770 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 3, 1889. 
done high credit to adult cottagers, and no small 
amount of care in such odd and considerable competi¬ 
tion was needed to ensure that the best exhibits won. 
As under the conditions enforced upon the members 
everyone has to start afresh with his seeds and rooted 
cuttings in the spring, the plants of the previous year 
are of no avail, and in no way can be made to assist 
the competition, as every care is taken to ensure that 
only the plants grown from those given out are shown. 
We found Petunias, Pelargoniums, Musks, Fuchsias, 
Lobelias, Calceolarias, and Isolepis gracilis to produce 
the best specimens, and from seeds Collinsia bicolor, 
Candytufts, Linum, K'nodanthe, Mignonette, Nemo- 
phila, Stocks, and dwarf Nasturtiums to give the best 
effects in annuals. A strong hope has been expressed 
that a farther, or an adult section, may be added to 
the society next year : should that be the case, the 
plants shown so well by the children this year would 
make capital material for parents’ specimens in future 
years. The addition of vegetables and fruit would also 
greatly help to lend interest to the show. 
With the industrial section we had nothing to do, 
but that also was exceedingly interesting. A com¬ 
petition of quaint interest, however, was one for boys 
anxious to learn the art of digging. Portions of 
ground, in a rather rough spot, were set out 4 ft. 
wide and 12 ft. in length. These plots the several 
competitors were to dig ; they were to be timed at their 
labour, and quickness regarded as points in their favour. 
We found several plots apparently well dug. The soil 
was gauged by means of a stick, and also the depth at 
which the weeds on the surface had been buried. The 
prize plots, each dug 1 ft. deep, were turned out in a 
way which would have done credit to old hands—the 
weeds well buried and the surface even. This formed 
technical teaching of a very practical kind, and it 
were indeed to be wished that every elementary school 
in the rural districts could have attached to it a quarter 
of an acre of ground, which might be thus devoted to 
practically training boys in the art of gardening, as 
girls are already taught needlework, knitting, &c. 
The Egham Society is in excellent hands. It has 
very admirable aims. It endeavours, in the member¬ 
ship of children, to cultivate virgin soil, rather than to 
operate upon weedy or effete soils, and, without doubt, 
if the work be persevered with, the product presently 
will be one of great good.-— A. Dean. 
-- 
ANNUALS SUITABLE FOR 
LONDON GARDENS.—II. 
Composites. 
These constitute the largest order of flowering plants, 
many of which are weedy, while on the other hand 
several of them are among the most popular of garden 
plants. All the varieties of Chrysanthemum carinatum 
and C. coronarium flower freely in town gardens. 
Similar to those of a Chrysanthemum are the flower 
heads of Laya glandulosa, with broad, closely arranged 
white rays, with a yellow disc. Early and free- 
flowering dwarf annuals are Kaulfussia amelloides 
atroviolacea, with deep blue, and K. a. kermesina, 
with pale or deep purple flowers. An unnamed species 
of Crepis, with fimbriated soft yellow rays and velvety 
brown disc is very pretty. Very floriferous is 
Hymenoxys californica, a dwarf annual, about 6 ins. 
in height, and covered with bright yellow flower-heads. 
Coreopsis aoronata is an annual species, with entire or 
slightly divided leaves, something in the way of 
Coreopis Drummondi, and having bright yellow 
heads, with a velvety crimson zone encircling the 
central portion. 
Amongst the Centaureas, the Corn Blue Bottle 
(C. Cyanus) finds acceptance with all lovers of hardy 
flowers by reason of the utility of the blooms for 
cutting. The \ ellow Sultan (Centaurea suaveolens) 
has recently been wrested from comparative oblivion, 
and now finds acceptance with a large number of the 
general public. The fringed florets, and their soft 
clear yellow colour, give the whole a refined appearance. 
The common Marigold (Calendula officinalis) flowers 
almost perpetually, and some very fine strains are now 
in cultivation. The heads of C. o. aurea are apricot, 
those of C. o. superba orange, and Meteor has lemon- 
coloured florets margined with an orange stripe. 
