118 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



February 10, 1912. 



is another good trailing species, perhaps 

 not quite so strong and vigorous as C. i. 

 Mayi, yet^ nevertheless, one which should 

 be given a place among the best. C. 

 nuwalds (portenschlagiana) has a tufted 

 habit, with flowers of a pale blue colour ; 

 it is only three or fo-ur inches high, and 

 pixxluces flowers in such abundance that 

 the foliage is quite hidden fix>m sight. C. 

 ga.rganica is splendid for trailing, and has 

 large pale blue flowers, with white centres. 

 The white form of this species is very beau- 

 tiful, and by no means common. C. gar- 

 ganica hirsuta is quite distinct, the foliage 

 being cover^ni with htairs. 



The hybrid C. G. F. Wilson is of excep- 

 tional merit, and is said to be the result 

 of a cross between C. cai^patica and C 

 pulla. It has large purplish-blue flowers 

 on short stalks, and is very compact in 

 growth. The new forms of C. carpatioi, 

 which have been introduceil during recent 

 years, are highly appreciated for the size 

 and colour of their blossoms; White Stair, 

 Riverslea, Profusion, and Robert Parker 

 are deserving of great praise. White Star 

 is a lovely rariety, with large, open, 

 saucer^^haped blossoms, which are freely 

 produced. It is a vigorous grower, with 

 stiff wiry stems, capable of holding the 

 flowers in an upright position. Robert 

 Parker has white flowei-s, with blue centre. 

 Rivers'ea is quite distinct among the blues, 

 with flat open flowers. C. turbinata Isa- 

 bel is a handsome and effective fonn, of 

 recent introduction, compact in habit, and 

 free flowering. These forms o'f C. carpa- 

 tica and C. turbinata i^ary in height from 

 six to twelve inches. 



C. rhomboidaliis, with its arching sprays 

 of pendant^ bell-shaped flowers, is exceed- 

 ingly graceful, sometimes reaching the 

 height of nine inches. C. barbata is an 

 interesting sipecies, growing about twelve 

 inches high, and bearing hairy bells, of a 

 pale blue colour. It is advisable to treat 

 this as a biennial, for in many gardens it 

 has a habit of dying off after flowering. C. 

 csespitosa is a vigorous grower, and quickly 

 kes la rger p atches of f oli age, f r oni 



among which rise slender stems bearing 

 pale blue peiidiant bolls. C. pumila is a 

 dwarf variety of cpespitosa, and rarely 

 grows more than four or six inches high ; 

 there is a white form of this variety. C. 

 soldanellfeflora, the double-flowered variety 

 of rotundifolia, is a beautiful plant, with 

 flower stems about twelve inches in height, 

 cairrying pendant blossoms. 



C. Barrelieri closely resembles C. fragilis 

 in habit of growth^ and is a useful plant 

 for a position where its trails can hang 

 over a ledge of sitone. C. Raineri should 

 have a place in every collection, as it is of 

 very dwarf hahit, having upright, bell- 

 shaped blue flowers. C. pulla and its 

 hybrids are all choice plants, rather slow 

 in growth eomparcxl to many others, and 

 having neat foliage, produce<l from imder- 

 g round shoots. Uareful cultivation is 

 necessary when dealing wdth this group, a 

 well-drained flat shelf or pocket being the 

 most suitable p^ace for them, while the 

 compost should consist of gritty loam, leaf- 



soil 



As the foliage 



and a little peat, 

 usually dies down in the winter one must 

 be careful not to disturb the roo*ts. G. 

 AlHoni has large blue flowers, borne singly 

 on dwarf «tems, and 3houId be given a 

 good position. It has a stroag dislike to 

 limestone, and this fact mifet be borne in 

 mind. A mixture as advised for C. pulla 

 will be found agreeable to it. 



There are many other .bell flowers equally 

 suited to rock garden cultivation, as 

 those enumerate d by no means exhaust the 

 list of really good sorts. 



E. C. POOLEY. 



SINGLE'FLOWERED 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Of the many sections of chrysanthemums 

 none have made such rapid progress during 

 the last twenty years as single-flowered 

 varieties. It was in 1883 I saw the fir>t 

 variety, Magenta King, sent out by Tees- 

 dale^ followed by America the next year, 

 by Crushed Strawberry in 1885, and the 

 pure white Jane, sent out hy (Mr. Oannell, 

 which mainta i ned its popularity for 

 many years. The year 1887 brought us 

 two remarkable varieties. Admiral Sir T. 

 Symonds, a rich yellow, and the largest 

 bloom ^ even of any sent out in recent 

 years ; not that that was a boon^ as too 

 large a flower is not always the most ad- 

 mired. The other variety. Souvenir de 

 I^ondres, was sent out by Delaux, and was 

 the first of the rich coloured sorts, being 

 brilliant magenta-crimson. 



Since then we have had varieties in 

 galore, imtil now we have colours sufficient 

 to satisfy the most exacting. The ten- 

 dency now seems to be towards medium- 

 sized, shapely flowers, of whicfh Mensa is 

 the ideal. In this the florets are 

 subs ta ntial , sfh a pely , w i th a ii elegant 

 recurve at tlie tip, and^ what is of pexhaps 

 more importance, the colour is purely 

 white, really an Elaine white. This latter 

 has never been excelled in the purity of 

 its colour, and is the one variety I have 

 always employed as a test of any other so- 

 called white. The small-flowered varie- 

 ties of which Mrs. Langtry is a type, ap- 

 pear to lose popularity, owing to the small- 

 ness of their flowers, I presume. No chry- 

 santhemum that I know has so pleasing a 

 perfume as this, which is really woi^ 

 growing, even for no other reason than its 

 delightful fragrance. In colour it is a 

 pretty pink, bloasoming profusely. 



