April 6, 1889. 
THE HARDENING WORLD. 
497 
Gardeners’ Orphan Fund.—At the monthly meeting 
of the committee on the 29th ult. it was reported that 
the amount received in donations during the month 
was £83 17 s. lid., and that another investment of £500 
would be made at an early date. Special votes of 
thanks for valued services rendered were accorded to 
Mr. H. B. May and his friends, Mrs. Ford, and Mrs. 
W. G. Head. Mr. Lawton, The Gardens, Welton 
House, Brough, was appointed local secretary for that 
district of East Yorkshire. It was decided to again 
have a dinner in connection with the annual meeting, 
over which Sir Julian Goldsmid, Bart., M.P., the 
president, has promised to preside. 
Autumn Fruit Show at Ghent.—A strong com¬ 
mittee has been formed in Ghent—with the Comte de 
Kerchove as president, Mr. Pynaert as chairman of the 
committee, and Messrs. Rodigas and Burvenich as 
secretaries—to organise a fruit show, to be opened on 
September 28th next, in celebration of the 25th anni¬ 
versary of the Belgian Arboricultural Society. Pomo- 
logical, horticultural, agricultural, and botanical 
societies, as well as private and trade growers, are all 
invited to send collections, and at the close of the show 
it is proposed to make up a representative collection to 
send to the Paris Exhibition. With pleasant recollec¬ 
tions of the last exhibition of a similar character, held 
in Ghent in 1875, we heartily wish our friends success, 
and hope that English fruit culture may be adequately 
represented on the occasion. 
Trial of Hyacinths.—The usual trial of Hyacinths, 
bought from several different cultivators in Holland, 
is being conducted by Messrs. J. Carter & Co., at their 
Forest Hill Nursery. Both single and double kinds 
are grown, the former being the more numerous, as 
they are the most esteemed in this country. There is 
the usual variety in all the leading colours, such as 
blue, red, pink, white, yellow and other intei mediate 
shades. All the leading types are represented, and 
would be interesting to those desirous of making a 
selection of the most ornamental kinds for home use. 
We noticed also a collection of small bulbs, such as are 
sold for the children’s gardens. Independently of 
these, the number of samples of different varieties, or 
from different growers, now to be seen amounts to 641. 
As we have already remarked on several occasions in 
previous numbers, last season was very unfavourable to 
the ripening of the Hyacinth bulbs, and the quality is 
therefore not equal to that of the last or several previous 
years. 
Chiswick Gardeners’ Mutual Improvement Asso¬ 
ciation.—The annual dinner of this association was 
held at “The Pilot,” Gunnersbury, on Friday, March 
30th, when about forty sat down. After dinner, Mr. 
Geo. Gordon, who occupied the chair, commented upon 
the objects of the association, and afterwards distributed 
the prizes that had been generously offered by Mrs. 
S. A. Lee, Chiswick, for competition by members of 
the association in writing essays. Six prizes in three 
classes were offered, and a sum amounting to £13 being 
at the disposal of the judges, some extra prizes were 
awarded. Mr. S. Summers, of the R. H. S. Gardens, 
was the only competitor, with a paper on the arrange¬ 
ment of the fruit garden, and he was deservedly awarded 
the first prize. In the class for papers describing the 
best means of obtaining a regular supply of vegetables 
Mr. T. Bones had the best essay, and Mr. J. Addison 
was a good second. Extra prizes in this class were 
awarded to Mr. R. Wood and Mr. R. Aitken. The 
first prize for a similar essay on the maintenance of a 
continuous display of flowers in the conservatory was 
awarded to Mr. Reed, foreman at Possingworth, Sussex, 
and Mr. J. Barry secured second honours. Extra 
prizes were awarded to Mr. A. Wright and Mr. George 
Beaton. 
-—— 
SAXXFRAGA AIZOON. 
Of all the Saxifrages that produce their leaves in small 
rosette-like tufts, none are, perhaps, more variable in 
the foliage and flowers, but particularly the former 
than this. On this account a number of names have been 
applied to these forms in gardens until their specific 
identity is lost sight of. It requires a botanist of wide 
experience to unravel the confusion which has been 
created by horticulturists not only with regard to this, 
but several other species and their forms. Our illustra¬ 
tion represents one of the commonest types of S. Aizoon. 
