660 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
.June 16, 1888. 
standards of I. variegata Favourite are very 
beautifully set off by the horizontal falls, 
which are purple, and reticulated with white. 
The variety named Malvina differs by hav¬ 
ing darker yellow standards, and the falls 
heavily lined with white and yellow. It is, 
indeed, a grand and showy form. I. varie¬ 
gata Rigolette is only half the height of the 
last-named, and has very conspicuous chrome- 
yellow standards and velvety crimson falls, 
densely reticulated with yellow and white. 
More than twenty varieties of I. neglecta 
are mentioned by the leading growers, and 
although the native country is at present 
unknown, it is really a grand Iris that should 
not be neglected, as the specific name would 
seem to indicate. One of its varieties, named 
Yirginie, has lavender standards and deep 
violet-purple falls, reticulated with white; 
that named Chameleon is much darker, hav¬ 
ing rich blue standards and crimson purple 
falls, netted with white; and the velvety 
purple falls and the lilac-purple standards of 
I. neglecta amabilis constitute it a grand 
variety. 
The typical form of Iris squalens is a dirty 
washy thing, as the name implies, but the 
following which we selected are really showy 
garden plants, and the odour they give off 
resembles that of the Elder. I. squalens Dr. 
Bernice has buff-coloured standards much 
darker than in the type, and blood-purple 
falls reticulated or netted at the base with 
another colour. In contrast to this the stand¬ 
ards of Lady Seymour are pale lavender, 
while the falls are purple, beautifully netted 
with white or lavender veins. Numerous 
other varieties are now in full flower, all of 
which are extremely floriferous and showy in 
their multicoloured garbs. The varieties of 
I. pumila also belong to the bearded section, 
but they have now finished flowering, and 
look quiet beside their giant rivals. 
The beardless Irises are represented by I. 
sibirica, its white variety, alba, and some 
others in different shades of blue. Although 
the flowers are much smaller than those of 
the German Iris section, the Siberian Iris is 
a grand border plant that always looks pretty 
with its flower stems just surmounting the 
slender grassy foliage. There is a double 
form in cultivation, but we cannot say that 
it is a handsome or very desirable plant. 
-—>x<—- 
Manchester Rose Show.—"We are requested to state 
that the annual Rose show, in the Botanical Garden at 
Old Trafford, will he held on July 14th, instead of a 
week later as previously announced. 
Highgate Horticultural Society.—The twenty-ninth 
annual flower show of this society will take place on 
Thursday, July 19th next, in the grounds of the Priory, 
Highgate, kindly lent by Colonel Steddall, J. P. 
Luton Horticultural Society.—The fifth annual 
exhibition of this society will be held on Wednesday, 
August 1st, 1888, in the grounds at Bedford House, 
Bedford Road, Luton. 
The Plague of Insects.—A Surrey correspondent 
writes : A neighbour called in this morning who told 
me that his Apple trees were so infested with insects 
that they were quite browned, not a single green leaf 
being left upon them ; this is at about half-a-mile from 
us. The Thorn hedges are full of insects, and in a 
week or two, unless something happens to check the 
plague, they will be bare of foliage. 
Rhododendron Shows.—Lovers of the Rhododendron 
will now find the flowers at their best in the Botanic 
Gardens, Regent’s Park, in Hyde Park, in the gardens 
of Cadogan Square, Sloane Street, Chelsea, and at the 
Italian Exhibition, at all of which places the products 
of some of the leading growers of these gorgeous flowers 
may be seen in quantity. 
Trade Note.—We understand that the business of 
the old-established seed firm of Henry Clarke & Son, 
King Street, Covent Garden, has been purchased by 
Messrs. Waite, Nash & Co., and that the old firm has 
ceased to exist. 
Gardening Engagement.—Mr. John Brown, for 
some time foreman at Gala House, Galashiels, as gar¬ 
dener to Major Leith, Pitmathen, Oyne, Aberdeenshire. 
