244 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 434. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



Notes from the Temple Show. 



THE chief event of the week has been the great annual 

 exhibition of the Royal Horticultural Society held in 

 the historic gardens of the Temple, within the boundaries 

 of the City of London. Here in these Temple gardens, four 

 centuries ago, grew the famous white and red Roses, the 

 badges of the rival houses of York and Lancaster, where 

 now there is only friendly rivalry among rosarians in dis- 

 playing the perfect charms of the descendants of these his- 

 toric Roses. 



The gardens are an ideal spot for a large show, but much 

 too small for such a prodigious gathering as this, and, 

 besides, there is no opportunity of making a really effective 

 display with splendid material such as one sees in Paris and 

 Belgium, where the arrangement of exhibits is considered 

 of primary importance. The most brilliant groups of plants 

 become monotonous and insipid if arranged in a flat way 

 unrelieved by foliage, and the true way to arrange a show 

 is to combine as much as possible the color and the greenery 

 in pleasing harmony. This cannot be done well unless the 

 exhibition surface is diversified, as in the permanent show- 

 ground in the Regents Park, where at various places there 

 are raised points from which visitors can obtain a survey 

 of the whole display. This exhibition clearly showed the 

 gradual change that is coming over flower-shows in this 

 country compared with those of a few years ago. Huge 

 pot-plants, laboriously trained and formal in the extreme, 

 have almost disappeared, and their places are taken by 

 more easily grown plants and groups of a miscellaneous 

 description. Prominence is now given to the popular 

 classes of plants, and particularly to Roses, Carnations and 

 hardy perennial flowers, and where a few years ago ten 

 kinds of hardy flowers were shown there are a hundred 

 now. Plantsmen of the old school lament this change, but 

 there is no doubt that popularizing easily grown and beau- 

 tiful plants has done permanent good to horticulture. 

 There was, however, in this huge exhibition a conspicuous 

 dearth of real novelty both in new plants and flowers and 

 in arrangement. 



Among the Orchids, which, perhaps, occupied more 

 space than any other class, were several remarkable nov- 

 elties, particularly of forms of Cattleyas and Laelias. 



The certificated varieties were Cattleya Mossiae, C. Bea- 

 trice, C. Arnoldiana and Charles Ingram, all of exquisite 

 beauty, but not easily described, as they resembled each 

 other, differing only by mottle tints. The two forms of 

 Lielia purpurata named Arthur Wigan and Lewisi were 

 extremely fine, the latter having pure white sepals, with 

 lilac-mauve lip. Of C. speciosissima there was a splendid 

 variety named Ernesti, the flowers much above ordinary 

 size, of a lilac-mauve, with lip spotted and blotched with 

 crimson. Messrs. Linden, of Brussels, showed what was 

 the cynosure of the Orchids. This was an exceptionally 

 large-flowered form of Odontoglossum crispum, named 

 angustrum, with the petals heavily blotched with chocolate- 

 red. Messrs. Low showed another similar form, Lowise, 

 and still another named Miss V. Ellis, also with heavily 

 spotted flowers, thirteen on a spike. These were the chief 

 novelties among the collections, but the varieties were 

 numerous. 



New Cannas were plentiful, though only one received an 

 award. This was Madame Pichon, of French origin of 

 course, a plant of good dwarf habit. Flowers large, rich 

 yellow, heavily spotted with vermilion. Of the newer sorts 

 shown the best were Progression, Konigen Charlotte, 

 L. E. Bailey, Edward Meig, Paul Marquant, and a finer 

 half-dozen could not be selected. 



Carnations were in true form and numerous, though, of 

 course, all from under glass. Several varieties were con- 

 sidered worthy of certificates. Two Malmaisons, named 

 Lord Rosebery, deep crimson, very large, and Lady Grim- 

 ston, creamy white, striped with rose, were the best of a 

 lar°;e collection. Of Tree Carnations, the best of the new 



sorts were Cardinal Wolsey, dark apricot, striped with 

 crimson ; Mrs. Hambro, a beautiful pure white ; Mephisto, 

 dark crimson ; Loveliness, pale pink. These new sorts are 

 real acquisitions. 



