252 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
December 15, 1894. 
a good plant. In damp, rainy weather the whole 
contents of frames containing these soft wooded 
plants should be gone over every two or three days, 
removing the smallest portion of decaying matter, 
and occasionally the whole contents should be 
re-adjusted and every plant turned round to the 
light, the surface of the soil cleared of all moss or 
weeds, and the pit or frame cleared of all decaying 
litter. 
Plants wintered in these structures require far less 
water than those growing in houses, because they 
stand on a cool bottom, and the circulation of air 
among them is more limited. Those who have to 
winter Pelargoniums in frames should give water to 
the most limited extent during dull, damp weather j 
rather let the soil be dry to flagging point for a 
week. This will do little or no harm to these plants 
when under these conditions ; whereas, any excess 
of moisture will often prove fatal. ' And again, it 
should be borne in mind that not more than half the 
quantity of water required during the summer months 
to moisten the soil through is ample when every¬ 
thing is cold and evaporation at a low ebb. To 
successfully winter these zonal or other Pelar¬ 
goniums during the three winter months keep them 
at as near a standstill as possible, because when 
under these conditions if excited into growth they 
are extremely liable to rot. There are other plants 
for instance, Calceolarias and Cinerarias, which 
make much of their growth during the dull months 
of the year, and the attention as regards water¬ 
ing must be different, because if allowed to remain 
dry at the root for more than a very limited time 
they fail to grow into good specimens. Ventilation 
is of primary importance, and should be most 
assiduously attended to on all possible occasions. 
During some severe frosts and foggy weather they 
will generally be best kept close, and the amount of 
air given must be regulated by the atmospheric con¬ 
ditions prevailing at the time. Some days, with a 
low temperature accompanied with bright sunshine, 
a very little on milder weather, tilting the lights up 
at the back or on the side to the leeward of the 
wind, and on every favourable occasion the entire 
removal of the lights for a few hours during the day 
will be most beneficial to most of the plants 
generally grown in this way. When a mixed collec¬ 
tion of plants have to be wintered in this way the 
pits or frames ought to be divided into compart¬ 
ments, so that by placing the different families 
separately, their special requirements may be better 
attended to. Some th'ngs, notably hard wooded 
plants. Azaleas, Ericas, Genistas, &c., will do wdth 
less covering than many other things, and require 
more air, and among soft-wooded plants there are 
those which require keeping drier than others, hence 
the desirability of their having a compartment to 
themselves where practicable.— W. B. G. 
§ARDENING fflSCELLANY. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS AT GREENLANDS. 
In your notes on the above at p. 228 ,1 was interested 
to read among the varieties that were well repre¬ 
sented you mention Golden Wedding. As Mr. 
Perkins staged the finest bloom of this variety I 
have yet seen at the late Chrysanthemum Show at 
Reading, and he also exhibited the same variety 
again at the late show at the Aquarium in his capital 
twenty-four, it would, I am sure, be interesting if 
Mr. Perkins will kindly state how he treated this 
grand yellow, and also say if he has lost any plants 
in the way that most growers have.— E. Beckett, The 
Gardens, Aldenham House, Elstree. 
RHODOCHiTON VOLUBILE, 
In this beautiful Mexican plant we possess a climber 
of no small decorative value, and one that certainly 
deserves honourable recognition. The calyx, which 
is the showiest part of the flower, is large, of a pale 
red colour, and deeply five-cleft, the corolla being 
of a darker hue. The plant succeeds well in an 
ordinary greenhouse temperature, and is both a dis¬ 
tinct and an elegant subject for the adorning of 
pillars and rafters, or for training to trellises in the 
ordinary way. It thrives well in a mixture of good 
loam and leaf soil, and may be raised from seed or 
propagated from cuttings composed of the young 
shoots, a little heat being necessary to insure the 
successful striking of these latter. 
CASUARINA EQUISITAEFOLIA. 
