134 



TEE GARDENERS' CERONICLE. 



[August 4, 



finer kinds than the parents may show themselves, 

 and all are sure to be valuable for the wilder parts 

 of the garden, or to plant alongside of shrubbery 

 walks — positions for which these stately plants are 

 well fitted. 



Seed-sowing. 



Seed of Delphiniums may be sown as soon as 

 i* is ripe, employing boxes or pans and ordinary 

 light garden mould, covering it with a little sifted 

 soil of the same description, giving water through a 

 fine rose and place in a cold frame. The frame 

 should be kept close until the young plants appear, 

 when sufficient air should be admitted to secure a 

 sturdy growth, and the young plants, when large 

 enough to handle, be pricked out in boxes or on a 

 sunny border a few inches apart. If 2 or 3 inches 

 thick of good soil be placed on a hard bottom the 

 plants will make a more sturdy growth, and will lift 

 better for the final transplantation than would be 

 the case were they allowed more scope for the roots 

 to ramble and porous soil to grow in. The Delphi- 

 niums, like kindred subjects, succeed best in a good 

 loamy soil resting on a porous subsoil. H. W. Ward. 



Newek Varieties of Delphiniums. 

 The gems of a collection of these flowers recently 

 shown at a meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society by Messrs. Kelway & Sons, Langport, were 

 Prince Oscar, deep blue, margined with bronzy- 

 purple ; Vosegus, rich bright blue, with slight 

 margins of pale rosy-purple — a large single variety 

 of great beauty ; Mrs. Edgar Wild, blue exterior, 

 the centre petals pale wine-purple ; TJstane, deli- 

 cate sky-blue, the centre pale blue, margined with 

 delicate mauve, extra fine — a fine single flowered 

 variety ; Miss Pinney, very like the foregoing, but 

 still distinct— a very fine variety; Lord Balfour, 

 blue and rosy-lilac— very fine ; Amelia, another fine 

 single variety — colour bright pale blue ; Imogen, 

 pale blue, with slight edgings and dashes of pink- 

 very fine ; Frederica, fine bright blue, the top seg- 

 ments edged with pink; Lady Churchill, blue, 

 slightly shaded with purple — very fine spike ; Prince 

 of Naples, blue and pinkish mauve ; Sigrid Arnold- 

 son, deep blue and rosy-mauve — very fine full spike ; 

 Lord Randolph Churchill, deep blue, shaded with 

 mauve and pink — extra fine ; and Valentia, a bright 

 blue self. A better selection could scarcely be made 

 than the thirteen varieties composing the foregoing 

 list. B. V. [We have just received several spikes of 

 very particular merit from Mr. C. Irvine, Jedburgh, 

 to which we hope to refer next week. Ed.] 



DlPLADENIA BrEARLEYANA. 



The dark green leaves of this evergreen stove 

 climber contrast effectively with its large grandly 

 coloured flowers, opening pink and changing to the 

 richest crimson. The plant is of free growth, and 

 produces from May to October its flowers freely, and 

 which stand well above the foliage. Cuttings of the 

 young growth taken off with a heel of old wood 

 during the summer, and inserted in small pots filled 

 with peaty soil having a surfacing of silver-sand, 

 watered and placed in heat, will take root within a 

 few weeks. They should then be potted singly into 

 small 60-size pots, and returned to heat, giving 

 water at the roots and pinching the shoots once or 

 twice, to make them branch after the roots have 

 pushed into the soil. Shift into larger pots before 

 the roots get matted until the plants are placed in 

 their flowering pots, using four parts of good fibry 

 peat and one of a like description of loam, with a 

 sprinkling of sand added : and train the young shoots 

 to a suitable trellis. H. W.W. 



THE WEATHER.— Mr. G. J. Symons, writing in 

 the Times, points out that the rainfall for July, 

 though continuous and heavy, is not unprecedented 

 in amount ; the minimum temperatures have not 

 been excessively low, but the maxima have been 

 lower than for thirty years. In London 7'22 inches 

 of rain fell between June 4 and July 31, on forty-six 

 days, so that the fall was five times as frequent and 

 seven times as heavy as during the corresponding 

 months of last year. 



