62 



JOUENAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GAEDENER. 



[ July 27, 1871. 



the most select, moat of which have been grown at this nursery 

 for many years, not for profit, for, as Mr. Thomas Osborn told 

 me, there has till very lately been little, if any, demand for 

 them, but simply because it is the rule of the firm never to 

 discard a really good thing. 



Taking the Sixifrages first, we have Sasifraga Aizoon, and 

 Aizoon minor, the la'.ter having a very close compact growth ; 

 S. ceratophjlla, a fine distinct kind, with deeply-serrated 

 foliage ; pectinata, a compact grey kind ; next comes the true 

 longifolia of Backhouse, a perfect Rem, like a grey rosette ; 

 pulchella, very neat and dwarf ; and moschata, of still more 

 compact growih; then we have Gutbrieana variegata, neat, 

 pretty, and bright ; oppositifolia. and atropnrpurea. 



Among the Sedums there are S. reflexum, very fine ; angli- 

 cum ; grandiflorum ; glaucum, very beautiful; Telephium atro- 

 purpnreum, with almost black foliage; brevifolium, a beautiful 

 kind, forming a bright compact mass, very neat and tffective; 

 the pretty grey farinosum ; and those two compact kinds, Lj- 

 dinm and Wightmannianum. 



Sempervirum ea ifornicnm, from its being used so largely in 

 public gardens, is now well known, but there are others deserv- 

 ing special notice. Of these calcaratum is very similar to cali- 

 fornicum, but more compact ; acuminatum, a distinct brown 

 kind ; the beaudful miniature hirtum ; montanum, quite a 

 gem among Sempervivums, and spinosum, a very rare variety, 

 remarkably com,iact, and qai^e distinct from all others. 



Of othar plants worthy of noice, there are the neat-growing 

 Aubrietia deltoidea variegata. Campanula garganiea, Nepeta 

 violacea, Trifolium fimbriatum, with pretty purple flowers ; 

 the very dwarf-growing Thymus eorsicus; oar own native 

 Thymus SerpjUum albus, dwarf, compact, and pretty; and 

 the very beautiful Thymus micans, etah plant forming a com- 

 pact mass, so dense as to appear like the half of a green ball 

 resting upon the soil, the entire surface being studded with 

 flowers of a delicate piirk. The well-known Trifolium rubrum 

 must not be omitted, its dark-green-edged foliage being very 

 striking and effective. Silene alpestiis, too, with its pure white 

 flowers, is a useful plant, as is the verv pretty marsh plant 

 Parnassia palustris, another wbite-fl iwtring plant. Then there 

 are Lychnis Lagasoae, v;iih a profusion of bright pink flowers ; 

 the pretty spring-floweiiog Soldanellaa, Linum flavum with its 

 fine deep yellow flowers, Lioaria triornithophora with fine 

 spikes of purple flowers, a fine old species, very rarely to be 

 met with, but most wortby of a (dace in all gardens ; the pretty 

 trailing Linnfea borealis; the purple-flowering Ehexia virgi- 

 nica; Campanula pulla, dwarf and efliective, with purple 

 pendant bell-like flowers ; Gentiana acanlis, with its deep blue 

 flowers; Gentiana gelida, with smaller flowers ; and G. septem- 

 fida, producing its flowers in trasses. These are all fine and 

 distinct. To this list may be added the Vetch-like Astragalus 

 hypoglottis ; Androsace lanuginosa, miih pretty pale pink 

 flowers ; Androsace ciliata, a charming little plant of very 

 dense, compact growth, and with flowers of a rich deep pink; 

 Achillea tomentosa, with bright yellow flowers, and the pretty 

 Fern-like Thalictrnm acUantoides, which, as its name implies, 

 much resemhles a Maiden-hair Fern. 



It will be understood that this List represents a mere tithe of 

 the Falham collection. They are the kinds that struck me as 

 being the most beautiful and distinct of those I saw ; and 

 although I may have failed to note many ether worthy varie- 

 ties, yet I can cotfidently recommend all I have selected as 

 *)eing of sterling merit. 



Very many of these plants will thrive in ordinary garden 

 heds ; they are, therefore, valuable for edgings or mixed groups 

 f^long the front of herbaceous borders ; but the real home for 

 them, and the place in which (hey flourish best, is the rockery 

 — there, if rightly managed, they display their marvellous and 

 varied forms to the greatest advantage, some thriving best in 

 ^helle^ed nooks formed by the prijeoting rocks, while others 

 clothe the rocks ihemselves wirb a beautiful enamel of deepest 

 green or silvery grey. Wonderful examples of plant life are 

 these gems of the vtgetable kingdom. Tbe miniature growth, 

 the great variety of form and colour, both in foliage and 

 blossom, which tbey iSm to us, should cause them to be eared 

 for and treasured very much m.ra than they have been hitherto. 

