84 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 7, 1898. 
BEGONIAS AT 
FOREST HILL. 
It may seem late in the year to speak of tuberous 
Begonias, but they are never really out of season 
from the time they commence to bloom in 
March till' the short, foggy days of November de¬ 
stroy the flowers. We cannot expect to see the old 
plants at their best in October, but they still bear a 
large quantity of bloom and buds, showing the 
characteristics of each kind. This year’s seedlings, 
however, are now at their best, or will be in a fort¬ 
night's time if the present mild weather continues. 
Then we are practically in a position to prophesy the 
possibilities of next year, as far as the new kinds are 
concerned. In the Messrs. Laings’ nursery 
great attention is paid to the crossing and 
raising of meritorious double varieties, and so 
great has been the advance that it is difficult 
to see what farther advances can be made 
or to prophesy the ultimate destiny of this glorious 
race of garden plants. The race is so full of possi¬ 
bilities, however, that it would be futile to pretend 
to foresee what fine things it will yet develop. We 
are still waiting for a blue Begonia, but are afraid 
it hangs back in dismay at the ready-made and 
withering reception the critics have prepared for it. 
Double Varieties. 
The number of these, both named and nameless, is 
now very great in spite of the annual weeding out 
that has obtained for years past and is still in active 
progress. Only the very choicest are retained 
and propagated after a year or two. Duke of 
York has deep rose flowers, lighter in the centre, 
and petals of great substance, and resembles 
a large rose when at its best. Princess May is 
the largest double white, and is of Camellia 
shape with flat petals. A^first-class variet}' also is 
the Duke of Grafton, with salmon-rose, wavy petals 
arranged round a single centre. Lottie Collins has, 
perhaps, larger flowers of a paler shade, carried 
erect on stiff footstalks. Old Gold has been very 
popular with growers, and has golden yellow flowers 
with paler guard petals well carried up above the 
dark green foliage. The creamy yellow flowers of 
Princess Christian are of Hollyhock form with broad 
creamy guards. The chrome yellow, compactly 
arranged petals of Mrs. Regnart are twisted or 
waved about in a peculiar manner in the centre. 
The deep red flowers of Farini have broad guard 
petals and are carried well above the foliage. 
Laing’s Rosebud will maintain its position for many 
years on account of its rosy-pink flowers and beauti¬ 
ful form as indicated by the name. Very large and 
attractive are the wavy-petalled and salmon-scarlet 
flowers of Lady Brooks. Equally meritorious are the 
huge, blush-white flowers of Lady Dorrington with 
slightly wavy petals. 
So well-known is the robust and floriferous 
character of Duchess of Teck that it hardly needs 
description. The same may be said of the brilliant 
scarlet Henshaw Russell ; and both of them fre¬ 
quently make their appearance in groups at public 
exhibitions. The latter has been flowering since 
March. The silver-pink and huge flowers of Beauty 
of Belgrove are very charming, but, owing to their 
drooping character, the plant would display its 
beauty to the best advantage when grown in baskets. 
The carmine-rose flowers of Lady Grimthorpe re¬ 
present one of the richest shades of its class. The 
beautiful shape of the salmon-rose and wavy petaled 
flowers of Duke of Fife place the variety in the first 
rank of handsome kinds. T he huge flow'e.rs of Baron 
Schroder are of the Hollyhock form and brilliant 
scarlet. The ascending petals of Lady Dunsany 
are arranged round a single centre, and, being cf a 
deep salmon-pink, mark the variety as a beautiful 
one. Equally choice are the apricot-yellow flowers 
of Lady Theodora Guest, with broad, imbricated 
and slightly wavy petals. The crimson-scarlet 
flowers of Sir Trevor Lawrence resemble those of a 
Rose, particularly when about half expanded. The 
huge, salmon-pink and much crimped flowers of 
Baroness Burdett-Coutts are perfectly gorgeous. 
Rich and handsome are the rosy-crimson flowers of 
the new variety Duchess of York, in shape like those 
of a Camellia. Stanstead Gem has bright, fiery 
scarlet flowers of great size. 
