Anprast 28, 1884. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
185 
and, 88 it flowers earlier than the others, proves useful when few others 
are in flower, 
P. campariuloides .—A very handsome plant for mixed borders. It 
grows from 2 to 3 feet in height, with simple erect stems, terminated 
with a long compound raceme of wheel-shaped dark blue flowers, two 
or three together on short stalks. The leaves are oval, crenated, and 
densely hairy on the under side. It flowers July and August, and is a 
native of the Caucasus. 
P. comosnm .—The most handsome of all the Pbyteumas, as it is also 
the rarest. Perfectly hardy out of doors, it never flowers with the 
same freedom as it does when well grown in pots, although there may be 
an increase in the size of the plant. In the formation of the corolla this 
species is very curious. The divisions, as will be seen in the accompany¬ 
ing figure (fig. 31), are free only in the inflated part at the bottom, the 
upper part being in the form of a tube with an entire mouth. It is a 
native of the Alps of Austria at elevations of 4000 to .5000 feet, and is 
generally found on dry rocky places. From ten to thirty flowers are 
borne in a sessile terminating bunch. They are about an inch long, 
curved, and from pale lilac to dark purple in colour. The lower or 
radical leaves are round or heart-shaped, bluntly crenated ; the upper 
nearly sessile, half embracing the stem. The plant varies greatly from 
different localities, ranging from 3 inches to a foot in height. It should 
be grown in a compost of light loam and small stones, and if planted in 
rockery, a fissure as dry as possible facing south should be chosen. It 
flowers in June and July. 
P. hemisphgericum, humile, and pauciflorum are all very dwarf species 
and well fitted for nooks on the rockery.—N. S. 
LORD SUFFIELD APPLE. 
The past few months varied with occasional showers have just suited 
this fine culinary Apple, and everywhere it has filled out and produced 
very clean handsome fiuits. An East Kent grower has a plantation on 
rising ground which has this year borne about 3200 bushels of fruit, some 
of which measured 1 foot in circumference—not a bad crop, as the fruit 
is making about Ss. per bushel if fine. There is no doubt that this Apple 
requires dry warm soil, and is not suitable for heavy and low-lying land. 
After the severe frosts of 1880 and 1881 many trees perished and 
cankered. The wood, being soft and sappy, was penetrated by the frost; the 
foliage is also subject to mildew. Sulphur apj)lied with a flour-duster is 
a good remedy. There is no doubt that summer-pruning to let in sun 
and air is a great advantage, and planters will do well to plant Lord 
Suffield only in favourable situations. In Kent many thousands have 
been killed by over-manuring, the autumn rains stimulating a fresh 
growth, which is too green and unripe when the winter arrives.—G. B., 
Maidstone. 
BUTTON-HOLE B0UQUP:TS AND COAT FLOWERS. 
On page 167 of last week’s Journal “A Young Scotch Gardener” 
desires particulars concerning the arrangement of flowers in button-hole 
bouquets, and to aid him we extract the following chapter from Annie 
Hassard’s useful little work on “ Floral Decorations” (published by Mac¬ 
millan). The subject is an important one, and one upon which there 
exists much divergence of opinion, therefore other correspondents may 
submit their experience and ideas with advantage. As a general rule 
there is a growing favour for simple combinations of few flowers, and 
the most successful exhibitors adopt this system, carefully avoiding 
violent contrasts of colour. 
