114 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ February 7 , 1884. 
correspondent’s trees, Loth inside and out, ere affected in the same 
way.—L. T. 
HAEDY PLANTS IN FLOWEE. 
Christmas Roses. —The numerous species and varieties of 
Helleborus to which these belong are a most interesting and 
useful class of plants, especially H. niger and its varieties, 
which are so valuable on account of their white flowers coming 
in when everything is dull and cheerless outside. There are 
many other varieties of Helleborus which are much less gene¬ 
rally known than II. niger, which, nevertheless, are very desirable 
for the hardy flower garden, withstanding wind and weather, 
and you stand and wonder however they managed to select such 
a dreary time in which to unfold their flowers. 
Helleborus I niger —This protean species is to my mind indis¬ 
pensable in the flower border, and the variety altifolius is 
perhaps as distinct as any, with mottled stems and large flowers 
tinged with pink outside. Very much is written to little purpose 
as to the varieties, for after all we have not been clearly in¬ 
formed which is the typical form, and great efforts have been 
made to establish varieties, until we are left to wonder which are 
in the greatest confusion, the writers or the Hellebores. In the 
case of H. niger there are so many variations that, in my opinion, 
it is impossible to propose with certainty any characteristics for 
a particular variety which cannot be found in varying degree in 
other plants. Yery recently I was looking over a large flat of 
some thousands of plants which were all imported at a low rate 
as H. niger; well, in that batch there is an astonishing amount 
of variation in leaf, form, size, colour, and spotting; indeed, I 
have no doubt in a few years when the plants are established all 
the varieties about which there has been so much writing recently 
might be selected from them. It is ridiculous to assume, after 
examining a limited number of cultivated specimens, that such 
and such a characteristic mark particular varieties ; but when a 
large batch is investigated under natural conditions, such seem¬ 
ingly good points of difference are prejudiced by a numerous 
intermediate series, which makes us inclined to give up making 
many names and get as much variety as we can. Quibbling 
about varieties is unnecessary. Let us grow all we can of these 
most useful winter-flowering plants; and 1 will now add a few 
notes on a few other varieties of Helleborus which now give me 
great pleasure, and I think all growers of hardy flowers should 
have at least a clump of each of these varieties, and some 
enthusiasts would say a great many others. 
H. citrorubens produces stems about a foot high, with from 
one to four flowers on a stem, each about 2 inches across, of 
a deep purple-red colour, slightly drooping. Yery free-flowering 
and vigorous. 
H. olympicus rubra has stems 12 to 18 inches high, freely 
branched with numerous flowers fully 2 inches or more across, 
tinged with reddish-pink outside; three of the sepals are white 
tinged with pink, the other two greenish white. 
II. orientalis multiflorus is very free-flowering, about a foot 
high, the flowers from 2 to 3 inches across, reddish-purple at 
the back; three of the sepals are heavily shaded reddish-purple 
with the middle sea-green; the other two more or less of the 
same green, slightly shaded. 
H. o. purpureus-punctatus is very free, with flowers about 
2 inches across; three of the sepals purple-shaded and the 
middle portion thickly dotted with magenta spots. Some other 
varieties are out, but they aie not so showy, and several others 
will open shortly. 
Crocuses, —The winter-flowering fonns of this genus are 
extremely charming. Yery bright are they in a dreary climate, 
peeping up often through a snowy covering. Several are out 
in flower. 
C '■ Imperatorius grows about 3 inches high; the outer perianth 
divisions are pale buff, longitudinally striped with purple; the 
inner ones pale violet-purple throughout, contrasting prettily 
with the outer ones. This is most easily managed either in 
pots or planted out. I have now a charming pot of it. It 
varies a good deal; sometimes the inner divisions are very pale. 
C. chrysantha is a little gem; the perianth limb is about 
an inch long, globular in form, with a dilation just above the 
tube; both inner and outer divisions of a deep golden yellow 
colour throughout. 
C. Olivieri is similar in colour to the last; but there is no 
swelling at the top of the tube, and the flowers are not so 
rounded in form, the divisions being much narrower. 
C. striatus is also another very fine- yellow-flowered species of 
a deep ground colour, with a few paler longitudinal marks on 
the outer divisions. The flowers of this are large and very 
conspicuous. 
C. minimus produces very small flowers about an inch long' 
'or less, of a pale buff outside striped with purple. A little 
gem, just going over. 
