December 29, 1888. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
277 
CHRISTMAS ROSES. 
It is the practice of some to regard all the species of 
Hellebore and their varieties as Christmas Roses ; but 
as the great majority of them flower too late for 
use at the Christmas festive season, it is more proper to 
regard Helleborus niger and its varieties as the true 
Christmas Roses. The species grows wild in Austria, 
and there is every reason to suppose that most of the 
fine varieties in cultivation, and widely disseminated 
throughout the country, originated there and found 
their way here amongst some of the many importations 
that have been made from time to time. 
The most noticeable differences that prevail are 
presented by the breadth or narrov/ness of the leaf 
segments, which are entire or variously toothed, in the 
colour and markings of the petioles and flower-stalks, 
and in the size and colour of the flowers. From a 
horticultural point of view, the size and colour of the 
flowers, together with ample foliage, are the most 
important characters, and upon which most stress is to 
be laid. As far as the foliage is concerned there can 
be little question that cultivation is largely responsible 
for it, although the more permanent characters of some 
varieties are not in any way destroyed by it. The 
colour varies but little while the flowers are in per¬ 
fection, and even then it is more or less modified by 
the shelter which the plants eDjoy while in bloom. 
The smaller 
Christmas Rose 
(Helleborus niger 
minor) is by some 
regarded as the 
typical form, 
while others con¬ 
sider it a variety 
which is smaller 
in all its points. 
Where a collec¬ 
tion is grown it is 
certainly worth a 
place. Several 
others, varying in 
less important 
particulars, are 
grown under dif¬ 
ferent names, but 
they all agree in 
having larger and 
more generally 
useful flowers, 
whether for cut- 
flower purposes 
or for the decor¬ 
ation of borders, 
or the margins of 
the shrubbery, 
where they suc¬ 
ceed remarkably 
well if merely 
sheltered and not 
overpowered by 
being too closely 
overhung by 
bushes, especially 
evergreen kinds. 
The darkest red variety in this class is H. niger ruber, 
having flowers of large size, and of a beautiful purple- 
red externally, particularly noticeable in the half- 
expanded state. Internally the sepals are rosy white. 
It certainly merits good cultural attention, and im¬ 
provement by seed sowing and selection so as to 
intensify the colour. It flowers rather late in the 
season. A spring-flowering variety is mentioned in 
Sweet’s British Flower Garden under the name of 
H. niger vernalis, but the flowers are white. Another 
form of this species named H. n. caucasicus has fragrant 
flowers, more or less tinted with rose externally ; but 
the first character is the more important, and ought to 
be developed if possible. 
The grandest of all the Christmas Roses are undoubt¬ 
edly H. n. altifolius and H. n. angustifolius. The 
former is also known as H. n. latifolius and H. n. 
maximus, and is larger in all its parts. The flowers 
are borne singly or in pairs on a stalk, and under good 
cultivation measure 4 ins. or 5 ins. in diameter. If 
much exposed the tips of the sepals are more or less 
tinted with rose ; but if grown in partial shade and 
sheltered by shrubbery or trees as grown at Devon- 
hurst, Chiswick, the flowers come pure white. In fully 
exposed positions the same results may be obtained by 
covering each plant with a hand-light or large bell- 
glass, or by placing a frame over the whole bed. 
The narrow-leaved Hellebore (H. n. angustifolius) is 
said to be the real Christmas Rose, inasmuch as it 
naturally flowers at Christmastide, whereas the other 
varieties come in earlier or later. There are, however, 
generally a number of the varieties in flower at 
Christmas, dependent to some extent upon the mildness 
of the autumn and winter. This same variety is much 
grown in Ireland under the name of St. Brigid’s Rose. 
The segments of the leaves are very narrow, and the 
flowers are pure white. There can be no doubt that 
this and H. n. altifolius are the cream of all the 
Christmas Roses. 
In the neighbourhood of London, Hellebores do not 
thrive so satisfactorily or grow with so much vigour as 
they do in the northern counties and in Ireland, where 
the climate is moister during summer, It is then that 
the fate of the Christmas Rose is determined, that is, 
during the growing season,because if ampleandabundant 
foliage is produced, and there is a good root develop¬ 
ment, we may be certain there will be a rich harvest 
of bloom. A severe winter may delay and prolong the 
flowering season, but both flowers and foliage are 
perfectly hardy, and may with impunity be repeatedly 
frozen. If the flowers are gathered in a frozen state 
they should be gradually thawed in cold water, other¬ 
wise they will droop on the stalk. Another point of 
importance concerning the leaves is, that when a huge 
mass of them are produced, the flowers require no other 
Cineraria, Emperor Frederick. 
shelter, and even H. n. altifolius comes of a pure white. 
