April 15, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



J 73 



plant, and the most distinct, if not the rarest, variety of 



Leelia anceps in existence, and a marked contrast with the 



ordinary form. _ . „ ,. 



Kew. R. A. Rolfe. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



Snowdrops. — At a late meeting of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society these plants were the subject of three papers, prepared 

 by Mr. F. VV. Burbidge, Mr. Allen and Mr. Melville respectively. 

 Mr. Burbidge's paper was historical and botanical, the other 

 two dealing chiefly with the horticultural aspects of the genus. 

 Of course, the accepted botany of the Snowdrop, as indeed of 

 all Amaryllidaceous genera, is that of Mr. Baker, of Kew, who 

 describes six species of Galanthus in his book, viz. : G. nivalis, 

 G. Grcecus, G. Elivesii, G. latifolius, G. Olga and G. plicatus. 

 To those must be added the newly described G. Fosteri and 

 G. Alleni. The commonest, and, taken altogether, the best of 

 all these, is G. nivalis, which is wild in the meadows and 



Fig. 31. — Lselia anceps, var. holochila, Rolfe. — See page 172 



copses of England, and may be established almost anywhere. 

 It varies somewhat in the size, form and marking of its 

 flowers, a considerable number of varieties having distinctive 

 names, such as reflexus, lutescens, poculiformis, octobrensis, 

 Imperati, Redouts, etc. I confess to being somewhat blind 

 to the distinctive characters of many of these varieties. Plant 

 them all side by side, and they present no difference to the 

 ordinary eye. 



Mr. Allen, who is the first authority on garden Snowdrops, 

 considers G. plicatus maximus the best of all. The type is a 

 native of the Crimea, whence it was introduced into England 

 at the time of the Crimean war. The variety originated, I 

 believe, in Mr. Allen's garden. It flowers later than the 

 •common Snowdrop, and has larger flowers. Of G. Elwesii, 

 Mr. Allen has not so good an opinion as other growers have. 

 It certainly is a bad species to cultivate, dying out if planted in 

 ordinary beds, or deteriorating so much as to be inferior in 

 size to the common kind. At its best it is a handsome Snow- 

 drop, the flowers being large, globose, and of the purest white. 

 G. latifolius has larger leaves and smaller flowers than G. 

 nivalis. The new G. Fosteri has disappointed many who had 



been led to believe that it was larger in flower, more elegant 

 in form, and in other respects superior to all other Snowdrops. 

 At Kew it has not even equaled some of the forms of G. 

 nivalis. Its fragrance was scarcely perceptible. Possibly it 

 may improve after it has become established, though, as a 

 rule, Snowdrops are better the first year after importation than 

 afterward. G. Fosteri is named in compliment to the eminent 

 English physiologist, Dr. Michael Foster, who introduced this 

 species from central Asia Minor. G. Alleni has been de- 

 scribed as " the finest of all Snowdrops." Mr. Allen says it is 

 "nearer to G. latifolius than to G. Caucasicus, but the foliage 

 is different in color, and the whole plant is much larger. It 

 grows very robustly and flowers very freely. It is one of the 

 most distinct Snowdrops I have, and my friends to whom I 

 have sent roots speak very highly of it." " Mr. Allen interests 

 himself in the crossing of the different species of Galanthus 

 with each other, and although, as I have already said, we have 

 nothing better than the true "Flower of our Lady," the com- 

 mon G. nivalis, better may yet be obtained. It is stated that 

 Herr Max Leichtlin knows of a pink Snowdrop in Armenia 

 which he will no doubt obtain, if any one can. Let us hope 

 that it is a better pink color than the so- 

 called yellow Snowdrop is a yellow. Ru- 

 mor has it that in a certain cottage gar- 

 den in England there is "a colony of 

 Snowdrops with bright yellow flowers ! " 

 Possibly these wonders belong to the 

 same category as the Blue Chrysanthe- 

 mum and Crimson Daffodil. 



Mr. Melville's paper was full of practi- 

 cal hints, and the photograph exhibited 

 by him of a wood carpeted with Snow- 

 drops at Dunrobin Castle showed how 

 effective these plants are when planted in 

 grass under trees. It is not every garden 

 that suits Snowdrops, but where the soil 

 proves suitable they ought to be planted 

 under trees on lawns, and in all such 

 places as would be beautiful if studded 

 with the pretty flowers of the first herald 

 of spring. By the way, I may note that, 

 instead of February, March has been the 

 Snowdrop's month in England this vear. 



Max Leichtlin on Hardy Plants. — 

 The renowned "horticulturist of Baden- 

 Baden does not often express himself at 

 any length on the cultivation of plants. 

 The announcement of a paper by him, 

 to be read at the last meeting of the Roval 

 Horticultural Society, was therefore suffi- 

 cient to attract many of those who take a 

 special interest in that class of plants with 

 which Herr Max Leichtlin has always been 

 prominently identified, namely, hardy her- 

 baceous and alpine plants. The paper 

 consisted of concise practical observa- 

 tions on the behavior and peculiar re- 

 quirements under cultivation of hardy 

 bulbs, plants, primulas, and the choicer 

 alpines. The writer recorded his own 

 experiences and views derived Irom them. 

 Of course he would admit that many cul- 

 tivators of hardy plants meet with suc- 

 cess by following other methods, often 

 very different methods too, from those 

 which prove suitable at Baden-Baden. There are fifty roads 

 to town, and often as many to success in the cultivation of 

 any given plant. Any one who reads the cultural directions 

 of trustworthy practitioners will have noted this fact. 



Max Leichtlin begins by stating that to imitate the natural 

 conditions in the growth of hardy plants is the first step to 

 success. To this the obvious reply is, that it all depends on 

 what the natural conditions are, and the cultivator's resources. 

 He does not believe in the possibility of acclimatization for 

 plants, although many people still have faith in it. That 

 many plants prove hardier when under cultivation than they 

 appear to be in a state of nature only proves their elasticity. 

 An example of how easily one may be deceived by the be- 

 havior of plants was seen here lately, in the effects of frost 

 on some seedlings of Clematis Stanleyi. The seeds had all 

 been obtained from south Africa. About fifty of the seedlings 

 were planted, last summer, on a south border at Kew, where 

 they grew well and flowered, nothwithstanding the unfavor- 

 able weather here last summer. The first severe frost killed 

 the leaves of all the plants except three, which remained un- 

 injured ; nor were these three hurt by the cold which killed 



