November 30, 1889. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
203 
limited. By this means the value of a collection may 
be extended, and instead of merely allowing the space 
to be occupied by herbaceous plants generally, simply 
because they require little care in their management, 
and serve to fill the borders at little expense compared 
with summer bedding subjects, the borders may be 
made the most attractive part of the garden. They 
offer endless variety from early spring till late in 
autumn, and even the winter season is not entirely 
barren. Another point in their favour is that they are 
gay, and furnish a supply of cut flowers even in cold 
and wet seasons, when the occupants of the beds in 
the so-called summer flower garden are dull, rubbishy 
and flowerless, or almost so. In making arrangements, 
the taller kinds should occupy the back lines, and the 
dwarfer ones the front; and although perfect regu¬ 
larity in this respect need not be rigidly adhered to, 
yet it may be approximately so. 
Shrubbery Borders. 
Here, as elsewhere, monotonous regularity need not 
prevail in having the plants all perfectly graduated, 
but there is beauty in some arrangement, and on all 
occasions the choke-muddle shrubbery, so often seen 
in neglected gardens, should be avoided. One half of 
the plants are allowed to grow over and choke the 
other so that the coarser kinds ultimately get the 
mastery, to the destruction of the choicer slow-growing 
species. All this can be remedied by timely, judicious 
and intelligent pruning. This should be done with 
the knife, not the garden shears, which gives to every¬ 
thing an even and mop-headed appearance, that is 
simply painful to behold, and certainly evidence of bad 
taste. The evergreen and the deciduous kinds should 
be well mixed, except in places where the former are 
wanted to make a screen in winter as well as summer, 
in order to hide or shut out from view some objectionable 
object. Every plant should stand clear of its neighbour 
either by thinning out to the requisite distance, or by 
the removal of branches that have exceeded the limits 
of the space at their disposal. It may be necessary 
sometimes in removing some to transplant others, in 
order to get them into the most suitable positions. 
Protecting Tender Plants. 
The protection frequently given to plants is often in 
excess of the requirements, causing them to become 
really more tender than they ought to be. This is 
what happens when thick mats, straw, or other covering 
is tied over anything and left there the whole winter, 
whether mild or severe, thus excluding light and air. 
Plants that are nearly hardy should be protected only 
when the weather becomes very severe. For the pro¬ 
tection of dwarf shrubby plants, such as China or Tea 
Eoses or Euonymus, a quantity of dry bracken should 
always be at hand to throw over them in very severe 
weather, to be removed again when mild. 
-- 
fARDENING MISCELLANY. 
Parentage of Veronica fairfleldiensis. 
"With reference to the description and illustration of 
this garden hybrid, which appeared in your number 
for July 6th last, I may say that the seed parent was 
Veronica Lavandiana, one of the neatest and most 
distinct of the tribe—an Alpine plant from 4 ins. to 
6 ins. in height, spreading, with small, round, crenate 
leaves. The flower-stem is about 6 ins. high, and the 
spike is compressed like a corymb of Hawthorn, the 
colour being of a pretty shade of lilac. There was a 
plant of V. Halkeana about 30 yards off, and I suspect 
that insects had something to do with the stalwart 
progeny of so humble a plant a3 the seed parent. We 
have about forty varieties, some of them being of great 
beauty, but I have no idea of what sorts have been 
already introduced into Europe. Some are much more 
hardy than others.— TV. Martin, Fairfield Nursery, 
Otago, New Zealand. 
Rhododendron arboreum limbatum. 
