47G 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
’ [ June 11, 1835. 
Bed Lilac (Syringa rubra insignis), its large heads of bloom 
and bright colour rendering it very conspicuous. It is a very 
fine Lilac, and is well worth adding to every collection of 
hardy plants. — G. Abbey. 
IN THE GARDEN. 
Berberis stenophylla. —This is one of the finest hardy 
shrubs I am acquainted with; graceful in habit, extremely free- 
flowering, it has an appearance quite its own. The elegant 
branchlets are thickly crowded with the pendant orange-yellow 
blossoms—the rendezvous of a myriad of bees. I am quite sure 
we see far too few specimens of this shrub in our gardens. For 
the colder localities it is more reliable that B. Darwini, as the 
latter is not so happy in such places as in the south—the neigh¬ 
bourhood of London. I have my mind now upon the beautiful 
specimens of it at Kew—how well they blossom there ! But 
B. stenophylla should not be a stranger in gardens. The white 
Broom and it look well together in good bold masses. The 
dotting system of shrub-planting must, to a great extent, die 
out in the future, as a much l etter effect is to be had by planting 
blocks or masses in proportion to the surroundings. 
The Siberian Crab.— From my garden I can see a fine 
standard of this amongst some other trees, and how effective it 
ia! 1 was never so much impressed with its extreme usefulness 
as a landscape tree of the first merit; the bright warm-coloured 
flowers in such profusion are indeed a treat at this season, and 
could be largely employed in effective tree and shrub planting 
with the best possible results, indeed a brighter effect can hardly 
be produced by any other hardy tree. 
St. Bruno’s Lily (Anthericum Liliastrum).—One of the 
best border plants now coming into beauty; the pretty tufts of 
glaucous grass-like foliage surrounding the erect spikes of pure 
white Lily-like flowers are much to be desired in all gardens. I 
take it for granted that all who grow hardy flowers already 
possess it. There is also a form called major, but it is not 
always much larger that the type if the latter is liberally 
treated; this means according to my experience, planting it in 
rich, sandy, well-manured soil; the strong stout buds we should 
see are not developed without a good supply of food. A native 
of the hills of southern and middle Europe, it is perfectly hardy, 
and being reasonable in price, there is nothing to prevent its 
being very generally grown. 
A very different species is A. aloicles. A native, I believe, of 
Algeria, and not hardy, it requires a cool house or warm frame 
during even mild winters, but it is one of those curious plants 
we like to keep. As its name implies it resembles an Aloe very 
closely; the leaves are fleshy and very pale green in a sparse 
rosette; the flower spikes are axillary and slender, with several 
buff or orange-yellow flowers, each about half an inch aci'oss, 
not at all showy, but extremely interesting on account of the 
bottle-brush-like filaments, the anthers being slightly raised 
above them. The plants grow freely enough in a pot if good 
drainage is afforded and light sandy soil is employed as potting 
compost, but it should be carefully watered during winter, as the 
fleshy leaves are deciduous. 
The Amethyst Hyacinth (Hyacinthus amethystinus).— 
A gem among the bulbous plants now in flower, following 
H. orientalis, and appearing with the Wood Hyacinths, for one 
of which it might easily be mistaken; but look at it carefully, 
and you will find it a little aristocrat, refined and distinct. I 
would not like to be without it and its pure white form for my 
garden. The latter is truly a little beauty, precisely like the type, 
with the exception of the colour of the sweet blossoms. The 
typical form produces spikes of flowers of a clear amethystine 
blue, several of them close together at the top of the spike; the 
perianth is cylindrical, with small slightly re"exed segments. It 
is a native of southern Europe, and has been known in British 
gardens for over a century, yet it is still comparatively rare, but 
not devoid of beauty. In 1825 Sweet gave a figure of it in his 
“ British Flower Garden ” pi. 135, which was taken from plants 
that flowered in the Chelsea Botanic Gardens. Sweet is quite 
right when he says a light sandy soil is congenial to it, with a 
dry bottom, for if the bulbs get sodden with too much moisture 
they will be very liable to rot. He mentions nothing anent the 
white variety, so I presume he did not know of its existence, 
indeed it appears to be extremely scarce; therefore it behoves 
me to take care of a nice tuft of eight bulbs. 