Roses formed probably the greatest attraction of the 

 show, for, considering the early date, they were splendidly 

 grown, huge specimens trained in a globular way so as to 

 travel without injury. Our Rose growers seem now to 

 have become more successful with early Roses than for- 

 merly. Perhaps they have taken hints from American 

 growers, but certain it is that we get forced Tea Roses in 

 March, April and May that are superior to those grown in 

 the open in July. The now widely known Crimson Ram- 

 bler was shown, forced into bloom, as it will not be in 

 flower outside for a week or more. It is a very showy . 

 Rose, though it does not last long in bloom. A new Rose, 

 quite as fine for the garden and much earlier, is Paul's Car- 

 mine Pillar Rose, a single-flowered variety, of the color of 

 the old General Jacqueminot. 



The pot Roses that seemed particularly fine for forcing 

 were Caroline Testout, Mrs. J. Laing, Duke of York, Ulrich 

 Brunner and Madame de Watteville. There was one new 

 Rose certificated, named Grand Duke A. de Luxembourg, 

 from Messrs. W. Paul — a fine globular flower, pale pink, 

 flushed outside with a deeper tint. 



Foliage plants included a few good novelties, and some 

 of these were certificated. Of Palms there were Phcenix 

 Roebelini, a small-growing Date Palm, with slender recurv- 

 ing leaves, and a fine decorative plant. Calamus ciliaris, 

 an old Palm shown by Messrs. Sander to illustrate how fine 

 it is in a small seedling state for table decoration, a pur- 

 pose to which it is put throughout India. It is a capi- 

 tal Palm for decorative florists, as it is easily raised from 

 seeds and the old plants can thus be replaced. Among 

 the new Ferns, Adiantum lineatum, from Monsieur Lin- 

 den, is likely to prove a useful addition to decorative kinds. 

 It is a dwarf, compact grower, the deep green fronds 

 streaked with silvery pencilings. It reminds one of A. 

 macrophyllum in size and form of fronds. Pteris Boultoni, 

 a form of the variable P. serrulata, is also fine for room 

 decoration. Davallia Truffautiana is an exceptionally dis- 

 tinct species with a tendency to form a stem. It has grace- 

 fully arching fronds and is very handsome. 



Caladiums were among the brightest features in the 

 show, and, although easily grown, they obtained a great 

 deal of admiration from those who appreciate finely grown 

 plants. Among several new kinds certificated were Silver 

 Cloud, silvery white and flushed with pink ; Duchess of 

 Connaught, green and carmine veinings ; Sir Julian Gold- 

 smid, white ground, crimson veins ; Duchess of Teck, 

 greenish white and pale rose — four first-rate sorts. 



Trees and shrubs are rarely shown well at these exhibi- 

 tions, the chief among them being Rhododendrons and 

 Azaleas, though there were no conspicuous novelties among 

 these beyond a good variety of Azalea named Diamond, 

 from Messrs. Veitch. This is distinct from any other sort 

 I know. It has rather small flowers, but an abundance of 

 them, of a soft pink, with crimson blotches. It looks like 

 a cross between A. mollis and a Ghent variety. A. Mon- 

 sieur Desbois was the finest new Mollis variety shown, but 

 it does not eclipse the new Antony Koster for brilliancy of 

 yellow and profusion of flower. A variegated form of 

 Hypericum Moserianum named tricolor was certificated. 

 It is a pretty-leaved sort, but it is doubtful if it will keep its 

 color in the open air. Buddleia Colvillei is a beautiful spe- 

 cies, well shown by Mr. Gumbleton from his warm garden 

 at Cork. It is a beautiful shrub with long graceful panicles 

 of rose-pink flowers. It is, unfortunately, too tender for 

 open-air culture ■ about London, but is quite worthy of 

 greenhouse culture. It is from the Himalayas. 



Among all the hardy flowers there were but two that 

 were conspicuously new. One was Trollius Caucasicus, 

 Orange Globe, a first-rate variety, eclipsing all others in size 

 of flower and habit of growth ; its flowers are two inches 

 across, of a bright orange-yellow, like those of T. Japonicus. 