To this, or a slightly stronger-growing form, the name 
S. intacta is frequently applied in gardens. A small 
form is distinct enough to merit the varietal name of 
S. A. minor ; and another with broad, blunt-pointed, 
somewhat incurved leaves is known under the name of 
S. A. rosularis. Any or all of these are very suitable 
for rockwork, which their white flowers, spotted with 
red, render gay during the month of June. In northern 
counties the rosettes of leaves are often used with good 
effect in carpet bedding. All of those here mentioned 
may yet be planted or transplanted with safety. 
-— &3S** - 
FLOWERS OF SPRING. 
Hepaticas. 
The Hepaticas come in with the Snowdrop and Crocus, 
and they are among our earliest spring flowers. All 
the varieties upon which I have been able to lay my 
hands I have planted out under a wall having a west 
aspect, on which the sun shines very warmly during a 
good portion of the day ; but they do well there, and 
especially the single blue, single white, and double red 
varieties. These are the strongest growers, in addition 
to being the most common, and they illustrate the 
Darwinian theory of the survival of the fittest. 
Hepaticas are so bright and pleasant, and have such a 
winsome beauty, that they deserve a place in every 
garden where flowers are cherished for their sweet 
sakes. The double blue and the single red do not thrive 
so well when planted out as the others, and I think 
they lack their robust constitution. 
The foregoing are all varieties of H. triloba. H. 
angulosa is a very strong-growing species. In Mr. 
Barlow’s garden at Stakehill, Manchester, there can be 
seen a bed of large clumps of this form that do not 
appear to mind the rigours of a Lancashire winter, and 
an atmosphere in which it appears difficult for some 
vegetation to exist at all. H. angulosa is one of the 
earliest to flower, and its pretty soft sky-blue blossoms 
Saxifjiaga Aizoon. 
are always welcome. It possesses a peculiarity I do 
not perceive in any other variety—viz., that of throwing 
out its flowering shoots in an irregular and kind of 
zig-zag fashion ; and while the others take a compact 
habit of growth, H. angulosa throws up shoots a little 
distance from the parent roots. But the best form of 
angulosa I have seen lacks the fine build and symmetry 
of flower of the single white, blue, and red varieties. 
I am somewhat disappointed in not getting seedlings. 
The flowers appear to form seed vessels, and I always 
adopt the precaution of sprinkling a little fine soil 
about the plants for the seeds to drop into when they 
become ripe ; but no traces of progeny are presented to 
view. Seedlings are interesting because they vary in 
the form of the flower, some being more symmetrical 
than others, and they differ also in the colour of the 
stamens and.in other small ways. I have three of the 
single white which might be regarded as distinct, 
though the differences are very small indeed. 
I also grow a collection in pots for convenience of 
sale, and these are plunged in a bed of coco-nut fibre all 
the year round. The advantage of this is that it keeps 
the soil about the roots cool and moist in summer, and 
serves as a protection from frost in winter. Plants 
grown in small-sized pots soon make a mass of roots, 
and the plant can be turned out of the pot, packed and 
sent a long way without fear of injury. 
The plants are divided when they have gone out of 
flower—that is, if they are large enough to admit of 
increase by means of division. The smaller pieces are 
placed round the sides of pots, and when large enough 
potted singly in a convenient size. — R. D. 
These charming spring flowers ought to be cultivated 
in gardens where space can be afforded. Just now 
they are amongst the prettiest of our border flowers, 
the varieties being double pink and single blue of 
Hepatica triloba. Gur best and most showy plants are 
those which have been left undisturbed for fotlr or five 
years. Many of these are 1 ft. or more across, each of 
which in itself is a perfect mass of bloom, and they 
are such conspicuous objects that one may easily tell 
what they are from a considerable distance away. 
