August 24, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
817 
iron, and are very light and strong. The early vinery 
and Peach houses had their lights off, and the wood 
was observed to be in a very promising condition for 
next year. In the late vineries were heavy crops, and 
the Pine and Melon pits contained fine healthy fruits. 
The Orchids were in excellent health, the Calanthes 
and Phaius especially looking very promising. The 
Nepenthes were pitchering very freely, and the Croton 
house contained some very nice healthy and well- 
coloured plants. A fine plant of Cycas revoluta was 
noticed as having thrown up two tiers of fronds after 
flowering two years ago. In the large conservatory the 
Camellias were the picture of health, with an abundance 
of buds. In the Ferneries were some fine Adiantums 
for cutting, and the Aralia houses contained some fine 
red and white Lapagerias in bloom, planted out against 
the back wall. On the Peach wall the fine trees bore a 
fair average crop. After a look round the kitchen 
garden, the party returned to Windsor and partook of 
refreshments (Mr. J. Cannon occupying the chair, and 
the hon. sec., Mr. Chadwick, the vice-chair), after 
which a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. 
Jones for his kindness, and the party returned to 
Ealing, all well pleased with the outing. 
-- 
FLOWERING PLANTS IN 
SEASON. 
Perhaps at no period of the year can such a wealth of 
floral beauty be seen as at present, and both indoors 
and out there is ample diversity of colour, form, or 
effect to gratify the eye and please the most fastidious 
taste. Up to the present time the season has been very 
favourable for continuous flowering. The bright summer 
weather we had a few weeks ago produced grand 
results, and the beautiful rain coming after gave 
renewed life to vegetation of all kinds. It is, however, 
to indoor subjects that these remarks apply, and those 
named will comprise only a few of the many now in 
bloom, but which recommend themselves by being so 
universally popular, and therefore well tried in every 
respect. 
In the stove a foremost place must be given to 
Allamanda Hendersoni, with its gorgeous yellow 
flowers, produced so profusely, and next comes Stepha- 
notis floribunda, the blooms of which are pure white, 
borne in clusters, and so sweetly scented. Being 
climbers, a position on the roof is often given them, 
but failing this, trained on wire trellises in pots will 
allow of their being seen to full advantage. Eucharis 
amazonica is always welcome, as also are the scarlet 
spathes of Anthurium Scherzerianum, which are very 
effective and lasting. For making a show, Gloxinias 
deserve more than a word of passing recognition. The 
strides made in the improvement of this plant in recent 
years have resulted in some valuable additions being 
made to the lists. The erect-flowered ones are quite an 
acquisition, enabling their full beauty to be seen to 
better advantage than is the case with the drooping- 
flowered strain. The colours are very diverse, almost 
all shades being represented, and on this account are 
very useful for decoration or as cut flowers. Bougain¬ 
villea glabra, with its rose-coloured flowers, can be 
grown in an intermediate house, and is always useful, 
the profuseness of its blooming enabling one to use 
the knife about it freely, and often come again. 
In the greenhouse and conservatory there is an 
abundance of flowers on every hand, and when carefully 
arranged, a grand display is the result. Zonal Pelar¬ 
goniums give great variety, and among them may be 
mentioned as doubles, Wonderful, Guillon Mangelli, 
magenta; MadameThibaut,brightrose; Candidissimum 
plenum, F. V. Raspail, vermilion : and as singles :— 
Henry Jacoby, one of the best, trusses of good size, of 
deep colour, and free ; Celia, rich crimson ; Niphetos, 
white ; Imogen, salmon ; Lucy Bosworth, rosy pink ; 
all these are worth cultivating. Fuchsias, with so 
many varieties, and the brilliant tuberous section of 
Begonias are now in full beauty, and the autumn¬ 
flowering Begonia, B. Weltoniensis, is equally service¬ 
able and pretty. Crassula (Kalosanthes) coccinea is 
unique, and lasts a considerable time when cut. 
