September 1, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
7 
plants. Being such a well-known and easily-managed 
subject, it is not necessary to describe it, but the other 
species of the geDus I will give a paragraph to when 
treating on stove-growing shrubs. 
Gloriosa. 
A grand class of climbing plants, producing flowers of 
an orange shade, somewhat resembling a miniature 
Lilium, G. superba being the best of the genus. They 
require a good heat whilst making their flowering stems 
for the season, and during the winter months'it will be 
necessary to dry them off, when they will start into 
growth again in the spring, making long soft shoots of 
a considerable length, and terminating in a spray of 
flowers. They may be trained to trellis-work after 
they show signs of flower, but show to best advantage 
when suspended from a roof. A rich loam, with a 
mixture of rotten manure added, taking care that the 
compost be porous enough, will suit them admirably. 
The dry bulb when first potted does not require too 
much water until it shows signs of growth, but when 
fairly established it will take any amount of sustenance. 
After the flowering period, water should gradually be 
withheld until the stems are quite decayed away, 
when the pot may be stored away in a warm dry place 
until wanted for the next year’s growth. 
Ipom-ea. 
This is a free-growing class of stove climbing plants, 
and yields flowers in abundance on strong healthy 
plants. The only fault with these plants is that their 
flowers are only serviceable for the day upon which 
they open, but as they yield flowers in abundance, and 
can be depended upon to always have some ready 
for cutting every morning during the summer and 
autumn months, this small fault may be condoned. 
I. Horsfallife is the brightest coloured of the genus, 
and consequently more sought after than the others, 
but requires a great amount of roof room to bring it to 
perfection. It is best propagated by grafting pieces 
upon either the roots of Ipomnea ternata, or upon young 
plants of the same just nicely established from the 
cutting pot. I. ternata has pure white flowers, which 
are produced in clusters. While upon this subject, 
may I be allowed to ask what is the difference between 
I. ternata and the so-called I. Thomsoniana, sent out 
some years ago as a magnificent plant for exhibition 
purposes ?— W. G. 
-- 
THE LONDON PARKS. 
Victoria. 
The scroll carpet bedding on the east side of the park 
is always a feature of the place, and it is done up in a 
fashion such as we seldom see so largely adopted. The 
beds are well elevated above the level of the grass, 
while along the centres of these are other figures con¬ 
siderably above the general level of the beds them¬ 
selves. These central figures are planted with one 
or other of Alternanthera paronychoides aurea, A. 
magnifica or A. atncena, and edged with another, the 
whole having a sharply sloping edge of Echeveria 
secunda glauea. The general groundwork consists of 
Mentha Pulegium gibraltaricum, which always furnishes 
a carpet of a pleasing dark shade of green. The outer 
edge consists of a line of small plants of Golden Feather 
and a double line of Echeveria secunda glauea. Along 
the central figures, and also in the groundwork of 
Mentha, are dot plants of Echeveria metallica, E. 
glaueo-metallica, Sempervivum cuneatum, S. dorame, 
S. canariense, S. calcareum, S. Haworthi, Chamajpeuce 
diacantha, C. cassabonse, and Paehyphyton braete- 
osum, with patches of small plants of the latter. 
In a semi-circular piece of ground there is the usual 
display of flower-beds, such as Londoners like to see. 
Being fully exposed, there is a tolerably fair amount of 
bloom on the Pelargoniums, but nothing compared 
with that of more favourable seasons. A bed of Henry 
Jacoby, with its intensely dark scarlet flowers, is by 
far the most conspicuous, and from what w r e have seen 
of it, both here and elsewhere, it is a very hardy kind. 
Being at some distance from the pathway, its brilliancy 
is more agreeable to the eye. There is a pretty bed of 
Verbena venosa mixed with Centaurea candidissima, 
but its beauty is lost in the distance from the public 
eye. A cheerful contrast of colours is afforded by four 
beds of bicolor Pelargoniums, mixed with blue Violas 
and edged with Coleus Verschaffelti, Golden Feather, 
and a double row of Echeveria secunda glauea, which 
is much used for this purpose throughout the beds. The 
latter are considerably elevated above the general level 
of the grass, and their edges, therefore, require some 
support of this kind. Most of them have a heavy 
edging inside the Echeveria of such things as Coleus 
Verschaffelti, Golden Feather, Iresine Lindeni, black 
Beet, yellow-leaved Fuchsias, yellow or bronze-leaved 
Pelargoniums, and Lobelias, most of which are fairly 
well coloured. 