Protection by handlights is only necessary when there 
is a scanty development of foliage. 
In choosing a situation for Christmas Roses, the soil 
should be deep, rich, well drained, and naturally rather 
moist even in summer. If somewhat shaded and 
sheltered by tall trees, or even shrubs, so much the 
better. But be careful that the roots of tall trees do 
not ramify in and impoverish the beds, as Hellebores 
enjoy liberal treatment. Manure the bed well, and 
mulch rather heavily in autumn, taking care that the 
crowns are not covered. The tall-growing variety 
delights in a rather heavy and retentive soil ; but if 
the latter, after a few years, gets too solid and inert, 
trench it up afresh to the depth of 2 ft. to 2$ ft., 
adding hot-bed manure. 
-- 
THE CULTURE OF ASPARAGUS.* 
This subject is one the general methods of cultivating 
which, are very well known to British gardeners. That 
being so, it may appear superfluous to say more on the 
subject. There are, however, circumstances in which 
the generally-adopted methods of cultivation have to 
be varied to meet the exigencies of the case. It is on 
* A paper read by Mr. A. Porter, Luchie Gardens, North 
Berwick, at the meeting of the Scottish Horticultural Asso¬ 
ciation, on December 4th. 
this ground that I bring Asparagus Culture before you 
to-night. 
In some gardens Asparagus succeeds very well, while 
in others up and down the country it is not a satis¬ 
factory crop, and is sometimes a failure altogether, even 
though some care has been bestowed upon its culti¬ 
vation. No doubt there are reasons for its not suc¬ 
ceeding, and at different places the reasons may be 
different also. I will not presume to give all the 
reasons for non-success in its culture, but I will mention 
one which is probably as potent as any, and that is the 
unsuitability of some soils. 
The most unfavourable soil for good results is a heavy 
tenacious clay ; on such material I am doubtful if 
Asparagus will succeed at all—at least, satisfactorily ; 
by adopting exceptional means, however, it is quite 
possible to succeed fairly well with it, and as Asparagus 
is a much-esteemed vegetable, and comes in at a time 
when others are scarce, it is worthy of a little special 
trouble. As far as I can ascertain, wherever Asparagus 
is found in its wild state—whether it be inland in the 
steppes of Russia or Poland, or in maritime situations— 
the soil is always of a sandy character. The far-famed 
Asparagus of the Paris markets is cultivated on a sandy 
loam. These facts, I think, point clearly to the medium 
in which Asparagus likes to grow. On stiff retentive 
clay, even though well drained, the thick fleshy roots 
and crowns, if em¬ 
bedded in such a 
soil during winter, 
are very liable to 
perish; and again, 
on the other hand, 
in summer, when 
it becomes dry and 
hard as a brick, 
the roots cannot 
be expected to 
extend freely into 
it. Having had 
to produce Aspa¬ 
ragus in a garden 
of heavy clay, I 
will describe the 
mode of culture I 
have pursued, and 
by which a fair 
degree of success 
has been attained. 
The site chosen 
for the new plan¬ 
tation had been 
occupied by Aspa¬ 
ragus ; it might 
have been planted 
two or three years, 
but only a solitary 
stalk reared its 
head here and 
there, the plants 
having all perish¬ 
ed in the winters. 
It had been 
planted in beds 
with alleys be¬ 
tween them—the former 3 ft. wide the latter 1 ft. 
wide. Such was the aspect of the site chosen for the 
new plantation towards the end of the month of May. 
The preparation of these old Asparagus beds for the 
new plants about to be planted was simple ; it only 
consisted in Dutch-hoeing the weeds and grubbing up 
the few solitary remaining plants of Asparagus. This 
being accomplished, the beds were ready for the 
reception of the young plants. These, however, were 
not planted in the natural soil of the beds ; to have 
done so would have been to perpetuate failure, but 
they were planted upon the surface of the beds amongst 
prepared soil. This prepared compost consistsd chiefly 
of refuse soil from under the potting-shed bench, 
decayed vegetable matter, leaf-soil and sand, all 
passed through a 1-in. riddle and thoroughly mixed; this 
mixture produced a soft, free and moderately rich 
compost. A sufficiency of this being in readiness, the 
next thing to determine was the distances at which to 
plant. Four feet between the lines, and 2 ft. in the 
lines was decided upon and marked off accordingly, a 
mark being made where every plant was to be placed. 
This arrangement gave a row of plants up the centre 
of each of the old Asparagus beds. Such distances are 
not too wide, for if really large and fine Asparagus heads 
are to be produced, large individual plants must first 
be obtained ; and one main factor in obtaining them is 
to allow room for their development. At each of the 
