Jime £3, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
471 
thorough drenching of water. If the weather becomes sunny and 
dry giye water at least once a week, or, if very dry, twice a week. 
As a rule this will not be necessary for long, as new roots are very 
quickly formed. 
In few instances has it been required that water should follow 
that given when the shrub is planted, and our corner is one of the 
driest. But the point to be noted is that water may be given in 
abundance just now with benefit, and if there is any doubt whether 
sufiicient may have been given then to water again will do no 
harm.—B. 
POINTS ABOUT P^EONIES. 
Like Roses, the question has come to be with Pmonies, Which 
shall I choose ? The number of good I’arieties has swollen so 
enormously that a vigorous weeding out has to be practised before 
a collection suitable for a small or medium-sized garden can be 
made sufficiently limited in extent. It is a thousand pities that 
this necessity should force itself upon the grower, for it inevitably 
means the rejection of many varieties that are not only meritorious 
in a certain degree, but even, in some cases, of high quality. From 
another point of view the multiplication of sorts is not to be 
deplored, for the wealth of material it provides gives ample room 
for individual tastes and caprices to have free play. There can 
be no disputing the great value of the Chinese Pseonies in the 
developed forms we now have. They are vigorous growers, the 
majority free bloomers, bearing large, handsome, fragrant flowers 
with a great diversity of hues. These are points no one can afford 
to despise, and if the hackneyed phrase, “ they are not so much 
grown as they ought to be,” may still be applied with justice, it is 
satisfactory to find that a steady advanc 3 in popularity annually 
robs it of a little of its sting. 
Without venturing into comparisons, that in this case would be 
out of place, it is safe to say that the Chinese P^ony in its 
present improved state is fitted to vie even with the Rose, and in 
its adaptability for town gardens it has one point of advantage 
oyer the regal blossom. If the rooting medium be of the right 
kind, and there is enough of it, atmospheric trials will be successfully 
endured. Perhaps it would not be too much to suggest that room 
might be found for groups in both town and country places just as 
it is for Rhododendrons. The robust growth, luxuriant leafage, 
and bold rich masses of colour exactly lend themselves to free 
grouping. We have no wiry, spidery plants to deal with here, 
having flowers that only lend themselves to microscopical inspec¬ 
tion, but ample, generous growers, with a glow of colour about 
them that has a noble effect at a distance. Moreover, the huge 
blooms are borne well up on substantial stems, so that their light 
is not hidden under a bushel, nor are we without something sub¬ 
stantial to hold them by in case cutting is practised. I should much 
like to see well arranged groups of the Chinese Pseonies—long, 
oval-shaped, or semicircular beds of them for example—in many 
flower gardens, and I feel satisfied that their presence would not 
be regretted when they were well established. Lime is as poison to 
Rhododendrons and smoke to Roses, but Paeonies will endure both 
if they have a deep root run, and the significance of this fact 
ought not to be ignored. 
It must not be thought that the plants are like the universal 
pill—good for everything and everywhere, never failing in their 
efficacy. Not a few persons have had to complain about them, 
chiefly on the score of non-flowering. There is often valid ground 
for the objection, for in the number of varieties now offered there 
is no inconsiderable sprinkling of pronounced shy bloomers, and 
till these are weeded out the same complaint is sure to crop up. It 
is well that some of our leading growers are on the alert respecting 
this weakness, and eradicate the offenders without mercy. The 
more unsparing they are the nearer we shall get to the acquisition 
of a number of proved sorts on which absolute reliance may be 
placed, and when this happy stage is reached a more rapid growth 
in popularity may be confidently prognosticated. But there is a 
cultural side to the problem too, and this individual growers must 
solve for themselves. The plants have a decided partiality for a 
deep root run, and in a very shallow medium unsatisfactory growth 
and blooming must be looked for. Wherever the plants are put 
whether singly in mixed borders, in clumps at the front of 
shrulaberies for lighting up dark or bare spaces, or in groups as 
previously suggested—let the ground be dug two spades deep, the 
base thoroughly loosened, and some decayed manure well worked 
in. Merely tickling the soil with a trowel is not enough, nor, as 
the plants are not surface rooters, will mulchings and surface 
applications compensate for shallow planting. W^ith a deep and 
free root run trouble and disappointment with Paeonies need not 
be feared. 
