November 28, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



421 



and finely-formed flowers freely. The plants of this and the 

 preceding variety were uniform in size with Alfred Colomb. 



Madame Victor Verdier is one of those fine Roses which 

 at once attract; it has a compact habit of growth, and its 

 abundant flowers have a very rich effect; the opening buds, 

 too, are very lovely. The plants of this kind were good in 

 every instance. 



Due de Cazes. — Two feet in diameter, and 4 feet high ; this 

 good old dark kind flowers freely, and its graceful growth is 

 not too much crowded. 



Louise Darzens. — Some pretty plants, each a mass of pure 

 white flowers. 



Mdllc. Bonnaire.—A charming variety, very robust, with 

 fine clusters of blush-white flowers. 



Annie Wood. — Fine vigorous plants of a yard high, and 

 2 feet in diameter at the base. Its brilliant-coloured flowers 

 are particularly attractive when partly expanded. 



Xavier Olibo. — A charming little plant, about 2 feet high, 

 covered with rich glowing crimson flowers. 



Devienne-Lamy. — Of a good habit of growth, and producing 

 fine full flowers. 



Reine du Midi. — A very fine kind, forming robust well- 

 shaped plants. 



Prince Camille de Rohan. — Pretty compact bushes, very 

 effective with its rich crimson flowers. 



Of other varieties worthy of special note there were Beauty 

 of Waltham, Louisa Wood, Henri Ledechaux with its ex- 

 quisite flower-buds, Soeur des Anges, Elizabeth Vigneron, 

 Antoine Ducher, and Madame Alice Dureau. 



It is singular that in the selection of Roses and the frequent 

 papers on Rose culture, so little attention is given to anything 

 but the production of flowers suitable for the exhibition table, 

 the great beauty of the foliage and opening buds being ap- 

 parently lost sight of. Far less surprising is the little value 

 attached to a compact habit of growth, for so long as those 

 anomalies of our garden — standard Roses, find favour among 

 Rose-growers, it is impossible that symmetry of form in the 

 growth can be cared for. 



The chief objection to the formation of an extensive Rose 

 garden — that is to say, a garden or design containing nothing 

 but Roses, is the tame and somewhat forlorn appearance of 

 the Rose trees in winter. Carefully-trained conical bushes 

 such as I have described are not uninteresting objects even 

 then ; but it must be granted that the eye, missing the gracious 

 freshness and beauty that have departed with the winds of 

 autumn, turns to evergreen shrubs for the gratification vainly 

 sought for among the Roses. On this account it would appear 

 desirable to disperse the Rose beds among others containing 

 Rhododendrons and Hollies, with occasional specimens of 

 choice Conifers springing from the turf singly or in groups. 

 Then, even when the Roses are in their summer beauty, the 

 shrubs would form an excellent foil to the flowers, and impart 

 an air of repose to the bright scene. In winter, again, the 

 monotonous aspect of bare branches would be lost sight of in 

 the pleasing aspect of the graceful forms by which they are 

 surrounded. The Rose beds should be small enough for every 

 bush to be inspected from the sides ; no form can be better 

 for such a purpose than a circle sufficiently large to contain 

 two rows of plants, with a large specimen of some well-known 

 kind in the centre. — Edwakd Luckhtjkst. 



SPOT ON GEEANIUM LEAVES. 

 The leaves sent by " J. S. E." and others are suffering from 

 " spot," as gardeners call it — a kind of mildew, which appears 

 as brown and yellow rings through the leaves, and arises 

 from one of two causes — cither from the roots being too dry, 

 or, which is more generally the case with plants in greenhouses 

 at this time of the year, from want of sufficient heat and air ; 

 in other words, the houses are kept too close and damp. 

 Often, by way of remedying the disease, the plants are not 

 watered, which tends to make the disease worse, as a proper 

 balance is not kept up between the action of the roots and the 

 leaves. Plants this year are more than ever liable to the 

 disease, owing to the amount of moisture in the air and a 

 corresponding want of sun, and those plants which have been 

 kept out of doors in pots have had a more than ordinary 

 amount of rainfall ; the consequence is the leaves are full of 

 sap, the shoots not matured by the sun, and any check the 

 plants experience on being put into their winter quarters is 

 liable to produce the spot, which begins by a small fungus on 

 the pores of the leaves. The remedy is to give more heat, 



dust the plants with sulphur, and keep up sufficient root- 

 action, giving the plants at the same time all the light possible, 

 with good ventilation. By ventilation we do not mean cold 

 draughts of air, but sufficient warm air to encourage healthy 

 action both in the leaves and roots. It is very strange that 

 black mildew, which so often attacks Rose leaves in dry 

 weather, often results from the same cause, the proper balance 

 between the action of the roots and leaves not being kept up. 