Two large oblong beds with indented ends are, as 
usual, very elaborately wrought out, and are sufficiently 
neat and attractive to be admired by lovers of that 
style of gardening. The general groundwork consists 
of Mentha Pulegium gibraltaricum. In the centre are 
circular patches of Alternanthera paronychoides aurea, 
with a dot plant of Echeveria metallica ; there are also 
crosses of A. versicolor with figures of A. paroncyhoides 
between, and these forming elevated plateaus, have 
their abruptly sloping sides planted with Echeveria 
secunda glauea. On a lower level are scroll figures of 
various Alternantheras, with numerous patches all round 
towards the margin of the bed and edged with 
Echeverias. The groundwork of Mentha extends to 
the margin, which has an edging of Golden Feather 
and a double row of Echeveria. 
Where sheltered, the beds of Cannas in other parts 
of the park look very well, although they have not 
yet made a very luxuriant growth. Some broad-leaved 
bronzy green varieties in a sheltered hollow near the 
pond are certainly the best, and completely fill the 
beds. The beds of Verbenas are also far better than 
we should have expected them, seeing that in rich 
soils and in wet weather they usually grow rampantly, 
but flower rather sparingly. In the long border 
running round one side of the park the double-flowered 
form of Helianthus decapetalus multiflorus produces a 
fine effect; but we should like to see a greater ad¬ 
mixture of other perennial subjects that flower equally 
freely, and give much additional variety. The tendency 
seems to be to depend on patches of various annuals to 
create a display. Such things as Ten-week Stocks, 
Larkspurs, and Tropseolums, hold their own very well; 
but Bocconia cordata, Lythrum Salicaria, autumn- 
flowering Phloxes, Antirrhinums, Tradescantia vir- 
ginica, Nieotiana affinis, and Monarda fistulosa 
purpurea, are more appropriate and interesting. The 
Night-scented Tobacco is not usually considered a 
perennial, but is so under favourable conditions, and 
when well sheltered in a dry soil during winter. The 
vigour with which it grows and flowers in the open air, 
however, even when annually planted out in a small 
state, should warrant a more extended cultivation than 
it enjoys at present. Hardy herbaceous plants always 
come well to the front in wet seasons, as we had 
evidence in 1879, when the summer was equally un¬ 
favourable to summer bedding stuff. Flowering 
specimens of Yucca recurva, 6 ft. in height, are con¬ 
spicuous here as elsewhere. 
--- 
jfOTES FROM 
Scotland, 
Royal Horticultural Society of Aber¬ 
deen: Grand Floral Fete. —August 23rd, 2ith, 
and 25th .—The grand floral fete organised by this 
society, and which occupied the place of the annual 
show of the association, was held in the Duthie Public 
Park, Aberdeen, on the above dates. For the purposes 
of the fete an extensive portion of the park ground was 
enclosed, and minor marquees for the accommodation 
of the various exhibits and refreshment stalls, while a 
particularly spacious marquee was provided for the 
floral exhibition proper. The society in former years 
held a couple of shows a year, a spring and an autumn 
one, but this year, as the f£te was the only show held, 
the difficulty was experienced of having it at a time to 
suit both early and late crops. So far the experiment 
succeeded, but unfortunately the society has had to 
encounter during the year the most unfavourable 
weather. Everywhere the season is about three weeks 
late. The appearance of the exhibits, however, was on 
the whole very creditable, in some cases indeed the 
plants and flowers being considerably over the average, 
and admittedly much superior to what has been 
seen in many of the large shows in the south. On 
entering the large marquee, the fine show of greenhouse 
plants ranged along the centre attracted special 
attention. Fuchsias, a point in which the Aberdeen 
show is usually strong, were massive, finely formed 
and well-flowered ; while the Pelargoniums were, both 
as regards colour and bloom, scarcely anything behind. 
In the professional section the exhibits of Mr. W. Ogg, 
Morken, were specially commendable. Immediately 
adjoining, in the same section, the display of Ferns 
was very fine, especially those shown by Mr. Alexander 
Grigor, Fairfield. In the amateurs’ section the richest 
display of Ferns was, perhaps, that of Mr. James Fyfe, 
Thistle Place, Aberdeen ; while in the same section, 
Mr. James Minty, Canal Road, Aberdeen, had, as is 
his wont, some highly creditable specimens of pot- 
plants ; also Mr. A. Gillespie, Aberdeen, had some 
very good plants in thi3 department. Among pot- 
plants, those in the working-class section were sur¬ 
prising in the splendour of the bloom and size of the 
plants. Near the show of pot plants was a very fine 
table of horticultural produce, exhibited by Mr. 
