Oct. 4th, 1884. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
77 
FLOWER SEEDS FOR AUTUMN 
SOWING. 
Anyone visiting the Woking Nurseries of Mr. 
Anthony Waterer during the time the Rhododendrons 
are in flower, will see there some of the most glorious 
Esehscholtzias ever looked upon. Mr. Waterer makes 
a great pet of them. He sows in autumn, the plants 
grow into large size and become thoroughly rooted 
into the ground during winter and spring, and in early 
summer they bloom with marvellous beauty. E. crocea, 
E. rosea, and E. mandarin, are all well worthy of 
being sown in August and September, or even later. 
Other good annuals are Bartonia aurea, yellow ; Core¬ 
opsis coronata, yellow; and C. tinctoria, yellow and 
brown ; the dark crimson and the white rocket Candy¬ 
tufts ; Collinsia bicolor, purple and white ; and C. 
violaeea, violet; Erysimum Perofskianum, yellow; 
Eutoca viscida, a rich dark blue annual, deserving to 
be much better known ; Gillia tricolor, white; and 
G. rosea splemdens, rose ; Godetia the Bride, white 
and crimson; Limanthes Douglassi, white and 
yellow ; Lupinus nanus, blue and white ; Mignonette ; 
Nemophila insignis, blue; and N. maculata, white 
and purple; Sweet Peas, in variety; Saponaria cala- 
brica, rose ; Silene pendula, pink, and its white variety ; 
and the fine violet-coloured Whitleya grandiflora. 
Here, then, is a list of good hardy annuals, varied in 
colour and habit, and all very showy in spring and 
summer. Now, if anyone would see hardy annuals 
in perfection during early summer, they should pay 
a visit to Messrs. Carter & Co.’s Seed Grounds at 
Dedham or St. Osyth; or Messrs. Sutton & Sons, at 
Reading. At these places annuals are carefully sown 
in well-tilled and manured ground, the result being 
vigorous plants and large and brilliant flowers. 
In spring, when annuals are generally sown, it is 
a time when there is a great press of work in the 
garden, and the seeds are sown thickly in ill-prepared 
ground, and very little cared for afterwards. Is it 
any wonder the result is poor and unsatisfactory ? In 
autumn, more time and attention can be given to the 
operation. Then the ground can be deeply dug ; the 
seeds sown thinly and leisurely, and the plants care¬ 
fully thinned out as required; the plants send their 
roots deeply into the soil and blossom gloriously by- 
and-bye. Do not be afraid to thin out annuals. Four 
or six well-developed plants, with space enough to 
display them individually, are better than two dozen 
attenuated specimens so crowded together that they 
have no chance of doing themselves justice. Sow 
thinly, thin out courageously, but carefully. Support 
such as need it with twigs and branches, or, if neces¬ 
sary, stakes, and the result will be the scoring of a 
success that will well repay labour and attention.— 
R. D. 
GARRYA ELLIPTICA. 
Hardy winter-flowering plants are not with us a 
very numerous class, and few amongst them have a 
more pleasing effect than this graceful species, when 
loaded with its clusters of long pendulous yellowish- 
green catkins. It is a native of Northern California, 
whence it was introduced to this country in 1828 by 
Mr. David Douglas. The male plant flowered, for 
the first time in this country, in October 1834, in the 
garden of the Horticultural Society. In the following 
year it was figured in The Botanical Register (tab. 
1686) by the late Dr. Lindley. It is a handsome 
evergreen bush, and in its native country is said to 
attain a height of 5 to 8 ft. The leaves are elliptical, 
often somew'hat acute or mucronulate, very coriaceous, 
dark green above, and densely clothed with greyish 
tomentum beneath. The sexes are borne upon 
distinct plants. The male catkins are from 4 to as 
much as 8 in. long in vigorous specimens, with 
numerous yellowish-green flowers, from the axils of 
comparatively large, greyish hairy bracts. The 
female catkins are shorter, rarely exceeding 3 in. 
long, and very similar, excepting in the flowers. 
The male flowers contain four stamens, the females 
a very hairy ovary with two slender styles; both 
sexes have four calyx-segments, but the petals are 
entirely absent. Though somewdiat technical, still 
it is essential to note these differences, as we shall 
presently see. The male is of the two the more 
handsome plant, and is well-known in cultivation. 
The female is much rarer, and still more rarely 
produces fruit with us. The accompanying illustra¬ 
tion is taken from a fruiting-spray, kindly forwarded 
to us by Mr. Douglas, who obtained the specimen at 
Bodnant Hall, in North Wales. The fruits are 
purple-brown in colour, on the side exposed to the 
sun, slightly tomentose, and contain one or two very 
dark brown seeds. They do not appear to have been 
previously figured. 
The tree is perfectly hardy, in the south at least, 
though the catkins, which are usually produced from 
November to February, are sometimes damaged by 
frost. It may be grown in bush form or as a standard, 
but is most effective as a wall or pillar plant. It 
thrives best in a loamy soil, and when trained on a 
wall or pillar the breast-wood should be well shortened 
back when the catkins are over and before growth 
commences. The new growths will then ripen and 
bear catkins in due season, after which they should 
be again shortened as before. Propagation is best 
effected by layering. When seeds are matured they 
should be sown in a frame, and in this manner plants 
of both sexes will be produced. 
