JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
February 9, 1882. ] 
113 
said to be free-growing and bear full and perfect trusses, quite per¬ 
manent in colour. Apparently there will soon be in the hands of 
gardeners good sorts of double Bouvardias in as many colours and 
shades as of the single ones, now so generally raised and admired.— 
(Vic&’s Illustrated Magazine.) 
NOTES FROM MY GARDEN IN 1881.—No. 1. 
As I have found in previous years that the most convenient 
way to give experience during the year in gardening matters 
is to take note of what has come under my own eye in my own 
small garden ; and as this has, I have found from correspondence, 
been valued by many readers, I shall again, without, I hope, weary¬ 
ing them, note those things that have most specially marked the 
past year with myself. My garden is small, as I have frequently 
said, and lays no claim to order in its arrangement nor to pic¬ 
turesqueness in its general appearance, while my small greenhouse 
20 feet by 12 feet would be smiled at by many of our bigger men, 
and yet I think that no one can get more enjoyment out of their 
garden than I do out of mine. I do not boast of a gardener, the 
“ parson’s man ” being a factotum, who has to drive (for I have 
given up driving myself), to attend to cows, pigs, &c., besides 
giving what time he can to the garden ; and this past year a 
great misfortune befell him and me. Just at our busiest time— 
July, when Carnations required laying, Pelargoniums being 
attended to, and sundry other things to be looked after, he was 
attacked with severe illness, which for two months laid him by. 
I was myself much away at the time, and had it not been for the 
zealous exertions of my daughter, whom I have called my head 
gardener, things would have been very much worse. As it was 
Carnations could not be layered, nearly all my Pelargoniums were 
so crippled that they were not worth much, and but for the kind¬ 
ness of friends I should have been in a much worse plight. 
It was not a favourable season, and many plants failed owing at 
one time to the intense heat and drought, and at another to the 
continued downpour of rain ; and although the rainfall was about 
an average for us—28 inches, yet it was very unequally distributed. 
Thus, in the showery month of April there were only eleven days 
on which rain fell, and in July only seven, and in neither month 
was there three-quarters of an inch of rain, while in August, Sep¬ 
tember, and October there were 10 inches, rain falling every 
second day ; and, moreover, along with this dry weather in July 
we had most intense heat, which reached its greatest height about 
the time of the Sheffield Rose Exhibition. These were unfavour¬ 
able conditions for gardening, and hence much of our pleasure 
was spoiled. Its effects will be noted by-and-by when I write 
of special cultures. I shall for the present confine myself to 
the greenhouse. My object of having flowers to cut all through 
the season has been quite accomplished. Camellias were some¬ 
what more scarce with me, for as I had been obliged to sell my 
larger plants owing to their occupying too much room I had to 
supply their place with smaller plants. And here let me say in 
reference to complaints of Camellia buds dropping which have ap¬ 
peared in the Journal lately, that I have not for many years lost 
any of mine, and this I attribute entirely to never placing them out 
of doors. This is a very good practice provided you can be sure 
of their being properly watered ; but it very often happens that 
they are neglected, and as the surface of the pots seems moist it 
is supposed that they do not require any water. Especially is 
this the case in rainy weather. Much of the rain is thrown off 
by the leaves, while what falls on the surface of the earth in 
the pot is looked upon as an indication that no water is required ; 
and hence frequently when they are moved into the house it is 
found that the pots are light and the balls quite dry, or, on the 
other extreme, they are overdosed with water, and if the drainage 
is not perfect the soil becomes soddened. The misfortune is that 
the buds do not fall off immediately, but when they ought to 
begin to swell the mischief is seen. My plan is to place them 
after they have done flowering in my little annexe under the Vine. 
I have often been puzzled as to how the dirt gets on Camellia 
leaves, but I saw this winter very clearly how it happens. In 
going into the house one morning I saw one of the plants with 
every leaf covered with minute drops which had evidently exuded 
from them. One could at once see that any dust floating in the 
air would settle on this moisture, and soon a dirty place be 
formed. Frequent sponging is the only way to keep the plants 
quite clean. 