For distinctness of character and gracefulness of 
habit the above subject is unique among subjects 
requiring a stove temperature. The long, pendant, 
leafless branches give the plant an exceedingly hand¬ 
some appearance, and for the decoration of the 
dinner table nothing could be more suitable or pro¬ 
ductive of a finer effect. Propagation may be con¬ 
ducted by means of cuttings composed of half- 
ripened shoots inserted singly in thumb-pots in 
spring in a light, friable compost and plunged in a 
gentle bottom heat in a propagating frame or 
covered with a bell-glass. It is a native of 
Australia. 
KENNEDYA PROSTRATA MARYATTAE. 
This beautiful plant is perhaps the most useful 
member of the whole genus, which comprises some 
eleven species, natives of Australia. They are all of 
prostrate or climbing habit, many of them moreover 
are fast growing subjects, and are on that account 
eminently suitable for training to rafters or trellises 
in the greenhouse, the temperature of which suits 
them admirably. The inflorescence is racemose and 
the peduncles axillary. The flowers of K. prostrata 
Maryattae are bright scarlet in colour, each peduncle 
carrying four. The leaves are of a distinctly downy 
character and the leaflets are three in number,oblong 
and obtuse. A compost of peat and loam will 
meet all its requirements with regard to soil ; abund¬ 
ance of water during the growing and flowering 
periods being also an essential to success in its 
culture. Propagation may be readily effected by 
means of seed sown or of cuttings inserted in gentle 
heat during spring and summer. 
CALCEOLARIA BURBIDGEI. 
Here we have a greenhouse flowering plant of no 
little merit, easy of cultivation and one which, bloom¬ 
ing as it does during autumn and winter, has much 
that should recommend it to the gardener, who 
has to cater for the requirements ofprivate establish¬ 
ments. It is of hybrid origin and was raised by Mr. 
F. W. Burbidge of Trinity College Botanic Gardens, 
Dublin, about the year 1882, as the result of a cross 
between C. Pavonii and C. Fuchsiaefolia. The 
plant usually runs from two to four feet in height, 
and the flowers are of a rich yellow hue, a large 
lower lip being a prominent feature in its structure. 
ASPLENIUM FRAGRANS. 
Since last week we have received some more speci¬ 
mens of the ferns under discussion, including 
Aspleninm bulbiferum Fabianum, which is evidently 
widely disseminated in gardens under the name of A 
foeniculaceum ; but how such a mistake could origin¬ 
ally have arisen, it is now difficult to determine; and 
it is still more strange that the fact was not more 
widely known amongst gardeners. A form of A. 
fragrans of Swartz was also sent with the intimation 
that it is sometimes confused with A. foeniculaceum. 
Though the latter is often spoken of as a distinct 
species, it is connected with the type by numerous 
intermediate forms, which show all stages of fission 
between the extremes that are named A. fragrans 
and A. f. foeniculaceum respectively. The frond of 
the former sent us was not exactly typical, being 
only bipinnate with more or less deeply fissured 
pinnules, Whether or not, it was quite character¬ 
istic of the plant from which it was taken we are 
unable to say, It is also said to be synonymous with 
A. planicaule in Low's Ferns, but the true A. plani- 
caule of Wallich comes from the Himalayas, Neil- 
gherries and Ceylon, but the fronds are only pinnate 
with more or less deeply incised pinnae. Other 
names are also given to A. fragrans. The true A. f. 
foeniculaceum is tripinnate, with narrowly linear 
segments, but hitherto we have not succeeded in 
hunting it up. 
IPOMAEA HORSFALLIAE VAR. BRIGSII. 
A well flowered specimen of this magnificent plant 
is at the present time a conspicuous occupant of 
the Victoria House at Kew. The flowers which are 
produced in cymes are of a deep rich carmine hue, 
and are, on that account, particularly noticeable at 
this dull period of the year. The Kew plant, to 
judge from appearances, will keep flowering for some 
time to come yet as the flower cymes are produced 
in great profusion. There can be no doubt, what¬ 
ever, that the plant is quite worthy of extensive 
cultivation, and that it is a subject that once it is 
known will become a general favourite, also goes 
without saying. 