GARRYA ELLIPTICA : A FRUITING-SPRAY. 
The affinities of the plant for a long time remained 
very doubtful. Dr. Lindley described it as the greatest 
botanical curiosity in all the collections of Mr. Douglas, 
and proposed for it a new Natural Order, which he 
called Garryacese. The proper position of this new 
order was by no means clear. Dr. Lindley thought 
it most allied to Cupulifer®, the Oaks and Hazels ; 
and more remotely to Piperace®, the Pepper Family; 
Urtieacese, the Nettle Family ; and Gnetaceae, a curious 
order, containing the remarkable Welwitschia mira- 
bilis, and most allied to Conifer®. From all of these 
orders, however, it differs in several essential char¬ 
acters. For a long time the genus enjoyed the honour 
of a Natural Order all to itself, its true affinities being 
entirely overlooked, but at length it was deprived of 
this honour. 
In the Genera Plantarum of Messrs. Bentham & 
Hooker it has been placed in Cornaceie, next to the well- 
known genus Aucuba. This position may at first sight 
seem peculiar, but there is little doubt it is the true 
one. Garrya and Aucuba are the only two genera in 
the order with the sexes borne on distinct plants, 
together with opposite leaves. Nor are the differences 
between these two genera very great except in habit; 
Aucuba has flowers in panicles, Garrya in spikes or 
racemes; Aucuba has four small petals, while in 
Garrya they are suppressed; Aucuba has always a 
solitary ovule, while Garrya has often two ovules. 
Lastly, the native country is very different; Aucuba 
occurs in China, Japan, and the Himalayas; Garrya 
in California, Mexico, and the West Indies. A con¬ 
firmation of these indications comes in a curious and 
perhaps very unlooked-for way, viz., in the fact that 
Garrya elliptica can be successfully grafted on the 
Aucuba. In the Revue Horticole for 1859 (p. 202) 
this interesting fact is very clearly set forth by M. 
Carriere, who again calls attention to the fact in I860 
(p. 238). The experiment has since then been success¬ 
fully carried out in England. Instances of grafting 
between different genera are well known, but in all 
cases the genera have been closely allied. 
Mr. Douglas informs us that the plant from which 
he obtained the specimen sent to us is growing in Mr. 
H. D. Pochin’s garden at Bodnant Hall, Denbighshire, 
which is in the valley of the Conway and sheltered 
from very high winds, and where the climate is more 
equable than in many parts of England. Mr. Sander¬ 
son, the gardener at Bodnant Hall, states that the 
male catkins were in flower three weeks before the 
female blossoms opened, and that the plant had to 
be artificially fertilized. 
MADRESFIELD COURT. 
Though few of the readers of The Gardening 
World may know Madresfield Court in reality, most 
of them will no doubt be familiar enough with the 
name, owing to the lucky hit at hybridization that the 
late Mr. Cox made between the Black Morocco and 
Muscat of Alexandria Grapes, from which cross he 
secured the Madresfield Court variety, and which in 
spite of all its ups and downs is still growing in 
favour, and will continue to do so, as its peculiarities 
of culture become better known, more particularly in 
regard to preventing the cracking of the berries. This 
defect more or less bothers the great majority of 
growers, though singularly enough the affection is all 
but unknown at Madresfield, which would lead one 
to suppose that to soil, more than to any special 
treatment, must be attributed the freedom from 
cracking. However, we do not propose to discuss 
this matter, but to record our impression of the place 
generally, a visit to which we made on the occasion of 
the Cottagers’ Show, lately held there, and which, by 
the way, we may say was in all respects the very 
model of what such a show should be, vegetables 
having the pre-eminence, next culinary fruits, then 
window plants, and last, though really deserving to be 
placed first, prizes for the best kept gardens—cultiva¬ 
tion and neatness combined being the stand-points in 
making the awards. 
Earl Beauchamp takes a personal interest in every 
detail of management, and, what is more, furnishes 
the “ sinews of war,” all the prizes and other expenses 
being paid by him, on learning which we could but 
exclaim, noble by name, and truly so by nature. The 
gardens at Madresfield have long been noted as 
amongst the best in the kingdom, and some eighteen 
months ago the gardening fraternity generally heard 
with sincere regret of the death of Mr. Cox, who had 
so long had the supervision, indeed the creation of 
the gardens, for the whole were entirely remodelled 
under his superintendence, and though it is always 
difficult to follow such a man, judging from present 
appearances, his successor, Mr. Crump, is likely to 
prove equal to the task, for there is no lack of produce, 
and every part betokens methodical working and high 
culture, and extreme neatness reigns throughout. 
The Pleasure Grounds are extensive, but the ground 
formation is depressingly flat, except at the end next 
the Kitchen Garden, and there the undulations are 
varied and very beautiful, a trout stream and a grand 
Rock Garden—the feature of Madresfield—aiding and 
abetting the inclination we feel to disregard the Tenth 
Commandment; but there, if we covet this garden we 
are sure to be equally guilty with regard to the grand 
avenue of Abies nobilis, every tree of wffiich, it is not 
too much to say, is as perfect as any that can be found 
