42 



JOUKNAL OF H0BTICU1.TUEE AND COTIAGE GABDENEE. 



[ January 19, 1S71. 



pots. I fill the pots with soil, make a hole in the centre, then 

 drop in a little silver sand, and, introducing the cutting, place 

 silver sand round it or fill the hole level. I nest water gently, 

 and place the cuttings in a hotbed, shading from bright sun 

 until they are rooted, which they will be by July. Care must 

 he taken not to overwater, or the cuttings will damp off, and 

 yet it is necessary to keep them moist, ^'hen rooted remove 

 them to a vinery or other house where they will have slight 

 shade from powerful sun, and a moist atmosphere, in which 

 they will grow freely if properly watered. 



When the pots become full of roots shift the plants into 

 41 -inch pots, which may le needed by the beginnicg of Aagust 

 or earlier, and at the end of September remove them to the 

 stove or intermediate house. It is well to keep the plants 

 rather dry and in a position fully exposed to the light up to 

 the middle of December, when they will be showing flower, and 

 I then shift them into 6-inch pots, put a neat stick to snch as 

 require it, and water carefully for a time — I mean sparingly, 

 just keeping the soil moist, for if much water is given at 

 this stage they fall back, and the flowers, and very often the 

 leaves, drop ; it this do not take place they flower about the 

 middle of January, and go on to April, or longer. Being then 

 rested until June by withholding water, and again started into 

 growth, they make highly ornamental plants by October, and 

 may either be allowed to bloom or be rested for a time in order 

 to succeed the old plants. The latter and the cuttings will 

 afford a good handful of flowers — some drooping, others erect, 

 but all graceful, and of the brightest scarlet or pink — if not 

 every day, very often from September to April, also for house- 

 decoration plants that stand the dry atmosphere well, and if 

 they are destroyed, as is not unfrequently the case with room 

 plants, they are easily replaced. I would advise everyone to 

 grow this class of plants in quantity. They are with me every- 

 day plants, one or other being in bloom all the year round. 



The kinds I grow for winter-flowering are — 



B. fiLchsioiihs. — Flowers scarlet, of graceful habit. The flowers 

 hang down and are of the most lovely waxy coral red. The plant 

 attains a height of 6 feet, and is feathered to the pot. It is the very 

 best of all, being very ornamental in habit as well as flowers. 



B. crCj:to. rauliijiora. — Flowers pink, erect habit, but as graceful as 

 B. fnchsioides, and it grows quite as tall. It is very free-flowering, 

 the flowers drooping, and some say fragrant. 



B, Ingrami. — Flowers deep rose, in large clusters, slightly drooping. 

 Not so tall as the two preceding, erect habit and stiff. 



B. i)restoniensis suffCyba. — Flowers orange scarlet. Plant very free- 

 flowering ; habit dwarf and compact. It is also a good summer- 

 flowering kind. For winter it should not be started until June, as it 

 is semi-herbaceous, no doubt owing to its parent, B. cinnabarina, 

 though somewhat shrubby, owing probably to the blood of B. nitida. 



B. ifuignis. — Flowers pink. Very free-flowering and good. 



B. liyhida florihiriida. — Flowers rose. Habit of B. fnchsioides, very 

 elegant, and very free-blooming. 



B. Dreijei. — Flowers white. Plant of erect dense habit, very free- 

 blooming and continues long in flower. In begins flowering in July or 

 August, and produces a succession of blossom until spring. The 

 flowers are very pretty, though not so conspicuous as those of many 

 sorts. It forms a dense bush from 2 to 4 or 5 feet high. It will 

 succeed in a greenhouse or vinery, and is then semi-herbaceous. 



B. nitida. — Flowers blush, in large clusters. It is of straggling 

 growth, and doss well on a trellis, and trained to a stake in a pot. 



The above are all good, and though I have grown many 

 others I consider them the best. Of course, I shall be glad to 

 receive information respecting any others that your corre- 

 spondents may grow. I also would not be without B. mani- 

 cata, flowers pink. It produces such clusters of delicate wax- 

 like spray as to be quite charming. It succeeds very well in a 

 vinery, flowering with the return of spring, and with me in a 

 stove in February. Also that very thick leathery-leaved sort, 

 B. hydrocotylifolia, which has bright pink flowers borne neatly 

 above the foliage. A pretty plant for rooms, and for rockwork 

 too hot and dry for Ferns. It flowers in January or February. 

 — G. Abbey. 



FLOWER GARDEN ARRANGEMENTS. 



Never was there a time when so much attention was devoted 

 to the cultivation of taste and skill in the arrangement of 

 colours. The modern style of flower gardening has, so to 

 speak, forced this upon the gardening portion of the community. 

