534 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
April 20, 1889. 
grown and floriferous, including Erica ventricosa, E. v. 
coccinea minor, and the large yellow-flowered E. 
Cavendishiana. 
Orchids. 
At no period of the year do these rather expensive 
flowers bulk largely in the market, although the 
number of different species may sometimes be consider¬ 
able. They are, however, only subsidiary to the 
general display at any time. At present Odontoglossum 
crispum and 0. triumphans are amongst the most 
plentiful ; while Cattleyas are represented by C. Trianee, 
C. Lawrenceana, and C. Loddigesii. Lycaste Skinneri 
one would expect to be more plentiful than it is, as 
well as Dendrobium "Wardianum and Cypripedium 
barbatum. As instances of what may be picked up 
occasionally, Lycaste Harrisoniie, Odontoglossum 
tripudians, and Cattleya Lawrenceana may be 
mentioned. 
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The Amateurs’ Garden. 
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"Wallflowers. 
Considering the large supply of beautiful Wallflowers 
which was obtained from the open ground during last 
autumn, and at intervals during the winter, it may 
induce many amateurs to grow them more largely from 
that point of view. Seeds to flower in autumn should 
be sown in April, and transplanted to their permanent 
quarters some time during the summer, when the soil 
and atmosphere are suitably moist to ensure them 
becoming established with as little attention as possible 
in the way of watering. Growing naturally in the 
crevices of old walls and similar dry places, it is not 
necessary to have rich or deeply tilled loose ground. 
In fact, they will flower all the finer, and withstand 
the wet of winter much better if the soil in which they 
are grown is rather hard or firm. For early-flowering 
a plantation should be made of the most forward seed¬ 
lings as soon as they have made a few rough leaves. 
A later batch to flower in spring may be taken from 
the same seed bed of the plants that germinate late and 
come on slowly, or a second sowing may be made in 
July. 
Intermediate Stocks. 
Amateurs who do not possess a stock of plants in pots 
may well envy those who have. In order to get them 
in flower by this period they should be sown some time 
during May or June. Unlike the common Ten-week 
Stock, which is an annual, Intermediate Stocks require 
nearly a year to grow and develop into flowering con¬ 
dition. Sow the seeds in boxes or pans of light soil, 
and prick them off into other boxes filled with more 
substantial material as soon as the cotyledons have 
attained full size, if the plants show any signs of 
damping, otherwise the operation need not be per¬ 
formed till a few rough leaves have been made. After 
they have formed stocky little plants they may be 
potted into small 60-sized pots, or even smaller, 
according to the quantity of roots. When they have 
filled these with roots they should be transferred to 
48-size pots, in which they may remain all the winter. 
Although Stocks will stand a great amount of frost, 
yet they suffer from wet if left exposed outside. They 
well repay the protection of a cold frame. Soil for 
potting should consist of good fibrous loam, with 
which a quantity of old mortar has been mixed, as the 
plant in a state of nature is partial to chalky cliffs. 
As the Stocks show flower they may receive another 
shift if they require it, and as they get established and 
fill the pots with roots they will profit largely by 
applications of manure water. 
Clematis Jackmanni. 
The various kinds of Clematis, including the subject of 
this note, which is one of the most popular, are now 
growing away rapidly, and must receive almost 
constant attention to prevent the young shoots getting 
so entangled amongst one another as to make it almost 
impossible to separate them without breaking the 
brittle growths. This is all the more necessary in the 
case of C. Jackmanni, which in many parts of the 
country gets killed down to the ground, and has 
therefore to form long stems before it can again flower. 
A good display of bloom, however, may be expected 
from those plants late in the season, provided they have 
been well enriched at the roots by a mulching of stable 
manure during winter. While making their growth 
the principal points to be observed is to carefully tie up 
the shoots till the desired height is obtained, and to 
keep the roots well supplied with moisture, even should 
it be necessary to mulch them. 
Bedding Plants. 
