C16 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May|26, 1888- 
FLORICULTURE. 
Pansies as Exhibition Plants. 
One of the most charming features of the great 
"Whitsun exhibition at Manchester was the collections 
of Pansies in pots. It is true that they are made-up 
specimens—that is to say, a number of rooted cuttings, 
each bearing one or two flowers, are planted in an 8-in. 
pot in such a manner that they appear as if they had 
been grown there ; but the best grown specimens could 
not rival them in their compact, symmetrical and 
effective appearance. How many days previous to the 
show the pots are made up I cannot say, but it is 
surprising how fresh they keep, and so I presume the 
individual plants are well rooted, and that as much soil 
as possible forms the ball of roots. What are known as 
the show, as well as the fancy varieties and Violas, are 
done in this way, and anyone looking upon the collec¬ 
tions for the first time is really startled at the astonish¬ 
ing effect they produce. There is no doubt something 
in the artistic make-up of the pots ; but, as a general 
rule, the plants are of dwarf growth and grandly 
bloomed—that is to say, they carry flowers of remark¬ 
able fine quality, while they are so admirably displayed 
that every one faces the visitor in such a way that one 
does not hide the other from view. Some time since, 
exhibitors got into the practice of (perhaps I ought, in 
strict justice, to say some of them did) placing shoots 
only of Pansies in the pots—not rooted, of course— 
and though they stood up well for a day they soon 
faded, and their effectiveness was lost. How it is a 
sine qua non that rooted plants only be employed. 
Among the sorts employed, the best will be found in 
the following list:—George Rudd, yellow self; Dr. 
Haig, dark self; Amy, yellow ground ; May Queen, 
white self; Mrs. Harvey, Y.G. ; Sunnypark Beauty, 
1. G. ; Blue Stone, probably the very best blue self ; 
Cloth of Gold, Y.S. ; Roebuck, Y.G. ; J. Holdry, Y.G.; 
Lord Derby, Y.G. ; Ebor, Y.G. ; Mrs. Laing, W.G. ; 
Lady Derby, Y.G. ; W. Cunliffe Brooke, Y.G. ; Lizzie 
Bullock, Y.G. ; Othello, D.S. ; Captain Speirs, W.G. ; 
Lightning, Y.G. ; Maggie, W.G. ; and Lizzie, W.G. 
I have contented myself with giving the best flowers for 
the purpose—flat, with pure grounds, and well defined 
blotches and margins. The very cream of the fancy 
Pansies are Champion, Attraction, Christine, Mrs. 
Jamieson, James Donnelly, Countess of Strathmore, 
Walter Houldsworth, Earl of Beaeonsfield, Lady Fal¬ 
mouth, John Strachan, George Yair, White Lady, Per¬ 
fection, Mary Tate, M. A. Dixon, A. McMillan, Walter 
Stevens, James Watt, John Turnbull, Mrs. E. H. 
Wood, and Thalia. 
Violas were employed in this way also, but they failed 
on this occasion to come up to their usual mark. The 
best varieties were Sovereign, yellow ; Waverley, 
yellow ; Little Gem, Beauty of Sale, and Pilrig Park, 
white; Archie Giant, Queen of Blues, and Lilac 
Queen, blue ; with Magpie, Countess of Hopetoun, and 
Dr. Hoiresby, blotched. When pots of Violas are well 
done, they are indeed a pretty sight.— R. D. 
The Dahlia in the Past. 
The first Dahlias that I remember to have seen, about 
the year 1828, were all single and of very bright 
colours. They were planted in a row staked with pea 
stakes, and averaged about 6 ft. in height, but they 
had branched out so much that very little of the stakes 
were seen. When I saw them about the end of August 
they were all in full flower, and their effect was 
very pretty indeed. About 1830, double flowers 
began to make their appearance, but they were very 
inferior in form. Livick’s Comtnander-in-Chief was a 
very good example of this ; it was a dark rosy crimson 
with three distinct dark stripes down each of its long 
pointed petals. This variety generally grew about 
8 ft. high, and steps had to be used in order to cut the 
flowers. This variety was sent out in 1833. In 1834, 
Beauty of Sheffield was sent out as a great novelty ; it 
was a white flat-petalled variety slightly tipped with 
rose. At the same time the late Mr. Wednall sent out 
a flower named Perfection, a dark rosy crimson, and 
something far ahead of anything hitherto seen. It was 
the first of the cup-petalled varieties, and first flowered 
in Scotland with the late Mr. Thomson, then gardener 
at Craigiehall. Gardeners at that time were so enthusi¬ 
astic on Dahlia growing that the news of its being in 
flower at Craigiehall spread through the country like 
wild-fire. I was living at that time as gardener at 
South Bank, South Edinburgh, and with a neigh¬ 
bouring gardener I started off to Craigiehall to see the 
wonderful Dahlia. We were well rewarded for our 
trouble by seeing it in fine flower. My friend begged 
hard for a bloom of it from Mr. Thomson, to show 
to the gardeners we were to call upon on our way 
home. This was granted, and we started off with our 
prize, called at several places in Gogar, and at last 
reached Dalmahoy. Mr. Smail, the then gardener, 
was one of the keenest Dahlia growers in the country. 
