260 



JOUBNAL OF HOBTIOULTUBE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



I September 21, 1876. 



fnl for the sake of something new. I have known, for in- 

 stance, " old hands " dig up good established plants to plant 

 others on a new stook, and afterwards regret committing the 

 error. The seedling Briar is a good stock for some varieties 

 and some seasons, bnt I have seen Boses exhibited on this 

 stock as dull-looking this season as blooms from other stocks. 



For hardy Tea Boses one of the best stocks is the cultivated 

 Briar, either dwarfs or low Briars of 18 inches above ground. 

 This is a grand stock, and if I was only allowed one stock for 

 all Boses, places, and purposes I should select the cultivated 

 Briar young and healthy. I do not know anything to surpass 

 it. It grows Boses of sterling quality, and is worthy of re- 

 commendation. — H. Mebeyweather, Southwell. 



COMMELTNA TUBEEOSA. 

 The Spiderworts have many representatives, widely diverse 

 in their habits, character, and appearance, as may be expected 

 when we note the great geographical range of their habitats. 

 They are found in North and South America, in India, Aus- 

 tralia, and in the territory of the Cape of Good Hope. There 



SSKaei? 



jf&§a 



li 



Fig. 35.— Commelinft tuberosa. 



are annuals, herbaceous perennials, and stove, greenhouse, and 

 hardy trailers. The fleshy roots or rhizomes of some of the 

 species are eatable when cooked. Ksempfer has stated that 

 ultramarine is prepared from the beautiful blue flowers of 

 C. communis. 



The tubercles of the species figured abound in starch. It 

 is, however, as an ornamental plant that it is primarily noticed. 

 Its flowers are of a rich blue, and the habit of the plant is 

 pleasing. Being a native of Mexico it is strictly speaking a 

 Btove plant, but it flourishes well in the garden during the 

 summer. In the autumn the roots should be taken up and 

 Stored like Dahlias. This species only grows about a foot in 

 height, and is not seen so frequently as its merits deserve. 

 Tubers are generally ready for sale towards the end of October, 

 and should be stored in sand, starting them in spring in heat, 

 subsequently hardening the plants and planting them out ; or 

 they may be allowed to flower in the pots. The flowers con- 

 tinue long in beauty, and are useful for cutting, their rich 

 colour being always admired. Plants may also be raised from 

 seed. 



The genns was named in honour of the Dutch botanists 

 3. and G. Commelin. C. tuberosa was introduced in 1732, 

 and flowered in the garden of Dr. Sherrard at Eltham in that 

 year.— W. J. S. 



LILIUM AURATUM. 



In your number published on the 7th inst. you remarked on 



the Lilium auratum, showing the great advantage planting-out 



has over pot culture. I have seen it grown well in pots, but 



to see it in perfection planting-out is decidedly the best mode 



of culture. It is perfectly hardy, and after planting little care 

 is given. Digging about the plants I have never done, as I 

 consider it would be injurious. 



Four years ago I made a large Bhododendron bed'; this I 

 had trenched 2J feet deep, filling it with sandy loam and peat, 

 and among it a quantity of white sand. Tfiis mixture Mr. 

 Waterer of Knap Hill assured me, when I wrote for the plants, 

 would suit them well, and it has proved so. When he replied 

 to my order he said, "Why not plant among them some 

 Lilium auratum ?" I adopted the suggestion, and the first 

 year after planting they made a good display, and every year 

 increasing in strength and numbers of flowers, and some 

 among them of the most beautiful varieties. The bulbs have 

 never been removed since, and they are liberally watered in 

 dry weather. This year they commenced blooming about the 

 middle of July, and in August they were very grand. One 

 clump more than 7 feet high had 121 blooms on it ; many had 

 thirty, forty, and more. Being different varieties their bloom- 

 ing has continued, and at the present time (September 11th) 

 they are still very beautiful, some Btems having twenty, thirty, 

 and forty blooms on, and they perfume the air all round. — 

 T. Clements, Pains Hill. 



SEASIDE PLANTS ON THE LANCASHIRE 

 COAST. 



Along the whole Lancashire coast the gales beat with con- 

 siderable severity ; and at the watering places, such as Fleet- 

 wood, Blackpool, and Lytham, lodging-house proprietors, who 

 vie with each other in trying to make their gardens and house 

 fronts attractive by planting shrubs and climbers, have evi- 

 dently a difficulty in selecting proper subjects for the purpose. 

 At Lytham, which presents a long frontage of handsome villas 

 to the wide estuary of the Biddle, up which the tide rushes 

 about as rapidly as it does up the Solway, and often accom- 

 panied by a gale, the effects of the blaat upon the different 

 kinds of trees and Bhrubs are very apparent. Deoiduous trees, 

 such as the Elm, Beech, Laburnum, Plane, Hazel, &c, make 

 some growth annually, but their appearance is completely 

 spoilt by the blast soon after they come into leaf. At present 

 (the second week in August) they are as brown and withered.- 

 looking as if a black frost had passed over them, and they 

 have been in this state during the most of the summer, we 

 understand; and this state of things is not confined to the 

 beach, for inside the town, within the shelter of the houses, 

 they are little better. There is only one notable exception 

 among the deciduous class, and that is the common Willow. 

 In the apparently dry sandy soil it grows amazingly, and is 

 always green and luxuriant close to the sea, and is in conse- 

 quence extensively planted for sheltering purposes. In the ex- 

 tensive Lowther Gardens, presented to the town by Colonel 

 Clifton of Clifton Hall, it is employed almost exclusively for 

 sheltering the more tender subjects, being used as the back- 

 ground everywhere. It gives rather a samenesB of aspect to 

 the grounds, but the sweeping lines of Willows have neverthe- 

 less a highly ornamental effect, and we were never so much 

 impressed with its value as an ornamental tree before. 



It is amongst the evergreens, however, that we find the moBt 

 suitable subjects. Sweet Bays, Golden Hollies, Arbutus, 

 Laurustinus, Evergreen Oaks, and Aucubas, are everywhere the 

 most telling objects on the beach, and they seem to suffer but 

 little ; in fact, the Bays and Laurustinus thrive and grow to 

 tree-like dimensions. The Laurel does not seem to like the 

 sea breeze, but the Laurustinus is an excellent substitute. 

 Among climbers the Ivy and PasBiflora ccerulea are the best. 

 The last is growing on some of the house fronts within fifty or 

 sixty paces of high-water mark as rampantly as a hardy Cle- 

 matis, and is fairly smothered with flowers ; we never saw it 

 in such luxurianoe before. The Fuchsia, both hardy and 

 tender varieties, grows well during the summer, but is invari- 

 ably cut down to the ground by frosts in winter. On the Isle 

 of Man, about fifty miles distant, and almost within sight, "it 

 grows 20 feet high, and is nearly evergreen. Only the other 

 day we noticed there in a Fuchsia hedge limbs nearly as thick 

 as one's leg, with great spreading branches hanging over into 

 the highway ; so much for the difference of climate. — J. S. (in 

 The Gardener). 



Dahlias. — In our report of the Horticultural Meeting at 

 South Kensington on the 6th inet. it appears as if the twelve 

 very fine Dahlias which are named were included in Mr. 



