May 12, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
587 
Narcissus bicolor, Mrs. J. B. M. Camm. 
In this we have a very distinct variety of the bicolor 
type, now getting very numerously represented in 
gardens. The segments are white, broadly ovate, 
obtuse, slightly twisted. The crown is rather short, 
wide, with a much expanded lobed mouth, and pale 
lemon in colour. The flowers are moderate in size 
compared with some of the fine forms in this group, 
but are of good substance. Exhibited by Messrs. Barr 
& Son, Covent Garden. 
Tea Bose, Madame IIoste. 
The flowers of this new Bose are beautifully formed, 
compact, and pale clear yellow, with broad rounded 
petals that in the condition shown did not spread very 
much at the tip. They were cup-shaped rather than 
conical, such as we see in Niphetos, but not particularly 
fragrant. The leaves are of a beautiful shining deep 
green, and edged with red, especially when young. 
Exhibited by Messrs. 'William Paul & Sons. 
Azalea Vervaeneana. 
The flowers of this variety of Indian Azalea are of great 
size, semi-double, while the outer segments of the 
corolla are broad arid rounded, which gives the bloom 
a regular form ; they are also slightly undulated at the 
margin. In colour they are beautifully variegated 
with rosy pink and white. Exhibited by Mr. Charles 
Turner, Slough. 
Alpine Auriculas. 
Harry Turner. —This is a variety of great substance 
and beauty, and appears to be of robust constitution, 
with good foliage. The centre is bright yellow, which 
forms a large, orbicular zone surrounding the throat. 
The body colour of the bloom is deep blackish purple, 
giving place to a bright purple margin. 
Mrs. Harry Turner. —The centre in this instance 
is pale yellow in the young condition of the flower, 
fading to white, and although smaller than in the last 
case, is nevertheless conspicuous. The maroon-purple 
body is replaced by lilac-purple at the margin. Both 
exhibited by Mr. Charles Turner, Slough. 
Hetty Dean. —The most striking feature of this 
form is the clear white zone in the centre, which gets 
better as the flower improves. The body colour consists 
of a blackish purple, well-defined, not streaky blotch ; 
while the margin is white, a colour that extends round 
the blotch, connecting the margin with the central 
white zone. Exhibited by Mr. E. Dean, Ealing. 
Polyanthus, John Woodbridge. 
The improvement and cultivation of this beautiful 
hardy clas3 of plants might be considerably extended 
for ordinary decorative purposes in the open garden, 
and the form under notice was certificated purely from 
this point of view. Strong trusses of flowers are sent 
up from ample healthy foliage, and the blooms are 
deep rich crimson, with a large-lobed golden yellow 
eye. The name commemorates a well-known member 
of the council, who has passed away. Exhibited by 
Mr. B. Dean, Ealing. 
-- 
ARDENING fflSCELLANY. 
Narcissi at Chiswick. 
Eor many years a tolerably good and representative 
collection of the various types of Narcissi, including 
most of the specific forms, has been grown in the 
gardens of the Boyal Horticultural Society at Chiswick. 
Since the Daffodil mania culminated in the formation 
of a Narcissus Committee the collection has greatly 
increased, until now there are some 150 species and 
varieties—probably more—either grown in plots under 
trial with regard to the alleged process of doubling, or 
scattered about in borders, where they have been for 
years. The season commences with N. obvallaris, 
N. pallidus praecox and N. (Corbularia) nivalis, to be 
followed by others of the N. Pseudo-Narcissus type—- 
N. bicolor and its noble forms, Emperor, Dean Herbert, 
Empress, and N. b. Horsfieldi. None of them at 
present, however, beat N. b. grandis, which, besides 
being one of the largest flowered and finest forms, with 
white segments and a great yellow trumpet, is, at the 
same time, much dwarfer than Empress, the variety it 
most resembles, and is a full week later coming into 
bloom. The great glaucous strap-shaped leaves 
measure nearly 1^ ins. in breadth, and set off the 
magnificent flowers to great advantage. The N. 
poeticus type is ushered in by N. p. angustifolius and 
N. p. ornatus, while N. p. recurvus and N. p. flora 
pleno are the last to give over flowering. 
Cooper Foster’s Collection of Filmy Ferns. 
