182 
TliE FLORIST. 
at the Royal Botanic Exhibition ; that Mr. Turner had also his magni¬ 
ficent Azaleas, Pelargoniums, and Tulips ; that Mr. I very also exhibited 
Azaleas; Mr. Noble, Rhododendrons; and that Messrs. Lane & Son 
sent their Pot Roses. Among the local exhibitors, J. J. Blandy, Esq., 
. of Reading, whose taste for horticulture is so well known, contributed to 
a great number of classes, including a grand display of fine-foliaged 
plants. Ferns, Orchids, stove and greenhouse plants, and fruit, in all of 
which Mr. Ingram took first or second prizes. The former classes 
evinced excellent cultivation, and would have stood high in any com¬ 
petition. We must not close our short report without noticing the 
extraordinary Oscar and British Queen Strawberries and Black Grapes 
shown by Mr. Dwerrihouse, gardener to Lord Eversley. The Oscar 
Strawberries were the best ever grown of that popular kind. 
GAZANIAS. 
A VERY interesting group of the different kinds of these in cultivation, 
in illustration of their differences of habit, was shown at one of the 
meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society by Messrs. E. G. Hender¬ 
son & Son. G. pavonia was of close or tufted growth, with long stalked 
leaves, which were regularly pinnatifid, sprinkled with rigid hairs above 
and on the ribs beneath. It was described as a shy bloomer; but with 
large, well-formed, and very beautiful flowers. G. rigens, of close 
tufted habit, was said to be more restricted in growth than its reputed 
varieties; the leaves were smooth, narrow, and tapered into a long 
stalk-like portion, acute at the apex, and either simple and merely 
widened upwards, or occasionally with three or four pointed lobes. It 
is a fine old plant when suitably grown. G. rigens major was more 
robust, rather close-habited, with broader that is spathulate, bullate, 
crowded leaves, and blooming scantily, so that it is little sought after. 
G. splendens, or rigens hybrida, which is the variety or species lately 
brought into notice as a valuable bedding plant, blooms profusely 
throughout the summer and autumn months, and afterwards by pro¬ 
tection in the greenhouse continuing to expand its later blossoms until 
January; it had smooth spathulate leaves and a free branching habit. 
G. uniflora was of branching habit, but without special treatment too 
diffuse to produce adequate blossoms for flower-bedding, and the flowers 
are yellow, instead of orange, as in all the preceding. 
ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIETY. 
May 22. —This, considering the unfavourable spring we have had, 
was an excellent exhibition. Azaleas and Pelargoniums were numerous 
and made a brilliant display. Roses were produced in first-rate 
condition, and there was as usual also large numbers of stove and 
greenhouse plants. A large collection of the latter, furnished by Mr. 
