622 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 30, 1891. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
SEASONABLE WORK in the GARDEN. 
Stephanotis fioribunda.—Keep the syringe at 
work on large plants to prevent the increase of mealy¬ 
bug, which becomes a veritable pest long before the 
summer is over if allowed to increase unchecked. 
Apply the water with some force into the axils of the 
leaves and in the forks between branches. 
Allamandas.—The shoots of this class of plants 
being of a rigid nature, they should be tied into 
position as they grow, otherwise if left till they are 
coming into flower they cannot but present an ungainly 
appearance. Give attention in the first place to the 
furnishing of the lower part of the plant if it is trained 
in globular or balloon fashion, so as to ensure a regular 
distribution of bloom. 
Bouvardias.—Plants to be flowered in pots might 
with great advantage be half plunged in a bed of 
fermenting material, not necessarily of great depth. 
The small amount of heat generated would encourage 
the development of roots in the early part of the season, 
and the plunging material would prevent their getting 
rapidly desiccated later on, when the lights might be 
drawn right off to the advantage of the plants. 
Greenhouse Rhododendrons.—Varieties which 
flowered early and have made their growth should be 
tied into shape in the case of large specimens, so that 
the young wood and the leaves may accommodate them¬ 
selves to the new position, and turn up to the light 
tefore the wood becomes solidified and rigid. 
Azaleas.—As the plants go out of flower remove 
the young seed vessels, so as to encourage the develop¬ 
ment of young wood. With this object in view the 
plants should also be transferred to a moist and warm 
pit, where they may be syringed and receive the 
necessary cultural attention for good growth. 
Dahlias.—The unsettled nature of the weather 
makes growers afraid of exposing their plants to the 
mercy of the weather, but while they cannot be trans¬ 
ferred to the open ground they must not on that 
account be neglected in the early stages. If still in 
frames the sashes should be entirely removed during 
the day, unless much wind or rain prevails. In the 
former case a considerable amount of watering will be 
required, especially if the pots are small. 
Auriculas.—The frames in which these are grown 
should now be turned round, so as to face the north ; 
or they may be placed under-a north aspect wall, 
where the plants can be kept cool. Kemove the 
lights, however, except during pelting showers, which 
should be guarded against. 
Pyrethrums, Phloxes. — Before there is any 
possibility of the stems being broken down by wind or 
rain, they should be neatly staked, as they appear to 
better advantage than when allowed to get bent about. 
The same applies to Phloxes, especially the taller 
kinds. A good mulching would be advantageous at 
this period, before droughty weather sets in, as the 
roots run close to the surface, and are therefore liable 
to be starved in dry, hot weather. 
Peaches.—Syringe the trees in the early house as 
long as it can be done without injury to the fruit. 
The latter should be fully exposed to all the sunlight 
possible. "Where it is in any way dry, give the border 
a good watering, and no more will be required till the 
fruit is gathered. Finally, thin the fruit in the second 
house as soon as the stoning period is past. 
Melons.—The fruits should be gathered before they 
lose flavour by over-ripeness. If this is done, they 
may be kept for a week in a dry cool place, wrapped up 
in tissue paper. Young plants should be held in 
readiness for replanting the house, if it is not intended 
to take a second crop from the old plants. The frames 
that have hitherto been used for the forcing of Potatos 
or the growth of bedding plants, may be turned to 
account by planting them with Melons, making up a 
hot-bed beneath them where that has not already been 
done. 
Stocks, Asters, &c.—Bedding plants of this 
class may now be planted out. Some hours previous to- 
this, the soil in which they are growing should receive 
a good watering and the plants may then be moved 
with little danger or loss. Saponaria calabrica, Dian- 
thus chinensis Heddewigi, Helichrysum, and various 
other subjects which have been grown under glass may 
now be planted out with safety. The more tender 
inds should be reserved till the last. 
ARDENING MISCELLANY. 
-*i-- 
Violas from Rothesay. 
A boxful of the ever beautiful bedding Violas comes 
to us from Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Rothesay, Bute, N. B. 