Many fine hybrids have been produced in this country 
between R. arboreum, the North American E. Cataw- 
biense, and the common R. ponticum. The great 
difficulty with them is their inclination to flower early 
when planted out of doors, and their liability to have 
the blooms destroyed. It seems, however, that some 
of the forms, whether hybrids or varieties, are really 
more hardy than they get the credit for. We are in 
receipt of some fine trusses of the above variety from 
Mr. J. Friend, The Rook’s Nest, Godstone, where a 
fine collection of Rhododendrons of various sections is 
grown in a natural valley, well moistened with a 
running stream, and sheltered by tall trees. Here even 
R. indicum, or the common greenhouse Azalea, lives 
and flowers, together with several Himalayan species, 
amongst which are some very tall specimens of forms of 
R. arboreum. The unusual mildness of the season has 
already brought R. a. limbatum into bloom. The 
flowers individually are large, with a warm rose-coloured 
limb, fading almost to white in the throat, with a 
blood-red blotch at the veiy base. On first expansion, 
the rose hue of the lamina is very intense. The leaves 
are of a rich dark green above, and felted with a short 
rusty pubescence beneath. The flowers were as fresh 
as they might be in May. 
The Naked-flowered Jasmine 
Simultaneously with the return of the winter season 
come the flowers of Jasrainnm nudiflorum, which owes 
both its popular and scientific title to the fact that the 
flowers expand only after the leaves have fallen. The 
flowering season may be described as extending over 
the whole of the winter, and it depends wholly upon 
the weather as to when the greatest display of bloom 
will be produced. It is nothing unusual to have the 
display at Christmas, but the unwonted mildness that 
has prevailed during the greater part of the last and 
present month has made the plants already quite gay. 
If used as a covering for walls the leading branches 
should be nailed up, allowing the rest to droop or hang 
naturally, and from these a great display of bloom will 
be obtained. To keep the wall tidy, the lateral 
branches should be pruned away as soon as possible 
after flowering is over, so that the new growth may 
develop early, ripen, and plump up the flower buds. 
Jasminum gracillimum. 
This fine stove trailing plant is really worth all the 
attention that may be bestowed upon it, for the quantity 
of pure white flowers that it will yield at the present 
time of the year and onward till about February. 
AYhen well exposed to the light, in a good sharp stove 
heat, the smallest shoots will flower, and the clusters 
of starry-like blooms are exceedingly useful, either for 
table decorations or bouquet work. It is essentially a 
lady’s flower, and is much sought after by those who 
are acquainted with its delicate perfume and graceful 
appearance. The greatest drawback to the cultivation 
of this and many other Jasmines is, that they drop 
their flowers so very soon after opening, and a long 
time before they show signs of discoloration. This 
evil may be remedied by some floral cement being 
dropped into the calyx of the flower just as the truss is 
expanding. It appears to thrive well planted out in 
the stove and trained to wires under the roof, where it 
can get all the light possible, using the syringe freely 
during the growing season. I noticed a plant loaded 
with flowers, planted out in the stove at Huntroyde 
Park, Lancashire, a few days ago, and I have concluded 
that planting out is the best way of growing this fine 
species. — TV. G. 
Impatiens Hawkeri. 
This subject has not been one of the most successfully 
grown since its introduction to the plant growers of 
this country. AYhen exposed to too much sun and 
heat, the foliage has assumed a rusty and diseased 
appearance, which has caused growers to look upon it 
with disfavour. It is evidently as a winter-flowering 
intermediate-house plant that we must look for this 
Balsam to produce for us the best results. At this 
time of the year, too, its flowering qualities will be 
more appreciated than they otherwise would be from 
summer or autumn-flowering plants. I have found 
that it succeeds best when grown in a cool house, where 
the direct rays of the hot summer sun do not fall 
upon it. In such a position it makes free and clean 
growth, without the appearance of any disease, and 
may be grown to almost any size by October from 
cuttings rooted in the spring months. It should be 
planted in an open compost, and receive an abundance 
of water whilst growing freely. If this plan be followed 
out, I. Hawkeri will prove a useful winter-flowering 
plant, and form a distinct and attractive addition to the 
already too few intermediate-house subjects for winter 
work.— TV. G. 
The Poisonous Primula obconiea. 
I have read with interest the correspondence with 
regard to this useful and beautiful plant, and hope 
that it may still be grown with freedom, and not be 
banished altogether from cultivation. I have been 
troubled in the same manner as your correspondent 
“A, B.” (p. 156), my eyes having been affected, but 
not to such an extent as to completely close them ; my 
hands and arms to the elbows have been greatly 
inflamed, and the itching has been so bad that I have 
often had to bathe them in hot water, the only thing 
which afforded relief. I have tried a chemist and 
doctor, but to no purpose, the itching and inflammation 
was just as bad after using their washes, &e., as before. 