C. reticulatus is about 2 inches high, with long perianth limbs; 
the outer divisions deep orange-yellow striped with broad bands 
of chocolate-brown, making a very striking contrast, while the 
inner ones are all deep yellow. This is also a charming little 
species in clumps. 
C. Sieberi is a variable species; but the form usually met 
with, as far as I know, grows about 3 or 4 inches high, the 
perianth limb being from 1| to 2 inches long; both the outer 
and inner divisions of a clear purple-violet colour; the inner 
ones much broadei’, but rather shorter than the outer ones. It 
is a very showy species; sometimes the flowers are variously 
marked with yellow, when they are particularly striking. 
Merendera sobolifera. —A curious aud pretty little plant, 
with slender underground stolons, narrow oblong leaves and white 
flowers; the perianth divisions are very long and slender, the 
limb being about an inch long, oblong, upon long slender foot¬ 
stalks, which constitute the tube—a clear instance of the common 
origin of ordinary and floral leaves. This species may not be 
showy enough to please everybody, but it isone of those 6trange 
little plants which gratifies the enthusiast. 
Hepaticas. —These are charming old-fashioned favourites, 
enjoying peace and quietness as much as any plant, for it 
is only after remaining a few years undisturbed that good 
specimens can be obtained. In old-fashioned gardens they are 
frequently found in grand state, large clumps crowded with 
flowers. They are now, and will be for some time, flowering- 
freely; the double red, single red, white and blue, as well as 
H. angulosa quite aglow with colour, but the double blue seems 
to be rather later, at least with me such is the case, as not a 
single flower is yet expanded. H. angulosa is a veiy fine 
species, with large sky-blue flowers, much finer than any of the 
H. triloba section, and it is very floriferous. The one known as 
H. americana is a very poor thing, the flowers being small and 
a wretched colour. There is a great diversity in the triloba 
section, some with red and white stamens, and with many shades 
of colour. One variety I grow under the name of H. triloba 
Barlowi is very fine, with a large circular flower of a pa 1 © 
sky-blue colour, in which it resembles H. angulosa, but the 
form of flower is very different. They are all well worth 
growing.—T. 
HARDY FRUIT GARDEN. 
Pruning. —Peaches, Nectarines, and Apricots should he pruned and 
trained now as soon as possible, for the buds are becoming so. prominent 
owing to the mild weather as to render immediate attention to this 
matter imperative. This should bring the winter pruning to a 
close, excepting the Nuts and Filberts, which should remain unpruned 
till pollen is plentiful in the catkins and the female blossom is fertilised. 
It is sometimes advised to prune sooner and to leave a few catkins for 
pollen, but such advice is unsound from the fact that so many catkins 
sometimes perish from excessive wet weather that to leave only a few is to 
risk the loss of the crop. Wood for grafting should be inserted in moist soil 
to be kept plump and fresh, but do not cut back the stocks or branches that 
are to be grafted till the sap is in motion, then cut back and graft at once. 
Old Fruit Trees .—Keep zealous improvers away from old fruit trees, 
and do not hastily remove old spurs or thin out branches. Many a healthy 
old tree is condemned as barren upon which fruit buds were plentiful 
enough in autumn, but when spring comes round hardly a bud has escaped 
the ravages of the bullfinches. Keep down such pests, see that the trees 
are sheltered from cold winds, replace exhausted soil about the roots with 
that which is fresh, sound, and fertile, and you may reasonably expect a 
crop of fruit in every favourable season. 
Profitable Nut Culture .—We happen to have some soil so thin and 
poor that fruit trees barely exist in it. A trial of Nuts and Filberts in it 
affords a curious and important result, pointing unmistakeably to hand¬ 
some profits for a trifling outlay. A dozen plants of each sort were planted 
in it without the addition of any other soil or of manure. Red Filbert 
exists, but marks no appreciable progress. Cosford Nut attains a moderate 
degree of vigour, and bears a proportionate crop of its excellent thin- 
shelled nuts. Kentish Cob makes a sturdy and tolerably vigorous growth, 
and yields fair crops in favourable seasons. Pearson’s Prolific is singularly 
robust and vigorous, most of the trees being fully 30 feet in circumference, 
and they are almost invariably laden with an abundant crop of nuts. 
jfruit-forcing. 
Vines. —Early Houses. —Tying, stopping, and thinning in early houses 
must be followed up, not allowing anything in those respects to get into 
