January 25, 1896. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
337 
THE ROYAL NURSERY, EXETER. 
It must be admitted that mid-winter is the worst 
season of the year to visit any nursery or garden ; 
yet, to a gardener, is not the garden at this season of 
the year full af lively hopes and expectations for the 
coming summer? Every attention is given to the 
making of improvements, alterations and preparations 
of various sorts to insure a certain amount of fresh¬ 
ness and novelty for the coming season Circum¬ 
stances put Exeter in our way as recently as the 
30th ult., and, while visiting the ancient capital of the 
West, we availed ourselves of the opportunity of 
paying a visit to the nursery of Messrs Robert 
Veitch & Son, in the New North Road, Exeter. 
Time alone prevented us from likewise visiting the 
Exminster Nursery of this well-known firm, so we 
had to be satisfied on this occasion with an inspec¬ 
tion of the Royal Nursery. 
Choice Shrubs. 
The sides of the steep pathway leading up from the 
New North Road are charmingly fringed with 
Cotoneaster microphylla in berry and Hymenanthera 
crassifolia, a shrubby and evergreen member of the 
Viola family in robust health. Wide borders on 
either side are filled with choice Conifers in great 
variety, mixed with deciduous trees and shrubs. The 
Glastonbury Thorn was then in full leaf, and 
actually developing young foliage. It bore no 
flowers, but that might have been the result of hard 
cutting back last winter. Another instance of the 
mildness of the season was seen in the developing 
buds of the Exocorda grandiflora. Other noticeable 
subjects here are two large bushes of Notospartium 
Carmichaeliae, Indigofera gerardiana. Magnolia 
stellata flore pleno, a large plant of Carpenteria 
californica and Fremontia californica, 6 ft. to 8 ft. 
high. The two latter are thriving against a wall- 
Romneya Coulteri, the white tree Poppy, does 
splendidly here, and does not get hurt with frost in 
winter as in the suburbs of London. Vitis variabilis, 
otherwise known as Ampelopsis Veitchi, and Vitis 
tricuspidata, shows that Messrs. Veitch keep them¬ 
selves well posted up in the most recent determina¬ 
tion of names. 
Alpine and Herbaceous plants. 
Within the last few years the collections of these 
interesting and highly ornamental hardy subjects 
have been greatly augmented, a fact which bears 
ample testimony to the growing popularity and 
utility of the same. A rockwork of moderate 
pretensions affords the means of cultivating a large 
number of these Alpine gems, but the quantity and 
variety of the same grown in pots, plunged in ashes 
out of doors, are very great. Several frames are also 
entirely devoted to the choicer and more recent 
arrivals that are being cared for till they get 
established. All are kept scrupulously clean and 
wear an air of tidiness everywhere. 
It was pleasing to notice Schizostylis coccinea 
flowering in the opeD at the fag end of the year. 
Cyclamen Coum and C. ibericum were in the same 
interesting condition, and the foliage of C. 
hederaefolium aod that of Arum italicum were 
beautiful, and no doubt are so yet. The White 
Thrift (Armenia vulgaris alba), may be seen in 
plants collected on the Lp of a Scotch mountain. 
Hypericum repens is a neat and beautiful species 
with leaves like a Heath. Lithospermum petraeum 
and Alyssum spinosum are still interesting in their 
gray foliage. Choice also are Morrisia hypogaea, a 
golden gem in spring, Phlox Lindsayi, Sedum corsi- 
cum, Onosma tauricum, Scabiosa silenifolia, with 
foliage like a Globularia, Hutchinsia alpina, Acti- 
nella grandiflora, and Arenaria tetraquetra, the 
foliage of which is densely arranged in four-sided 
tufts. The pretty Omphalodes Luciliae was trying 
to flower. We noted some plants from Colorado in the 
shape of a species of Townsendia, Erigeron trimor- 
phae, and several others. The deliciously-scented 
Mentha RequieDi creeping over the ground reminds 
us of the scent of otto of Geranium, much refined. 