Heavy Snowstorm in Cornwall.—A snowstorm in 
Cornwall in the middle of June is almost unprecedented, 
but on Tuesday some parts of the county were visited 
by a fall of snow and hail, which covered the 
ground to a depth of about 1 in. The morning was 
beautifully fine and warm, but towards noon heavy 
clouds covered the sky, and these were followed by 
pelting showers of rain, accompanied by loud peals 
of thunder, and vivid flashes of lightning. The 
atmosphere suddenly became bitterly cold as if it 
were mid-winter, and the rain was succeeded by hail 
and snow, which fell uninterruptedly for more than an 
hour. Fortunately no hail fell in the fruit-growing 
districts, and the fruit crops have escaped injury. 
Rose Show at the Alexandra Palace.—We under¬ 
stand that besides the Rose show announced for the 
27th and 28th inst., the Alexandra Palace & Park Co. 
intend to hold a series of popular exhibitions during 
the season, which will be concluded with one of Chry¬ 
santhemums in November. Mr. Shirley Hibberd has 
accepted the office of treasurer of the prize fund, and 
the prizes are to be paid at four o’clock on the first day 
of the show. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—At the meeting of the 
council held on Tuesday, a sub-committee was ap¬ 
pointed to consider the question of the arrangements for 
1889, and more especially to consider certain proposals 
made by Mr. Veitch, such as the appointment of a 
Botanical Lecturer to deliver short popular addresses 
to the Fellows, and other matters of importance and 
interest. It was decided to ask certain members of the 
Stock Exchange to form a committee to work in co¬ 
operation with the society. The question of the early 
revision of the bye-laws was taken into consideration, 
and a letter from the solicitors was read, promising the 
revised copies at an early date. We learn also that the 
suggestions of the Fellows’ Committee as to local 
secretaries were adopted, though what these suggestions 
are we have not yet ascertained. 
The Dainty English Primrose (writes Miss Taplin, 
in The American Florist) is grown to a certain extent 
by our florists here, though it is not so often seen as 
other varieties of less actual beauty. Some of the 
suburban florists in manufacturing towns, where there 
is a large English population, make a point of having 
pot Primroses early in the season, and they sell very 
well. I doubt whether it would winter outside in this 
latitude, on account of the abrupt changes of tem¬ 
perature ; but it grows in a cool house just as early as 
the Chinese varieties. We have had plants over from 
England, as there is often some difficulty in getting it 
true from seed here ; one is apt to get the old-fashioned 
vari-coloured Cowslips instead of the real Primrose. A 
few Cowslips, as well as Primroses, have been sold in 
New York this spring. At one of the big private 
flower shows, a few years ago, there was a bank of real 
English Primroses, which were very well advertised. 
-—>X<-»- 
THE WEATHER AND THE 
CROPS. 
Somewhat late very fine rains have been generally 
falling, and being so much needed they can hardly fail 
to be productive of beneficial results. The fruit trees 
most needed the thorough washing the rain has given 
them, for of late they had become terribly infested 
with maggot—indeed, we have had one of the worst 
visitations of this kind seen for years. The cold, dry 
weather had doubtless served to generate or rather to 
assist the production of these insect pests. The rain 
comes too late to save many large orchards, as the mis¬ 
chief done has been great, not only the leaves, but the 
fruit also having been very much eaten. Strawberries 
look remarkably well so far, but great complaints as 
to blindness are prevalent; however, the bloom, which 
all the same is fine and good, should now set well, and 
the fruit should be large. 
Bush fruits have been terribly thinned in the 
setting, and a poor account so far is heard. Goose¬ 
berries seem to be exceptionally thin. The rains will, 
however, do what fruit is standing great good, whilst 
the bushes will now be able to recover somewhat from 
the effects of last year’s drought. Peas have seldom 
looked better than now, but the rains will perhaps 
make them almost too gross. Potatos do not look so 
well; they have come through late and irregularly. 
Still, the rain will assist them to come through rapidly 
now, no doubt, and especially where the surface of the 
soil had become hard baked. To all ground crops a 
splendid fillip has been given, whilst weeds, hitherto 
kept in check, will now give ample work for the hoe, 
and render employment plentiful. 
LLANDUDNO AND ITS WILD 
FLOWERS. 
After a protracted and disagreeable winter, the 
outlook for Whitsuntide at the early time of May this 
year was not a promising one for the lovers of nature ; 
yet with bright and cloudless skies and summer heat, 
tempered with refreshing breezes, it turned out an 
almost unprecedented success. A few hours’ ride by 
railway brought us from the grime and turmoil of a 
great city to Llandudno, the queen of our English 
watering places, and a spot well situated as a starting 
point for those who are able and willing to explore the 
grand and beautiful scenery of North Wales. 
