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JOUBNAIi OP HORTIOOLT0BE AND COTTAGE GABDENER. 



[ Juno 4, 1874. 



In the Orcliid collection in flower are Eulophia scripta ; 

 Plenrothallis longiseima, with gracefully bending racemes of 

 small yellow flowers ; Dendrobium Pierardi, Brassia verrucosa, 

 Oncidinm bifolium, Epidendrum aromationm, E. virens, Cat- 

 tleya Acklandiae and C. tabula, Dendrobium infundibulum, 

 D. secundum, a curious species, the flowers of which are small 

 and closely arranged on the upper side of the axis, they are 

 pink, the lip tipped with orange ; and the curious green- 

 flowered Acrauthus arachnitis. 



Then to the rockwork. Cyclobothra pulchella first claims 

 attention ; it is a dwarf bulb with yellow drooping flowers, the 

 "Golden Star Tulip of California;" the curious Scilla serotina, 

 with long racemes of chocolate-coloured flowers ; Saxifraga 

 WiUkomiana, very distinct and beautiful ; Myosotis rupicola, 

 one of our most elegant alpine British plants ; and Sedum 

 obtusatum, with yellow flowers, from North America, a fine 

 species, which I do not remember having seen out of Kew. 



In the house No. 1 is in flower the Napoleona imperialie, 

 named after the first Emperor Napoleon. It would be desir- 

 able if only for the glossy evergreen foliage, but when studded 

 with its maroon and cream-coloured flowers is at once curious 

 and beautiful. Each flower somewhat resembles a Eafflesia in 

 miniature, and I do not think it too fanciful to compare it 

 ■with Sea Anemones. The flowers are borne on the old as well 

 as the young wood, and as there are buds in different stages 

 it will remain in flower some time. The structure is very 

 anomalous and curious, and from the absence of good mate- 

 rial was long a puzzle to botanists. With the genus Asteranthos, 

 not in cultivation, it was constituted the order Napoleoneas, 

 which is now placed in the order Myrtacete as a sub-tribe in 

 the " Genera Plantarum." It requires the usual stove treat- 

 ment, with the lowest winter temperature— about 65° Fahr. A 

 few feet to the right Theophrasta Jussieui is in flower ; the 

 comparatively short racemes are low down among the long 

 leaves. The colour of the corolla is a peculiar combination of 

 yellow and violet black. Bread is prepared from the seed in 

 St. Domingo. On the lawn in front of this house the three 

 plants of Chamfcrops Fortunei are each showing several in- 

 florescences. 



On the African shelf in the Palm house there is a plant of 

 Bium helenium (Angelica bracteata) from St. Helena. The 

 white flowers are pretty. It is, however, chiefly of botanical 

 interest. It " is another instance of the curious fact that herb- 

 aceous plants are often represented by frutescent or arborescent 

 allies in insular localities. The stems are eaten raw under 

 the name of JeUico." — (Dr. Hooker, " Icones Plantarum.") 

 Opposite the door, at the south end, a fine appearance is pre- 

 sented by the numerous flowers of Mesembryanthemum spec- 

 tabile; they are of a deep rose colour, and about 2J inches 

 across. It is a dwarf species, and one of the best. It is here 

 planted on a low strip of rockwork. 



In the temperate house Magnolia fuscata is producing its 

 delicioasly Melon-scented flowers. 



MK. W. PAUL'S ROSES AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE. 

 In reply to the remarks of your correspondent, "A. C," 

 permit me to say that my new Roses Peach Blossom, Diana, 

 and St. George were exhibited for several days during my Kose 

 Show at the Crystal Palace, and received the encomiums of 

 many visitors as well as of the press, both horticultural and 

 general. I am sure that your correspondent will see on re- 

 flection that a new and scarce Rose can hardly be expected to 

 be present every day over so long a period. It is also my 

 custom to change many of the varieties twice during the ex- 

 hibition, in order that as many as possible of the good Roses 

 may be represented. If your correspondent had visited the 

 Show on the days when Peach Blossom, Diana, and St. George 

 were present I have no doubt, from his keen and just apprecia- 

 tion of many other novelties, that these would have com- 

 manded his praise. I differ from him only in respect to Fire- 

 brand ; this novelty is fairly solid, and has the smoothest and 

 best-shaped petal, and the most perfect outline of any Rose I 

 know. Your correspondent seems to have been unfortunate 

 in overlooking Star of Waltham, which, in my judgment, 

 taken altogether, was the finest Rose in the Show. — W. Paul, 

 Paul's Nurseries, )Valt)ium Cross. 



