132 Notes on Gardens and Nurseries. 



alba perfecta, one of the most beautiful of all the wliites, and 

 said by good judges to be far better than any which have yet 

 been raised ; the flower was too far gone for us to form a 

 correct opinion of its merits ; the petal is as round and free 

 from notch as Wilderi, and the color is the purest white, full 

 to the centre, slightly cupped, and opens very freely, a great 

 desideratum in every camellia ; for many of what would oth- 

 erwise be considered the best camelias fall short in this char- 

 acteristic. 



In the hothouse the gorgeous Bignonm venusta was yet in 

 bloom, though most of the flowers had been cut ; it is one of 

 the finest greenhouse climbers, and no collection should 

 be without it.' Planted out in a large box or tub, near a 

 warm flue or at the furnace end of the house, it will ramble 

 all over the roof and fall in the most brilliant festoons from 

 rafter to rafter, forming the most conspicuous feature from 

 December to March. One house is wholly occupied with 

 heliotropes in pots for cutting. 



Mr. Dunlap grows the Neapolitan violet to great perfection, 

 and iu quantities greater than we have ever seen at any other 

 place. We are surprised that this fragrant flower is not 

 grown more extensively by all amateurs, as well as gardeners, 

 especially where quantities of cut flowers are wanted, partic- 

 ularly fragrant ones. Nothing can be more desirable for this 

 purpose than the violet, as it requires nothing more than a 

 frame, and protection from freezing, to bloom abundantly 

 from January to May. Mr. Dunlap had four or five ranges of 

 frames, nearly one hundred feet long each, and we think he 

 stated that he gathered several hundred dozen blossoms for 

 New Year's day. 



Mr. Dunlap's gardener is a German, and has only had 

 charge of his place for a year ; but we could see a great im- 

 provement in the condition of the plants, everything now 

 being in the very best order. 



The establishments of J. B. Lenoir and Mr. Boll, the 

 former on the Bloomingdale road and the latter on Forty- 

 Sixth street, we found in fine order, each containing a good 

 stock of the usual plants grown for the city trade. Among 



