August -8, 1683. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
105 
•badly infested with spider, as by such means a wholesale clearance 
•of the pest may be effected, and a brisk renewal of healthy growth 
may make amends for lost time. There is no question, however, 
■where a strong healthy leaf is found, whether this treatment is 
"beneficial or not, as the robust growths of the leaf, always too 
■valuable to lose, are of paramount importance in the production of 
a mature crown, ready for developing a full crop the following 
■year.—A Northern Grower. 
JOTTINGS. 
In the Royal Horticultural Society’s Garden at Chiswick 
.■several trials of flowers and vegetables have been undertaken 
this year, and the members of the Floral Committee have paid 
two or three visits to inspect and analyse these, the results to be 
•embodied in a report to appear in one of the Society’s journals. 
Most unfortunately the funds at command do not apparently 
permit the prompt publication of these and other matters of 
interest to the Fellows, who consequently have to wait patiently 
•until the long-looked-for journal arrives, or some individual 
.member gives an outline of what has been done. 
1YIES. 
One of the meetings dealt with the Ivies, of which a 
large representative collection has been grown this year, and Mr. 
'Shirley Hibberd, who has long made the Ivy on9 of his favourite 
specialties, is now publishing a very useful catalogue of the garden 
varieties, constituting a really valuable supplement to his admirable 
monograph issued some years since. The beauty of the numerous 
-varieties of Ivy is not fully appreciated in gardens generally, because 
comparatively few are widely known ; yet many additions to 
■those grown might well be made, especially for garden walls and 
any bare spaces that cannot be more profitably covered. There 
are plenty of situations where Ivies thrive capitally, but where it 
-would be useless, or quite unsuitable, to attempt growing fruit 
trees, and it is dark shaded walls, &c., that are most in need of 
some covering. All can appreciate the picturesque beauty of any 
old or stately castellated building covered with Ivy, and I shall 
not readily forget the effect produced by the noble Ivy-mantled 
•towers of Warwick Castle when seen on a brilliant moonlight 
night ; but even the dull monotony of town and suburban houses 
or villas can be greatly relieved by a judicious employment of 
well selected Ivies on the walls. It is true that the common and 
Veitchian Virginian Creepers are now so extensively planted by 
reason of their quick growth, that few have the patience to wait 
while the Ivy is making its much slower progress. Where, how¬ 
ever, the greater portion of a house front is devoted to the neat 
Ampelopsis Veitchi, space can always be found at the base for a 
few of the smaller Ivies, and a pleasing appearance they have, 
needing but little attention, and of course possessing the one 
great recommendation of being evergreen. 
Ivies for Screens —In pots, boxes, and tubs for moveable 
screens the smaller Ivies are more valued now than formerly, and 
in many establishments they are almost indispensable for this 
purpose. At Syon House quite a collection is grown in this 
manner on screens as diverse in shape as possible, fitting them for 
a variety of situations in the rooms. For the larger screens, and 
•where a dense effectual block is required, the bold broad-leaved 
varieties are suitable, and the space is covered quickly, but the 
small-leaved varieties have the best appearance on a moderate 
■sized screen. The variegated Ivies are also adapted for this 
method of growing, but they are rather more difficult to colour and 
manage successfully. The forms of marginata are fitted for the 
purpose, such as marginata major grandis and aurea, with chryso- 
phylla, discolor, sulphurea, and madeirensis, the last named being 
-one of the most beautiful variegated Ivies in cultivation, but 
•somewhat delicate. Of the green forms gracilis, pedata, minima, 
-deltoidea, and triloba are amongst the best for screens. 
ANNUALS FOR TOWNS. 
Another interesting and important “ trial ” at Chiswick was 
■the testing of a large number of annuals in the southern part of the 
•garden, near the Strawberry ground. A considerable space was 
devoted to them, but they required much more room to have done 
them full justice, as nothing spoils the effect of these plants so 
■soon as being crowded in the beds. Some of the dwarf growing 
binds require massing to produce a good appearance, and when the 
•flowers are small much of their beauty is lost if the plants are not 
•seen in substantial beds ; still crowding can always be avoided, and 
a good deal of seed is wasted by excessive liberality in sowing, the 
results being less satisfactory alike to purchaser and vendor than 
when a little more economy is practised. When the seed is sown 
in pans under glass, as in the case of half-hardy annuals, the trans¬ 
planting if properly done will avoid all danger of crowding, also in 
the case of those sown in beds out of doors, and placed in other 
positions subsequently. Those, however, sown where they are to 
remain require to be either allowed sufficient space at first or care¬ 
fully thinned afterwards. Perhaps it might be questioned whether 
a trial of annuals at Chiswick could give a reliable indication as to 
what sorts are best adapted for culture in towns, and all that the 
Committee could do in the matter was to give one, two, or three 
marks to the respective varieties, according to their effectiveness 
and generally known usefulness. '1 he fact is, there are few aunuals 
that cannot be grown during the summer months in town gardens 
where the smoke and dust are not too abundant, provided the 
plants be raised elsewhere and transplanted, or at least spring sown. 
