January 2, 1880. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
277 
able for the manner of its variegation, which is 
situate crosswise on its leaves, so as to form a bar ; it 
is however, mottled in some cases, always, however, 
forming a most elegant plant. It grows somewhat 
taller than the first-named, and when well established 
is one of the most picturesque of ornamental grasses. 
The Variegated Snake’s-beard. 
Another ornamental variegated plant is to be found 
in Ophiopogon Jaburean foliis variegatus, and which, 
without exception, ranks among the finest of hardy 
variegated plants. Besides the extreme elegance of the 
nlant as a whole, it has the additional charm of pro¬ 
ducing from amidst its grassy tufts of gold striped 
leaves numerous flower spikes, bearing a strong resem¬ 
blance to the pyramidal spikes of the Grape Hyacinth ; 
in this case, however, the flowers are of a violet hue, 
which at once gives to it a novel and interesting 
appearance. It is a decided acquisition either in the 
greenhouse or conservatory, or for window-boxes in¬ 
doors. 
Green-leaved Dracaenas, &c. 
But we will pass for a moment from those bright 
■welcome variegations of the plants of which we 
have noted, and glance at some others of sombre hue. 
In these we shall find the green leaved Dracaenas figure, 
among them D. Australis, D. lineata, and D. rubra. 
These are all good durable ornaments, and D. rubra is 
a handsome broad-leaved kind, excellent for table-work. 
Another good ornamental plant is Auracaria excelsa, 
always welcome and attractive ; its deep green branches 
are so widely different from all else, which is in itself 
sufficient to give it a place among useful plants. 
Palms and Ferns. 
Among Palms we have numbers of beautiful and 
ornamental subjects, none, perhaps, more serviceable 
in the group now under notice than the well-known 
Corypha australis, a plant long known to furnishers 
and floral decorators generally as a really valuable 
plant ; it endures gas, heat, and cold as well as any of 
its family, and far better than the majority, which is 
saying a great deal in its favour. 
Ferns, as a whole, do not offer any great variety 
suited for continued hardship ; some of the best of these, 
however, may be found in the Hare’s-foot Fern, 
Davallia canariense, and the several forms of Asplenium 
bulbiferum ; and while speaking of the Fern family I 
cannot refrain from calling attention to the value of 
Todeas for this purpose. Their use in cases enclosed 
in windows, though not new, is extremely rare. There 
are some instances known to the writer where they 
thrive admirably thus treated, and are not only a 
source of immeasurable pleasure to the owners, but of 
unending surprise and admiration to both the passer-by 
and the visitor. 
Filmy Ferns. 
I need not dwell on the unique beauty of these 
Filmy Ferns, with their deep green dense fronds, and 
delighting in abundant moisture, as they do, it is next 
to impossible to give them too much, and when the 
fact obtains wider circulation that they may be grown 
in the manner described, I think it only natural to 
observe that many who have hitherto refrained from 
any attempt with them in this direction will be only 
too pleased to embrace the opportunity these plants 
afford. — J. 
■ -- 
DIPLADENIA AMCENA. 
By the efforts of hybridists, the showy Dipladenias 
are now becoming numerous ; but, attractive as the 
modern ones may be, few of them excel in compactness 
of growth and freedom of flowering in a small state, 
the old and well-known D. amcena, the subject of the 
accompanying illustration, plants of which, in 6 in. 
pots, we have frequently seen covered with its pinkish 
blossoms. D. amoena is of very easy culture in an 
ordinary stove or intermediate house temperature, and 
may be grown as either large or small plants by arrang¬ 
ing the supports or globes to the size required. It also 
makes a good exhibition plant if grown on strings 
under the roof and trained round globes just before it 
comes into flower. When so managed they grow more 
freely and are more easily kept clean. 
CLEMATISES. 
How many gardeners are aware that these arc divided 
into two distinct groups—spring flowering and summer 
flowering—and there is this marked difference between 
them, that the first must not have the wood of the 
current year cut away in the autumn or winter, or they 
will not flower. All that is required is that the dead 
and decaying wood be cut away, but all the vigorous 
green shoots be left, nearly or quite, their entire length, 
as they bloom close to this wood, and not at the leaf 
axils and points of the growing shoots of the same year. 
