May 9th, 1885. 
567 
Fancy or Border Varieties. 
tVhen we come to the section named, for the sake 
of distinction, Fancy or Border Polyanthuses, we find, 
as far as exhibition flowers are concerned, absolutely 
no rules or points whatever to guide exhibitors or 
judges, and awards will of necessity be made accord¬ 
ing to tastes, and not otherwise. The fact is, the 
Fancy Polyanthus enjoys an almost illimitable range 
in the matter of colour and of markings, and hence 
it is pretty certain that at present those heads of 
bloom which may give the greatest pleasure or satis¬ 
faction will gain the prizes irrespective of form or 
quality. But those who have given attention to 
these flowers find that they show obvious merits 
as they also do defects. And whilst, in the matter 
of habit, a good plant has stout flower-stems and 
heads of bloom evenly and fully produced, a bad 
plant has the bloom irregularly produced, the flower- 
stems weak, and no effective head whatever. There¬ 
fore growers of these for exhibition should select 
plants having good habit and breed for that feature. 
Then there is too much variety in character of 
flower yet to enable the Fancy section to claim per¬ 
manent qualities ; we want good seifs, well fixed in 
colour, and less of the flaked and parti-coloured 
flowers, for these are too bizarre to be effective either 
in masses or as pot plants. Really good seifs should 
be pure white, cream, yellow, orange, red, rose, 
crimson, purple, violet, maroon, and other rich hues, 
all pure and dense. We have much room open for 
the production^ really good dark seifs, but whites, 
yellows, and similar light shades are pretty plentiful. 
Then the individual pips or blooms should be 
rounded, flat, and well defined, having a clear, well- 
marked yellow centre, with always a perfect thrum- 
eye. The clearer or purer the centre, the brighter 
and more effective will be the bloom always. Even 
in the whites a lemon or pale yellow centre is always 
more pleasing than is an orange or buff centre. There 
is no reason to suppose that ever hard and fast 
rules will tie up the Fancy or Border Polyanthus on 
the show-table as the Gold-laced Polyanthus is, but 
some few points thus put forth, and adhered to as far 
as possible, cannot fail to have a useful effect in the 
future of one of our most beautiful of spring flowers. 
ASPARAGUS PLANTING. 
Gardeners who have found it necessary to make 
annual plantations of this vegetable to replace that 
which is taken up for forcing, have long ago dis¬ 
covered that it is a mistake to plant too early, and 
they prefer to wait till the young plants have made a 
few inches of growth. The first bed I planted many 
years ago was a failure, though I waited till the shoots 
were visible. The weather, however, which was fine 
and promising, changed in a day or two, and snow 
fell, which was followed by cold and wet; con¬ 
sequently, the roots were starved, and produced 
weakly shoots, and some none at all. On our stock 
for planting (which show before the older roots) some 
of the “ grass ” was visible on April 25th, but we shall 
not be tempted to plant for quite another week, and 
not then, if the weather is unfavourable. Rather 
than plant when cold, drying winds are prevalent, 
I would wait till the “ grass ” is a foot long. It has 
occurred some seasons that, after waiting even for it 
to reach that stage, we have been forced to plant 
before the coveted genial rainy day. In those in¬ 
stances, we have selected the early part of the day, 
and one is told off to plant, the other to lift, and a 
third to convey them and place them at proper 
distances. The ground receives a sprinkling of warm 
water, and each plant receives sufficient to settle the 
soil round the roots, as well as a mulching with short 
litter. Inthisway, scarcelyone of theplants fail to grow. 
