694 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 29, 1889. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
A Snowy Bed oe Hardy Flowers. 
A wonderfully fine effect in the way of summer bedding 
can be obtained by the use of hardy plants alone. 
Those who have not tried the undermentioned, nor 
seen it, may make preparations for nest year, and rest 
assured that the results will not be disappointing. 
The simpler the arrangement the better. Canterbury 
Bells (Campanula medium) and one or two kinds of 
bedding Yiolas are all that are necessary to produce a 
very telling effect in the flower garden. The Cam¬ 
panula is a biennial, and if seeds have not already been 
sown they should be immediately, either in a frame 
or in the open ground, preferably the former. As soon 
as the seedlings have attained some size they should be 
planted out in moderately good soil in a reserved por¬ 
tion of the garden. During late autumn or winter 
they may be planted in beds where they are intended 
to bloom. Alternating with them some free-flowering 
Yiolas should be planted, and no better can be used 
than Countess of Kintore, which is of a beautiful 
mauve and white on the upper petals, and has a very 
enlivening effect as a groundwork to the Canterbury 
Bells. Countess of Hopetoun, a white variety, may be 
planted as an edging round the margin of the bed. 
The Common Hydrangea. 
Ho doubt many an amateur casts an envious eye at the 
small plants bearing a single huge head of bloom as 
grown by the market gardeners. Amateurs by a little 
careful attention would soon learn to grow them as well 
for themselves. Strong cuttings taken now and rooted 
can be grown into nice plants in 48-size pots, and be 
had in full bloom in the early part of summer. Those 
having large old plants should select those shoots that 
have not flowered this year. The strongest only should 
be taken, as they produce the finest heads. As soon 
as rooted they may be placed singly in 60-size pots, 
and kept growing by close attention to watering. A 
rich compost should be used, as the Hydrangea is a gross 
feeder. Before these pots get too crowded with roots 
the plants may be put in 48-size pots (5| ins.), and in 
these they may be flowered. Give weak doses of liquid 
manure about twice a week, and ventilate freely. The 
size and rich colour of the foliage, together with the 
size and plumpness of the terminal bud, will give an 
indication of what the plants will do next year. 
Basket Plants for Cool Greenhouses. 
The Indian Strawberry (Fragaria indica) is an old in¬ 
habitant of British gardens, but for some reason or 
other it enjoys but a very intermittent share of at¬ 
tention. It grows very freely, and fruits equally well. 
Botanically it is most interesting on account of its seed¬ 
like fruits being covered with a thin pulp in the 
manner of a Raspberry. The receptacle is fleshy, as 
that of a Strawberry should be: and it likewise 
produces long trailing runners, each bearing a yellow 
flower, and in this respect is comparable to Potentilla 
reptans or P. anserina, which also flowers on the 
rosettes of young plants developed at the nodes of the 
runners. If grown in a basket and suspended from 
the roof of a greenhouse, the long runners bearing their 
bright red fruits hang down in a very charming way. 
The fruits, although they have a very tempting 
appearance, are by no means palatable, so that the 
plant is not liable to be despoiled of its ornamental 
effect in private establishments. The only danger is 
when there are many fresh visitors who wish to taste 
the bright red, but uncommon fruit. 
Snowdrop Wind-flower. 
Amongst the summer-flowering species of Anemone, 
few if any of them have such large and chastely white 
flowers as A. sylvestris. It is perfectly hardy, easily 
cultivated, and when once planted can easily take care 
of itself. Like A. japonica, which comes into flower 
later on, it has the habit of throwing up suckers at 
some distance from the mother plant, and by this it 
can easily be multiplied if necessary. For a like reason 
it may be planted at the sides of walks in woods, or 
where there is plenty of space in the front of shrub¬ 
beries, where it can be allowed to form a large patch 
unmolested. 
Tomatos. 
In fairly good summers in the southern counties, those 
having a frame or greenhouse in which to raise seed¬ 
lings will have no difficulty in raising them. The next 
best requisite is a wall, fence or bank, against which 
to plant the Tomatos. Even where these requisites are 
wanting, a piece of sheltered ground in a fully exposed 
place will favour the ripening of a good supply of fruit 
in tolerably warm summers. What most calls for 
attention at present is the tying up of the main stem 
and the pruning away of all side shoots. "Whether 
under glass or out of doors the plants produce the best 
fruits and the largest quantity if confined to a single 
stem. The whole energies of the plant are then 
restricted to the setting of the bloom and the perfecting 
of the fruits resulting from them. When planted in 
the soil, either out of doors or in greenhouses, very 
little water is required at the roots, and indoors the 
atmosphere should be kept in a strictly dry condition. 
