March 23, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
405 
well satisfied that on January 19th I put in a good 
stock of both the white and purple varieties. These 
were placed at once in the light—otherwise they have 
been treated precisely as the first lot—and they are to¬ 
day (February 2nd) in splendid shape, many of the 
clusters now being 6 ins. long. None of the branches 
are less than 1J ins. in diameter, and I notice that the 
larger the stems the better are the results.” 
Antliurium Scherzerianum Williamsii.—Collections 
of Anthurium should always include this very dis. 
tinct garden form of A. Scherzerianum, popularly 
known as the Flamingo Plant, in allusion to th e 
brilliant red colour of that bird. The foliage of the 
variety under notice is the same as in the type, but the 
spathe opens of a soft canary-yellow, and graduall-j 
changes to a pure ivory-white. The spadix, moreover, 
retains its yellow colour, so that the contrast between 
it and the type is well marked. It is now flowering in 
the Victoria and Paradise Nurseries, Upper Holloway. 
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SPRING FLOWERS. 
Lenten Roses. 
The weather during the latter part of February and the 
beginning of March was anything but propitious to the 
proper flowering of this beautiful class of plants, but 
they do not appear to have been much retarded. A 
mild spring would, however, have favoured a better 
development of the flowers. On examining Messrs. 
Barr & Son’s collection at Lower Tooting the other 
day, we are still inclined to consider Helleborus col- 
& Son’s Nursery at Lower Tooting there are five long 
beds of C. sardensis, and two beds of the other. They 
produce a mass of blue which is conspicuous even from 
a distance, although the bulbs producing them were 
very small when planted. The white C. L. alba 
occasionally crops up in the beds. C. gigantea seems to 
be a large form of C. Lucilice with long deep blue seg¬ 
ments, and a comparatively small white eye. C. 
cretensis alba is a much smaller flowering kind than 
any, and is quite distinct from either. It bears a 
number of small white flowers on a stem, marked down 
the midrib of each segment with a pale blue line. 
Galanthus poculiformis. 
This is merely a garden name for a very distinct form 
of G. nivalis, in which three inner segments have 
developed nearly to the size of the outer ones. The 
usual green blotches are almost or perhaps sometimes 
entirely absent. A green line can, however, be 
detected in some cases running downwards beneath the 
apical notch on the inner surface. The notch by this 
abnormal growth has become almost obliterated, while 
the flower gains, according to the estimation of some, 
by being of a purer white. The green blotches in our 
estimation are not only characteristic of Snowdrops, 
but add greatly to their natural beauty. The inequality 
in the size of the outer and inner segments was given 
by Linnaeus as the mark distinguishing Galanthus 
from all other allied genera ; and seeing that this has 
been broken down in G. nivalis poculiformis, the 
Odoxtoglossum criseum eoseum guttatum. 
chicus, with its dark plum-purple flowers, the best of 
them. Some seedlings showed large and very richly- 
coloured flowers, and the variety which they name 
H. c. coccineus is particularly fine, although it is not 
scarlet. H. caucasicus punctatus, having rosy sepals 
dotted with purple, is very pretty, as is H. orientalis 
guttatus, which has white sepals dotted with purple. 
A variety named Frau Irene Heinenmann is also a 
beautiful kind, with large flowers now in perfection. 
The three outer sepals, or two and a half of them, are 
greenish, while the rest are white, and all are spotted 
' with purple. H. olympicus has pale green and white 
flowers tinted externally with purple, while the variety 
H. o. roseus is suffused with rose. Most of the ever¬ 
green-leaved kinds the Messrs. Barr classify as varieties 
of H. orientalis. We noticed a deciduous kind with 
green flowers, smelling strongly of Elder. It is named 
H. Bocconi. Besides these there is a large assortment 
of seedlings. 
Glory of the Snow. 
The two most popular species of Chionodoxa (literally 
translated Glory of the Snow) are C. Lucilife and C. 
sardensis, the former having large bright blue flowers, 
with a large white eye, and the latter having deep blue 
flowers with a small white eye. This is now largely 
used for forcing purposes, for which it seems more 
suitable than C. Lucilise, because it naturally flowers 
earlier, and has the richer coloured flowers of the two, 
a fact which is the more especially noticeable when the 
plants have been grown under glass. In Messrs. Barr 
distinctions between it and a Leucojurn are very small 
indeed, as far as structure is concerned, for we can 
hardly suppose that G. n. poculiformis is any more 
closely related to a Lecuorium genetically than is the 
normal form. It is believed by some to be of spon¬ 
taneous origin occurring in woods in Wales. 
Galanthus caucasicus. 
The most striking feature of this new Snowdrop con¬ 
sists in the broad glaucous leaves. According to their 
size, we may compare them with Galanthus latifolius— 
better known, perhaps, under the name of G. 