We have during the last few years re- 

 ceived a quantity of varieties that flower 

 in the open in September, really when not 

 wanted, and many of them are weedy in 

 form and washy in colour. 



There is no doubt but that single- 

 flowered chrysanthemums will play a great 

 part in the near futiire, whea-e quantities 

 of cut flowers are required for filling vases, 

 especially for table decoration, as the 

 double blooms, no matter how small they 

 may be, have a distinctly heavy appear- 

 ance in small vases, but where they can 

 be employed in a bold mannei", they are 

 in great request. 



For the amateur gardener with limited 

 space^ singles are just the thing, as the 

 plants do not require so much root space 

 as other sections, and they are effective 

 either disbudded or grown in a mass^ and 

 allowed to develop all their blossoms. For 

 the conservatory, grown as large speci- 

 mens^ ever with three plants in one pot, 

 they make a rare display ; dwarf plants in 

 small pots are good for edgings or side 

 stages, and they make a brave show. For 

 exhibition in groups the singles always at- 

 tract notice, and are becoming more in evi- 

 dence. At Windsor, Cardiff, and York spe- 

 cial encouragement is given to this section, 

 and right well exhibitors respond, the 

 public reaping the benefit of a handsome 

 display. 



The method of culture that finds most 

 favour is the production of plants to give 

 from twelve to a couple of dozen blooms, 

 each shoot being allowed to carry one 

 flower only. In this way the blooms are 

 not unduly large, but they are shapely, 

 true in colour, and, having a substantial 

 stem, are so useful in a cut state, or 

 equally valuable in groups. While the un- 

 disbudded plants, with their mass of flower 



may appeal to many, I do not think there 

 is the same form or colour to be seen under 

 such a system, as the small flowers do not 

 represent the variety so faithfully las these 

 medium-sized blossoms do. 



'Cultivation is simple. Short cuttings in- 

 serted in the usual way early in January 

 will prove excellent plants if care is 

 taken to grow them sturdily by affording 

 plenty of space and air at all times. A 

 weak growth is useless. Top the plants 

 once at four inches high, and allow the 



to grow uninterruptedly afterwards, 

 cept for thinning the i^oots for a given 

 quantity of flowers. Secure the shoots 

 early to supports, yet loosely, so that the 

 fl ow er s tems a re straight — an i m po rtan t 

 item when arranging then* in vases or in 

 a group of plants. As the plants are often 

 grown in smaller pots than is usual for 

 other sections, and carry more foliage, 

 owing to the extra number of stems, they 

 naturally require more water and food. 



The following two dozen varieties repre- 

 sent the very cream of selection: Mensa, 

 pure white; Charles Kingsley^ a magnifi- 

 cent yellow companion to Mensa ; Edith 

 Pagram, rich pink ; Bronze Edith Pagram, 

 bronze ; White Pagram, white ; Mary 

 Richardson, reddish-salmon ; Sylvie Slade, 

 rose-garnet, with a white ring ix)und the 

 disc; Altrincham Yellow, yellow; Metta, 

 deep magenta-red, with a white zone ; Mrs. 

 W. Buckingham, pink ; Kitty Bourne, 

 deep yellow; Ceddie Mason, bright crim- 

 son; Mary Anderson, blush-white; Mrs. R. 

 C. Pulling, pink; Gertrude, white; Regi- 

 nald Godfrey, clear yellow ; Charles 

 Dickens, orange-yellow; Arcturus, velvety- 

 crimson ; Ideality, pure white, circular 

 form ; Mrs. W. G. Patching, bronze; Crim- 

 son Mary Richardson, crimson ; Merstham 

 Jewel, reddish terra-cotta, with golden 

 centre ; Sandown Radiance, rich chestnut- 

 crimson ; and Manor Beauty, dSTrk red, 

 flushed terra-cotta. E. Molyneux. 



Swanmore Park. 



Hardy Pitcher Plants. — Quaint 



beauty and an interest of no ordinary cha- 

 racter surrounds insectivorous plants ; to 

 this group of the vegetable kingdom belongr 

 three distinct sets of plants which, in one 

 form or another, develop organs for the cap- 

 ture of insects, which they use as a source 

 of nutriment. In the first section we have 

 a series of plant forms wherein chaml^ers are 

 developed, which admit of the entrance of 

 small insects, but not of their escape. The 

 second section embraces plants that perform 

 definite movements in response to a stimulus 

 caused by the contact of the insects with 

 the object of covering the prey with as 

 ffreat a quantity of digestive fluid as pos- 

 sible. Lastly, there is a third section wherein 

 the individual forms are neither provided 

 with pitfalls nor capable of performing so- 

 cial movements, but have leaves converted 

 into lime-twigs, and on them animals sticic 

 and are also digested. Peculiar interest at- 

 taches to the first of these groups of insec- 

 tivorous plants, inasmuch as two members 

 of the section are hardy, and are frequently 

 represented in gardens by healthy, 

 grown specimens. The species I refer to are 

 Sarracenia purpurea, and Darlingtonia can- 

 fornica, and the best collection of these 

 plants I am acquainted with are growing in 

 the gardens of Sir Edmund Loder, Bart., at 

 Horsham, in Sussex. In these famous gar-^ 

 dens they are grown right in the open, on a 

 steep hillside, from which a perpetual tricKie 

 of water oozes forth and keeps the beds con- 

 tinually moist— for there are several beds 

 and the number of specimens, many of S^J^^^' 

 tic size, must largely exceed one hundreo, 

 while the healthv appearance of all. ana 

 their great vigour, testify to the 

 ability with which Mr. W. A. (^ok (ttte 

 gardener) ministers to their need. — T. omit ^ 



