September 23, 1S91.] 



Garden and Forest. 



45 1 



such- a strong grower, and produces pitchers so freely, 

 that it is' decidedly one of the best. 



Coming to Kew, one finds some remarkable plants in 

 flower, perhaps none more interesting to the general pub- 

 lic than the Wedding Flower of Lord Howe's Island. Iris 

 Robinsoniana, which has flowered for the first time at 

 Kew, has been illustrated in the daily papers, and has been 

 inquired for by visitors more than any other plant during 

 the past month. It is certainly a noble plant, producing a 

 huge tuft of long, reflexed leaves and flower-branched 

 spikes, five or six feet in height, on which numerous 

 flowers expand in quick succession day after day. The 

 blossoms resemble those of Iris Kcempferi, but are smaller ; 

 they are pure white, with blotches of clear yellow at the 

 bases of the petals. I Robinsoniana has been described 

 and figured in Garden- and Forest, vol. iv., p. 355. 



believe, not in commerce yet, but when it is readily attain- 

 able it will be sought for as a choice stove climber. A 

 more modest climber, but very pretty, is S. Sea/or/hianum, 

 which is a less vigorous plant, and bears much smaller 

 flowers in drooping clusters. This is also in flower in the 

 stoves at Kew. 



Kew. 



W. Goldring. 



The Bermuda Onion. 



THE island of Bermuda, where the Onion, Potato, Tomato 

 and other garden vegetables make their most vigor- 

 ous growth from December to May, lies seven hundred miles 

 due south-east from New York, and eight hundred miles due 

 east from Charleston, South Carolina. The temperature from 

 November to June ranges from fifty to seventy-five degrees, 

 never higher, never lower, with never a greater monthly range 

 of temperature than twenty-three degrees, or a greater daily 



Fig. 72. — Harvesting Onions in Bermuda. 



The "Wedding Flower" absorbs more interest at Kew 

 ihan the grand climber, Solandra grandiflora, which is in 

 flower close by. This, though an old plant from South 

 America, is rarely seen in bloom. It has very large tubu- 

 lar, or rather funnel-shaped, flowers of a creamy white, 

 stained with purple, inside the tube. It is a rampant 

 climber, but may be grown and flowered in small pots, as 

 Mr. Parker used to do, in his nursery at Tooting, in the old 

 days. 



Another climber I must mention as being a great at- 

 traction at Kew just now, and, indeed, has been through- 

 out the summer. This is Solarium Wendlandii (see Garden 

 and Forest, vol. iv., p. 258), a tropical American species, 

 and, I consider, the finest of the cultivated species. It has 

 huge clusters of rich, mauve-purple flowers, two inches 

 across, which are produced abundantly and hang from the 

 long rambling shoots in a most graceful way. It is, I 



range than fourteen degrees. It is in such a climate as this 

 that the Onion grows with that mild and delicate flavor which 

 gives the Bermuda product a special value on account of 

 quality apart from the advantage it has of coming at an un- 

 usual season. 



The seed (black seed) of this Onion is all grown in Teneriffe 

 Island, and is of two kinds, one producing white bulbs, and 

 the other red bulbs. The white variety matures from two to 

 three weeks earlier than the red, but is not quite as sweet. No 

 other seed seems to be worth planting in this climate. I have 

 tried many kinds from all parts of the world — black seed, tops, 

 buttons, potato onions, and many more, with the invariable 

 result of a fine crop of "scullion" ; they absolutely refuse to 

 " bottom," while with the black seed Teneriffe nine out of ten 

 will make fine bottoms. 



The seed is very thickly sown in rows eight inches apart in 

 seed-beds three feet wide, these beds being prepared with the 

 most scrupulous care and enriched with enormous quantities 

 of well-rotted cow or pig manure. The failure of these seed- 



