Jane 16, 1887. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
485 
colours. Florists nowadays have to study carefully the vagaries of 
fashionable colours, and to bring all their resources to the production of 
flowers that will harmonise with the newest effects of the costumier. 
Mere rarity -or costliness is a matter of no consideration, and a posy of 
simple Mignonette, or Heliotrope, or a few Rase buds, may now often be 
seen where not a great while ago nothing but the choicest of exotics 
would have served. Effect is everything in these “aesthetic” times of 
ours, and ostentation is apt to take the form of ostentatious simplicity. 
Bose buds and green Wheat ears constituted the posy which attracted 
as much admiration as anything at the Royal Botanic Gardens flower 
show the other da 3 r . 
IV hile, however, there is this tendency in the direction of simplicity 
•on the one hand, certain establishments in the West-end have been lately 
making display of that intricate and elaborate kind more familiar to 
■the Parisians. These establishment are, in fact, in the hands of French¬ 
men. •• We claim for ourselves,” said one of their number a day or two 
ago, “that we can give you effects which English florists do not know 
how to produce. We use half the flowers, and give double the effect, 
and all we want is to win the attention of competent judges. But it 
is very difficult in London,” said the speaker, rather despondently. 
Do you oonsider, then, that Londoners are less capable of appreciating 
the artistic treatment of flowers than the Parisians 1 ” “ No, certainly 
not, but they ride past my shop in their carriages, and they do not look 
at what I show. On the Boulevards of Paris, or Unter-den-Linden in 
Berlin, or the Broadway of New York, they would walk, and if we showed 
anything fine they would stop and look. But in London they ride by 
and you cannot get attention, however beautiful may be the things you 
have to show.” One of the most notable of the productions of this firm 
lately was a design for the tomb of the late Duchess of Norfolk, consist¬ 
ing of a representation of the gates of heaven standing ajar for the 
departed soul, executed entirely in flowers, embedded in wet moss, a 
carpet of moss outside the gates presenting a quotation from some hymn 
inscribed in Violets. The same firm has lately been fashioning lyres, 
urns, vases, crucifixes, fans, and other objects wholly in flowers, after a 
•manner not b»-c-’vy means unknown to other houses, but much more 
■familiar to tl* r - ' lau flower market. The construction of any object 
in flowers i.«f' Ccovrse, a very simple matter, and not perhaps particu¬ 
larly admirable as art. To make a vase in wickerwork or other 
material, sheath :f : wet moss, and wire upon it a uniform covering 
of Wallflowers or Bluebells, is not in itself very clever, nor is there any¬ 
thing natural op-pretty in such a use of flowers, all the individual beauty 
of which is of 'fltfurse entirely lost. Such an object may be curious 
•enough, and if the blossoms be scented while they are fresh they may be 
a pleasant decoration for a drawing-room or a dinner-table. But it is in 
the use of these floral vases and lyres and other objects as foils for artistic 
grouping of other flowers that the scope for a highly cultivated taste is 
found, and some of the objects lately presented in this Regent-street 
window have certainly been exquisitely beautiful. All kinds of Lilies, 
Jessamines, Bouvardias, Lilacs, Roses, Orchids, Spiraeas, and so on are 
grouped upon these formal objects in the loveliest of open bouquets, or 
trailed in wreaths of surpassing delicacy of form and harmony of 
•colour. 
Without venturing upon any comparison between these West-end 
displays and those to be seen in Covent Garden or elsewhere, it is impos¬ 
sible to withhold from them a tribute of almost unqualified admiration ; 
-and the exquisite effects some of these foreigners contrive to produce 
with a few simple flowers indicate the artist as surely as does the 
production of a charming picture by a limited number of colours and a 
few bold touches. “ And are these the work of female hands 1” one 
florist was asked. “ No,” was the emphatic answer. “ They are done by 
(men. We can’t get them done by women.” Perhaps it would have been 
snore correct to say, “ We do not get them done by women.” That 
female artists are not to be found who are equal to the best of this work 
it were ungallant in the extreme even to suggest, and we flatly refuse 
to believe it. If the cultivated tastes of the wealthy classes are really 
inclining them to eschew the mechanical symmetry of the old-fashioned 
bouquet and to demand works of real art in the composition of their 
floral decorations, there would seem to be every prospect of the rapid 
development of a pleasant, appropriate, and profitable employment for 
women of artistic tastes. 
HOLLYHOCKS. 
Perhaps in no position in the garden are these plants more at 
home, or display their flowers to greater advantage, than on raised 
mounds between shrubs. They have a most picturesque appear¬ 
ance when planted in such positions so that their lofty stems tower 
well above the shrubs which form the groundwork of the clump. 
To develope their full beauty they must be planted in thoroughly 
fertile soil ; in fact, the richer the soil the stronger they grow, and 
the more handsome they are, either viewed singly or in the distance. 
Two or three years ago we made some new plantations of shrubs, 
in which were incorporated large quantities of vegetable matter. 
