640 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
June 9, 1884. 
Coleworts, Cabbages, Savoys, and others 
also need attention, while main crops of 
Celery must have early note in the way of 
planting out, and copious water supplies 
until well established. It is a mistake to 
earth up Celery too early. Sow Spinach 
in three batches; one in July for early 
gathering, and one more in the middle of 
the two following months. Gardeners 
should look to their winter supply of vege¬ 
tables earlier than usual, and all should 
give greater attention in their first stages, 
particularly in avoiding overcrov/ding. 
-. 1 - —- 
Mr. Roderick Elphinstone, formerly of Chapel Field 
Gardens, died at his son's residence, Sprowston, 
Norwich, on the 29 th ult., aged 74 . 
Mr. D. Watt, for the last three and a half years 
gardener to Mrs. Pease, Willow Park, Booterstown, 
Co. Dublin, has been engaged as gardener at the 
Chief Secretary's Lodge, Phoenix Park, Dublin. 
Mr. J. McKenzie, late gardener to Lord Clonbrock, 
Clonbrock House, Ballinasloe, has succeeded Mr. 
Watt at Willow Park. 
Mr. Henry Whitelaw, for the last three years 
gardener to W. J. Talbot, Esq., Mount Talbot, 
Roscommon, has been engaged as gardener to Major 
St. Leger Moore, Killashee, Naas, Co. Kildare. 
Mr. J. Simpson, late gardener to Sir Roger Palmer, 
Bart., Kenure Park, Rust, Co. Dublin, has succeeded 
Mr. Whitelaw at Mount Talbot. 
Mr. James Beckett, gardener at Juniper Hill, 
Dorking, has been engaged by Sir. W. Pearce to 
succeed Mr. John McLean as gardener at Chilton 
Lodge, Hungerford. 
Mr. A. Young, until lately foreman to Mr. Hender¬ 
son at Balbirnie, Fife, has succeeded Mr. Iggulden 
as gardener at Marston House, Frome. 
Mr. A. Wallace, foreman at the Poles, Ware, has 
succeeded Mr. Alexander as gardener to E. S. Han- 
bury. Esq. 
Royal Botanic Society.—The special Floral Fete of 
this Society is fixed for June 2 oth, and the evening 
fete for July 4 th. 
Royal Horticultural Society.—The next meeting of 
the Royal Horticultural Society will be held in the 
Drill Hall, James Street, Victoria Street, West¬ 
minster, on Tuesday next, when special prizes are 
offered for the best new seedling Orchid and for 
single and double Pyrethrums. In connection with 
the Society's meeting the London Pansy Society and 
the revived Pink Society will both hold exhibitions 
of their respective specialties. At 3 p.m. Mr. George 
Nicholson, Curator of the Royal Gardens, Kew, will 
deliver a lecture on “ Flowering Trees and Shrubs." 
Veitch Memorial Medals. —At the afternoon meet¬ 
ing of the Royal Horticultural Society on Tuesday 
next. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart.,will, on behalf ofthe 
Veitch Memorial Trustees, present Veitch Memorial 
Medals to Col. R. Trevor Clarke, Messrs. G. Nichol¬ 
son, T. Francis Rivers, A. H. Kent, James Martin, 
and Charles Moore. 
The Market Gardeners Compensation Bill.—Market 
gardeners w’ill learn with interest that Sir Edward 
Lechmere's Bill, the objects of which are to give 
tenants of market gardens (i) power to remove 
glasshouses and other structures erected by them 
for the purpose of their business ; ( 2 ) compensation 
for fruit trees and other crops; and ( 3 ) power to 
remove fruit stocks, stands a very good chance of 
passing the House of Commons. It was read a 
second time on the 29 th ult., and referred to the 
Standing Committee on Trade to which it was 
announced on the 2 nd inst. Fifteen members had 
been added for its consideration. 
Royal Gardeners’ Orphan Fund. —At the meeting of 
the Committee on the ist inst. it was announced that 
the nett proceeds of the late dinner was about/ 450 , 
and cordial votes of thanks were accorded to the 
Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor for presiding, to the 
donors of flowers for the decoration of the dinner 
tables, and to other gentlemen who assisted in 
carrying out the arrangements for the dinner. Mr. 
