August 29, 1891. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
825 
SPIR^A ASTILBOIDES. 
As the specific name would indicate this Spirasa 
closely resembles an Astilbe such as A. decandra, or 
A. rivularis, and the flowers both in colour, structure, 
and arrangement are also closely similar. Spiraea 
belongs to the Rose family, and Astilbe to the 
Saxifrage order, and through the medium of these 
links the orders in question are shown to be closely 
allied. As is now getting known amongst gardeners, 
Astilbe japonica is almost universally recognised 
amongst British gardeners as Spiraea japonica, and 
almost the only difference that botanists can find to 
separate the two orders is that the seed of any mem¬ 
ber of the Saxifrage order has an embryo and 
endosperm, or reserve food material, while that 
of the Rose order very rarely contains reserve 
matter. The accompanying illustration shows the 
habit of Spiraea astilboides, with its terminal panicles 
of closely set, white flowers. The plant is compared 
to S. Aruncus, but we are of opinion that it is per¬ 
fectly distinct and a good species. Each female 
flower contains only two carpels, while that of 
S. Aruncus contains four or five carpels, and there 
are other distinctions, but gardeners need not 
trouble with them beyond the fact that the plant 
under notice is much dwarfer and eminently suited 
for cultivation in pots, and is being annually more 
and more used for forcing purposes, and is certainly 
very ornamental. Coming as it does from Japan, it 
is perfectly hardy and may be grown in any fairly 
good garden soil. We are indebted to Messrs. 
B. S. Williams & Son for an opportunity of 
illustrating it. 
NOTES FROM OAKWOOD. 
We have this year bloomed a number of plants of 
the Lily which is known in Japan as Lilium odorum 
Japonicum. It has by far the pleasantest smell of 
any Lily I know, that of a sort of refined Tuberose. 
Our first plants bloomed in a shady Lily house in the 
cottage garden; these were pure white both inside 
and outside of the petals. A well-known amateur 
gardener who went to see them in the evening first 
called my attention to the delightful smell. The next 
in order of blooming were in the conservatory here ; 
these had a slight brown tinge on the back of the 
flowers. Then those which bloomed in the open 
border in the Wisley garden had the backs so dark 
that at first sight they might have been taken for L. 
Browrii. These last have the backs of the flowers 
J'ery much darker when grown in the open air than 
tyhen grown under glass. 
My gardener here has been in the habit of plant¬ 
ing Tuberoses in pots and then bedding them out; 
these give finer flowers than those kept under glass. 
Last year on the 4th December he planted six bulbs 
in the border under my window, All six have come 
up—one has a good flower spike, another shows that 
it will flower, the others are doubtful. I should not 
have thought they could have survived the severe 
winter—they had no protection. 
At Oakwood, under a gable of the cottage, there is 
a martin's and a wasps' nest side by side and touch¬ 
ing each other. The inhabitants do not seem to 
interfere with one another. — George F. Wilson, 
Heatherbank, Weybridge Heath. 
THE POTENTILLA. 
Now that hardy flowers are so much shown in 
bright and striking bunches at flower shows the 
Potentillas deserve a place in the garden and in the 
estimation of the cultivator. It is by no means 
difficult to grow them. They are sun loving plants 
and should have an open position in the border. 
The soil that suits them best is a good sandy loam 
well manured, in which they can root deeply; and 
provided they are good sorts they will amply repay 
the cultivator for his labour, for they are singularly 
free of bloom, and heap up their blossoms plentifully 
and with excellent effect. 
We may safely assume that the fine garden 
varieties of Potentillas have been obtained from P. 
atrosanguinea—a single-flowered species introduced 
from India three-quarters of a century ago—and P. 
formosa, pale rosy-purple, which came from the 
same district about the same time. A number of 
fine varieties were raised in the North of England 
and elsewhere, and eventually large and handsome 
double forms appeared. These at once became great 
favourites, and at the present time they are much 
more numerous than the single varieties ; and of late 
years several very fine types have come to us from 
the Continent. I am unable to say when the first 
double forms appeared, probably within the last 
quarter of a century. I have before me a list issued 
in 1852, and it contains P. antwerpensis, orange, 
semi-double. This, as its name indicates, was 
doubtless of continental origin, and was probably the 
commencement of the break which resulted in the 
five fully-double forms found in collections in the 
present day. 