John Proctor, gardener to Lord Provost Henderson, 
Devanha House. Mr. Proctor’s was the only entry in 
this particular competition, but it was of such an 
excellent description, that it certainly formed one of 
the features of the exhibition. Amongst the cut 
flowers, considering the unfavourable season, Asters 
were probably the weakest feature in that department, 
the weather having been exceedingly severe on them ; 
while Pansies were, on the other hand, about the best. 
Except in one or two cases, the Dahlias were very 
poor, while there was an extensive display of fairly 
good Stocks. The Roses formed a specially noteworthy 
feature, and in this regard nothing could be finer, and 
nothing better has been seen in the country this season 
than the specimens shown by Messrs. Cocker, Aberdeen, 
for which they were justly awarded the Silver Cup. 
Having three years in succession taken the cup, it 
now becomes the absolute property of that firm. The 
Dahlias were a fair lot in this division, and Messrs. Croll 
took the premier honours. In the competition for table 
decoration the first prize was won by Mr. Robert 
Duthie, Aberdeen. A very interesting show was that 
of bouquets, the best of which came from Mr. George 
Stephen and Messrs. B. Reid & Co. 
The show of fruit was not so good as has been seen, 
but on the whole it was very fair indeed. Straw¬ 
berries considering the season were good, -but Black 
Currants were especially fine, several specimens being 
quite as large as ordinary-sized Cherries. The show of 
Apples was rather poor, but the specimens were very 
good, both in size and quality. Pears are late, and 
those shown were very small. Some handsome Peaches 
were forward, while Grapes, though behind the speci¬ 
mens of some former years, were very good, those shown 
by Mr. Stratton, gardener to W. Lumsden, Esq., of 
Balmedie, being the finest in the exhibition. There 
was a fine display of Melons, the entries being so 
numerous and the quality so excellent that it was 
found advisable to award extra prizes in this section. 
The vegetables were shown in a separate marquee, at 
the north end of the grounds. They were not quite so 
good as the productions of last year, neither in point of 
numbers nor quality, though speaking generally they 
were very fair in view of the adverse character of the 
weather for some time past. 
Leith Flower Show. —The fifth annual exhibi¬ 
tion of the Leith Horticultural Society was held in the 
Junction Street Hall, on Saturday last. Since its 
birth every effort has been put forth alike by the 
admirer of the beautiful, and the gardener, amateur, 
and window-plant grower to make the concern a 
success, nor have their energetic and untiring efforts 
been in vain, for from the quantity and quality of the 
exhibits brought forward on Saturday, little doubt 
exists, if the progress continues in the same ratio, that 
in as many more years it will take its stand in many 
respects on the same platform as the Edinburgh Cale¬ 
donian Society. It is seldom, indeed, that the impress 
of success attends a youthful concern, especially a 
flower show, in so short a time. 
The hall is the largest in the town, and was filled to 
the door with stuff which reflected considerable credit 
on the growers. Fruit, excepting indoor, was however 
behind the usual, but the season, needless to say, 
accounts for that defect. Messrs. Munro & Ferguson, 
Abercorn Nurseries, exhibited a most interesting 
collection of outside flowers, which drew the attention 
and admiration of all. Among the gardeners’ exhibits 
were some fine plants—foliage and flowering. A fine 
plant ot Diplacus glutinosa, profusely covered with 
flower, was very attractive. A very interesting and 
somewhat exciting feature of the competition was 
Mimulus Harrisoni and Blue Lobelia ; for a pan of each 
was offered a Silver Medal. The coveted prize which, 
as naturally would be expected, attracted a strong 
competition, was awarded to Mr. King, Restalrig Park. 
The vegetable competition was strong, and testified 
what degree of perfection the non-professional can 
achieve when the bent of his energies are engrossed in 
this pleasing and healthy recreation. Among the chief 
prize-takers in the gardeners’ class were the names of 
Messrs. King, Restalrig Park ; Clark, Leith ; Beattie, 
Bonnington Park ; Linton, Afton Park ; Dougal, 
Talbot House ; and Paterson, Willow Brae. In the 
amateurs’ class were Messrs. Manclark, Leith ; Calcot, 
Watson ; Mitchel, Kechil; and Russell. The secretary, 
Mr. Stevens, and his colleagues of the committee showed 
admirable taste and skill in the arrangement and order 
which everywhere prevailed.— D. Chisholm. 
