December 26, 1S85. 
264 THE HARDENING WORLD. 
THE CHRISTMAS ROSE. 
Although introduced into our gardens nearly three 
centuries ago, the Christmas Rose remains to day a 
comparatively scarce plant, and, indeed, a very rare plant 
in anything like fine clumps. To attempt a solution 
of this may at first appear superflous ; still the fact 
that they are impatient of removal, and take a con¬ 
siderable time to re-establish themselves after being 
transplanted, may in some degree account for the 
scarcity of at least fine clumps. But some may remark 
that, with such a lapse of time even the smallest plants 
might have formed magnificent specimens. In this 
I readily concur, though it is highly probable that the 
originally introduced plants have long since passed 
away. The Christmas Bose, the St. Bruno’s Lily, and 
The Fair Maids of France, are all great favourites with 
the writer, simply because they were his first acquaint- 
ances among hardy plants ; and under these three 
popular names he first learnt, and never forgot, three 
popular hardy plants. At the time of which I speak 
good clumps might be seen frequently in country 
cottage gardens, clumps 3 ft. or more across ; but you 
cannot meet with these to-day, and this causes one 
to wonder what has become of these giants as it were, 
the result, probably, of twenty year’s growth. 
In point of popularity it would be difficult to imagine 
a more popular flower for the coming Christmas season 
than the Christmas Bose, which if rose it be, is 
certainly minus the; thorns. It is highly appreciated, 
and justly too, at this dull season when flowers are 
scarce, and it is the more valuable because, let the 
weather be what it may, the flowering of it is sure, and 
being so thoroughly hardy, it is capable of withstanding 
our severest winters with impunity, for frost never does 
more harm than browning a few of its leaves, which, 
considering that it loses the great majority of its foliage 
annually, to be replaced by new, is no great loss to the 
plant. Even when the ground is covered with snow, 
these mid-winter flowers may be seen peeping from 
their beds, determined, as it were, to be in their place 
at flowering time. 
The culture of the Christmas Rose, botauically known 
as Helleborus nigeiy. is very simple, provided a few 
particulars be adhered to. One of the primary points is 
a good depth of well enriched loam, of a somewhat 
retentive nature, though well drained ; a position in 
partial shade is also highly beneficial to them, and 
insures large vigorous foliage. On no account, that is 
if the best results are desired, should they be planted 
on sandy soils exposed to the full sun, for here they 
will most assuredly fail. A position such as I have 
described will be forthcoming in most gardens, and, as 
I have before observed, that they are most impatient 
of removal, care should be exercised that they are well 
planted in the first place, and that the proper position 
be selected for them. 
"Where they are specially required for the blooms, 
which are so valuable at this time, they should be 
planted in a bed by themselves, where they may be 
covered at flowering time by hand-lights or a spare 
frame, which may be removed when the flowering has 
ceased. Protected in this way, the blossoms become 
much more pure than when left exposed to wind, rain, 
and frost, and, as a natural consequence, are far more 
valuable. Speaking of the Christmas Bose calls to my 
mind some exceedingly handsome clumps which existed 
some years ago in Mr. Latimer Clark’s garden at 
Sydenham. These were annually a picture at flowering 
time, and coveted by all who saw them. They were 
covered by large bell-glasses, specially made for the 
purpose, and they were annually one mass of handsome 
pure white flowers, which lasted for w T eeks in perfection. 
When seen in such condition and in such quantity, 
they are certainly the pride of any garden in winter time. 
Another good method of growing them successfully 
is in turf-pits. This will be more readily accomplished 
where rough turf abounds by building a pit 18 ins. 
high. Plant them in this in good soil, and success 
will follow. The benefits derived from this method 
are that they remain sheltered from cutting winds and 
are kept somewhat cooler ; moreover, they may at any 
moment be covered by a mat or spare light if necessary. 