Most kinds of bedding plants may now be consigned to 
cold frames, where they will grow sufficiently fast, and 
at the same time receive the necessary ventilation to 
render them sturdy and hardy. The glass sashes may 
now be reasonably expected to ward off any spring 
frost which may occur ; but in the case of very tender 
subjects, or those taken from a warm house, a mat may 
be thrown over the lights at night. Pelargoniums, 
Fuchsias, Lobelias, Golden Feather, and similar things 
may be so treated. Prick out Ten-week Stocks, China 
Asters, Dianthus sinensis Heddewigi, Saponaria 
calabrica, French and African Marigolds, Tagetes 
signata pumile, and similar bedding plants, in the soil 
of a cold frame, or in boxes in the absence of sucb. 
The great secret with annuals raised under glass is 
never to allow them to become crowded, or in any way 
to interfere with a free and healthy development of leaf 
and shoot. 
Roses in Pots. 
Where these have been grown on for some time in an 
intermediate house, they will now be in flower or fast 
approaching that condition. Give weak liquid manure 
twice a week, and keep the plants in a light position 
and at all times tolerably freely ventilated. Prevent, 
however, all cold cutting draughts from playing upon 
the youDg and tender foliage, or mildew may make its 
appearance. To prevent the spread of this fungus and 
the destruction of the foliage, dust the latter with 
sulphur. Fumigate lightly to keep green-fly under. 
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•Gardening Miscellany. 
The Scarlet Daffodil. 
From some statements that were made at the afternoon 
meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society, on the 
9th inst., it appeared that hopes were entertained that 
sooner or later a scarlet Daffodil would be obtained. We 
were surprised, nevertheless, the other morning on re¬ 
ceiving a specimen, evidently sent by a floiicultural wag 
bent on stealing a march on the sanguine expectations 
of the hybridist. The specimen in question was a small 
but pretty Daffodil, somewhat similar in habit to 
Narcissus Johnstoni, and possibly that species. There, 
at all events, was the unmistakable carmine-red or much- 
wished-for scarlet colour in appreciable quantity, only 
waiting for a little development by seed sowing and 
selection to obtain the coveted novelty. The tube was 
of a bronzy orange colour, while the midribs and all the 
principal veins of the segments and corona showed a 
near approach to scarlet. The sender might, however, 
have been a little more cautious in the quantity of 
cochineal or other colouring matter he had given the 
poor flower to drink, as the sceptical and incredulous 
writer had his suspicions confirmed on squeezing the 
stem, which stained his fingers and writing pad with 
red, leaving the blushing scarlet Daffodil unmasked. 
It is a case on all fours with the wonderful scarlet 
Snowdrops that were seen in London a few years ago. 
Crop Prospects. 
I am a member of a gardeners’ mutual improvement 
association, which holds its meetings not a hundred 
miles from Chiswick, and towards the end of a useful 
session just closed I heard much about “ Nature in the 
garden,’’ and how “God made some mountains grow 
green.” I had begun to be afraid that kind Nature had 
deserted the little nook I look after, for the season has 
been none too kind to me. Our winter greens have 
generally done badly, and soma Broccoli especially, 
which should have been green, were quite of a different 
colour. I had almost begun to despair of Nature 
working harmoniously with me again, but I am glad to 
say she is now doing so. In the kitchen garden Peas 
are peeping nicely through the soil, presenting an 
evenness of growth which is very encouraging, and 
this remark applies also to most other crops. Fruit 
trees are looking well, but late, so will possibly escape 
late frosts. I am therefore hoping for an abundant 
harvest. I have heard some complaints with regard to 
trees trained on walls, but I have no grievance to 
record, having no wall subjects to train. Bush fruits 
promise fairly, but the birds are so troublesome in the 
neighbourhood of London. Spare them, however, as 
they are grand insect destroyers. "What a delightful 
time of the year this is, and what a pleasure it imparts 
to every true lover of nature to watch the opening of 
the buds, the germination and growth of seeds, to hear 
the humming of the ever-industrious bees, and to listen 
to the feathered songsters warbling forth their match¬ 
less anthems—all proclaiming, I hope, the advent of a 
glorious and fruitful summer !— Bake. 
