78 
THE FLOEIST AND POMOLOGIST, 
[ May, 
perfectly soft and ripe, and are packed so care¬ 
fully for the voyage in soft tissue-paper that 
the bloom is not removed. They have a 
flavour peculiarly their own, something like 
that of a ripe Apricot, but more juicy, and with 
but very little of that astringent after-taste 
which was, I believe, rather too apparent in 
the case of the examples shown before the 
Fruit Committee at South Kensington, two or 
three years ago. It fruited five or six years 
since in the Jardin des Plantes in the open air, 
but I believe the orchard-house or vinery will 
be the best situation for it in this country. 
There are many varieties. That which fruited 
in the Jardin des Plantes was a seedless form, 
and was named D. costata by M. Oarriere, who 
published a drawing of it at the time in the 
Itevue Horticole. The varieties I have tasted 
abroad had from three to eight dark brown, 
kidney-shaped seeds, embedded in the rich 
orange pulp. The fruit and glossy foliage of 
this plant are so distinct and ornamental, that 
it seems to me worth cultivation, even although 
the flavour may not prove to be quite so 
delicious as those ripened under a sub-tropical 
sun. The tree may be propagated by layering, 
although the Chinese and Japanese graft the 
superior varieties on stocks of less desirable 
kinds.—F. W. Buebidge. 
VILLA GARDENING. 
gardeners still 
anxiety the genial. 
wait with some 
growing spring 
weather that should prevail at this 
season of the year. It is almost impossible to 
carry on out-door gardening operations with 
anything like pleasure, and those who have 
sowed their seeds find that many of them rot 
in the ground ; or if they grow, it is with a kind 
of holding action, so damp, cold, and uncon¬ 
genial is the soil. Day by day the villa gardener 
waits for warm, open weather, and clear, bright, 
invigorating sunshine, till hope so long deferred 
maketh his heart well-nigh sick. It is very 
slow to come ; but surely it will burst upon us 
at no great distance, else May will scarcely 
come in wreathed with flowers, and with what 
the poets have termed “ a light and laughing 
look of love.” 
Greenhouse. —The late spring has caused 
Jl^acinths to hold on with unusual endurance. 
It is wrong to plant them out-of-doors in a 
rough fashion while cold winds blow and sleet 
falls, after having been kept warm and com¬ 
fortable in a greenhouse. They should be put 
away in a sheltered place, and not neglected 
till they can be planted out in the border, to 
light up unoccupied spots in springs to come. 
Kaivissl, Tiiltps., Scillas.) &c,, may be similarly 
treated, and they need not be thrown away, 
for if planted out properly, they thrive well 
in the future. As hard-wooded, shrubby 
plants find a place in most greenhouses, it 
may be remarked generally that they will 
now want plenty of air, and any specimen 
plants should be shaded from the sun, to 
prolong their beauty and freshness. Epacrises 
that have made long shoots, and other plants 
similarly lanky in appearance, should be cut 
back, to bring them into fair proportions ; and 
when they break into growth, and the young 
shoots increase in size, they should be thinned 
as desired, tied-out to get the plants into a 
good shape, and the plants shifted if they 
require it. All young plants will be making a 
free growth, and it is requisite that space be 
given them in which to grow ; plenty of air 
should be afforded, but cold draughts avoided ; 
the shoots stopped and tied-out as required, 
and watering well attended to. Camellias and 
Azaleas that have made their young shoots 
require ventilation, as a hardening influence 
to fit them to go out of doors by-and- 
by, to mature their buds. Of soft-wooded 
plants coming on into bloom for the sum¬ 
mer service, there are many. Pelarr/o~ 
niums, 3Iimuluses, Fuchsias, Petunias, Helio¬ 
tropes, and others, make capital plants for 
keeping up a display during the summer, if 
shifted to grow into size, and occasionally 
stopped, to grow into a handsome shape. By 
stopping some more closely than others, a succes¬ 
sion of bloom is provided. Diehjtra spectabilis, 
Deutzia (jracilis, Hoteia japonica. Anemone 
fulgens. Primula clenticulata, and its varieties, 
Dodecatheoii Meadia, and some others, have 
been, and still are, most useful plants in a 
cold greenhouse. The former, after they have 
gone out of bloom, should be divided if neces¬ 
sary, and planted out in good soil, to grow 
into size for service next year. The villa 
gardener should depend on imported roots of 
the Hoteia for blooming in spring, as those 
kept over till another season are late in 
flowering. 
Cold Frames. — Auricidas, both Show and 
Alpine, will now be in flower, though the 
former are having a sorry time of it, without 
some warmth and protection. Pansies are 
getting nicely into flower, and require to be 
kept clear from green-fly, the surface-soil occa¬ 
sionally stirred, and the plants watered as re¬ 
quired. Priumla intermedia and P. japonica 
are taking the place of P.. nivalis, which is 
going out of bloom ; the pretty new Primula 
rosea is also very charming. The villa gardener 
should grow a few Phloxes in pots of what is 
known as the smooth-leaved or suffruticosa 
section, as they do not do well planted out, 
and they are very ornamental; a white variety 
named Miss Robertson makes a very pretty pot- 
plant. Another pleasing subject is Triteleia 
