744 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 21, 1888. 
FLORICULTURE. 
Large-flowering Pelargoniums. 
These have continued blooming much longer than 
usual this season, owing to the dull, cold, damp, sunless 
weather. As late as July 12th, Mr. C. Turner had, at 
the Chiswick show, a group of plants that looked as 
fresh and nice as in May. They were late in getting 
into bloom, and the absence of hot sun has given them 
a longer period of flowering than is usual. As soon as 
plants have done blooming, water should be gradually 
withheld, giving just sufficient to prevent the wood 
from shrivelling. They should be exposed to the sun 
and air, in order to become well ripened and hardened 
before they are cut down, which should be done as 
soon as the wood is properly matured. If the present 
cool and showery weather continues, it will be as well 
to lay the plants on their sides to assist in the proper 
ripening of the branches. 
Green-fly is apt to linger among the foliage, and 
therefore it is a good plan to well fumigate the plants 
before they are cut dowm, so that the cuttings may be 
perfectly clean. They strike freely either in pots of 
light sandy soil, placed on a greenhouse shelf, or in an 
old spent hot-bed, a good layer of sandy compost being 
placed upon it to the depth of 6 ins., and the cuttings 
placed in it in lines, and the soil pressed firmly about 
them. 
As a matter of course, the soil should be kept 
fairly moist, and shaded from the sun when it is 
shining hotly and brightly. But the fancy Pelar¬ 
goniums require different treatment. The plants as 
they go out of flower should not be placed in the open 
air, as they are too delicate, and are apt to die if the 
soil becomes thoroughly saturated with moisture. 
Therefore, it is best to ripen the plants off in a cool 
greenhouse or a frame. Cuttings of fancy varieties do 
best in pots, and they are helped in striking by being 
placed in a slight bottom-heat, and as soon as they 
show signs of rooting they should be removed to a 
cooler temperature. 
A dozen of the finest large-flowered show Pelar¬ 
goniums will be found in the following Amethyst, 
(Brehaut), Brilliant (Foster), Confessor (Foster), Despot 
(Foster), Fortitude (Foster), Illuminator (Foster), Maid 
of Honour (Foster), Outlaw (Foster), Pericles (Hoyle), 
Prince Leopold (Foster), Royal Review (Foster), and 
The Baron (Foster). A dozen of the best fancy varieties 
are Ambassadress (Turner), East Lynne (Turner), 
Fanny Gair (Turner), Irene (Turner), Lady Carrington 
(Turner), Miss Goddard (Turner), Mrs. George Hanbury 
(Turner), Mrs. Langtry (Turner), Nelly Fordham 
(Turner), Princess Teck (Turner), The Shah (Turner), 
and Yivandier (Turner). A dozen fine decorative 
varieties that are also good exhibition sorts will be 
found in Decorator (Hayes), Duchess of Edinburgh, 
Edward Perkins, Formosa (Hayes), Gold Mine (Hayes), 
Lady Isabel (Hayes), Madame Thibaut, Marie Lemoine, 
Mons. Desmoulin, Mrs. John Hayes, and Yolonte 
Rationale alba.— -R. D. 
Carnation Germania. 
That this is a fine addition to our yellow self Carnations 
there can be no doubt. The flowers appear to be 
rather deeper in colour than Pride of Penshurst, but 
more refined and better in the petal ; a flower that will 
not require a great deal of dressing to fit it for the 
exhibition stage. It is a good grower also, and will, I 
am certain, give great satisfaction to all who grow it. 
It well deserved the First Class Certificate of Merit 
awarded to it at the last meeting of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society.— R. D. 
A Scarlet Souvenir de la Malmaison 
Carnation. 
A goodly stock of such exists at the Royal Nurseries 
Slough, so that we may reasonably hope for an early 
distribution of it. It has the colour of the old Clove 
Carnation, but in every respect the character of Mal¬ 
maison in growth and form of flower, with a delicious 
strongly-marked Clove fragrance, which alone will 
make it much sought after.— D. S. 
Fancy Pansy—Richard Dean. 
This is one of a batch of fine new varieties recently 
sent out by Mr. John Downie, nurseryman, Edinburgh. 
