40i 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ May 21, 1891. 
Eoyal Horticultural Society and the Eoyal Botanic Society, as two 
lirst-class certificates have been awarded for it. The blooms are of good 
form and substance, very pleasing in the bud stage, when the colo ir is a 
rosy fawn or buff, becoming more yellow as they expand. The plant is 
vigorous, and has hesn found to be hardy, while it flowers as freely as 
could be wished by the most ardent Eose lover. It is, in fact, a good 
and useful variety. 
Eose Saerano. 
For providing an early supply of Eose blooms from the open perhaps 
there is no variety equal to Safrano. From a plant growing at the base 
of a south wall we cut our first blooms on April 28th, which must 
be considered somewhat early when the backward spring is taken into 
account. This Eose is so satisfactory out of doors that from the present 
time until the end of October we shall hardly ever be without blooms. 
In the bud it is charming for buttonhole bouquets. The apricot tinge 
it carries is always admired, and wdien full blown, although it may 
show an “eye,” it is first-rate for vase decoration. Three or four 
flowers of it, together with three of its copper-coloured leaves, are seen 
to great advantage.—E. 
Eose Gloire de Dijon. 
The flowering season of this good old variety may be considerably 
lengthened if some plants can be grown in a northern aspect; for 
instance, those that are trained at the north side of a span-roofed 
house which runs east and west will continue to flower long after the 
plants in the same house on the south side have finished. At the end of 
April and early in May, when the sun gains power, blooms of this 
variety do not last very long, which develop in the full glare of the 
sun ; but on the north side the case is different, and this is what 
renders it so useful. With a few plants blooms of this best of Tea 
Eoses may be had from Christmas until the midd e of May without the 
employment of much fire heat, so regularly do plants flower which are 
accustomed to do so at the time named year after year. The roots do 
not require much space, but should be well supplied with liquid manure 
when growing freely, and the foliage should be kept clear of green fly 
and mildew by the usual remedies. The finest blooms are the produce 
of those shoots which are freely cut back after flowering once in about 
three years, but they are not produced in such numbers as when the 
branches are adowed to extend for double that time. It is rather 
surprising what various shades colour one plant will give ; beside the 
natural colour there are shades of pale extra rich orange, and many are 
tinged with red.—S. 
EA.KLY TULIPS. 
Although the majority of the Tulips grown in pots are now 
past there are many blooming brightly in the garden. I speak of 
the early Dutch varieties ; those of the late or florists’ section are 
coming in. Most gardeners are aware, but many amateurs are not, 
that the Tulips loved of speciahsts are quite different to the 
flowers seen in greenhouses and gardens in March and April. 
The breeders, bizarres, bybloemens and roses of the florists, 
are absorbing in interest and marvellous in beauty, and were good 
varieties plentiful enough to be purchasable at a reasonable cost 
there is little doubt that they would be largely grown and become 
firmly established in popular favour. Unfortunately they are 
extremely scarce, and the price is consequently prohibitive to the 
great majority of bulb lovers. It is well that in the early Dutch 
section we have many Tulips which do much to mitigate the 
regret experienced in finding the others out of reach. They are 
different in form and their attractions are not enough to satisfy 
the eyes of some of those educated up to the higher forms, just as 
the Alpine and even self Auriculas are classed as inferior to the 
edged flowers, but to those who find pleasure in every phase of 
beauty there is much enjoyment to be derived from a collection of 
the simple Dutch forms. The demand for them is growing, and it 
will probably continue to increase. 
Last year there was disappointment in many quarters owing to 
the Tulips flowering somewhat erratically. Several market 
growers lost heavily through large batches failing to bloom, and in 
private establishments, although the loss was not felt in the 
same way, a similar result was complained of. This year things 
have happily ruled differently, and with one or two exceptions the 
flowering appears to have been entirely satisfactory. There have 
been two or three failures in my own collection of a somewhat 
peculiar description, two of them, as might be expected, amongst 
the choice varieties. The flower stem commenced to push up, but 
before rising char of the leaves the blooms were seen to be 
abortive, and instead of bold buds they were small, grey, and 
withered. This is worse than no show of bloom at all, which 
honestly pnts you out of your misery at once instead of nurturing 
hopes only to blight them in the hour of anticipated fulfilment 
The cause of the failure has never been explained to me and is not 
at once apparent, for it is associated with healthy and vigorous 
leaf growth in each case. It may arise from immaturity of the 
bulbs, which only manifests itself as the crucial time of flower and 
seed production approaches, or it may be due to a check consequent 
on a lack of water, although the same care was exercised ^ in their 
case as in that of the varieties which bloomed in a satisfactory 
manner. 