W. G. Head handed in the sum of /2 4 s. 6 d. 
realised from the sale of bouquets exhibited by 
Messrs. Perkins & Sons, of Coventry, at the last 
Crystal Palace Show. 
The Flannel Flower —Occasionally dried flowers of 
this curious Umbellifer are sent home from 
Australia to friends in the old country. For some 
time past a specimen has been flowering in the 
temperate house at Kew. The leaves are bipinnate 
and not unlike those of a finely-cut leaved Pelargo¬ 
nium. The genus belongs to the same family as the 
Parsnip and Carrot of cultivation, as well as 
Astrantia and Eryngium. The beauty of the two 
latter is chiefly owing to the bracts that surround 
the head or umbel of flowers, and so it is in the 
case of the Flannel flower (Actinotus Helianthi). 
The flowers themselves are very small, creamy- 
white and form a dense head surrounded by 
numerous radiating cottony and white rays. It is 
no doubt owing to the cottony or woolly character of 
the latter that the popular name of Flannel Flower 
has been given. The plant is of herbaceous and 
perennial character, and in this country requires 
greenhouse treatment. 
Iberis Gibraltarica.—As a rule this does not survive 
the winter in the open air, but a patch of plants on 
the rockery in the gardens of the R.H.S. at 
Chiswick has evidently been there last year. The 
warm dry summer of last year was no doubt 
beneficial in ripening and hardening the wood. At 
present it is a mass of bloom, the buds being purple 
and the expanded blossoms white tinted with the 
palest lilac or occasionally purple. The stems are 
remarkably dwarf and much branched for the 
species. Thd deep green leaves are spathulate and 
fleshy like those of some maritime plants belonging 
to the same family. 
Achillea Ravennae. —The species of Achillea vary 
chiefly in the character of the leaves. Although 
there is a sameness in the flowers of a large propor¬ 
tion of them, the leaves, the habit of the plant, and 
its size contribute greatly to make up that variety, 
which makes a large number of species not only 
admissible but even desirable inmates of the garden. 
That under notice grows only about 6 in. high, and 
is furnished with an ascending tuft of spathulate, 
pinnatifid, or deeply-cut, hoary leaves. The flowers 
are produced in umbels and have short, broad, over¬ 
lapping rays that make them interesting and choice. 
The plant forms a tuft and is not inclined to overrun 
its neighbours. The central disc is creamy or gray 
and does not make that contrast seen for instance 
in the head of an Oxeye Daisy. Propagation may 
be readily effected by division or by cutting under a 
hand-light. As the stems are soft they soon emit 
roots. 
Rhododendron Fastuosum Flore-Pleno. — There 
is still a considerable number of the old hybrid 
Rhododendrons of the R. ponticum type that 
have not been excelled during the prst twenty or 
thirty years. New varieties continue to turn up, but 
they do not differ very strikingly from the old ones, 
with a few exceptions perhaps. That under notice 
is of the age mentioned at least, and is still a hand¬ 
some subject where it happens to get planted. It 
would be more properly termed semi-double than 
double, and is not spoilt in any way by overcrowding 
of the segments. The flowers are large, and when 
in bud are purple, but when they get fully developed 
they assume a beautiful clear bluish-purple, that is 
very handsome and effective even at a distance. 
The plant is a strong grower and makes a fine 
standard. ’When planted in beds or masses of other 
varieties it shows itself off to the best advantage 
when grown as a standard, so that its round and 
bushy head is best seen on all sides. It blooms 
most profusely, and the flowers last a long time in 
perfection. 
Rosa Sericea. —As far as we know this single wild 
Himalayan Rose has never been taken in hand by the 
hybridist. It has only four instead of five pure 
white petals, and would probably produce flowers of 
a different character from the improved types 
already in cultivation; but it is doubtful whether 
even the hybridist even could improve its beauty. 
The flowers are produced singly from the buds of 
the previous year's wood, but as they are often of 
considerable length the quantity of pure white 
blossoms on a plant is very great. The species is by 
no means common and used to be grown upon a wall 
only at Kew. Now it has been planted in the 
shrubbery, and proves that it will thrive admirably 
without any protection whatever. It is less formal 
in the bush state than when nailed upon a wall, and 
the long stems assume an arching or drooping 
position, thus showing off the blossom to the best 
adv 2 uitage. 
