374 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 19, 1892. 
required no care, and did not get it, and they were always crowded 
with flowers. I believe one secret was that they were let alone, for 
I believe that they resent being interfered with. 
Gnaphalium leontopodium.—This well-known plant, which has 
really nothing very remarkable about it, has had a curious and 
almost unique history. I say nothing really remarkable. Its 
flowers are utterly insignificant, and the soft woolly foliage is 
shared by many other plants, such as some of the Mulleins, 
Stachys lanata, &c. Yet well nigh every tourist who visits 
Switzerland or the Tyrol raves about it, wants to get it, and carry 
it off home. It grows very often in places very difficult to reach, 
so much so that lives have been lost in endeavouring to procure it 
for some exacting tourist, who, if he had only waited until he 
reached Geneva, might have procured at the Jardin d’Acclimatation 
as many plants as he liked ; or if he had waited until he came 
home could have obtained it from any of our dealers in herbaceous 
plants. "Well, people are surprised when they see the Edelweiss 
growing on a rockery, but, iu truth, it is a very easily grown plant, 
and readily obtained from seed, and as it is deciduous it does not 
suffer so much from our winters as many Alpine plants do. I do not 
think that in the open it quite attains the dazzling whiteness which 
gives it such a charm. 
Heuchera sanguinea is a plant which I cannot understand. I 
have had it for some years. It grows well with me and flowers, 
but not freely ; the plant may throw up three or four spikes of 
bloom, but that is all, whereas I read of it as having sheaves of 
flowers and the whole plant ablaze. I cannot get it to do this. It 
is, however, a most desirable plant, and its foliage is prettily 
marked, and whether for the rockery or borders ought not to be 
omitted. 
Hutchinsia alpina.—“ That ! Why there are heaps of our 
native weeds as pretty as that,” will be the greeting that this 
little pure white-flowered plant will be hailed with when seen on 
the rockery. Perhaps so, but withal it is a plant well worthy of its 
place. It is one of those which make an excellent carpet for other 
things, which push their way through it, and this is a valuable 
point, for the rockery looks so much better where the surface is 
covered, and with such plauts as this, also Mentha incana, Herniaria 
glabra, and Arenaria balearica, this can be effected. Many of the 
Saxifragas will do the same, but they are too ready to assert 
themselves, and after a time become a nuisance instead of a 
help. 
The Hypericums, or St. John’s Worts, have many charming 
plants among them, but the only one I have used on my rockery 
is repens, the others being of somewhat too large a growth. 
Iris.—Of this large and beautiful family, comprising so many 
sections and flowers of such diversified colours, there are only a 
very few that I have attempted to grow on the rockery. There 
is the lovely Iris reticulata, so charming in its deep blue, purple, and 
orange blotch, and its delicious Violet scent, which has yet another 
claim on us, for it is one of the early spring flowers. Like many 
of the family it loves a damp spot, and when left undisturbed it 
readily increases, and is very acceptable in March and April. Iris 
pumila, dwarf-growing, with various shades of blue, is also well 
suited for the rockery, and so is Olbiensis. I have in vain tried to 
get that quaint looking flower Iris iberica to do with me. A good 
deal of controversy has lately been waged around this plant, and 
perhaps if one were to try the baking process, drying them quite 
off and then replanting in the autumn, covering them during the 
heavy rains it might succeed ; but the only time when I have 
been able to flower this or Iris susiana is when one secures 
imported bulbs, which have more or less been subject to this 
process. An objection is sometimes made to employing these, 
or indeed any other bulbs, on the rockery, because when they die 
down they leave bare and unsightly gaps ; but where carpeting 
plants are employed this objection is done away with. Thus Iris 
reticulata will push its way up through some of the tufted Saxi¬ 
frages, and when the grass dies down this remains to give freshness 
to the place formerly occupied by them. 
Lewisia rediviva is another of those plants which have baffied 
me, and I am not sorry to find that I am not alone in this. It is a 
quaint little plant from North America, a near relative of the 
Mesembryanthemum, with a large lilac flower, which almost covers 
the plant. It is, I believe, one of these which absolutely require 
protection, not from frost, but from drenching rains, and is treated 
to a warm sunny spot on the rockery. I have tried it several 
times, but found very little of the rediviva about it ; it has bloomed 
with me, but then it perished. I may try it again ; but as I am 
not fired with a noble ambition to do difficult things, and there are 
so many beautiful rock plants which display their charms without 
all this trouble and disappointment, I shall not be very grieved if 
it do not succeed.—D., Deal. 
