August 3, 1912 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



593 



did 

 the 



you 



bunch? " 



show that bad flower ; it spoils 



I remarked: "Simply be- 

 cause I couldn't make another.'' 



A few hints, liowever, may prove use- 

 ful. First, cut early, long before sunrise, 

 and for preference cut in the morning, 

 even if not staged until the evening. After 

 cutting place at once in water, allowing 

 most of the stem to be in the water, and 

 stand in a cool dark place, if possible on 

 a brick or damp cement floor. When ar- 

 ranging the flowers in Avires or on boards 

 do not finger them, as it is surprising how 

 soon the freshness fails if a ibloom is 

 turned and twisted a few times. When 

 arranged, onlv very lightly dew them over. 



^^^^^ ' 



It may be necessary to syringe if a dry 

 easterly wind is blowing, hut the hlooms 

 had hetter flag a little than develop a 

 lot of flat florets round the eye. I ought 

 to have said that when selecting the 

 flowers allow for what the flower will de- 

 velop during the next twenty-four hours, 

 as they often grow considerably after being 

 placed in water. Nothing is more worry- 

 ing than to feel that every minute the 

 flowers are getting les-s valuable. When 

 putting cactus dahlias in wire frames, 

 it is hest to bend the wire to fit the flower, 

 rather than wriggle the flower about in a 

 vain endeavour to get it to face properly. 



After each show, thoroughly examine 

 the plants, and cut out the old growths 

 at once, tying and disbudding the younger 

 growth. The plants often look a little 

 shattered after a lot of flowers have been 

 cut, but it is surprising how quickly they 

 recover, especially if the weather permits 

 a good watering with liquid manure. 



At the end of Septemher, or earlier if 

 time can be .spared, remove all the young 

 wood not shov/ing buds, and tie the plants 

 U|p trim and taut. In this way fine 

 flowers will continue to come until well into 

 the autumn. It is always a mistake to 

 abandon dahlias too soon, as in October 

 they flower freely, and often to perfection, 

 if kept free from rubbishy growth wbich 



soon exhaust the energies of the plant. 



H. Stredwick. 



BIGELOVIA GRAVEOLENS- 



This interesting Composite, though not 

 hardy enough to stand throughout the year 

 in the open \ground, except in the most 

 favoured parts of tbe country, is well 

 adapted for wall culture in places where 

 there is a fair amount of sun. Being 

 naturally a sunloving shrub, a south or 

 south-west aspect should be chosen when- 

 ever possible^ and the soil should be well 

 drained and warm, a light loam being most 

 suitable. B. graveolens enpoys a wide 

 range of distribution in Western North 

 America, for it occurs from British Colum- 

 bia to New Mexico. The aromatic 

 leaves are one to three inches long, narrow, 

 and greyish. The yellow, tubular flowers 

 are borne during early autumn, Septem- 

 l>er and October, in dense, crowded heads, 

 and are showy at a time when flowers are 



becoming scarce. 



In Vol. III. of Britton and Brown's 

 ''Illustrated Flora of the Northern States 

 and Canada," p. 326, it is described as 

 Chrysothamnus nauseosus. The name of 

 Bigelovia was given in honour of Dr. Jacob 

 Bigelow, the author of Medical Botany 

 of the United States.'* Although there 

 are not a very large number of hardy 

 shrubby plants in the order Compositse, 

 many of those which do exist are of an 

 interesting character, as is instanced by 

 the plant under notice, and by the fine 

 collection of New Zealand oleari-as which 

 was exhibited at the recent International 

 Horticultural Exhibition. W. D. 



SOME GOOD BUTTONHOLE 



ROSES. 



Few flowers are more pleasing for per- 

 sonal decoration than rose buds, but they 

 must be of a variety that does not fly ope*n 

 too quickly. Betty, G. Nabonnand, Irish 

 Elegance, and Gardenia are very pretty in 

 their earliest stages of growth ; but they fly 

 open too soon for any lasting decoration as 

 a coat or buttonhole flower. 