When he saw the flower, he clapped his hands, and 
said over and over again, “Oh, how beautiful!” He 
begged hard to retain it, but this my friend would not 
agree to. He, however, had to part with it shortly 
afterwards, and in a way that he did not relish. On 
leaving Dalmahoy, we made our way to the canal to 
catch the swift boat to Edinburgh. These boats were 
drawn by two horses, and when they halted at the bridge 
to let us and others get in, my friend was so engaged 
showing off his flower that he did not notice he was 
within the slack of the tow-rope, aud when the horses 
went forward the rope caught his legs, sweeping him 
and his flower head-foremost into the canal. Of course 
he got out, but he left his fine flower floating on the 
water. In 1835, Springfield Rival came out, a very 
light rosy lilac flower, with fine shell-shaped petals, 
and in form all that could be wished for in a Dahlia. 
I was once speaking to the late Mr. Keynes about 
the enthusiasm of Dahlia growers in days gone by, and 
he remarked, “ I will tell you what I don’t think you 
can match,” and it was this : “An old competitor and 
his wife were driving into Salisbury with his Dahlias 
in a spring-cart, and by some means or other the cart 
was upset. Man, wife, and Dahlia-boxes were tumbled 
out into the road, and unfortunately the old man got 
his leg broken. Seeing the state his Dahlia blooms 
were in, he insisted, notwithstanding his broken leg, 
to be taken to the show, in order to set up his Dahlias 
himself, and he took the first prize.” Mr. Keynes said, 
“Now, can you match that?” I replied, “Well, we 
have never had the chance ; but if we had, we have a 
man in Edinburgh who would be equal to the occasion 
in the person of Mr. Young, the respected secretary of 
the Caledonian Horticultural Society.” Mr. Keynes 
replied, “Well, Mr. Young must be a plucky one; 
but, joking aside, the leg the man got broken was a 
wooden one !” Before concluding this note, I would 
like to make one remark regarding the preparation of 
the Dahlia ground. It used to be the plan to dig or 
trench the ground in autumn, and manure it heavily. 
This we have discontinued for some years, and we find 
by digging or trenching the ground before planting, at 
the same time adding a good quantity of well-prepared 
manure, that the plants thrive much better and give 
finer flowers.— John Downie, Edinburgh. 
-- 
MAY FLORAL FASHIONS. 
The profusion of flowers brought to the New York 
Market privileges florists to make large effects in their 
decorations. Drapery of the most elegant and elaborate 
description has beautified the rooms where weddings 
and Easter entertainments have taken place, and large 
designs, such as floral pedestals, and high classic vases 
made entirely of blossoms, have produced interior 
pictures that cannot easily be forgotten. There is no 
style of arrangement that bestows more grace than the 
curtaining at present fashionable. The drapery formed 
of flowers strung on light wire can be drawn back or 
left to hang, and at present both ways are allowed. 
The curtain made for the background of a canopy is 
usually left to hang straight. It is formed of pink 
Roses, shaded so that from the top of one side pale 
Mermets deepen into the Ulrich Brunner at the hem 
end of the other side. 
The curtaining of the high Queen Anne mantels 
shows marked variation ; on one side there will be a 
drapery of Roses drawn back, and on the other side a 
smaller curtain of Asparagus tenuissimus left to hang 
loosely. The curtains made of the latter material are 
sometimes lined with satin, white, pink, or old gold 
colour. The strings of foliage covering this fabric are 
put on barely thick enough to just cover, and the effect 
is beautiful. When these curtains are placed high, so 
as to half screen music balconies, a glazed paper muslin 
is used for lining instead of satiu. A soft-finished 
Silesia looks also very pretty when foliage-covered. 
