August 20, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
805 
flowering, is a distinct advance on previous ^varieties. 
In another house I noticed a stock of the Otaheite 
Orange, an old favourite, meriting more extensive 
culture than it gets ; also a good stock of Clematis 
indivisa lobata, which, for beauty and usefulness, is 
second to no other greenhouse climber w 7 e have. In a 
collection of Hibiscus, H. sub-violaceus, from its 
immense flowers, attracts attention. In the succulent 
house I saw what I think is a form of Sempervivum 
calcareum, labelled S. corderatum, a very pleasing and 
distinct advance on the original type. Another large 
house is full of tree Carnations, many of which were in 
flower, including a fine stock of Pride of Penshurst in 
the best possible health and vigour. Gloxinias and 
Achimenes have each a house devoted to them, the 
former being well represented in the various strains— 
erect, drooping, spotted, and seifs. 
Outside, in the nursery quarters, the space allotted 
to Dahlias is very extensive, and a few weeks later on 
there will he a fine display of them. Show, fancy, 
Cactus, and singles are all grown in collections. Violas, 
Pansies, Carnations, herbaceous Peeonies, and Gladioli, 
including Lemoine’s hybrids, are extensively cultivated. 
The most surprising tiling in connection with outdoor 
arrangements is the space allotted to Chrysanthemums, 
reason it is popularly known as Morning Glory. This 
species has been cultivated in Britain since 1629, and 
has sported or varied from seed with various coloured 
and highly beautiful flowers, including some very showy 
striped ones. Like many other popular flowers, it has 
several synonyms, including Pharbitis hispida, from its 
peculiarity of possessing a three-celled six-seeded fruit, 
while two or four cells are more typical of Ipomaea. 
-- 
THE THREE-COLOURED OR 
DWARF CONVOLVULUS. 
Curiously enough this popular annual bears the 
same date of introduction as Ipomsa purpurea, and 
while the latter is the C. major of gardens, the former 
is the C. minor, its true botanical name being C. 
tricolor. There is no more showy or pretty annual 
than this procumbent herb, for when well grown, by 
cultivating it in moderately rich soil, and thinning it 
sufficiently to allow of a proper development, the 
procumbent stems spread to a distance of 9 ins. to 
15 ins., and rise up at the tips, showing their large 
extremely handsome flowers to the best advantage. 
If stunted or sown thickly the stems are more erect, 
abundance clambering over bushes and other obstacles 
in its way on the railway embankments between 
Caterham and Reigate, occasionally occuring in 
other waste places such as at Whitehill, where it 
disputes possession of the chalky soil with the 
Traveller’s Joy, Clematis vitalba, itself one of the 
finest of British climbers, especially at this season 
when loaded with its myriads of white flowers. A 
calcareous soil seems naturally best adapted to its 
likings, and cultivators might appropriate the hint. 
The Lathyrus just mentioned has beautiful rosy purple 
flowers, and is a near relative to the garden Everlasting 
Pea. The common Marjoram, in spite of its name, is a 
handsome wilding on the chalky Downs, with its cymes 
of pink or purple flowers, and magnificent masses of 
deep purple bracts that fairly put the cultivated plant 
in the shade as regards colour. In some forms that 
almost seem distinct varieties, the bracts, just after 
flowering, when they are seen to best advantage, are 
so crowded and highly coloured as to appear like a 
mass of flowers themselves. Its near allies Calamintha 
Chinopodium, and Thymus Serpyllum Chamtedrys, vie 
with each other to attract attention. The latter is the 
prevailing form in the southern counties, whereas, the 
type is more confined to the north. 
Convolvulus tricolor. 
Iposrea purpurea. 
Convolvulus tricolor var. 
the collection here numbering about 1,000 varieties, 
stools of which are planted out in a large quarter. 
