346 



JOURNAL OF HOETIODLTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENER 



[ October 13, IStl. 



and good taste, they are very effective, and may successfully 

 assert the first position in tlio parterre. 



The design at the top of the large central walk in the Royal 

 Horticultural Society's Garden at South Kensington consists 

 of a series of beds round a large circular one (/(.'/. 102), with a 

 jardinette in the centre of it. This is a very pretty piece of 

 colouring, and a happy combination of foliage and flowers, 

 which the design and the description of the plants used will 

 show. In another part of the garden there is a long border at 

 the foot of a wall {firj. 103), and it looks like a waving ribbon. 

 It is richly ornamented with choice plants arranged in an 

 artistic and elegant manner, as the design will explain. — 

 N. Cole, Kensington Gardens. 



THE NARCISSUS AS A BORDER FLOWER. 



O.VE of your correspondents recently alluded to Narcissus 

 poetious, the common Pheasant's Eye Daffodil of gardens, as 

 being well worth general culture, an opinion which I can 

 readily endorse. It is one of the most beautiful and fragrant 

 of all hardy flowers, and poets and painters alike have done it 

 honour for ages past. It should find a place in every shrubbery 

 border; or grown in masses, it forms a beautiful object on the 

 lawn, or such portions of it as are not mown until the autumn. 

 It does not, however, appear to be generally known that bulbs 

 of this species force well if they are taken up late in the year, 

 and potted in any light rich soil. Another remarkable fact is, 

 that these bulbs flower better the second year they are forced 

 than the first, so that they should not be thrown away after 

 the first year's crop of flowers is obtained, as is generally the 

 case with bulbs that are forced. Early flowers thus obtained 

 are valuable, as in beauty and fragrance they hold their 

 own with the choicest of all cut flowers. The sort generally 

 used for forcing is N. Tazetta, a very variable plant, native 

 of the south of Europe, some of the most beautiful and 

 distinct varieties being found on the borders of the Medi- 

 terranean. This is the plant so largely imported and sold 

 by our nurserymen about this season of the year under 

 such names as Stateu General, Grand Primo, Soleil d'Or, 

 and Paper White. The colour of the flowers varies from pure 

 translucent white to rich golden yeUow, while the corona or 

 cup of some forms is of a rich orangu tint, bordering on ver- 

 milion. This plant, although generally forced in pots, flowers 

 well in glasses of water, like the Hyacinth, while it does well 

 planted out on a warm, moist, sheltered border, and so treated 

 flowers later than the forced- plauts, so that a succession of 

 flowers may by this latter plan bo obtained. A striking pecu- 

 liarity of this and all the other species of Narcissus is, that 

 their flowers last fresh a long time in water. I have had cut 

 spikes in a vase of water for a fortnight, or even longer, and 

 the latest flowers were then quits fre.'jh. It was formerly the 

 custom of some of the florists near London to grow beds of 

 this plant (N. Tazetta) out of doors for the sake of their 

 flowers in spring, and the flower-spikes were cut from the 

 plants as soon as the first buds had attained their full size. 

 When so gathered, they bear packing better than when the 

 flowers are fully open, and the blooms never fail to open out 

 in succession when placed in water, and flower as well as if 

 left on the plants, or even better, as the flowers suffer from the 

 winds and rains of the spring months. Those who force these 

 beautiful plants should retain the bulbs, and plant them out 

 in a warm border after flowering, as, when so treated, they will 

 in most cases flower well in after years. 



