130 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
£ Arpgn9t 1», 1889.. 
their flowering, and which in the case of these Primulas are subject 
to injury, to say nothing of the check they may receive when 
dividing and potting them in the height of the summer. 
SAXIFRAGA ARETIOIDE3 PRIMULINA 
Is a diminutive gem among the many choice kinds which con¬ 
stitute the crustaceous section of this genus. The tiny rosettes of 
leaves are not more than a quarter of an inch across, tightly packed 
together, and forming a perfect cushion. It is still, as it always 
has been, a comparatively rare plant owing to its slow growth, in 
this respect resembling the type as well as some other small¬ 
growing species, as cassia, diapensioides, squarrosa, and the like. The 
only generally adopted mode of propagation is by division, but the 
operator has to he content with very few at a time. Cuttings, 
however, root readily in moist sand under bellglasses, the cuttings 
in this case being the tiny rosettes separated from the parent with 
the point of a sharp knife, and, if possible, with a heel. Press 
these into the sand and keep moist and shaded for two or three 
weeks, by which time many will have formed roots and may be 
potted singly in small thumb-pots, in a mixture of very sandy loam 
and finely broken brick rubbish. Progress is naturally slow in the 
first year, but in the second compact little plants will be formed, 
which, if carefully attended to, will flower the following year. 
All this tribe of small-growing Saxifragas grow well in sandy 
loam, leaf soil, and broken brick or old mortar rubbish, and are 
well suited for the rockery or for pot culture.—J. H. E. 
STRIKING CUTTINGS OF BORONIA 
MEGASTIGMA. 
It is not generally known that cuttings of this deliciously 
scented and useful greenhouse plant will with proper care and 
attention root easily and quickly. Our first attempt to strike the 
cuttings resulted in failure, owing, I believe, to the fact that the 
young shoots selected were a little too hard and well ripened before 
being inserted. A more recent attempt has been quite successful. 
The cuttings taken on this occasion were about half ripened, and 
were taken off with a heel and inserted in sandy peat in well 
drained pots, which were plunged to the rim in sawdust and kept 
close under a handlight placed in the Camellia house. The cuttings 
were dewed with a syringe every day if the foliage was dry, and if 
several dull or wet days succeeded each other a thin label was 
placed under the top of the handlight to dry up condensed moisture. 
The cuttings were, as a matter of course, shaded from bright 
sunshine till well rooted, when they were potted firmly in small 
60-pots and placed under handlights again till they were sufficiently 
inured to light and air to be placed in a cold frame, where plenty 
of air is given. In addition to being much appreciated for its sweet 
scented flowers, this Boronia is extremely useful for arranging in 
groups during the autumn and winter months. Plants in 5-inch 
pots with numbers of elegant shoots make useful dot plants to 
intermix with those of dwarfer growth.—H. Dunkin. 
THE LONDON PARKS. 
HYDE PARK. 
During the spring and summer months horticulturists can always 
pay a visit to Hyde Park with advantage, as something noteworthy can 
invariably be found, some hint can be gained by observers, and probably 
turned to good account, as this park has been long famed for the excel¬ 
lent gardening there displayed. In the spring months the beds are gay 
with bulbs, and these are no sooner past their best than their places are 
occupied with the plants that provide the summer attraction, for just 
at the season when the visitors to the park are most numerous it would 
never do to have a series of bare beds in the most conspicuous positions. 
The spaces between the carriage drive and Rotten Row, and at the sides, 
are usually adorned with Rhododendrons in variety in early summer, to 
be succeeded by Palms, Ferns, Musas, and all the usual sub-tropical 
plants later on, which impart a cool refreshing appearance to that very 
fashionable and much-frequented portion of the park. Near the head of 
the Serpentine is a particularly pleasing little sub-tropical dell, which 
from its sheltered moist position is well adapted for such plants. Exten¬ 
sive beds of a similar character, and others filled with flowering plants, 
are seen in other parts, but the chief floral display is concentrated 
between the Marble Arch and Stanhope Gate, on the east side, adjoining 
Park Lane. These are arranged in single and double series, mostly 
spacious oblong beds, some with the corners rounded, and some small 
circles between ; all are cut in the turf, which is close, fresh, velvety, 
and admirably kept. 
To what may be termed the Park Lane flower garden a few descrip¬ 
tive notes may be devoted, and first it must be remarked that it is 
evident from a general inspection that no attempt has been made to 
produce the dazzling effect of masses of colour such as Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums afford, and which at one time, not long past, were considered 
indispensable in summer flower gardening. For several years it has 
been evident that a gradual change in popular taste was occurring, and 
at Hyde Park advantage has been taken of this to introduce more variety 
in the style } more beds of mixed plants have been employed, and we. 
have frequently had occasion to commend these as affording a welcome’ 
break from the monotonous masses of colour afforded by the Pelar¬ 
goniums. This year the exclusion of the latter is still more marked,, 
and with the exception of a few beds at intervals they are almost con¬ 
fined to the long ribbon borders near the shrubberies, where they look 
well as a relief to the rather sombre leafage of town shrubs. It would 
be impossible, or at least very inadvisable, to attempt to dispense with- 
Pelargoniums in large parks like this. Some colour is indispensable,, 
and though Tuberous Begonias are now being usefully employed to 
furnish rich and bright tints, they cannot altogether supersede the older 
favourites. It is, however, somewhat strange that though Messrs. Laing 
and Son have for some years most satisfactorily shown what can be 
effected with Begonias as bedding plants, yet in none of the London 
parks have they been tried at all extensively, and the experiments with- 
them seem to have been made in a rather half-hearted manner, mostly 
too with varieties that are not the best fitted for the purpose. 