The suggestion as to grouping these handsome plants, in which 
the opinion of others, pro and con, would be of value, was 
supported by an inspection of Me.ssrs. Barr & Son’s large col¬ 
lection at Long Ditton a few days ago. They have about 50,000 
blooms open now, and the large beds of plants are a magnificent 
sight, forming a huge group close to the London and South- 
Western main line. The weeding-out of shy bloomers, referred 
to previously, has been, and still is, vigorously carried out, and 
faith in the deep planting system advocated is strong and well 
founded. The former insures the reliability of the collection, the 
latter gives vigorous healthy growth and splendid flowers. It is 
hard to choose amongst so many, but the following were exception¬ 
ally good—Rubra Triumphans, very lich crimson with purplish 
suffusion, one of the earliest ; Reine des Roses, rich rose, very 
sweet, large, fine and free ; Virginie, silvery rose, fragrant ; 
Madame Lebon, deep rosy cerise, large, handsome and a free 
bloomer ; Madame Furtado, bright rose with silvery suffusion, 
large and sweet ; Madame Calot, a flesh-coloured Hollyhock-like 
bloom, beautiful and fragrant ; Madame Boucharlataine, rich 
purplish crimson, sweet ; Gdndral Bedeau, centre lemon, guard 
petals soft rose, with a charming rosy bud ; Josephine Parmentier, 
silvery rose, very sweet, large, full and handsome ; H M. Stanley, 
an enormous flower, rich rose, fragrant, a dwarf grower ; Faust, 
blush, very large ; Duke of Wellington, broad pure white guard 
florets, centre tinged lemon, sweet, and a very free bloomer \ 
Madame de Vilmorin, flesh-rose, like a Malmaison Carnation, dwarf 
and free ; Prince Pierre Galitzin, pink guard florets, lemon centre, 
very pleasing in the bud and when half-developed ; Souvenir de 
I’Exposition Universelle, bright rose, sweet, worthy of a shorter 
name ; Madame de Vatry, soft rose ; The Queen, rich rose with 
silvery edge, salmon shade in young stage, sweet, well-formed, 
large and handsome ; Eugenie Verdier, pale silvery pink, very full, 
May-scented ; Whitleyi, fine white, very floriferous ; Yirgo Marie, 
pure white, very broad petals ; Prince Prosper, purplish crimson, 
very rich and glowing ; Taglioni, rose, a wonderfully free 
bloomer ; and Prince Imperial, velvety crimson with purplish 
suffusion, late. 
That most of these are of French origin their names will show 
only too well, but despite amenities of pronunciation, we owe a 
great deal to our neighbours for what they have done with Chinese 
PiEonies. Having effected so little in crossing, it behoves us the 
more to show our skill in utilisation.—W. P. W. 
PANSIES AT TAM WORTH. 
I HAD heard repeatedly of Mr. Wm. Sydenham being a culti¬ 
vator of Pansies on an extensive scale, and I determined on a 
visit in order to see what really was being done by him, and as 
one of the oldest cultivators in the kingdom I was prepared to 
criticise his method of culture if not as I might think up to the 
mark. Tamworth is a place of considerable historical interest, 
and lies about half way betwixt Birmingham and Derby on the 
Midland railway. Mr. Sydenham has at his command a large 
sheltered garden where Pansies are grown—well, I was going to 
say, by the acre ; but some extent of the operations carried on 
there may be gleaned from the fact that close upon, if not quite, 
two hundred thousand plants were to be seen there in the winter. 
The system of cultivation is simple enough. A large number 
of garden frames are used for winter protection, and these are 
first placed upon the areas of ground prepared for them, manure 
and leaf soil are worked in, and the plants find their winter 
quarters there. Three-fourths of the plants have been sent away 
to all parts, and there are still Pansies everywhere, one bid alone 
on the lawn containing one thousand plants of Duchess of Port¬ 
land. There are a large quantity of nursery beds C( ntaining 
strong plants for immediate orders, the demand continuing into 
July, and many thousands are planted out by themselves to jield 
seed for sale. 
His collection of stock plants, not for sale, are in these frames, 
which are shallow, the sides giving protection fiom strong winds, 
and the plants are extra strong and in vigorous health, many of the 
flowers being of great size. Shortly thousands of exhibition b'ooms 
of fine quality can be had daily. Mr Sydenham uses as a stimu¬ 
lant what he calls his Pansy manure, and the plants certainly show 
its value, for I never saw so grand a lot of plants, and I say this 
after a long life in Pansy work. 
I did not ask how many varieties were grown, but he has a 
large number of new kinds under trial, many of which will be 
shortly sent out to customers. Amongst the new onss I think from 
what I saw of them in the closing days of May I may speak highly 
of the following :—Lord Tennyson, a grand flower from the north ; 
Annie Garrett, a seedling from Mrs. Hugh Weir, distinct and fine ; 
Harriet Smith ; The Lady, a seedling from Allan Ashcroft ; 
Tamworth Hero, a rich dark variety ; Miss Benion, style of Miss 
French and a better grower ; Madame Adelina Patti, very distinct ; 
