August 24, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
827 
shining and copiously netted with gray. The flesh is 
dark green, of great depth and rich flavour. Award 
of Merit. Earl Percy (gardener, Mr. G. Wythes) 
Syon House, Brentford. 
Strawberry Rouge Ambliore.— Here we have 
an Alpine or Quatre Saison, Strawberry, narrowly 
conical, deep red, of very good flavour for this type 
and ripening up till a late period. Award of Merit. 
Messrs, de Rothschild(gardener, Mr.James Hudson), 
Gunnersbury House, Acton. 
Cherry Ghent d’Hedelfinger. —The fruits of 
this Cherry are of great size, black and shining. The 
pulp is likewise almost black, firm and juicy, and of 
rich and exquisite flavour. It is another acquisition 
to the class of stone fruits which has either been 
raised or brought into notice by Messrs. T. Rivers 
& Son, Sawbridgeworth. It well deserved the 
First-class Certificate it received. 
Plum Rivers’Early Favourite.— The fruits of 
this valuable Plum are small and purple, with a soft, 
juicy and deliciously flavoured flesh. The variety is 
grown upon a west aspect wall at Chiswick where it 
ripened on the igth July. It is a freestone. First- 
class Certificate. It is another of Messrs. T. Rivers 
& Son’s acquisitions. 
—-.*.- 
Hardening Jiscellany. 
PENSTEMON BARBATUS. 
This Penstemon, known also as Chelone barbatus, 
although one of the oldest in cultivation is by no 
means the least useful and desirable of this genus. 
Its light, graceful panicles of light-red or carmine 
flowers, freely produced, are invaluable where many 
flowers are wanted, being especially suited for tall 
glasses and vases when cut their full length. I 
sowed seed last spring, and not being certain 
whether they would survive the winter, I lifted the 
plants in autumn, and placed them close together in 
a cold frame, and planted out in early spring. It 
ranks among the most useful border flowers .—A .P. 
[It is perfectly hardy, even in the north of Scotland. 
—Ed.] 
ARNEBIA CORNUTA. 
The specimens of this hardy annual exhibited at the 
Drill Hall, on July gth, could give no idea of the 
beauty of the plant as seen in the open ground. We 
saw it again on the 3rd inst., growing on the seed 
farm of Messrs. Dobbie & Co., Orpington, Kent ; 
and, though it had been flowering freely for several 
weeks previously, it was still in excellent condition, 
and seemed good enough for some weeks longer. 
The plants are upright in habit, branching freely 
and producing flowers in succession as the crozier- 
like cymes develop and expand. The flowers are 
golden yellow with five velvety black blotches that 
disappear like those of the Prophet Flower as the 
individual blooms get old. The lower portion of the 
plants was carrying a quantity of seed, though the 
the upper showed no diminution of vigour. A bed 
consisting of 160 plants was very gay indeed, and 
altogether compactly filled. 
STATICE BONDUELLI, 
A yellow Statice is a rare occurrence, in cultivation 
at least, the bulk of them being of some shade of 
blue or pink with white corollas. In this case the 
calyx is pale yellow and the corolla deep yellow and 
sufficiently numerous to be conspicuous even at some 
distance away. The leaves are runcinately lobed 
like those of some of the annual species, and mostly 
lie close upon the ground. The branching stems 
are erect, mostly leafless, and rise to a height of 2 ft. 
to 2J ft., and have curious bracts forming wings to 
them around and in the vicinity of the flowers. It is 
a native of North Africa, from whence it was intro¬ 
duced in 1859, and was considered a greenhouse 
plant. The specimens in the herbaceous ground at 
Kew are sufficient to convince any one that the plant 
succeeds in the open ground quite as well as S. 
Suworowi, and have every appearance of being as 
easily managed. 
CAMPANULA PUS1LLA. 
