142 
r JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ August 13, 1885. 
garden. Serono Watson says in his “ Californian Flora ” that 
it varies from rich yellow to nearly white. Now it so happens 
that 1 have bulbs collected from the San Diego district of Cali¬ 
fornia which are now in flower with the type, and inside the 
perianth is quite white, while the back of each division is marked 
with a reddish-brown midrib. It appears to be rather stronger 
growing than the type, with great umbels of white star-like 
flowers, and mixed with the latter it forms an exceedingly 
beautiful and chaste picture, which I would not be without for 
a great deal; indeed from what I can learn I have quite a 
treasure in thus obtaining such a good albino of “ Pretty Face.” 
My bulbs thrive remarkably well in a warm position, well drained, 
in light rich soil near the city of Chester, but I took care when 
planting to surround them with sand and ashes from burnt 
garden refuse, and evidently they thoroughly enjoy such treat¬ 
ment. 
Broditea laxa. —This is another very handsome species, 
producing slender many-flowered stems, which vary greatly in 
height. Those flowering with me are about a foot high; the 
perianth is tubular bell-shaped, an inch and a half long, of a 
rich tyrian purple, but the colour varies. I have seen it much 
paler, indeed a dull purple or pale blue ; it also has its albino 
form, which is, however, very scarce. I have bulbs but not yet 
strong enough to flower. A. Bridgesi is very near B laxa, but 
the perianth is not so long, and there are points of difference in 
the stipe supporting the ovary and the filaments, but these are 
points which the ordinary gai'dener cares little about, suffice it if 
any plant is superficially distinct. These both thrive under the 
same conditions as B. ixioides. 
Pink Tom Thumb Scarlet. — About a dozen years since 
Messrs. Yeitch & Sons exhibited this bright little gem at the 
Richmond Flower Show, and I was very much struck with its 
distinctness and effectiveness For years 1 neither heard nor 
saw anything of it, and it was with difficulty that I secured 
a plant of it last year. I understand Messrs. Yeitch have quite 
run out of stock, for what reason I cannot imagine. Is it very 
difficult to propagate ? I should be glad to hear if any reader 
of the Journal has any experience to relate concerning it. Three 
small plants in my garden have now a bloom each expanding, 
bright scarlet, very large for such a pigmy variety, for they are 
certainly not more than 4 inches high in all. They are doing 
well, producing a fair supply of grass, which will be carefully 
looked after, as such a peculiar beauty well deserves spending 
some little trouble upon 
Liliums. —There is such a number of these quite happy in the 
outside garden. Some should certainly be grown wherever ac¬ 
commodation can be found for hardy bulbs; for instance, such 
as the old L. candidum, L. testaceum, L. chalcedonicum, L. 
colchicum, L. umbellatum, &c. Beginning with L. candidum, 
called in its Italian home the “ Madonna ” Lily, what is purer ? 
Fancy its tall spikes rising above a bed of dwarf dark Roses. 
So effective is such a picture that we would go several times 
a day to admire it. Such a picture I have beheld for many days 
past in a neighbour's garden, and live with the hope of having 
something similar in my own next year. L. testaceum is one of 
the most unique Lilies we have, supposed to be of hybrid origin 
between L. candidum and L. chalcedonicum. Yery likely. It has 
the habit of the first, with a colour infusion of the second; can¬ 
didum in flower form, with a colour, rich apricot or nankeen, 
between the two, _ sweetly scented, abundantly distinct, free- 
growing in light rich soil, there is no reason why it should not 
be generally grown, yet 1 am informed it is getting scarcer every 
day. L. chalcedonicum, often called the Scailet Turk’s Cap, is 
also much dearer than it was a few years back, but it will always 
command a good figure, as it does not increase very freely, and 
is in good and steady demand. It will soon be in flower with 
me, and its rich scarlet blossoms are always welcome. Mr. E. 
Jenkins rightly .praises L. pomponium, which is also scarlet- 
flowered, but it is a much more slender grower, and earlier in 
blooming than chalcedonicum, and certainly well deserves general 
cultivation. The Caucasian L. colchicum or Szovitzianum is 
one the handsomest and easiest grown, provided it receives 
liberal treatment. By this I mean plenty of manure in some 
form or another; it also most enjoys a rather stiff soil. I was 
at Edge Hall Gardens the other day, and there Mr. Wolley Dod 
grows it to perfection, and he says his success is due to the use 
of plenty of manure. Crushed bones are mixed with the soil 
about the bulbs in liberal quantities, and their present condition 
speaks well for the treatment—tall stout stems these are, 5 feet 
high or more in some instances, with large heads of the deep 
lemon finely spotted flowers. In future treatment of this Lily 
one need not be afraid of using manurial material when planting. 
The varieties of L. umbellatum are among the very best Lilies 
for outside culture. They flower very freely, and when estab¬ 
lished form good clumps of dwarf stems supporting heads of 
bright orange-red flowers. The colour varies in the different 
forms. Some are all but free from spots, while others are copiously 
spotted. The best are erectum, Sappho, grandiflorum, and 
Incomparable, all dwarf and exceedingly showy, well adapted for 
massing and bedding, but like nearly all Lilies they require a 
liberal supply of manure, and some good leaf soil is a great help 
to them. The Panther Lily (L pardalinum) is very showy now. 
