88 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 10, 1891. 
flower stalk, but be careful not to show the wire in 
the centre of the flower. As the process of drying 
goes on the flower stalk will contract, and the sap 
will rust the inserted part of the wire, which will act 
like cement. Put the flowers into a flower pot or 
anything similar that will keep them in an upright 
position. Do not expose them to the sun, but place 
them in a cool, dry place until they are properly 
dried. Those who adopt this method of wiring 
should be careful that their wires are not greased. 
The Everlastings may be made into bouquets or 
mixed with dried ornamental Grasses in vases for 
winter use. Those who wish to make bouquets of 
their Everlastings should use a piece of stake to 
commence to build them on. To prevent packing, 
gently bend the wires from the stake towards the 
flower heads and that will insure a good finish, mix 
a few dried ornamental grasses through it and finish 
with the bouquet paper. — Gifford. 
THE POTATO DISEASE. 
An unusual experience is felt this season by many 
people who have lifted their early Potatos and stored 
them away. They lifted apparently tolerably free 
from disease, but a month later when looking them 
over a great number of diseased tubers were found— 
almost a fifth of the crop were bad. In lifting the 
late kinds we find a terrible mess. The yield would 
have been very great if the disease had not shown 
itself so badly. Still I think the supply will be better 
than last year; the tubers are large and clean of 
those that are sound, if they don't go after storing, 
the same as the earlies have done. The Beauty of 
Hebron and all of its type are much worse than the 
round ones are in taking the disease.— T. IF., Yelver- 
ton, Norfolk. 
STORMY WEATHER AND THE BEDDING 
PLANTS. 
It is certainly true that where carpet bedding and 
fine foliaged plants have been largely used in flower 
garden decoration this year they have the best of it. 
It is not the class of plants that have been used for 
carpet bedding that have been objected to, so much 
as the clipping and pinching required to keep them 
in trim, and the amount of labour withdrawn 
from other departments to do the clipping. Dwarf 
foliage plants, with many hardy subjects such as 
Pentstemons, Pansies, White Antirrhinums, Violas, 
etc., can be turned to fine account. The tuberous 
Begonias are standing the drenching rains grandly, 
notably at Keir, near Bridge of Allan, and at Nor¬ 
wood, Stirling, and out own are by no means 
insignificant. The Ageratum named Zoo, in beds 
with bands of Golden Balm, defy wind and rain.— 
Stirling. 
THE IRIS-FLOWERED CROCUS. 
Amongst the Crocuses there are some which vie 
with the spring flowering kinds in beauty, and not 
the least of them is C. iridiflorus. Its most striking 
peculiarity is the difference in size between the 
three outer and the three inner segments of the 
flower. The outer ones are elliptic and of a rich 
purple, shaded with blue, while the inner ones are 
pale lilac, sometimes almost white or even variously 
and irregularly striped with the same rich hue as 
the outer segments. When fully expanded the 
difference in size between the two sets becomes well 
marked and conspicuous. The much branched 
style is also of a rich purple. The species is a native 
of Banat and Transylvania, and with regard to flow¬ 
ering is contemporaneous with the autumn-flowering 
Colchicums during September and October. It often 
therefore, escapes the severe weather which destroys 
some of the winter and early spring kinds. The 
leaves are not produced till some time after the 
flowers have fulfilled their mission. 
CUPHEA LANCEOLATA. 
Amongst the annual species of Cuphea, the above- 
mentioned species recommends itself on account of 
its dwarf and free-flowering character. It has even 
been likened to a Silene by some authorities and 
named C. silenoides. The stems are about 12 in. to 
15 in. high, and freely branched and floriferous. The 
leaves are lanceolate and of medium size for this 
class of plants. The tube of the flowers is purple 
with red hairs, and the petals are purple and six in 
number, with the two upper ones considerably the 
largest. Seeds are ripened abundantly and those 
v hoqareto take the trouble can save a sufficient 
quantity to stock the grounds the following year. By 
sowing a pot or two of seed in March and transplant¬ 
ing them to a cold frame, they would be ready to 
plant out by the beginning of May, and keep up a 
succession of bloom all through the summer and 
autumn, provided the)' are not crowded to such an 
extent as to cause the plants to run to seed. 
