November 17,1881. ] JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
457 
book full of hints and suggestions, immediately commences the 
work of reformation. 
There is always something to be learnt in gardening ; and the 
gardener who is able to visit different establishments is con¬ 
tinually improving his knowledge, and from seeing something 
done better by others with less advantages than he has himself, he 
is induced to try more earnestly than ever to master difficulties. 
The facilities for travelling are very great, but gardeners cannot 
always afford to pay their travelling expenses, but if employers 
would do this occasionally I am sure they would be gainers in 
the end ; and if those who doubted the wisdom of doing this were 
to ask those who had tried the experiment, I think the answer in 
many cases would be, Go and do likewise.— Cantab. 
PELARGONIUM GUILLON MANGILLI. 
Your correspondent in describing his “Run to the West,” 
gives a description of this variety which may mislead some who 
purchase it. In flowers as in other things there is a variety of 
taste and judgment. Allow me to give mine. Early this spring I 
obtained three cuttings of the above Pelargonium, all of which 
struck and did well. They are now fine robust plants bearing from 
eight to ten trusses of bloom, but they have disappointed me. In 
the first place the flower is neither single nor double, but a con¬ 
fused mixture of petals, none of the flowers being of good form ; 
and secondly, the colour is neither one thing nor the other, but 
again a confused mixture, which in my opinion and that of the 
family, who are pretty good judges, is not pleasing. 1 have a 
span-roof house 25 feet long, which from this time forward 
for many weeks will be a blaze of beauty, and fragrant with 
sweetest odours. The plants consist of Pelargoniums, Bouvardias, 
Begonias, Gesneras, Heliotropes, Poinsettias, &c., all grown during 
the summer with a view to blooming when the frost has destroyed 
the outdoor plants. It is very interesting to compare the habit 
and the Sowers of the different Pelargoniums. In point of habit 
Guillon Mangilli is perfect, but in the comparison of flowers he 
is in our judgment nowhere in the race. My principle in the cul¬ 
tivation of flowers has always been “ Little and good.” I have for 
years selected the best and thrown the others av T ay. How bar¬ 
barous I shall appear to Mr. Taylor, if I say that I am almost 
doubtful whether his pet will appear among my favourites next 
year. “Eureka,” eras some call it, “ I’ve Got It,” seems a first- 
rate single white. but I have not proved it long enough to be 
certain.—A Lover of Horticulture. 
A ROCKERY FOR ALPINE PLANTS. 
(Continued from, page 418.) 
We are now to speak of the Sedums, and without wishing to 
be dogmatical I repeat the opinion already expressed, that many 
of them had better be avoided as rockery plants. Those of the 
S. acre and S. rupestre class spread too rapidly ; others, however 
desirable in gardens, are too large for rockeries, and do very v T ell 
in well-drained raised borders. Amongst these are that fine plant 
S. spectabile, also S. Maximowiczii, S. Telephium, and such plants ; 
but many neat and pretty kinds remain, which you will easily 
find out for yourself if you observe their habit when planted out 
on a rockery, and are not misled by their innocent appearance 
when confined in a small pot at the nurseryman’s. I think I must 
give the first place to S. Sieboldii, of which a large plant has for 
a month been the prettiest object of my rockery. Though gene¬ 
rally cultivated as a greenhouse plant—I suppose because it 
flowers so late—it is quite hardy, and is generally in flower 
even here early in September, and goes on through October 
regardless of many degrees of frost. S. pulchellum is another 
favourite, flowering earlier—about July. It grows luxuriantly 
and flowers freely ; but the usual NemeSis of free-flowering awaits 
it, for it dies off almost entirely after flowering, and if not con¬ 
stantly increased by inserting slips, which strike readily any¬ 
where, it is liable to be lost. S. Ewersii is also beautiful, bearing 
bright rose-coloured flowers in the hottest suns of summer. This 
list can be added to with cautious discretion. 
The genus Diantbus supplies some of our prettiest Alpines, of 
which the cultivation requires care. The loam of the rockery 
should be abundantly mixed with coarse grit, to which a little 
peat may be added ; and the plants should rest on ledges of bare 
rock, in the full sun, and on no account be overgrown by coarser 
growth. Raising these plants from cuttings requires practice, 
and they are more easily grown from seed, but beware of trying 
to divide a plant of Dianthus. It is said that D. alpinus, one of 
the prettiest, will not thrive on a slope, but must have a level 
shelf. The gem of the family is D. glacialis, and one of the easiest 
to grow. D. neglectus should wonder why it was so called, for it 
deserves to receive great attention. The natives, D. deltoides an ( ^ 
D. csesius, are well worth their room, though the former is apt t° 
spread untidily unless frequently propagated—a thing necessary 
to be observed with regard to the whole class. Some of the true 
alpine species, as D. carthusianoruin and D. arenarius, have pro- 
vokingly long flowerstalks. Some of the Drabas are so pretty in 
leaf that they are worth growing for that alone ; but being early 
spring flowers, their flowers, though not showy, are acceptable. 
