February 1, 1890. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Helleborus Commerzienrath Banary. 
There are several garden forms of the Lenten Lilies 
with spotted flowers, and it may be noted that the 
spots are most prominently brought out where the- 
ground colour is white or exhibits the nearest approach 
to it. On the contrary, the spotting is more or less 
obscured in proportion to’ the density of the ground 
colour. In habit this garden sort claims affinity with 
H. orientalis, II. olympicus, and H. colchicus, inas¬ 
much as the shallowly cupped flowers are of that form, 
and the leaves are evergreen. The five sepals are 
imbricate, and arranged in a spiral manner, not on the 
same level. The two outer ones are of a pale greenish 
hue, while the three inner ones are white and closely 
spotted with dark purple all over the middle portion. 
It deserves a place in every collection of this beautiful 
and interesting class of plants. We noted it the other 
day in the nursery of Mr. T. S. Ware. 
Hyacinthus azureus. 
For rockwork this is a gem, and flowering as it does 
towards the end of January and in February constitutes 
a great recommendation to hardy plant lovers. It is 
a native of Asia Minor, and perfectly hardy in this 
country, but, as might be expected, the flowers are a 
little liable to get injured should severe frost follow 
upon a mild time. Of course when the winter is cold 
the flowers come later, and are less liable to injury. A 
situation sheltered from north and east winds should 
be chosen for it. The flower scapes are shorter than 
the leaves, and bear a conical mass of sky-blue flowers 
rising from 2 to 4 ins. above the surface of the soil. 
The lower flowers are oblong, and the upper ones 
campanulate, and all are darker along the mid-iib. It 
is also known as Muscati azureum. - 
—«■— 
Ground Laurel or Mayflower. 
The above names are applied to Epigiea repens, which 
under natural conditions flowers during the month of 
May, as indicated by the vernacular name of Mayflower. 
Strange to say, however, a plant which some growers 
have a difficulty in growing, may be had in flower 
during January by placing it in a pit with a gentle 
warmth, as might have been seen last week, or pre¬ 
viously, in the nuisery of Mr. Thomas S. Ware, 
Tottenham. There was a large pan of it, and the 
procumbent stems bore a crotvded cluster of flowers 
at the tip of each. In shape the flowers may be 
compared to those of a Daphne, and they are white, 
tinted with blush or pink, but darker out of doors, 
and give off a delicious aromatic odour. The leaves 
are heart-shaped, or the larger ones oblong heart-shaped, 
deep green, leathery, and hairy on both surfaces. Out 
of doors the plant must be grown in peaty soil, in a 
moist, somewhat shaded position. 
Sarracenia purpurea. 
The hardiest of all the Sarracenias is that here named. 
If planted in a bog-bed, or where the roots can be kept 
moist all the year round, the plant will outlive most of 
our winters in the open air without protection, and 
were the leaves deciduous instead of evergreen there 
would be no difliulty at all. The leaves spread at 
the base, and then grow erect, forming a tuft. The 
middle and upper portion is greatly inflated, with an 
open mouth forming the pitcher, which is surmounted 
with an erect lid, incurved at the sides. The pitchers 
are furnished with two longitudinal wings like those 
of the Nepenthes, but not fringed. To preserve the 
foliage during winter a handlight might be put over 
the plants. 
Cyclamen Coum. 
February and March are the months in which this 
old-fashioned little gem usually flowers, but the mild 
■weather of the past month had the effect of rousing it 
into activity. It is capable of producing a fine effect 
if planted in patches in sheltered nooks upon the 
rockery. The flowers are the smallest of the genus, 
but they expand at a season of the year when few com¬ 
petitors can take its place. The orbicular leaves are 
leathery, deep green above, purple beneath, and 
developed at the same time as the flowers. The latter 
are suspended mouth downwards from the tips of the 
flower stalks, and are of a clear pale rose, with a dark 
purple blotch at the base of each segment. The tuber 
or corin is perfectly hardy, and will live for many 
years in the same spot. All the protection necessary 
would be merely to protect the flowers from storms of 
wind and rain, owing to the early period at which they 
naturally make their appearance. 
Canarina campanula. 
