February 2, 1882.] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 93 
notwithstanding these drawbacks, it is estimated that over 17,000 
persons visited the Show.” 
AN AMATEUR’S HOLIDAY. 
(Continued from page 35.) 
THE PINKHILL NURSERIES. 
With Pinkhill, nearly two miles west from Edinburgh, is 
associated much of the pleasure I have derived from flowers and 
their culture. My first acquaintance with it, or rather with the 
name of the firm, carries me back to boyhood. Its familiar slopes 
were a frequent resort when the restrictions of city life precluded 
the practice of what has always been a congenial recreation, and 
there was imbibed and fostered a partiality for several varieties 
of flowers for which it enjoys a well-merited and wide-spread 
fame. What name is better known to Scottish florists, indeed to 
floral circles everywhere, than that of the genial veteran, Mr. 
John Downie, still so absorbed in the ardent and successful 
pursuit of his profession ? I but express the sentiments of all 
who have the honour of knowing him, in hoping that he may yet 
long be spared to preside with his characteristic unassuming 
manner over his famous establishment, and to add to the long list 
of triumphs that have placed the firm of Downie & Laird in the 
van of floriculture. The urbanity of the worthy chief seems to 
permeate the whole staff, and this renders a visit to the various 
departments doubly gratifying. A half-hour’s talk with him or 
his able lieutenants, Messrs. George Goodall and Taylor, among 
the objects to which they are so devoted is worth more than the 
perusal of lengthy treatises, and no more capable and willing 
instructors could anywhere be found. 
At any season a visitor to the Royal Winter Garden at West 
Coates will find much to interest him, and in that extensive and 
commodious structure and the numerous adjoining houses vast 
stores of many floral treasures, of the value and quality of which 
the name of the house is a sufficient guarantee. At a recent 
visit I was again conducted over these by the experienced and 
obliging Superintendent, Mr. Glendinning, who now so well 
occupies the place of the late Mr. McKeith. The extensive 
assortment of well-set Azaleas and Camellias was a striking 
feature, with a very large and comprehensive collection of choice 
Pelargoniums in fine healthy batches at various stages of growth, 
Verbenas, Ferns, and thousands of other plants that I cannot 
enumerate. I was last autumn shown a Coleus of great beauty 
about to be sent out, named Lady Macdonald, a worthy successor 
to Ethel Baxter and the others last issued by this firm. I was 
delighted with a number of Gloxinias with flowers of surprising 
size, beauty, and texture. About half a dozen of these had been 
selected, and among them Alice Cooke, Countess of Crawford, 
and the Hon. Mrs. Walker were deemed of great excellence, and 
will with others be offered this season. 
But I would speak of some specialities of Pinkhill which to me 
are more attractive through predilection and better acquaintance. 
Almost instinctively I found my way to the Phloxes. No one 
has done more to aid in perfecting these than Mr. Downie. From 
the enormous number of seedlings raised annually, an eye and a 
taste less experienced than his would now be at a loss what to 
select as deserving a place with the numerous grand varieties he 
has already raised. One object towards which he has been work¬ 
ing is a dwarfer habit, and, in some of the new early Phloxes 
especially, this has been attained, while the heads almost equal in 
size those of the decussata section. For my own guidance and 
the assistance of friends who take an interest in these delightful 
flowers I noted the names of a few raised in 1880, which will be 
6ent out this spring. Among those of the early class Miss Mima, 
Mrs. Dalrymple, James Ross, and in the late-flowering section 
Dr. Hornby, Francis Kinghorn, and Mrs. S. Plummer, will with 
others be found decided acquisitions. 
Still more conspicuous from their bright colours were the great 
beds of Pentstemons, one of the chief features of the nursery. 
The display of these annually has without exaggeration been 
styled “ one of the grandest sights of the floral world.” In an 
enormous batch of seedlings that had already undergone keen 
scrutiny about a dozen were marked as likely to come up to the 
Pinkhill standard. These like the Phloxes are proved for two 
years. I saw the large bed of those selected in 1880, now to be 
brought into commerce. In their compact dwarf habit, their 
erect Gloxinia-shaped tubes, and their profusion of bloom, another 
decided advance has been made towards those points to which 
Mr. Downie has been working. Among them Andrew Sinclair. 
Henry Cannell, James Black, and Osgood McKenzie will be found 
of great merit. 
I may here remark that, as far as I have seen, the Pentstemon 
is not grown in our Scottish gardens to the extent it deserves. 