What a contrast this beautiful plant bears to its tall 
growing and stately relative, and yet how beautiful 
it is. Little patches of it in corners of the rockery 
or in the front rank in the mixed border never fail to 
arrest the attention of even a casual observer. The 
pendulous relatively large flowers so freely produced 
are scarcely lifted off the soil, so dwarf and carpet¬ 
like is the habit of the plant. The very lovely 
position it occupies is not at all in its favour, for 
being so close to the ground it is sure to get splashed 
with soil and the beauty of its flowers thus spoilt by 
heavy rains. The flowers are of a bright blue shade 
when first open, but gradually become lighter in 
colour with age. Both C. pusilla and its varieties, 
alba and pallida, which only differ from the type in 
the colour of the flower, are well worthy a place in 
the garden. As edging material, indeed, they are of 
great value. They are not very particular as to soil, 
as they will grow almost anywhere, although they 
prefer it when it is somewhat sandy. They are 
decidedly impatient of stagnant water at the roots, 
and therefore the positions in which they are to be 
placed must be thoroughly drained beforehand. 
CHAMAEPEUCE DIACANTHA. 
It is sometimes questioned whether this useful 
Thistle is hardy. A number of plants I left out last 
autumn survived the winter, and have now ripened a 
quantity of seed.— A.P. 
A PRETTY WINDOW. 
Although the number of plants which may be 
grown successfully and well within the limits of a 
cottage window is perforce limited enough, more 
especially when that window is not very far removed 
from the smoke and dirt of our great city, we now 
and again come across striking illustrations of what 
may be accomplished if only a little intelligent 
enthusiasm is thrown into the work. In a cottage 
window at Kew a remarkably pretty effect has been 
produced by a few plants of the well known Cam¬ 
panula isophylla and its not less well-known variety, 
C. i. alba. We have before had occasion to remark 
on the splendid qualities of which these two plants 
are possessed and their great suitability for growing 
in windows, whilst we have had our sense of the 
beautiful delighted by the sight of them in more or 
less good condition in cottage windows from time to 
time, but we have never seen them looking gayer or 
more healthy than in the window in question, which, 
by the way, has a western aspect and possesses no 
particular advantages. The pots are suspended 
about mid-way between the top and bottom of the 
window, and the long, graceful, profusely-flowered 
growths allowed to hang down as they please, the 
blue and white flowers intermingling in a really 
charming manner. 
TRACHELIUM CAERULEUM. 
To the majority of gardeners this plant is an utter 
stranger, a rather regrettable fact when we consider 
what a really pretty and valuable subject it is, and 
how useful it is for decorative purposes in the cool 
conservatory during the summer months. A bright 
little batch of it has been greatly admired by visitors 
to the greenhouse at Kew, where for the last few 
weeks it has most decidedly been one of the features 
of the house. The flowers are small, bright blue in 
colour, and produced in large graceful corymbs, 
which, despite the fact that they contain so large a 
number of blooms, yet lose not a whit of elegance 
and lightness. The leaves are ovate in shape, acute, 
with deeply serrated margins and shortly petiolate. 
The white-flowered form, T. c. alba should also be 
grown for the sake of variety. Both are exceedingly 
easy of culture. They may be propagated readily 
either by seeds or cuttings. The young plants should 
be grown on in a gentle heat during the earlier 
stages of their existence, although later on they will 
stand a perfectly cool temperature with the best of 
good nature. 
SEDIUM ACRE AND LYSIMACHIA 
NUMMULARIA. 
We have recently had our attention drawn to these 
two old, common, every-day favourites from seeing 
them in combination in a small front garden, whether 
designedly or not, we are unable to say ; but the 
effect produced was most beautiful when they were 
in flower together. The Sedum was a little in 
advance of the Creeping Jenny, as it is commonly 
called, thus prolonging the floral display by about 
two weeks. Owing to the habit of the two 
plants they seem to go well together, and dwellers 
in towns in particular may copy this plan to advan¬ 
tage,— W. B , G. 
RATE OF GROWTH IN PLANTS. 
Plants grow faster between the hours of four and 
six in the morning than at any other time during the 
day. Can any practical gardener substantiate this 
from actual observations ? 