The flowers of this plant are large, bell-shaped, 
drooping, and produced singly at the apex of branches 
that are given off from the main stem. They are of a 
purplish yellow hue, approaching orange, with numerous 
red veins, and are six-lobedat the mouth. Although a 
member of the Bellflower family, with blooms of the 
accustomed form, yet the general habit of the plant is 
strikingly different from that of a Campanula, with 
which we are so familiar. Inwardly the flower is of a 
more decided orange-red, with darker veins, and the 
large stigma is club-shaped and yellow. The root is 
tuberous, and requires a period of rest, much in the 
same way as do tuberous or bulbous plants generally. 
If grown in a cool house, it keeps flowering for a great 
part of winter. A suitable soil consists of loam, leaf- 
soil, well-rotted manure and sand in about equal 
proportions. 
-- >X< -- 
THE NATIONAL CHRYSANTHE¬ 
MUM SOCIETY. 
The annual meeting of this society was held on 
Monday evening last at Anderton’s Hotel, Mr. Ehvard 
Sanderson presiding, owing to the ill health of Mr. 
Holmes. Mr. Ballantine discharged the duties of 
secretary, and having read the minutes of the last 
annual meeting, which were confirmed, read the report 
of the committee and statement of accounts. The 
report, which was of a more exhaustive nature than 
usual, was of a most hopeful and gratifying character, 
giving details of the main features of the society’s work 
during the past year—a record of success achieved in 
all departments, and full of hope for the future. The 
statement of accounts showed the total receipts to be 
£871 10s. 8 d., the principal items in which were 
£226 19s. f \cl. received as annual subscriptions, 
£109 14s. donations and special prizes, £217 2s. lid. 
contributed by the Royal Aquarium Company’, £23 Us. 
affiliation fees, and £66 7s. for medals, certificates, 
&c., received from affiliated societies. The expenses 
amounted to £852 9s. lid., the principal item of 
which was the sum of £426 12s., which was awarded as 
prizes at the Aquarium and Hull Shows. The balance 
in hand was £19 Os. 9J. The adoption of the report 
and statement of accounts having been moved by Mr. 
Ballantine, and seconded by Mr. Rundle, was carried 
unanimously. The reserve fund invested in 2f per 
cent Consols was announced by the treasurer to be 
£100 19s. 9 d. A list of members whose subscriptions 
were in arrears to the total amount of £20 17s. 6 d. was 
read, and their names ordered to be erased from the 
roll. Mr. Ballantine also announced that the subscrip¬ 
tions to the Centenary Prize Fund amounted to 
£159 10s., and included four medals and £20 from 
the Yeitch Memorial Fund. 
The usual vote of thanks to the auditors having been 
accorded, the chairman moved the re-election of Lord 
Brooke, M.P., as president, which was seconded by Mr. 
Cannell, and carried by acclamation. The other officers 
then re-elected w’ere as follows: —Mr. Harling, as 
treasurer ; Mr. Ballantine, as chairman of the com¬ 
mittee ; Mr. Jukes, as vice-chairman ; Mr. Holmes, as 
honorary secretary and superintendent of shows; 
Mr. Harman Payne, as honorary foreign corresponding 
secretary ; and Mr. Crane and Mr. Robert Canned, as 
auditors. 
The meeting then proceeded to the election of twelve 
members of the committee in the place of those who 
retired by rotation, and the result of the pod proved to 
be in favour of Messrs. E. Sanderson, G. Stevens, W. 
E. Boyce, C. Gibson, G. Gordon, B. Wynne, R. Dean, 
J. Wright (Temple), H. J. Jones, J. Mardlin, J. H. 
Laing, and H. Crane. The next highest on the list, 
Mr. Briscoe-Ironsides, was elected to fill the place of 
Mr. Nichols, retired from the 1891 list. 
Three new members were elected, and the Sevenoaks 
and Taunton Chrysanthemum Societies were admitted 
into affiliation. On the proposition of Mr. Jukes, the 
meeting unanimously agreed to make Miss Holmes a 
present of the value of £10, as a slight recognition of 
the valuable clerical assistance rendered her brother 
during the past year in the conduct of the society’s 
affairs, and empowered the General Committee to pay 
such a sum as might be considered necessary for clerical 
assistance during the present year, in order to relieve 
Mr. Holmes of some, at least, of the heavy work that 
devolves upon him, and which it was felt had con¬ 
tributed much to his long-continued ill health. A 
cordial vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the 
business of the meeting. 