Florists' Flowers. 



CARNATION GERMANIA. 

 This very fine self-yellow Carnation, raised and 

 distributed by M. Ernest Benary, of Erfurt, cer- 

 tainly answers the expectations formed of it when 

 only flowers were seen last year. It is of a pure 

 clear yellow, remarkable for its full substance and 

 fine petal ; and with a refinement of character 

 apparent to the most casual observer. It is a good 

 grower also, putting forth freely robust grass. 

 It has been announced as a Tree Carnation, and 

 probably can be had to bloom in the winter, though 

 I think it should properly be regarded as a summer 

 flowering type. In the general character of the 

 flowers it resembles Pride of Penshurst. and it may 

 perhaps have been raised from it ; but it is apparently 

 of mere robust growth and better quality of flower, 

 and is sweetly scented. B. D. 



Tree Carnations. 



We have had a succession of blooms from a very 

 small lot of plants up till now (July 21), and the 

 summer flowering varieties being now in flower, 

 there has been no break in the season of bloom. 

 Not many years ago there was eause of complaint 

 in the season of bloom being so short — less than a 

 month of bloom for a whole year of labour ! Now 

 there need not be any complaint of lack of flowers at 

 any season, the perpetual flowering varieties being 

 so easily grown. The plants should now be in an 

 open position out-of-doors, and not be allowed to 

 suffer for want of pot-room. A neat stick should 

 also be placed to each plant, and the young growing 

 shoots kept quite free from green-fly. The main 

 point in their culture is to keep a uniform state of 

 growth, which they will make better out-of-doors 

 until the end of September than under glass, when 

 some of the plants will be coming into bloom. J. 



Book Notice. 



AUTOUR DE MON JARDIN. Par Eugene de Duru. 

 (Bureau, 11, Pont St. Laurent, Verviers.) 

 Among the crowd of books for the instruction of 

 the intelligent amateur, who desires to gain a general 

 insight into gardening procedures, we ; have rarely 

 come across one better suited to its purpose than 

 that whose title is given above. It is a dissertation 

 on the general principles on which practical horti- 

 culture is based, and to those to whom the language 

 in which it is written forms no bar, it will be found 

 as pleasant to read, as it is sound in teaching. Clear, 

 simple, and to the point, it is essentially well- written 

 and not devoid of humour. It bears on every page 

 the characteristics of an erudite and practised writer, 

 while the practical details betray the hand of one 

 who knows not only how to write about his garden, 

 but also how to work in it. Its contents may be 

 divined from the titles of the chapters, of which one 

 is devoted to soil, air, and water; one to garden 

 appliances, others to garden design, garden decora- 

 tion, garden pests, and garden friends. A detailed 

 table of contents and a full index complete an un- 

 pretending, but excellent work. A slight lapsus on 

 p. 11, where nitrogen is spoken of as derived by the 

 plant from the air, may be pointed out — a statement 

 inconsistent with another and more correct one on 

 p. 13, where the nitrogenous matters are rightly 

 spoken of as entering by the root. 



Plants and Their Culture. 



porosity. In potting, press the soil quite firmly, and 

 pinch off all flower-spikes, and stop any straggling 

 shoots. Plunge the pots thinly in coal-ashes, and if 

 in frames so much the better, as they are then 

 quite under control. 



Gesncras. — Tubers of G. cinnabarina which are now 

 starting into growth should be shaken out of the old 

 soil, and repotted. I like to put them into their 

 flowering pots at once, any after assistance that 

 may be required being given in the form of liquid 

 manure. A rich porous soil suits them well, that 

 is, one consisting of about one-half loam and fibry 

 peat, with a large admixture of silver-sand. Owing 

 to the hairiness of the leaves syringing is not advis- 

 able, for if there is any sediment in the water used 

 it is sure to settle on them and spoil their appear- 

 ance ; and for the same reason try and keep them 

 free from insects, as washing in any form is equally 

 injurious. A good position is one near the glass in 

 a light pit, with a mild airy temperature between 60° 

 and 70°. Late plants or cuttings of G. zebrina and 

 G. refulgens may be treated similarly, so as to come 

 in with G. cinnabarina. 



