34 



JOUENAL OP HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB, 



I July 9, 1874. 



ine these in May ard Jnne we have another excellent kind of 

 bolder type in Soilla peruviana, with fine bine spikes a foot in 

 heit;bt. 



The Grape Hyacinth (Mnscari botryoidee) answers well in 

 mixed borders, the singular flower-spikes telling well among 

 others. The compact Maacari botryoides, with its white variety 

 the Large Mask Hyacinth (Muscari moschatum majns), and 

 the familiar old Feather Hyacinth (Musoari monstrosum), are 

 most worth growing. 



& re I must pause till another week, when I hope to proceed 

 with my selection, the chief difficulty being not to obtain 

 materials, but to restrict the list as I have done hitherto, and 

 yet not to omit any really choice kinds ; for Nature has been 

 BO lavish of her vernal treasures, that while taking those we 

 regard as the best, we cannot fail to regret the necessity which 

 compels us to leave many others " out in the cold." — Edward 



LCCZHUKST. 



MIDLAND COUNTIES HOETICULTUEAL 

 EXHIBITION. 



July 7th to 10th. 



The Eoyal Horticultural Society's Provincial Show held in 

 Aston Park two years ago seems to have made a lasting im- 

 prespion on the minds of the good people of Birmingham (well 

 it might in one sense, for the downpours on that occasion were 

 something to be remembered), and to have made them desirous 

 of again having a horticultural show on a grand scale ; and 

 this they have secured through the energy of the enterpriting 

 proprietor of the Lower Grounds, Mr. Quilter, who has in his 

 spirited undertaking received an amount of support from hor- 

 ticulturists that even the most sanguine private individual 

 could scarcely have anticipated. The position and character 

 of the grounds have been noticed from time to time in our 

 pages, and the general arrangements of the Show were given 

 at considerable length in our last week's number; it only re- 

 mains to say that, instead of staging, turf banks are raised in 

 the plant tents — in the long one next the winter garden, along 

 the sides of a serpentine walk, with a circle in the middle ; in 

 the tent for large specimens round the sides, with a large oval 

 centre. Although the Show is not equal to that held under 

 the auspices of the Eoyal Horticultural Society two years ago 

 at Birmingham, and last year at Bath, it may fairly be said 

 that as regards the present one it has proved a worthy attempt 

 to supply the place of such a show. Unlike the former great 

 Show at Birmingham, this has been hitherto favoured with the 

 finest of July weather, and from the large attendance on the 

 first day we imagine it will prove a financial success. We will 

 now proceed to details, to some of which, however, and to the 

 horticultural appliances, we shall return next week. 



Stove and Greenhouse Pla.nts in Flower. — As a rule, those 

 intended for exhibition are at the height of their beauty in May 

 and the early part of June, showing then a freshness aijd in- 

 teneifcy of colour which they seldom present later in the season, 

 and accordingly one does not expect in July so severe a com- 

 petition as in those months; but even with the encouragement 

 of prizesof £25, £18, and i'12, and a twenty five-gaiuea silver cup 

 in addition, there are only three collections of sixteen. In the 

 other classes we felt likewise disappointed at the small number of 

 pronpa. lu Class 1, for sixteen, Messrs. E. Cole it Sons, Witbing- 

 ton, Manchester, are a long way ahead with a magnificent speci- 

 men of Ixora coccinea, Allamanda nobilis, very fine; Erica 

 metulfeflora bicolor, 3^ feet in diameter; Apheiexis humilis 

 rosea, 4 feet in diameter, and in splendid bloom; Statice pro- 

 fusa; Erica Candolleana, large and in excellent bloom; Azalea 

 Chelsoni ; a plant of Erica Cavendishii over 5 feet in diameter ; 

 Dipladenia amabilis with a profusion of its large rosy crimson 

 blooms; Pboeciocomaprolifera, beautifully fresh ; Dracophjllum 

 gracile, email; Azalea Brilliant, 5 feet high and in fine bloom ; 