Tulipa retroflexa. —When penning a few notes upon 
Tulips quite recently for the Journal this very handsome species 
was unintentionally omitted, but this evening (May 29th) when 
on my usual round, its beauty struck me more than ever, to say 
nothing of its lasting characters, for the blossoms have been out 
for a long time. It vies with T. Greigii, and forms a most 
desirable companion to that species, but is much taller; the 
stems are quite 15 or 18 inches high, crowned with large canary- 
yellow flowers, the upper third of the perianth divisions being 
reflexed, which gives the flowers a very unique and pretty appear¬ 
ance as they are gently waved amidst a groundwork of Anemone 
fulgens. 
Bose Cuttings. —It was not until the early days of January 
that these were inserted, having been cut some weeks previously 
and simply heeled in They have done really well, a most satis¬ 
factory per-centage have rooted and are making sturdy little 
bushes The position is a warm and open one, and they were 
inserted in small ridges of silver sand and wood ashes mixed in 
equal proportions. As we are experiencing very dry weather 
they have an occasional soaking, which evidently does great 
good. I have only inserted cuttings of H.P.’s. 
Aubrietias. — These are amongst the brightest of spring¬ 
flowering plants. Extremely free-flowering, and in most places 
free growing, they commend themselves to all gardeners. 
When we think of them the prevailing colour is bluish-purple, 
the type of which is A. purpurea, which is about the only true 
species, I suppose; but as a garden flower it is very inferior to 
others—Hendersoni, Campbelli, and violacea for example. These 
are much more attractive, the flowers being larger, richer in 
colour, and more freely produced. Some say Hendersoni and 
Campbelli are synonymous. I will not pretend to decide that, 
but all gardens should have one of them ; and violacea, which is 
certainly distinct from either of them, producing large flowers 
of a rich violet-purple colour. It is a hybrid raised by Herr 
Max Leichtlin of Baden, and this leads me to refer to another 
seedling which I believe he is now distributing, or I am not quite 
certain whether the stock is not sold to one of our enterprising 
hardy plant cultivators. A friend who has seen it informs me 
that the colour is rich crimson, “ There is no mistake in it,” 
says this kind and certainly not exaggerating friend, so I trust 
his verdict is correct, and that we have at last got a crimson 
Aubrietia; another advance may give us a scarlet one, which 
would be an acquisition indeed. 
Daphne rupestris is such a little gem among shrubs that 
I cannot refrain from mentioning it here. So dwarf is it that 
flowers and foliage do not rise more than 2 inches from the 
soil, although the plant has been on the rockery for over four 
years. It spreads a little, but the most that can be said is that 
it grows very slow on its own roots, but the little clusters of 
sweet-smelling flowers look extremely pretty with the narrow 
dark green foliage. It grows rather more rapidly when grafted 
upon D. Mezereum, and flowers more freely. A dwarf standard 
of it is most interesting and very pretty when in flower. A very 
scarce plant, a high figure is asked for it by those possessing a 
stock—Messrs. James Backhouse & Sons of York, for instance, 
which is no doubt due to the slow way in which it can be 
increased. 
The Pigmy Erysimum (E. pumilum), is such a gem, that 
no alpine garden should be without it. The foliage is in dense 
little tufts, from which small racemes of flowers grow up 2 inches 
or so high, sometimes not so much, comparatively large for such 
a diminutive plant, rich lemon yellow; indeed it resembles a 
miniature Wallflower if only the flowers are considered. It 
thrives well in a sunny, well-drained crevice of the rockery, 
and nothing is brighter than a small colony of it at this 
season. 
Marshall’s and the Alpine Wallflowers.— These are 
known under the technical names of Cheiranthus Marshalli and 
C. alpinus; the former a hybrid, and at most a biennial;_ the 
latter a species, and rather more enduring, but capricious. 
There is no plan so good as striking a fresh batch of cuttings 
every season, so as to secure strong young plants for blooming 
every spring. They are gems, the first a rich orange; and 
alpinus, clear lemon-yellow, very dwarf and free, forming a very 
bright display, and can scarcely be better appreciated than when 
growing side by side, or even mixed together in thick colonies 
on a ledge of rich light soil.—T. 
WHY GRAPES CRACK. 
Under this heading Mr. Iggulden has been rather severe on me on 
page 455, and he must not be surprised if I am a little severe on him in 
my reply ; indeed, judging by the tread-on-the-tail-of-my-coat tone of his 
letter, I suspect he would be very much disappointed if I were to answer 
him in “ bated breath and whispered humbleness.” I shall do nothing of 
the kind, but shall knock down the premisses on which he has erected his 
case, and his “ arguments ” will then necessarily fall like a house of cards. 
I do not think Mr. Iggulden would wilfully misquote or set up a theory 
of his own and call it mine with the object of showing its falsity and 
glorifying himself at my expense. I have a better opinion of him than 
