136 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
October 27 , 1888. 
Gardening §Iiscellany. 
The Early Frosts. 
I SEND you a copy of part of my weather chart 
giving the readings of the minimum thermometer here 
during the first half of the month. This shows at a 
glance the phenomenal character of the present autumn. 
The actual temperatures were probably some 2° or 3° 
lower on each night, as my instrument is placed in a 
somewhat sheltered position, and, therefore, never 
registers the extreme minimum. No wonder then that 
everything is destroyed—even the Walnuts, which 
are black and shrivelled, as if charred. All Chrysan¬ 
themums are more or less injured, but Boule d’Or, 
Grandiflorum and Comte de Germiny are hopelessly 
gone—indeed, it is questionable whether the stools are 
sufficiently alive to throw up cuttings. Your corre¬ 
spondents who refer to those who were “caught 
napping” quite forget that September 30th was Sunday, 
consequently, though the clear sky and sharp northerly 
winds gave warning of an impending frost during the 
night, yet it was impossible to get the plants housed 
that day, and by next morning they were gone.— 
B. D. Knox, Caversham, Reading, October 1 6th. 
Mascarenhasia Curnowiana. 
We have a plant here under this name, the foliage and 
habit of which somewhat resemble a Rhynchospermum, 
except that the colour of the flowers is a very bright 
pink, the centre of each petal beibg distinctly marked 
with a line of very deep pink. It flowers in a small 
condition, but appears to be a slow-growing subject. 
It is, I believe, a native of the Mascarene Islands. 
Could you or any of your readers give any information 
respecting it ? AVhat temperature should it be grown 
in, and what are its essential requirements ?— JR. G. 
fA temperature such as that which suits stove plants 
generally will meet the requirements of this subject. 
The night temperature in winter should not be allowed 
to fall below 55° or 60°, rising to 65° or 70° in summer, 
with a rise of 10’ during the day. A compost of 
fibrous peat, with a small quantity of good loam, and 
plenty of silver-sand to keep it open, will accord with 
the needs of the plant. An abundance of heat and 
moisture, both at the roots and in the atmosphere, is 
necessary during summer while making its growth, and 
when this has been accomplished, keep it drier in 
order to ripen the wood before sunlight becomes feeble 
in autumn. It does not seem, as a rule, to flower very 
abundantly.— Ed.] 3 
Hardy Hybrid Gladiolus. 
I send you a spike of Gladiolus, a seedling from a 
batch of M. Lemoine’s hybrids I raised myself some 
three years ago, amongst which were many varieties all 
worth growing, as they are so hardy, and do not require 
taking up like the Gandavensis type. I do not claim 
any peculiar merit for this bloom, but send it in order 
to ascertain if any of the readers of The Gardening 
'World have had the same experience of blooming 
Gladioli the same year they are sown ? My seedlings 
bore a great deal of seed after last year’s hot weather, 
and I saved it at the end of October. AVe did not sow 
it till the end of April or the first week of May, when 
we put it on a slight hot-bed with a light over it till the 
first leaf was well above ground, and since then it has 
had no attention, except to give it water regularly. In 
September six or seven spikes pushed up, and would 
have been open about October 7th, but they were 
exposed for the first three nights of this month to 6° 
or 7° of frost, which I thought had done for them, 
but we managed to get a sash over them, which has 
brought them on, with the sunny days we have had 
since, and now they will all come. This variety is 
certainly likely to have a future before it, as it is so 
hardy, the colours are so distinct and varied, and it can 
be had to bloom from seed in six months. I was 
under the impression that very few bulbs could bloom 
from seed in our climate the same year, but should be 
glad to have the experience of some of your readers.— 
C. B. Powell, The Old Hall, Southborough, Oct. 23rd. — 
[The specimen sent us bore three fully expanded flowers 
and ten buds. They were very densely arranged 
and of good size, while the flowers were exquisitely 
delicate and charming. The three upper segments 
were of a soft salmony scarlet with white midribs, 
while the three lower segments were white with purple 
lines in the throat of the flower, and salmony scarlet 
at the tips. The size of the flowers was wonderful, 
considering that they had been produced by a seedling 
only six months old, and they will no doubt be larger 
next year.—E d.] 
Anthracite Coal. 
