564 
FHE GARDENING WORLD 
May 7, 1892. 
THE FROST AND THE 
FRUIT BLOOM. 
I see it stated in your issue for April 23rd that you 
have heard of no serious results of the late severe 
weather as regards the fruit bloom. I am sorry to 
say that the sharp frosts were very destructive here. 
Though our Apricot trees were covered with a 
double thickness of fish netting, the fruits, which 
were about the size of Hazel nuts, were frosted and 
are now falling off. The Cherry tree blossoms were 
also much cut up.— G. Fuljord, The Gardens, Trafalgar 
Park, Salisbury, April 17/A. 
Eridge Castle, Kent. 
Being situated 400 ft. above sea level, we are rather 
favourably situated as regards immunity from frost, 
and our lowest night temperature during April was 
21 0 , or ii° of frost on the morning of the 16th, and 
14 in. of snow fell in seven hours,—a very unseason¬ 
able visitation, but for all that I do not despair of a 
fruit crop. Apple blossoms are not open yet, and 
consequently are safe. Cherries are still a fair pros¬ 
pect. My favourite early Strawberry — The Captain 
—is just opening its first blooms, so that I have good 
hopes as regards the Strawberry crop. Pears are 
still uncertain, and Gooseberries are shedding half 
their crop, but where they have been but slightly- 
pruned, I believe there will be enough left. Plums 
and Damsons I think will be a crop.— J. Rust, Eridgc 
Castle Gardens, Tunbridge Wells, April 29 tli. 
Burghley Park, Stamford 
1 hope and trust we have at last got to the end of a 
bitter winter—I think the longest I ever remember. 
We are now, however, beginning to look bright, 
cheery, and promising. The April frosts were not 
very- severe with us, only 5 0 to 8°, and the season 
being so very late and vegetation consequently- back¬ 
ward, we have not an Apple blossom expanded, so 
that up to now they are safe. Pears,with the excep¬ 
tion of a few early varieties, are only' just opening 
their flowers on standards, but those on walls are in 
full bloom, and being well protected have suffered 
little. Plums are literally sheets of bloom, but I fear 
are much cut. I have fires made all round our fruit 
orchard, and the smoke defies all frosts. The Cherry- 
blossoms are not yet open, but there is a good show 
of buds. Peaches are well set and, being well 
protected with old fishing nets, they are quite safe. I 
notice that y-oung wood is wonderfully clean and 
healthy-, and the foliage of the darkest green in colour. 
Gooseberries were not so much damaged as was ex¬ 
pected, and a good crop may be anticipated, as also 
of Black and Red Currants. Strawberries look 
magnificent, but only- a few blooms are open. 
Scarlet Queen is the first in bloom, but the flowers 
are quite blackened. Our earliest border of Peas 
(sown November 9th) and the variety Early William, 
are 10 in. to 14 in. high, having again stood the win¬ 
ter well.— R. Gilbert, High Park Gardens, Stamford, 
April 30/A, 
Welford Park, Berks. 
The cold nights and hot days we have had, again 
make it too evident that the fruit crops will this year 
be very light. In January the thermometer fell be¬ 
low 32° on twenty nights, the lowest being 17 0 on the 
12th and 16th, and on only two nights was it above 
40°. In February there were nine frosty nights ; 
lowest, 16 0 on the 17th : five nights above 40°. In 
March twenty-six frosts, lowest 15 0 on the 9th, only 
one night above 40 0 in April, seventeen frosty nights 
low-est 15 0 to 12 0 . This morning we had 7 0 and yes¬ 
terday 6°. On walls with east aspect the Pears, 
Plums, etc., are quite finished ; on west walls, where 
the bloom does not get the morning sun, things look 
rather better, as a good many of the blooms are not 
y-et open. The Gooseberries are mostly done for, but 
fortunately- the Apple bloom is very late this year, 
and may be safe if the four frosts we are to have in 
May are not too severe, for there is a saying in this 
part of the country that for every fog in March there 
w-ill be a frost in May, and this I have found, after 
over thirty years’ experience, to be generally true.— 
Charles Ross, Welford Park Gardens, Newbury, May 2. 
Tnornton Heath, Surrey. 