 They are objects of interest at all seasons of the year, and cer- 

 tainly if we seek for refinement in our gardens we shall find it 

 developed in a much larger degree in this class of plants than 

 in any other ; for bo exquisitely delicate and varied are the 

 colours, and so beautiful the forms of most of them, that all 

 other plants appear huge and coarse beside them. The curious 

 dwarf growth seems to invite one to explore, and to thoroughly 



enjoy them we must do so — a mere passing glance will not 

 suffice ; so diverse are their characters and so intricate their 

 forms, that we may always find something fresh to interest us. 

 It may be useful to add a word or two upon the culture of 

 these plants. This is by no means a difficult matter, yet there 

 are a few conditions necessary to success. The most important 

 of these are : Not to build the rockery in a shaded position, 

 but in an open, airy place, well away from tall overhanging 

 trees ; it is not shade that is wanted to keep the plants flourish- 

 ing in summer, but a deep, rich, flbrous loam, with an abun- 

 dant mixture of broken stones, so that the roots may penetrate 

 deeply, and that the soil in which they are growing may be 

 drained thoroughly ; for though these plants are so dwarf, yet 

 they send their roots deep down in the earth, and then we find 

 them flourishing in full vigour through all the vicissitudes of 

 adverse seasons. One other essential condition to the success- 

 ful culture of these plants in summer, and in summer only, is 

 a moderate but continuous supply of water, such as might be 

 had from the overflow of a small fountain. This, dripping 

 gently over the highest rocks, would spread just that coolness 

 around the plants which they like so much. Of course all the 

 kinds will not flourish in the same soil, or with just the same 

 treatment. To those who may contemplate forming a collec- 

 tion, however small, I would say. Find out the conditions under 

 which the plants you select are known to flourish in their wDd 

 state, study them, and with that liking for them which is cer- 

 tain to grow upon you, will come the requisite knowledge of 

 their requirements. — Edwaed LucKffcBSi. 



A BIT OF SOUTH DEVON.— No. 1. 

 Here am I in that city of villas, Torquay, and though I 

 have seen many other towns in each of the British islands, not 

 one of them in beauty equals this ; it is compounded of thickly- 

 wooded steep-sided valleys, studded on either hand with white 

 residences, wide apart, and each framed in a surrounding of 

 luxuriant trees. Whichever road you take, whichever side of 

 whichever valley you traverse, you pass a series of villas so 

 long-continued that you become weary of looking upon them, 

 each tasteful, each indicating wealth, each encircled by a well- 

 kept garden, and the tenants of which are exuberantly luxu- 

 riant ; but more of them by-and-by. I must have an out- 

 pouring first against that general prejudice and delusion that 

 Torquay is too hot to be desirable as a summer resort. I 

 entertained that opinion myself, but I ventured to believe the 

 records furnished by meteorologists, and I find that their 

 figures are not fictitious ; more of them hereafter. On the ISth 

 of this now month of July, the day on which these present 

 sentences are written, I looked during mid-day at one of the 

 publicly-exposed thermometers on the Strand — the day in- 

 tensely bright, almost cloudless, wind south-west — and that 

 thermometer in the shade stood at 70". Now, I will wager an 

 acre to a footsbreadth that it has been hotter than that at 

 Scarborough on this same day and hour, and at London 10" 

 hotter. "Ah! that was an exceptional day." No, it was not 

 exceptional, friend Peter Prejudiced, for here is the record of 

 three previous davs, published in " The Torquay Directory :" 

 July Uth, 67°; 15th, 72"; 16th, 72°. 



Why Torquay is thus temperate is fully explained by its 

 vicinity to the sea, and the evaporation from the profuse and 

 luxuriant vegetation in and around ; for let me remind your 

 readers that in the hottest parts and in the hottest season of 

 India ice is made by mere evaporation about the vessel con- 

 taining the water. 



What shall I select from my jottings to enlarge upon next ? 

 That which first most forcibly struck me — the colour of the 

 sou. It is red, very red, as if formed of ground bricks, and is, 

 I believe, the new red sandstone of geologists worn by the 

 action of the elements into a cultivatable consistency, or rather 

 inconsistency, for it is very light, a large proportion of it being 

 silica, and the colour imparted by an excessive amount of the 

 red oxide of iron. Next was I struck by the profusion of a red, 

 or rather pink, flower, which, in multitudes and masses, is on 

 every old wall and in the chinks and clefts of the rocks ; I never 

 saw it so profuse in other parts of the kingdom ; it is the Spur 

 Valerian (Centranthus ruber). I thought that the colour of its 

 flowers and those of the Herb Eobert (Geranium Eobertianum) 

 seemed more intense th»n in my more eastern-dwelling neigh- 

 bourhood, and when I walked among the flowers in the " Devon 

 Kosery " the same intensity of red colours prevailed. There 

 was a Cockscomb with its comb so intensely crimson that it 

 seemed to emit rays of colour ; the crimson leaves of the 