The Clematises of Messrs. R, Smith & Co., of Worcester, 
that are seen in such fine form at the Whitsun show of 
the Manchester Botanical and Horticultural Society, 
are what is known as the spring flowering varieties. 
Let me, for the benefit of your readers, give a list of 
a few good spring flowering types, viz., Duke of 
Edinburgh, rich violet-purple ; Fair Bosamond, pure 
white ; Lady Londesborough, silvery grey, with white 
bar; Lord Derby, reddish purple ; Maidens Blush, 
delicate blush-white ; Miss Bateman, pure white, one 
of the very best white Clematises ; Sir Garnet Wolseley, 
slaty blue ; and Vesta, creamy white. These are all 
single flowered, and they can be grown in pots as well 
as planted in the open ground ; and if employed for 
decorative purposes grow in pots. I would recommend 
that the following double varieties be added : Belle of 
Woking, silvery grey ; Duchess of Edinburgh, white ; 
John Gould Veitch, lavender-blue ; Sophie flore pleno, 
mauve ; and Undine, deep puce, suffused with light 
purple. 
The spring flowering varieties may be grown in 10-inch 
or 12-inch pots, both for exhibition and general deco¬ 
rative purposes ; they suceeed well in a rich loamy soil. 
In pots of this size, the plants should sufficiently 
furnish cylindrical trellises of about 2 ft. high, and 1 
ft. 6 ins. across. As already stated, the plants flower 
from the well-ripened wood of the previous year’s 
formation, and hence a supply of this wood must be 
kept up annually, encouraging a free growth after the 
flowering season is past. A little gentle forcing is 
necessary after blooming and during the summer 
months. Where free growth is desired, it is advanta¬ 
geous to plunge the pots into some porous medium as 
old tan, ashes, or cocoa-nut refuse, and also to mulch 
the surface of the soil in the pots with half-rotten dung. 
For show purposes, the flowers should be perfected 
under glass in order to have them fine and smooth. 
One word of caution is necessary ; in planting the 
spring-flowering types out-of-doors, care should be 
taken to place them in positions where they can be 
sheltered to some extent from the early spring frosts; 
this is a matter of some moment. The double varieties 
should have a south wall, where they can get a good 
deal of sun during the fore-part of the day. 
A good selection of summer flowering Clematises 
will be found in Edith Jackman, white, tinged with 
mauve, large and fine ; Rubra grandiflora, a red flowered 
variety of this old sweet scented species ; Jackmanni 
superba, an improvement on the last named ; Lanugi¬ 
nosa nivea, white ; Lawsoniana, rosy lilac ; Madame 
Grange, crimson-violet ; Magnifica, reddish purple ; 
Othello, dark velvety purple ; Otto Froebel, greyish 
white, very large, and one of the best; Rubella, rich 
claret-purple ; Sensation, grey, tinted with mauve ; 
Thomas Moore, rich pucy violet; and Willisoni, bright 
mauve-lilac. It would be easy to add to this list, but 
I have contented myself with taking a best represen¬ 
tative of varying colours and characters. 
In regard to soil, a “ good friable loam enriched with 
manure suits these Clematises well. A loamy soil is 
the best because the plants must have manure liberally 
supplied to them in order to keep up their strength, 
and in a loamy staple the fertilising properties of the 
manure are not liable to be dissipated as they are in 
one which is poor and porous. \\ hen, however, the 
soil approaches this latter description, it is all the more 
necessary for the plants that manure should be abun¬ 
dantly applied to make good the natural deficiency in 
fertility. In the case of light soils, a good proportion 
of loam, made friable by frosts, if at all of a heavy or 
clayey character, should be incorporated, since this 
will render it more holding ; deep trenching should also 
be resorted to for the same purpose. In the case of 
heavy soils, they should be ameliorated by the free 
intermixture of calcareous soil, or of any sharp gritty 
materials which may be available, the drainage being 
made efficient and the soil well aerated before planting. ’ 
Dipladenia amcena. 
