58 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 
flonirn , and Forsythia viridissima, are very little 
injured, even in a moderately exposed situation; thus 
proving, beyond a doubt, that these three beautiful 
things are hardy enough to endure the winters of 
this country, at least near London. We should he 
glad to learn from our friends in the north how this 
spring-winter has affected those new shrubs in their 
neighbourhood. 
FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
We trust our amateur and cottage friends have 
remembered our instructions, and have protected 
their pets from the frosts that succeeded the snow 
storms we were visited with so severely. Without 
great care and secure covering, the auriculas, poly¬ 
anthuses, tulips, ranunculuses, &c., w r ill have suffered 
much. Should you at any time he so unfortunate 
as to have allowed the frost to reach such things as 
scarlet geraniums, fuchsias, and other plants in your 
cold pit, or any other place under cover, you may 
recover them by sprinkling them with very cold 
water and thickly shading them from the sun, thus 
bringing on a gradual thaw in the dark; it is the 
too sudden change from a freezing atmosphere to 
warmth that does the mischief Continue to shelter 
your florist’s flowers. You will have had a severe 
lesson of the necessity of such precautions. If your 
favourites have suffered from this unexpected visit 
of such severe weather, all we can say or urge upon 
you is to be more careful in future. T. Appleby. 
GREENHOUSE AND WINDOW 
GARDENING. 
Camellias. — This family, like the tea-plant, to 
which it is nearly related, stands at the head of Chi¬ 
nese botany, and was named by Linnaeus, the great 
Swedish reformer of natural history, after Camellus, 
one of the Jesuits who explored the interior of the 
Chinese empire. It is, therefore, a complimentary 
or commemorative name, and if the old Jesuit could 
now he permitted to see the extraordinary extent and 
beauty of the progeny of his namesake, he might well 
be proud of it; whilst the memory of Linnaeus him¬ 
self, the most eminent of modern natmalists, will be 
handed down to posterity by a little trailing weed, 
Lin nan borealis, called after him by one Gronovius, 
a botanist of Leyden; and, as it is said, in contempt 
for his sweeping reforms of the arrangements and 
naming of objects of natural liistory. The first ca¬ 
mellia that was introduced to England is the single 
red, one of the hardiest of the race, chiefly used now 
as a stock to work the double ones on. It is not a 
hundred years since the cultivation of camellias be¬ 
came general in England. Lord Peter is said to have 
been the first who possessed the single red camellia, 
about the year 1739, but it was very rare for more 
than twenty years afterwards. In China it is said to 
attain the size of an ordinary cherry-tree. In 1792, 
the first double camellia was introduced; a varie¬ 
gated one, red, with white stripes, and is the one we 
now call “ the old double-striped." Some years since 
I bought a plant of this variety for a gentleman, 
which was 23 feet high, and clothed from top to bot¬ 
tom with leaves and flowers. The “ common double¬ 
white" camellia was introduced about the same time; 
and, notwithstanding the hundreds that have since 
been raised from seeds in E urope and elsewhere, not 
one of them exceeds it in beauty and regularity of 
form; and the only one that comes up to it, in the 
same colour, is “ the fringed white," also of Chinese 
origin. Of all the camellias, this is my own favourite; 
the only difference between it and the old double¬ 
white is, that the petals (leaves of the flowers) are 
ciliated or fringed on the edge. Another oi the old 
ones, called “ Lady Humes Blush" is nearly as good 
as the above, with a different tint, being of a buff 
white, blushed with pink. Then comes the “ Wara- 
tah ” or “ anemone-flowered." This is a totally different 
flower in shape from all the rest, and is the parent of 
a distinct section of the family ; having the centre of 
the flowers in the form of a double anenome, with a 
guard row of petals round the outside like a holly¬ 
hock flower. There are several distinct species from 
China, two of which are strikingly handsome; one 
is called the “ apple-flowered camellia," with a rosy 
blush flower; and the other is called “ Captain Rawe's 
camellia ” or “ reticulata." This is almost the last 
really fine camellia that has been brought over from 
China, and it is also different from the others, with 
large half double red flowers, more like those of a 
poppy or tree pseony than a real camellia. There are 
several others from China or Japan, but not to be 
mentioned in these days, when we have such a host 
of superior seedlings that it is as difficult to choose 
from as it is to select among the dahlias; and, like 
the dahlias, some new and superior ones are turning 
up every season. England took the lead lor many 
years in seedling camellias; Germany followed; and. 
latterly, the Italians and others have been successful 
raisers of fine camellias; even “ brother Jonathan, 
over the water, has been going ahead in the race, 
and “ he guesses that ere long he shall be upsides 
with old John himself at a congress of national com¬ 
petition ;” so that we are not likely to want for new 
camellias for some time. I have seen, at various 
periods, above 60 kinds of superior camellias in 
bloom; but there are a great number, and some first- 
rate ones too, that I only know from report. How¬ 
ever, if I had the means,’ I could select and buy two 
dozen of very first-rate ones, embracing all the tints 
and shades of colour which the family possess. There 
may be a dozen more of very good ones, but that is 
the outside number of a good selection out of a hun¬ 
dred or a hundred and fifty sorts that may be had in 
London and from the continent. I shali give a list, 
with short descriptions, of those I would choose; and, 
as a good variety will take up no more room than an 
inferior one, the list may be found useful: then, to 
begin with the best 
Whites, there are the old double white, the fringed 
white, and Candidissima —three sorts that would 
puzzle any one to choose which was really the best. 
The old white is perhaps a shade behind in the lap¬ 
ping of the petals (flower-leaves). When the petals 
are of a thick substance, well rounded at the points, 
perfectly smooth, with no waviness on the edges, and 
lie over each other regularly, like the tiles on a root, 
the whole flower is said to be perfect. The anemone- 
flowered ones, of course, are judged by another 
standard. Now, the lapping of the petals in a rose 
or camellia is called being imbricated, from the 
Latin word imbricatus, when they lie over each other 
in a perfect form, like tiles on a roof. Therefore, the 
meaning of the old double white being not so perfect 
in the lapping is, that the flowers sometimes are not 
so highly imbricated as in the other two. Now, 
place the fringed and candadissima together, and tell 
me which is the best of the two. Are they not botli 
best? Well then, we must have a casting vote; 
your sister Mary will decide at a glance. Place 
them both in her hair, one on each side, and let her 
