678 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 22, 1889. 
with the fact that they utilise some of their plants for 
the decoration of the bog garden and margins of ponds 
or tanks with good results. 
A long-standing mistake on the part of British gar¬ 
deners, and even some who were good botanists, was to 
describe P. viseosa nivea, a European form, under the 
name of P. nivalis, which is a native of the Caucasus, 
and extends through central Asia and the mountains 
of northern India to Kamtschatka and north-western 
America. It also occurs on the summit of some 
mountains in Yunnan. Another exceedingly useful 
species—namely, P. obconica, is found at Hupeh, in 
China, at considerable elevations, as well as on the banks 
of the Blue River, at Chapato. A grand future 
seems to be in store for this species when once it begins 
to vary freely, or gets successfully hybridised. P. 
sikkimensis, which proves hardy in this country, has 
been found on a mountain in the district of Yunnan, at 
an elevation of 3,500 metres, which would mean 
something over three times that number of feet. 
Where originally found in the Sikkim Himalayas it 
ranges at elevations between 11,000 ft. and 15,000 ft. 
It is more easily managed in this country than P. 
denticulata, when both are planted in the open under 
the same conditions. The former is, however, not by 
any means a long-lived plant, according to the ex¬ 
perience of many cultivators, but from its perfectly 
deciduous nature in winter, it oftener escapes being 
destroyed by frost and rain than P. denticulata, which 
is inclined to grow and flower if the weather is at all 
mild. 
-- 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
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» 
Pyrethrums. 
These are now in full season once more, and fully 
uphold their character as garden plants of great 
decorative value. The ease with which they can be 
managed even in town and suburban gardens should be 
an incentive to greatly extend their cultivation. Both 
the single and double varieties have been greatly im¬ 
proved within recent years, and the number is so great 
that mere catalogue description is of no value in making 
a selection. The best plan for amateurs and those 
unacquainted with the kinds is to see them growing 
together, or as exhibited at horticultural shows, and 
make a selection according to taste. Some may prefer 
double, others single kinds, and good varieties of either 
are of great value for garden decoration, owing to the 
quantity of flower-heads they produce and the brilliancy 
or attractiveness of the same. Any good garden soil 
will grow them to perfection, but to ensure their 
duration for the greatest length of time they should be 
mulched with manure or some moisture-holding material 
just before they come into bloom, because the plants 
are then most bulky, and require a considerable amount 
of moisture. In the cooler and more moist climate of 
the west or north mulching is less necessary. Propa¬ 
gation is easily effected by division of the plants in 
spring. 
Carnations, Picotees, and Pinks. 
The flower-stems of these are now pushing up rapidly, 
and it will be well to stake them immediately, to 
prevent disappointment by having them broken down 
by heavy storms of wind and rain, such as have been 
rather prevalent lately. By securing them at once, the 
loss of choice kinds will be avoided. Just at this 
season of the year, when vegetation everywhere is soft 
and tender, green-fly and other pests increase at an 
alarming rate, and means must be taken to check or 
destroy them in gardens. Carnations and others of 
that class will be kept comparatively free from the pest 
by frequent heavy syringing with clean water ; but 
should this fail, the plants may be sufficiently syringed 
just to wet them, and then dusted over with tobacco 
powder. 
Seed Sowing. 
The present is a favourable time to sow seeds of various 
subjects for next year’s flowering. The ground is now 
in suitable condition, so that those even who have no 
glass whatever may raise their own seeds. "Wallflowers 
sown now will bloom next spring. The dwarf yellow 
strains in cultivation are very choice, having large 
flowers of a rich golden hue. The brown varieties are 
generally taller, and may he preferred by some growers. 
Then there are what go by the name of double German 
"Wallflowers, also good in their way to those who like 
double flowers. Sweet Williams sown at present in a 
bed and transplanted in autumn will make plants of 
good size and flower magnificently next season. Fox¬ 
gloves of the spotted Gloxinia-like strain are literally 
neglected subjects in the gardens of this country, 
simply from the prejudiced idea that they are common. 