Another Blue Primrose. 
The year 1889 appears to be memorable as signalising 
the evolution of the blue Primrose. Since Blue Gem 
was exhibited and certificated at the meeting of the 
Royal Horticultural Society, I have heard from several 
sources that blue Primroses have put in an appearance. 
One flower only has reached me, sent by Messrs. 
Ryder & Son, of Sale, Manchester. It is of a deep 
blue—a purple-blue shade, but still blue—having a 
sulphur-coloured centre, with flakes of orange. The 
pips as sent were irregular in form and pin-eyed, the 
pin appearing j ust above the tube of the throat, which 
is somewhat sunken. It lacks the size, stoutness, 
general fine quality, and brilliancy of Blue Gem ; but 
it will make a very useful parent if isolated and the 
flowers fertilised with their own pollen, if it be possible 
to obtain any. Having obtained colour, the next step 
should be to secure form, a perfect centre—that is, a 
thrum-eyed and bright one—size, and solidity of sub¬ 
stance. These will come in due course, but it is a 
work of time, and I may add a process that requires 
the exercise of the virtue of patience also.— R. D. 
The Buckbean. 
Menyanthes trifoliata is one of the prettiest of our 
British Aquatics. Its flowers are white, tinged on the 
outside with red in an oblong raceme, and the corolla is 
beautifully and delicately fringed on the inside with 
white filaments—quite an uncommon-looking .flower. 
They will grow anywhere in shallow ponds or bogs, 
and if such do not exist in any locality where it is 
desirous to grow them, they will succeed very well if 
planted in tubs or pots, and plunged lia’f way in the 
water in garden tanks or reservoirs. Many British 
plants could in this manner be introduced into our 
gardens or pleasure grounds, and so become objects of 
interest. It is said that this plant, besides possessing 
valuable medicinal properties, has been used in the 
north of Europe where a scarcity of Hops has existed, 
to produce a bitter beer. An infusion of its leaves is 
extremely bitter, two ounces supplying the place of a 
pound of Hops. Some of us, however, who are total 
abstainers would not consider this of any great 
advantage .—Alfred (raut. 
Neapolitan Violets — Which is “T’other"’? 
This is the question I put to myself a few days ago 
when paying a visit to friend Cannell, and on his 
calling my attention to a batch of Violets of the 
Neapolitan type. They bad been collected together 
for purposes of comparison. There were the old 
Neapolitan, Marie Louise, Lady Hume Campbell, 
Marguerite de Savoie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and 
New York. Here, then, could be seen what was 
practically the same thing under different names, the 
only distinction, if such a distinction really exists, 
being in the shades of colour, some of which are paler 
and some deeper than others. Marguerite de Savoie 
was of the palest tint, and New York the deepest; 
beyond that the plants were essentially the same. De 
Parme and Venice are of the Neapolitan type also ; and 
I am inclined to think there are such things as strains 
of Violets, as there are of some other things, and this 
may account for so many names being given.— R. D. 
Pilea muscosa. 
I quite agree with your correspondent, Mr. Alfred 
Gaut (p. 517), as to the usefulness of this plant for 
intermixing with other flowering or ornamental-leaved 
subjects, but differ from him as to its hardiness. I 
have had plants in the dining and drawing-rooms in 
the month of January for more than a week together, 
which were returned to the greenhouse none the worse 
for their week’s change.— R. T. Humpliris, Childe 
Okeford, Blandford, Dorset. 
Strawberry, Vicomtesse Hericart de 
Thury. 
We are iu receipt of a box of Strawberries of this 
excellent variety from Mr. "W. "Wildsmith, gardener at 
Heekfield Place. Both for outdoor and indoor work 
this Strawberry is one of the most popular and most 
widely cultivated. It is particularly suitable for indoor 
work ; but considering the unfavourable nature of the 
weather, not only recently but during the whole of the 
winter, Strawberry forcing must have been attended 
with no ordinary difficulties. The gardener in Hamp¬ 
shire, however, has quite a different experience from 