YotfR correspondent, “ W. B. G.” (p. 120), remarks 
that the use of this coal for horticultural purposes is 
deservedly extending, and that it is more cleanly and 
economical than coke. I concur with him as to its 
excellence and cleanliness, but on the point of economy 
I am disposed to differ. We have also used it, and for 
maintaining a regular temperature found it unsur¬ 
passable, being a lasting and slow burning coal, and 
requiring a good draught to keep it going. I seldom 
called the services of the damper into requisition, 
except that on stormy nights when a gale was blowing 
I pushed it half home. Anthracite is certainly excellent 
fuel, and a good fire put on at 10 p.m., with a shovelful 
of damp ashes in front, will be found nice and bright, 
and the temperature much higher next morning at six 
o’clock, than if coke had been used. But on comparing 
previous accounts we found that during the period we 
used this coal, our expenses were higher than they 
would have been had our fuel been supplied from the 
gas works. I could name an instance in which 
Anthracite was exclusively used all last winter, during 
which the severe frost necessitated sharp firing, and on 
opening the furnace door one morning the attendant 
was astonished to find fire and grate-bars all run into 
a clinker, and lying in the ash-pit.— J. Peebles. [This 
sort of contretemps will happen with ordinary coal and 
coke, and is not specially confined to Anthracite.— Ed.] 
Cornwall Escapes the Late Frosts. 
Having read in The Gardening World about the 
severe frosts experienced in different parts of the 
country, I cannot help remarking how different it is 
with us. Everything still looks beautiful. Double, 
single, and Cactus Dahlias are in full flower, and 
generally last till about the middle of November. All 
tender things are still blooming, such as Heliotrope, 
Verbenas, Zinnias, &c. I gathered Strawberries on the 
14th of October, and there are more coming on. Chry¬ 
santhemums have not been injured in any way, and 
we are still having fine weather. —Constant Bxader, 
Falmouth, October 1 Qth. 
Rhododendron, Yellow Perfection. 
Improvements continue to be made amongst hybrid 
greenhouse Rhododendrons. In this case the flowers 
are of a uniform light yellow, with the exception of the 
anthers, which are deeper coloured. The tube is funnel- 
shaped and of moderate length, with a wide spreading 
five-lobed limb. The foliage is also good. Specimens 
were exhibited at the Drill Hall, Westminster, on 
Tuesday last, by Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, and received 
a First Class Certificate from the Floral Committee. 
Ampelopsis tricuspidata (Veitchii). 
I should like to corroborate the remarks of some writers 
in your columns who have lately called attention 
to this beautiful climber. I may, perhaps, be allowed 
to say that from the first time I met with it, away in 
Dorset, growing on an old stump of a tree in juxta¬ 
position with Clematis Jackmanni, it has always been 
a favourite with me. The largest plant I ever met 
with is to be seen in front of Dr. Hare’s residence, 
Perry Square, Limerick. This is planted in the area 
in good soil, and it covers the width of the house until 
it reaches the ground floor, from whence, as space 
permits, it spreads on either side, its leading shoots 
ramifying freely over the neighbouring houses, and at 
present cover about half-way across and more than 
half-way up a five-story house. Not only is the subject 
of this note effective as a climber, but at this season of 
the year its leaves are most useful for the decoration of 
the dinner-table, especially when laid on the cloth with 
other foliage and Ferns. —E. Dumper, Limerick. 
Restio subverticillatus. 
IN one of the houses in the Edinburgh Botanical 
Garden is a huge specimen of this finely branched and 
gracefully drooping plant. It is a native of the Cape, 
and closely resembles some of the members of the Sedge 
family or the Grasses, and although the flowers are 
small, brown, and collected in by no means conspicuous 
spikes, the drooping spray of the branches is very 
graceful. The plant measures about 8 ft. high, and is 
about the same in width. 
Colchicum maximum. 
We recently saw some grand clumps of a Colchicum 
under the above name in the Botanic Gardens, Edin¬ 
burgh. Mr. Lindsay, the curator, takes it to be 
merely a variety of C. speciosum, which is itself the 
largest of all the Colchicums. He finds that the 
flowers are greatly improved by being lifted and 
transferred to the reserve garden every few years, 
where they can be liberally treated in the matter of 
soil, feeding and space to develop its large leaves. 
The flowers are of huge proportions for a member of 
this genus, and make themselves conspicuous by their 
broad, oval, blunt, not pointed segments, which are of 
a warm rosy purple colour. Other forms of C. speciosus 
are notable for their deep crimson-purple flowers with 
a white throat. The species is a native of the Caucasus, 
and flowers during the months of September and 
October in this country. 