A large case having been built for the reception of 
these Ferns at Kew, they have now been arranged or 
planted in their new home. At one end of this 
structure, which may be described as a house within a 
house, a huge piece of Trichomanes reniforme, measuring 
about 1 yard in breadth each way, greets the eye of the 
visitor. It is in vigorous health, and having commenced 
to make its new fronds, looks fine. At the other end 
is a magnificent piece of Hymenophyllum demissum in 
the most perfect condition, and measuring 4 ft. by 2| ft. 
across. The beauty of this piece may be imagined, 
seeing that it is one of the most ornamental and finely 
divided of the New Zealand Ferns. There are several 
fine pieces of this kind, but that here given is the 
largest. H. flabellatum is also a choice species, and is 
here represented by a fine piece in robust health. A 
great many of the pieces have not yet begun to make 
fresh growth, so that they are seen to disadvantage at 
present; while a number of them, even at their best, 
are of a dull olive-green colour. T. radicans Boseh- 
ianum, T. cruentum (with fronds similar in shape to 
those of a Scolopendrium), and T. pectinatum, with 
pinnae cut along one side only, are all very beautiful in 
their way. An exceedingly pretty and miniature 
species is T. parvulum, with orbicular or fan-shaped 
deeply divided fronds, very much resembling those of 
Davallia parvula, although paler in colour. 
Begonias at Forest Hill. 
Great preparations are being made for a grand display 
of the tuberous-rooted kinds out of doors as well as 
under glass by Messrs. John Laing & Sons, Forest 
Hill. A much larger piece of ground than was the 
case last year, will be solely devoted to Begonias, and 
this will not only show their suitability for open-air 
cultivation, but will really constitute a trial of the 
kinds or varieties that are best adapted for that 
method of culture. About 140,000 seedlings are now 
well advanced, the seeds having been sown about three 
months ago. Forty seedlings are put in a box 
measuring 16 ins. by 10 ins., so that some idea of the 
space they already occupy may be gleaned from this 
fact. Many of last year’s selected seedlings are 
already flowering, exhibiting large 'flowers of rose- 
scarlet and carmine tints. A double-flowered primrose- 
yellow variety is, in our opinion, a charming kind. 
The petals are beautifully crenate or notched at the 
margin. — 
Primula Reidii. 
Few lovers of hardy plants could fail to admire this 
pretty Himalayan species for its own sweetness and 
modest grace. From a rosette of oblong, hairy, light 
green leaves the flower-stems arise to the height of about 
3 ins., carrying a dense umbel—or, rather, head—of 
drooping white flowers. These have a cup-shaped 
mouth, and give off a delicious odour, resembling that 
of Narcissus poeticus. It is yet very rare in cultivation, 
and although only introduced about a year or two ago, 
does not seem to take so kindly to any sort of treatment 
as some of the better-known species do. As a pot plant 
in a frame or cool house, such as that at Kew, where it 
is now in flower, it would, no doubt, prove an attractive 
addition to a collection. 
Begonia, Gloire de Sceau. 
Considering the number of establishments in which 
we find this garden plant, it evidently enjoys a con¬ 
siderable amount of popularity. This would, no doubt, 
depend upon its value as a winter-flowering plant as 
well as upon the bronzy or metallic hue of the foliage. 
As a winter-flowering subject, however, it needs only 
to be well grown to produce its rosy pink flowers in 
great abundance, which have a very brightening effect 
when contrasted with foliage plants of darker and more 
sombre hues. AVe have noticed it in fine condition on 
several occasions in the nursery of Messrs. John Laing 
& Sons, at Forest Hill. 
A New Double Pelargonium. 
In Major Lendy’s garden, at Sunbury House, Sunbury- 
on-Thames, a sport has been produced from Volonte 
Nationale alba, a single-flowered, white, decorative 
Pelargonium of the show type. The individual blooms 
are of great size and beautifully double, without being 
compact and rigid, as too frequently occurs in many 
other double flowers by the crowding of petals or other 
petaloid structures. When fully expanded they are 
about the size of a small Gardenia, and pure white, 
with the exception of a few purple streaks below the 
middle of the petals. By wiring the individual pips, 
they would make excellent material for bouquet 
making. 