“ There are some who seem to think that there is no difference between 
a button-hole bouquet and a c'at flower ; yet there is, and a very great 
difference too, the flower being, as the word signifies, a single bloom, 
whereas a bouquet means a number of flowers arranged according to 
taste. Many opinions have been expressed as to the proper arrangement 
of cut flowers, but, with few exceptions, button-hole bouquets have been 
excluded, probably, because being small, people have imagined that they 
must necessarily be easily made. No combination of flowers, however, 
requires to be put together with more taste, or with a lighter hand, than 
a properly made button-hole bouquet. Flowers selected for this purpose 
should always be good, particularly tho.8e for mounting singly, which 
should, in fact, be specimens of whatever kind is chosen. Ferns I always 
like to see in such bouquets, and also mingled with coat Powers, provided 
these are stove or greenhouse kinds ; but hardy flowers I like best 
mounted with their own foliage alone. Nearly all flowers fcr bouquets of 
any sort should be wired ; indeed many could not be used for that 
purpose at all were they not mounted on wire, as for example, the pips 
of white Hyacinths, which in winter are amongst the most useful flowers 
that we have. There are, how’ever, other ways of mounting flowers 
besides wiring them. Let us take, for example, a Gardenia. The centre 
petals of this flower—indeed, all except the outside row—are very even 
and lovely ; but their beauty is somewhat marred by the outer ones, 
which look twisted. Now, to remedy this evil, and to make them look 
all even, proceed as follows :—Take a common Laurel leaf, and cut a 
piece out of it, about an inch or so square, with a pair of scissors ; trim 
round the corners of this piece, so as to make it almost circular ; then 
cut a cross in the middle, and down through that push the stem of the 
Gardenia, until the flower and the Laurel leaf are pressed tightly together ; 
then hold it upside down, and through the stem, close to the leaf, pass a 
‘ stub ’ wire (which will keep the leaf in its place) ; bend the ends down 
and fasten them together with a little binding wire, so as to fortn a stem. 
The petals of the flower can be then arranged so as to occupy their proper 
places, and, the piece of Laurel leaf being pressed tightly to the flower, 
they will remain wherever they are placed. 
*• There is ako another point to which I would wish to direct atten¬ 
tion, and that is the foundation of the button-hole bouquet, which is 
generally a piece of Maidenhair Fern ; but that is not still enough in 
itself to form a good support for the other flowers. To remedy this, the 
best plan is to back the Fern with a small Camellia leaf, vyired, which 
will keep the whole bouquet firm and in shape. The following arrange¬ 
ment is that generally adopted ;—At the back is a spray of Fern; next, 
some long light flower, so as to form a kind of point or finish at the top ; 
then a Camellia bud or Rose, or some such flower, and then Maidenhair 
Fern and whatever other small flowers are at hand. A bouquet, to look 
well, may consist of a white Camellia bud, some sprays of Lily of the 
Valley, blue Squills, &c., and Maidenhair Fern. I once made one of a 
half-open white Camellia bud, a spray of Hoteia (Spiraea) japonica, and 
a few pips of white Hyacinth, mixed with a little Maidenhair Fern, and 
many remarked that it was very light and elegant. That which took the 
first prize at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Show at Birmingham in 
1872 was composed of a yellow Rose bud associated with blue Forget- 
me-not, a pip of Kalosanthes coccinea, and one of white Bouvardia. I 
have seen one made of Lily of the Valley, a blush-coloured Rose bud, 
and the same shade of Hyacinth pips, with a little Fern worked through 
it; this was a neat-looking little bouquet. Another consisted of a spray 
of Lily of the Valley, a yellow Rose bud, and a few pips of a rich purple 
Cineraria, which came out well against the deep colour of the Mardchal 
Niel bud. I could give descriptions of many others, but think that those 
which I have mentioned will suffice to show the best shape and style in 
which such bouquets should be made. 
“ Ferns used for button-hole, or indeed for any kind of bouquets, 
should be cut off plants that have been grown in a cool house, or that 
have, at all events, been well hardened off; otherwise, though they may 
look bright and fresh when cut, they shrivel up in a few hours, when, of 
course, their beauty is gone. In the case of Maidenhair it is a good plan 
to cut off the very young points, as, with the exception of these, the 
other parts of the frond keep well. Another point that should be re¬ 
membered is always to keep the stems of the bouquets as thin as possible, 
in order that they may easily pass through the coat and correctly fit the 
little glass water-tubes which are now so much worn, iind which keep 
both Ferns and flowers fresh so much longer than they otherwise would 
be. After the bouquets are made many place their stems in water to 
keep them fresh. This I do not think a good plan, as, though the stems 
may be in the water, the Ferns are exposed to the air, and, thus circum¬ 
stanced, they will not keep nearly so long fresh as if they were shut up 
in some air-tight box or drawer. Dealers in bouquets have numbers of 
drawers lined with zinc in which they keep their flowers, mounted or 
otherwise ; those who have shops must have such appliances as these, but 
it is not to be expected that amateurs will be furnished with them. If I 
want to keep a coat flower from one day t) another, I place it 'Q ^ 
common tin box with a tight-fitting lid, such as wafer biscuits are sold 
in, over the bottom of which is laid some wet moss of the kind one gets 
in bundles at the flower shops, or finds in woods or on banks. I place 