 — C. P. P. 



CHRISTMAS EOSE (HELLEBORUS NIGEE) 

 CULTURE. 



This is one of the best of the genus Helleborus, which con- 

 tains several species, two of which are to be found growing 

 wild in many parts of England. There appear, however, to 

 be some doubts whether these were not at an earlier period 

 introduced from other parts. 



H. fcetidus (Bear's Foot), from its ornamental character, 

 sometimes finds a place in the foreground of shrubberies ; it 

 differs from H. niger in its inflorescence consisting of numerous 

 flowers in a large loosely-spreading panicle, while the flowers 

 of the latter are either solitary or in pairs ; also from H. viridis 

 (the Green Hellebore), the flowers of which are smaller, and 

 of less beauty. 



The Christmas Rose is an Austrian species, and was intro- 

 duced in the year 1596 ; so that it is a somewhat old occupant 

 of our gardens. 



From the fact of some plants being of old introduction they 

 are frequently neglected, but the Christmas Rose is generally 

 cherished ; still there are many who do not bestow on the 

 flowers the little protection which they ought to have at this 

 time of the year. Theyjare extremely useful for cutting, but 

 when exposed to all weathers at this season they are soon 

 rendered unfit for the purpose. Some spare bell-glasses, even 

 if only large enough to cover the crowns, leaving the foliage 

 outside will suffice, removing them during the day on all 

 favour-able occasions. This is probably the best plan of pro- 

 tecting, for, besides keeping the blooms clean, it will greatly 

 prolong the season of flowering. 



For the last two or three winters I have seen about a score 

 of plants (which are growing in a narrow border by the side of 

 an Orchid house) , treated in this manner yielding an abund- 

 ance of flowers, which are highly prized when other and more 

 choice flowers are scarce. Those who have not bell-glasses at 

 hand may use two pieces of thin board, slate, or tiles, placing 

 one against the other in a slanting direction, thus A, so as to 

 shelter them from heavy rains. — C. J. White. 



JOTTINGS ON THIS TEAR'S GARDENING. -No. 5. 



The present has' been a most disastrous season for fruit. 

 Severe frosts in March, accompanied by snow, also in April, 

 and repeated in May, have resulted in the fruit crop of 

 this district being a failure. The year has been characterised by 

 frosts in spring and early summer, which told with dreadful 

 effect after the mild winter and early part of spring. The wet 

 summer and autumn were conducive to growth rather than the 

 ripening of the wood, so that bad as the present year's fruit 

 crop has been, the prospect of that of the next season cannot 

 be looked upon as promising. 



The disasters of the fruit crop began with bullfinches 

 clearing the Plums of every fruit-bud. The Plum trees bristled 

 with buds ; the bullfinches and linnets took all, except those of 

 a tree on a west wall, which gave a few fruit. It is the Prince of 

 Wales. Our other trees on walls are only two years planted, so 

 that it could not be expected they would fruit. I may say the 

 Plum crop is a failure in this neighbourhood. 



Apricots and Peaches none. Our trees are young, those 

 having older trees have not had fruit. 



Pears had plenty of blossom. The only kinds that have pro- 

 duced fruit are Jargonelle, Doyenne d'Ete, Williams's Bon 

 Chretien, Beurre Diel, Comte de Lamy, Zephirin Gregoire, 

 and Bergamotte Esperen, and the only trees of these equal to 

 a crop were the last-named three. 



Against walls the only kinds that fruited were Beurre 

 d'Amanlis, Beurre Superfin, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Beurr6 

 Diel, General Todtleben, Van Mons Leon le Clerc, and Alex- 

 andre Bivort. 



Apples, though latest of fruits in blossoming, did not escape 

 frost. The kinds that have borne a full crop are Warner's 

 King, Bedfordshire Foundling, Norfolk Bearer, and Northern 