-->X<-- 
Hardening Miscellany. 
Double Tuberous Begonias. 
A boxful of blooms of double-flowered tuberous 
Begonias has been received from Mr. E. Cavill, The 
Gardens, Pamflete, near Ivy Bridge, South Devon. 
The box was very much crushed in passing through 
the post, so that the blooms did not reach us in so 
fresh a state as we could have wished, but enough 
remained to show their general character. All 
were fully double and varied greatly in size, but we 
prefer those of medium size, because they are less 
lumpy, and being lighter they can be carried in a more 
erect position by the plant, and are less liable to be 
broken off. Three of the smallest we consider worthy 
of preservation and improvement, from the novelty or 
pleasing colour of their blooms. Ho. 4 was a pure 
white of medium size, and the petals not too crowded ; 
Ho. 7 was pale yellow, and tinted with salmon ; a very 
sweet little flower was Ho. 16, with pale scarlet petals 
and a pink centre. A globular and rather lumpy 
flower was Ho. 3, with very numerous narrow sepals, 
but we very much liked their light orange-scarlet 
colour. The numerous rosettes of Ho. 9 were of a 
charming rosy pink, with pale nearly white centres. 
It is certainly worth growing, if the habit of the plant 
is good. Ho. 8 was rather larger, consisting of 
numerous light orange-scarlet rosettes, more or less 
tinted with pink, and having pinkish white centres. 
The petals were somewhat undulated, and we are 
rather partial to it, although the choicest flowers now 
being produced consist of one, or at most but a few 
rosettes. A deep rich scarlet variety, numbered 14, 
with few rosettes of broad rounded petals, promises 
to be a good thing if seen in a fresh condition. A good 
flower of the double Pelargonium type was Ho. 10, with 
large bright scarlet flowers. Hos. 1, 13, and 15 are 
too dense and lumpy, and 17 showed its yellow stamens 
in the centre of each rosette. Ho. 18 was too small, 
and Hos. 6 and 12 were altogether too big ; the same 
might be said of Hos. 5 and 11, which are very interesting 
teratologically, owing to the extreme development and 
prolification of the flowers, the rosettes of which had 
very long pedicels. 
The Earliest and Best Strawberries at 
Birdhill. 
"With Mr. Crehan, one of our local gardeners, I paid a 
visit here yesterday to see the fine collection of Straw¬ 
berries George Gough, Esq., the worthy proprietor, has 
got together. There are many things well done here, 
but Orchids and Strawberries are specialties, generally 
reflecting credit on the head gardener, Mr. Thomas 
Bulfin. We went through the long lines of each 
variety, which have, as a rule, large healthy foliage, 
and are mulched with straw litter to keep the fruit 
clean—Mr. Crehan has his mulched with spent hops— 
and found of a score varieties, including Laxton’s Hoble, 
King of the Earlies, Sir Joseph Paxton, The Captain, 
Yiscomtesse Hericart de Thury, James Yeitch, President, 
Dr. Hogg, Pioneer, Sir C. Hapier, British Queen, &c., 
the ripening, productiveness and, with one exception, 
the flavour was in the order named. Hoble is the 
favourite here, and Mr. Gough means next year to give 
it more space, and has commenced to take runners.— 
TV. J. Murphy, Clonmel, June 25th. 
The Guava. 
There is a large plant or tree of the Guava (Psidium 
Guava) at Pendell Court, Bletchingley, the English 
residence of Sir George Macleay, where it has fruited 
annually for many years. For five years past it has 
been under the care of Mr. F. Ross, and is now well set 
with clusters of young fruit. P. pomiferum, men¬ 
tioned by “R. D.” atp. 679, is synonymous with this 
species, and P. pyriferum, the Pear-shaped fruited one, 
is considered by botanists merely as a form of P. 