It is of easy cultivation, and no flowers respond more gratefully 
to, or better requite, a little attention. It may be easily raised 
from seed, or, better still, a handful of cuttings can be obtained 
from anyone having a named collection. In a cottager's garden 
adjoining my own a bed of these, propagated and tended entirely 
by himself after his day’s labour, attracted last year even more 
attention than his Dahlias and Gladioli. It would have delighted 
Mr. Downie himself, whose productions they originally were, and 
I hope some at least of those who admired them so much have 
resolved to introduce Pentstemons into their gardens. 
Nowhere else have I found such justice done to the Mimulus 
as at Pinkhill. Those who have not seen it grown as it is there, 
in large quantities, of a strain to the perfecting of which special 
attention has been paid for years, can have any conception of the 
diversified beauty and charming effect of the extensive beds. 
The half dozen selected from many hundreds for admission to 
this year’s catalogue will be found to be of the highest excellence. 
The Antirrhinum is another flower to which much attention is 
given. The large named collection embraces many beauties in 
seifs and the mottled and striped varieties, while of late years 
those with light or white tubes and coloured mouths and lips 
have been much improved. These last possess the recommenda¬ 
tion of not running or sporting, to which the pencilled and mixed 
sorts are so much addicted. Fine additions will be found in 
Cornet, Defiance, and Sparkler. 
Any notice of Pinkhill would be incomplete without a reference 
to its* Pansies and Violas, with the improvement of which the 
name of Mr. Downie is indissolubly connected. The efforts which 
have already resulted in such signal success are being exerted 
with unrelaxed vigour, and the extent of these can only be 
realised by a visit to the nursery. The following novelties in 
Pansies are of the very highest merit—Andrew Fox, dark self ; 
Maggie and Novar, white grounds ; William Harrey and Lindean, 
yellow grounds ; Mrs. Paterson, Mrs. Forrester, and Mrs. James 
Cocker, fancy varieties. 
Pinkhill has long been noted for its Dahlias. Besides the large 
collection of the Show and Fancy sorts, my attention was drawn 
to numerous varieties of the single Dahlia, specimens of which 
were exhibited at the Edinburgh Show in September last. An 
extensive assortment embraced the best of the French Gladioli, 
well grown, and more generally in bloom than any I had met 
with. 
I must not forget the greenhouse Rhododendrons, which have long 
been a speciality here. Of one specimen of the Duchess of Edin¬ 
burgh, in splendid flower, Mr. Downie seemed especially proud. 
This, in his own estimation, and on the authority of an eminent 
English grower of these plants who had just seen it, is probably 
the finest of the variety in the country. A smaller example of 
the Duchess of Connaught, of a darker shade, was also in bloom 
and extremelv beautiful. More recently a plant of R. Falconerii, 
nearly 8 feet‘in height, showed about thirty fine promising buds. 
The sight of this house alone in a few months would well repay a 
visit to Pinkhill. 
I must now draw these sketches to a close. As an amateur I 
have avoided dwelling on such subjects as would have been more 
worthily treated by a more highly tutored hand. In concluding 
I desire to express my appreciation of the unbounded kindness 
accorded to me everywhere, and to renew my grateful thanks to 
all those who have contributed so greatly to the pleasure of my 
holiday tour.— A Northern Amateur. 
Paulownia imperialis in America.— “ In Tennesee there is 
hardly any tree with more attractive qualities where it has a good 
chance to display its peculiarities. It was introduced about thirty 
years ago. The young trees grow rapidly, with wide-spreading 
branches, with leaves as large as a lady s parasol, and leaf-stem 
nearly 20 inches long, making a dense shade. At the age of four or 
five years it commences flowering, and after that it attracts the 
attention of every passer-by. The flowers grow on spikes about 
2 feet long; flowers trumpet-shaped, exceedingly fragrant, perfum¬ 
ing the air all around ; light purple in colour, and appear before the 
leaves, making the tree a perfect bank of purple. And it is among 
the earliest of spring. The flowers are followed by seed pods striped 
like a cotton boll or a guinea egg, and remain all the rest of the 
season, swaying with every breeze, and in winter produce a 
peculiar sound, like rattling of hail. The new flower buds in the 
meantime shoot upwards through the solid canopy of leaves, and are 
ornamental through the winter.”—( Vick's Illustrated Magazine.) 
Hyacinths and Small Pots. —In a general way I believe there 
is economy in employing small pots. Here is an instance. It was 