I venture to recommend a list of nine doubls 
varieties, viz.—Beelzibuth, very fine maroon-crimson; 
Dean Stanley, golden-yellow, marbled with rich 
scarlet, extra fine ; Gloire de Nancy, a deep-yellow 
leaf, with large, broad petals, very handsome ; Le 
Vesuve, clear bright-red, the edges of the petals 
flushed with yellow ; Louis Van Houtte, fine deep 
crimson, flushed with fiery-red, extra fine; M. 
Rouillard, velvety-scarlet, edged with amber; Vari- 
abiles, fl. pi. rose, edged with canary-yellow, and 
flaked with red, a variety that varies somewhat at 
times, but always assuming an attractive form; 
Versicolor, fl. pi. also an attractive and changeable 
variety, crimson and yellow, sometimes flaked like a 
carnation, and sometimes blotched; and William 
Rollisson, one of the most showy, having a deep 
orange-red base, the petal edges orange-yellow, extra 
fine. The plants grow from one-and-a-half to two- 
and-a-half-feet in height, and the flower stems should 
be neatly tied to stakes, so that the blossoms may be 
displayed to the best advantage. They are produced 
in such profusion that they weigh down the flower- 
stems unless having the support of stakes. 
The best single-flowered varieties are Aurantiaca 
superba, bright orange; Golden Cup, fine bright 
yellow ; Rupestris alba, white ]\ Russelliana grandi- 
flora, dark purple; Splendidissima, bright deep 
vermillion scarlet; and Smouti, bright cherry red ; 
sometimes striped. I have included the last named 
because so very pretty in its striped character, but 
in its self form it is somewhat dull looking. 
Potentillas can be propagated by means of 
division of the roots in autumn or spring, or by 
taking off any side shoots the plants may send up which 
will be found to have a few roots attached to it. 
But if not rooted they soon strike roots if placed 
round the sides of pot of light sandy soil. Unrooted 
pieces are found to strike root better in spring than 
in autumn and early winter. Potentillas can also 
be raised by means of seeds. Seeds of the single 
types are plentiful enough, but of the double varieties 
the yield is small, Still they are procurable. 
I once saw in the Midland district a bed of Po¬ 
tentillas,—it was worth while going a long distance to 
see. Wire guards of circular shape, a foot or so in 
height, had been placed over the plants, and the 
flower stems went up through them, the tops of the 
guard supporting the blossoms; and the plants had 
a remarkably fine effect, the flowers being so ar¬ 
ranged that they could be seen to the best 
advantage.'— E. W. 
A NUT TO CRACK. 
The following case has been privately submitted to 
me for an opinion, and it is only fair I should state it 
was sent to me by an exhibitor who was disqualified. 
At a show held at Bridgewater on the 20th inA. there 
was a class for “eighteen bunches of hardy Perennials 
and bulbous plants,’’ and my correspondent put up a 
bunch of Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, and he 
was disqualified by the judges on two grounds—that 
the Hydrangea was not a perennial in the ordinary 
acceptation of the term, and also because it is not 
hardy. My candid opinion was asked on the matter ; 
and though I am as a general rule averse to judging 
the judges, I am quite ignorant of who they were, 
and therefore had no hesitation in giving the opinion 
asked for. 
I think the judges were quite right in objecting to 
the Hydrangea as not being a perennial in the sense 
required by the schedule. One does not find it 
catalogued with hardy perennials, but with hardy 
shrubs. But I am at issue with them when they 
further disqualified on the ground that the Hydran¬ 
gea is not hardy, as I have just observed it 
finds a place in catalogues with hardy shrubs, 
and Mr. George Nicholson, of Kew, who is an 
authority on the matter, regards H. paniculata 
as hardier than H. hortensis, and others hold the 
same view. 
But now a curious complication comes in, my 
correspondent informs me that the judges did not 
object to varieties of H. hortensis and H. otaksa in 
competing stands. Why it is they admitted them 
I cannot understand. They have no more claim to 
be perennials than H. paniculata, and as I have 
already shown the latter is regarded as the hardiest. 
My experience as a judge teaches me there is more 
disputes over a class of this character than over any 
other in a schedule of prizes. I think it would be a 
great deal better if schedules of prizes simply re¬ 
quired hardy flowers, leaving out such contentious 
terms as “herbaceous” and “ perennial.” But I 
am quite sure the judges at Bridgewater acted from 
the best motives ; though, granting the case put by 
my correspondent to be a bona fide one, I think they 
were right as to the first point, J>ut wrong as to the 
last,—A Petit! . 
Spir^a astilboides, 
