2 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



for other professions. The O'Mahony took us to see a friend, where 

 we were first introduced to that quaint Eastern custom of offering 

 the visitor a spoonful of jam and then a glass of water. Comus Mas, 

 the Cornelian Cherry, is a common shrub and the fruits are made into 

 a pleasant preserve. Prunus Pissardi also fruits with the greatest 

 freedom in Bulgaria and is used for the same purpose, but one of 

 the strangest of all was the candied petals of the Madonna Lily in 

 a sweet syrup. 



It is well known how Bulgaria has prospered under King 

 Ferdinand's intelligent and wise rule. The twenty-six years of his 

 reign have been a progress through difficulty to success. On Saturday 

 it was with astonishment I learned that I was to be honoured at 

 the palace by an interview with the King. His Majesty is a remark- 

 ably versatile monarch, and has many hobbies such as zoology 

 and ornithology, besides being a keen gardener and botanist. After 

 finding that I had not come to strip the country ruthlessly of rare 

 plants, but only wanted a few of each, his Majesty gave every help 

 and facility in the way of guides, ponies, and even a railway carriage, 

 to our party for some of the excursions, and also kindly said he would 

 like to show us the children of his garden, as he fondly termed his 

 alpines in the palace garden. 



The King has a very good collection of alpines ; hardy orchids 

 and ferns are very strong groups, while some mounds were planted 

 entirely with Haberlea rhodopensis and H. Ferdinandi-Coburgi. Herr 

 Kellerer is in charge of the alpines, and some years ago was sent on 

 an expedition to Pirin to introduce Pinns leucodermis, and also obtained 

 some alpines such as Leontopodium alpinum Pirim, a very distinct 

 Edelweiss, Astragalus physocalyx, Saxifraga Spruneri, Viola Clemen- 

 tiana, &c. Saxifraga x Kellereri is a new hybrid raised in these gardens 

 and a cross between S. porophylla and S. Bursenana. It flowers 

 at Glasnevin in January with pink flowers about half the size of 

 S. Burseriana and has handsome rosettes, if inch across, of lime-dotted, 

 pointed leaves. Genm x Borisii, named after Prince Boris, is a natural 

 hybrid of G. bulgaricum and G. reptans. Another hybrid Avens was 

 found on Vitosh, and is supposed to be G. montanum x G. coccincum. 



The Sofia plain lies at an altitude of 1600 feet above sea level, and 

 the temperature ranges from 95° Fahr. in the summer to many degrees 

 below zero in winter. Even in summer time severe hailstorms occur ; 

 experiencing a storm on the mountains one can imagine how bedding 

 plants would fare, but bombs are fired on the approach of a storm, 

 which then moves on to another place. The sun is so blazing hot 

 in the summer that the best kinds of apples are enclosed in bags to 

 prevent blistering by its heat. We also visited the palace gardens 

 at Vrana, which have been well described by Monsieur A. Delmard, 

 the Director ol all the King's gardens, in a former Journal* of our 

 Society. Here the King has a herd of white buffalos, while one is 

 surprised by nightingales by the dozen singing in the daytime. 

 * Journal R.H.S. xxxvii, p. 536. 