N. Pseudo-Narcissus, the common yellow Daffodil, is supposed 

 to be a native of this country, and with its many varieties (both 

 double and single) , is well worth border cultivation. It is capable 

 of producing fine effects when planted in masses, a fact noted 

 by several of our poets from Herrick to Wordsworth, and all 

 lovers of hardy flowers should not fail to read the celebrated 

 ode to Daffodils of the last-named author, which is one of the 

 most interesting and suggestive rural poems in the English 

 language. N. biflorus is another reputed native, generally 

 bearing two white flowers on a scape among its wax-like 

 glaucous foliage. It is nearly related to N. poeticus, but is 

 readily distinguished by the absence of the purple or crimson 

 ring round the margin of the cup. N. gracilis, and its beau- 

 tiful variety, N. gracilis tenuior, also resemble the last in the 

 shape of the flower, and in having a saucer-shaped cup ; but 

 the colour is a clear yellow, and the leaves, instead of being 

 glaucous and flat, are semi-cylindrical, and of a vivid shining 

 green colour, nearly like those of the .Jonquil section. N. in- 

 comparabilis is a stately species, well worth a place, its 



flowers varying from deep yellow with an orange-margined 

 cup, to pure white with a lemon cup. The flowers are solitary, 

 on stout scapes, 16 to IR inches high — the flowers being about 

 3 inches in diameter. There are two or three very distinct and 

 beautiful double-flowered varieties of this plant, the flowers of 

 which are very showy, and these should lind a place in every 

 herbaceous border. One of these has white segments, partly 

 encompassed in a glowing orange nectary or cup, and is the 

 Double Orange Phctnix of old florists and gardeners. A yellow 

 form with a deep orange cup is the Sulphur Phauix, and there 

 is another still paler form than either, very beautiful, although 

 now seldom seen in cultivation. The flowers of these are 

 nearly as double as a Rose, and so heavy that they reijuire 

 some support to prevent them bending to the earth. A white- 

 flowered kind, somewhat similar to the last, has nodding white 

 flowers, with a cylindrical cup ; this is N. poculiformis or 

 N. montanus of gardens, and is interesting to botanists and 

 amateurs on account of its flowers being rarely perfect, having 

 often only throe or four segments instead of six ; and the 

 drooping character of the flower is very distinct from any 

 other species, and serves to distinguish it from the last-named 

 plant. 



The gem of the whole genus is N. triandrus, a pale sulphur- 

 yellow-flowered plant with from two to five flowers on a scape, 

 and deep green rush-hke leaves. This has recently been re- 

 introduced to cultivation, and is one of the prettiest in the 

 whole group. The segments of the perianth are reflexed so as 

 to give the flower the appearance of a yellow Cyclamen or 

 Dodecatheou rather than a Daffodil. The flowers of this 

 species are very delicate in structure, yet it has proved to be 

 one of the hardiest, and withstands sun and rain better than 

 most of the others. N. Jonquilla, the common Jonciuil, is well 

 known as a border plant, its bright yellow flowers being borne 

 in clusters on slender scapes among a tuft of deep, glossy 

 green, rush-like leaves. It forces well, and its fragrant flowers 

 are always welcome for the flower vase in early spi'ing. Nearly 

 related to this plant, but with larger flowers, is N. odorus, 

 or Campernelle, a showy plant largely grown in some old 

 market gardens for the sake of its deep golden sweet-scented 

 flowers. Like the last-named species, it is often met with in 

 the double state ; but all its forms are beautiful, and it well 

 deserves more general culture. N. juncifolius is a pigmy only 

 an inch or two in height, bearing two or three pale yellow 

 flowers on a slender scape. The flowers somewhat resemble 

 those of N. Jonquilla, but the cup is very much larger in pro- 

 portion to the size of the flower. It is not showy, but deserves 

 a corner in every garden where choice hardy bulbs are appre- 

 ciated. Of all the Narcissus, however, there are few better 

 than N. Bulbocodium, the Hooped Petticoat Daffodil of 

 gardens, which often flowers almost before it frees itself of the 

 surrounding earth, each flower glowing like burnished gold. 

 This does remarkably well in pots for conservatory and green- 

 house decoration, and it should be grown in quantity every- 

 where. Of all hardy flowers, if we except the Broom, we know 

 of none of a richer yellow colour than this species. A variety 

 (N. monophyllus) with white flowers comes from Algeria, but 

 it does not grow so freely as the yellow-flowered form. All 

 the varieties of this plant are tender, and often perish during 

 cold wet winters unless the beds are raised slightly above the 

 general level, and the bulbs protected by a mulching of dung 

 or leaves. 1 hope ere long to see these beautiful old flowers 

 more generally grown than is at present the case. They have 

 been grown in English gardens for the last two or three 

 centuries; and Parkinson, in his " ParadisusTerrestris," pub- 

 lished in 1620, enumerates no less than ninety-six species and 

 varieties as being then in cultivation in London gardens.— 

 F. W. B. (in The Gardcna-). 



The Wood of tue Chestnot Treh possesses the property 

 of not altering in bulk when exposed to heat or moisture. For 

 this reason it is useful for the manufacture of casks for wine or 

 other fluids. It also possesses the advantage of not giving 

 any disagreeable taste to the liquid contained in it. It may 

 also be used instead of Oak bark or logwood for tanning leather 

 and making ink. The wood of the Horse Chestnut is said to 

 be so like the wainscot Oak. that only those who are ac- 

 customed to work these woods can detect the difference. The 

 fruit of the Horse Chestnut when ground into powder makes 

 an excellent paste for shoemakers and bookbinders. It is 

 employed in Turkey as a food for horses, especially when 

 troubled with short breath or cough. They also give it to 



