THE GARDENING WORLD 
833 
August 29 , 1891 . 
Gardening Hiscellany. 
CJj ‘ 
A CURIOUS HEDGE PLANT. 
The plants now used to form hedges in gardens are 
very numerous and varied, but the larger proportion 
of them are exotics, and in nearly every case they are 
woody or shrubby subjects. They may be grown 
for the sake of their foliage alone, and are then 
mostly always kept closely clipped or pruned. For 
the mere purpose of a screen almost anything 
which is tall enough may be used, whether for its 
foliage or flowers or both. Flowering hedges are but 
slightly pruned whether shrubby or herbaceous. 
Annual subjects, such as Sweet Peas orTropasolums, 
may be employed, and their suitability in certain 
positions is unquestionable. It would be difficult to 
suggest a reason for the employment of the Mugwort 
(Artemisia vulgaris) as a hedge plant; but such is 
the case as may be seen in a populous suburb of 
London, where a hedge of it is planted along the 
front of tw’O neighbouring gardens, taking the place 
of the familiar Privet and Euonymus japonicus, 
which are the favourites on either side of the gar¬ 
dens in question. The plant of course is a perennial 
herb dying down to the ground every winter, so that 
the hedge is only of annual duration, lasting only 
during the summer and autumn months. The soil is 
naturally clayey and rather heavy, but the Mugwort 
seems to delight in the same. Some years the stems 
get tall and stately with pyramidally branching tops, 
but this year they are dwarfer and more bushy, and 
the foliage is generally of a rich dark green on the 
upper surface and silvery beneath. 
DROOPING FUCHSIAS. 
I have two varieties of Fuchsia that annually do 
duty on some high shelves in the greenhouse. They 
are perfect drooping kinds, and hang down over the 
shelves, hiding them and flowering most profusely. 
One named Alba has a long white tube and white 
sepals, with a rose-pink corolla, but little reflexed. 
The other is Fair Annie, a smaller flower than Alba, 
but has a white tube and sepals, with a red 
corolla. There are not many plants suitable for 
draping shelves in jammer, but these two Fuchsias 
do the work most-ndmirably. Eight inch pots I find 
the best size to grow them in. They are equally suit¬ 
able for hanging baskets, as the shoots fall down all 
round and look very graceful.—T. W. 
THE DWARF-WHITE ANTIRRHINUM. 
Among the most useful of hardy bedding plants is 
the dwarf white Antirrhinum. I do not know if it 
has any other name, but be that as it may it is a 
plant worth growing for many useful purposes. For 
cutting it is of great value, and when dotted among 
blue or purple Pansies it is very effective. For 
lines along with such plants as Pentstemons and 
Carnations, or belted with fancy Pansies, it is excel¬ 
lent. A bed edged with blue Lobelia next the 
Antirrhinum, with a line of Golden Balm outside, is 
very telling. The Golden Balm, not much grown in 
the South, is far more effective as a yellow edging in 
the North than either the Golden Feather or the 
yellow-leaved Pelargoniums. Cuttings of the 
Antirrhinum give dwarfer plants, which also flower 
earlier than seedlings, but for dry and poor soils we 
should prefer the seedling plants. It is very dwarf 
in some positions. I saw it in a nursery forming a 
long line, and the plants were only g in. high, 
but on our strong soil the dwarfest plants are 12 in. 
and 15 in. high. We have grown it for three seasons 
and have well proved its value.— Stirling. 
THE CAUCASIAN WALNUT. 
In its native home on the Caucasus, Pterocarya 
fraxinifolia affects moist woods and its behaviour 
here under different conditions would seem to favour 
that idea. In ordinary garden soil when naturally 
well drained the tree grows slowly although it may 
ultimately attain a height of 40 ft. or 50 ft., but the 
leaves are comparatively small. A fine and vigorous 
tree may be seen at Syon House, planted on the 
margin of a pond, where its roots can dip into the 
water and obtain any amount of moisture. At 
present it is about 3s ft. high or more, but from its 
rigorous appearance one would think that its ulti¬ 
mate height would considerably exceed this. The 
leaves are about 2j ft. long by ij ft. wide, and at a 
short distance more resemble those of Ailantus 
glandulosa than a Pterocarya, but they are of a 
shining dark green hue. The tree is perhaps better 
known under the name of P. caucasica, but is by no 
means common in this country. 
