June 29, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
697 
ticular form of a winter garden is only one of a great 
number set up by Messrs. Richardson and Co. ; for 
the plans are almost as varied as are the places at 
which the structures are built, the convenience of 
situation, and the taste of the proprietor. 
As conservatories and winter gardens are chiefly 
constructed for the culture of ornamental plants, so 
the structure illustrated on page 693 represents the 
utilitarian aspect of hothouse building. It presents 
a range of lean-to Peach houses in a style that has 
found favour with a great many proprietors and 
their gardeners. Being a lean-to structure it can be 
fitted to the inside of any garden wall, and offers 
many advantages. The height of the front is only 
3jft. including a foot of brickwork. The structure 
is about 80ft. long and 8ft. wide, and may be divided 
into two or more compartments according to 
requirements. The top ventilators are constructed 
to be elevated at will, instead of being let down by 
means of ropes in the old fashioned way. This pre¬ 
vents rain from driving in, it may be when the trees 
are in flower or in fruit, thereby spoiling the same 
before the gardener has time to close the lights. Each 
set of ventilators, if so desired, can be constructed 
in such a way that the whole may be opened or 
closed by the turning of a lever in connection with 
the simultaneous iron gearing to the ventilators. 
The illustration represents the range of Peach houses 
as erected for Sir James Kitson, Bart., Gledhow Hall, 
Leeds, and others by Messrs. Richardson & Co. 
- — 2 »-- 
GLOXINIAS AND STREPTOCARPUS. 
More attention is yearly being given to both these 
classes of plants, and the consequence is that they 
are being greatly improved by the number of culti¬ 
vators that take them up. Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, 
Forest Hill, have been cultivators of Gloxinias for 
many years, but latterly they have recognised their 
merits and importance as decorative subjects and 
have been giving them greatly increased attention. 
The result is that their strain is greatly improved 
compared with that of former years. Some of the 
varieties are named, but the larger proportion are 
unnamed seedlings, many of which are very beautiful. 
Of the named varieties Marginata is glowing crimson- 
scarlet with a pure white eye. Equally handsome 
is Mrs. Laing, of an intense violet with a blackish 
shade and a pure white margin. Princess May is of 
great size, pure white and very choice. Lord 
Hillingdon on the contrary is red with a broad white 
margin ; and Monarch is a crimson-scarlet self of 
great merit. As a contrast to this, The Moor is a 
blackish purple self. Leopard is richly spotted and 
petted with purple on a white ground and is a picture 
of what a spotted Gloxinia should be. A large and 
showy flower is John Laing, of a crimson-scarlet 
with a rosy edge. Spotted Gem is densely spotted 
with rose and purple on a white ground. 
The seedlings, like the named ones, are all character¬ 
ised by their funnel-shaped erect flowers, and being 
without numbers we can only refer to them by their 
colours. A seedling from Marginata has crimson- 
scarlet flowers with a broader white edge. One from 
Electra is intense violet fading outwards to the white 
margin. Some have a rosy purple, wavy zone on 
a white ground, others are blackish violet with a 
lavender and white margin, or a blue edge. Bright 
scarlet with a white edge; soft pink with a deep 
purple zone at the throat; white, zoned with pale 
purple and crimson-scarlet, are characteristic 
colours in other cases. A white variety has a small 
purple spot at the junction of the lobes ; and a dark 
violet-purple sort seems netted with bright red in 
some stages of its development. A white one with a 
creamy throat is also pretty. 
There are two distinct strains of Streptocarpus here 
differing greatly in size, but we were most interested 
in the large flowered type which is the newest and 
represents the more recent improvements. The 
finest in our opinion was that named Royal Blue, 
which had deep blue flowers with nine violet-purple 
lines in triplets upon the lower lip. Royal Purple is 
more decidedly purple on the lower lip. Distinction 
is light blue with three broad violet bands on the lip. 
An unnamed sort has blackish purple bands on the 
lip, and another is soft sky-blue with nine purple 
lines running into the throat. The leaves are 
relatively large and numerous to each crown. The 
flowers are also very freely produced on each plant 
and they vary from one to five on a stalk. The size 
and number of blooms to a scape as well as the large 
leaves, all show evidence of the hybrid origin of the 
strain which we hope to see still further improved 
-- 
HARDY CUT FLOWERS 
FROM TOTTENHAM. 
A box full of hardy cut flowers recently sent to us 
by Mr. T. S. Ware, Hale Farm Nurseries, Totten¬ 
ham, contained some remarkably fine examples of 
showy herbaceous plants. The specimens sub¬ 
mitted of Heuchera sanguinea were of an excep¬ 
tionally brilliant colour. Very fine was Aquilegia 
chrysantha a rather strong growing variety pro¬ 
ducing flowers of large size and good substance, and 
a rich butter yellow in colour. The spurs of the 
corolla are long and tinted with the same light 
brown shade as are the sepals This should prove 
an acquisition. Ixias, too^ receive skilled attention 
