1879 .] 
THE STANWICK ELRUGE NECTARINE.-THE HOLLYHOCK. 
73 
ance of bloom on all our trees. Though we 
are not safe till after June 1st, yet we may 
hope to escape any very severe frosts after this. 
—John Clark, the Gardens, Studleij Ro^al, 
At Eastnor. 
What a winter we have passed through! 
Lying as we do here, high amongst the hills, 
our shi'ubs and coniferous plants have escaped 
almost uninjured—a striking contrast to 18(50 ! 
Such tender representatives as Pinus insignis,, 
P. Montezuma:,^ Cupressus niacrocarpa,, and C, 
torulosa look as green as they did in the 
autumn. So much for fairly ripened growth. 
On low ground, Arbutus Unedo is browned ; on 
high ground, it is safe. A. Croomii, Andrachne,, 
hyhrida, procera,! and photinkefolia are also 
uninjured. Vegetables are sadly cut up. Out 
of 2,000 Broccoli, I have perhaps twent}'. 
Brussels Sprouts and Cottager’s Kale are the only 
greens that have stood. Fruit-crops are very 
promising, but now want free growth. Seven 
degi’ees of frost this morning (April 22).—W. 
Coleman, Eastnor Castle Gardens. 
THE STANWICK ELRUGE NECTARINE. 
[Plate 490.] 
rpN the raising of Peaches and Nectarines, 
1 rb the late Mr. Rivers was very successful. 
The principal merit in his Peaches is 
earliness, but his Nectarines are fine, large, and 
handsome, and of exquisite flavour. Stanwick 
Elruge combines all the good equalities of the 
two varieties from which it takes its name, 
without the faults of the Stanwick, the latter 
being very liable to crack when ripening. It is 
a vigorous grower, flowers as profusely and 
sets as freely as the old Elruge ; but the fruit 
is much larger, a little less dense in colour, and 
occupies the front row in point of flavour. 
Being a little later in its ripening season, it 
may be planted as a successional companion to 
the Violette Hative, the Elruge, and other 
midseason kinds.—W. C. 
To these remarks from Mr. Coleman we need 
only add that our figure was prepared from 
specimens which were kindly sent to us by him 
last summer, from the gardens at Eastnor 
Castle, near Ledbur}". —T. M. 
THE HOLLYHOCK. 
F all the flowers that adorn our gardens 
in the wane of summer, the Hollyhock 
is among the most conspicuous, if not 
without a rival, for effect in the background 
of border flowers. The front ranks may be 
neat and natty, as become those placed near 
the eye, a blaze of beauty ivithout a shadow ; 
and the middle-distance maybe made gay, with 
the Dahlia staring with all its eyes open to be 
noticed, and here and there a gaudy Sunflower 
or a Monkshood, to set off smaller things to 
better advantage, the yellow of the Sunflower 
and the blue of the Monkshood relieving the 
stiffness of the oft repeated Pelargoniums, and 
other bedding plants (for the pretty blues of 
the dwarf Lobelias are all too small for this 
kind of work, although they are invaluable for 
edgings everywhere); but behind the Dahlia 
there should be found a place for Hollyhocks, 
for they come in at a very needful time, and as 
they do not spend all their strength at once, 
but flower successionally, we have the pleasure 
of their company long after the time when 
summer flowers are gone to seed. 
There was a time wdien the Hollyhock was 
propagated by buds and by division, in order 
to get the fine double varieties true to name. 
Mr. Pince, of the Exeter Nursery, showed me 
a choice collection of these grown to perfection 
in a sheltered place, which, on account of their 
great leverage, was necessary, for it is no easy 
matter to support stems G ft. to 9 ft. high when 
fully exposed. This was some 25 years ago, 
and although I have visited many noted flower 
gardens since, I have never seen Mr. Pince’s 
Hollyhocks surpassed, or even equalled. The 
cost of the plants, and the preparation of the 
soil by trenching and manuring, might hinder 
some, and the cost of tall stakes in certain 
localities might deter others, from indulging in 
such a hobby ; but there is an easy way to get 
cheap plants, so that the grand flower-border 
may not be destitute of its distant ornament. 
It is scarcely too late to recover lost time with 
the Hollyhock, for when I took charge of the 
garden at Alderley, Cheshire, I arrived in 
March at the scene of action, and with my hands 
empty, for the winter had done its worst. I 
