1868 .] 
SALVIA ARGENTEA. 
229 
was heralded by a somewhat overpowering flourish of trumpets, expectation 
was consequently raised to its highest pitch, and anything like disappoint¬ 
ment is always the more keenly felt under such circumstances. Let 
brilliancy of colour by all means have its due w T eight, but it must never be 
allowed to supersede, nor even take precedence of form. Stella, very bright 
and effective, but too much like a star in shape. Thunbery , a large and 
rather imposing flower, somewhat in the way of McMahon. Ulysse, a 
charming variety, combining good form and great brilliance, altogether 
new in colour—soft rosy lilac with large white throat; without a doubt the 
best flower of the season. Uranic, according to a French catalogue now 
before me, the dearest sort of the year, and certainly one of the worst; I 
have seen it growing in different places, and it has been bad always. 
There yet remain other eight or nine sorts newly sent out by M. Soucliet, 
but I really cannot find a good word for any of them. I hope they have 
done better in other hands. Of the fourteen described above, they who 
grow for exhibition may require all, except Stella, Etendard, and, perhaps, 
Uranie . The best three are, in my judgment, Ulysse, Norma, and Rossini, 
in the order in which I have named them. Then come Mozart, Eugene 
Scribe, and Princesse Alice. The experience of another year may cause me 
to alter my opinion, as the experience of this has caused me to do with one 
or two of last year’s flowers. Princesse Marie de Cambridge, which in 1867 
bloomed so ill with me as to be almost worthless, has this year been all 
that could be desired ; while Adolphe Brongniart, then quite the gem of the 
season, has been hardly second-rate as it has flowered 'with me and others 
this year. With respect to other varieties of 1867, I see little reason to 
alter my opinion given at p. 58. If anything, I would award higher praise 
to Thomas Moore and Eelicien David. The following older sorts have been 
very fine this year : —Belle Gabrielle, Charles Dickens, Clemence, Dr. Bindley, 
Due de Malakoff, Eleanor Norman (Standisli), Eurydice, Fulton, Galile, Im- 
peratrice Eugenie, James Veitcli, John Waterer, Madame Domage, Madame 
Eugene Verdier, Madame Eurtado, Madame Vilmorin, Marechal Vaillant, Marie 
Dumortier, Meyerbeer, Newton, Penelope, Princesse Clotilde, Raphael, Shakes¬ 
peare, Stephenson, and Walter Scott. 
Ash, Sandwich. ~ J. S. 
SALVIA ARGENTEA. 
fT^-PHIS woolly-leaved biennial I have found to do well during the past 
M) season, and where white-foliaged plants are in demand I can with 
confidence recommend it. It is of the most simple cultivation. The 
cgp seeds should be sown in March in a gentle heat, and as soon as the 
plants c&n be handled they should be potted-off into small pots, and 
grown on gradually until bedding-out time. It is necessary to take care to 