It is a flower of the finest properties, large, stout, 
smooth, and finely formed ; rich glossy black in the 
centre, broadly margined and shaded with rich reddish 
plum and violet ; a remarkably fine exhibition and 
decorative variety. 
ORCHIS HIRCINA. 
To all those interested in hardy Orchids, this cannot 
but be of great interest, considering both its singularly 
curious shape, and its rarity in the British Isles. On 
some parts of the Continent, as in France, it is tolerably 
frequent, but in Britain it appears to be confined to 
East Suffolk and Kent, while even there it is almost 
extinct, and very seldom makes its appearance. It 
has not inaptly been called the Lizard Orchis, on 
account of the great length of the lip, which is of a 
dull brownish green colour, 2 ins. to 2£ ins. in length, 
slightly forked at the tip and twisted. Towards the 
base it is spotted with purple on a whitish ground ; 
and the short lateral segments resembling the legs of 
the animal aids much in the comparison. The rest of 
the flower is of a dull greenish white, striated with 
purple, so that taken altogether it cannot be described 
as a showy species, although certainly most interesting. 
The specific name refers to the disagreeable smell 
emanating from the flowers, and which is said to 
resemble that of the goat. Our correspondent, Mr. 
J. AY. Odell, Pinner, sends us a spike densely covered 
with flowers for 9 ins. of its length. 
-- 
SHIRLEY POPPIES. 
The beautiful Poppies shown from time to time by the 
Rev. AY. AYilks, Shirley Yicarage, Croydon, under this 
name, are very finely improved garden varieties of P. 
Rhceas, the scarlet Poppy of the cornfields, and their 
beauty is such as to impress the beholder with their 
great decorative value. Whether known as Dwarf 
French, or Ranunculus-flowered, or Victoria Cross, 
and the other names given to them, they have a rich 
beauty of their own, which is manifested in large, finely- 
rounded petalled flowers of many colours and combina¬ 
tion of colours. Mr. Wilks recommends that they be 
sown in February and in September very thinly, and 
the cultivator should thin out to 6 ins. apart, so that 
the plants may have ample room to develop. The late 
sowing gives an early spring bloom ; then from the 
plants raised in February there is given a succession of 
flower, carrying on the display through a good portion 
of the summer. And it is well that thinning out of 
the plants is insisted upon, for too many persons who 
sow annual Poppies literally starve their plants by 
having them crowded in poor ground. To do justice to 
these Poppies they should be sown in soil rich enough 
to well sustain the plants, and cause them to yield 
finely-developed blooms. 
It is said that the ancients considered P. Rhceas so 
necessary for the prosperity of their corn, that the 
seeds of this Poppy were offered up in the sacred rites 
of Ceres, whose garland was formed with Barley or 
bearded Wheat, interwoven with Poppies. This is one 
of many curious incidents of lore that has clustered 
about the Poppy. A superstitious belief exists that 
the red Poppies which followed the ploughing of 
Waterloo after Wellington’s victory sprang from the 
blood of the troops that fell during the battle. And 
no one who, looking over an English landscape in 
summer and witnessing the red Poppies growing among 
the corn, can well wish them to be absent. They form 
a very attractive natural picture, and the harm result¬ 
ing from their mixture with the Wheat is infinitesimal. 
It is also called the Corn Rose—one of the popular 
names by which it is known, because of its constant 
appearance among oui cultivated grain.— R. D. 
-- 
THE JAPANESE IRIS. 