On Saturday morning last my thermometer, standing 
2 ft. above the grass,registered 9 0 of frost, and all my 
neighbours are complaining of the damage done to 
plants. The Cherry and Plum trees were in full 
bloom, and I fear are hard hit. My friend the 
gardener at Bethlehem Hospital in St. George's 
Road, S.E , registered 7° of frost cn the same 
morning.— G. S. Addison, Parchmore Road, Thornton 
Heath, Surrey, May 2nd. 
Madresfield Court. 
It is said that the English fruit growers 1 life is made 
up of disappointments and blighted hopes, and if so, 
the truth has never been more fully realised than it 
has this season, for the continued frosty nights and 
north-easterly winds have proved most disastrous to 
the early fruit blossom. Apricots, which were a 
splendid set and the size of Horse Beans, are all 
blackened and destroyed with scarcely a fruit re¬ 
maining sound, although the trees were protected 
with several thicknesses of tanned netting. On the 
16th of April there was a heavy snowstorm, followed 
by 15 0 of frost. This was not a ground frost, but 
the snow was hard frozen on the tops of evergreen 
trees, upwards of 40 ft. high; even brooks were frozen 
over, as the temperature was below freezing point for 
upwards of fourteen hours in succession. This was 
more than any of our so-called hardy fruits could 
stand,and the blooms then opened suffered correspond 
dingly. This sort of weather was repeated on the 
night of the igth, in fact nearly every night through¬ 
out March and April indicated frost more or less by 
a Negretti & Zambra’s standard thermometer placed 
on the ground. Plum and Pear bloom much 
damaged, Gooseberries and Currants shrivelled up 
and falling off, Cherries severely injured, Peaches and 
Nectarines badly cut up, but fortunately there are 
some unexpanded blooms, and it is premature to 
state whether these are destroyed also. All the old 
foliage of Strawberries has been destroyed, and the 
plants look wretched in the extreme. Caterpillars of 
the winter moth tribe have had a rough time 
also, and the only bit of consolation visible is that 
many of the early hatched ones are hors de combat, but 
I am not so positive about the worst enemy,' the 
Apple blossom weevils. Apple trees are much more 
backward, and I am hoping they are all safe at 
present, and there are prospects of a grand bloom.—- 
W. Crump, Madresfield Court, April 30/A. 
Penshurst Place, Kent. 
This morning, April 30th, we have n° of frost, and 
Pears, Plums, and Cherries are all hanging their 
beads,but I cannot tell yet w-hat harm has been done. 
Apple blossoms are just showing colour, and I 
am afraid it has done great damage. Of Goose¬ 
berries and Currants there w-ill be a great loss. 
Strawberries that are in bloom are all blackened. 
Peach trees on open walls have set a few- fruit, 
but this sharp frost will cause them to drop. The 
winter frosts have also killed some of the young 
fruiting wood. I have here a good show for bloom 
on all my fruit trees, and, w-eather permitting, we 
should have a fair crop of fruit all round.— Fred. 
Bridger, The Gardens, Penshurst Place, Kent. 
Arundel, Sussex. 
All kinds of fruit trees in this district have 
produced an abundance of blossom, the opening 
of w-hich in the case of Apricots and Peaches 
was somewhat earlier than usual, due no doubt 
to the extra amount of sun experienced this spring, 
and, notwithstanding the frequent frosts of 6 C and 7 0 
no harm was done, the atmosphere being dry: 
there w-as an almost entire absence of rain until the 
nth and 12th of April,when slight showers occurred. 
The temperature fell rapidly, and on the morning of 
the 13th the thermometer in the garden here at 4 ft. 
from the ground registered io° of frost. This had 
the effect of entirely destroying (where unprotected) 
the Apricots, and seriously damaging the Peaches 
and Plums. Gooseberries escaped pretty well, there 
being at the time a good covering of foliage on the 
bushes.— W. S. Dale, The Gardens, Walberton House, 
Arundel, Sussex, April 30/A. 
Stirlingshire. 