Amongst the above are several very fine varieties 
of good form and pleasing colours that are still 
waiting for a name. Even this favour may be 
denied them when this year's seedlings come to 
clamour for that distinction in 1894, after having 
had time to develop and perfect their promising 
flowers. About 3,000 double-flowered seedlings 
have been lifted from the open ground, potted up 
and placed under glass- to be safe from early frost 
during any emergency. All of them have been 
selected with great care from an acre of ground 
planted with double varieties, so that something 
good may be expected from them next year. In 
making the selection, new colours and fine form as 
well as habit have been kept in view. We noted 
some in which the basal half of the petals was 
yellow and the rest scarlet. No names being yet 
attached to the.-n we can only give an indication of 
the colours, such as bronzy-apricot, pure white, 
brilliant scarlet, salmon-red, crimson-scarlet, prim¬ 
rose-yellow', deep amber, new shades of orange, 
white tinted with primrose-yellow, fiery scarlet, 
salmon-pink, warm-rose with broad petals, blush- 
white with a pink wire edge like a Picotee, and 
carmine. All of the above are of great promise. 
We also noted a creamy-white variety of regular 
Camellia form, and there are numerous instances of 
this advanced type in the collection. A pale salmon 
variety is more or less spotted with white. Another 
with huge rose flowers and several centres is notable 
for the stiff character of its flower stalks. Curious 
and pretty is that with deep salmon flowers and 
having a reddish purple centre when young. The 
same may be said of a yellow sort with the apical 
half of the petals white. Some are notable for the 
depth of their flowers, including rosy-carmine and 
deep orange-red varieties. The latter has its wavy 
petals arranged round a single centre. 
Single Varieties. 
The stems of Miss Alice de Rothschild are -very 
strong, and the deep golden-yellow flowers are the 
largest of their kind. Mr. Wm. Miller has dark 
crimson-scarlet and circular flowers. Somewhat 
novel is that named Sunbeam, with white flowers 
delicately tinted with blush and deepening to rose 
on the base of the inner petals. The grandest of 
all the single white varieties is Laing’s Fringed 
White, pure in colour, perfectly circular, of great 
size, fringed and goffered at the margin. Several 
seedlings have been raised from it all more or less 
fringed, and some of them even of a purer white, 
like fine linen that has been bleached with indigo. 
Duchess of Leinster has deep bronzy-orange flowers, 
and is one of the finest of its kind. Another fine 
white is Lady Roberts. One of the fancy types is 
Duchess of Westminster, with a white centre and a 
broad, deep carmine border; others of the same 
type have a scarlet border. Though an old variety, 
Her Majesty, with huge white flowers and pink edges, 
is still very choice. Miss Jekyll has bronzy-orange 
flow’ers. A very distinct and novel type is Laing’s 
Rival, with deep salmon flowers and an ivory w'hite 
border to the two inner petals. When all the petals 
become edged in this way the new type may be con¬ 
sidered perfectly established, and would certainly be 
an acquisition. The flowers of Sir J. Blundell 
Maple are crimson-scarlet, but are peculiar in being 
tinted with purple so as to form a zone in the centre. 
A very floriferous race of varieties especially 
adapted for basket work has been evolved. One of 
them with brilliant, dark crimson flowers, and 
named Crimson Floribunda, is notable for the 
number of flowers it will produce on a cyme. They 
vary from three to fifteen, and all of uniform size. 
The reason for this uniformity, as well as the 
unusual number of flowers on a stalk, is probably 
explained by the fact that the flowers are almost 
without exception males, only one female now 
appearing on the plant. Rose, white, and yellow 
flowered pendulous varieties have been obtained, 
and all are characterised by their pendulous and 
floriferous character. They are very effective when 
suspended so as to be on a level with the eye or even 
above it. They have been flowering all the season. 
Unnamed seedlings are very numerous and equally 
meritorious as those that have been honoured in 
that respect. They have large circular flowers of 
good substance, exhibiting deep Nankin-yellow, 
pale primrose, orange-yellow, and numerous other 
shades. 
Open Air Culture. 