There are about 5,000 plants grown in 24-in. and 16-in. 
pots, the space of ground covered by them being very 
considerable. Every care is taken to ensure strong 
healthy cuttings, true to name, and the collection is 
unique and unapproachable. Like all other neighbour¬ 
hoods, Swanley is suffering much from drought, many 
of the hardy herbaceous plants looking very distressed 
for want of the long-looked-for rain. IF. B. G. 
-- 
IPOM2EA PURPUREA. 
This is the Convolvulus major of gardens ; but is, 
by the way, not a Convolvulus at all, having a simple 
style with an obsoletely or slightly three-lobed stigma, 
as shown in our illustration ; while a true Convolvulus 
has a deeply bifid style. Otherwise, the flowers, and 
frequently the foliage, of the species in the two genera 
resemble each other greatly. The subject under notice 
is a very popular, twining, hardy annual, with large 
purple funnel-shaped flowers ; and when grown in 
tolerably good garden soil, and furnished with the 
means of support, will grow to the height of from 8 ft. 
to 10 ft. or more, producing a great profusion of its 
handsome flowers, which, however, have the objection¬ 
able character of closing during the day-time in warm 
weather and bright sunshine, and, consequently, show 
their beauty in the morning and evening, for which 
but certainly produce a smaller quantity of bloom, and 
lasts in beauty for a comparatively short period. The 
flowers remain open, and court the sunshine even at 
midday. The throat is yellow, the lower part of the 
limb pure white, and the broad outer margin a brilliant 
deep blue ; but some forms of garden origin vary with 
different shades of colour. Our figures show the 
species drawn to two different scales. 
-- 
WILD FLOWERS ON THE 
SURREY DOWNS. 
Flowers in season and in their natural habitats seem 
at home, and bloom with a persistency that is sur¬ 
prising, when the same kinds removed to the garden 
seem to suffer more or less from dry seasons, such as 
the present, according to the unsuitability of the 
surroundings in which we place them, and the ungenial 
nature of the soil. Recently disturbed specimens also 
suffer greatly unless the soil has been deeply cul¬ 
tivated, and the sub-soil moisture can freely ascend to 
the assistance of the roots growing in them. 
Those travelling by rail cannot fail, even in the 
month of August, to note the beauty of various 
wildings in the chalky cuttings, scrambling downwards 
or climbing upwards as the case may he, and holding on 
as it were with their roots to prevent them from being 
hurled to the bottom. Lathyrus sylvestris, a local 
species, is noteworthy, and occurs sometimes in great 
Several of the above are old-fashioned garden plants ; 
but when one sees the common Bugloss (Echiumvulgare) 
in its glowing garb of the finest blue, throwing up 
spikes or compound racemes from 1 ft. to 3 ft. in 
height, without any attention whatever, except it be 
to cut it down when it intrudes on newly-made roads 
or garden ground in the vicinity of its native home, the 
question arises why we do not oftener attempt its culti¬ 
vation as a regular garden plant, for it is really a grand 
thing, and worth heaps of the exotic Borageworts over 
which we rave in ecstacies when they happen to flower. 
Blackstonia perfoliata, and Erythrsea Centaurium, in 
its beautiful rosy pink and white forms, are also gems 
for the hardy plant lover’s best care. Gentiana 
Amarella does, indeed, appear plentifully on several 
parts of the Downs, such as at Reigate, extending 
thence, at intervals, to Kingsdown and Dover, on the 
coast of Kent. It is pretty, hut not so attractive as 
the last two Gentianworts. The Bell-flowers (Cam¬ 
panula glomerata, C. rotundifolia, C. Trachelium, and 
C. hybrida) either grow on the Downs or in the fields 
and hedgerows adjoining, and all have been recognised 
as worthy of cultivation for many years back. The 
same may be said of Sedum reflexum, which botanists 
refuse to recognise as a true British plant. It certainly 
maintains its position by the waysides near the Downs 
in the neighbourhood of Bletchingley, in broken or 
continuous patches for considerable distances, flowering, 
scattering its seeds, and extending its area of distri- 