I have been quite proud of two plahts in my house this year— 
Disa grandiflora and Lapageria rosea. The former of these was in 
a large pan, and it had five flowering stems, one of these holding 
five very fine flowers, After it had done flowering I broke it up, 
and have placed it in two pans. The plants commenced growing 
very well, but all at once I was dismayed to find the leaves turning 
quite black. The centre of the plant seemed healthy, and so I 
hoped for the best. I, however, submitted some of the leaves to 
Mr. Worthington Smith, believing that they bore some analogy to 
the Carnation leaves of which he had written in the Gardeners' 
Chronicle. He very kindly submitted them to microscopic inves¬ 
tigation and pronounced that they had been attacked by nematoids, 
which must have proceeded from the soil; but it was very odd 
that neither the base nor extremity of the leaves was attacked. 
It was about midway, so it was a puzzle to me how they got there. 
However, the point was to get rid of them. I cut off the part 
affected ; and although I must be prepared to find that the plants 
are not so vigorous, yet they appear healthy, and I find young 
growths shooting up in all directions, so that I believe the roots 
must be sound. 
Lapageria rosea was perhaps rather a venture in so small a 
house, but I am glad that I tried it. The plant was one of Mr. 
Howard’s of Southgate. I placed it at the end of the house. It 
sent out one growth, as I have already mentioned, about 12 or 
13 feet in length, and bloomed profusely. The question has been 
hotly debated whether it does best in shade or not. I am inclined 
to think that it is so accommodating that it does equally well in 
either. Mr. Boscawen grows it in the open air and urges many 
to follow his example, and when it succeeds it must be most 
lovely. 
As I have already said, Pelargoniums (Show kinds) were a 
failure with me, not so the very useful section of Zonals ; for 
although they require for winter blooming a higher temperature 
than I care to give, yet I have had throughout the entire year 
a succession of blooms which are excellent for cutting. My 
varieties are mostly those of Pearson’s raising, and I think no 
raiser has been so successful. Especially is this the case in the 
various beautiful shades of pink. The practice of growing annuals 
for winter decoration has come into vogue much lately, and I 
tried both Browallia elata and Schizanthus retusus. The former 
with its delicate blue flowers was quite a success ; the latter I 
have been disappointed with, as it has gone more to leaf than 
flower. Of the herbaceous Salvias I like S. Pitcheri with its 
brilliant blue flowers the best. S. Betheli, although very fine, is 
hardly fit for cut blooms, and I have always an eye to this in 
most of the plants that I grow. 
It may be of interest to say what I have in my small house 
now, and I have not been without a stand of cut flowers for the 
dining table throughout the winter. Roman Hyacinths, Paper 
White Narcissus, double Roman Narcissus, Cyclamens of various 
shades—I have a row of these, seedlings, forming the front row 
on each side of the stage—Azaleas two or three in flower, Chio- 
nodoxa Lucilite with its lovely blue flowers, Lachenalias just 
coming in, a few Japanese Chrysanthemums not yet over, and 
Pelargoniums of various shades of colour. With these and fronds 
of Adiantum we can make up a tolerably good stand of flowers. 
Fuchsias I did not succeed with, as my frame is too hot and light 
for them ; but this very failure served me. During the summer 
months they did nothing, as I could not give them the treatment 
they required, but as soon as the cooler weather set in they com¬ 
menced to flower, and hence during the months of November and 
December I had quite a good supply of bloom from them. 
Such is my record of my little greenhouse ; and I am convinced 
if amateurs would make up their minds to what they want, and 
would not attempt impossibilities—not to try things that require 
more heat than they can give, they would have far more enjoy¬ 
ment out of their houses than many of my acquaintances seem to 
obtain.—D., Deal. 
ROSES FOR SMOKY DISTRICTS. 
In districts where the air is pure many delicate Roses flourish 
which only dwindle and die in the 6moky neighbourhood of towns. 
I have endeavoured to confine my list to those only that I have 
proved will not only endure the smoke but a few noxious vapours 
from chemical works as well. Under these circumstances the 
list is a limited one. I could have extended it considerably by 
adding varieties that would succeed in the neighbourhood of some 
towns. For instance, many others will thrive fairly well on the 
opposite side of Liverpool, near the river Mersey, where trees and 
shrubs grow with greater luxuriance than on this side. My object 
is to avoid giving a doubtful variety, and I hope those who may 
add to the list will bear this in mind. It is a great mistake to 
plant standards in the vicinity of towns, for it is only a waste of 
money and time. Dwarfs are the best whether on the Briar, 
Manetti, or their own roots. The latter I prefer. It will be seen 
from my list that I have included several comparatively new Roses, 
but they appear to succeed the best. Twenty-four Hybrid Perpetuals 
are enumerated, the first twelve being preferred, as they grow most 
luxuriantly, and all are arranged in the order of merit—John 