- m t m - 
HARDY HERBACEOUS PLANTS 
IN FLOWER. 
Asphodelus albus.— The stems of this bold but old 
fashioned border plant vary in height from 2 ft. to 
3 ft. according to soil and situation. They are 
unbranched, and bear a long raceme of flowers that 
commence expanding from the base upwards, thereby 
producing a succession for some weeks. The linear 
and keeled leaves occupy the most space, for the 
fleshy or semi-tuberous root-stock increases but 
slowly, and is quite hardy. The flowers are white 
with a greenish brown line to each segment. 
Aster alpinus.— 'While this is one of the earliest 
to flower of the Asters, it is also one of the dwarfest. 
The stems are remarkably strong for the size of the 
plant, and bear the solitary bloom erect. This latter 
measures one or two, sometimes three inches across, 
as in the variety A. a. speciosus. The rays are of a 
bright purple, and the disc golden. The variety A. 
a. albus, however, has white rays. All of the forms 
grow from qtn. to Sin. high, and are suitable for 
edging purposes or for cut flowers. They are 
perfectly hardy and easily cultivated. 
Iberis correaefolia.— Of the perennial species of 
Candytuft this is one of the latest to bloom and one 
of the most handsome of the hardy types. The 
flowers are large, pure white, and borne in a dense 
umbel which in a short time lengthens into a raceme 
of great solidity and beauty. The stems have 
spathulate leathery leaves, and spread upon the 
ground. It is a choice rock plant, but thrives in any 
moderately good garden soil. 
Erigeron aurantiacus.— This species was intro¬ 
duced from Turkestan in 1879 , and has found its way 
into many gardens, as well it might for it is a 
remarkably distinct plant, and the only one of the 
genus having orange flowers; the latter measure 
2 in. across on healthy strong growing plants. The 
leaves are mostly confined to a tuft upon the ground. 
In all respects the habit of the plant is closely similar 
to Aster alpinus, for which it would constitute a 
suitable companion. 
Erigeron mucronatus, —In this we have another 
early flowering species, which commences in early 
summer and continues growing and flowering till 
autumn. Popularly it is known as the New Holland 
Daisy, and has numerous small heads with white 
rays tipped with red or purpJe, and is not unlike a 
Daisy. The plant grows very freely, and can be 
propagated very rapidly by division or by cuttings of 
the unflowered shoots under a hand-light. 
Saxifraga MacNabiana.— The leaves of this 
garden plant are spathulate, and arranged in a dense 
rosette like those of S. Cotyledon, S. Aizoon, and 
others. The stems are usually about a foot high 
and bear a flat-headed cyme of large flowers. The 
petals are much broader than is customary in this 
class of plants and white, heavily spotted with deep 
purple, and therefore very ornamental. It is suit¬ 
able alike for the rockwork or the border. 
Geranium sanguineum lancastriense. —This 
is a dwarfer and, so to speak, a weaker growing 
plant than the type. The stems spread along the 
ground and keep on producing flowers so long as 
they lengthen. The petals are pink, beautifully 
netted with rose. The plant is easily propagated by 
division, and is well adapted for rockwork on 
account of its procumbent habit. There is nothing, 
however, to prevent its being grown in the front line 
of the herbaceous border. 
Gypsophila repens. —The stems of this species 
are much more slender than most of the cultivated 
members of the genus. They spread over the 
ground and are amply clothed with glaucous linear 
leaves. The flowers are of the palest pink or blush 
when in bud, but are pure white when expanded. 
The dwarf neat habit of the plant and its pretty 
appearance renders it suitable for rockwork. Pro¬ 
pagation may be affected by division in autumn or 
early in spring or by cuttings under a hand-glass in 
summer. 
Arenaria MONTANA.—A well-established plant of 
this produces such a quantity of flowers as to con¬ 
ceal the foliage, and the whole forms a patch about 
3 in. or 4 in. high. As the plant is a native of 