Redoutei, the foliage of which is of a bright grass- 
green, thus differing from all the other species or 
varieties under cultivation. On the contrary, so 
glaucous are the leaves of G. caucasicus that they have 
almost a hoary appearance ; they are also somewhat 
incurved at the sides, and slightly hooded at the apex. 
The flowers at first sight bear a close resemblance to 
those of the common Snowdrop (G. nivalis) ; but on 
closer inspection they will be found to correspond more 
nearly with those of G. Elwesii, inasmuch as the three 
inner segments stand erect, forming a tube rather than 
a cup, and furthermore are slightly spreading at the 
mouth, and striped with green internally in the same 
way as those of the latter. A considerable quantity of 
it has recently been introduced by Mr. T. S. Ware, 
Hale Farm Nurseries, Tottenham. The bulbs have 
flowered more or less freely, but when they become 
established and grow strongly, it will, no doubt, be 
liked by hardy plant lovers on account of its foliage. 
Twin-flowered Tulips. 
Leaves and flower-stalks of the Tulip named Proserpine 
have been sent U3 by Mr. C. Grant,The Rookery Gardens, 
Dorking. Neither of them were of exceptional vigour, 
yet the grower records that of three bulbs potted in the 
usual way into a 48-sized pot, all of them bore two 
blooms each on one flower-stem. The terminal one 
was the first to expand, and below it was a small leaf 
or bract. Then, from a lower level of the stem, 
another pedicel was given off, bearing a somewhat 
smaller flower, which also expanded a little later on. 
There are some species of Tulip that normally produce 
two or three blooms on a stem, but it is altogether an 
unusual occurrence, so far as we are aware, for the 
much-cultivated garden kinds to do so. A section of 
the stem of the specimens in question gave us the im¬ 
pression that two flower-stems had grown up together 
in a state of union. 
Iris reticulata. 
Your correspondent, Mr. G. F. Wilson, in his remarks 
on spring flowers (p. 454), very properly describes a 
variety of this plant as a gem. Iris reticulata being 
one of the most beautiful of our early spring flowers, 
besides being sweet-scented, it is a wonder it is not 
more generally grown. It is very hardy, and when 
once established in the bulb border soon increases. 
The flowers are of a rich deep bluish purple colour, 
reticulated with yellow and black, and are very pleasing 
and attractive.— Alfred Gaut. 
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ODONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM. 
There seems practically no limit to the variations of 
this popular and ornamental species. Usually the 
blotches are chestnut-brown, or some other shade of 
that colour ; but in the variety roseum guttatum the 
blotches are of a clear rose on a white ground, which 
gives the flower a very distinct and handsome appear¬ 
ance. The blotches on the sepals and petals are 
larger than those on the lip, and several in number, or 
by running together they form one large blotch. The 
variety first flowered in the collection of H. M. Pollett, 
Esq., Fernside, Bickley, in May, 1884. It then 
received a First Class Certificate from the Floral 
Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society. It has 
flowered annually ever since, and proves constant. In 
vegetative growth it is not so strong as the type, but is 
comparable in this respect to several of the other highly 
blotched or richly-coloured forms. When flowering in 
October last, however, it produced a strong spike. 
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GARDENERS AND GARDENING. 
As a member of the craft, I read with feeling interest 
your outspoken remarks headed “A Brilliant Pro¬ 
posal,” the offer of which, and the clear light you have 
presented it in to your numerous readers, may well 
damp the ardour of the rising members of our calling- 
profession I cannot term it. I must say, too, that any 
gardener who knows anything of advertising could give 
many such instances of the serfdom that has been 
offered to him. I remember some years ago, when as a 
foreman I was endeavouring to obtain my first head 
place, I received such an offer from a retired officer 
residing at a fashionable watering-place in the west of 
England—only, if anything, it was worse. I really 
thought at the time, “ Well, had I been advertising in 
my own name, this would surely be the composition of 
some wag wishing to show me what I should have to 
undertake when I started to run alone.” I should have 
treated such an offer with silent contempt; but as my 
would-be benefactor had sent a stamped directed 
envelope for a reply, I thought 1 would return one, and 
did so in the following terms : —“ ‘ Alpha ’ begs to say 
that having spent twelve years in some of the best 
gardens in England, he now requires a situation where 
he can show his abilities as a cultivator, and not as 
a handy man. He knows nothing about washing dogs 
and the other requirements mentioned, and therefore 
does not feel himself capable of undertaking so respon¬ 
sible a situation !” 
I often hoped that my reply had some beneficial 
effect, but of that I doubt, as the “charitable” feelings 
of such benefactors is akin to the laws of the Medes 
and Persians—they alter not. But the lady whose 
letter you quote from ought certainly to “ take the 
cake ” for her charitable opinion of gardeners’ honesty. 
In most professions honesty and integrity are rewarded 
by a good salary, but it is not always so with gardeners, 
many of whom are placed in a similar position to the 
labouring parishioners of a rural divine, of whom he 
said “ they are as honest as they well can be.” 
