October 9, 1886. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
85 
year, and which is repeated year by year ; sc that in 
the one case you may enjoy the Begonia and its flowers 
to the utmost, while in the other, you must cut it 
down for stock almost as soon as it reaches its best. 
Still another point, aud which is more applicable to 
small gardeners and amateurs, is that Begonias for bed- 
dingpurposes,solongas keptcomparativelydryandsecure 
from frost, need no heated structure in the winter ; and 
further still, they will start into growth naturally in 
spring with little or no heat at all ; at most, if accom¬ 
modated with slight warmth from a dung-bed, it will 
be all that is needed. The last point to which I shall 
refer, as favouring the use of the Begonia for bedding 
purposes, is that, by carpeting the vacant beds with 
bedding Violas and other spring-flowering plants, as 
soon as the Begonias are lifted, you may embrace a 
totally distinct feature and also enjoy a fair amount of 
pleasure from them, especially as these may remain 
till the end of June, when the Begonias would be fine 
plants in boxes for putting into the beds. Having said 
so much, I must leave the matter in the hands of your 
intelligent readers, to decide for themselves. 
Before taking leave of the Begonias in the open beds 
at these nurseries, I cannot but call attention to the 
different types of Begonias to which Mr. Owen is now 
paying special attention, and as being particularly 
adapted for bedding purposes. The first of these is 
the erect-flowering type, all of which possess a dwarf 
sturdy short-jointed habit of growth, with stout stems 
and flowers fully erect when expanded. The next type 
possesses the same habit generally, but have the flowers 
semi-erect or assuming a horizontal position. Both 
these are very dwarf and compact, and commence 
flowering at the first joint ; from the apex of the tubers 
these are both invaluable strains for bedding; the third 
type is quite distinct from cither of those previously 
mentioned, and which partakes more of the character 
of B. Veitchi, B. Froebeli and B. rosaeflora, which three 
may be numbered among the gems of hardy plants ; 
and it is not unlikely that one or more of these species 
have at some time played some part in developing this 
particular variety. Be this as it may, there is every 
likelihood of this latter making a most useful and valu¬ 
able bedder. The leaves are of considerable substance 
and lie close to the ground, while the flowers arc borne 
on stout stems well above the leaves. 
Then if we would search for variety of colour or 
form, we have it here supplied, from the snowiest 
whites, and pale p; imrose and straw, onward into buff, 
orange and chrome, until we emerge into pink, rose, 
salmon, scarlet, orange-scarlet, lake, crimson, magenta, 
rose-violet, cerise, together with an endless variety of 
intermediate shades, for which it is next to impossible 
to find distinctive names ; these great variations of 
colour are more particularly noticed in the singles, many 
of which attain to a great size. In the doubles the 
colour generally is more decided it may be well to add 
that among these latter there are many, consequent 
upon the great weight of their blossoms individually, 
that are delightfully adapted for hanging baskets ; and 
by employing them thus, they may be admired with 
ease and without handling the flowers, which, generally, 
are so fragile as to break upon the least touch in a 
wrong direction. 
Not only were the beds without gay with thousands 
of plants in full splendour, but some three large houses 
are tilled with finely grown and well-flowered samples 
of these highly decorative plants ; strong, stout, vigor¬ 
ous plants, in all sizes, meet the eye as you pass from 
house to house, and these covered with large handsome 
flowers, in such a variety of colour, as to be almost 
overwhelming ; so great and varied a display, in fact, 
that mere description falls a long way short of the 
actual splendour in which this truly noble group of 
plants are arrayed, which must be seen to be realized. 
One of the gems of the season, however, may be found 
in the variety Imperial, which was recently awarded 
a First Class Certificate by the Royal Horticultural 
Society; in colour it is rosy cerise, nearly 6 ins. 
across, is of great substance and of noble bearing, 
and possesses a sturdy vigorous habit. Those with 
Picotee edge are simply charming, especially so when 
the ground or predominant colour is white, and mar¬ 
gined, very delicately in some instances, with magenta, 
whilst in others the margin is of a rose colour, and 
others still of varying shades. 
It is worthy of special note that some of the varieties, 
and especially the doubles, are the best grown as basket 
plants, arranged so as to hang a little above the level 
BEGONIAS AT MAIDENHEAD. 
The rapid advance which has become so apparent 
during the past few years among the tuberous-rooted 
section of this family, together with their adaptability 
for bedding and other decorative purposes, is fast 
gaining for them a well-deserved popularity—a popu¬ 
larity it is to be hoped they may long enjoy. Only 
some half-dozen years ago the places where Begonias 
were used as bedding plants at all might almost have 
been counted on the fingers of one’s hands ; while 
to-day they are the recognised bedding plants in 
hundreds of gardens, and what more delightful have 
we for the summer and autumn months than these 
no small degree—for they may now be seen by 
thousands in these nurseries in almost every possible 
stage. The “Floral Nurseries” are situate on the 
main Bath Road, and about ten minutes’ walk from 
the Maidenhead station on the Great Western line ; 
the exact position of the nurseries is that known 
locally as Castle Hill ; this is considerably above the 
level of the town and is somewhat exposed; the ground 
is generally poor and stony, and such as will require 
enriching for years to come. I mention these par¬ 
ticulars with a view to illustrate that the Begonia as a 
bedding plant is not fastidious as to soil; indeed, on 
the contrary, it appears to delight in any good ordinary 
soil, kept rather moist during dry weather. 
CALANTHE VEST1TA WlLLIAMSII. 
Begonias ? A few years ago, even where Begonias were 
employed as bedding plants, it was a rare occurrence 
to meet anything but Vesuvius or allied strains ; and 
while these were welcomed at the time, and formed 
quite a new feature in the out-door departments of 
gardening, they have to-day to give place to newer 
kinds and newer types, which lend themselves in a 
remarkable manner to this particular purpose. 
Among the few nurserymen who have made Begonias 
a leading feature may be mentioned Mr. Robert Owen, 
of Maidenhead. Barely two years have elapsed since 
Mr, Owen established himself in his floral nurseries 
there, being, however, at the time the fortunate 
possessor of fine strains, both of tubers and seeds, 
which for years previously he had been carefully 
selecting and improving. The result of Mr. Owen’s 
labours is now fast becoming apparent—and that in 
Considering the light, stony nature of the soil with 
which Mr. Owen has to contend, and the remarkably 
fine condition they .were in at the time of my visit, 
it is not too much to presume that they may be grown 
in almost any garden. This section of Begonias, too, 
has advantages over the majority of bedding plants, 
which may not have occurred to all of your readers; and 
it may serve probably to enlighten some at least, if I 
state what I consider these advantages are : firstly 
then (and to be reasonable at the same time), tuberous 
Begonias were, in September, in full bloom out of doors, 
and had been since the early part of July, and will so 
remain till repelled by autumn frosts ; on the other 
hand, if we peep into a garden where the zonal 
Pelargonium still holds sway, there is little fear of 
catching the “ scarlet fever ” now, for the Pelargoniums 
are all beheaded to provide cuttings for plants another 
