justly held in high repute, but it has a greatness of its own 

 of a sober kind, and occupies a distinct niche in the world of 

 commercial horticulture. A glance is only needed to find that 

 the characteristic of the establishment savours of a botanical 

 collection. For variety especially, also for number of plants, 

 the nursery holds the highest position. Not in one, but in 

 every department is it replete with portable plants of sturdy 

 vigour and clean, ready at all times to be distributed by 

 thousands at home and abroad. Orchids, Ferns, Palms, hard 

 and softwooded plants, bulbs, alpines, and herbaceous plants, 

 are all represented in great numbers. It is, in fact, a plant 

 manufactory on a large scale, and reminds the visitor of the 

 Belgian emporiums, where plants are grown for sale rather 

 than for show. The immediate object of our visit was to in- 

 spect the grand display of Tulips now flowering in the nursery, 

 but we will first briefly glance through the houses. 



The most striking feature is the cool temperature under 

 which Orchids and other stove plants are grown. There is 

 no tender nursing, but the plants are grown in as low a 

 temperature as is consistent with their health, so that at all 

 times they are prepared to endure even long voyages with a 

 minimum amount of injury in transit. Palms, especially the 

 cheaper varieties, are grown by thousands with little or no 

 artificial heat, while large stocks of the choice sorts, such as 

 Cocos Weddelliana and Geonoma gracilis, are flourishing in an 

 intermediate temperature. Orchids are exceedingly numerous 

 in small plants. They are also slowly grown under all the sun 

 and air they will bear, and are in a healthy hardy state. Im- 

 portations are continually arriving, thousands of plants still 

 unpotted being laid under the stages and on the paths to be- 

 come freshened after their long journey. A heavy consign- 

 ment of Odontoglossums, 0. Alexandrse, 0. Pescatorei, and 

 0. Wallisii were just potted and placed on latticewoik, over 

 water, with a current of air night and day passing over the 

 plants. Dendrobium Wardianum and Masdevallia Lindeni 

 have also just arrived in large numbers. 



In one of the houses is a large flowering plant of Hiemanthus 

 Roperi (syn. Cooperi), its fiery globular heads being very 

 effective. It is very similar to H. insignis. Crinum ornatum 



