THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
293 
July 20. 
clition, except one, Roella ciliata, which ought to have 
been burnt the clay before, it was all but dead then. 
Heaths. —The principal Heaths were the following, 
and what I introduce them for, is to show those that are, 
at the same time, the most distinct, and the most likely 
to make good plants under ordinary circumstances ; for 
I take it that any Heath which is very difficult to 
i manage is never brought out now-a-days to exhibitions: 
— Actonii , oblata, Massoni, tricolor, seven kinds of, mu- 
tdbilis, miniata, retorta, and retorta major, Bergiana, 
amjvtlacea, injlata, ventricosa, of sorts, magnified being 
| the best of them, Halicacaba, gemmifera, cassonia, 
exirnia, ferruginea, and jasminiflora. 
Fuchsias.— There were four good collections of them, 
in sixes. The first prize for them was taken by Mr. 
Bray, gardener to J. L. Goldsmid, Esq , St. John’s Lodge, 
Regent’s Park. They were the six best grown Fuchsias 
ever exhibited. There were three white, and three red 
ones, and they were placed better than I ever saw such 
things done at exhibitions. Some people may think it 
an easy thing to set up a collection so as to tell best, 
1 but depend upon it, there is as much art and eye re¬ 
quired to puff up these plants as to grow them well. 
These six Fuchsias were in this wise— Pearl of Eng¬ 
land, white, and Perfection, red, in front; Collegium, 
red, and Speciosa, white, in the second row, that is, 
the reds at cross corners, and the whites ditto, then the 
last two red and white, corresponding with the first two. 
These last were— Madame Sontag, white; and grand is, 
red. They were from six to nine feet high, and about 
five feet across the pot. The second prize was taken by 
: Mr. Ward, gardener to G. Bishop, Esq., South Villa, 
Regent’s Park, with Prince Arthur, white; Voltigeur, 
red; Pearl of England, white; and Elizabeth, white 
also, and the two together a blemish; Sir John Fal- 
staff, red. These, therefore, in equal numbers of red 
and white, may be considered as the very best for 
growing like Pillar Roses; and I hope we shall have 
nine or ten collections of such at all the shows, in 
another year, for they are most useful plants, and every¬ 
body’s plant to the bargain. 
Pelargoniums. — There were fine collections of a 
dozen each, and Mr. Turner was first again to-day, Mr. 
Gains being close on his heels. I stood back five yards 
from them, that being the focus, as it were, to see their 
proper distinctness under the subdued light. This is 
the order in which I would choose them for myself: 
Governor General, a splendid scarlet. Enchantress, 
orange-scarlet. Carlos, salmon front, white eye, and 
dark back ; very distinct. Juliet, ditto. Optimum, deep 
scarlet front and dark back; a most conspicuous kind. 
Rowena, another charming kind, with light salmon 
j front, light eye, red back, and large blotch on it. 
Achilles, rosy front, white eye, dark back, with a red 
margin. Ganymede, one of the most distinct light lilacy 
; fronts, dark back shaded with red; with Zeno and 
Mochanna, both in the more common style, of which 
there is no end, or beginning, or middle, that I could 
ever make out; to these add Magnet, the highest on the 
turf, and you have twelve of the newest very best. 
Gains began with Rosa, a lovely scarlet flower, and I 
should think a sister to his Conqueror, the first seedling 
of this season. Governor, reddish-purple and black. 
Ajax, a contrast to Governor, with lilac, purple, and 
black. Fete Noir, a most remarkable flower; a streaked 
orange-scarlet front, lightish or lilac eye, and the two 
back petals exactly like the two black cheeks of poor 
Topsy, as described by Miss Ophelia in “ Uncle Tom’s 
Cabin;” never was anything more ebony black in this 
world; the size and substance extraordinary as well. 
This ought to have been called Topsy, on account of 
the extraordinary character of the original; Andover, 
much in the way of the last. Queen of Purple, a very 
striking kind. The rest were more common-looking. 