The varieties of the Christmas Rose are very few—at 
least, the recognised forms, though there is a consider¬ 
able variation among collected plants. Apart from the 
typical plant, Helleborus niger, the varieties Caucasicus 
and maximus are the most distinct, the former being 
an intermediate form between the original species and 
maximus, and the flowers snow-white, The latter is a 
grand plant, still very rate ; this commences to flower 
in November, and is succeeded by the other two, which 
brings about a somewhat lengthened flowering period. 
In connection with this family there is ample scope 
for the hybridist, who hitherto has been rewarded with 
some fine additions to the genus, mostly, however, 
among the Lenten Roses, which flower later on ; they 
produce seeds comparatively free, but are very slow to 
vegetate, and seedlings take from three to five years to 
make good flowering plants, so that those who take 
them in hand will need a fair amount of patience.— J. 
-->*<•- 
CARTERS’ “EMPEROR’’ PETUNIA. 
Many of our readers, doubtless will have seen the 
charming baskets of Petunias which have been exhibited 
at the summer flower shows, and to those who have 
not, the accompanying illustration will serve to give 
some idea of the great variety among them, though for 
their marvellous beauty and their gorgeous colours, the 
engraving, no matter how aided by description in words, 
must necessarily fail to give an adequate notion. 
Messrs. Jas. Carter & Co., have worked on the improve¬ 
ment of the 11 Emperor” strain of Petunias for years, and 
by careful seeding making it better every year, until now 
it seems almost impossible to improve on it either in 
habit, floriferousness, or quality of bloom. 
The flowers illustrated represent some of the types, 
which, together with every inconceivable grade between 
them, may now be secured by the simple means of a 
packet of seed. The one type represents the rosy crim¬ 
son form with white eye ; another, the rose veined with 
crimson ; the third, the flaked and mottled class ; and 
a fourth the double, which comes in every conceivable 
tint. The crimson and white bizarre form of the 
Inimitabilis section is also represented, as also one of 
the forms with wonderful kaleidoscopic arrangement of 
the veins radiating from the centre, and the fringed 
class, which runs through both doubles and singles. 
When we consider the great value of the Petunias as 
bedding and window-box plants, and how in some hot 
summers or in poor shallow soils they are among the few 
plants to be depended on to give bright flowers, we 
wonder they are not more grown than they are, for in 
the matter of sliowiness but few things can compare 
with a good bed of mixed Petunias, which is a thing of 
great beauty when viewed closely, and is visible and 
effective from a greater distance than most flowers. 
Seeds sown in a cold greenhouse or frame any time 
early in the year make stout plants by bedding out 
time, and even if forgotten until the lack of enough bed¬ 
ding plants is made known in the spring, at any time, 
within a few week of bedding-out time, the Petunia, 
if sown in a little heat, is one of the best and safest 
plants to rely on to make up the deficiency. 
-—- 
PRUNING- VINES. 
Amateurs and young gardeners just beginning to 
prune their Vines for the first time are sometimes 
afraid to use the knife or secateur with that freedom that 
practice alone can give, so that a few hints may not be 
out of place at this season of the year. Barbarossa and 
Duke of Buccleuch should not be cut so close as other 
varieties. The first-named should be left with two 
buds, and the Duke with three or four. When the 
Vines are being disbudded in spring, the most fruitful- 
looking and best shoots can then be retained. With 
other more certain “showers” the pruning may be 
quite close— i.e., to one bud. Sometimes, when such 
close pruning is the rule, the bud that is left does not 
come away in spring, but another forces its way out of 
the old stem. This generally happens when the cut 
has been made too near the bud retained. Cut as far 
away from the bud as possible, just below the next bud, 
so that a piece of shoot may be left that will heal and 
dry up without making the bud suffer. 
Sometimes, however, Vines break back on the old 
wood when quite correct pruning has been practised, 
but not often. The shears or knives used should be of 
the best quality, and should be in good order. A 
slightly slanting cut should be made, and so clean that 
no signs of jagged edges may be seen. 