Dobbie’s Selected is a darker variety of the latter, with 
much broader orange margins. Dimorphotheca pluvi- 
alis is a less common plant, often grown under the 
name of Calendula, and is a showy annual, but requires 
sunshine to keep the flowers open. The inner or upper 
surface of the rays is white, with a violet or blue spot 
at the base of each, and the outer surface is heavily 
stained with the latter colour. A variety having the 
outer surface of the rays sulphur-yellow is pure white 
internally. A double form is also grown at Chiswick. 
Ten-week Stocks. 
A large square of ground is planted with many different 
strains of Ten-week Stocks, which are mostly or all 
sown in mixture. Several kinds were deemed worthy 
of the usual award at the last meeting of the Floral 
Committee on the 18th inst. The Dwarf German are a 
free-flowering lot, about 10 ins. or 12 ins. high, of bushy 
branching habit. About fifty or sixty per cent, are 
double. The double large-flowering is of more robust 
habit, with larger flowers. There is a good admixture 
of colours in both kinds. There were two lots of the 
large-flowering Wallflower-leaved sort, and the car¬ 
nation, blush, white, red, violet-purple, crimson, 
purple, and sometimes striped double flowers contrast 
prettily with the deep shining green of the leaves. 
The foliage of the Wallflower-leaved kinds is glabrous— 
that is, without the felt of hairs which gives the leaves 
of all the other kinds a hoary appearance. The strain 
is therefore very distinct and pretty. Another fine 
kind is the large-flowering Pyramidal Miniature, a 
dwarf race, in which the terminal spike is large and 
well developed. The whole plant does not exceed 
6 ins. or 8 ins., and a large proportion is double, having 
blue, purple, rose, pink, blush, deep purple, and mauve 
flowers, the latter occurring pretty frequently. The 
Victoria Bouquet are a beautiful pyramidally-branching 
lot of plants, with crimson-red flowers, of which a large 
proportion are double, and their stems do not much 
exceed 10 ins. in height. 
-- 
SHOWY SPECIES OF CORE¬ 
OPSIS. 
A varying number of these are grown in gardens, and 
the majority of them are graceful and highly-ornamental 
plants. The genus is a large one, and widely scattered 
throughout both hemispheres in tropical and temperate 
countries. As a matter of course, all those grown in 
British gardens are natives of the more temperate parts 
of North America, and it may be noted that on the 
whole they are much more showy than those from 
warmer countries, many of which are weedy and coarse. 
Several of the annual species have been and still are 
grown in gardens under the name of Calliopsis, but 
botanically there are not sufficient characters to 
separate them. 
One of the most widely-distributed species in gardens 
is C. tinctoria, an annual growing to the height of 2 ft. 
or 3 ft., according to the soil and the nature of the 
season. There is, however, a dwarf form, C. t. nana, 
which is much more suitable for bedding purposes. 
The leaves are deeply and pinnately divided into linear 
segments, and the stems branch freely, producing a 
great quantity of showy medium-sized flowers. The 
rays are usually bright yellow, with a large deep 
maroon blotch at the base of each ; but there are 
varieties in which the dark colouring extends half way 
along the ray. Coreopsis bicolor is a synonym of the 
species, and is frequently applied in gardens to the 
variety having the rays equally divided by the two 
colours. 
Another pretty common species is C. coronata, the 
rays of which have a transverse brown blotch below the 
middle, and the blotches of different rays unite in 
forming a wavy crown or ring surrounding a much 
darker yellow zone encircling the disc. The leaves are 
broai, spathulate, and entire or three-parted, with the 
terminal segment largest. It is an annual, flowering 
from June or July until cut off by frost. Similar in 
many respects to this is C. Drummondi, a very choice 
annual, with light green leaves, cut in a pinnate manner 
with broad, ovate, or lanceolate lobes. It is a dwarf, 
spreading species, generally about 1 ft. high, but in 
rich soil half as high again, when the leaves become 
twice divided. The flower-heads are large and bright 
yellow, with a zone of rich brownish crimson round the 
central disc. It merits extensive cultivation. 
C. rosea, although introduced, is by no means 
common in cultivation. The stems are about 1 ft. in 
height, and furnished with linear entire leaves, the 
lower of which are generally three-toothed or lobed. 
The flower-heads are of a deep rose, and sufficiently 
large to recommend the plant to the notice of culti¬ 
vators. It is a native of the United States, flowers 
here in summer, and certainly exhibits a very unusual 
colour for the genus, the species of which have yellow 
flowers, or zoned with brownish crimson in the manner 
above described. 