Very choice are Saxifraga burseriana, S. calyciflora, 
and S. sancta now pushing up for bloom. Collectors 
all appreciate such things as the Chatham Island 
Forget-me-Not, Senecio incanus, with hoary foliage, 
Hypericum Cor:is, Shortia galacifolia, Polygonum 
sphaerostacbyum, with its carmine heads of bloom in 
August and September, the beautiful blue Houstonia 
serpyllifolia and Gentiana bavarica, of which there 
are numerous healthy pieces. Draba tridentata, 
Arabis Pruiti, Ranunculus Macaulayi and An- 
drosace Leichtliiaii, with white flowers and a pink 
and yellow eye, all serve to show the richness of 
the collection. One the most interesting of Alpine 
plants, especially to tourists, is the Edelweiss 
(Gnaphalium Leontopodium) with its woolly leaves 
and flower heads (see illustration). Here also a 
collection of Opuntias and other Cacti of a relatively 
hardy nature may be seen. 
The rockery is replete with a very varied assort¬ 
ment of plants, only a few of which we can notice 
here. It may be stated, however, that Messrs. 
Veitch have constructed a large number of 
rockeries, caverns, ornamental lakes, and laid out 
parks and gardens in many public and private 
establishments in various parts of the country. All 
of this kind of work is entrusted to their landscape 
gardener, Mr. F. W. Meyer, a German artist from 
the Royal Horticultural College at Proskau, Silesia. 
He has been engaged at this kind of work for the firm 
for nearly twenty years, and has executed some excel¬ 
lent designs during that time. The accompanying 
illustration is one of them, and represents a portion of 
the Rockwork at “ Tredarvah,” Penzance, and 
which, as may be seen, is of a very bold character. 
On Messrs. Veitch's rockery we noted charming 
gray tufts of Saxifraga paradoxa and S. valdensis. 
S. apicularis, with white flowers, is one of the 
earliest, being in bloom at the time of our visit. S. 
retusa is another gem that flowers much later in 
spring. There are several species of Globularia 
with button-like blue flowers, including the tiny G. 
nana, hugging the ground. Dwarf evergreen sub¬ 
jects are Anthemis Ghiesbreghtii, Vella spinosa, 
Draba gigas, Veronica telephifolia, with sea-green 
leaves, Gentiana Clusii, the gray Anthemis mace- 
donica, and large tufts of Azalea procumbens car¬ 
peting the ground. The little-known Hedysarum 
multijugum thrives amazingly, producing drooping 
racemes of purple flowers in profusion during sum¬ 
mer. A rich harvest of seed was collected from the 
bushes last autumn. Nor must we overlook a beauti¬ 
ful Bellflower named Codonopsis (Glossocomia) 
clematidea, nor the evergreen tufts of the Spiny 
Thrift (Acantholimon glumaceum), growing upon 
the small rockwood. Both are represented on p. 335, 
and the last-named was prepared from one of Mr. 
Meyer's drawings. 
In one of the cold frames we noted a collection of 
twelve species of Androsace, including A. Chumbyi, 
forming curious gray tufts, A. pyrenaica, and many 
other choice gems of the mountains. Here also are 
located Arabis cenisia with white, and A. rosea with 
rose flowers; also Hypericum empetrifolia, Pole- 
monium humile, Lathyrus Sibthorpii, Erysimum 
Wallenbergii, Onosma albo-roseum, and the beautiful 
new Incarvillea Delavavi, which, unlike its better- 
known congeners, is perfectly deciduous, and pro¬ 
bably quite hardy. Parisian Extra Early Wall¬ 
flower is deliciously scented, aDd has been flowering 
for months past. For all practical purposes it is an 
annual, flowering the same season it is sown. 
Portion of Rockwork at "Tredarvah,” Penzance. 
Gnaphalium Leontopodium. 