HYM ENOCALLIS MACROSTEPHANA. 
It does not appear from what country this origi¬ 
nated, but it has become disseminated from Syon 
House, where it appeared in 1879, and where a large 
stock of it has been grown ever since. At one time 
it flowered very plentifully and regularly about 
February, but as in the case of Eucharis and 
Pancratium belonging to the same family it may 
be flowered at various periods of the year according 
to treatment. The plant is rather bulky, with large 
leaves 30 ins. to 3 ft. long, and a flower scape some¬ 
what shorter. The flowers are pure white with long 
narrow segments, but the great size of the crown 
serves to fill up the centre of the flower, and gives 
rise to the specific name which means large crowned. 
The odour of the flowers is a great recommendation 
to the cultivation of the plant, for one specimen in 
bloom is sufficient to scent a large house. The 
flowers are equally suitable for indoor decoration, 
and as they last but a short time in perfection it 
matters less for their being cut. They are at once 
handsome and very unlike those things which are 
more largely cultivated. 
DATURA KNIGHTII. 
Large, old plants of this garden variety, flower more 
freely than young ones, and this fact seems to be 
dependent upon the ripening of the stem. It is, 
therefore, advantageous to grow the plant as a stan¬ 
dard, and to prune it hard back annually after it has 
done flowering. The flowers are then freely pro¬ 
duced on the young wood during the greater part 
of summer. They are pure white and double; bu 
the extra segments are developed in the throat, 
beyond which they do not project in all cases, while 
at other times they are of appreciable length. This 
condition of the flowers is therefore best seen when 
the stem is sufficiently high to carry the flowers 
above the head of the spectator. The doubling also 
serves to retain the flowers on the plant for a longer 
period of time. Greenhouse temperature suits it 
very well, but is makes the best growth when started 
in a stove and then transferred to the greenhouse or 
conservatory when showing bloom. The variety 
seems to differ little if in any way from D. suaveolens 
except in the doubling of the flowers. 
A CARPETED ROSE BORDER. 
I have a Rose border with three rows of plants all 
dwarfs, some being worked on the Manetti and the 
others on their own roots. They have occupied 
their present position for several years, and every 
spring after the border is forked over an uniform 
crop of Mignonette springs up. The plants are 
thinned to about 6 in. or more apart, and so form 
a most agreeable carpeting to the border when the 
Roses have passed their best. A good quantity of 
this sweet-scented annual is used for the house, and 
we always keep the bushes free from it by cutting 
around them or pulling up the Mignonette if too 
close. It seeds itself, and is very little trouble to us, 
as if it gets too near the Box edging we simply take the 
shears and go along it. The border is very agree¬ 
able all the summer months, and has a neat, tidy 
appearance, to say nothing of its delightful fragrance. 
— T. W. 
SCABIOSA OAUCASICA AMCENA. 
This variety is characterised by its broad deeply 
■tri-parted rays, with the obovate segments still 
further incised or cut. They are of a beautiful light- 
blue. The plant generally flowers about two or three 
weeks in advance of the type, but the unusually wet 
summer seems to have caused a second growth 
which is now flowering, thus greatly prolonging the 
season. The flower heads are also of large size and 
the rays have a crisped appearance, The plant is of 
the easiest cultivation, and the long flower stalks as 
well as the durability of the flowers themselves 
render it a suitable subject for mixing with other cut 
flowers in the filling of flower stands and vases. 
Propagation is readily effected by division either in 
autumn or in spring. 
ORCHID NOTES AND CLEANINGS. 
Maxillaria grandiflora. 