Fritillaria imperialis argenteo-marginata. 
Amongst the beautiful hardy spring flowers now 
coming into Covent Garden from the Continent, are 
various forms of ^Fritillaria imperialis. An orange- 
coloured variety striated with brown lines is a very 
effective and pleasing one ; but the broad silver margin 
to the leaves of the subject under notice, gives the 
umbel or crown of flowers the appearance of an artifi¬ 
cially made - up bouquet, in which variegated grass, 
leaves, or something similar have been used. This, of 
course, refers to the familiar and leafy bracts subtending 
the flowers at the apex of the stem. 
Azalea balsaminseftora. 
It is now many weeks since the flower of this Japanese 
plant commenced to open, yet they are still in grand 
form, and very attractive from the refined appearance 
of their compact, fully double, and closely imbricated 
rose-coloured flowers. Several good-sized specimens we 
noted the other day in the nursery of Mr. William 
Bull, at Chelsea, were notable for their compact habit, 
and floriferous character. So distinct is it from the 
varieties of the Indian Azalea, that both should be 
grown together by way of contrast. Owing to its dwarf 
character it does not so rapidly grow to unmanageable 
size for the general cultivator as Indian Azaleas do, 
when few of them can be accommodated in a conser¬ 
vatory. For cut-flower purposes it is also very useful. 
-—- 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
The Orchid Growers 1 Calendar. 
Orchid Shading. —Perhaps the most expensive whim 
that an Orchid amateur can' have is that for growing 
his plants unshaded, imperfectly shaded, or for not 
using the blinds to break the direct rays of the sun 
whenever its heat is distinctly to be felt under glass. 
For Cattleyas, Lidias, and other hard-leaved Brazilian 
and Mexican plants, the ill-effect is not so great as it is 
in the case of Yandas, Aerides, Phalamopsids, Odonto- 
glossums, Masdevallias, &c. I am by no means an 
advocate for heavy shading, being convinced that a 
good amount of light is one of the first essentials in 
growing Orchids. The blinds, therefore, should only 
be used to exclude sunlight likely to cause damage, the 
ventilators being freely used as a safeguard when, 
although the sun is visible—and especially in the early 
morning and late in the afternoon—it is not deemed 
advisable to let the blinds down. 
Those Orchids which grow in their native habitats 
on the thick branches of trees, or the main stems, 
although they may belong to a genus said to revel in 
sunlight, come very inferior in flower, and stunted in 
growth when not shaded. The brilliant Lielia harpo- 
phylla is a case in point—when kept shaded and 
profusely watered when growing, its flowers are in¬ 
finitely superior to those produced by plants grown in 
sunny houses. Terrestrial evergreen Orchids, such as 
Phajus, Calanthes of the veratrifolia section, Lycastes, 
Cypripediums, &c., are the most injured by sun under 
glass, and whereas in well-shaded houses they are 
very free to grow, in sunny ones they get stunted, and 
covered with insect pests of all kinds. 
I say, therefore, that the question of shading is one 
of the most important, and one in which extremes on 
either hand should be carefully avoided. There is this, 
however, to be said in favour of judicious shading for 
all Orchids, that whereas the plants from the most 
sunny habitats succeed well under cultivation when 
properly shaded, by far the greater number of Orchids 
will not thrive in unshaded houses. It is a very 
different thing for plants to be growing in the full light 
of the sun in their natural habitats, where they have a 
free circulation of air around them, to what it is under 
glass, with no shading to break the sun’s rays ; and 
that I think anyone might be easily convinced of if he 
stood in one position in the full sunlight in a glass 
structure for five minutes.—James O'Brien . 
Oddntoglossum crispum (Curle’S Variety). 
A grand flower, taken from a plant which produced 
three spikes this year, comes from Mr. "William Sharp, 
gardener to Alexander Curie, Esq., Priorwood, Melrose. 
It is very close to the matchless O. c. Veitchianum, 
illustrated by us on September 10th, 1884. The present 
variety has flowers 4 ins. across, and it differs mainly 
from Veitchianum in the spotting not being carried so 
near the margin as in that variety ; and in the sepals, 
which are broad, being continued into a more acute 
point than in the variety of Veitchianum. However, 
it is one of the front rank. 