Celosia pyramidalis with its two varieties deserve 
notice, their tall plumes rising amid a mass of flowers 
are very striking. Agapanthus umbellatus with bright 
blue flowers, many of which are produced on a scape, 
are exceedingly pretty and useful, the colour relieving 
the brilliancy of other subjects. As a creeper for the 
conservatory, Trachelospermum j isminioides, with its 
pure white beautifully scented flowers produced in 
little clusters, is quite a desideratum ; it flowers freely, 
and requires a minimum of attention. Early Chrysan- 
thomums, represented by Madame Desgranges, will soon 
be in full bloom, and from now throughout the dull 
months to come, we shall have them in our midst. All 
the foregoing will remain in beauty for some time to 
come, and when interspersed with such plants as 
Coprosma Baueriana variegata, Coleus, and Ferns like 
Lomaria Gibba, Pteris serrulata, Blechnum Brasiliense 
and its variety Corcovadense crispum, with waxy and 
crispy edges, are seen to better effect, and of course 
are rendered more artistic. — F. It. S. 
-- 
PHLOXES. 
The hardy perennial hybrid Phloxes of garden origin 
are again to the front, and remind us how beautiful 
they are, how profuse in flowering, and yet withal so 
comparatively neglected. Some years ago they were 
grown to great perfection, and exhibited in pots. 
Now, however, they are cultivated in beds, or merely 
stuck into ordinary herbaceous borders amongst a host 
of other subjects, where they receive none of the special 
cultural treatment which is necessary to obtain the 
finest results. We refer specially to what used to be 
known in gardens as autumn Phloxes in contradistinc¬ 
tion to summer Phloxes (hybrids of P. glaberrima suf- 
fruticosa). The autumn kinds have been obtained by 
hybridising P. paniculata and its variety P. p. acumi¬ 
nata with P. maculata, known under a variety of 
synonyms, such as P. decussata, P. longiflora, P. 
suaveolens, &c. The forms have been so intercrossed 
with one another that it is difficult to refer the garden 
varieties to their respective types. A great number of 
them are infinitely beautiful, and exhibit a great 
variety of colouring, producing an enormous quantity 
The Perennial Phlox. 
of flowers for cutting purposes. The colours are finely 
brought out and the effect is handsome when these plants 
are flowered under glass. Out of doors the soil should 
be rich and free, well tilled, and manured. Phloxes 
are surface-feeding subjects, and to get the best results 
a good mulching should be given them, in order to 
preserve the moisture about them in summer, especially 
in the more southern and drier counties. Our illus¬ 
tration will give a general idea of the appearance of this 
class of Phloxes to those who have not yet attempted 
their cultivation. 
-- 
THE MAIDENHAIR TREE 
(GINKGO BILOBA). 
A prolonged visit to the very worst smoke-infested 
slums of London has now quite convinced me that the 
Maidenhair or Ginkgo Tree is one of the most valuable 
that can be planted in the impure atmosphere of a town 
garden. Few trees, I am fully aware, can compare 
with the one in question for withstanding the dele¬ 
terious effects produced on vegetation generally by 
coming in too close contact with the impurities of our 
great centres of industry. The ample delicate green 
foliage betrays—even late in the season, and when 
about to be cast off—little evidence of the fierce struggle 
that must almost incessantly go on between vegetation 
and the smoke and filth of our towns and cities. That 
the thick leathery leaves and strong constitution of the 
tree play an important part in keeping it free from 
disease is clearly evident, while the fact of the leaves 
being renewed annually must go a long way towards 
casting off the sooty nodules which work such havoc 
on the tender foliage of most trees. 
At no less than five places in and around the great 
metropolis—and such places, too, where one is almost 
stifled with the fumes from chimneys, and pastry¬ 
cook shops—the Maidenhair Tree may to-day be seen 
almost in as fresh and flourishing a condition as those 
enviable specimens on the Isle of Man ; indeed, about 
as large trunks as can be pointed out anywhere may be 
seen in smoky Chelsea, and the little less agreeable 
parts of the Victoria district. Another grows where 
the daily smoke and filth would kill an ordinary rustic 
gardener in a fourth of the time that it has taken to 
build up the majestic trunk, about 2 ft. in girth, of 
that handsome Ginkgo tree. 
