302 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



and short in the stem, its place is in the rock- 

 garden. 



Mignonette. — A neat rock-plant of dwarf 

 habit and small flowers of pale sky-blue ; dis- 

 tinct and hardy. 



Nana compacta. — Anotherd warf kind, very 

 sweet, and without runners ; free in spring and 

 autumn with flowers of bright violet-blue. 



Odor at a rubra. — The pink form of thecom- 

 mon Violet, with small flowers, sweet, and free; 

 pretty in the rock garden. A distinct form is 

 now offered under the name of Per/e rose, with 

 flowers of a brighter silvery pink. 



Princess Beatrice. — Another variety raised 

 at Hyeres, the great southern centre of Violet 

 culture. It is a good plant of sturdy habit, with 

 neat flowers of rounded outline and pure violet 

 colour ; smaller and less vigorous than the large 

 pale blue flowers. It is much grown under glass 

 in winter for the northern markets. 



Princess of Wales. — The largest of all, with 

 broad petals set close and forming a massive 

 flower often nearly 2 inches across, fragrant, 

 vigorous, and with a wiry stem of great length. 

 Its loose habit and light blue colour are some- 

 times criticised, but, especially in warm light 

 soils, it is very fine and has a cheerful gleam as 

 of sunshine on the dullest of days. On cold soils 

 it is rampant and not so good in flower, while 

 its big growth is exposed to injuryinkeen frost 

 or wind; in bleak districts it is best under glass. 

 Where conditions are in its favour (as on the 

 Riviera, where it is grown in vast quantities) 

 it is the finest of all, very effective in broad 

 masses, and most useful in its length of stem for 

 bunching and decoration. 



R. Augustine. — A new kind of the perpe- 

 tual class, a plant of small growth with flowers 

 of an intense black violet. Its only value is as a 

 rock plant distinct in its deep colour. 



St. Helena. — A small hardy kind with 

 flowers of a pale and rather undecided blue 

 colour; best in the rock-garden. 



St. Anne's Pink. — A dwarf variety claiming 

 to be the truest red in cultivation ; rock garden. 



Semprez. — An old free-flowered kind, still 

 considered one of the best for winter forcing 

 by the Parisian growers. 



Souvenir de Millet pere. — The oldest large- 

 flowered kind, still much grown under glass in 

 France for its fragrance and freedom in winter. 



Victoria. — An old sort of neat growth and 



intense colour, still widely grown as being con- 

 stant, and useful for its freedom and lateness in 

 flower. In the south of Franceit is seen massed 

 with fine effect in late spring. 



Wellsiana. — A plant of neat habit and re- 

 gular growth, with large flattish flowers of a 

 fine deep blue, of good substance, coming early 

 into bloom and very persistent. The flowers are 

 well shown, but the stems are shorter than in 

 the new kinds. 



Wilson. — An old kind raised in Algeriaand 

 at one time widely grown for its earliness and 

 freedom in flowers of a pale mauve colour upon 

 long stalks. It is now in a great measure super- 

 seded. There is also a variety with variegated 

 leaves called Armardine Millet, used in France 

 for bedding, but of little real merit. 



Light Flowers. — The choice of single 

 white flowers is small, comprising a few pale 

 forms of feeble rendering. The two best are 

 White Czar and Rawsons White, with fair sized 

 blooms, sweet, well carried, and pretty in con- 

 trast with the dark kinds, but their growth is 

 feeble as compared with the best of these. An 

 Italian seedling with pale striped flowers is 

 Princesse de Sumonte, showing a blend of white 

 and light blue shading to mauve; it has gained 

 some notice abroad, but is of small value as 

 seen in this country. 



Double Flowers. — Nor is the choice of 

 double-flowered kinds much larger when the 

 Parma Violets and the minor unnamed kinds 

 are left out of account. For early bloom these 

 must be grown under glass, for with bad 

 weather they are uncertain and poor. The 

 following sometimes do well in late spring 

 when frame-grown flowers are past : Blanche 

 de Chevreuse is a late sort with full flowers of 

 white, flushed with pink when old ; Belle de 

 Chatenay, also late, with larger flowers of faint 

 blue and white. A kind bearing as name Blue 

 and White shows a more marked blending of 

 these colours. Blandyana is a combination of 



t deep violet, white and pink. The best dark 

 doubles are King of Violets and Carter s Maza- 



1 rine Blue ; Bertha Barron of a lighter shade, as 



\ is also Patrie, a very full flower, of great frag- 

 rance and freedom. The double form of Vic- 



\ toria is sometimes grown, and at its best is fine, 

 with large flowers of good colour ; it is, how- 

 ever, so late that its season is brief and its stalks 

 too short to make it of much use. B. 