 The bygone-syatem of mixed beds and borders made no great 

 demand upon one's skill in this respec', but since the fashion 

 cf massing large breadths of strong colours has prevailed, more 

 attention has perforce been given to the effect which the various 

 ooloaia have upon each other. Occasionally flower gardens 



may be seen in which the arrangement of the colours is so 

 good as to leave nothing to be wished for, but this is the 

 exception rather than the rule. Glare and glitter are still in 

 force, and that too in many public gardens, the arrangements 

 of which are studied and followed in hundreds of private 

 places, because it is supposed that the flowers in notable public 

 gardens are certain to be arranged by persons possessing great 

 artistic skill and refined taste ; but, unfortunately, this is very 

 far from being generally the case. In most instances no 

 exception can be taken to the colouring in regard to its being 

 correct, yet there is such a constant succession of primary 

 colours that a gorgeous dazzling effect approaching vulgarity 

 is the result. It is the want of refinement of which I com- 

 plain — that quiet grace which tones down and afietts an entire 

 design in such a manner as to impart an indiscribable charm 

 to it. 



Scarlet, yellow, and blue are the dominant colours, and 

 wonderfully striking efiects may be wrought out with them; 

 but it is to the various shades of pink, crimson, purple, and 

 grey that the true artist turns for materials, which, when skil- 

 fully interwoven with those other bright colours, impart the 

 highest possible finish to any design, be it large or small. How 

 very rarely it is that justice is done to the beautiful colours o! 

 the fine-foliaged Pelargoniums ; even our old favourite Mrs. 

 Pollock is oftener seen with the flower trusses left on than not, 

 and thus the work of the cross-breeder, whose aim was evidently 

 to produce beautiful foliage, is altogether forgotten or ignored. 

 The Golden Tricolors and many of the white-variegated Pelar- 

 goniums form most effective masses or ribbon lines with their 

 foliage alone, serving admirably to divide other kinds whose 

 chief beauty is in their flowers ; so that those persons who 

 disregard this most valuable property, and suffer all kinds and 

 classes to flower indiscriminately, can hardly be aware of what 

 they lose by overlooking the rich and varied beauty of the leaf 

 tints, the introduction of which can in nowise affect the utility 

 of those kinds grown for the beauty of their flowers. 



To illustrate my meaning I will take a very common and very 

 beautiful ribbon border of four rows— the first of Cerastium, 

 pearly grey ; the second of Lobelia Trentham Blue, deep blue ; 

 the third of Pelargonium Crystal Palace Gem, rich yellow; 

 and the fourth Coleus Verschaffelti, deep rich crimson. Here 

 are three out of the four kinds of plants used imparting the 

 colour required by their foliage alone ; therefore if Crystal 

 Palace Gem is suffered to bloom, its flowers would quite spoil 

 the effect. Or, supposing we want an arrangement which shall 

 be so quiet in tone as to neutralise, or rather subdue, the effect 

 of bold masses of colour on each side of it, we will take that 

 beautiful silver-variegated Pelargonium Miss Kingsbury for our 

 centre, surrounding it with a broad band of Purple King Ver- 

 bena, and with an equally broad band or border of Manglesii 

 Pelargonium ; the flowers being kept picked off both Manglesii 

 and Miss Kingsbury, such a bed in such a position is most tell- 

 ing. Then, again, how charming is the effect of a compact mass 

 of the silver-variegated foliage of Perfection when seen in all its 

 purity next such a deep pink kind as Maid of Kent ! but if, 

 when so placed, Perfection is suffered to produce its bold scarlet 

 flowers, an air of vulgarity prevails, and the chaste and refined 

 beauty of its foliage is altogether lost. 



Our object, then, in arranging the colours in a group of beds 

 should be to produce an effect of purity and brightness, devoid 

 of gandiness on the one hand or insipidity on the other ; for 

 it should not be forgotten that it is an easy matter to use too 

 much of such plants as Centanrea, or even of Cerastium, as 

 well as of those possessing brighter colours. — Edward Luck- 

 HUBST, Old Lands, Buxted, Sussex. 



FITZROYA PATAGONICA. 



Seeing that Mr. Eecord has failed after four years' trial, 

 both in light and heavy soils, in procuring anything like a 

 specimen of this Conifer, I will state a few particulars as to 

 the tree now growing here. It has attained the height of 

 9 feet G inches, and is 4 feet 4 inches through. These dimen- 

 sions show that the style of growth is entirely different from 

 that of Mr. Record's plant. Where the tree is growing the 

 soil is light and rubbly. No special care was taken in planting 

 the tree, further than taking off the turf and making the hole 

 large enough to contain the roots, which were spread out care- 

 fully, so that they might be equally extended on all sides ; then 

 the soil was filled in and trodden down carefully and firmly, so 

 that the wind would have little chance of loosening it at the 

 neck, an occurrence which is most injurious to any tree. 