When Vines are pruned a few days before they are 
to be started, they should have styptic applied to the 
wounds. The next day after pruning apply the styptic 
with a hardish brush, taking caro that the whole 
surface and edges of the wounds are coated over. In 
the case of young rods which have been run up in 
summer, various ways of pruning may be practised 
according to what is desired. When young vines have 
been allowed to grow and ramble at will all the season, 
and it is not desired to take any fruit off them next 
year, they should be cut back to within 2 ft. of the 
bottom, and allowed to come away with just as many 
shoots as are required to form bearing rods for another 
year. Supposing these to have flourished, at the next 
pruning they may be allowed to remain 6 ft. or 8 ft. 
long—according to strength—and an additional 6 ft. 
or so retained the next season, until the required length 
is attained. 
Attention should be paid to the running up of young 
rods to take the places of old unsightly stems, which 
can easily be done without interfering very much with 
the cropping of a house. Some varieties, notably, 
Lady Downes, fruit better, and “break” better when 
the Vines have attained a few years age. Young rods of 
Lady Downes are indeed sometimes very troublesome to 
get to “break” equally. By the way, Golden Champion 
ought to be included among the varieties that should 
not be close pruned—three eyes at least should be left. 
It may be profitably urged that one great secret in 
regard to having fine shoots on which to practice 
pruning is, that at disbudding time only as many 
shoots should be retained as there is abundant roof 
space for. . Sometimes the writer has seen several 
miserable thin spindles of shoots crowding together 
where only one should have been. One would have 
been strong and fruitful, three or four are weak and 
unproductive. — Scotia. 
■ -- 
THE HOLLY. 
The European Holly is certainly one of the evergreen 
glories of English gardens. There its deep green glossy 
foliage and bright coral berries, -which hang on for a 
long time, are seen entwining the pleasure grounds and 
shrubberies the whole of the leafless and inactive period 
in vegetation—winter. It is also in our mother tongue 
inseparably connected with the delightful association 
of merry Christmas gambols and feastings, when both 
the churches and the dwelling-houses are decorated 
with its sprays and boughs. It is said that the practice 
of dressing our houses, &c., is a relic of Druidism, 
and so links the past to the present festive season, as 
does the Mistletoe. 
“The Holly or Holme (Hex Aquifolium) derives its 
name from the Anglo-Saxon Holegn, whilst another 
ancient designation, Hulver, or as Chaucer wrote it, 
Hulfcere, has been taken from the old Norse Hulji. 
From the use made of its branches in decorating 
churches at Christmas-time, the monks, by an easy 
corruption, bestowed on the Holly the designation of 
the Holly-tree (R. Folkard).” 
Dr. Chandler mentions' that during the times of the 
Druids, priests houses were decorated with boughs “that 
the sylvan spirits might repair thither, and remain un¬ 
nipped by frost and cold winds until a milder season 
had renewed the foliage of their darling abodes.” But 
Mr. Folkard states that the custom of decorating houses 
and churches with Holly at Christmas is probably 
derived from the Romans, who were wont to send 
boughs to their friends during the festival of the 
Saturnalia, which occurred about the same period, and 
the Oaks being then bare of leaves, the priests obliged 
the people to bring in boughs of Holly and Evergreens. 
There is little doubt that the early Roman Christians, 
disregarding the church’s interdiction, introduced the 
heathen practice of decorating their houses with Holly, 
and in course of time connected it with their own 
faith; and he further informs us that there exists an 
old English superstition that elves and fairies join the 
social gatherings at Christmas, and this led to boughs 
and branches being hung up in both hall and bower, in 
order that the fays might “ hang in each leaf and cling 
on every bough during that sacred time when spirits 
have no power to harm.” 
It was formerly an article of belief that, unknown 
before, the Holly sprang up in perfection and beauty 
beneath the footsteps of Christ when he first trod the 
earth, and that though man has forgotten its attributes 
the beasts all reverence it, and are never known to 
injure it. In Cambridgeshire it is still believed by 
many that if the Holly with which the house is deco¬ 
rated at Christmas is removed before Candlemas-day 
the prosperity of the tenant will vanish with it, and 
not return before the following year. 