I fear that Apricots and Peaches have suffered 
severely in Scotland on open w-alls. Plums generally 
were not forward enough here in Stirlingshire, cer¬ 
tainly not on standard and bush trees in the open, to 
suffer materially. Some Cherries on walls are de¬ 
stroyed through the severe April frosts, but most of 
them are safe. I never saw Morrellos so heavily 
laden with blossoms. Trees on the back of glass¬ 
house walls, so planted to economise space, and 
which were severely root-pruned last season to keep 
them dwarf, are overloaded with fruit buds and must 
be thinned to save the crop. These were closely 
cut in at the roots in August as soon as the fruit was 
gathered. They soon made fresh roots in the new 
soil, which w-as rammed firmly round them. Apples 
generally are full of bloom buds, but Pears are only 
of moderate promise. Small fruits, especially 
Currants, are full of opening flowers. Strawberries, 
which at one time seemed to suffer, are now throwing 
up their centres nicely. There are no deaths among 
them.— M. T. 
Wycombe Abbey, Bucks. 
At the present time in this neighbourhood the 
first crops do not appear to have sustained much 
damage by frost, certainly not enough to affect the 
prospect of our having a good crop of fruit. With the 
exception of Pear trees, all other kinds have an 
abundance of blossom, which appear to be setting 
fairly well and to afford us much encouragement and 
hope for the future ; but the doubt that exists in my 
mind is whether, ow-ing to the sunless character 
of last season, the growths could possibly be 
w-ell perfected, and therefore likely to produce the 
beneficial effect on the trees we might naturally 
expect to get under other and more favourable 
conditions. I therefore fear lest it may be found 
that, notwithstanding having a good set, we may in 
the end be disappointed in the final result. Prevailing 
conditions are anything but favourable to the setting 
and swelling of the fruit, but the Apple blossom is 
somewhat later than usual with us, which will be an 
advantage this year.— Geo. Thos. Miles, The Garden, 
Wycombe Abbey, Bucks, May yd. 
Chelmsford, Essex. 
In this district there is a very little Pear blossom 
either on walls, Pyramids or Standard, except on 
Cattilac and Easter Beurre on walls. The flowers 
are very little injured apparently, but the tips of the 
young leaves w-ere somewhat blackened by the N.W. 
gale of 28th April. A large tree of Easter Beurre on 
a west wall much exposed appears safe, as also on 
the east side, Plums such as Rivers’ Early, Washing- 
ington, Jefferson’s,Greengages, &c. are safe, but Coe’s 
Golden Drop is much injured. Plums in the open 
look all right ; all sorts thinly flowered. Currants of 
sorts are laden and uninjured. Gooseberries were 
caught very much on the tops of the bushes, but 
there is a good crop lower down, especially on droop¬ 
ing varieties, such as Warrington. Peaches, Apri¬ 
cots, and other wall fruit (protected) are very thin 
crops, having had scarcelj- any flowers; Cherries 
appear safe at present. Apples, Raspberries, and 
Straw-berries are very late and safe.—S. Praguell. 
West Cottage, Broomfield Lodge, Chelmsford. 
TRITELEIA PORRIFOLIA. 
The general appearance of this species is considerably 
different from that of the well-known T. uniflora, 
which is the general favourite, and most frequently 
grown by hardy plant lovers. The subject of this 
note may be grow-n in pots as readily as T. uniflora, 
than which the leaves are longer and the plant 
altogether of greater vegetative vigour. The flowers 
are funnel-shaped and white, w-ith a green mid-rib, 
broadest on the outer face, and somewhat shaded 
with purple. In these respects they resemble those 
of Puschkiniascilloides, but they are borne in umbels 
of three to five, whereas those of the last named are 
in racemes. The leaves are slightly grooved above 
and of a deep green. The bulbs are somewhat 
larger than those of T. uniflora. The species was 
introduced from Chili in 1868, some thousands of 
miles distant from the home of the last named. We 
noted it in the nursery of Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale 
Farm, Tottenham. 
-- 
The Latin name of Trillium, referring to the 
structure of the flow-er and plant, fits the family well, 
for it has only three leaves, sepals and petals. The 
ovary is three-celled, and the number of stamens is 
twice three. But "Benjamin's” specific name of 
erectum is not so well applied, for instead of standing 
erect the peduncle is usually nodding,giving to " Ben¬ 
jamin ” a thoughtful attitude. T. sessile and T. 
recurvatum, the other two best-known forms of 
purple Trilliums, are smaller in flower than T. 
erectum, and of a darker colour. They are also 
sessile upon the leaf-stem, while T. erectum has a 
peduncle 1 in. to 3 in. long. In cold, damp woods 
and bogs of New England, and southward among 
the higher Alleghanies, is found the pretty painted 
Trillium T. erythrocarpum. 