Failures occur most frequently amongst those who 
have to depend upon their plants coming from a 
distance. In this instance, the plants are dug up 
regardless of weather, and laid on the surface of the 
soil, where they remain for the best part of the day, 
and are ultimately collected and thrown in a heap 
of two or three cartloads; and I have witnessed the 
manager of one nursery in particular allow them to 
remain so for several days, sometimes covered and 
sometimes not; the latter was, of the two, perhaps 
the best, as it lessened the chances of fermentation, 
which must be inevitable when they were packed 
together on a warm day. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
I only once received plants from a nursery, and I 
had them forwarded two or three weeks before there 
was any likelihood of growth. After they arrived 
they were placed thickly on 3 ins. or 4 ins. of par¬ 
tially decayed leaf-soil, and well covered over with 
the same material, as well as with 3 ins. or 4 ins. of 
short litter. As I anticipated, the plants sent up 
shoots long before the established plants, and I 
guarded against this as much as possible by placing 
them in a shady position. To account for this 
advanced growth we have only to consider the altered 
circumstances in which the plants are placed when 
on the surface of the ground. There is more warmth 
below them, and their top is nearer the source of 
heat, and to introduce them back into the cold soil in 
a forward state of growth would be to court failure. 
Late planted Asparagus does not succeed because it 
has already made several inches of growth, but because 
the ground is so much warmer at the time than when 
the roots are dormant. Much may be done to increase 
its temperature if it is turned over three or four times 
on warm days to the depth of 6 ins. After trying 
different methods of planting, we prefer to plant two- 
year old plants on narrow ridges formed by drawing 
two drills 6 ins. deep on either side of the line and 
2 ins. apart at the top but widening towards the base 
so as to appear wedge-shaped. The roots are spread 
on both sides of the ridge, and the soil that was drawn 
away to form it is used to cover them. More is 
thrown over the surface from the alley in order to 
cover the crowns 3 ins. deep, but before this is placed 
on the roots are watered with luke-warm-water, and 
the mulching of short litter or the contents of an old 
Mushroom bed avoids any further watering in our wet 
district. 
For one-year old plants we cut a trench as if we 
were preparing for laying Box edging, and the roots 
are carefully spread out and afterwards treated in 
every respect as stated for two-year old plants. I have 
seen in the South one-year old plants nearly as large as 
what were considered well-grown two-year old plants in 
the North, so on the whole the latter age is preferable 
with many unless there is plenty of spare ground. 
In those gardens and localities where the Asparagus 
dies off or does not succeed so as to form large 
“ stools,” it is useless to plant at such great distances 
apart as are frequently recommended by writers who are 
located in favourable districts ; therefore the rows may 
be 1 ft. apart and the plants 18 ins. distant in the row. 
When the “ grass ” is about 2 ft. high, we place some 
twiggy Pea sticks on each side, and if necessary we 
run a string in any direction that may seem likely to 
demand it, so as to prevent it being broken off by the 
wind.— North, May 4th. 
-- 
NOTES FROM IRELAND. 
Concerning Auriculas.— I should have been very 
pleased had I been able to get away to London to see 
the recent exhibition of the Southern Section of the 
Auricula Society, detailed in The Gardening World. 
Failing this, I fancy I have had the next most 
enjoyable treat—a boxof blooms from Messrs. Cannell’s 
large collection, at the well-known “ Home for 
Flowers ” at Swanley. When I tell you that among 
the hundred blooms transmitted me, a short time since, 
were included Acme, Alexander Meiklejohn, and George 
Lightbody, a plant of each of which usually costs 
half-a-sovereign—seed from which must be extremely 
valuable—you will not be surprised at my commencing 
these notes by asking your permission to handsomely 
acknowledge my obligations. I am aware that for 
some years Mr. Cannell has grown and fostered the 
whole Primula family, and of how much he has done 
for it; so it strikes me, at a time when most of your 
florist readers are admiring their collections at home, 
or their neighbours at the shows, I cannot do better 
than send you a few notes with the view of still further 
popularizing these attractive flowers and inducing 
others to add their experience. 
Edged Auriculas. —These are the aristocracy of the 
family,—much more difficult to propagate, grow, and 
bloom, than the subsequent sections. At one time, 
now some years since, hearing of their well-known 
hardiness against cold, I proposed in The Garden to 
grow them wholly out-of-doors, and, to prevent their 
becoming splashed with rain, or soiled, to circle them 
round with green moss, &c. The well-known 
champion grower and writer thereon, the Rev. F. D. 