 Allamanda grandiflora, with smuU flowers but an abundance of 

 them; Statice imbricata, fins ; Erica Parmentieriana rosea, and 

 an excellent specimen of Ixora Colei, wi'h numerous heads of 

 white flowers. Mr. J. Cypher, Queen's Road Nurt-ery, Chelten- 

 ham, has smaller specimens but very well bloomed, the be^t being 

 Ixora javaoica fioribunda, Dipladenia amabilis, KalosEutbes 

 C( ccinea, Eucbaris amazonica, Clerodendron Balfourianum, Alla- 

 manda Hendersoni, Ixora amboynensis and coccinea, and Phoe- 

 Docoma prolifera Bameeii. The only other competitor is Mr. 

 J. E. Match, gardener to J. O. Bacchus, Esq , Norwood House, 

 Leamington, who has a collection in which are excellent speci- 

 mens from 2 to 4 feet high of Rhynchospermum jasminoides, 

 Dracophjllum gracile, Dipladenia amabilis, fine ; Clerodendron 

 Bblfourianum, Franciscea calycina major, and Hoya carnosa, 

 which, however, from the pendulous character of its flower- 

 heads, beautifal though they are, is not an efifective exhibition 



plant. The first prize and the silver cup were awarded to 

 Messrs. Cole, the second to Mr. Cypher, and the third to Mr. 

 March. 



In Class 2, for nurserymen (ten plants), Mr. Perkins, Leaming- 

 ton, has a remarkably fine plant of Statico profasa, Allamanda 

 Hendersoni bearing an abundance of large flowers. Cassia corym- 

 bosa in splendid blnom, Vinca oculata, Kalosanthes coccinea, 

 and Pancratium maritimum. Mr. Cypher sends Allamanda 

 nobilis, fine ; Hsemanthus magnifica with ten of its orange- 

 scarlet heads, Dipladenia amoena, and Ixoras. Messrs. Cole, 

 however, have the best collection, the plants well grown, and 

 for the most part in splendid bloom. Allamanda Hendersoni, 

 Apheiexis macrantha purpurea and rosea. Erica Parmentieriana 

 rosea, and Azalea Brilliant are the most noteworthy. Messrs, 

 Cole are first, Mr. Perkins second, and Mr. Cypher third. In 

 the corresponding class for amateurs Mr. W. Chapman, gardener 

 to J. Spode, Esq., Hawkesvard Park, Rngeley, is first with 

 splendid specimens of Clerodendron Balfourianum, Erica Par- 

 mentieriana rosea, Sta'ice profusa. Erica Candolleana, Phoeno- 

 coma prolifera, Ixora javanica, and Anthurium Scherzerianum, 

 Mr. E. Chadwick, gardener to C. Nelson, Esq., Crackley Hill, 

 Kenilworth, is second with, among others, good specimens of 

 Dipladenia amabilis and Allamanda Hendersoni. 



The best single specimens of stove plants exclusive of Orchids 

 are Dipladenia amabilis, exhibited by Messrs. E. Cole & Sons, 

 covered with a rich profusion of its splendid flowers, and form- 

 ing one of the most brilliant objects in the Exhibition ; and 

 Stephanotis floribunda from Mr. J. Webb, gardener to J. Gtilson, 

 Esq., Stoke, Coventry. This, like the other, is remarkable for 

 its health and abundant bloom. Equal first prizes wereawarded; 

 the second going to Mr. B. S. Williams, of HoUoway, for a fine 

 Anthurium Scherzerianum. The best specimen greenhouse 

 I plant comes from Mr. B. S. Williams, of HoUoway, and is a good 

 I specimen of Phceoocoma prolifera about 3 feet in diameter. 

 Mr. Parker, nurseryman, Rugby, is second with Statice profusa; 

 and Mr. Chadwick, gardener to C. Nelson, Esq., third. 