The great feature of the bedding at Hyde Park this year is afforded' 
by the Fuchsias, of which some thousands have been employed with 
pleasing results, and all who admire these plants will welcome any 
attempt to increase their popularity. Not only have they been planted 
in mixed beds, but larger, bush-like, and taller conical specimens have- 
also been plunged between the beds and on the turf slopes, where they 
seem to have well escaped the ill effects recent storms were likely to-- 
produce. The varieties, however, are not very numerous, and of those- 
selected the well-known useful variety Mrs. Marshall is far the best for the- 
purpose, in habit, number of flowers, and colour ; the pure white corolla* 
contrasting with the scarlet calyx renders the flowers more conspicuous- 
than those with purple corollas. The latter in quantity have a rather: 
dull effect, and that perhaps is the chief defect of Fuchsias for bedding 
purposes, particularly where the display has to be viewed from a 
distance. In other respects much can be said in their favour, and if 
they are only sparingly used they aid very agreeably in increasing the 
diversity. Besides the variety named the principal sorts grown at Hyde 
Park this year are Tower of London, with a deep purple corolla and-, 
red calyx ; Annetti, with peculiar rosy mauve flowers, the corolla much- 
expanded and funnel-like, free, but the strange tint is rather against it p 
Empress of Germany, double purple corolla and red calyx ; and Madame 
Corneilson, an attractive variety with a red calyx and white corolla. 
Some of the most distinct of the beds may be noticed briefly, as con¬ 
veying an idea of the plants employed and the method adopted. From 
the Marble Arch to Grosvenor Gate the beds are in a single series on the 
left hand side of the walk when proceeding in a southerly direction,, 
then for the greater part of the distance from the last-named gate to- 
Stanhope Gate there single beds on the left and a double series on the 
right, the turf here being somewhat raised, and each opposite pair of 
beds is planted alike. Starting from the Marble Arch there is a showy 
ribbon border down to the Green Street Gate, occupied with scarlet 
Zonal Pelargoniums, Ageratums, Calceolarias, and Lobelias, a similar 
border being continued for some distance beyond the latter gate. In 
one of the first of the beds Fuchsia Madame Corneilson, about 2 feet 
high, is planted in a groundwork of Violas, edged with Colens splendens- 
and Lobelia pumila magnifica. Another mixed bed contains Fuchsia 
Empress of Germany on a ground of Mimulus, edged with Centaurea 
candidissima and Lobelia Swanley Blue. In a third Iresine Lindeni 
and Pelargonium Rosamond Wright are planted in alternate diagonal 
lines, the white-edged foliage and pink flowers of the latter contrasting 
with the dark Iresine, and the bed was edged with the golden bronze 
foliaged Fuchsia Meteor. Fuchsias on a ground of Amaranthus edged 
with Pelargonium Golden Fleece and Lobelia had a rather dull appear¬ 
ance, the ground colour not being light enough. Iresine Lindeni, in 
lines with Pelargonium Happy Thought, and edged Koniga maritima 
variegata, formed a fairly good bed ; but a more effective one comprised 
Fuchsia Tower of London on a base of Stenotaphrum americanum varie- 
gaturrj (erroneously labelled Stenophorum) edged with Centaurea candi¬ 
dissima and Lobelia Swanley Blue. Fuchsia Mrs. Marshall or Mentha 
Pulegium gibraitarica, and dot plants of Iresine Wallisi, edged Coleus-, 
refulgens and Lobelias, was not very bright, and the Fuchsias where 
employed in this way seem to need a much lighter groundwork to show 
them to advantage ; some grey or white-leaved plant would be more 
suitable, or a light-flowering plant. 
At the Grosvenor Gate commences the double series of beds, and 
there also are the majority of Fuchsias plunged in the grass, plants- 
3 and -I feet high, well furnished with growth, and bearing abundant 
flowers. Palms and other large specimens are placed out in a similar 
way, with the result that this portion of the park has a most diversified 
and attractive appearance. Mixed beds of Mignonette and Stocks, or 
the latter with Phlox Drummondi, diffuse an agreeable fragrance, and 
this is a point that should never be lost sight of, for a few fragrant 
plants are most welcome in every flower garden. Noting some of the- 
beds in this portion we have in the double series pairs planted in the 
fo lowing manner :—Pelargonium Triomphe, pink, small flower, in good 
trusses, and free, edged L. pumila magnifica; tall plants of Fuchsia. 
Tower of London, in a ground of Viola Mrs. Turner (lavender), edge 
Lobelias ; Tuberous Begonias in a bed of Musk, edge Iresine Lindeni 
and Veronica Andersoni variegata ; Fuchsia Madame Corneilson, 3 feet 
high, well flowered in a bed of Viola Cliveden Purple, very rich, edge. 
Veronica Andersoni variegata ; Pelargonium Henry Jacoby (edge- 