I do not keep the varieties distinct, as I have repeatedly found 
such a variableness in bulbs collected from the same locality 
that 1 allow mine to remain somewhat mixed, certainly there is 
a difference both in colour and spotting. The type is dis¬ 
tinguishable from the brighter coloured variety californicum, but 
they are all handsome and free-growing. Many say this will not 
do without boggy soil, but that is mere assumption, they certainly 
will do well in ordinary soil if enriched with manure.—T. 
REVIEW OF BOOK. 
Greenhouse and Stove Plants. By Thomas Baines. 
London : John Murray. 
The author of this work has obtained a well-deserved fame as a plant 
grower and exhibitor, and his production therefore comes with the greater 
weight, as recording the experience of a successful man. About 500 
genera are arranged in alphabetical order. The culture in the majority of 
cases is given very fully, and a list of species or varieties is added to each. 
Chapters on general culture are prefixed to the alphabetical portion, and 
necessarily contain many useful hints. Palms and Ferns are treated 
separately in these introductory remarks, and in most cases afterwards 
the author has contented himself when noticing a genus of Palms or 
Ferns by referring to these general instructions. As regards many Fe^ns 
this may occasion some little difficulty, for the culture of such genera as 
Gymnogrammas, Nothochloenas, and Cheilanthes differs considerably from 
that required by most others. In a few instances, also, it may be noticed 
that there is much disparity in the space accorded to genera. Thus we 
find two columns are appropriated to Chrysanthemums, exclusive of a 
list of varieties, whereas Mr. Baines has thought it necessary to give 
seven columns to the Clerodendrons. These, however, are of compara¬ 
tively small impoitance, for the cultural instruction is sound, and perhaps 
will prove more serviceable where it has been judiciously condensed than 
in the more extended chapters. 
As an example of the style adopted we will extract a short chapter 
on the 
BERTOLONIAS. 
These small-growing stove Melastomads almost vie, as regards beauty of 
leaf-marking, with the most charming of variegated Orchids. They are 
natives of the hot countries of the east, and to grow them well and bring 
out and preserve their leaf-marking a high temperature is required. They 
are plants of quite a softwooded character, and do not grow to a height of 
more than 6 or 8 inches. They strike freely from cuttings made from 
shoots in a half-solidified condition. They may be struck at any time when 
obtainable in that state, but are most likely to be in proper condition in 
spring. Each cutting should consist of at least a couple of joints. Put 
them in small pots singly in sand, and cover them with a propagating glass, 
but do not keep them so close as to cause damp, as soft growth of a nature 
such as these, if too close and moist, is liable to rot. Give as much water 
as will prevent flagging, keep in a warm stove temperature, and shade when 
the sun renders this necessary. They will soon make roots, when they 
should be given more air, and, as they get established, be removed to larger 
pots. The soil best suited to them is fibrous peat mixed with some sphagnum 
sand, and crocks. A temperature of from G5° to 70° in the night during the 
growing season, with a rise by day proportionate to the warmth of the 
weather, will answer ; 60 s by night, with 5° or 10° more in the day, will do 
for the winter. Some growers keep the most delicately marked kinds 
almost wholly covered with a bellglass, as Ancectochili are sometimes 
grown, but this treatment makes the plants very soft and tender ; yet they 
do not do well if placed under drying influences, as where much air is 
admitted. If in a position of this kind, a propagating glass partially closed 
over them, so as to somewhat confine the air and prevent its getting too 
dry, will be an advantage. The plants must always be shaded when the 
sun is at all powerful ; they should be stood where a moderate amount of 
light will reach them, and the soil must never be allowed to get dry. Little 
root-room will suffice, but, as the shoots are of a semi-procumbent habit, 
they must have as much space as will allow them to spread. They do well 
with the pots plunged in a shallow pan filled with a mixture of chopped 
sphagnum and sand, in which way, if a number of plants are so plunged, 
they are very effective. 
The undermentioned kinds are all handsome :— 
B. guttata. —From South America ; has green ovate leaves, the upper 
surface spotted with rose. There are three forms of this plant, differing 
somewhat in the appearance of their leaves, but all handsome. 
B. Houtteana. —A Belgian variety, most likely of garden origin, with 
beautiful foliage. Its deeply ribbed, lustrous, olive-green leaves are spotted 
with rose ; the ribs are marked with rose-tinted hues. 
B. margaritacea. —A Brazilian plant; has five-nerved ovate leaves, the 
ground colour olive-green with lines of white spots, the under surface 
reddish-purple. 
B. primulceflora. —This is a species from Ecuador, with ovate-lanceolate 
leaves, dark green in colour. It bears very handsome rose-coloured 
flowers. 
B. superbissima. —This is also, we believe, a garden variety. It has 
large, broadly ovate leaves, in colour dark green, with large rose-coloured 
spots within the margin and smaller spots on other portions of the leaf. 