AMASONIA PUNICEA. 
At the approaching Christmas festivities, Poinsettias 
will be largely in evidence, while it is hardly 
probable that the plant under notice will appear 
in many houses throughout the kingdom. The 
habit of the Amasonia is so different, however, that 
it might well be used in the same decorations for 
the sake of contrast. The length of time during 
which it continues ornamental is also remarkable. 
A batch of plants has been flowering in the nursery 
of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons since the middle of 
October last, and will continue till Christmas. The 
crimson bracts are arranged all along the stems in 
the same manner as the leaves, and they assume 
their colour in succession as they are developed. 
The large, crimson-scarlet calyx behaves in the same 
way, and forms a strange contrast with the pale 
yellow corolla just as the white calyx of Cleroden- 
dron Thompsonae contrasts with the dark scarlet 
corolla, the colours in this case being reversed as it 
v ere. While the bracts and flowers assume their 
respective colours towards the top of the young 
shoots, the green fruits begin to develop on the 
lower parts, and become ornamental as they change 
to a glossy black hue. 
CHOROZEMA LOWII. 
In this we have a garden hybrid of free-flowering 
habit and very ornamental appearance. It was obtained 
from C. elegans crossed with C. illicifolium, the 
Holly-leaved species, between which it is inter¬ 
mediate. The twiggy stems branch freely and pro¬ 
duce a large quantity of bloom which continues in 
presentable condition for a long time. The standard 
is orange-scarlet or vermilion with a yellow blotch 
at the base in marked contrast to the rest of the 
flower. The wings, on the contrary, are reddish- 
cerise, and hide the keel, but form a beautiful con¬ 
trast to the standard, and give to the whole flower a 
richness and refinement of colour by no means 
plentiful even amongst hard-wooded subjects. The 
prickly foliage takes after C. illicifolium, and there¬ 
fore resembles that of a Holly. Curiously enough, 
the plant under notice was one of a large batch of 
seedlings, and the only one worthy of propagating 
and preserving for its distinctness and beauty. So 
different in habit of growth is it that it does not 
require to be trained on wire or other frames to keep 
it within due bounds, as the shoots are of moderate 
growth and not divaricate like those of C. splendens. 
There is a coloured illustration of it in the Revue de 
L'Horticulture Beige for December. 
-•*-- 
SOCIETIES. 
Royal Horticultural. Dec. nth .—The last meeting 
of the year usually shows a falling off in the number 
and quantity of the exhibits, and such was the case 
on Tuesday last. Orchids were as well represented 
as anything else ; stove and greenhouse plants and 
Chrysanthemums also figured largely. Some 
collections of fruit also served to brighten the tables. 
Messrs. F. Sander & Co. exhibited a mixed group 
of Orchids, in which the varieties of Dendrobium 
Phalaenopsis Schroderianum were very conspicuous. 
Interesting and curious in their respective ways 
were Catasetum Christyanum, Stenia pallida, 
Octomeria Baueri, and Liparis longipes. The lip of 
the Stenia resembled a "cresset" or old-fashioned 
oil lamp- Numerous Laelias also graced the group, 
including L. furfuracea, L. anceps alba, and L. 
Gouldiana. A larger group of Orchids mixed with 
palms and ferns was set up by Messrs. B. S. Williams 
& Son, Upper Holloway. Cypripediums were very 
conspicuous in it, and Laelia anceps Williamsii, and 
L. autumnalis atro-rubens had large and fleshy 
flowers. Coelia bella we should consider the best 
of its kind, and the plant of Cypripedium Sallieri 
was of hugh size, with many flowers. A group of 
Cypripediums was exhibited by Messrs. Hugh Low 
& Co., Clapton, including several beautiful varieties 
of C. Charlesworthii, C. Chantini, and C. Leeanum 
superbum Low’s var. One of the first-named was 
notable for the large size of its upper sepal. A spike 
of Schomburgkia rhenidora Kimballiana, a very rare 