Two acres are grown all in one place and the ground 
is equally occupied by single and double kinds. 
The latter especially are very dwarf, and could 
hardly be expected to be otherwise considering the 
remarkably dry season which we have had. Within 
the last fortnight, how’ever, they have gained ground 
in a surprising manner, and should the weather 
remain mild and without frost for another fortnight 
they must present a grand appearance, for they are 
bristling with flowers and buds in all stages of 
development. The double kinds, even after the 
3,ooq of the best hax-e been lifted and potted up, 
still abound with very choice types, and amply 
demonstrate what fine things may now be expected 
from a packet of seed saved from a good strain of 
doubles. They hold their flowers well above the 
foliage. It would be purposeless to attempt a 
description of their colours seeing that it has 
already been done in the case of the selected ones. 
Many well formed and Camellia-shaped flowers may 
still be detected amongst them of many shades of 
colour. 
The single varieties are planted in masses of a 
colour in large beds, each containing about 5,000 
plants, running across the whole width of the ground. 
There are eight beds of yellow sorts, four of rose, 
five of crimson-scarlet, six of white, five of pink, five 
of scarlet, six of crimson, and three of salmon, etc. 
There is no better way of showing Begonias off to 
advantage for the adorment of gardens than in 
planting the kinds together in masses of a colour. 
When other subjects are grown with them they 
should be selected so as to harmonise as far as 
colour is concerned, not injudiciously mingled 
together so as to produce glaring contrasts of colour 
that offend the eye. 
- •i- - 
BLACK HAMBURGH GRAPES. 
A MOST successful cultivator of grapes, when writing 
in favour of the Black Hamburgh, was told that 
September was out of season for this highly 
esteemed variety, and the reply was, "The more’s 
the pity.’’ At that time the writer referred to had 
this kind in quantity to supply, along with Muscat of 
Alexandria and others, dessert for his noble em¬ 
ployer’s table right up to the end of the year—and 
they were more like Gros Colman for size than the 
variety named. I have seen many Black Ham¬ 
burgh’s tabled this season for competiiion, and 
while judging them in many cases have felt strongly 
tempted to withhold the awards, none being fit to be 
shown at all. 
At Edinburgh, where so many fine grapes were 
exhibited, there were none of the examples in proper 
form—even our friend Kirk’s splendid bunches had 
much of the colour taken out of them by having 
been hanging exposed to the sun—and the others 
exhibited alongside of them were scarcely recog¬ 
nisable, being so small in bunch and berry and 
otherwise shabby. There is little credit in growing 
large bunches and large berries of Gros Colman, 
Gros Moroc, Alicantes, and other second and third, 
rate varieties as compared with Black Hamburgh 
and Muscat Hamburgh, but the art of growing these 
two first-rate varieties seems almost to have become 
extinct. Many of the younger exhibitors surely 
have never in their lives seen first-rate Black Ham¬ 
burgh. If they have one would suppose that they 
would not make a burlesque on exhibition tables by 
exhibiting such poor examples as I have seen and 
judged during the past season.— StirUiig. 
CARNATION PRIDE OF 
GREAT BRITAIN. 
This Carnation might be described as the King cf 
Yellows, for it certainly leaves all others far behind, 
as far as size is concerned, and the colour is a beauti¬ 
ful, clear, and bright yellow. The crown buds of well- 
grown plants measure over 4 in. across, and there¬ 
fore rival those of the Malmaison type, and has been 
described as the Yellow Malmaison. The leaves, 
however, show that it does not belong to the same 
race, although the plant is equally vigorous in con¬ 
stitution. It is a grand acquisition to grow in com¬ 
pany with the Malmaison kinds for winter, spring 
and summer w’ork. Justice can only be done to it 
under the same kind treatment; but its vigour 
enables it to be grown to great perfection in the 
open border, where it will no doubt find many culti¬ 
vators and admirers in the near future. We have 
on several occasions seen its magnificent flowers, and 
have great hopes for it in due time. It has already 
received four First-class Certificates and an Award 
of Merit. We are indebted to Mr. T. S. Ware, 
Tottenham, for an opponunity of illustrating it. 