 I Fine FOLiAGED Pl.vnts. — There is a liberal display of these, 

 though in many cases the plants are by no means remarkable 

 for size. In the nurserymen's class for nine, Messrs. Cole & Sons 

 ' are first with grand specimens of Pbormium tenax variegatum; 

 Cycas revoluta, with a spread of fully 10 feet ; Croton pictum, 

 Dasylirion gracile, Cocos Weddeliana, probably the finest speci- 

 men in the country ; Eurya latifolia variegata, Croton variegatum, 

 Tucca aloifolia variegata, Cyatbea dealbata. Mr. B. S. Williams, 

 of HoUoway, who is second, has in his collection a noblo speci- 

 men of Livistona borboni* a, Croton longifolium and pictum, 

 both very fine specimens; ma^jnificent plants of Gleichenia spe- 

 luncas; the Bird's-nest Fern, about 7 feet across; a large plant of 

 Sarracenia flava ; and a fine spe< imen of Dasylirion acrotrichum. 

 An extra prize was awarded to Messrs. Felton & Son, Edgbaston, 

 for a group in which there is a charming plant of that beauti- 

 ful Fern, Todea superba. Mr. W. E. Dixon, Norwood Nursery, 

 Beverley, also takes an extra prize ; and one was likewise awarded 

 to Mr. E. Pilgrim, of Cheltenham, for a good group in which 

 Encephalartos villosus is especially noticeable. In the amateurs' 

 class for the same number a group is shown by Mr. Brown, 

 gardener to Mrs. Alston, Elmdon Hall, who has good specimens 

 of Maranta Veitchii, Alocasia Lowii, Croton intermptum, &c. 

 Another group, consisting of large specimens, comes from Mr. 

 Foster, gardener to E. Greaves, Esq., Avonside, Warwick, who 

 has Cycas revoluta, Alocasia intermedia, Crotons, Areca Ver- 

 pchafFelti, Stevensonia grandifolia, and an excellent example of 

 Encephalartos villosus. From T. M. Shuttleworth, Esq., Howick 

 House, Preston, comes the first-prize group, Mr. Foster being 

 second ; in this Croton undulatum is specially striking by the 

 richness of its colouring: Gleichenia spelunca?, Cyatbea Dregei, 

 Cocos Weddeliana, and Dasylirion gracile are also noteworthy. 

 Mr. Brown takes the third prize. la the nurserymen's class for 

 six both Mr. \\ illiams and Messrs. Cole contribute ; the former 

 sending fine specimens of Croton Weismanni and interruptum, 

 Cordyline indivi.^a, Pandanus Veitchii, and Latania borbonica, 

 Mr. Cypher likewii-e sends a group. Among amateurs, prizes 

 were awarded to Mr. J. March, gardener to J. O. Bacchus, Esq., 

 and Mr. Brown, Elmdon Hall Gardens. 



Prizes were offered for the best single specimens of fine- 

 fnliaged plants. The first went to Mr. Heath, CoUege Nursery, 

 Cheltenham, for a noble plant of Cycas revoluta; the second to 

 Mr. Croucher, gardener to J. Peacock, Esq., Hammersmith, for 

 Pandanus Veitchii, Cissas discolor being third. The best six 

 Draca;nas come from Mr. Brown, gardener to Mrs. Alston, Elm- 

 don Hall, and include good examples of D. ferrea, Shepherdi, 

 regiiiffi, and Mooreana. For the best specimen Croton Messrs. 

 Cole are first with a well-coloured example of C. angustifolium ; 

 Mr. Heath, Cheltenham, second with C. variegatum pictum; 

 and Mr. Chapman, Hawkesjard Park, third with a fine bushy 

 specimen of C. variegatum. 



Ferns and Lycopods. — Ferns are numerously shown, stove 

 and greenhouse species in particular being well represented. 

 Of the latter, in the nurserymen's class for eight, Mr. Williams, 

 of HoUoway, is first with a group in which are fine specimenB 



