THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 



ton, and other, made up a display, which, with the 

 new plants, formed one of the most pleasing Spring 

 Exhibitions one could well desire to look upon. 



First Class Certificates of merit were awarded to 

 the following new plants : — Caltha palustris florepleno, 

 a handsome double form of the common Marsh Mari- 

 gold that will be of great value for planting on the 

 margins of lakes; and to Saxifraga (megasea) pur- 

 purascens, a handsome deep-coloured variety of the 

 Spring flowering thick-leaved Sasifrages ; both from 

 Mr. Robert Parker, Nurseryman, Tooting. To Gre- 

 villea robusta, var. filicifolia, an elegant decorative 

 plant of a drooping habit, and long spreading, finely 

 cut leaves, promising to be very useful as a table 

 plant; from Messrs. W. Rollisson and Sons, Exotic 

 Nurseries, Tooting. To Crinum purpurascens, a 

 dwarf species with undulate leaves and narrow-petalled 

 flowers, a native of Fernando Po, and regarded as 

 a desirable stove plant; from Messrs. Yeitch and 

 Sons. To Dietes Huttoni, a yellow-flowered plant, 

 apparently delicate in habit, and resembling an Iris 

 in appearance ; from Mr. Green, gardener to Sir G. 

 Macleay, Bletchingley. To Amaryllis E. Pilgrim, very 

 bright red, with a slight white flame along each seg- 

 ment, a bold and striking variety ; and to Wallichia 

 Zebrina, a graceful Palm, with handsome leaves of a 

 deep green colour, and the stalk and leaf-stems 

 handsomely barred ; it was introduced from New 

 Guinea, and it is the only Palm known to cultivation 

 having Zebra-like stems ; both from Mr. P>. S. Wil- 

 liams, Victoria Nursery, Holloway. To Adiantum 

 tetraphyllum gracile ; remarkable for its crimson tinted 

 young foliage, and something like Pteris tricolor in 

 appearance, without the coloured mid-ribs. To Da- 

 vallia figiensis ; a most elegant form, with large finely 

 cut fronds; and to Lastrea cristata variegata, an 

 elegantly variegated fern introduced from Japan last 

 year ; all from Mr. W. Bull, King's Road, Chelsea ; 

 and the same exhibitor had Alocassia Johnstoni, a re- 

 markable aroid, with pink-spotted spiny leaf-stalks, 

 and hastate leaves, introduced from New Guinea. To 

 this a Botanical Commendation was awarded. 



NEW AGERATUMS. 



The Floral Magazine being recognised as the medium 

 by which novelties are introduced to the garden-lov- 

 ing public, it is fitting that attention should be called 

 to anything new of a distinctly promising character. 

 Messrs. Downie and Laird, of Edinburgh, are now- 



sending out two new Ageratums raised by Mr. A. 

 Fowler of Castle Kennedy Gardens. One of these, 

 Cupid, is a variety of a very dwarf dense habit of 

 growth ; in this respect, following in the wake of 

 Countess of Stair, and other dwarf varieties employed 

 for bedding purposes ; it is a very fine bloomer, 

 the flowers intense blue in colour, and during the 

 wet season of last summer it was very fine and strik- 

 ing. The other is The Queen ; in colour a soft creamy 

 white, growing from eight to ten inches in height, 

 compactly, and an abundant bloomer. Some of the 

 leading Scotch gardeners who saw these Ageratums 

 during the last summer, bear testimony to their 

 great attractiveness. The Ageratum has long been 

 a favourite plant for bedding purposes, doing well 

 in all weathers, and any additions of a distinct and 

 novel character are acquisitions which all flower 

 gardeners gladly welcome. 



SOWING SEEDS OF AURICULAS, PRIM- 

 ROSES, ETC. 



We desire to guard our readers against being in too 

 great a hurry to throw away the contents of their seed- 

 pans, as many of the seeds of Auriculas and Primroses 

 take a long time to germinate. A few days ago we 

 were shown some seed-pans, in which the seeds were 

 sown some two and a half years ago, and in which 

 plants were yet putting in appearance. Several crops 

 of seedling plants had been taken out and picked off 

 into other pans, and indeed some of the earliest and 

 strongest of these were already in bloom. Why some 

 seeds, apparently as large and sound, should be so 

 much longer in germinating cannot be easily ex- 

 plained ; but it is so. We have known cases of Prim- 

 rose seeds sown in August, produce but very few 

 plants in autumn, but a profuse crop in spring. If 

 the contents of the seed-pans had been thrown away 

 in the autumn, in the belief that the whole of the 

 harvest of plants had been reaped, a great loss would 

 have ensued, and the seedsman might have been 

 charged with setting seeds that did not grow. One of 

 our leading Auricula cultivators recommends that with 

 the exception of taking out the seedling plants as soon 

 as large enough, the pans remain undisturbed for three 

 years ; and he adds as an additional reason for 

 patience, that it sometimes happens the best varieties 

 are the last among the seedlings to put in appear- 

 ance. 