Late summer and autumn is the season during 
which this keeps up the best display, but like several 
other allied kinds it may flower at different periods. 
On a casual inspection it bears considerable resem¬ 
blance to M. venusta, but it holds its head more erect 
and the sepals are shorter, stiffer and less drawn out 
to a point. The side lobes of the lip are of a deep- 
brown, the interior is blotched with crimson, and the 
terminal lobe varies from bright yellow to pale lemon. 
The papillae on the upper surface of the crest is less 
conspicuous than in M. venusta, and the odour is not 
so strong although still distinctly perceptible. In the 
morning, however, it is much stronger, and agreeable. 
The peduncles are of good length and one flowered, 
and that combined with the erect habit of the flower 
renders the plant a suitable subject to grow for cut 
flower purposes. The species is a native of the 
Paraguayan Andes and Peru, but a high tempera¬ 
ture is by no means necessary. Flowering specimens 
may be seen at Syon House, Brentford, in a cool, 
north aspect house along with the large batch of 
Cypripedium insigne which is grown there. 
Rhynchostylis ccelestis. 
The plant here named is a comparatively recent 
introduction supposed to be from Moulmein, and is 
best known in gardens under the name of Saccola- 
bium coeleste. It has the habit of Saccolabium 
curvifolium, but is altogether different in colour. 
The chief distinction by which it is separated from 
Saccolabium is that the terminal lobe of the lip is 
opposite to the mouth of the short but wide and 
laterally compressed spur ; this portion is brought 
into that position by the well-marked curvature of 
the claw. The raceme stands erect from the axils of 
the leaves, and varies from 4 in. to 6 in. in length, 
according to the strength of the plant. The flowers 
are of fair average size, and white, with sky-blue tips 
to the sepals, petals and lip, which give to the whole 
a charming appearance, quite unique in its way. 
The sides of the compressed spur are also tinted with 
the same lively hue. The best method of growing it 
is in a basket suspended from the roof, so that it may 
enjoy a good amount of light to ripen the rigid 
channelled leaves. The whole plant is very compact, 
requiring but a small amount of space for its 
accommodation. It requires stove temperature, but 
evidently offers no more difficulty in its cultivation 
than the other species, and flowers at various times 
of the year. We saw it in fine condition recently in 
the collection of F. Wigan, Esq., Clare Lawn, East 
Sheen. 
Lycaste Cobbiana. 
In general appearance the flowers of this Lycaste 
resemble those of L. Barringtonise, but are much 
smaller, and the leaves totally different. The leaves 
of the last named are elliptic and very broad, while 
those of the plant under notice are narrowly lan¬ 
ceolate, almost membranous in texture, and 18 in. 
to 2 ft. in length. The pseudobulbs are oblong and 
furrowed along both faces. The oblong sepals are 
greenish, the petals and the lip white; the latter is 
fringed in a somewhat similar manner to that of 
L. Barringtoniae, L. costata, and others of that 
type. Probably it flowers at different seasons 
according to treatment and the time that the newly- 
made pseudobulbs ripen. Orchids in bloom are not 
particularly numerous at present, and the Lycaste 
under notice is the more acceptable from the fact of 
it adding to the variety in Orchid houses. We 
noted a plant of it in the collection of F. Wigan, 
Esq., Clare Lawn, East Sheen. 
Platyclinis filiformis. 
The most delicate, elegant, and attractive species of 
Platyclinis is that here named. Others have larger 
flowers, but their colours are less decided, even 
when we take into consideration the fact that the lip 
is orange, or at least several shades darker than the 
rest of the flower. The species are best known 
amongst growers under the name of Dendrochilum. A 
large plant flowering in a basket suspended from the 
roof of one of the Orchid houses at Clare Lawn, 
East Sheen, bears sixty fully developed racemes of 
bloom, and speaks favourably of the treatment it 
receives at the hands of the grower, Mr. W. H. 
Young. The flower stems are naturally very slender, 
and the flowers are gracefully suspended as if the 
scape was unable to support them in an erect 
