864 



GA RDENERS MA GAZINE . 



December 31, 1898. 



Standard Wistarias. 



Cypripedium insigne, Harefield Hall 



Variety. 



There is so great a difficulty in varying the effects produced in the 



conservatory that we have especial pleasure in presenting our readers As briefly recorded in our issue of the 17th inst. Mr. E. Ashworth, of 



with the accompanying illustration of a group of flowering plants that Harefield Hall, Wilmslow, exhibited at the meeting of the Royal Horti- 



came under our notice in Messrs. J. Yeitch and Sons' nurseries in May cultural Society held on the 13th inst. a remarkably handsome form of 



last. All the plants of which the simple arrangement consists are known 



to the general body of cultivators, for they are none other than Wistaria 0 f t hi s we have now the pleasure of giving a characteristic illustration. 



insigne 



sinensis, tree peonies, and Spircea astilboides. But the Wistaria is, in this 

 country, so seldom grown in standard form for the decoration of* the 

 conservatory that as here represented it has the air of novelty^ Grown 

 in seven-inch pots with a four feet stem, and freely flowered as in the 

 case of the examples in the group, this elegant Chinese climber produces 

 an effect of surpassing beauty/ and at once attracts attention. To 

 produce plants of this description is not a difficult matter, and knowing 

 something of the enterprise of those engaged in commercial horticulture 

 we have no doubt that were there to be a brisk demand for standards for 

 flowering under glass abundant supplies would soon be forthcoming. A 

 strong point in favour of the^Wistaria is its flowering so early that it may 

 be had in bloom in May without the assistance of artificial heat, and the aid 



As so admirably shown on the opposite page this magnificent variety is 

 one of the largest of the several forms of this lady's slipper that have 

 been introduced to public notice, and the finely flowered specimen 

 submitted by Mr. Ashworth to the Orchid Committee presented a highly 

 attractive appearance, and created much interest amongst the orchidists 

 present. The flowers are borne on stout peduncles well above the 

 foliage, and measure four and three-quarter inches lrom tip to tip of the 

 petals and four and a half inches from the point of the slipper, or labellum, 

 to the apex cf the dorsal sepal. The latter is finely developed, measuring 

 three inches in breadth, and the upper portion is pure white and the 

 basal area is pale yellowish green, over which is strewn a number of large 

 purple spots, a few of which extend upwards into the white apex. The 



it is thereby able to render those who have no accommodation for forcing ventral sepal is pale green, with a few purplish spots. The petals are 



A PRETTY GROUP OF SPRING FLOWERING PLANTS 



flowering plants. Spinra astilboides is one of the best of the hardy 

 herbaceous plants with white flowers for decorative purposes during the 

 spring months, but its merits are now so fully recognised that we need 

 not say a word in its favour. The tree pxony, on the other hand, 

 is not taken full advantage of in many gardens for enhancing the attrac- 

 tions of the conservatory during the spring season, and we would suggest 

 that it be more generally employed for that purpose. We have now, as 

 the result of the activity of raisers, so many beautiful varieties in culti- 

 vation, that there will be no difficulty in making a suitable selection, and 

 under no conditions do they present a more pleasing appearance than 

 when the flowers are developed under glass. This is a point of some 

 importance, for the swelling buds are so susceptible to injury from spring 

 trosts that m cold districts they frequently fail to bloom satisfactorily. 



pale green marked with darker green veins, and the labellum is very 



large, pale green, with dark green veins. The award of a first-class 



certificate is a sufficient proof that the Harefield Hall variety is regarded 



by orchidists of the highest eminence as a valuable addition to the long 



list of cypripediums which are cultivated and appreciated in British 



collections, and that it is a distinct and beautiful variation from the species, 



which enjoys a higher degree of popularity at the present time than at 



any period since its introduction seventy-six years ago, notwithstanding 



the multiplicity of beautiful lady's slippers now at the command of 

 cultivators. 



™™ a~ i-u • iess of Exeter.— A few gardeners do this 



X?J5f^ Wel1 ' and when wel1 done tt * the fin <*t of all 



the section without doubt, as the flowers are, on good plants, produced in great 



ZJZ l ° 11 * thC HS?** large as those of hard y doJbfe primroses, and 

 Kunuet wJeEi? 7 ,1 ^ ^V** ^ t0 ™' and work into 



fiS^A^^oJ^ thCy , t rC ln ™ luable > and if grown for sale are most pro- 



Clan^n p v g r * 1?** doubles 1 found > on gently walking in at 



™ffj^ fl Gu }J dfo ' d . that one of your readers, Mr. Blake, grows " 



remarKaoiy well. His plants of the " MarrM™^*. >> U 



Bananas.— There can be no question that few fruits have more rapidly 

 advanced in popularity in the British markets than the banana. Many hundreds 

 of thousands of bunches of bananas are now sent to this country annually, and during 

 the Christmas season the supplies were this year exceptionally large. The 

 banana as a retail fruit is almost useless unless it is ripe. Many years ago, before 

 this point received the attention it does now, one or two firms in Covent Garden 

 Market owning underground cellars fitted up with heating apparatus to colour the 

 fruit had the business entirely in their own hands. Then perfectly-coloured 

 bananas made as much as 20s., ;os. , and 40s. per bunch, and fortunes were 



realised 



~~ " v icAiiacu. dui tne enormous 

 them revolutionised the 



nta v of ^J^k °i th , e side *° wth> » 50011 roots the ™. « 



oDtains plen-y of very^robust plants. — A. D. 



heated 



laturity. 



lised the trade. During the past few days there has been a great scarcity 

 pened bananas in the T fruit nhrww. and the dealers who have cellars 



for the purpose of ripening B 



chambers to meet th P ^^manrf fnr fruit in an advanced stage 



hops, and the dealers wno nave 



the green bunches have crowded tne 



