March 23, 1833. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
281 
This plant is growing in .sandy peat and grit at the base of a 
rockery, where it receives a good supply of moisture in summer. 
This Soldanella has received the name of the “ Blue Moonwort ”— 
a name which shows the inconveniences of some of our “ popular ” 
names. When we find the name “ Moonwort ” applied to a Fern, 
to Lunaria biennis (the Honesty of our gardens), and to this pretty 
Soldanella, it must be admitted that such a system, or want of 
system, has its inconveniences. A patent example of these is 
found by the fact that in a series of articles on “ Flowers and 
Flower Lore,” which appeared in a London magazine in 1879, the 
superstition that the Moonwort possessed the wonderful powers of 
unshoeing horses and opening locks was applied to the Honesty 
instead of the Fern. 
The sight of the beautiful little Houstonia coming into flower 
on the rockery reminds one of how frequently this neat plant is 
lost from want of knowledge of one simple requirement, which is 
by no means only recently discovered, having been known more 
than sixty years ago. This is simple enough, consisting in cutting 
all the blooms off the plant two or three times in the course of the 
season. It sometimes requires a little self-denial to do so, but the 
loss of the flowers for a short time is well repaid by the increase 
of the plant, while without this precaution it would inevitably 
perish. Houstonia coerulea, which is a native of North America, 
was introduced in 1785, and was named in honour of Dr. Houston, 
who resided for several years in the West Indies. It grows to only 
some 4 or 5 inches in height here, and proves quite hardy on a 
rockery facing the south in a pocket filled with sandy peat and 
grit. In the United States it is known by several popular names, 
among these being “Bluets,” which is the one most familiar in 
Britain. “ Innocence,” “ Dwarf Pink,” “ Star of Bethlehem,” and 
“ Forget-me-not ” are likewise applied to it. The typical species 
can only be called blue by a stretch of the imagination, and is, 
curiously enough, less plentiful than the white variety, H. coerulea 
alba, which is, however, extremely pretty, and may well be included 
ia a choice collection, covering itself profusely with its small and 
elegant flowers.— S. Arnott. 
OLEAI.DERS IN SMALL POTS. 
There are some gardens in which Oleanders are well grown, 
but there are many others where- they present a sorry figure, 
receiving but scant attention, blooming indifferently, or not at all. 
Such plants are neither useful nor ornamental, and can furnish 
but very little pleasure. Oleanders are, to my mind, much more 
ornamental and useful in small than in large pots. In the latter 
instance, except under good management, they grow tall and 
become leafless on the lower portion of their stems, which neces¬ 
sitates their being stood where their bare branches can be hidden 
by other plants, often to the serious disadvantage of those under 
notice. Cuttings are so easily rooted that there should be no 
difficulty in keeping up a stock of young plants. In small pots 
they would not attain to such length in stem as to make them 
objectionable and unsightly, and would not be stood in out of the 
way corners where they have no chance to mature their growths, 
without which it is useless to expect a full and perfect blossom 
on plants in large or small pots. 
In a Hampshire garden of which I had charge some years 
since these plants were highly valued, and no difficulty was ex¬ 
perienced or trouble spared in obtaining abundance of flowers in 
their season from plants in pots ranging from 4 inches to 8 inches 
in diameter. A few cuttings were inserted each autuncn, choosing 
tops that were matured, and furnished with a bloom truss in the 
extreme point. They are best rooted in a sandy compost, but they 
answer in wide-necked bottles filled with water, and stood near the 
pipes in a warm house. In the latter case they ought to be potted 
as soon as the roots are about an inch in length. When rooted 
quickly the flower spikes usually develop in the early summer 
months, and for conservatory decoration such small plants are 
particularly effective. By the next autumn three lateral shoots 
will have formed, which if they receive liberal attention in the 
matter of watering and other details will perfect the same number 
of flower trusses for a subsequent display. When well rooted 
they should be transferred from the 4-inch to G-inch pots, and in 
these they may be allowed to remain over the second season. In 
6-inch pots the plants in our case were so top-heavy with the 
weight of the flower clusters that they had to be supported with 
temporary stakes, or by strings attached to the roof-trellis to keep 
them erect. One more shift were given them—namely, into 8-inch 
pots, and after doing good service in these they were thrown 
away, younger ones taking their places. 