On reaching Llandudno I lost no time in calling 
upon my old friend Mr. William Jones, of Mostyn 
Street, assuredly one of the ablest of our Lancashire 
botanists, and one who is more than willing to impart 
to others the knowledge he possesses. As many of 
our charming wild flowers were blooming in perfection, 
arrangements were speedily made with Mr. Jones for 
an expedition to his “happy hunting grounds.” 
Growing in a garden in Mostyn Street my friend 
pointed out the dwarf Medlar, or little Apple of the 
rock—Cotoneaster vulgaris. It is sub-Alpine, and its 
only habitat in Britain was Great Orme’s Head, until 
it became extinct owing to the rapacity of certain 
so-called botanists. It is next found in Normandy. 
It will be remembered that, according to the Registrar- 
General’s annual report, the wild flower appears earlier 
in this district than in any other part of England. 
In a short time we reached the Great Orme, and the 
rapidity with which my friend pointed out the number 
and variety of the wild flowers was bewildering to one 
who is a very humble botanical student indeed. 
Amongst others I may mention the bloody Cranesbill, 
Geranium sanguineum, rare. Great patches of ground 
were covered with an exquisitely beautiful lavender- 
coloured little flower, the Squill, Scilla verna, rare. 
It springs from a small bulb. "Wild Parsley, from 
which I presume the domestic variety has been raised, 
and knotted Spurrey (Sagina nodosa) were also there. 
Lamb’s Lettuce, Fedia carinata, rare ; Rock Cress, 
Arabis hirsuta; Rock Rose, Helianthemum vulgaris and 
canum, both rare; Erodiummoschatum and maritimum, 
the seed vessels of which are very elegant in shape ; 
and green-winged Orchis (Orchis Morio). Samphire 
(Crithmum maritimum)—which Shakspeare has im¬ 
mortalised—grows on the Great Orme, but only in 
inaccessible places, though I have gathered it in 
abundance, without risk, at Tenby. The above are only 
a few of the botanical treasures which were examined, 
and rare and beautiful plants may be gathered here 
nearly all the year round. There are 1,600 flowering 
plants in Great Britain, and of these Mr. Jones has 
found upwards of 800, many of them not having been 
previously recorded. 
We next rambled across the Head, a stupendous boss 
of carboniferous limestone, rounded and polished, 
according to Sir Andrew C. Ramsey and other eminent 
geologists, by a great glacier which carved out the 
Menai Straits. On the evening of a subsequent day 
we witnessed a fine sunset from the same elevated spot. 
The upper portions of Anglesey showed quite black 
above a slight mist against a yellow streak of sky 
beyond. As the sun approached the horizon, this 
light cloud was turned to a bright crimson, the sun it¬ 
self being of an intensely brilliant yellow colour, and 
this formed a pathway across the sea to the foot of the 
crags upon which we stood. Penmaenmawr and the 
adjacent mountains were enveloped in a delicate gauze¬ 
like haze. As it touched the horizon the sun’s disc 
was of a pure white colour, and it sank perfectly clear 
beneath the sea. 
A second ramble with Mr. Jones took us to the 
Little Orme, where he discovered two plants new to 
him, one of them Bitter Cress (Cardamine impatiens). 
It is rather rare, and upon its seed vessels being 
gently pressed they burst open and scatter the seeds. 
Here, too, was found a rare and beautiful Forget-me- 
not, Myosotis polita, and an adjacent field was 
carpeted with Cowslips. Hard by is the house of a 
gentleman well known for his courtesy to botanists, 
and the owner, himself a master in the science, con¬ 
ducted us over the superb gardens and greenhouses. 
Here are the choicest fruit trees, Roses, Tulips—the 
latter indescribably beautiful—countless flowers . of 
many and rare kinds, and Japanese and Australian 
plants. Portions of the grounds are left in a state of 
nature, and filled with wild flowers. 
Another stroll with my friend was to Marl Woods 
and Hall, and on our way thither he pointed out the 
trembling Poplar (Populus tremula), every leaf fluttering 