WOOLTON GARDENERS' MUTUAL IMPROVE¬ 
MENT SOCIETY. 
May I be allowed through the medium of your 
valuable paper to tender the grateful thanks of the 
Committee of the above society to the numerous 
contributors to this society's successful exhibition 
held in the parochial hall last week, which formed 
an imposing and instructive display, and highly 
interesting to all lovers of horticulture, and to those 
kind donors who by their generous gifts have enriched 
the society’s library with many valuable works on 
gardening, also to the ladies who undertook the 
management of the refreshment department which 
added to the comfort and enjoyment of the visitors 
present. The committee desire further to express 
their deep obligations and heartfelt thanks to the 
donors for many useful gifts of plants, fruit, flowers, 
and honey for the sale stall, on behalf of the Gar¬ 
deners’ Orphan Fund which realised nearly £10 to 
be handed over to this deserving charity. This debt 
of gratitude includes the young ladies who so ably 
and efficiently worked as saleswomen at the stall. — 
J. Rotliwell, Hon. Sec 
THE WILLIAM HOLMES MEMORIAL. 
Fearing lest it might be supposed I am in any way 
reponsible for the “ absolute inaction ” in regard to 
this matter, I shall be thankful if you will allow me 
to state that I am simply a member of the com¬ 
mittee of the William Holmes’ Memorial Fund, and 
not its secretary, as, I fear, some suppose. I was 
instrumental, as the secretary of the N.C.S., in 
calling a public meeting of the friends of the late 
William Holmes, at the Royal Aquarium, on the 
15th of October, 1890. At that meeting a committee 
was appointed with Mr. Lewis Castle as secretary. 
I am constantly in receipt of applications asking for 
information as to the position and prospects of the 
Fund, and any request of mine to Mr. Castle for 
this information brings no response. I am as much 
in the dark as " A Member of the N. C. S." The 
treasurer is Mr. Robert Ballantine. I do not know 
what information he may possess; but I wish to 
state most distinctly that I am as desirous of getting 
the necessary information as anyone else, and the 
collapse of which I think “A Member of theN.C.S.” 
justly complains is as much deplored by me as by 
him. — Richard Dean, Secretary National Chrysanthemum 
Society. [Mr. R. Ballantine, the treasurer of the 
fund, informs us that up to Tuesday night he had 
received on account of the fund £g ,6 2s., and had 
expended the sum of /13, leaving a balance in his 
hands of £43 2s. — Ed.] 
HELIANTHUS ORGYALIS. 
Those who desire a stately Sunflower something out 
of the usual type should try H. orgyalis, which 
blooms during October, but is not particularly re- 
commendable on that account, as the flower heads 
are small and produced in a terminal cluster. The 
stems, however, under good treatment run up to a 
height of 6 ft. or 8 ft. and are thickly clothed with 
long linear-lanceolate leaves of much more refined 
appearance than those of H. doronicoides, H. maxi- 
mus, H. decapetalus, or others of that class. The 
beautiful foliage and the stately stems are the chief 
recommendation. Strong pieces should be planted 
in well prepared soil and they will sooner get 
established than if little bits w r ere inserted in an 
ordinary border without any preparation. For the 
wild or picturesque garden it is also well 
suited by reason of its tall habit and long-lived 
nature. As the season advances so the plant 
increases in stature, and is just in its prime during 
September and October when many trees are begin¬ 
ning to cast their leaves. 
CRUCIANELLA STYLOSA COCCINEA. 
The free-flowering nature of this herbaceous subject 
is a strong recommendation for planting it more freely 
than has hitherto been the case. The procumbent 
stems and whorled leaves give it the appearance of 
a Woodruff, to which it is indeed allied, but the 
flowers present a colour not seen in the cultivated 
species of Asperula. In the typical form the flowers 
are of a soft rosy-pink, but those of the variety under 
notice are deep reddish-purple, not scarlet as the 
name would lead one to suppose. Individually they 
are small, but being produced in a dense, umbel-like 
head, they are particularly effective in the mass. 