Had the Foxglove been an introduction instead of a 
native it would have received a greater amount of 
attention. Owing to the small size of the seeds there 
is always a danger of sowing them thickly, but this 
can be remedied by transplanting them in September, 
allowing plenty of room between each. If ground 
cannot be spared to plant them where they are intended 
to flower, they may simply be grown in a temporary 
bed to form good rosettes of leaves. Canterbury Bells 
(Campanula medium) may be treated much in the 
same way. The Chimney Bellflower (C. pyramidalis) 
takes rather longer time to grow, although like the 
Canterbury Bell it is strictly a biennial, and dies after 
flowering. If the seeds could be sown in a box and 
placed in a frame or under a hand-light it would bring 
them on much more quickly. They could afterwards 
be planted out or potted up if wanted for flowering 
next year under glass or in'the dwelling-house. Celsia 
cretica is a Mullein-like plant, with large yellow flowers, 
and being a biennial might be sown now. 
The Conservatory. 
The ordinary occupants of an amateur’s conservatory at 
this season consist in the majority of cases of Pelar¬ 
goniums, Fuchsias, with a few straggling specimens of 
Musk, Hydrangeas, and perhaps a Rose or two. All 
these are in themselves indispensable, but the effect 
would be greatly heightened by the addition of Lilium 
longiflorum, with its variety, L. 1. eximium, better 
known as Harrisi, together with Petunias, Heliotropes, 
Agapanthus umbellatus, and tuberous Begonias. The 
latter are admirably adapted for greenhouse culture, 
and some amateurs succeed wonderfully, even better 
sometimes than those having plenty of glass, who keep 
their plants too close and warm. After they have 
made a start in a warm place they develop to per¬ 
fection in a greenhouse, and could be grown entirely in 
the latter structure, merely coming into flower later 
in the season. Besides the above, a number of strictly 
hardy plants might be called into requisition, and not 
only be serviceable, but prove more interesting and 
attractive than hothouse plauts themselves. What 
could be more graceful than the long arching white 
sprays of Saxifraga (Cotyledon) pyramidalis ? The red- 
flowered Heuehera sanguinea is another member of the 
same family, and although it produces a smaller 
quantity of flowers, the latter are very graceful and 
showy against the dark green foliage. Campanula 
isophylla, C. i. alba, and several of the smaller species 
are also beautiful and useful for indoor work. 
-> 2 <- 
frARDENING 
ISCELLANY. 
--£•- 
A Sportive Pelargonium. 
Zonal Pelargoniums are not so much given to variation, 
by sporting into distinct colours, as are many of the 
varieties of Pelargonium cucullatum, from which the 
show, fancy, regal and decorative varieties have 
arisen. Amongst the zonals, Vesuvius is as prone or 
more so to variation than any other. Some years ago 
a variety was sent out under the name of New Life, 
but it never proved so constant nor so valuable a sort 
as its parent, from the fact that the white stripes on 
the petals—and which were the characteristic marks of 
the variety—were frequently altogether absent or 
partly so on vigorously grown plants. Now we seldom 
hear of it, and the probability is that it has been 
allowed to die out in most collections. The sportive 
character of Vesuvius still, however, remains, and will 
do so as long as this useful bedding variety continues 
to be grown. A truss has been sent us by Mr. D. 
MacKie, Montgomery, Tarbolton, N.B., showing two 
white flowers with a pink tint at the base, while the 
rest of the flowers were mostly of the ordinary scarlet 
type with a small white eye. Two others did indeed show 
a white blotch on one of the petals, but were not 
sufficient to mar the striking contrast between the 
white and the scarlet ones. There is also a pure white 
form of Vesuvius in cultivation. 
Hymenocallis ovata. 
The leaves of this dwarf-growing and neat species are 
about 1 ft. in length, and form an arching or vasiform 
rosette surrounding the erect flower-stem. They taper 
into a short broad petiole, and although not exactly 
ovate, are sufficiently near it to merit the appellation 
implied in the specific name. They are also strongly 
ribbed and very characteristic. The species may be 
compared with H. speciosa, than which it is much 
smaller, and requires much less room for its perfect 
development. The flowers are sessile, on the top of 
a scape about 18 ins. high, and range from six to ten. 