The Weeping Sophoba of Japam. — One of the most beautiful 

 of all wfeping trees is Sophora japonica pendula. When well 

 developed, it is attractive in winter or summer. It is more 



picturesque in outline than the Weeping Willow, while the 

 shoots hang most gracefully. It is rather a slow grower, its 

 only fault. Like the normal form, it would thrive well on 

 dry soil. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 We remind our readers that the Great Summer Show will be- 

 held this day and to-morrow (Friday) at the Gardens at South 

 Kensington. There are no less than sixty-six classes for 

 flowers and fruit, and of both we anticipate a large and excel- 

 lent display, in addition to which there will be the great attrac- 

 tion of Mr. A. Waterer's Rhododendron Show. Owing to the 

 opening day of the Exhibition having been shifted from the 

 usual one of Wednesday to Thursday, in order not to clash) 

 with other fixtures of the week, we are under the necessity of 

 deferring untU our next issue the full report which we should 

 otherwise have given. 



OMPHALODES VERNA. 

 This fine old plant has been a favourite with me from boy- 

 hood, and I was glad to see Mr. Record's notice of it. It is 

 worthy of his highest praise, for many are its merits. It re- 

 quires no special culture, thriving in ordinary soil equally out 

 in the full bright sunshine or under the shade of trees. Once 

 planted there is very little danger of losing it, for its spreading 

 habit and the freedom with which its offsets or side growths are 

 produced have procured for it the title of the Creeping Forget- 

 me-not, small plants becoming clumps a foot or more in dia- 

 meter in a couple of years. Such a lovely plant is in its right 

 place wherever flowers will grow. It is one of the best of 

 early-flowering plants for the rock garden. It proves an ad- 

 mirable associate for the Lily of the Valley under the shade of 

 overhanging branches, along the sides of wild wilderness walks, 

 the intense blue trusses of the Omphalodes and the pure white 

 Lily bells forming together such a bouquet as will bear the- 

 palm from the choicest exotics. Clumps of it, too, tell well in 

 vacant spaces among shrubs or to fringe the margins of Rho- 

 dodendrons. In the spring garden it is equally effective, but 

 it is found to answer best for mixed beds, its flowers usually 

 fading by the end of April. Another especial merit must not 

 be overlooked, and that is the facility with which it may be 

 forced into flower in the depth of winter, and thus again be 

 brought into contact with the LUy of the Valley in the conser- 

 vatory. — Edwaed Luckhuest. 



NOTES ON VILLA and SUBURBAN GARDENING. 



Cockscomhs and Balsams. — As the season is fast approaching 

 when it will be necessary to thin the greenhouse of its customary 

 inhabitants, it will be worth while to inquire how you are to- 

 render it interesting during the summer and autumn months, 

 nothing looking worse than a house intended for keeping plants, 

 destitute of them and filled with lumber during a period of 

 the year when the rest of the domain is clothed in its richest 

 loveliness. Many -will have sown and potted-off a quantity of 

 those old-fashioned but truly beautiful plants. Cockscombs and 

 Balsams. Those who previously had not much pit or frame 

 room to spare will find this a very suitable time to perform the 

 operation of sowing, so far as late summer and autumn bloom- 

 ing are concerned. The Cockscomb plants, as soon as they can 

 be conveniently handled, may be pricked-out a few inches apart 

 round the edge of a 6 inch pot, or they may be put singly into 

 the smallest pots, and kept there until the incipient Cockscombs 

 make their appearance, from the form of which you will be en- 

 abled to judge whether certain plants are likely to produce fine 

 specimens or not. To secure that object, after fixing upon those 

 you mean to retain, the plants must be repeatedly shifted as they 

 grow and always kept near the glass, in order that the stems 

 may be short and stubby, and well suppUed with large leaves 

 hanging over the surface of the pot. They like a little bottom 

 heat until they are nearly full-grown, when they will oruament 

 for a long period the stage of the greenhouse. A friable loam ea- 

 riohed with dried lumpy parts of decomposed dung, mixed -with 

 a little silver sand, answers well for their cultivation ; rnanure 

 water may be given or not, just as your compost is deficient of 

 or supplied with dung. 



Balsams may be treated in a similar manner, with the ex- 

 ception that they do not, after the first potting, require any 

 assistance from a frame, and will gro%v freely in the green- 

 house ; the chief thing to be attended to in their management 

 being shifting repeatedly before their roots become matted, 

 using compost of a richer nature than that employed for the 

 Cockscomb, equal portions of lumpy loam and two-year-old 

 cow dung answering well. Pick off the flowers until the 



