192 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDENING. 



reduce the number of "blooms seen at flower-shows ; 

 but the last year or two has seen a decided increase, 

 both in point of numbers and quality. For the in- 

 formation of exhibitors, we may state that, in judg- 

 ing spikes of flowers, the first j)oint noticed is the 

 individual flowers, the perfection of which consists 

 in the petals being thick of substance, the edges 

 smooth and even, the florets occupying the centre 

 full and compact, closely arranged, rising high in 

 the middle, and of globular form, with a stifl guard 

 petal, forming the base of the flower and ex- 

 tending about half an inch or so in proportion 

 to the size of the centre ball ; so that the different 

 parts of the flower present a uniform appearance. 



A few years ago we saw the foregoing varieties 

 finely grown at Mr. W. Chater's Hollyhock nursery, 

 at Saffron Walden ; and we have reason to believe 

 they have all been preserved to the present day. 



The Pansy or Heartsease. — The dear old 

 Heartsease of our gardens is Viola tricolor. Scho- 

 lars inform us that Viola is from the Greek Ion ; 

 Nicander, in his " Geoponics," states that the Gre- 

 cians called it Ion because certain njTuphs of Ionia 

 gave the flower first to Jupiter. Others, however, 

 say that it was called Ion because when Jupiter 

 had turned the young female whom he loved into 

 a cow, the earth brought forth this flower for 



Group of Pansies. 



The arrangement of flowers on the spike needs to be 

 regular, not being crowded together in a confused 

 mass, nor loosely hanging with open spaces between 

 each bloom, but so disposed that the shape of each 

 may be distinctly seen when fully blown, the upper- 

 most covering the top ; and nothing can add more to 

 the beauty of the spike than a few green leaves 

 between the flowers, which give it an elegant and 

 graceful appearance. A further important point is 

 colour ; the brighter, stronger, and more distinct the 

 flowers the better. 



We have reason to fear that several of the fine 

 named Hollyhocks of a few years ago have become 

 lost to cultivation, so we give the names of a few 

 leading varieties subject to this contingency : — 



Alba superba. 

 Alfred Chater. 

 Beauty of "Walden. 

 Bullion. 

 Llegans. 

 Incomparable. 

 Joshua Clarke. 

 Leah. 



Le Grand. 

 Leviathan. 

 Peri. 



Prince Arthur. 

 Supreme. 

 Walden King. 

 Walden Q'lp'en. 

 William Chater. 



her food, w:hich, being made for her sake, received 

 her name. Such is the fabulous account of its 

 name. The Viola tricolor has been known in this 

 country by a variety of names, as Herb Trinity, in 

 allusion to the thi'ee colours frequently contained in 

 one flower; Heartsease, Pansy, Love in Idleness, 

 Call me to you. Call me Sweet, and Three Faces 

 under one Hood. And now why called Heartsease ? 

 It is considered that this term should be accepted 

 as meaning " a cordial," as in Sir Walter Scott's 

 "Antiquary," ch. xi. : " buy a dram to be eliding and 

 claise, and a supper and heartsease into the bar- 

 gain," and given to certain plants supposed to be 

 cardiac ; at present to the Pansy only, but by some 

 authorities to the Wallflower equally. The most 

 probable explanation of the name is this : — There 

 was a medicine " good," as Cotgrave tells us, "for 

 the passions of the heart," and called gariqfile, from 

 the Cloves in it (i. carophylla). The Wallflower 

 also took its name from the Clove, and \A-as called 

 giroflee, from the same Latin word. The cardiac 



