DECEMBER 2'J, 1888.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



757 



this direction. The cabins of the Anchor line of newspapers of the city have their offices decorated 



steamers are regularly and sumptuously decorated with plants, and are even contemplating introducing 



with plants for each voyage, and the Columha, so well them into the compositors' rooms as a relief to the 



known to tourists, has adopted the idea in her cabins. tedium of their occupation. 



Fig. 106. — rodeiocezia fragrans : flowers white with yellow centres, (see p. 7J0.) 



delightful movement that pleases every one, from 

 the warehouseman to his customers, and even the 

 listless lounger, who casts a passing glance on his 

 windows, is arrested and interested with the pleasing 

 effect produced by the association of real flowers and 

 foliage with every description of merchandise. 



The movement has been initiated by Messrs. 

 J. & K. Thyne, nurserymen, seedsmen, and florists, 

 of St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, who have long 

 been favourably known as specialists in horticul- 

 tural decoration. They have long endeavoured to 

 interest business men in the matter of decorating 

 their business premises, and have succeeded at last 

 in getting them to perceive its advantages. The 

 system is carried out on the contract principle by the 

 month or the year. The plants are at the risk of 

 the contractors. They are placed, watered, cleaned, 

 and otherwise attended to by their own staff; and so 

 large an amount of stock is beyond their control in 

 the premises of others, that they have recently taken 

 the prudential measure of insuring against the con- 

 tingency of fire. 



Their nursery at Kelvinside, near the Botanic 

 Gardens, is wholly composed of glasshouses, adapted 

 specially to plant growing. To a large extent the 

 stock consists of Palms, l)rac;enas, Ferns, Orchids, 

 Asparagus, Bouvardias — in short, every class of 

 plants adapted to the decorative florist's art, which 

 is their specialty. There is also a large and varied 

 stock of plants grown to meet the general require- 

 ments of their customers and the public. Good 

 cultivation is a feature of the place in every depart- 

 ment, and taking into account the wear and tear 

 inflicted on the established stock of the decorative 

 sorts, the absence of cripples and maimed plants is 

 remarkable. 



Certain of the banks also have groups of foliage 

 plants or specimens of Palms and Dracocnas dis- 

 played in their handsome halls and vestibules, and 

 last, but not least significant, two of the leading 



Enough has been said, I think, to justify the opening 

 assertion. I am not aware that in any other city in 

 the kingdom so much interest is taken as in Glasgow 

 in horticultural decoration. It is a healthy and 



The Herbaceous Border. 



CHOICE OF SUBJECTS. 



In- examining the original list supplied by Mr. 

 llorsefield (p. 510), it will be observed that the 

 front row of plants would be nearly bare of flowers 

 for nearly nine months of the year, there being two 

 July flowering plants in the Campanulas, and the 

 Dracocephalum in the same month, or sometimes in 

 August ; the Hellebores flowering next in point of 

 time — viz., in December. 



Such gaps in the season of bloom as these are not 

 likely to suit many persons, especially as they occur 

 at a time when the garden should be the gayest. 

 In my front row list, en the contrary, it will be 

 found that a variety of showy plants will be in 

 flower from the first week in December to the end 

 of August without any break, the Violas continuing 

 even longer than that, if not required for stock ; and 

 moreover, every plant named is as easily grown as 

 the Snowdrop, which comes first on the list. 



It is doubtful if such weedy subjects as Tussilagos 

 are fit companions for Gentiana verna, Hepaticas, 

 or Veronica repens [reptans]. The height assigned 

 to Galegas and Iris sibirica scarcely accords with 

 their height as grown here, and which is much 

 greater than that given. It is a common occurrence 

 here to find Iris sibirica growing to a height of 

 4 feet when established and in flower. 



In reference to Onosma tauricum, it" is a 

 Boragewort of great beauty, and very fragrant, but 

 the plant is not " miffy " when it is not coddled in 

 a frame, or subjected to damp in the winter-time, 

 and few plants are more hardy. The plant, if grown 

 in too rich a soil, will be apt to rot off at the same 

 season of the year. I have some potfuls of it that 

 have stood out unprotected for three successive 

 winters, and which have not even been plunged in 

 any protecting material. These flower well annu- 

 ally. When planted out the Onosma requires a 

 sandy loam and the drainage should be good; it 

 may be propagated with perfect ease, and a few 

 should be raised annually, so that any losses may at 

 once be made good. The right place for Gentiana 

 verna is not the herbaceous border, but the rock 

 garden, where a cool, moist position ought to be 