Amongst those which I grow D. aizoides, t). baeotica, and D. gla¬ 
cialis are the best. They grow slowly, and do best when left 
alone. They like to have a surface of fine gravel spread under 
them, and indeed there are few alpine plants which are not better 
for this. It keeps the surface of the soil open and moist, and 
prevents delicate leaves from being drabbled with wet. 
The Campanulas are an indispensable genus of plants, but 
beware of some of them. C. rapunculoides, often found on old 
walls, is perhaps about the worst weed which can be had on a 
rockery ; and C. pumila, from its habit of underground running, 
becomes very troublesome, though it is pretty. But there is one 
running kind which is so rare and so pretty that it has free leave 
to grow where it likes here, and other plants are arranged accord¬ 
ingly : this kind is C. Allioni. Other good sorts are C. garganica, 
C. mural is, and C. isophylla, names under which you will get a 
great variety of plants. They like living amongst the stones on 
the top. Do not neglect the native Harebell and its white variety, 
which is never obtrusive. C. pulla likes the foot of the rockery 
in moist soil ; and in still moister spots, in peat soil mixed with 
sand, by all means grow together the two sweet little natives 
C, hederacea and Anagallis tenella, which I have often found 
wild in the same sod. 
Catalogues of Alpines often contain a long list of Arenaria, 
many of which I have never seen, but I grow several sorts. The 
most remarkable is A. balearica, which runs over several square 
feet of sandstone—I cannot get it to grow on limestone—clinging 
quite close to it, and thriving alike on the horizontal and the 
perpendicular surface. Arenaria verna, with its stars of the purest 
white, wants a great depth of sand for its tap root, and then when 
established does well. A. triflora resembles it much, and is more 
easy to establish. A. purpurascens is also good. 
We must not omit the Veronicas, the best of which, V. rupestris, 
shows a decided preference for limestone over sandstone. It 
wants a large surface, say at least a square yard, to show it off to 
advantage, and in June, when this mass is smothered with sky- 
blue flowers, your friends will come miles to see it ; but it is a 
continuous bloomer, and still at the end of October the plants are 
gay with flowers. Do not confuse this plant with a native moun¬ 
tain species, V. saxatilis, of more compact and upright shrubby 
habit, and very neat. It has a red-flowered variety known as 
V. Grievi. V. pectinata, which also has red flowers and blue 
flowers, is worth growing for its elegant crimped foliage, but the 
flowers are early and abundant. V. glacialis is neat and compact. 
If you like plants with variegated leaves I hardly know a better 
than the variegated form of V. Chamsedrys, which trails 'well 
over stones. Other variegations suitable for rockeries are the 
variegated forms of Arabis lucida, Aubrietia, and Saxifraga urn- 
brosa. All these require to be watched, and any tendency to 
revert to the natural colour checked by nipping off the shoot, or 
it will carry with it all the growth and the variegation will dis¬ 
appear. I recommend also the tiny native V. spicata, quite 
different from the garden form of that name, and seldom growing 
more than 4 inches high. A clustering variety of it, V. spicata 
corymbosa, is one of the most profuse autumn flowerers I know. 
If V. hybrida could be grown as it grows on the rocks at Llan¬ 
dudno and Gloddaeth in Carnarvonshire it would be one of the 
best of rockery plants, but it loses colour in cultivation, though 
on the barren parts of the rocks it is worth its room. The side of 
our rockery facing south-east will of course have far more sun 
than that facing north-west, and I have perhaps not sufficiently 
distinguished between them. Many plants do equally well in both 
aspects. The Alpine and Himalayan Primroses, however, espe¬ 
cially like to have their roots and leaves out of the hot sun, and 
should be planted accordingly. P. denticulata, P. rosea, P. capi- 
tata, P. involucrata, P. viscosa, and others too numerous to men¬ 
tion, should have many snug corners assigned to them. Leaf 
soil mixed deep into the loam helps them to do well. — 
C. Wolley Dod, Edge Hall, 
(To be continued.) 
EUCIIARIS AMAZONICA. 
Amongst choice plants there are few that can excel the Eu- 
charis in beauty and fragrance. The flowers are always welcome. 
It is easily propagated by division, and those in possession of a 