Polygonum vaceinisefolium. 
Of all the hardy species of Polygonum that grace the 
garden in autumn, none are neater or more charming 
for out-door work than this trailing, small-leaved, and 
dwarf species. The trailing stems are admirably 
adapted for rockwork, and where the rocky ledges are 
moist or partly covered with soil, roots are thrown out, 
and thus the plant, feeling its way as it were, forms 
dense patches of deep green, from whence arise the 
short upright stems bearing dense spikes of rosy 
flowers. It was in fine condition a short time ago on 
the rockery in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh. 
Permanent Planting of Daffodils. 
The beds in my grass garden have been very gay 
during the last month. I find that by planting the 
material for this effect in conjunction with the ordinary 
spring-flowering Daffodils we get two crops of bloom 
within a year from the same bit of flower ground 
without injury to the bulbs, and this in spring and 
autumn. There are four large beds at present a mass 
of “golden earth stars,” beneath which are planted 
four distinct varieties of Daffodils—viz., Golden Spur, 
Ard-Righ, Emperor, and Horsefieldii ; then we have 
two beds of Colchicum speciosum, beneath which are 
Narcissus bicolor Alfred Parsons, and selected forms of 
N. nobilis ; then a large bed of Trumpet maximus in 
conjunction with white Colchicums. The latter have 
been very beautiful, and are just over ; but the Ivy¬ 
leaved Cyclamen, and Sternbergia angustifolia (known 
as Parkinson’s Winter Daffodil), are most beautiful. 1 
am working up a stock of the rare double white Col¬ 
chicum in conjunction with a collection of Mr. Maw’s 
autumnal Crocus, when I expect to excel my present 
efforts. In lifting the bulbs in July, the most ignorant 
person can easily select the Sternbergia bulbs from 
the huge ones of the bicolor Daffodils, and both in 
conjunction suffer no injury. The Grass garden is in 
the form of a crescent, backed by a Yew hedge 7 ft. in 
height. There is a long border 6 ft. wide running the 
entire length, and now planted with Christmas Roses 
in huge clumps, the edging of which, 1 ft. in width, is 
crammed with Glory of the Snow (over 7,500 bulbs), 
and in the spaces between the Hellebores I purpose 
planting Hyacinthus candicans. The beds in the grass 
are large and of all shapes, at intervals consisting of 
small ovals, in which are planted sweet-scented 
Paeonies, Princess of Wales, Florentine, P. flavescens, 
P. atropurpurea, and Flag Iris. The edges of these 
beds are composed of Elwes’ Snowdrop, Hepatica angu- 
losa, and coloured Apennine Anemones. Some of them 
contain good specimens of Golden Florence Court Yews, 
and variegated Silver and Golden Queen Hollies. 
Helleborus maximus, or H. altifolius, is now in bloom, 
and the Riverston variety and St. Brigid will be 
equally so next month. H. major and H. caucasicus 
will be in flower about Christmas, and H. vernalis, 
with Ard-Righ Daffodil, in February. My Hellebores 
and Megaseas in tubs will make a grand display this 
winter. — JR. Baylor Hartland, Temple Hill, Cork. 
Euterpe edulis in Fruit, 
The Cabbage Palm proper is E. oleracea ; but judging 
from the name, the species under notice is utilised for 
the same purpose. There is a fine specimen of it at 
present in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, 
with a tall stem, and bearing amongst the leaves large 
panicles of flowers. They are by no means of a showy 
character, but lower down and older than them are 
panicles of fruit like large bunches of black Grapes. 
In Brazil, its native country, the trunk attains from 
40 ft. to 100 ft. in height. The leaves belong to the 
feather-leaf type, and are deeply divided into lanceolate 
segments. Tfle stems, although tall, are not par¬ 
ticularly stout. 
Lathyrus latifolius albus. 
When climbing up to a trellis this Everlasting Pea 
makes a pretty object in any garden, more particularly 
when not kept too tightly tied in. I saw it in this 
position at Lota the other day, and as the gardener, 
Mr. J. O’Dwyer, rightly says, it is not only a good plant 
for the embellishment of the garden, but is a very 
useful subject for furnishing cut flowers.— E. Dumper, 
Limerick. 