(To be continued.) 
Events op the Week. —On May the 25th and 26th the Royal 
Horticultural Society will hold their great Show in the gardens of the 
Inner Temple. A sale of Cypripedium Chamberlainianum will take 
place at Protheroe & Morris’s Rooms on the 20th, by order of Messrs* 
Sander & Co. 
- The Weather in London.—R ain fell during the night of the 
20 th-21st, but not heavily, and although the weather remained dull and 
threatening on the 21st and 22nd there was nothing beyond a few very 
light showers, a heavy south-west wind blowing. Rain is badly wanted 
in the South, but at the time of going to press the barometer is rising, 
and there is a promise of dry weather. 
- The Temple Show. —The Fruit, Floral, and Orchid Com¬ 
mittees of the Royal Horticultural Society will assemble at the Inner 
Temple Gardens on Wednesday, May 25th, at 11 o’clock precisely. At 
12.30 P.M. the Exhibition v/ill be formally opened by the President of 
the Society, Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart., M.P., and will close the 
following day (Thursday) at 8 p.m. 
- Sir Trevor Lawrence. —The President of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society has informed his Reigate constituents that he will not 
seek re-election to the next Parliament. We regret that ill health is 
the cause. 
- Audiences as Judges. — The Widcombe Institute Horti¬ 
cultural Club have established a system of judgment by audiences. At 
their last monthly meeting three essays on Tomatoes were read by 
Mr. Horseman, and a prize of 10s. 6d. awarded to that by Mr. Trimby, 
which was selected as the best by the audience. 
- Messrs. Laing & Sons at Earl’s Court. —The prominent 
position held by Messrs. Laing & Sons’ contributions at the Interna¬ 
tional Horticultural Exhibition was drawn attention to last week. 
Besides a silver medal for their beautiful miscellaneous groups they 
received first-class certificates for Anthurium Andreanum atro-sangui- 
neum, Streptocarpus Watsoni, Croton Reidi, Dracaena Bartletti, D. 
australis variegata Laingi, and Oncidium sarcodes punctatissima. 
- Air Roots on Vines. —In my early vinery all the rods are 
covered with roots 1 foot long. I attribute the cause to atmospheric 
moisture. The vinery is a three-quarter span, facing west, therefore 
does not have sun until the afternoon, and we are unable to admit air 
during early growth. As the roots are so unsightly, I shall be 
obliged if some of your readers will express their opinion on the 
subject, and say if they think that cutting off the roots would injure 
the Vines.— Inquirer. 
- Tea and Tea-making. —The Tea garden and provision for 
illustrating the method of preparation that is adopted for Tea seems 
likely to form one of the most popular features of the International 
Horticultural Exhibition, It is expected that everything will be in 
working order by the 27th. Young shoots containing expanded leaves 
and buds are picked and placed in a withering room. After the sap has 
been extracted they are put in a heap to ferment, when they assume a 
coppery hue, and after that are dried on a charcoal fire for about three 
hours. The leaves become very brittle, the developed ones becoming 
black, and the buds, in the best quality Teas, of a golden hue. The Tea 
is then ready for use. The plants are cut back in the autumn, the 
object being to secure abundance of side shoots. 
-Extension of Tree Planting.—T he last meeting of the 
winter series of the Alcester Social Literary Union took place in the 
Corn Exchange, Alcester, Mr. S. A. Gothard presiding. Mr. Christie of 
Ragley Gardens gave his paper on “ Tree Planting: Why, Where, and 
How,” dealing with his subject in a highly interesting and instructive 
manner, pointing out that at the present time there were eight million 
acres of land in the United Kingdom devoid of trees, and that if tree 
culture was followed up on these acres it would give employment to 
40,000 people, in addition to increasing the wealth of the country. The 
paper was listened to with great attention and enjoyment by the 
members present, and on its termination a hearty vote of thanks was 
given to Mr. Christie for the useful information he had imparted. 