Q \ IV 
oi { 
SEASONABLE WORK IN THE 
GARDEN. 
Bedding Plants.—A list should be kept of the 
number of bedding plants of each sort that are likely 
to be required for filling up the allotted spaces in the 
flower garden. With such a list look over the plants 
in stock, and set about making good the deficiency. 
If the stock plants are brought into the pit for a short 
time to excite them a little, the cuttings will root all 
the more freely. 
Chrysanthemums.— Those who have not } T et got a 
sufficient supply for November and early winter work, 
should now put in the requisite number without delay. 
A cold frame to strike them in will answer the purpose 
admirably, and although it takes them longer time to 
form roots, the plants will come away all the more 
sturdy afterwards. 
Lilium auratum. —In potting batches of this fine 
Lily, a compost may be used consisting of fibrous loam 
and peat in equal proportions, with a quantity of well- 
rotted manure. Large bulbs may be put singly into 
6-in. or 7 in pots. After putting in a quantity of soil, 
place over it some silver-sand, then after putting the 
bulb in position cover with sand. 
Crotons. —Re-potting should be accomplished before 
growth nukes any headway. A good compost should 
consist of fibrous loam and peat in equal proportions, 
with plenty of silver sand. Pot firmly, and the young 
wood will be short jointed, the foliage consequently 
more closely arranged, and the latter will assume its 
deepest tints of colour. 
Palms. —No advantage is derived by giving Palms too 
big a shift. They, of course, require a larger amount 
of water in small pots, but that should be given in 
preference to over-potting. The foliage can be kept 
healthy and in good condition by occasionally apply¬ 
ing a pinch of som: gool artificial manure. The same 
soil will suit as is used for Crotons. 
Stove Temperature. —The days are now lengthening 
considerably, and the light is consequently much better 
than during the last three months. A higher temper¬ 
ature, then, becomes necessary, and the more especially 
after much potting has been done. The night temper¬ 
ature may now be allowed to run up to 65° in mild 
weather ; but should frost prevail, a few degrees lower 
will suffice. 
Bouvardias. —-Plants that were cut back should now 
be in a sufficiently forward state to supply cuttings in 
quantity. They are of slow growth in the early stages, 
and should therefore be struck without delay. It will 
also enable them to get rooted and potted off before 
the frame gets crowded with a host of subjects all 
requiring attention at once. If taken off with a heel 
of the old wood when about two inches in length, they 
will be of that firmness to prevent damping while a 
callus is being formed preparatory to the emission of 
roots. 
Peaches. —Disbudding should now be the order of 
the day in the house that was started in November. 
It is no advantage to allow the growth of wood and 
foliage that will afterwards have to be cut away. 
Keep the paths and other available surfaces well 
damped down two or three times a day. 
Melons. —Keep the plants growing by supplying 
fresh manure, forming the linings rounl the frames. 
Ventilate a little on favourable occasions to counteract 
the evil that is likely to ensue from an excess of 
moisture in the atmosphere arising from the manure. 
Wnere a large supply of fruit is required, it is well to 
make a fresh sowing from time to time, so as to secure 
a succession of plants. 
Cucumbers. —Well-established plants may be urged 
on more rapidly by allowing the temperature to rise to 
65°, or even 70° by night in mild weather; the day 
temperature may even be higher with sun-heat than on 
dull days—say, from 80° to 90’, with a little ventilation 
at the top to prevent weak, spindly growth. Plants in 
bearing should be supplied pretty freq lently with weak 
liquid manure at the same temperature as that of the 
house. 
Oranges. —Houses where the trees are in bloom 
should be kept at a temperature of 55° to 60° by night,’ 
allowing a good rise with sun-heat during the day. 
The produce will ripen in October next and be of good 
flavour. Artificial fertilisation should be employed, 
and the atmosphere kept dry for a time. 
Strawberries.— The temperature should be raised 
in houses where the fruit is set and advancing. Those 
in bloom should be kept cooler, with a drier atmosphere 
during the middle of the day. When watering be 
careful not to wet the leaves or flowers. Nor should 