A new variety named "Wonder has large, soft yellow 
flowers deepening to orange on the centre of the lower 
petal, with radiating black lines on the base of the 
three lower ones. Vernon Lee is even a more striking 
novelty, of a bright golden yellow, with the exception 
of the two upper petals, which are brownish purple, 
with a yellow edge on one side, and three central black 
blotches. Mrs. H. Bellamy is another bicolor, in the 
way of Countess of Kintore, but much darker. The 
margined or Picotee-edged varieties are beautiful, 
particularly a variety which has not yet been 
named, having creamy yellow flowers, with a broad 
purple margin all round, shaded with dark blue. 
Blue Cloud is the well-known white with the broad 
blue margin, and Duchess of Fife is white and yellow, 
margined with blue, sometimes of a slaty tint, but 
withal very pretty. The soft sky-blue flowers of Ariel, 
with a paler centre, are very chaste and attractive. 
Another of the same soft or pale hue is Dawn of Day, 
the petals of which are variously lined, netted or 
suffused with pale blue on a white ground. "With the 
exception of Mrs. H. Bellamy, the rest had the 
elongated flowers peculiar to the true Violas of the 
bedding type ; round flowers remind us too much of 
the Pansy. "We like to see the two types kept distinct. 
Wendland’s Solanum. 
Solanum Wexdlandi was introduced from Costa Rica 
as recently as 1882, and proves to be a stove climber of 
great ornamental value. The leaves are remarkably 
variable in outline and lobing. Those on the flowering 
branches are oblong or elliptic, and entire or lobed at 
the base. Sometimes they are so deeply three-lobed as 
to appear like so many leaflets. The leaves on the 
lower stems and branches are from 6 ins. to 10 ins. 
long, pinnate below and pinnatifid in the upper part. 
The flowers individually are of large size, lilac-blue, and 
conspicuously plaited as in so many of the other 
species of Solanum, and produced in large, cymose 
panicles, terminating the branches, the whole having a 
very gorgeous effect. A large house is necessary for 
its accommodation in order that the stems may attain 
sufficient length to flower. After the plant has become 
established, the shoots may be subjected to an annual 
pruning back, and when started early in spring it 
commences flowering profusely in May, and continnes 
to do so for the rest of the summer. Those who have the 
convenience to grow it, should certainly add it to their 
collections. A glorious specimen may be seen at Kew, 
trained under the roof of the "Water Lily house. 
, Kalmia glauoa. 
Several of the American Laurels or Kalmias are 
exceedingly pretty when in flower, including Iv. glauca. 
The evergreen leaves are oblong, strongly revolute at 
the margin, and glaucous beneath, or glaucous-white 
in the case of the young leaves. Sometimes, even on 
the same plant, some of the leaves will be oval and 
flat with a crisped margin, but this is unusual or ab¬ 
normal. The flowers are rosy purple, and produced 
in corymbs terminating the slender, twiggy shoots. 
The anthers are held in little folds or pouches of the 
corolla for some little time after expansion, and being 
dark in colour resemble ten black spots, but the 
illusion is dispelled when they reach maturity and rise 
up. The shrub ranges from 1 ft. to 2 ft. in height, and 
is therefore suitable for filling beds of peat soil or 
planting as a margin to larger beds of American shrubs. 
It proves perfectly hardy in any part of Britain. 
Ranunculus speciosus. 
The garden plant Of this name differs from the common 
double yellow R. acris in several respects. The habit 
is dwarfer, the flowers larger and of a deep golden 
yellow. The double R. acris will not flower for some 
time yet, whereas R. speciosus is in full beauty, and has 
been so for some time. The fi ve to seven-lobed leaves are 
of a dark green, marked with pale grey blotches, and are 
both of greater substance and less deeply divided than 
those of R. acris. The dwarf habit and the large golden 
yellow and fully double flowers of R. speciosus recall 
the appearance of the double Marsh Marigold at a 
short distance. Of the two double yellow Crowfoots 
in cultivation it may be described as the choicer, and 
well merits extended culture. 
Fog-resisting Tomatos. 