It was in September, 1883, that I was first affected in 
this manner, and the inflammation has never left my 
hands since ; the itching has stopped for a time, but 
has been brought on again after handling the plants. 
I am very glad to see it is suggested that the plant 
should be analysed, and I hope the matter will not 
rest here, but be continually brought forward until 
someone who is able may give us an antidote. I may 
observe, that my eyes have been affected if touched 
(but to a much less degree) when working on Primula 
sinensis.—/’., Kelso. 
Plants in Schools. 
I feel that a few remarks would not be out of place 
concerning the advantages that it would give to our 
little ones if they had the opportunity of studying the 
cultivation of some of our old favourite window plants 
in the earliest stages of their life. I do not think that 
there is any calling in life which can give a lover of 
nature so much pleasure as the study of the different 
changes that take place in the early stages of plant 
life. AVhat pleasure it gives a true lover of flowers to 
grow a few nice varieties of Fuchsia or Tropaeolum, 
for instance, the training of the Canary Creeper on a 
blank wall, a few Convolvuluses, or any other creeping 
plant of this kind ! There is no telling what it might 
do towards affording delightful pleasure in after life. 
I may mention a few more plants that do very well for 
winter and spring decoration—viz , Primula obconiea, 
Cyclamen persicum, and Cytisus racemosus. Most of 
these can be had at a very cheap rate of many of our 
nurserymen. A few pots of bulbs are very interesting 
when grown as window plants, such as Snowdrops, 
Crocuses, Scillas, Narcissus, Tulips, Hyacinths, and 
several others .—A Constant Reader. 
Shamrock Pea. 
Such is the popular name given to Parochetus 
communis, one of the great Pea family inhabiting the 
temperate Himalayas. The stems are prostrate, and 
ramble over the soil, sometimes to a considerable dis¬ 
tance, forming with the foliage a green carpet from 
which the lively blue flowers arise. The leaves consist 
of three leaflets, greatly resembling those of a Clover, a 
fact, no doubt, which has suggested the popular name. 
The leaflets are traversed irregularly with a purplish 
brown line near the base, resembling the markings seen 
on some of the Clovers, but more especially some 
species of Medicago as well as Oxalis ; so that whether 
the true Shamrock is considered to be a Trifolium or 
Oxalis Acetosella, we have in Parochetus communis a 
plant not inaptly compared to a Shamrock. The 
flowers are large and solitary, or produced two or three 
together, and have a light blue standard with a much 
darker keel. The plant might be more frequently 
grown in rockeries than it is. AVhere grown, it may 
still be seen in bloom. It should be planted where 
there is room to form a good patch, and where the 
roots can be kept moist during the summer months. 
Saxifraga lutea purpurea. 
The usual time for this species to flower is spring, but 
the mildness of the autumn months has had the effect of 
bringing it into bloom at this unseasonable time. It 
may be seen in the hardy plant house at Kew, where it 
will receive the necessary protection so that its beauty 
may be enjoyed. Cultivation in pots, and the shelter 
of a frame, may have something to do with its flowering 
now ; .but the occurrence shows that it might be grown 
intentionally for the purpose of an autumn display, 
when flowering plants that may be used in such a 
structure are comparatively scarce. The foliage is pro¬ 
duced in small and dense rosettes, the latter being 
aggregated in dense, deep green, cushion-like tufts, 
something after the style of S. sancta or S. Rocheliana 
coriophylla, lut, if anything, of a brighter green. The 
bright lemon-j ellow flowers are produced in heads or 
clusters on the top of leafy stems not exceeding 2 ins. 
or 3 ins., and when they are opened in quantity a bright 
effect is produced. The species is a native of the 
Pyrenees, and is burdened with a number of synonyms, 
of which S. Frederici-Augusti is the most common in 
gardens. 