The species enjoying this popular name is best known 
in gardens as I. Ksempferi; but the botanically-accepted 
name is I. lievigata. It is indigenous to Siberia as well 
as Japan, and is cultivated in the latter country as a sub- 
aquatic. It readily suffers from drought, which causes 
the leaves to be narrow and slender, assuming a yellow 
hue much earlier in the season than ought to be the 
case when in vigorous health, and if the evil continues 
the plants die away altogether. It has been grown 
with tolerable success in this country in pots or pans 
partly submerged in water ; but this is unnecessary, 
provided the deeper roots have access to plenty 
of moisture. A cool bottom during summer is 
essential to success in this country, and that being 
secured, the many beautiful varieties of this mag¬ 
nificent Iris now in cultivation grow with great 
vigour, and flower gran lly. The bank of a stream 
or pond is a very suitable position for making a bed, 
which should consist of light but rich soil containing 
some peat, or for ameliorating the natural soil if other¬ 
wise pretty suitable. The original type was of a deep 
purple colour, but there are now varieties exhibiting 
violet, red, blue, indigo, lilac, white, and other tints, 
or a number of these variously blended or combined in 
the same flower. A strong point about this species is 
that both the outer series of organs—that is, the seg¬ 
ments of the perianth, usually described as standards 
and falls—do not hold good in this particular instance, 
as they are all horizontal, and very different from those 
of most species of Iris. By an enlargement of the 
inner series of segments, the blooms appear semi¬ 
double, while in other cases several of the essential 
organs are greatly enlarged and petaloid, making the 
flowers double. The stem bears one bloom only, 
measuring from 6 ins. to 10 ins. in diameter, making 
up in size what is wanting in number. 
-- 
THE GIANT LILY. 
Although some species grow even taller than Lilium 
giganteum in the open garden, the bulbs seem incapable 
of flowering two years in succession. The stems under 
favourable conditions certainly attain stately dimen-' 
sions, and they are stouter in proportion to their height 
than most Lilies, so that they require little or no 
staking. It does not succeed in the open air in this 
country, except in the southern and more favoured 
counties. Last year a bulb flowered in one of the 
recesses of the rockery at Kew, and now two others are 
throwing up even more vigorous stems, the flowers on 
which are on the point of expanding. Under glass the 
stems from strong bulbs that have been liberally treated 
for a year or two previous send up stately stems, 
bearing more numerous flowers than they do in the 
open air. AA T ith the exception of L. cordifolium, the 
other species do not produce such broad leaves as those 
of L. giganteum, which are heart-shaped. It is a 
native of the Himalayas. 
- ->=£<- - 
MALVA ALGEA. 
With the exception of our native Malva moschata, 
and its white variety, no other hardy perennial species 
more deserves extended cultivation in the outdoor beds 
and borders. The flowers of the typical form, which is 
a native of South Europe, are pale rosy purple, and 
measure individually about 2 ins. in diameter. They 
are at the same time produced in large clusters ter¬ 
minating the main stem and its upper branches, so 
that when a large bush is in full flower, it is a con¬ 
spicuous object wherever it is grown. The plant is 
perfectly hardy, with a vigorous constitution, and 
generally grows about 2 ft. in height ; while the stems 
are proportionately stout, so that little attention in the 
way of staking is necessary, compared with many other 
allied plants, such as Sidalcea oregana, and some of 
the Lavateras, belonging to the same family. A dark 
red variety, namely, M. a. fastigiata, usually grown 
under the name of M. Morenii, as a distinct species, is 
perhaps more common, at least in the northern 
counties of this island. The latter is a native of Italy, 
and blooms with equal freedom, but the flowers are 
more disposed in a spike or raceme, and are smaller ; 
but it also deserves a place in every good collection of 
herbaceous plants. Both the type and the variety 
keep on flowering for a great part of the summer, the 
lateral shoots keeping up a succession. Both are 
readily propagated in spring by the division of the 
rootstock. The mode of branching of the type may be 
seen from our illustration. 
-- — 
STRAWBERRIES AT CHISWICK. 
A large breadth of ground is at present occupied with 
Strawberries in the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
gardens at Chiswick. One piece, more especially 
devoted to the trial, contains a large number of 
varieties, which display the peculiarities of character, 
by contrast with one another, in a far more marked 
manner than when one or two sorts only occupy the 
same ground. Some weak-growing kinds are often 
believed by gardeners to owe that peculiarity to the 
soil in their own gardens or in their own district; 
but when one sees a great number of sorts grown 
together in good soil, such peculiarities of habit are 
determined for certain. Among weak-growing kinds 
that are nevertheless recognised for their quality or 
flavour, Dr. Hogg, Duchess of Edinburgh, Lieutenant, 
and others might be mentioned. 
Four varieties were certificated by the Fruit 
Committee, who paid a visit of inspection on the 9th 
of this month. These were King of the Earlies, Noble, 
Lucas and Countess. The first named has foliage 