Immediately after flowering—if seed is not required— 
they may be divided and replanted in fresh soil, which 
should consist of light sandy loam with a little leaf- 
soil added thereto. Care should be taken that they 
do not suffer for want of water after being replanted 
till they become established again. — J. H. 
Anemone ranunculoides and A. apennina. 
For. planting along the sides of woodland walks and 
such-like places, I do not know of any spring-flowering 
plants that will surpass these two species. They grow 
from 9 ins. to 12 ins. high, and are exceedingly flori- 
ferous ; the first-named is of a deep golden yellow 
in colour, and the latter of a beautiful pale blue. 
Comparatively speaking, both of them may be said to 
be rarities—at least to the extent of not being often 
seen in private gardens—but this, I am constrained to 
say, is only for the want of being better known, and 
not from lack of merit in the plants themselves. They 
do not appear to be at all fastidious as to soil or 
situation, but are perhaps most at home under large 
trees. Wherever the)’ may be grown, I would say 
plant a large patch of our native species, Anemone 
nemorosa. All three do well together, and form a 
very picturesque appearance when in flower.— J. H. 
-- 
PRIMROSE, “ BLUE GEM.” 
Such, at last, seems to be my accepted name by the 
great masters of ceremonies at the Drill Hall, West¬ 
minster. Under the collective designation of the Floral 
Committee, these masters seem a very fastidious body, 
and would not grant me a First Class Certificate under 
the name of “True Blue,” because I am not 
what everyone would call a true blue, although they 
made mention of me under that name in the last- 
published part of the Society’s journal. 
Now I have received the coveted award under the 
name of “Blue Gem,” I may proceed to tell you my 
history. I claim to be a direct descendant of what is 
generally known in gardens as Primula altaica. My 
ancestor was picked up on the Asiatic side of the 
Bosphorus, near the mouth of the Black Sea, in the 
neighbourhood of Karak, by one Mr. Darbishire, when 
on a visit to Constantinople. My relative, of note¬ 
worthy memory, was believed by that gentleman to be 
merely the common yellow Primrose, now made such a 
fuss of on “ Primrose Day” ; but when it flowered in 
its garb of purple and gold with a narrow white lacing, 
it was hailed with a flourish of trumpets, and the 
Knightian Medal was awarded to Mr. Darbishire for 
the same. If you doubt this, refer to the Journal of 
the Horticultural Society for 1849, vol. iv., Proceedings, 
p. 11. Not only in this journal, but also in Paxton’s 
Magazine of Botany, vol. xvi., p. 194, my ancient 
relative was sanctioned by Dr. Lindley as the Primula 
altaica of the Russian botanists. 
As to what is in a name, you may judge from the 
fact that Sibthorp, in his Flora Graced, vol. ii., p. 70, 
t. 184, described the same Primrose under the name of 
Primula vulgaris var. rubra, and said that the Turks 
called it the “Snow Flower.” Now the colour was 
neither red nor white, nor rose, although botanists 
now say that the accepted name should be Primula 
acaulis var. rosea, on the authority of Boissier. See his 
Flora orientalis, iv., p. 24. But Grisebach, in his 
Spicilegium Florae Rumelice, ii., p. 2, named it P. 
acaulis forma rosea. 
After all, Boissier and Grisebach were quite correct 
in considering my noble ancestor a form of the common 
Primrose ; but the two parted company ages ago, and 
that form of which I am legally a lineal descendant, 
has, during a prosperous sojourn in the east, altogether 
altered in form, substance and colour especially. The 
long, narrow, flimsy segments and pale yellow of the 
British wilding, the much-belauded Primrose, is no¬ 
where in comparison with those of my deep purple, 
golden-eyed, broad-petalled relative. 
Under the benign influence of the fog, smoke, snow, 
wind, and rain of the British climate, but especially 
about London and its neighbourhood, a numerous 
progeny has arisen showing the vigorous constitution of 
our race. Primrose Scot Wilson, Proserpine, the 
Mikado and numerous others, I consider my first 
cousins. The last named has also obtained the coveted 
certificate. Although I failed to get a certificate as a 
“true blue,” some of my children may be deemed 
worthy of such, just as Solomon was considered a tit 
