February 17, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



139 



CYDONIAS. 



When visiting Oxford earl}' in the spring 

 of last year, I wa^ greatly impresse<:l by a 

 .striking example of Cydonia trained on a 

 wall in the Botanic Gardenis there. The 

 plant was fan-trained, each stem being car- 

 ried straight from the centre 'and with 

 all the side shoots spurred in. The wood 

 was thickly clustered witli flow^er buds, on 

 the point of ^breaking into bloom. Such 

 a sipecimen reveals great latent beauty, 

 and suggests how much our gardens lose by 

 neglecting some of our commonest shrubs. 

 One <'Ould not readily conceive a more ad- 

 mirahle shrub for garden dec'oration. 

 Yet hoM' frequently do we find Cydonias re- 

 legated to some O'bscure corner of the gar- 

 den, \A here the cultural attention bestowed 

 upon them is of most indifferent character. 



Cydonias tsucceed in ordinary garden soil, 

 and flower best in positions where they -.b- 

 tain a roasonahle amount of direct sun- 

 Mglit ; pruning is generally necessairy, as 

 5ome varieties have a tendency to over- 

 crowed their branches, and these should be 

 thinned out, allowing ample space to each, 

 so that sun and air may have access to 

 the ccmtre of the bush. At the same tin:ie, 

 the laiteral branches may be s-purred in, as 

 this assists the formation of buds. 



Cydonia, or Pyrus japonica — the Japa- 

 nese quince — is the oldest species known bo 

 gardens, and it forms a rounded, spreading 

 bush, which when giwving in the open, at- 

 tains a height of 6 to 8ft. The type pra- 

 duces bright scarlet flowers ; Simoni, ricli 

 deep crimson flowers ; Oardinialis, scarlet- 

 crimson ; aliba, white tinted flowers; and 

 nivalis, snow-wliite flowers. 



Cydonia Marulei is not so vigorous in 

 <^rowth as C. japonica, and forms low, 

 rounded bushes, with slender hranches, on 

 the laterals of which the flowers are freely 

 produced, even in a young state ; in this 

 the flowers are succeeded by orange-yellow 

 fruits that remain on the plants right into 

 the winter months. Cydonia Maulei pro- 

 duces scarlet flowem; the variety alba is a 

 very beautiful form, with pure white 

 flowers ; atrosanguina has rich deep hlood- 

 red flowers^ and produce a most telling 

 effect ; superba is an improved form of the 

 ^yp^j with large deep scarlet-crimson 

 flowers, and the variety Sargenti produces 

 tu'ight red flowers on plants that are par- 

 ticularly dwarf in habit. 



Tt may also be noted in passing that all 

 the cydonias are admirably adapted for 

 house and conservatory decoration. So 

 readily does this genus respond to forcin 

 that plants potted up from the open ground 

 and placed in a temperature of 50 to 55 de- 

 gi'ocN win open their flowers in from six 

 to >even days, and these retain their heauty 

 tor a period of three weeks ; the rich colour 

 an<l quaint character of the plants make 



iMost acceptable additions to the or- 

 <iinary mn of flowering plants at this 



"^^'^i- ^*"- Thomas Smith. 



*^ooinbe Court Gardens. 



or 



Tlii 



mum 



m 



ioo?ir''\T^" ^^'^ y^^^ ^o^^^- Cuttings 

 K)n to potting, watering, and stopping, will 

 n?int «f August be nice bushy 



(TK ■ ^^^^^ ^"^^^ remove them to any 



cV V '^ousc, such as an early vinerv 



Nttl 'iV^ 'I'J"^''^^' ^'^th full sunlight, where, 

 y th hl>eral feeding, they will devllop strong 

 uaik leaves, and each branch will bv the end 

 Such T t>^i««ing with flower buds, 

 fron ^1^''*^ introduced into heat in batches 

 MiZv will keep up a 



' f ^^''^ lowers, a colour rather 



in l^fvin'''''"^i^'^x winter months, till late 

 _ ] in^- and, }>eing so treated, will re- 

 ^^'ni thru- beauty for some time.— R. J. 



MIRBECK'S OAK. 



The number of oaks that are now avail- 

 able for planting in parks and pleasaire 

 grounds is considerahle, and planters have 

 therefore full scope \for the exercise of 

 taste in the making of a selection for a 

 special purpose. There are, for example, 

 the Scarlet Oak, so w^ll known and highly 

 appreciated for the hrilliant colouring as- 

 sumed by its leaves when '' touched by the 

 breath of autumn"; the Luoombe Oak, a 

 handsome sutb-evergreen tree, which was 

 raised by Luoombe at Exeter one hundred 

 and fifty yea>rs ago; tlie Hungarian Oak, 



cially interested in trees that can be used 

 with good effect in the creation of gai-den 

 and park scenery. Quercus Mirbecki is 

 a na^tive of Spain, Portugal, and North 

 Africa, and in its native habitat forms a 

 tree of considerahlo proportions^ and its 

 general character is admirably shown in 

 the accompanying illustration of a speci- 

 men growing in the Royal Gardens, K 

 not far distant from the Wood Museuu] 



orthern 



The 



leaves aire ^^ix or more inches in length, 

 about three inclies in width, and regularly 

 dentate ; they are stout and leathery In 

 texture, and retain their rich gi-een colour 



QUERCUS MIRBECKI. 



handsome 



a medium-sized round-headed tree, remark- until such time as they are subjected to a 

 ;;,ble for its distinctness and attractive ap- severe frost, whni, as was the case a fort- 

 pearanco: the Glabrous Oak an evergreen night since, tluy aio hrowne<l at the mar- 



po€sesses 



stages of development ; and Mirbeck's Oak, 

 a v'^ub-evergreen tree, distinct in character 

 an<l liandsome in appeairance. 



All the oaks mentioned are deserving of 

 a place in parks and pleasure grounds, 

 whei-e suitahle positions can he found for 

 them, but at the present time we are onJy 

 conciMiied with the last-named, which has 

 strong claims upon planters who are spc- 



gin; but this ch.uim^ in \ho -colour is not 

 sufficient to greatly detra<i troiii tlie ap- 

 pearance of the tieos when t^een from even 

 a short di^^tance. Mirbeck's Oak is evi- 



dently well adapted for planting alongside 

 carriage driven, for witli but little aitl from 

 the pruning knif*' a pyramidal outline can 

 be maintainech h \n\- several synonyms, 

 and in some English <'atalogiU',s wili be 

 found under the name of Quercus Z*ing. 