The perianth tube is about 2 ins. or 2^ ins. in length, 
from the apex of which the narrow, linear, white seg¬ 
ments radiate regularly on all sides. The staminal 
tube or corona is funnel-shaped and narrow compared 
with H. macrostephana or H. speciosa. There are 
some specimens of this neat species at Pendell Court, 
Bletchingley. 
Cyrtoceras multiflorum. 
Some half a dozen or more names have been given to 
this plant from time to time, and it would seem as if 
gardeners hardly know what to call it. Many of these 
names are uncommon, and the most reasonable plan to 
follow would be to call it Hoya coriacea or H. reflexa. 
The former has already been authorised, but the latter 
would be more suggestive of the characters of the plant. 
Cyrtoceras means curved horn, in reference to the 
curved lobes or horns of the corona. The segments of 
the corolla themselves are revolute at the margin and 
strongly reflexed, and the whole flower is white with 
the tips of the lobes deepening to a buff-yellow. The 
flowers are borne in large drooping umbels at the apex 
of the shoots, and are sufficiently attractive to merit 
more extended cultivation. Being a native of Borneo, 
it requires stove treatment. Growth is very slow, but 
flowers are produced regularly every year, and the 
stems being weak, they require a stake, although they 
do not climb like those of other species. It has been 
flowering at Pendell Court for some time. 
Rhododendron calophyllum. 
The flowers of this species are campanulate, and 
although considerably inferior in size to those of R. 
Aucklaudii and R. Nuttallii, they may yet be classed 
with those of the largest flowering kinds. They are 
pure white internally, and more or less tinged with 
red externally, especially in the bud state. The plant 
forms a strong-growing bush, about 5 ft. or 6 ft. in 
height, producing four or five of its huge flowers at the 
ends of the branches. The leaves are also of good 
size, leathery, deep glossy green above, and densely 
covered underneath with pale-coloured scales, which 
become of a rusty brown colour when fully matured. 
The stamens vary from eighteen to twenty, which is 
twice the number of the typical forms of the genus, 
such as R. ponticum and R. Catawbiense, which have 
only ten. A large plant has been flowering for some 
time at Pendell Court, Bletchingley, where it is grown 
in a cool house in a peat bed, along with a number of 
other Himalayan species. This one is a native of 
Bhotan. 
Eranthemum eboracensis. 
Few stove plants flower so incessantly as this species, 
and that not merely in a straggling sort of way, but 
abundantly at all seasons. It seems, however, to be 
very little known, although highly appreciated at 
Pendell Court, Bletchingley, for its free-flowering and 
dwarf habit. A few species of Eranthemum are regu¬ 
larly grown for the beauty of their foliage, and others 
because they flower in winter, when stove-flowering 
plants are highly appreciated. The flowers are com¬ 
paratively large, not only for the plant, but if compared 
with those of other species grown for winter flowering ; 
and they are pure white. The plant forms a neat and 
bushy shrub, about 12 ins. or 15 ins. in height, with 
slender, twiggy branches and small leaves. It likes a 
stove temperature, but calls for no special treatment, 
beyond what would be accorded to other and better 
known species. 
The Larch-leaved Sandwort. 
There are numerous species in this large genus that 
are of no value for garden purposes, while others are 
tolerated on the rockery on account of their carpet¬ 
like habit. Arenaria balearica is well known for 
the closeness with which it clings to damp stones, 
and a form of it with blunt petals, and known under 
the garden name of A. multicaulis, has the same 
characteristic habit. A. laricifolia, the species under 
notice, is greatly superior in point of size of flowers, 
and is greater in stature, being 6 ins. high. The flowers 
are pure white, and equal those of Cerastium arvense 
or C. tomentosum in size. From one to six of these 
are borne on each stem, and from the dense habit of 
the plant, they form a sheet of white regularly every 
year during the month of June. The plant is a long- 
lived one, sending down wiry or woody roots into the 
soil, while the barren stems are procumbent and so 
