July 5, 1877. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE! AND OOTTAGK GARDENER. 



15 



by Mr. Smith, gardener to A. Cooper, Esq., Twickenham, who 

 waa awarded the first prize. Mr. Morrell, gardener to J. S. 

 Butter, Esq., Twickenham, was placed second, and Mr. Attrill 

 third. Caladiams were excellently shown; of the five competi- 

 tors Mr. Morrell was placed first, Mr. Bowell second, and Mr. 

 Marlow, gardener to J. Wigan, Esq., third. The prizes for Be- 

 gonias went respectively to Mr. Sallow, gardener to J. Elack, 

 Esq., Esq., Hampton Road ; Mr. Wells, and Mr. East. 



Pelargoniums, both show and fancy varieties, were well shown 

 by Mr. James and Messrs. Dobson & Sons, the first prize in each 

 case going to Mr. James and the second to Messrs. Dobson. 

 Scarlet, zonal, bronze, and tricolor GeraniumB were also very 

 well shown; Messrs. Crafter, Sallow, Wells, Tipping, Smith, and 

 Attrill carrying off the honours. Mr. James was the only ex- 

 hibitor of six Lilies, and was awarded the first prize. Gloxinias 

 came from Mr. Morrell, Mr. Crafter, and Mr. Smith, who were 

 placed first, second, and third respectively. Coleuses were staged 

 in large numbers, but th3y had such a weedy look about them 

 when surrounded with other fine-foliaged plants that it would 

 be well to exclude them from the schedule in future. Fuchsias 

 were very well exhibited in the class for nine distinct varieties 

 by Mr. James and Mr. Wells, and in the sixes by Mr. Crafter 

 and Mr. Attrill. 



Eor six stove and greenhouse plants in the Society's district 

 there was a very fair lot, Mr. Crafter being placed first, Mr. 

 Attrill second, and Mr. Goodman, gardener to T. Neshitt, Esq., 

 Twickenham, third; and for the single specimen plant in 

 flower Mr. W. Bates was placed first for a very &oe and well- 

 bloomed Stephanotis floribunda, the second prize going to Mr. 

 Attrill for Rhynchospermum jasminoides, and third to Mr. 

 Morrell for Stephanotis floribunda. 



Dinner-table decorations were not very superior. The best 

 three vases of natural flowers and foliage (open) came from Mr. 

 W. Brown, Richmond, followed by Mr. Kiughorn and Messrs. 

 Dobson & Sons. In the corresponding class for amateurs only, 

 Mrs. A. Chancellor, The Retreat, Richmond, was placed first; 

 Mrs. Moran, St. Margaret's, second ; and Miss Augusta M. Warde 

 third. For a single stand Miss Isabella Warde, Mrs. A. Chan- 

 cellor, and Miss Blanche Lockwood received the awards in the 

 order named. Bouquets came from Mr. Brown, Messrs. Dobson 

 and Soub, and Mr. Kinghorn, who were placed first, second, and 

 third respectively. Button-hole bouquets were very pretty, and 

 Miss L. Gossett, Mortlake, was placed first; Miss Headley, 

 PeterBbam, second ; and Miss J. Warde third. 



Vegetables. — There was a very fair Bhow of these. The 

 special prize cup offered by Messrs. James Carter & Co., valued 

 five guineas, was won by Mr. Crafter, gardener to the Rev. W. 

 Einch, Kingston Hill; and a good collection of ten sorts came 

 from Mr. Wagstaff, gardener to T. H. Elam, Esq., Firstleigh, 

 Isleworth. There were several cottagers' productions, but for 

 a district like Richmond they ought to have been seen in larger 

 numbers. Their productions on the whole were very creditable. 



Extra prizes were awarded to Messrs. Veitch & Sons for a 

 collection of new and rare plants, Roses, &c. ; to Messrs. Rollis- 

 son, Oabora, Dean, and Herbst for miscellaneous collections; 

 and a certificate was awarded to Messrs. Paul & Son for Rose 

 Duke of Teck, a deeper-petalled Duke of Edinburgh. 



RICHARDIA /ETHIOPICA AS A HARDY 

 AQUATIC PLANT. 



Few plants have become more popular during recent years 

 than this " Trumpet Lily" of the Cape, as it is popularly but 

 erroneously called. It is not a Lily at all, but an Aroid. It 

 ia better known by the name of Calla or Arum Plant than 

 Richardia. Callas, however, belong to the natural order of 

 Arontiaceffi. 



The true name of the plant is Richardia. It was introduced 

 from the Cape of Good Hope in 1731, and was named after 

 L. C. Richard, a French botanist. It is a greenhouse herb- 

 aceous perennial, and is increased by suckers or division of 

 tho plant in spring. For a length of time the Richardia was 

 grown entirely in the greenhouse, occasionally having a place 

 in a tank or cistern, where it grew luxuriantly and by chance 

 flowered. It is only during recent years that a systematic 

 mode of culture has been adopted, and plants have been 

 produced which flower with certainty even in a very small 

 state, thousands being annually sold in the London market in 

 5 or 6-inch pots, each plant having one or more distinct 

 spathes or flowers. At one time it was considered necessary to 

 grow the plants under glass, keeping them dry in the autumn 

 to induce their flowering, but a simpler and easier mode of 

 culture now prevails. 