EDIBLE PODDED PEAS. 
To those in search of an additional vegetable the 
Edible Podded Pea is worth a trial. I saw it for the 
first time in the gardens of the Hon. A. P. Allsop, 
Batlerstall Mount, Worcester, where, along with 
other culinary Peas, Mr. Fox, the gardener, has it in 
a flourishing condition. There is nothing uncommon 
in its appearance, its pods of a pale green colour are 
of a good length, and freely produced. When 
cooked they are tender and agreeable. The flavour 
resembles that of Asparagus, which has commenced 
to run (sprue cooks call it, I believe), and the strings 
so evident in ordinary pods are entirely absent.— 
A.P. 
HARDINESS OF THE OVAL-LEAVED CHERRY 
LAUREL. 
The intense frost experienced during the early part 
of this year played havoc with several varieties of 
the Cherry Laurel, the older and most familiar form 
of it especially. We frequently pass some villas, in 
the grounds of which, in two instances, the oval¬ 
leaved variety predominates, and passed through the 
frost almost unscathed, whilst the adjoining gar¬ 
dens, where the Cherry Laurel is planted, look quite 
unsightly at the present time from the dead and still 
dying branches of the Laurels. The contrast is most 
striking, the one set of places looking everything that 
can be wished for, whilst the others so far as the 
shrubberies are concerned are perfect wrecks. 
There is nothing else to account for the difference 
beyond the superior hardiness of Prunus Laurocer- 
asus rotundifolia.— W.B.G. 
-——- 
HARDY AUTUMN FLOWERS. 
A note in time may assist those lovers of autumn, 
winter, and spring flowers in making their selections 
for blooming during the coming season. It is unfor¬ 
tunately the fault of many to leave or put off the 
planting of such bulbs, etc., as Colchicums, Stern- 
bergias. Crocuses, Zephyranthes, Scilla autumnalis 
and others, until the season is almost past. To 
ensure strong plants and well-developed flowers 
early planting must be adhered to, as nothing is more 
conducive to the production of successive flowers 
from bulbs like Colchicums and Crocuses, as planting 
early in the season, when bulbs and corms are in 
their best condition. The time to plant is as early in 
the present month (August) as practicable ; and it is 
always important to secure the largest and finest in 
preference to the cheaper and smaller ones, as the 
largest always give satisfaction. 
Flowers of any kind are most welcome during the 
dull days of October, November and December, and 
the plants should have found for them favourable 
and prominent places in all gardens. The Colchi¬ 
cums (Meadow Saffron) are amongst the first to 
flower, and just when the freshness] of the summer¬ 
blooming plants have lost their beauty. It is sur¬ 
prising to find how few grow these beautiful and 
attractive autumnal and winter-flowering plants, 
their cultivation being so simple, and they are quite 
hardy. The common Colchicumjautumnale is found 
wild in many parts of England, and presents its pale 
purple flowers in abundance without any leaves 
in early autumn as its name indicates. The 
varieties cf C. autumnale are most beautiful 
and attractive, but not generally-known. C. a. 
album, pure white; C. a. roseum, flowers large 
and of a beautiful rose colour; C. a plenum, 
large lilac flowers, very double • C. a. alropur- 
pureum, purple, striped pink; C. a. album 
plenum, a great beauty, flowers large, and snowy 
white ; C. Parkinsoni, flowers beautifully chequered 
rosy-lilac and white, the petals being gracefully 
reflexed ; C. speciosum rubrum, a grand flower and 
of good substance, colour, dark ruby-crimson ; C. 
byzantinum, flowers of a beautiful rose, a very free 
bloomer, a good plant to border a shr u bbery ; and C. 
Sibthorpi, flowers very large, rosy-purple chequered, 
are some of the best. Colchicums na turalise admir¬ 
ably in grass, where they produce a beautiful effect. 
Some of the most beautiful of the autumn-flower¬ 
ing Crocuses are zonatus, flowers rose-lilac with con¬ 
spicuous scarlet zone ; speciosus, brigh blue. This is 
