AUGUST. 
183 
habit; and Sparkler (J. & C. Lee), deep blue with white centre, very showy, 
the habit straggling. There was also a sickly-looking variety, said to have 
variegated foliage, and which was named Queen of Lobelias. 
The Royal Botanic Society held their second great Show on the 19tli of 
June, and plenty of new things were staged. Of large-flowered Pelargo¬ 
niums , first-class certificates were awarded to Hermit (Foster), Sccur de Charite 
(Foster), and to Empress (Foster). Second-class certificates were awarded 
to Joan of Arc (Foster), and Prince Consort (Foster). These are noticed in 
detail in another page (167), as well as other varieties shown on this occasion. 
Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing’s Nosegay Pelargonium Gathorne Hardy 
got a first-class certificate here ; and Floribundum and Comet got certificates 
of merit, which, I presume, is equal (here at least), to a certificate of the 
second class. A first-class certificate was awarded to Mr. George Smith, 
Tollington Nursery, Islington, for a very fine Nosegay Pelargonium named 
Grand Duke, the colour a rich and telling hue of orange scarlet, trusses 
large and bold and very showy, and the habit good. Mr. Smith also had 
First Favourite , another excellent Nosegay of an orange scarlet shade, and 
a basket of La Grande, a fine Nosegay variety, sent out by Mr. Smith last 
year. These Nosegay varieties really look charmingly effective when 
grouped in baskets in this way. 
Messrs. Carter & Co.’s method of arranging their groups of Variegated- 
Zonal, Gold and Bronze-zoned, and Variegated Pelargoniums cannot be 
too highly extolled; and the same remark applies to Messrs. E. G. Hen¬ 
derson & Son’s method of arranging groups of bedding and other plants at 
these Shows in a very tasteful manner. On this occasion the Judges com¬ 
mended in Messrs. Carter & Co.’s group, two yearling Variegated Zoned 
Pelargoniums, Prince of Wales and Princess of Wedes, both very promising ; 
Aurora, Marian, and Royal Standard are also yearling plants of great 
promise ; and the same can be said of Egyptian Queen and Black Prince 
among the Gold and Bronze-zoned section. A first-class certificate was 
awarded to Mr. Turner, of Slough, for a new Hybrid Perpetual Bose, raised 
at the Royal Gardens, Frogmore, named Miss Ingram. The colour is a 
delicate pink; it is a finely cupped flower, very constant and free-blooming, 
as well as of a vigorous habit, and quite hardy. 
Some Sweet Williams, shown by Messrs. Bragg, of Slough, and Shenton, 
of Biggleswade, mark a steady improvement in this old-fashioned flower. 
The trusses of blooms were very fine, and the individual pips large, circular 
stout, and finely marked, some having smooth, and some serrated edges, 
some being Auricula-eyed, and others not so. Pinks were finely shown by 
Mr. Turner, a stand of twenty-four cut blooms being a centre of attraction. 
Mr. Bragg had Rosabel, Improvement, Rosabanna, and Disraeli, seedling 
varieties, but justice had not been done to their cultivation, and what¬ 
ever qualities the flowers might possess, they were not shown in a way to 
develope them. Pansies, both English and Fancy, were well shown by 
Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing. R. D. 
POINSETTIAS. 
Permit me by way of addenda to an able paper at page 153 of the 
Florist, to make a few remarks upon the culture of Poinsettias so as to 
form dwarfer plants than can be secured by the general way of procedure 
to attain them—namely, from 4 to 8 inches in height—and occasionally 
with double or triple crowns of their bright whorls of bracts. About this 
