IN THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



SPORTS THINGS NEW AND OLD. 



I FRANKLY confess to a liking for new things 

 in the floral kingdom. If it was true in Solo- 

 mon's time that there was nothing new under 



the sun, it can hardly be true to-day. We 

 read of this, that and the other novelty in flowers, 

 "It originated with Mr. So-and-So." Sometimes 

 the novelty is the result of a sport from some other 

 plant, and is not like the parent, in some respects 

 at least. It was considered a remarkable thing 

 when a double bouvardia originated. It was named 

 Alfred Neuner, from its grower. Not long after 

 there was a sport from this which was pink in 

 color. Now we have three novelties in doubles : 

 Hogarthi, a light scarlet carmine ; flavescens, 

 sent out by its French originator as a yellow — but it 

 can only be called a lemon yellow when in bud and 

 a creamy white in bloom ; and Victor Lemoine, 

 bright scarlet. 



The beautiful Sunset rose is a sport from Perle des 

 Jardines, and differs from it in color. The Bride is a 

 sport from the lovely pink Catherine Mermet, but un- 

 like that, is a pure ivory white. Gloire de Dijon has a 

 combination of shades of amber, carmine and cream. 

 Reine Marie Henrietta, a seedling of Gloire, has bright 

 red flowers, pure cherry red ; while Waltham Climber 

 another seedling, is crimson. Melanie Soupert, also a 

 seedling, is a pure white. We can not tell why these 

 three seedlings from one rose should be so dissimilar. 



Niphetos has long stood in the front rank as a white 

 tea, especially for the beauty of its long pointed buds 

 although it is not a vigorous grower. Now from this 

 rose we have a novelty in the form of a sport, J. T. 

 Blair, named for the popular superintendent of the 

 Pittsburgh, Shenango and Lake Erie railroad, in whose 

 greenhouse it originated. Unlike Niphetos, it is a strong 

 plant. The outside petals are pale yellow, and this color 

 deepens towards the center, which is a rich golden yel- 

 low, suffused with rose. Thomas Meehan, former 

 editor of the Gardener's Monthly, said of it: "The 

 strangest combination of color ever seen in the rose." 

 The fragrance is said to be different from that of any 

 other rose. 



Baroness Rothschild has long been considered a per- 

 fect rose in every respect. The color is a lovely delicate 

 shade of pink. Now we have a sport from it, rightly 

 named White Baroness Rothschild, which possesses all 

 of the fine qualities of its renowned parent, except its 

 color. Both are hardy. Pride of Reigate is a sport 

 from the well-known hybrid perpetual, Countess of 



Oxford, but unlike that, this has flowers spotted and 

 striped with white. 



Another novelty is Vick's Caprice, a sport from Arch- 

 duchess d' Autriche, a hybrid perpetual of a soft satiny 

 pink color, while this has the soft pink ground dis- 

 tinctly striped and dashed with carmine and white. 

 Thus we see that new varieties of roses are originated 

 from sports and seedlings. Many are also obtained 

 from cross-fertilization. It must be very interesting to 

 those who experiment in this way. 



I have had blooming in my garden for a month, begin- 

 ning early in May, a novelty in poppies, said to be a 

 sport from an old-time yellow flowering variety. Seeds 

 were sent me for trial last spring. I sowed them but 

 did not observe any seedlings till this spring, when I 

 saw several plants that were quite new to me. They had 

 round hairy buds. I was delightfully surprised when 

 one unfolded into a large single, orange yellow poppy. 

 The florist who sent the seed said it was thought to be 

 hardy. A hardy yellow poppy, and blooming in May ! 

 Truly it is a novelty worth having. It keeps on devel- 

 oping new buds, and I hope it is a perpetual bloomer. 

 The name of this novelty is " Nudicaule Aurantiacum.'' 

 This spring I found it was catalogued by another florist 

 last year, who sells plants only, at 50 cents each. He 



Fig. I. An Old Topiary Piece. (See page 728. ) 



stated that this new and most showy of the Iceland 

 poppies was awarded a first-class certificate by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, July 15, 1886. He has it 

 named " Nudicaulei Miniatum Improved !" Some of the 

 flowers, apparently from the same roots, are clear yel- 

 low, while most of them have the novel shade, orange- 

 yellow, or orange-scarlet as the florist calls it. In the 