One of the richest curtains made this season was 
for a funeral. It was composed of blue and 
black Pansies, a single side very full and long, and 
looped back low, with a very wide purple satin ribbon, 
and a large cluster of Violets. The casket was placed 
in front of this curtain, with a cross of Ivy on a 
pedestal of foliage at the foot. The casket was covered 
with royal purple velvet, and a wreath of Lily of the 
Valley was the only design on it. It is very fashion¬ 
able to have some handsome floral effect in the back¬ 
ground of where the casket is placed. Funeral designs 
are not ordered to the extent they were last season. 
Where “no flowers” appears in death notices the 
relatives usually have some elegant arrangement in 
flowers in the drawing-room, and only one design is 
taken to the grave. But memorial designs are ordered 
for graves every week or every month, and these are of 
elaborate and costly description. Plans for the 
decoration of cemetery plots and graves, on Decoration 
Day, are already projected. Wreaths are more in 
request for caskets than ever before. These are made 
of one flower, such as Mignonette, Pansies, or Roses, 
and not of different flowers .—American Florist. 
- »>T<~ - 
HARDY PLANTS IN FLOWER. 
Hesperis tristis. 
The Night-scented Rocket, as it is often called, is a 
plant worth growing for the sake of the delicate scent 
it emits at night. The flowers are borne upon long 
terminal racemes, and are very curious, being of a dull 
greenish brown colour. Unless the plants be grown 
upon the rockery, or on some dry bank, it is a safe plan 
to propagate a few off-shoots in the autumn, as in the 
ordinary flower border the plants are liable to rot in the 
winter. This spring they have been badly affected 
with a small black caterpillar. 
PAPAYER ALPINES!. 
This beautiful little mountain Poppy has been flowering 
with us for the last week. It is the first of the Poppies 
to flower here, and its little delicate white blooms are 
a welcome addition to the rockery, as well as a reminder 
of the future wealth of bloom amongst the Poppy 
family. The Iceland Poppy, P. nudicaule, opened its 
first flower with us about three days after P. alpina; 
autumn-sown plants of P. umbrosum just a week 
later. 
ChEIRANTHES ALPINES. 
A capital spring aud early summer-flowering plant, 
forming dense tufts of foliage covered with light yellow- 
coloured flowers, very fragrant, and a useful plant for 
cutting. It comes freely from seed, but better plants 
are obtained from cuttings struck just after the plant 
has done flowering. 
PoLEMONIEM RlCHARDSONI. 
This is a great improvement on the old Jacob’s Ladder, 
P. coeruleum, being of a more pleasing shade of blue, 
and the flowers larger in size. To see this plant at its 
best, it is well to plant a group of it, the effect being 
far superior to that from single plants. On heavy soils 
it has a tendency to produce a large mass of foliage at 
the expense of fewer flowers, so that probably on a 
light sandy soil it would be more floriferous.— J. W. 0., 
Pinner. - 
The Scarlet- Leather Flower. 
Such is the name applied to Clematis Yiorna coccinea, 
the flowers of which are vermilion on the outer surface, 
and quite different from the purple-flowered typical 
form. The flowers in outward appearance are very 
different from those of the species with which we are 
most familiar, inasmuch as the sepals are very thick, 
fleshy, erect, and closely applied to one another by 
their edges. The tips are reflexed, and internally the 
sepals are yellow. These are borne singly in the axils 
of the leaves, and are not only interesting and un¬ 
familiar, but pretty. It is stated to be a more slender- 
growing form than the type, reaching a height of 5 ft. 
or 6 ft. ; but at Pendell Court, Bletchingley, a 
specimen now flowering in the open ground has four 
stems trained to stakes, and which reach a height of 
8 ft. or 10 ft. It was introduced from Texas twenty 
years ago, and is generally grown in a greenhouse, 
but should prove hardy if established in the open air, 
in the southern counties at least. 
Saxifraga media. 
The slow rate of growth made by this Saxifrage is truly 
surprising. Some specimens in pots, raised from seed 
about seven years ago, in the gardens of the Royal 
Horticultural Society, Chiswick, have only one or two 
rosettes ; but the plants have flowered several times 
since they were raised, and are flowering at the present 
time. From a dense rosette of short, rigid, closely 
overlapping leaves, the flower stems arise to the height 
of a few inches, bearing a cyme or cluster of purple 
flowers. Both the upper part of the stems, the calyx 
and the corolla are of the same deep colour, the former 
being the most conspicuous, as the corolla is almost 
hidden in the calyx tube. To raise seedlings of this 
species and nurse them up to flowering size requires 
great patience, and to be possessed of a great love for 
plants. 