Guava. The latter is a small tree, bearing its flowers 
and Pear-shaped fruits singly, thus differing from 
P. Guava, which has clustered globose fruits. The 
tree is grown on the back wall of a vinery, and occupies 
a considerable area, reaching to the top of the walk 
It bears most freely on the upper branches—a fact 
which may easily be accounted for, as the branches are 
most favourably situated there with regard to light 
and getting well ripened, are better able to bear fruit 
than those at a distance from the glass, and heavily 
shaded by the Yines. The Guavas are members of the 
Myrtle family, and the fruits of several other genera 
are also edible, including those of some species of 
Eugenia and Myrtus, the fruits of which differ widely 
in size and appearance.— F. 
Jatropha multiflda. 
Yery few out of the seventy known species of this 
genus of the Euphorbia family are ever seen under cul¬ 
tivation in this country. Many of them are to be 
regarded as objects of curiosity than otherwise, with 
stems of a sub-succulent nature, although the flowers 
of others are bright and showy. In the present 
instance they are no great size individually, but are 
produced on extra axillary umbels, and are scarlet, 
with yellow anthers. The plant might be valued as an 
ornamental-leaved subject, independently of its flowers. 
The leaves are large, nearly orbicular, and palmately 
divided to the base into nine or eleven wedge-shaped 
segments, that are again deeply pinnatifid and cut in 
the manner of some Aralias, but they are less leathery— 
in fact, quite membraneous and soft. It is, perhaps, 
as often seen as any of them in cultivation, and we 
recently noticed it in flower in the large stove or warm 
conservatory at Pendell Court, Bletchingley. 
Inula glandulosa. 
The lower stem-leaves of this handsome species aie 
ovate-lanceolate, and more or less stalked, while the 
upper ones are stalkless, and all are hairy and ciliated 
with glands at the margins, as are the floral bracts, 
and this peculiarity has given rise to the specific name. 
The flower heads are produced singly at the apex of the 
stem, and are of a rich orange-yellow, with very 
numerous long rays drooping at the tips. A Botanical 
Certificate was awarded to Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale Farm 
Hurseries, Tottenham, for some specimens of it, which 
he exhibited at the Regent’s Park second summer show. 
Acer Gordoni. 
Humerous specimens of this Japan Maple were shown 
by Mr. Y T m. Gordon, Twickenham, at the second 
summer show of the Royal Botanic Society, when a 
Botanical Certificate was awarded. The leaves are 
nearly orbicular, broadest above their middle, and 
divided nearly to the base into nine or eleven finger¬ 
like segments, which are oblanceolate, lobed, and 
serrated above their middle, and quite entire below 
that. They have red petioles, and reddish brown 
margins, but otherwise are pale green. 
Lilium Martagon album. 
The flowers of this chaste variety of the Martagon Lily 
are pure white, with the exception of a greenish tint in 
the centre, at least, when newly expanded. The ovary 
is also green, and the anthers are yellow. They are 
drooping, with revolute segments, and are borne in a 
long terminal raceme. The lance-shaped foliage is 
borne in whorls of six to nine leaves each, along the 
stem. Specimens were shown at Regent’s Park on 
June 19th, both by Messrs. Barr & Son, Covent 
Garden, and by Mr. T. S. Ware, when a Floricultural 
Certificate was awarded. It was also exhibited by 
Messrs. Barr & Son, at the Drill Hall, on Tuesday last, 
when the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society awarded it a First Class Certificate. 
Streptosolen (Browallia) Jamesoni. 
This is one of the many neglected plants Mr. Henry 
Cannell has been instrumental in rescuing from 
oblivion and replacing in plant houses. It was hitherto 
put among the Browallias, but it is now known as 
Streptosolen. It is Jameson’s Browallia of plant lists, 
and was introduced from Hew Grenada in 1850. I 
recently saw a specimen of it in Messrs. Saltmarsh & 
Son’s nurseries at Chelmsford ; it forms a bush 3 ft. or 
more in height, it branches freely, and each branch 
bears a dense cluster of flowers, which open with a pale 
colour and change to a cinnamon-red. Its capacity to 
bloom appears to be unlimited. "When grown in pots it 
develops rapidly and vigorously, and forms a compact 
specimen if it is stopped from time to time during the 
growing season. It is included among our cool green¬ 
house plants, and is well worthy of cultivation as a 
summer-flowering decorative plant. — It. D. 
