THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES.] OCTOBER, 1876. [No. 58. 



FLORAL EXHIBITIONS. 



Whatever may be the future of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society as a body, it is clear that its interesting 

 and instructive committee meetings must not be 

 allowed to fall through, and on this point we are per- 

 fectly assured that all intelligent horticulturists are 

 agreed. Large exhibitions are all very well in their 

 way, but from the plan on which their schedules are 

 framed, it is next to impossible to enjoy them as one 

 does the every-day freshness and variety of these 

 meetings where horticulture and botany are — as they 

 ever should be — agreeably united. The last two 

 meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society, held at 

 South Kensington, have been especially interesting. 

 At that held on September 16th, Dahlias, Asters, and 

 other Florists' flowers were well represented. The 

 stands of Dahlias, sent by Mr. Charles Turner, Mr. 

 John Keynes, and Mr. Rawlings, contained some 

 excellent blooms, and were much admired. Mr. H. 

 Cannel, of Swanley, Kent, exhibited a very interest- 

 ing group of Fuchsias, among which we observed the 

 new crimson flowered B. boliviana, which belongs to 

 the old F. fulgens type, but is much richer in colour, 

 and ought to be invaluable to hybridisers. A sub- 

 erect flowered variety was exhibited, which appeared 

 to have been obtained between the F. erecta, of con- 

 tinental gardens, and F. " Novelty." It is of dwarf 

 bushy habit, and produces a profusion of white 

 sepalled rosy lilac petalled flowers. Mr. Noble, of 

 Bagshot, again sent cut specimens of his new seed- 

 ling Bourbon rose, " Queen of the Bedders." This 

 has already received a first-class certificate as a 

 variety eminently adapted either for bedding purposes, 

 or for planting, to form a dwarf-growing rose hedge. 

 Its flowers are of a rich crimson purple colour, and its 

 late flowering habit is an additional advantage. Mr. 

 R. Dean sent a collection of dwarf French Marigolds, 

 the colours of which were very rich and pleasing. 



First-class certificates were awarded as follows : — 

 To Mr. John Keynes, for Dahlia " John Downie," a 

 shapely white bloom, the petals being tipped with lilac 

 purple ; as a show variety this is a real gain to these 

 strikingly beautiful autumn flowers ; for Dahlia " J. 

 W. Lord," a large well-shaped full flower of a glow- 

 ing orange vermilion colour ; and to Dahlia " Minnie 

 Bond," a pale rosy-lilac tipped variety, having a soft 



buff-tinted centre. This last is a most desirable 

 variety for decorative or exhibition purposes. 



Mr. Turner received a certificate for Dahlia 

 " Figaro," a distinct variety of average size, the 

 colour being a bright orange vermilion. Mr. Raw- 

 lings sent a very good rich purple or maroon violet 

 seedling Dahlia, named " Eai-1 of Beaconsfield," to 

 which a certificate was awarded. It well deserves cul- 

 ture for exhibition purposes. Certificates were awarded 

 to a semi-double zonal Pelargonium, named Madame 

 Buchler, bearing trusses of purplish orimson flowers ; 

 Begonia majestica and B. Excellent, two varieties 

 of the now popular tuberous-rooted section. They 

 are seedlings of the B. Sedeni-Prestoniensis types, 

 and are of vigorous habit, bearing bright rose or 

 rosy scarlet flowers very profusely among glossy 

 green foliage. 



At the Crystal Palace Exhibition, held on the 21st, 

 Dahlias and Gladioli were especially attractive. Mr. 

 Turner was the principal exhibitor of the first-named 

 flowers, and obtained the principal prizes, namely, 

 those offered for stands of 48 and 24 blooms respec- 

 tively. The best Gladioli came from Messrs. Robert- 

 son and Galloway, of Ingram Street, Glasgow. 

 Messrs. Kelway and Son, of Langport, being second, 

 also with a very brilliant group. Quilled Asters, 

 which (thanks to the liberal prizes offered by Messrs. 

 Carter and Co.) are now becoming popular, were well 

 represented, the best collections being those sent from 

 Mr. Jas. Betteridge, of the Aster Nursery, Chipping 

 Norton. The Crystal Palace grounds themselves are 

 now very interesting, the more beautiful features 

 being the large circular beds of white, yellow, purple, 

 and scarlet Dahlias and Hollyhocks, and in some of 

 the larger beds some of the more handsome of hardy 

 herbaceous perennials, such as Tritoma Uvaria, 

 Helianthus multiflorus fl. pi., Gynerium argenteum, 

 Phloxes, and Pentstemons, are arranged with ex- 

 cellent effect. 



XANTHOCERA.S SORBIFOLIA. 



One of the most beautiful of all half-hardy shrubs, 

 recently introduced to our gardens, is the Xanthoceras 