After the danger from frost has passed the Richardias are 

 divided and planted in manured trenches in the open ground. 

 They are supplied with water during the summer, and in the 

 autumn are potted. They do not make luxuriant growth 



during the hot months of summer, but are sturdy and produce 

 small stout leaves. Like Celery they grow the moat rapidly 

 when heavy autumn dews prevail. They are potted before the 

 frost injures them, and are placed in light houses. They are 

 introduced into gentle heat as required, and commence flower- 

 ing at Christmas, and continue throughout__the}°winter and 

 spring months, and during that period they are very valuable 

 for many decorative purposes. 



But while Richardias are valuable for£conservatory'and room 

 decoration they are amenable to another — a simpler, easier, 

 but not less effective mode of culture, which cannot fail to 

 render them additionally popular. I allude'to'them^as hardy 

 aquatic plants. For the beautifying of ornamenfal water, 

 ponds, &c, in pleasure grounds, a "great feature" is antici- 

 pated for Richardias. They have not yet been largely employed 

 for the purpose named, but that they are well adapted^for it a 

 pond almost full of them in Mr. Seely's grounds at Furzedown 

 testifies. Mr. Laing, the gardener, saw them thus growing in 

 Ireland, and concluded that the bottom of a pond in Ireland 

 was not warmer than the bottom of a pond in England, hence 

 he attached weights to the roots of some plants and threw 

 them into the pond to " take their chance." It was a lucky 

 throw, for they grew and have continued growing and flower- 

 ing for six years. The clumps have from Bix to twelve flowers 

 on them. The foliage is about a foot above the surface of the 

 water, and the flowers are a foot or more above the foliage. 

 They are very pure, stout in texture, and produce a beautiful 

 effect. 



Mr. Rogers, the able Superintendent at Battersea Park, who 

 is always well in the van of floral embellishment, has the 

 Richardia growing and flowering in one of the miniature lakes 

 there, and it is greatly and deservedly admired by visitors. 



There can be little if any doubt that the Richardia will grow 

 and flower in any sheltered pondin'EDgland (except perhaps in 

 the northern districts, and is worthy of being tried even there), 

 provided the water is not less than a foot in depth, so as to 

 preserve the crown of the plant from frost, and provided also 

 the water is not too deep ; but what the maximum depth is 



1 am unable to Bay. At Furzedown the plants are established 

 from 1 to, I think, 2 and 3 feet deep. 



Throw the plants into ponds now, affixing the roots in the 

 mud, having the principal leaves above the surfaoe of the 

 water and await the results. — J. W. 



[We shall be glad if the experiment suggested can be tried 

 in various parts of the country, and to be acquainted with the 

 results. — Eds.] 



VITALITY OP SEEDS. 

 " Some thirty years or more ago my gardener raised about 



2 square yards of sods near the road in the park, not far from the 

 small ruin ; the ground was left red — not sown with grass seeds. 

 A very thick crop of Hyoscyamus niger sprung up. They were 

 cut down when the seeds were formed, and were given to one 

 of the apothecaries of the town. Since then they have not 

 reappeared anywhere until the present year, when I find three 

 plants in full flower near the park road, opposite to the first 

 quarry, where you can see them among some Nettles. Hyoscya- 

 mus is a common plant in England, but is certainly very rare 

 in this district ; in fact, I do not think that I have ever seen a 

 plant of it growing wild with us. The new plants are at about 

 300 yards distance from the old crop. As the deer will not 

 touch them, there could have been no growth of Hyoscyamus 

 plants duriDg the period I have mentioned. — N." 



I have offered the only solution which appears to me pro- 

 bable, if possible — viz., that the seeds of H. niger lay dormant 

 there for perhaps centuries, until the removal of the sods 

 allowed them to vegetate, bringing them within reach of solar 

 and other influences. The castle — a fine old ruin, which had 

 some hard knocks in Oliver Cromwell's time — most likely had 

 its herbarium " garden of herbs," for medicinal as well as 

 culinary uses, and Hyoscyamus niger may have flourished 

 there in the collection ; as our poet says — 



"Where once a garden smiled, 

 There Btill may many a garden flower grow wild." 



But would such seeds retain vitality for so many years ? The 

 park has been under pasture longer than any one can remem- 

 ber, and the present proprietor is over seventy-five years of 

 age.— H. N. 0., Mallow. 



[Your suggestion we think is correct. Many seeds if kept 



quite dormant will vegetate after the lapse of many years. It 



^ is chiefly the want of a due supply of oxygen that forbids seeds 