Hydrangeas. — The common Hydrangea hortensis 

 is probably the most useful, and is possibly not seen 

 to better advantage than when grown in a small pot 

 with a single flower-head. For this purpose cuttings 

 should now be put in, selecting strong, clean, and 

 moderately well ripened shoots. Insert them singly 

 in small pots, using a light loamy compost. Give a 

 good watering, and if the leaves are large and likely 

 to flag support them by inserting a few small stakes 

 round the edge of the pots, and run a bit of bast 

 round them. It is well to try and preserve the 

 leaves, for if they fall prematurely the cuttings take 

 longer to root, and they are more liable to miss 

 flowering when started in the spring. A frame 

 placed on a gentle hotbed over which a few 

 inches of plunging material has been spread is 

 a good place to root the cuttings in ; 6hade 

 them from bright sunshine, and maintain a genial, 

 growing atmosphere, never allowing the cuttings to 

 get over-dry, yet giving sufficient air to expel super- 

 fluous damp, otherwise the leaves would be apt to 

 decay. In a few weeks they will be nicely rooted, 

 and then more air should be given until they can 

 stand full exposure. If large 60 s have been used for 

 the cuttings, this size will be large enough to winter 

 in. During the winter months a cool, airy position, 

 where frost is excluded, suits them well ; but if 

 smaller pots have been used, pot the plants soon 

 after they are rooted, and again when started in the 

 spring ; 5 and 6-inch pots are large enough. A rich 

 loamy compost should be afforded them. This sea- 

 son may be prolonged by periodically introducing 

 batches into a mild heat ; they usually show flower 

 after a few pairs of new leaves have been made. 

 There is also a white-flowered variety, Thomas 

 Hogg, and a variegated variety of hortensis, both 

 of which are worth growing, but they look best as 

 small specimens. Old specimens which have 

 flowered are better stood out-of-doors in summer- 

 time ; but a few degrees of frost will, however, not 

 do them any harm. F. Boss, Bletchingley. Surrey. 



Pelargoniums. — Zonals which were struck in the 

 spring and were subsequently potted into large GO's, 

 and which for some time may have been standing in 

 the open, are now in capital condition for potting up 

 for winter flowering ; the size most suitable is 32's. 

 Employ sound loam with a liberal addition of bone- 

 dust, a small quantity of decayed manure or leaf-soil, 

 a sprinkling of soot, and as much sand as will give 



Home Correspondence. 



THE BEGONIA AS A BEDDER — I can fully en- 

 dorse all that your excellent correspondent, Mr. J. 

 Horsefield, has said, at p. 94, in your last issue, re- 

 specting the superiority of these plants over Pelar- 

 goniums as summer bedders. The year 1887 will long 

 be remembered as an unusually hot one, when the 

 general floriferousness of the Tuberous Begonia was 

 thought by some to be due to the warm summer ; 

 but that cannot be said of the present season, and, 

 notwithstanding the heavy rains, the Begonias are 

 far superior to the Pelargonium in brightness, indeed 

 they are the brightest beds in our garden at the pre- 

 sent time. I have not tried the groundwork for the 

 beds recommended by your correspondent, as we 

 usually plant the Begonias so close together that 

 when they are fully developed the plants cover the 

 ground, and they are liked best when grown in masses. 

 Any one contemplating the bedding out of tuberous 

 Begonias, raised in the usual way, from a packet of 

 mixed seeds, would do well to grow them the first 

 season in the reserve garden, as by so doing plants 

 of uniform growth can be selected. I should feel 

 grateful to any one of the correspondents of the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle if they would kindly give 

 me the names of a few of the newer tested free 

 bloomers amongst crimson, scarlet and pink varieties. 



