1375. ] 
GARDEN WORK FOR MAY. 
105 
tlie best, and some of tbe most cheerful tints in the greenhouse are supplied by them. 
Mr. J. James, Redlees, Islefworth, exhibited a capital strain at the meeting of 
the Royal Botanic Society, on March 31, dwarf, vigorous, and bearing brilliant- 
liued and finely formed flowers. Three of these were selected for First-class 
Certificates, viz., Ann Page , white disc, with narrow ring of white and broad margin 
of deep purplish-rose ; Brightness , white disc, very slight ring of white, and 
broad margin of bright crimson ; and Charles Bending , dark disc, with a slight 
ring of white, and massive margin of crimson, dashed with purple. To preserve 
the effectiveness of Cinerarias in flower, the blossoms should be picked off as soon 
as they begin to fade. If they are allowed to carry and ripen their seeds, the 
plants have a confused and untidy appearance ; a half-dozen or so of the best 
types should be selected for seeds, and placed away in a quiet corner, out of the 
reach of the burning sun, and of puffs of wind which soon scatter the seeds. 
Amongst Hyacinths, but little of a valuable and novel character has come to 
the front this season. At the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on 
March 17, Messrs. Veitch and Sons staged a group of new varieties, and though 
among them there might have been two or three of promise, they were not up 
to the mark of established varieties. Perhaps it would be well, if new Hyacinths 
were simply commended the first year they were shown, and then certificated, if 
deemed worthy, the second year. There is, no doubt, a great desire on the 
part of the English cultivators to get the very best of the Dutch seedlings 
into cultivation for exhibition purposes as soon as possible, and the inevitable 
consequence is that they are flowered and exhibited before the bulbs reach 
their proper measure of maturity. They cannot be shown as new varieties again, 
unless it should be done under different names. The finest new flower that has 
come to the fore this season, is one named Etna, a semi-double red variety, 
shown by Messrs. Veitch and Sons; the colour is bright rose shaded with 
crimson ; the bells are large, the segments very broad and smooth, and the spike 
of a symmetrical shape. This was awarded a First-class Certificate. One or 
two dark blue flowers among the new varieties promised well, and may be seen 
in better form next year.—R. Dean, Ealing. 
GARDEN WORK FOR MAY. 
FLOWERS. 
order to facilitate the labour of “ bedding-out,” such beds as are at liberty 
jju should be put in readiness, adding fresh composts, and working up the 
fifty soil to the ameliorating influence of the weather. Whilst such plants as 
Y flowering Pelargoniums are not improved by being grown in rich soil, 
those that are prized for their majestic aspect, such as Canna , Melianthus , 
Pohjmnia , Picinus , and Wigandia , and which luxuriate in enriching elements, 
should have an abundance of rotten manure worked into the beds. Materials 
must be had in readiness for the renovation of such beds as are planted with 
Spring-flowering plants, which must be lifted towards the end of the month, and 
replanted in the reserve-ground, dividing into small portions such plants as 