Amongst the best of the single varieties I should class the 
following :—Ophir d’Or is rich, clear yellow, with a very large: 
well-formed flower ; a fine sort that is also grown under the name 
of Mon Tresor on the Continent. Joost Van Vondel is a good 
Tulip and a fine bedder, as may have been noted in the public 
parks. It is crimson, feathered with white, the flower large, and 
the habit bold and vigorous. The white variety is, perhaps, the 
best of its colour, and an indispensable exhibition Tulip. It may 
be taken as the representative show white, as Ophir d’Or is th& 
representative yellow. Queen of the Netherlands, single blush,, 
the variety for which Messrs. M. Van Waveren & Sons received 
honours at the last great Haarlem Show, has been the queen of the- 
collec'ion, though hardly equal in form to the lovely flowers seen 
in Holland. It is well worth growing, but I understand th& 
growers, who are wholesale dealers only, have not yet commenced 
to distribute their stock to the retail trade. Nelly is a pure white,, 
closely approaching Joost Van Vondel in excellence, and much 
superior to the White Pottebakker, which amateurs still cling to> 
Both Silver and Golden Standard, the one with white, the other 
with yellow flakes or featherings, are charming flowers, and evens 
more exquisitely marked are the corresponding varieties of Bride 
of Haarlem, which are chaste, delicate, and without the least 
suspicion of gaudiness. Cottage Maid, rosy pink, is still much 
used in beds ; for pots Rose Gris-de-lin is a little finer, and 
resembles it in hue. Cerise Gris-de-lin, though not particularly 
pleasing in colour, is noteworthy for bold habit and well fornied 
flowers. L’lmmaculee is another good pure white. Proserpine 
remains one of the most useful of the early Tulips. It is one of 
the first to bloom, the habit is admirable, the flowers large, and the- 
colour a deep silky rose. Adelaine, rosy crimson, is not much 
grown, but it is an excellent Tulip, dwarf in growth, the flowers 
borne well above the foliage, admirable in form, and of a clear 
decided colour. It is well worth making a note of. Keizers 
Kroon, with its huge flowers of crimson and yellow, borne on long 
stout stems, is a familiar Tulip both in pots and in beds. Roi 
Pepin is little known, but attractive. As I have previously noticed 
it there have been a few flakes of red on a white ground, but this 
year the flakings have asserted themselves more boldly and half 
covered the flower. These variations are interesting as a mild; 
form of the remarkable phenomenon exhibited by the florists’^ 
Tulips in their departure from the breeder to the rectified stage.. 
Eleanora is another splendid Tulip that one rarely meets with^ 
indeed is not to be found in many catalogues. The habit is 
remarkably good, the flowers boldly elevated on substantial stem.®,, 
well formed, large in size, and of a telling colour—reddish violet. 
Lac Van Rhyn is distinct both in flower and foliage, the former 
being rose with a white edge, and the leaves also edged with silvery 
white. Rouge Luisant (“ shining red ”) well merits its name, the 
rosy red flowers having quite a glistening appearance. Vermilion 
Brilliant may be selected as the best scarlet, and it is most effective- 
in colour, standing out boldly in a mixed collection, and forming a 
brilliant bed. Van der Neer, purple, and Wouwermans, claret, are 
cheap varieties, worth noting from their large flowers, distinct 
colours, and good habit. Amongst the failures are the true scarlet 
Pottebakker, a rarity which I have never yet seen in bloom, and 
which has again perversely baffled me ; and Pink Beauty, another 
variety singled out for special honours at Haarlem, and with which 
I anticipated filling the hearts of sundry bulb-loving friends with 
envious admiration. 
From the painful reflections accompanying a recollection of 
these disappointments let me pass to some meritorious doubles- 
And first, since it caught my eye and arrested my steps in passing 
through the garden before commencing these notes, I may mention. 
Emmeline, a lovely flower which a friend in Holland has earned' 
my undying gratitude by sending me. I do not see it in the one or 
two ca<^alogues I have by me, and it may not be in general cultiva¬ 
tion. The flower is of medium size and the colour an exquisite 
shade of what is neither pink, rose, red, nor scarlet, but something 
between them that I hardly know how to specify. Anyway it is- 
charming to a degree, and the variety has proved good both in pots- 
and out of doors. Then there comes Raphael, vevy pale rose, a 
large full flower of recognised exhibition merit, and still finer 
perhaps is Salvator Rosa, a grand rose Tulip. Queen of the 
Netherlands, double, and Rose Blanche are useful whites. 
Tournesol and Gloria Solis, both red and white, closely resemble 
each other, but finer by far than either of them and one of the best 
double Tulips in cultivation is the yellow variety of the former, a. 
very full flower of great size and pleasing in colour. Another 
splendid double not much grown is Soleil d’Or, yellow with orange 
shading, the latter making the flower very distinct. It is larger- 
well formed, and the habit of the plant is all that can be desirecL 