Horner, then of Kirkby Malzard, poked some fun at 
the poetic but impracticable idea; but I persevered, 
only to learn that he wa3 quite right and I quite 
wrong. Edged Auriculas, and even Alpines, out-of-doors 
—as you will see from some I will clip off the trusses 
and enclose—are liable by heavy or persistent rains to 
have their colours entirely washed away. I have a 
very hardy green-edged variety, plum body colour, but 
pin-eyed, that I planted out, not setting much value on 
it, named some forty years ago, I am told, Warriss’ 
Union. It lives and seeds and thrives without any care, 
but a heavy shower of rain leaves it defaced and unre¬ 
cognizable. With me, the green-edged few I have I find 
difficult to retain, except General Neill, which produces 
offsets pretty freely, but no seed until this year. I 
have crossed it this year with Havelock. In some 
cases crossing produces extra fertilization, much more 
so than when their own pollen is used. This process 
in the case of thrum-eyed flowers is not easy, except 
by cutting away the stamens that form the thrum, or 
the whole pip, which encircles the throat. 
Notwithstanding his pale throat, about which there 
was some discussion in your contemporaries lately, 
I much like Mr. Turner’s Colonel Champneys. It is 
a vigorous grower, produces large trusses and pips, and 
at once arrests attention. Passing by such well- 
known and universally admired flowers as George 
Lightbody and Lancashire Hero, with neither of 
which I have been as successful as I could wish, my 
favourite is Competitor. I am at present comparing 
it before me with Robert Trail, Peveril of the Peak, 
Chapman’s Sophia, and that really beautiful flower, 
Kay’s A. Meiklejohn. I must name one other very 
striking and effective flower in this section that I am 
surprised not to see oftener referred to—Ashton’s 
Prince of Wales. Coming to white edges, though I 
may again be running against the opinion of more 
experienced judgments, I prefer Acme, raised, I 
believe, by Read, still scarce, and not so easy to pro¬ 
pagate by seed or offsets, which explains the scarcity. 
A fine flower, too, that I have now grown for some years, 
and that is easily grown and cared, is White Rival, 
another of Trail’s numerous progeny. The only other I 
will refer to is by the same raiser, Beauty, to my mind 
well deserving the name. I believe Mr. Horner’s fine 
varieties are not yet in commerce; nor, so far as I 
know, but a few of Mr. Douglas’s; in any case they 
would most likely be beyond my means to purchase. 
Self Auriculas. —These can be successfully grown 
out-of-doors, but I would recommend some protection 
during flowering. Heavy rain washes away the farina 
from the paste and the colouring matter from the body 
colour. The way I manage to grow them, not having 
a special Auricula-house, is to plant theminan elevated 
long box, more than 12 ft. long, and elevated on a 
stand some 3 ft. 6 ins. high, and only protected over¬ 
head during the flowering period. Here they have 
plenty of air and shade from extreme heat during 
mid-day—very desirable for all Auriculas. Black 
Prince I like very much, though many prefer Spald¬ 
ing’s Blackbird. Newer and much larger is Campbell's 
Lord of Lome, dark crimson and flat. Almost as 
black as any is Joseph. I have one I am not sure of 
the name of, with the foliage perfectly white with meal. 
Shaded Alpines. —At last I come to my sweet- 
scented friends, large, broad, and flat, as a rule, and 
with their rich deep colours, growing gradually lighter 
towards the edge. These are very effective and 
telling, and perhaps in commending them I may 
be allowed to mention Mr. Dean’s distinct Laced 
Auriculas. One of the finest I know of the shaded 
section is one I had from Mr. Cannell—I cannot say if 
he is the raiser—called Beatrice, deep dark lilac- 
purple, a great gem. I enclose a number of 
seedlings, also of my own, for your opinion, wholly 
grown in the open-air. [Many of them pretty border 
flowers, but somewhat spoilt by the rain.— Ed.] 
These are so easily grown, so fragrant, and 
brilliant in colour, that the wonder is any are 
without them. You can judge of some seedlings 
forwarded as to how they do with me without any 
oare to speak of. I must, however, say the choicer 
kinds really deserve every care and attention. Any 
time from this forward that rooted offsets can be secured 
of any of the sections named, I take them off and pot, 
with the view of having them well established before 
winter. At the same time, as in the case of all the 
florist flowers, everyone should grow some from seed, 
—17. J. Murphy, Clonmel. 