In some cases young shoots spring up from the base of the 
original stem, which was taken advantage of in reducing the height 
of the plant by cutting it down and giving the sucker growths full 
play. The flowering tops of the stem cut down furnished the 
needful supply of cuttings for successional plants without in 
any way interfering with others retained unpruned. From such 
practice we were seldom without flowers the whole summer, and 
instead of being kept rigidly staked the points of the shoots were 
allowed to assume their natural pendent character brought about 
by the weight of their own blooms and buds, which on a stage dis¬ 
played their beauty to the fullest degree. 
They were always kept in the greenhouse, this being furnished 
with roller blinds for giving the requisite shade. They often 
require water, especially when in small pets, during the summer 
months. When the pots are full of roots chemical manures may 
be employed for sprinkling on the surface of the soil. 
Turfy loam, enriched with decayed manure and leaf mould, 
with a sprinkling of dry fish manure added, formed the potting 
compost. After the pots were filled with roots they were kept stand¬ 
ing in saucers of water throughout the summer.—W. Strugnele, 
Rood Ashton Gardens. 
DISCUSSION ON PEACHES. 
Alexander Peach Buds Dropping. 
It is a surprise to me to learn from various sources that Early Alex¬ 
ander is a bad one to force. Our early house is always started at the 
end of November, and I have never been troubled with buds dropping ; 
the set is also good. I have some trees now well laden with fruit, which 
is stoning. So highly do I think of this Peach for early work that I 
would plant no other variety. It is six weeks before Royal George and 
Darwin Nectarine, and a month before Early York in ripening in the 
same house. Planted with a house to itself would mean a considerable 
difference in the coal and labour bill, as a month’s firing and labour 
would be saved, and ripe fruit obtained at the same time as other 
varieties started a month earlier. We have Early Alexander and 
Waterloo obtained from two eminent firms about five years ago ; but I 
fail to see any difference between the two, either in wood, flower, foliage, 
or fruit.— S. T. Wright. 
With me this variety drops its buds much too freely when growing 
in a cool Peach house ; but out of doors, established at the foot of a 
south wall, the bud-dropping is unknown. In the open it is a wonder¬ 
fully free bearer. I took last year five dozen fruits from a tree but two 
years planted. In spite of this heavy crop of fruit, the growth last 
season was very free ; the promise of a full fruit crop this year is equally 
good. This Peach appears to be constitutionally weak for growing under 
glass ; but where it is exposed at all times to the open air no trouble is 
experienced in retaining its flower buds.—E. M. 
I HAVE been watching the columns of the Journal of Horticulture 
ever since Mr. Crump first brought the subject up (more than twelve 
months ago) of the Alexander Peach dropping its buds, for some of 
your able correspondents to solve the question ; but up to the present 
no one seemed to have given a definite answer. Here I have three trees 
that have been planted about five years, which drop their buds every 
year. Two years ago I lifted and root-pruned them, to see if that 
would make any difference ; but no, all the best and most promising 
buds drop just as they begin to swell. There are a few stray buds left 
on the terminals and spurs, but not sufficient for half a crop. 
I had come to the conclusion that my trees did not get sufficient sun 
to mature the wood, as the house they are planted in is facing east, so 
that the sun is gone before midday. As I hear of other gardeners that 
grow the Alexander Peach under more favourable conditions losing the 
buds, I have come to a wrong conclusion. In the same house I have 
sixteen trees of the following varieties Hale’s Early, Noblesse, Early 
Beatrice, Princess of Wales, Violette Hative, Bellegarde, Barrington, 
Grosse Mignonne, and Walburton Admirable Peaches ; also Pineapple 
and Elruge Nectarines. None of these drop their buds to any extent, 
and they all have the same treatment. In my opinion Alexander will 
have to get different treatment from what other Peaches do before it 
can be successfully grown. 
I greatly favour Mr. Chinnery’s idea (page 198), March 9th. 
Instead of disbudding pinch the growths, so as to form spurs. Perhajs 
some of your readers have tried the plan already ; if so, I hope they 
will give us their experience. — G. Foster, Glendaragh Gardens, 
Teignmouth. 
NOTEWORTHY OBJECTS AT KEW. 
Saraca indica. 
The most striking object in the way of flowering plants in the Palm 
house is a fine specimen of this leguminous tree about 15 feet in height. 
Unfortunately this plant can be grown satisfactorily only in large 
structures on account of the size it attains, otherwise it would no doubt 
ere this have become a popular inmate of our stoves. The heads of 
rich orange-coloured flowers are borne on very short peduncles along 
the stems of the branches. In general appearance they bear a close 
resemblance to an Ixora. The foliage is pinnate, glabrous above and 
slightly glaucous beneath. This species is a native of India and Java, 