Broad patches of the plant continue flowering for 
months together, and even now are as floriferous as 
in summer. The rockery is the best place for it pro¬ 
vided it is in rich and tolerably moist soil, so as to 
encourage a continuous growth, thereby ensuring a 
succession of bloom. The stems are well adapted 
for hanging over the ledges and partly concealing 
rough blocks of stone. 
SAXIFRAGA FORTUNEI 
Not the least important are the species of Saxifrage 
which flower in early spring, or in autumn, because 
there is a lack of competition at those periods for the 
public favour. The flowers of S. Fortunei are 
remarkably clean and pure white compared with S. 
cortusaefolia which flowers at the same time. 
Botanically they are notable for their irregularity, 
all the five petals being of different lengths, and 
curiously serrated along the edges. The leaves are 
of a rich dark shining green and serve as a back¬ 
ground to the racemes of flowers. A sheltered place 
should be accorded it, as the flowers and foliage are 
liable to be injured by early frosts. At present a 
broad patch of it is flowering- finely at Kew in an 
open border, showing that soil and position are 
matters of small consequence provided the weather 
remains open to the end of the flowering period. As 
a pot subject for the hardy plant house it is exceed¬ 
ingly well adapted, owing to its compact habit, 
beautiful foliage, and flowers. Under such protection 
and without fire-heat a fine display can be kept up 
for some time. 
AUTUMN FLOWERING 
PHLOXES. 
The moist and dripping season has been unusually 
favourable to the well-being of these moisture-loving 
plants in England. In Scotland they do well most 
seasons. We have just been favoured with a large 
boxful of bloom of many varieties from Mr. John 
Forbes, of the Buccleuch Nurseries, Hawick. From 
amongst them we singled out a number as excep¬ 
tionally meritorious, including Iris, deep violet blue, 
and the nearest approach to a true blue we have 
seen; also Paul Bert, with huge panicles of Periwinkle 
blue flowers shaded with white ; Lucy Baltet, palest 
lavender, shaded on the middle with mauve blue; 
Aurore Boreale, brilliant carmine with a purple eye 
and large; and Neptune, large, soft rosy-pink with a 
white eye. 
Scarcely less meritorious were Neil Glass, large, 
deep salmon-rose ; Pluton, small, dark purple ; 
Amazon, pure white of medium size ; Jeanne d'Arc, 
of like purity but small, and the plant only 12 in. 
high ; and Lady McDonald, large, soft rose with a 
purple eye. A sport from the latter was a curious 
thing with greenish-white flowers, darker veins, and 
more or less splashed or striped with pale rose. Showy 
varieties also are Gladiator, shaded with soft purple 
on a lilac ground ; Ornament, deep reddish-purple 
with a crimson eye ; Madame Dariene, small deep 
purple shaded wich blue, especially in bud; and 
Champs Elysees, flaked with violet purple on a white 
ground, and therefore very distinct. The latter re¬ 
minds us of the Sweet Pea, Princess of Wales. 
The range of variation is exceedingl y great, and 
includes not only colour, but the size of the trusses, 
size of individual blooms, and the habit of the plant 
as to stature. The under-mentioned kinds although 
less striking, are all distinct and useful for border 
decoration or for cut flowers, namely, Robert Knox, 
white flushed lilac, with a purple eye; Eugene 
Schott, large pinkish-purple, shaded white round 
the eye : Mrs. Kinghorn, rose purple; Leonec, pur¬ 
ple ; Roi des Roses, salmon-rose with a magenta eye ; 
Shirley Hibberd, soft rose with a crimson eye and 
pretty ; and M. Jules Roche, irregularly shaded and 
mottled carmine on a lilac ground. Accompanying 
the above was a bunch of flowers of a dwarf crim¬ 
son Antirrhinum, useful for bedding purposes. The 
best way to propagate it in order to preserve it tru£ 
to character is by cuttings, which strike readily. 