In this compost the majority of the spikes attained a height of 
from 8 to 10 feet. They were very fine, and the same end may be 
attained by digging the ground deeply and heavily manuring it 
previous to planting. To trench or dig deeply large plots of 
ground for this purpose is not needed, but if planted amongst 
shrul>s that have ample room to develope themselves, a space of 
2 feet square, well prepared, is ample for each individual plant. 
Under these conditions they will attain such dimensions that will 
surprise all who have only planted them in poor soil. 
Aoung plants raised from seed sown during the months of July 
and August, and wintered in 3 and 4 inch pots, should now be 
strong and in good condition for placing out, provided they were 
transferred when ready into 6-inch pots, and have been thoroughly 
hardened. Strong plants in this condition will flower with cer¬ 
tainty, but weak puny ones will fail to do so. Plants raised annually 
from seed or cuttings are more certain to pass the winter safely 
than old stools. Very few of those that flowered last year for the 
first time have succumbed, and none of the smaller ones placed 
out last spring that failed to flower. But many old plants have 
been lost through the severe weather of the past winter. 
Autumn propagation is generally commended and largely 
practised, but we have invariably found a great difficulty in obtain¬ 
ing satisfactory cuttings that have sprung from the base. At this 
season good cuttings are plentiful, and we have found no perceptible 
difference in propagating now instead of the autumn ; in fact, if 
advantages are gained by either method, they are certainly on the 
side of raising stock from cuttings in the spring. They are not 
on hand so long, and are far more certain to strike than cuttings 
taken in autumn ; in fact, they root freely at this period if taken 
as soon as they are well above the ground. The cuttings should be 
inserted in sandy soil and placed in a temperature of 60°. Amateurs 
need not despair, for they can propagate them readily enough if 
placed under handlights in the greenhouse. In whatever position 
the cuttings are placed they must be shaded from the sun until 
they are rooted. Cuttings rooted in spring do not flower the same 
season, but they are in the best possible condition for doing so the 
following year. All things considered, especially where frame room 
is limited, we consider propagation at this season of the year much 
the most satisfactory. If they cannot be planted in the position in 
which they are to flower, they can be placed out closely together on 
any spare portion of ground, and permanently planted in early 
autumn. To defer planting until the spring means a severe check 
to the plants, and they do not in consequence attain to the same 
height, and thus their noble appeai’ance is somewhat destroyed 
—H. 
SPRING FLOWERS. 
Without having any intention of writing in a spirit of detraction 
respecting the large number of truly beautiful spring flowering peren¬ 
nials, it is quite possible to maintain the assertion that as far as the 
majority of gardens are concerned comparatively few of those in general 
cultivation fully meet the requirements imposed by the present state of 
floriculture in this country. I do not wish to enter into the question 
of the permanent planting of gardens with large and varied collections 
of hardy perennials to the exclusion of what are generally known as 
bedding plants, but simply to assume that the greater part of the flower 
garden during the summetjtvill be planted with half-hardy and other 
bedding plants. It then remains to be seen what hardy plants there are 
available for the purpose of spring decoration, and it seems that before 
any plant can be considered really useful for this purpose it should 
possess the four following qualities—viz., free flowering, decided colour, 
must be easily propagated, and finally of such a habit of growth that will 
not be severely checked by frequent removal. These may seem hard 
conditions, and yet they are not more than what is really required. This 
being the case a few plants will be considered in detail. 
Alyssum saxatile (Gold Dust). —This pretty little plant is an old 
inhabitant of English gardens, having been introduced from Russia in 
1710. It forms what may almost be termed a small bush about 9 inches 
in height, the branching stems being of a somewhat woody nature ; the 
foliage is very dense, lance-shaped, and so thickly covered with short 
hairs as to give the whole plant a downy or hoary appearance. The 
flowers individually are small, but are so freely produced in racemes 
that the plant seems covered. It may be propagated by cuttings, but is 
so easily raised from seed sown either in pots or in the open ground, that 
the former method is seldom resorted to. Many defer the sowing until 
July or August, when biennials and annuals for spring bedding are 
sown, but it is preferable to sow in March, and transplant when large 
enough into a store bed. They will by this means be much finer when 
required in autumn for the purpose of filling the beds for spring display. 
It prefers a light and rich soil. There are two varieties in general culti¬ 
vation. The one named compactum differs in no way from the type but 
in closeness of habit, which, is certainly desirable. The other has pretty 
variegated foliage, and in order that this may be seen to the best 
advantage all flowers should be removed. As this variety is not constant 
from seed, propagation by cutting should be resorted to. 
Ahabis alpina and albida (Wall Cress). —These two plants arc 
generally confounded, and, indeed, without considerable practice it is 
difficult to distinguish them; perhaps, indeed, there may only be a 
varietal difference, but this is a matter for the botanists. They are 
so well known that it is almost useless to describe them, except by say- 
ing that albida mav be distinguished by its larger flowers and leaves, the 
latter also having but few teeth, while those of A. alpina have many and 
smaller teeth. When the plants are taken up to make room for the 
