"June 29, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



485 



NOTES FROM KEW, 



sea- 

 few 

 and 

 a number 

 Alonsoa 



Greenhouse Flowers. 



^ While the greenhouse is remarkably gay 

 with blossoms, the bulk of the occupants of 

 that structure are such as are usually em- 

 ployed for decorative purposes at this 

 son of the year. Still, there are a 

 uncommon subjects or combinations 

 one such is furnished by 

 of the distinct red-flowered Aionsoa in- 

 cisifolia^ in the shape of dwarf bushy 

 plants in full bloom, and dotted over 

 with Canna Vati der S^-hoot, a variety 

 whose golden-yellow flowers are marked 

 with red. Another group is made up of 

 dwarf plants of Jacobinia magnifica, carry- 

 ing good heads of bloom, and overtopped 

 by finely-flowered examples of the douhle- 

 flowered Marguerite Mrs. F. Sander. This 

 marguerite is the finest of those forms in 

 which the centre of the flower is filled up 

 with a large anemone-like disc, while in 

 foliage and general appearance, it bears a 

 greater resemblance to the typical Chrysan- 

 themum frutescens than to the other gar- 

 den varieties. Another pleasing combina- 

 tion is a number of the white-flowered Be- 

 gonia nitida and the scarlet Clerodendron 

 fallax, mixed. A double white feverfew i^ 

 also very pretty, while that annual species 

 of statice from Turkestan, which bears the 

 awkward name of Statice Suworowi, is so 

 pleasing when in a mass that it might with 

 advantage be more often grown for con- 

 servatory and greenhouse decoration than 

 it is, A group of Rehmannia angulata, 

 and another of the new Rehmannia kew- 

 ensis, to which I referred in the Gardeners' 

 Magazine of May 11 (see p. 382), are also 

 very attractive. 



Flowering Carinas. 



These are so extensively grown for green- 

 house decoration or for bedding out during 

 the summer months that their culture in 

 anv other manner is seldom considered. 

 The way, however, that they thrive under 

 more tropical conditions in the old Lily 

 House is an eye opener; for, grown in large 

 pots and stood in the lily tank in such 

 a manner that the base of the pot just 

 touches the warm water, they attain a de- 

 velopment to which We are quite unaccus- 

 tomed. In this way both foliage and flowers 

 are magnificent, and, taken altogether, any- 

 one with such a structure at command 

 might do worse than try a few of these 

 cannas therein. A good light position is, 

 of course, necessary to their well-doing. 



Hibiscuses. 



Planted out in tl^e bod situated in the 

 porch of the old Lily House are some very 

 striking forms of the shrubby members of 

 the hibiscus family, with large and showy 

 blossoms. Notable among them are Hibis- 

 <^us Cameroni, a native of Madagascar, with 

 large single blooms of a bright carmine-red 



colour, and a single form of Hibiscus rosa 

 sinensis, with flowers of a more rosy 

 tint. This last-named species is widely 

 spread throughout the tropics, and tliere 

 are now a great many forms in cultivation, 

 some with double and others with single 

 flowers, while in one variety, namely, 

 Cooperi, the leaves are marke<l with a 

 pretty tricolor variegation. As Hibiscus 

 rosa-sinensis both grows and flowers freely, 

 it is useful for good-sized structures wh-ere 

 showy flowers are welcomed. 



Juanulioa aurantiaca. 



A specimen of this uncommon Peruvian 

 shrub is now flowering freely in the Suocu- 

 lent House. It belongs to the order Solan a- 



or brugmansias; indeed, it is sometimes 

 known as Brugmansia floribunda and Brug- 

 mansia parviflora, as well as Juanulioa 

 parasitica. The flowers, which are of a 

 deep orange colour, protrude from a large 

 calyx of the same tint. Compared with the 

 Briigmansias, the flowers are small, being 

 only about three inches in length. 



ixora congesta. 



There are a great number of garden 

 varieties of ixora in bloom in the interme- 

 diate portion of the T range, but, although 

 some of them may be more floriferous in a 



than most of the others; and C. Thom- 

 sonse, which is more usually met with as 

 Clerodendron Balfouri, a garden name. 

 The flowers of C. speciosum, which are 

 borne in large, spreading panicles are of a 

 ricJi crimson colour, and afford a pleasing 

 contrast to the lighter-tinted ones cf O. 

 Thomsonse. Both are of easy culture, and 

 quickly attain an effective size. 



Aristolochia elegrans. 



Though tliis was introduced over a quar- 

 ter of a century ago, and has proved to be 

 a very desirable plant in many ways, its 

 nomd x merits are even now too often overlooked. 



- ' I- 



A 



fine grecnhous<^ ])lant produced by crossing 

 yellowish with a hxrge crimson blotch on 



REHMANNIA KEWENSIS. 



R. Heni7i with R. chinensis. Flowers 

 the upper segment^s. Raised at Kew. 



cese 



the 



with more attractive blossoms, which arc 

 of a briUiant reddish-orange colour. ^ It is 

 said to have been introduced in 1845, but 

 at the present day it is rarely met with in 

 gardens. 



Clerodendron speciosum. 



This very showy climbing clerodendron 

 which is flowering with great freedom on 

 the roof of the T range, is of hybrid origin, 

 the parents being the tropical African 

 C/lerodendroa splendens, which is rather 

 more particular in its cultural requirements 



Over most of the tender species of aristo- 

 lochia it possesses several advantages, as in 

 the first place it is of less rampant growth 

 than most of them, which feature renders 

 it of use for comparatively small structures, 

 under which conditions, being brought near 

 the eye, the pretty cream-colourod flowers, 

 with their intricate markings of purplish- 

 chocolate, can be fully appreciated. They 

 are also without the unpleasant odour com- 

 mon to some of the aristolochias. Tlie 

 species is now flowering freely in tlie T 

 range. ^' 



