March 0, 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
j last of all, the spaces between the bulbs are filled up 
| with the same compost, the tops of the bulbs being just 
; covered and no more. Perhaps it will be ten years 
! before they want anything more doing to them, except a 
' fresh surface, now a.ud then, for the look’s sake. He 
1 keeps them in a cool frame; and last December, the two 
pots ho showed to-day were so hard with frost, that he 
could not break tho surface with his finger; but they 
received no hurt. 
Each pot, when exhibited, was plunged in a fancy 
willow basket, made to suit, and with two handles; the 
whole surface of the baskets and pots were covered with 
green moss, the leaves and flowers coming through as 
from a sward, a nice hint for how to place such plants 
on a lady’s fancy table, or anywhere through the rooms, 
but for the wicker basket use glass or china vases made 
to suit the pots, not as one-half of the great folks do now- 
a-days, first buy their ornamental vases of all earthly 
and unearthly shapes, and then tease out the gardener’s 
life about getting pots to suit their most foolish whimsies, 
just as half-crazy people shape their flower-beds first, 
and then think about the kinds of flowers, or as we in 
the country sometimes do, put the cart before the horse. 
Mr. Henderson, of the Wellington Road, sent a col¬ 
lection of seedling Cyclamens, consisting of thirteen 
pots, and every one of the varieties seemed to me to be 
really good, new flowers; besides the varieties, there 
were the old Persicum, and the sweet-scented Persieum, 
sent probably as a ground for comparison. The whitest 
of the seedlings is called Persicum album, a very large 
flower, pure white all over Pallidum, the next whitest, 
is nearly white, with a pale purple eye. A very singular 
one is doubled in the divisions of the flower, there being 
seven divisions in each flower. Another, called Striatum, 
has a white ground and purple eye, like Persicum, and 
streaked all over with lines and blotches, like the mark¬ 
ings on the new white Japan Lilies. The next is 
Carneum, a large flower with a blush flesh-colour all 
over, and a deep purple eye. After that shade comes a 
deep rose-coloured one called Roseum; and deepest of 
all is Rubrum, a large, deep blood-coloured flower, par- J 
ticularly rich. I think there was one, if not two, of the I 
dwarf French-white Atkinsonii among them. The ladies 1 
so crowded round this beautiful group after the meeting 
that I could not catch all the names, but I am quite 
sure of all I have named. 
Besides these, there was a pretty good specimen of 
the old Cyclamen persicum in a 32-pot, with sixty flowers 
open on it, and the bulb was entirely out of the soil, 
and the top of it was higher than the rim of the pot. 
I am not quite certain that I am right in believing that 
all Cyclamens ought to have a bulb just covered in the 
soil, but I think they ought, and this specimen plant 
did not alter my old opinion. The reason for keeping 
up such bulbs, and all true bulbs above the soil, is to 
make more room for the roots, but what is gained one 
way for the roots is more than lost by the exposure of 
the bulbs. This I have always maintained, and Mr. 
Atkinson’s pots came in to confirm my preference. 
Thyrsacanthus rutilans was here again from the 
garden of the Society, the same plant that was at the 
last meeting, and in still better feather. It is a valuable 
I thing for country gardeners. They also sent two of 
j Fortune’s Azaleas from China, squamata, a deep peacli- 
I blossomed kind, which, like the Peach, flowers before the 
| young growth begins, a very useful tint, shape and 
j habit to break a new strain in tho old Chinese kinds, 
| which run so much into one strain. I read of this plant 
! as of no great account, but I never saw it in bloom till 
now, and I must say that some writers have too many 
eyes, or no eyes at all. There is a true foundation for a 
distinct race of garden crosses; a far better pollen parent 
than either Mirabilis, Exquisita, or Optima, and yet it 
439 | 
must be passed over because it wants the trouble or 
pleasure of the cross-breeder. 
Azalea obtusa, another of the new onos sent home by 
Mr. Fortune, with a small crimson flower, will please 
many sooner than squamata; but it is of much less 
value, as we cannot effect much improvement by it, 
either as father or mother. 
We import silk and cotton, Saxony and Spanish 
wools, in woolly bales of no inviting aspects; but see 
what beautiful dresses we get out of them ! and it is 
just the same with wild flowers—so much raw material; 
w.e only want the manufacturers to make what kind of 
flowers we want, and, happily, they are becoming more ! 
numerous every season. 
There were also nice plants of Begonia manicala, and 
a cross seedling from it, from the garden of the Society, 
together with Epacris onosmiflora, Polygdla Dalmatiana, 
Acacia lineata, Gentradenia rosea and Jloribunda; the 
latter much the best; Echeveria retusa, Corrcea Ooodii, 
and a few others of those useful late winter-flowering, , 
or early spring-flowering plants, which deserve a place j 
in every collection, for the time of their flowering is j 
when flowers are scarce. 
Who would think that a Crocus in a pot could make a 
sensation in the heart of London? But so it was, and 
that, too, among ladies from the country, come up for the 
“ season.” I could not get near it for a long time. It 
is called Sir Walter Scott, and is the largest Crocus you 
ever saw or heard of—a pure white ground, and lull of 
light violet bands all over. A bed of it would boat a 
bed of Tulips, if they could be seen at the same time. 
From the name, J should take this Crocus to be a garden 
seedling; but, as this Society does not pretend to be 
florists, they must have had it from some one in that 
line; and, let alone their giving prizes to aspiring 
florists, it is a good sign to see them sending florists’ 
flowers of the first class from our own garden. Patience 
does wonders everywhere — patience turned the very 
Austrians to join with the “maritime powers” in a just 
cause. I only wish I had sufficient patience to be a 
florist, and 1 would join the best of them, baud and 
glove, to bring about what / can see, even on the surface 
of things. 
Wellingtonia Gigantea —As was promised at the last 
meeting, there were drawings of this splendid tree, 
exhibited by Mr. Veitch, as woll as dried specimens of 
the branches from young and old trees, with fruit cones, 
a piece of the bark, and a sample of the wood, all of 
which were gazed on with wonder after the lecture on 
it was over. Just think of a tree 29 feet in diameter, 
and multiply that by three to find the circumference, 
as we used to say at school, and you would all wonder. 
The drawing of this tree in the “ Illustrated Loudon 
News,” and even the one here to-day does not give one ; 
any idea of the beauty of the form of growth. It is 
from the dried specimens of the branches only that any 
of us can form an idea of this vegetable wonder. I 
fingered these specimens over and over, and the nearest 
idea I can give of it, is to say, that the leafy growth on 
branches of old trees is very near that growth in 
Cupressus \'flacida, and on tho young wood, more like the 
growth or leaves on Cupressus filiformis, that is, with 
sharp prickles to the minute leaves in the young 
growth, and that style of foliage on an old plant of 
Cryptomeria japonica. 
Deodar. —It was, probably, from the announcement 
respecting tho Deodar that so many of the country 
gentlemen assembled at this meeting. Our own Editor 
has shown lately that this was the Cedar with which 
Solomon built the '1’em pie at Jerusalem ; and those who 
understand the differences of different woods, who had 
seen the Deodar in Indian temples, bridges, and all 
sorts of buildings, have told us, long since, that there is 
no wood so good and durable as that of the Deodar; but 