Fancy Geraniums. —In these Mr. Turner was first 
hand with Electra, a plant which you would take to be 
on fire if you saw it at a distance. Criterion, Celestial, 
and Conspicua, high coloured. Enchantress, half white j 
and half red. Caliban was out of character here, being j 
of the same breed as the Hero of Surrey; it does not \ 
fall in with the French breed of Anais and Ibrahim 
Pacha, the originals of the true fanciers. Erubescens, 
half red and white. Conspicuum, ditto, and Criterion 
the same. Mr. Gaines had Delicatum, which passes for 
a full white, but there is a faint shade of red in the back I 
petals which I objected to when I first saw the seedling. ! 
I must now eat my own words, and say Delicatum is a 
most distinct and useful kind, and one of the best 
bloomers. It has been in several collections at the dif¬ 
ferent shows. As I never spare my best friends, it is 
only fair that I should eat the leek myself now and then, 
and I would eat it with the essence of wormwood sooner 
than pass over a fault in the case of judging (lowers. 
Conspicuum in fine condition. Princess Alice Maude, 
half white. Perfection, ditto. Advancer, of the Jehu 
breed, and Vandyke the same. Lucy, a gay half white, 
and Erubescens ditto. 
Scarlet Geraniums — There were twelve Tom 
Thumb's, in No. 16 pots, from Mr. Edwards, the great 
florist, and no florist ever showed better grown, or a 
better style, for this dwarf breed, they averaged thirty 
inches in diameter, and were the very pictures of health 
and good management. 
Largo pot Calceolarias from the Pine-Apple Place 
Nursery were gay, and there was a dark crimson seed¬ 
ling Calceolaria, called Eclipse, from Mr. Cole, I think, 
a nurseryman at St. Albans, which I recommend as the 
best of this season, backed, as I am, by the great 
authority of the first grower of the day, Mr. Turner, of 
Slough. 
Rhododendrons —There was a full collection of the 
Sikkim and Bhootan Rhododendrons, from Messrs. Hen¬ 
derson and Son, of the Wellington Nursery, in excellent 
leaf. Nutalii , with a magnolia-looking leaf, was the 
best looking of those from the Bhootan Alps, a wild 
country to the east of Sikkim, in the Himalaya range, 
and Falgoneri, had the largest leaf of those from Sikkim. 
Eximium had also a very broad, thick, round leaf. 
Bedding Geraniums. —Here I ought to put on the 
night-cap and jump into a bed of scarlet Unique, from 
Mr. Gains, the only one seen this season. The leaf, 
style of growth, flower-stem, and truss, with the shape 
of the (lower, are all exactly as in the old purple Unique, 
and the colour is just that kind of orange-scarlet in 
Lady Mary Fox, but not nearly so much black-colour; 
it is a very great acquisition to the garden. Kingsbury 
Pet is the only one of several seedlings, in that style, 
that were out here at all this season; l mean such as 
Boule de Niege, Miss Emily Field, Skeltoni, and that 
pale breed of the Horse-shoe kinds. 
Seedling Geraniums. — Una, a white one, like Pearl, 
from Mr. Turner, had a prize; and Mr. Gains had one 
for his Conqueror; a fine, large scarlet. 
Verbenas in Pots. —When one sees them in pots there 
is a fair chance for selection. Mr. Turner had six new 
seedlings, called Edward’s Seedlings, of which onp called 
Wonderful is certainly so for large flowers, trusses, and 
distinctness, of colours; a shaded purple, and a very 
large white eye; this will make a splendid bed and a 
good pot plant. Blue Beard, a purplish-blue, with a 
white eye. Lady Lacon, flesh-colour, and large light 
eye. Admiral Dundas, in the way of Wonderful. Morn¬ 
ing Star, a French-white, shaded red round the eye. 
Petunias. — There were four seedlings, with a dirty, 
dingy, drabbely, colour, bordered by a sickly green. I 
shall not injure that man who sent these ugly monsters 
by mentioning his name, but they gave me the night¬ 
mare that same night, and I dreamed falling off from 