On the other hand, there are few adapted for sowing in the autumn 
fcr early spring flowering, although in gardens more favourably 
situated these give the best results. It is a waste of time and 
labour to attempt raising plants in the autumn, which have to pass 
through the trials of a winter in a smoky foggy city like London 
before they have a chance of flowering, as if they survive they will 
be miserable weaklings, incapable of giving any satisfactory return 
for the attention they have received. To supply the townsfolk 
with plants for their garden? in spring there are numberless 
growers round the metropolis who furnish the hawkers with stout 
seedlings in boxes, which are sold at a very moderate rate in the 
poorer districts of the metropolis. In Covent Garden and other 
markets large quantities of annuals and other bedding plants are 
alsa sold in a similarly small state, the florists and seedsmen pro¬ 
viding supplies as well, so that many millions must be disposed of 
during the spring months. 
In suburban gardens outside the smoke radius, or situated in the 
south and westerly districts, matters are quite different, and there is 
little difficulty in raising plants, both by autumn and spring sowing, 
so that a prolonged season is secured. Even in them the collection 
of annuals is commonly much too restricted, and a few sorts are 
planted almost exclusively, numbers of really handsome annuals 
quite as easily managed being unknown. Some tithe ago one of 
the leading firms of seedsmen called attention to these plants by h. 
a series of exhibits at the Regent’s Park Botanic Gardens, but 
annuals in pots require considerable care to bring them into good 
condition, and close attention afterwards to retain their beauty 
even for a short time, and there is only a relatively small number 
well fitted for pot culture. The exhibits in question were, how¬ 
ever, instructive, and many visitors made the acquaintance of 
charming bright-flowered plants hitherto unknown to them. In 
the London parks also in recent years some of the useful qualities 
of the plants have been illustrated by their employment in the 
mixed beds now in favour ; but no trial of the nature of that at 
Chiswick has been undertaken except in the extensive seed grounds 
of such firms as Messrs. Sutton, Carter, Yeitch, and Webb, 
at Reading, St. Osyth, Langley, and Kinver, and these have been 
beyond the reach of the majority of metropolitan visitors. Still 
few can imagine the attractions of annuals when seen in broad 
beds of an acre or more, and a hillside or extensive slope of 
ground mapped out in grand masses of colour has a most imposing 
effect, reminding one of our heaths and northern hills, golden with 
Furze or rich with the purple Heather. Flowers in vast expanses 
like this have a fine appearance, and one can imagine the beauties 
of some districts in California, where at certain seasons the fugitive 
attractions of so many annuals and similar plants are displayed in 
the richest and most diverse profusion. The majority of amateuis 
can only attempt but a very modest imitation of Nature’s ex¬ 
travagance in the floral charms of favoured regions, but many a 
garden can be rendered gay for several months by a moderate ex¬ 
penditure in seeds of annuals. 
POPPIES. 
The first plants in the trial grounds at Chiswick which received 
the attention of the Committee were the Poppies that had been 
brilliant for some days and were then getting somewhat past their 
best. This character— i.e., fugaciousness—is the chief defect of 
the family, and deters many from undertaking their culture ^ yet 
brilliant beds of these plants can be added to any garden, and if 
they do not last very long they are but little trouble, and the 
plants repay for such slight attention as they require by flowering 
abundantly. The first group was that devoted to the Papaver 
Rhoeas type, all of moderate height, hardy, free, bright, and 
varied. The wild Poppy of our corn fields is familiar to all, but 
only within recent years has its capacity for improvement under 
cultivation been fully recognised. The production of the Shirley 
Poppies and others of a similar strain was a great advance, and the 
Rev. W. Wilks performed a good service when he raised and 
popularised these beautiful varieties. The origin of these Poppies 
has been repeatedly noticed as due to the crossing of Papaver 
Rbseas and P. Hookeri. The latter is, however, simply a geo¬ 
graphical variety of the former, if even it be entitled to as much 