0. aristosa is an annual species that was introduced 
in 1869 from the United States, but is as yet by no 
means a common plant. The flower-heads are orange- 
yellow, large, and freely produced in a terminal 
panicle. Unlike the above-mentioned species, the 
broad rays are narrowed to an undivided point. The 
stems are much branched, bearing deeply and pinnately 
divided leaves with serrated segments. A biennial 
species, with large golden yellow rays and a dull yellow 
disc, and that may be compared to C. aristosa for 
size is C. aurea. This is also a native of the United 
States, but the rays are narrower, more numerous, 
sometimes toothed, and are darker coloured at the 
base, forming a zone round the disc. 
Much more slender in all its parts is C. Cardaminae- 
folia, varying in height from 6 ins. to 2 ft. The 
flower-heads are yellow, with a brownish-purple blotch 
at the base of each ray. The lower leaves are once 
divided, with broad segments resembling those of a 
Cardamine ; hence the origin of the specific name. 
Those on the middle of the stem of strong-grown plants 
are bipinnately divided ; while the uppermost ones are 
linear and entire, or but little divided. It also comes 
from the United States, and is an elegant moderately 
strong-growing species. 
C. verticillata is a graceful and slender-stemmed 
perennial growing to the height of 1 ft. or 2 ft.; but 
although introduced from the United States in 1780 it 
is seldom seen in cultivation. The leaves are whorled 
and deeply divided into slender linear segments. The 
flower-heads are large, of a deep golden yellow, and 
borne singly but in great profusion at the top of tho 
much-branched stems. They are produced in succession 
during the summer months. It is also known under 
the name of C. tenuifolia, the application of which is 
very obvious in reference to the slender divisions of the 
foliage. 
Another choice perennial is C. grandiflora, an 
extremely variable species widely distributed in the 
United States, and cultivated more or less intermittently 
in British gardens since 1826. The stems vary from 
If ft. to 4 ft. in height, according to the conditions 
under which the plants have been grown, and the 
foliage is equally variable in the size of the individual 
leaves and their divisions. They are opposite, usually 
glabrous, but occasionally distinctly hairy, and always 
furnished with a fringe of hairs at the edges of their 
short petioles. The flowers, as the name implies, are 
of great size, with golden yellow rays that are more or 
less deeply three to five-toothed. Like other hardy 
and choice species it comes from the United States. 
It flowers during July and August. 
Of the perennial species none are better known nor 
more appreciated than C. laneeolata, which comes into 
bloom during July, and keeps on for many weeks, 
making itself a most conspicuous object in the herba¬ 
ceous border, when bright and attractive flowers of 
that nature become scarce owing to the drought. The 
stems vary from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in height, and branch 
towards the top, bearing the blooms usually singly on 
the top of long peduncles, so that for cut-flower pur¬ 
poses the species is exceedingly suitable and useful. 
The rays are very long, bright yellow, four-toothed at 
the end, and the whole head measures from 2 ins. to 
3 ins. in diameter. No collection of herbaceous plants 
should be without it. Being a native of various parts 
of North America, it proves quite hardy in all or most 
parts of this country. 
-->X<-- 
VERONICA INCANA. 
Several of the Veronicas, particularly the herbaceous 
species, are very liable to variation, so that many of 
the more distinct forms have been described as distinct 
species. The typical V. incana is a dwarf plant, with 
hoary stems and foliage and blue flowers. A tall and 
less hoary plant, varying from 18 ins. to 2 ft. in height, 
is often grown under the name of V. neglecta, while a 
dwarfer and almost white form is used for carpet 
bedding purposes under the name of V. Candida ; and 
it seems that the more densely felted and whiter forms 
are dwarfer, and are more adapted to live under dry 
conditions. For instance, the plant used for carpet 
bedding purposes seemed to enjoy the dry summer of 
1887 as much as any of the succulents. Independently 
of this, any of the forms are adapted for culture in 
the rock garden or in the herbaceous border proper. 
They are neater in growth at all times than V. longi- 
folia or V. teucrium and its forms, because the flowering 
stems are neat and erect, while the barren shoots, 
although decumbent at the base, never spread very 
rapidly. Good seeds, however, are produced in great 
abun lance, and the different forms can be rapidly 
increased in this way. 
