January 13, 1912. 



THE 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



■ ■ 



25 



CHOICE PLANTS FOR THE "^oist situation, whi'e the latter is more at ruary, and even after then water must be 



ROCK GARDEN. 



Although the plants suitable for rock 

 garden adornment are numerous^ there are 

 several which, stand above the general 

 crowd from an enthusiast's point of view. 

 They do not create such brilliant effects in 

 their flowering season as do many others, 

 such as aubrietias, helianthemunis, arabis, 

 alyssums, etc., yet they are extremely in- 

 teresting and deserve prominent positions. 

 Many are of rather difficult culture, and 

 consequently have often to give place to 

 more easily grown subjects on ;*eeaunt of 

 the care and attention which have to be 

 bestowed upon them. 



The androsaces are gems of the first 

 water, and every endeavour must be made 

 to keep them in a healthy condition. A. 

 lanuginosa^ A. sarmentosa, and A. Chum- 

 byi are perhaps three of the best, although 

 the others are exceedingly pretty and 

 worthy of a place. The first mentioned is 

 an excellent plant for hanging over a ledge, 

 so that the trailing growths are not sub- 

 jected to much moisture in the M'inter ; 

 they all require to be protected from the 

 winter rains. The Shortias are choice 'sub- 

 jects, delighting in a half-s-hady position, 

 and should be grown in sandy loam and 

 peat. They need abundance of water dur- 

 ing the summer, and should be occasionally 

 top dressed ; the foliage is very pretty, dark 

 shining green, sometimes having a bronzy 

 tint. S. galacifolia is a North American 

 species, and S. uniflora a native of Japan. 

 The grandiflora variety of S. uniflora is the 

 most robust, and will thrive where S. gala- 

 cifolia fails. 



Tamakaea radicans is an interesting plant 

 for a north fissure ; it is similar to a minia- 

 ture white spiraea when in blossom. Ompha. 

 lodes Luciliee, although an old plant, is 

 not common by any means; it delights in 

 a partially shaded position, and should be 

 planted in a mixture of sandy loam and 

 peat, with plenty of chippings added. Mer. 

 tensia echioides is a beautiful Himalayan 

 species, with graceful sprays of blue flowers. 

 Cynanthus lobatus is not frequently met 

 with. Yet it well deserves a position in 

 a choice collection. A half shady spot 

 should be afforded it, and one where its 

 slender trails can hang down. A mixture 

 of loam^ leaf-soil, and chippings will meet 

 its requirements regarding soil, and abun- 

 dance of water must be given during dry 

 weather. Soldanella alpina, S. niontana, 

 and S. pnsilla are dwarf gems from the 

 Alps, and are extremely interesting and 

 pretty ; a fairly moist crevice or pocket 

 should be devoted to them, which has been 

 filled with a compost of loam, peat, and 

 stone chippings. They require protection 

 from excessive wet during the winter, and 

 should be carefully guarded from the rav- 

 ages of slugs, or these pests will destroy 

 every flower spike. 



Calceolaria polyrhiza makes small ro- 

 settcvs of foliage from underground shoots, 

 J^nd from these -spring the flower spike 

 ^Much carries one or two flowers that are 

 pale ycHow, slightly spotted with brown, 

 ine lamily of the saxaf rages is a large one 

 and contams many rare and beautiful 

 plants, among which may be men- 

 tioned S Griesbachi, Boydi, and S. 

 «oydi alba, S. Ferdinandi Koburgi, S. 

 liathoniensis, S. sancta, S. Burseriana 

 "^^ij^r, S. porophylla, and S. oppositi- 

 ;oim splendens. Oxalis enneaphvlla is 

 a good plant, with glaucous foliage and 

 vhf white flowers ; it reqnires a position 

 s n n ""''^ f^*^^ the full effects of the 



Uvn bavarica and G. verna arc 



evor n"" ^'"^ '^'""''^'^ ^'^^'^ ^ place in 



e;eiy collection; the former delights in a 



home in a dryer one 



Among the recent introductions of pri- 

 mulas there are several of high merit, such 

 as P. Veitchi, P. Cockburniana, P. Bul- 

 leyana, P. malacoides, P. Forresti, P. pul- 

 veruleuta, and the hybrid P. Unique. Schi- 

 zocodon soldanelloidcs has fringed flowers, 

 similar to those of the soldanellas, and 

 handsome evergreen foliage. Codonopsis 

 ovata is an interesting plant, having pen- 

 dant, bell-shaped flowers, beautifully 

 marked on the inside; it should be grown 

 in a position where the inner colouring can 

 be easily seen. Edraianthus serpyllifolius 

 has purple, bell-shaped flowers resembling 

 a campanula ; it is very dwarf in habit, and 

 delights in sunny crevies. E. dalmaticus. 



sparingly given for gome time until growth 

 adv^ances. E. C. Pooley, 



CARNATION GEISHA, 



Prominent among the novelties contri- 

 buted to the exhibition held by the Perpe- 

 tual I'arnation Society on December 5 and 

 t) last, was the variety Geisha, which is re- 

 markable for its high quality, and belongs 

 to a class that, as yet, is comparatively 

 small. The large finely fringfnl mauve or 

 light heliotrope coloured flowers, borne 

 erect on stiff stoms, attracted much atten- 

 tion, and the variety was generally con- 

 sidered to be a markp^l jidvRn<^P in tHe 



E. pumiliorum, and E. pumilo are all clioice mauve section of colours. The blooms are 



CAENATION GEISHA. 



X beautiful perpetual variety, raised by Messrs. G. Fairbairn and Sons ; the flowers large 



and of fine form, the colour a pleaciing ehade of mauve. 



species. Morisia hypogsea delights in a well- larger in size than those of Mikado, the 

 drained sandy loam in a sunny situation. 

 It forms rosettes of evergreen foliage, and 

 bears numerous yellow iflowers. Ourisia 

 coccinea, with its spikes of br;;j.ht scarlet 

 flowers is a striking subject. It thrives in 

 sandy loam and peat in a moist yet well- 

 drained situation. Stones should be laid 

 on the surface of the soil for the stems to 

 creep over, and it should be given plenty 

 of water <luring dry weather. One of the 

 nuist i-urious and interesting of plants is 

 Pli vtounia comosum ; this has blue and 

 white flow<u"S, and ^should be planted in cre- 

 vices and guarded against s]uij;>. Perhaps 

 the most difficult of all plants to (^tablish 

 is Ki il I'ichiimi nanum, and it is one of the 

 most lovely of alpines. It must be kept dry 

 from late in autumn until the end of Feb- 



colour is pure, and the calyx and stem are 

 sucli as to contribute nuiifi iallv to the 



4' 



merit of the variety. The rais-ers are 

 Messrs. George Fairbairn and Sons, The 

 Croft Nurseries, B<n('herby, Carlisle, and 

 the blooms oj^en }>erfectly throughout the 

 winter. The plant is vigorous in growtli 

 and free in flowering, and otherwise satis- 

 factory. On expatiding the colour is a 

 warm shade of heliotrope with salmon 

 suffusion at the ba&e of the petals, but 

 as the bloom acquires age, the colour 

 passes to light heliotrope or mauve. The 

 variety had an Award of Merit inferred 

 iipon it at the exhibition of the Per- 

 petual Carnation Society, held on the dates 

 mentioned above, a distinction that was 

 well deserved. 