A batch of Tomatos were sown about the last week in 
February in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural 
Society at Chiswick, but the foggy weather that 
succeeded completely destroyed all except Chemin and 
an unnamed variety. Some of these were planted 
out in the largo span-roofed house, which must now be 
known as the Tomato-house, while the rest were 
shifted into large-sized pots. Both sets are now of 
good size and have commenced to flower. They are 
apparently as vigorous as if nothing had happened ; 
but before we could judge correctly of this we should 
require a set of plants of the same age, and which had 
been subjected to precisely the same conditions with the 
exception of the fog, and this, of course, would be im¬ 
possible unless plants had been obtained from a distance 
after the departure of the fog, which did so much 
damage in the neighbourhood of London. In the same 
house are 110 varieties of Tomatos on trial. The bulk 
of them were, however, sown on the 10th of March, 
and are now only about 6 ins. or 10 ins. high, and 
just commencing to show the bloom-buds. Should we 
have a fine summer they will soon reach the fruiting 
stage, but must in any case be later than those of the 
first batch, the bulk of which was destroyed. 
Fruit Prospects in the North of Scotland. 
The hardy fruit crop promises remarkably well this 
season, judging from the large amount of blossom on 
Apples and Pears, &c. Some of the older trees of the 
latter on walls, and which have done very little good 
for a number of years, are at the present moment well 
covered with flowers, and seeing that the season is so 
late we may reasonably expect a full crop. Plums have 
set a good crop—notably, Coe’s Golden Drop and 
Victoria—which will require a good deal of thinning. 
Magnum Bonum and Kirk’s Seedling are also promising 
well. I had these and several others root pruned in 
September last, and the results are highly beneficial 
compared with former years. Cherries of the May 
Duke variety have set their crops. Morello, Bigarreau, 
and Late Duke are one mass of flower also. I was 
afraid that the hard frosts in March would have done 
more damage, but on looking over the trees I find that 
some of the more forward buds only of the Apples have 
been destroyed. Should our hopes be realised, fruit 
growers will be amply repaid for a season such as last 
one. But we need not “halloo till we are out of the 
wood.” "We have still slight frosts at night, and on 
the 17th and 18th inst. we had heavy showers of snow, 
which gave the hill-tops a wintry-looking aspect.— 
W. M ., Inverness-shire . 
Iris tenax. 
The habit of this Iris is similar to that of I. stylosa or 
I. graminea, but the leaves, if tougher, as the name 
implies, are not quite so rigid as those of the former. 
The flower scapes bear a single bloom only, as in 
I. stylosa, and like that, are somewhat shorter than 
the leaves. The falls are obovate, broad, and lilac, 
copiously reticulated with white on the lower part. 
The standards are erect, spathulate, and dark lilac, 
with purple veins, but are, of course, much less con¬ 
spicuous than the falls. The styles are similar in 
colour and closely reflexed. The whole plant does not 
much exceed 10 ins. in height, and is very pretty when 
in full bloom. It is seldom seen in collections, although 
introduced as early as 1826. The Indians of North 
America, according to the botanical collector Douglas, 
make snares of the leaves for catching large game, such 
as the elk and deer. It is now in fine condition in the 
nursery of Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale Farm, Tottenham. 
Nodding White Daffodils. 
With reference to what “Observer” says in The 
Gardening World (p. 591) I believe Varcissus muticus 
to be the parent of all bicolors, and I also believe 
Mrs. J. B. M. Camm should be set apart with the Irish 
Swan’s-neck introduction, Colleen Bawn. Both these 
with me are nodding and bashful, looking towards the 
earth, and are in rich deep soil such as the old masters 
recommend for the cultivation of all Daffodils. What 
is peculiar, is that the foliage on the Colleen is broad 
leaved, and the flowers perfectly ovate and imbricated in 
the segments. Mr. J. B. M. Camm I also grow. It is a 
different plant altogether from the “weaker half,” and 
the sport I mention, I suppose from ignorance, is a 
regular white Rugilobus. Will Mr. Barr, the great 
high priest, or as I call him, “Peter the Great,” give a 
poor ignorant person information?— Ignoramus. 