Much more lasting varieties are found 

 in Lady Roberts, Anna Olivier, Francisca 

 Kruger, Lady Hillingdon, Madame Antoine 

 Mari, Madame Jean Dupuy, iSouvenir do 

 Pierre Netting, ani Rubens from among 

 the tea-scented sections, while Souvenir de 

 Stella Gray is one of the most striking coat- 

 flower roses we have. The noisettes give us 

 a few suitable varieties in William Allen 

 Richardson, Celine Forestier, and C^\ro!ine 

 Kuster, but these iblooms must be quite 

 young. 



There are several suitable varieties among 



CYPRIPEDIUM BELLATULUM. 



Cypripedium bellatulum is, perhaps, one 

 of the most striking spt^cies of the genus, 

 and yet is little cultivated in gardens. In 

 few flowers is there found such a contrast 

 of colour as in this or<-hid. As will be seen 

 in thi' accompaiiyin^i illustration, which is 

 from a pli(it{itira])li of sonu' plants grown in 

 the Cnnihridgc Botanic Garden, the i)otals, 

 <lor.sal s(^|)aK and ]>ouch, have a ground of 

 ]nire waxy white, 1 hi<-kly sj)rinkUHl with 

 large, very <lee[) blood-rrd ltlot< hes. The 

 leaves, which nieasurt^ about H)in. by 2.\in., 

 are also handsonH\ Wwv^ dark vtdvety 

 gr<uMi, mottliHl with whitish patches on the 

 upptM- ^urt■ace, an<l on the under-si<le dark 

 redilish^browfi. The flowei-s are about 3in. 

 in diameter, and aie bor.ie upon short 

 stems. The phint remains in flower about 

 a month. 



Tliivs orelii<i is not of easy cultivation. 

 It prefers a moist, tropical teinj^erature, 

 and should be grown in a <H>mpo.st consist- 

 ing of loam, peat. s])hagnuni. and small 



(■VrKll'i:L)ll M BKLI^ATI LI M. 

 Flowers of waxy texture, white, with dark red-purple spots 



the growing class of hybrid teas^ some of 

 the most noticeablo being The Dandy, 

 Avoca, Richmond, Mrs. XValter Easlea, 

 and Chateau de CIos Vougeot, all very 

 dark crimsons. Various shades of orange, 

 y el low , a nd cop pe r a re f on nd i n M r s . 

 Aaron Ward, Kdu Meyer, Gustave Regis, 

 James Coey, Jacques Vincent, Madame 

 Ravary, Marquise de Sinetv, Mrs. Arthur 

 R. Waddell, Mrs. Peter Blair, Theresa, 

 and Madame Pol Varin Bernier. For deep 

 cherry reds few can surpass Lady Batter- 

 sea, Papa Gontier, and Madame J. W. 

 Budde. Sarah Bernhardt and Prince 

 Camille de Rohan are two verj' free-flower- 

 ing, deep velvety-maroon 'coloured roses 

 that last well in a suitable fonn, and are 

 very sweetly scented. 



When dealing w^ith coat flowers one can- 

 not omit the better crested forms of . moss 

 varieties. Here, Blanche Moreau and 

 White Bath are good pure whites; Celina 

 is, perhaps, the best dark variety : Common 

 Moss, Old Crested, and vSalot l>eing good 

 pinks. A. P. 



lumps of charcoal. The addition of a few 

 pieces of lime is sometimes rix-onimende<l, 

 but here it does perfectly well without any. 



The plant is a slow grower, and, there- 

 fore, rather than endeavour to increase 

 one's stock by means of division, it is better 

 to import new roots. C. bellatulum was 

 introduced into this country in 1888 from 

 islands to the S.F. of Cochin China. A 

 pure white variety (album) was introduced 

 in 1895. R- Stew^art Lynch. 



Croton Souvenir de Thomas 



Rochford.— This is a particularly good 

 narrow-leaved crotou, and one remarkable 

 for the very bright colour that the leaves 

 assume. Varying as they do in the colour 

 of the leaves even on the ?;ame plant, crotons 

 are exceedingly difficult to descril.>e, but 

 when at its best this variety has the major 

 portion of the leaf of a brilliant salmon- 

 scarlet colour, an extremely effective tint 

 either by day or under artitieial light. This 

 last feature is^ greatly in its favour as a 

 table plant. — K. 



