HORTICUL TVRE, \ 4 5 



Of recent years gardening- has Lecomo exceedingly popular about 

 Sydney and some of the country towns ; and gardeners, professional 

 and amateur, exhibit remarkable skill in the art. There are several 

 Horticultural Societies in the city and suburbs ; and others in the 

 country, which are chiefly connected with Agricultural Societies. At 

 some of their Exhibitions may be seen Avonderfully good s])eeimens of 

 flowers and ornamental plants, difficult to excel, ])ei'lia])s, auvwhere. 

 The rose seems to hold its own as a favourite, although the chrvsan- 

 themvmi has many admirers. The rose, in this Colony, succeeds to 

 perfection, and is one of the easiest and most satisfactory of plants 

 to grow, for it will withstand a severe drought and much ill-treatment. 

 When properly attended to, manured, pruned, and cultivated, it rejiays 

 tenfold this attention, and many varieties will blossom, almost continu- 

 ously, throughout the year. The tea-scented, and those termed hybrid 

 tea-scented, are by far the most floriferous, and conserpiently have 

 become the favourites. The varieties termed hybrid perpetuals are 

 not grown now nearly so much as used to be the case a few years ago, 

 and this is to be regretted, for there are many exquisite kinds amongst 

 them. The best season for hybrid perpetuals is about the month of 

 October, and if the spinug should be showery and nioist, without hot 

 winds, the flowers come to great perfection. 



The chrysanthemum seems to be perfectly at home in almost all 

 parts of New Snuth Wales ; and, strange to say, and quite contrary to 

 the general impression, it succeeds wonderfully well in the dry atmos- 

 phere of the inland parts of the Colony, provided it can be supplied 

 with wat:'r. There is generally great competition amongst chrysan- 

 themum-growers at the Horticultural Shows, and some remarkable 

 flowers are frequently exhibited. Nearly all good novelties raised in 

 Europe or America seem to find their way here almost as soon as their 

 qualities are known. Some few good varieties have been raised here ; 

 but it seems rather surprising that the work of hybridising and raising 

 new kinds is not taken more in hand by amateurs. The same may be 

 said with respect to other plants, for few really good varieties are raised 

 here, although garden-plants seed with great freedom and are so easily 

 hybridised. 



The Camellia thrives exceedingly well, and is a useful ornamental 

 plant even when not in full bloom. After it becomes fairly well 

 established it needs but little attention, and will in time attain a 

 considerable size. Unfortunately, many of the plants grown are jioor 

 varieties which bear indilferent, semi-double, ugly blooms, when then- 

 places could just as well be occupied by others bearing beautiful flowers. 



A flower which has come greatly into favour amongst floriculturists 

 is the Bouvardia, which belongs to the Order RnhiaccT. There are 

 many varieties now in cultivation, and they all succeed remarkaljly 

 weir in most parts of the Colony. It would be difficult to find more 

 beautiful, graceful, or useful plants. They blossom continuously for 

 many months during the year, and the more the flowers are removed 

 the better the plants seem to blossom. The first varieties introduced 

 into the Colony were B. trlphyUa and B. Jdn/uhiii, but of lale years 

 great iinprovements have been effected, and all the beautitul varieties 

 have been introduced. 