But why, we may well ask, is the Maidenhair so 
neglected a town tree 1 This is readily answered. It 
is not well known, therefore not often asked for, and 
consequently but little propagated by the trade. That 
it is of the easiest culture, succeeding well in any fairly 
good soil if not too damp, readily enough propagated by 
layering, and a most desirable subject for the town or 
country garden, few who have had even a limited ex¬ 
perience of the tree will care to deny. Not only as a 
standard tree is the Maidenhair valuable, but it is also 
one of the prettiest wall plants with which I am 
acquainted, and how many bare ugly erections of brick 
and stone in our city streets want a bit of greenery I 
would not like to say.— A. D. Webster. 
- »*<- - 
THE FLORAL COMMITTEE OF 
THE R. H. S. AS INTERPRETERS. 
The Floral Committee of the Royal Horticultural 
Society were tempted to perform in a new character at 
their meeting on the 13th inst., namely, that of inter¬ 
preters of schedules of prizes. I do not think they are 
likely to shine in this capacity, but if they choose to 
try they must hazard the chance of success or failure. 
The secretary of the Devon and Exeter Horticultural 
Association wrote to the secretary of the R. H. S., 
asking if the society thought that in a class of “ forty- 
eight Dahlias, doubles, distinct,” Cactus and Pompon 
varieties could be shown. The Council, though quite 
competent to revise the work of the Floral Committee, 
did not apparently regard themselves as competent to 
deal with such a knotty point as this, and referred it 
to the Floral Committee ; and it is worthy of note that 
the selfsame query was submitted to the editor of the 
Gardeners' Chronicle, and possibly to other papers. 
"VVe have, then, the singular spectacle of a committee 
that had drawn up a schedule of prizes being unable 
to satisfactorily interpret their own conditions. No 
one can look over the schedule of prizes without coming 
to the conclusion that what was in the minds of the 
framers of the class was, that forty-eight blooms of 
show Dahlias were required, and that the class, being 
open to all, is intended to induce the large growers of 
exhibition Dahlias—like Turner, Keynes, and others— 
to compete ; and the term double is used in the same 
sense as show. On turning to class 30, I find the 
same phrase used: “ Twenty-four Dahlias, double, 
distinct” ; and then follow classes for Cactus and Pom¬ 
pon Dahlias. Reasoning, therefore, from analogy, I 
should say that what is meant by double Dahlias is the 
large-flowered show class. 
What I protest against is the Floral Committee 
setting itself up as an interpreter of schedules of prizes. 
They had not in this case either the schedule of prizes 
or the regulations of the society to refer to. The letter 
was read, and some members of the committee thought 
it a great privilege to have a matter of this kind sub¬ 
mitted to them—it tickled their vanity. They said, 
‘ ‘ This Exeter Society is paying us a great complimen t by 
remitting the matter to us. Yes, Cactus and Pompon 
Dahlias can be shown ”—and so the matter was settled 
with a kind of rush, without time being afforded for 
consideration and reflection. 
In a great many schedules of prizes there is a regula¬ 
tion to the effect that in case of any question arising 
as to the conditions under which exhibits can be 
shown, the interpretation shall rest with the judges. 
The judges are the proper authority to have the inter¬ 
pretation of what can be rightly termed a double 
Dahlia in this particular instance, and not a hybrid 
and foreign body like the Floral Committee of the 
Royal Horticultural Society. Had I been called upon 
to act as one of the judges at the Exeter show, I should 
have flatly declined to be bound by any conclusion 
arrived at by a number of irresponsible persons in 
London ; and it is obvious that no Dahlia grower would 
be foolish enough to peril his chances of a prize by 
putting up blooms of Cactus and Pompon Dahlias with 
his large show flowers. Were prizes offered for a 
collection of Dahlias the thing would bear a different 
aspect. The case is one in which the interpreters of 
the schedule should endeavour to get at the intentions 
