August 5, 1893. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
775 
scarlet red without the rays. Very dark is Louie de 
Feu with fiery orange red flowers and a crimson eye. 
Very distinct and pretty is Eugene Danzanvilliers 
with flowers of a pale or soft mauve with a white 
centre. The variety is both early and floriferous. 
Croix de Sud is white, suffused with pale mauve, 
and having a deep purple eye. The flowers are 
large and late in coming into bloom, having practically 
only commenced to expand when we noted them the 
other day. Pluton is of an intense purple, and in 
fact the darkest of this shade to be seen in the 
collection. Roi des Roses has flowers of a soft lilac 
rose with a dark rose eye, and although the flowers 
are of the same size as those of Pluton the contrast 
is otherwise well marked. The deep rose purple 
flowers of Eclaireur have pale rays round the eye. 
A pale and beautiful variety is Delicata, with small 
white flowers and a pale purple rayed eye ; it is very 
floriferous. Le Soleil is an early variety, about 
i8 in. high, with salmon pink flowers and white rays 
in the centre. 
The flowers of Countess of Mar, although small, 
are conspicuous from some considerable distance 
owing to the intense crimson eye contrasting with 
the white ; they are also produced with great free¬ 
dom. Neptune is a beautiful salmon-rose variety. 
The medium-sized flowers of Amazon are white, but 
produced in enormous quantity on stems about 2| ft. 
high. William Robinson has large deep salmon 
flowers with a dark purple eye, and constitutes a 
choice and handsome variety. Much dwarfer is 
Nain Bebe, and most floriferous with branching 
stems and soft purple flowers. Those of Miss H. 
Hope are white, washed with pink and purple round 
the eye. Similar in style is Longchamps, which is 
lightly washed with lavender instead of pink. 
Sorts Receiving Two Marks. 
Some of the varieties to which two marks have been 
accorded would no doubt in the opinion of some be 
worthy of three. The reason for withholding it 
probably depends upon the existence of another sort 
somewhat similar but reckoned better. One to which 
these remarks hardly apply is Iris, with dark purple 
flowers, which, when they fade, present a shade 
more or less decidedly blue. Claudot is a floriferous, 
pink variety, with a purple eye. A very late flower¬ 
ing variety is Jeanne d’Arc, with white flowers and 
light green foliage and suitable to succeed Avalanche. 
Early and dwarf is Panorama, being only about 
15 in. high, with white flowers and pale purple rays. 
La Fille d'Air is a light coloured sort to which two 
marks were accorded last year, but now it has been 
honoured with three ; it is only 15 in. high. Bayard 
has large warm rosy purple flowers. Free flowering 
also is Hirondelle with small rose flowers and a 
crimson eye. The flowers of Regalos are very large 
and of a deep salmon rose. Purite forms a bush 
18 in. to 20 in. high, freely branched, and simply 
laden with small, white flowers. Those of Wm. 
Muir are rosy purple with a fiery red eye. The 
flowers of Phloxes vary somewhat, or else there are 
two varieties under the name of Belvedere. One 
has warm rosy purple flowers and a pale rayed 
centre, while the other is rosy purple with a lobed 
crimson eye without the rays. The flowers of John 
Forbes are large and rosy pink with a fiery crimson 
eye. On the whole it is a beautiful variety. Africain 
is a very bizarre flower, marbled and splashed with a 
peculiar shade of purple on a white ground. The 
flowers of Felibre are fiery red. 
The above includes only a small proportion of the 
varieties now on trial, but many of the others would 
make useful border plants or for the supply of cut 
flowers. Fifteen of the above-named are very dwarf 
and floriferous plants, well suited for bedding 
purposes, and for such they might be grown to great 
advantage in the London parks and elsewhere, for 
they certainly produce a fine effect when in bloom. 
They are Avalanche, Faust, Burnouf, Panorama, La 
Fille d'Air, Croix de Sud, Pluton, Bayard, Hiron¬ 
delle, Le Soleil, Regalos, Nain Bebe, Belvedere, 
Felibre, and Purite. Going over the collection, this 
number might easily be increased to two dozen by 
adding Aphrodite, large, pure white ; Lewis Chater, 
fiery red ; Horizon, rose and crimson eye ; Meteor, 
washed mauve and splashed purpleon a white ground 
like Africain, but larger flowered and dwarfer; 
Croesus, large shaded purple overlying purple ; Le 
Destin, large white with pale purple eye ; Baccil, 
very large, soft rosy purple; James Galloway, rich 
rosy purple, with crimson eye ; and Gloire d'Orleans 
not yet in flower, but handsomely variegated with 
broad creamy white margins both to the leaves and 
bracts. 
(Hardening Miscellany. 
AZALEA 1ND1CA VAR. FORTEANA. 
Lovers of Azaleas who visited the quinquennial Ex¬ 
hibition at Ghent in April last, noticed, without 
doubt, the beautiful flower to which the jury accorded 
a First Prize. The modest horticulturist, M. B. 
Fortie, to whom we havededicated the plant, noticed 
in 1890, upon a specimen of the variety Sigismund 
Rucker, a branch bearing flowers remarkably different 
from those of the type. The flowers showed a ten¬ 
dency to doubling ; further, the white and silky 
margin was much broader. M. Fortie resolved to 
fix the variation by grafting, and at the end of the 
year 1892 he possessed almost one hundred plants. 
All the plants have flowered and none of the flowers 
appearing during the three years of propagation have 
presented the least return to the characters of 
Sigismund Rucker. This fixity of the sport is the 
more remarkable, in that Azalea Sigismund Rucker is 
itself a sport, a branch found in the nursery of M. 
van Houtte upon the variety Rachel von Varnhagon. 
It is, then, the product of two colours, a frequent 
occurrence amongst Azaleas, and this fact is the 
more noteworthy as the fixation of the new variety 
is so great, with its numerous veins, fresh colour, its 
imperial toning and neat form, the margins of the 
limb as white as snow, it is really pretty. The 
leaves are of moderate size, slightly elongated in 
form, and of a beautiful green. The variety has the 
merit of being of good average growth, and of a free 
branching and neat habit. The plants shown had 
not been forced, yet on the 15th of April the expan¬ 
sion of the flowers was perfect ; they had in fact 
been kept in a cool greenhouse to retard their 
development. It will certainly be one of the best 
forcing varieties, and for cutting. The stock has 
been secured by M. Ad. D'Haene.— Em. Rodigas. 
[The above remarks accompany a good illustra¬ 
tion of this beautiful novelty in the last number of 
L'Illustration Horticolc. —Ed.J 
YELLOW GROUND P1COTEE. 
Flowers of a border variety named Lottie Kirlew 
have been sent us by Mr. George Holmes, fruit 
grower and florist, Haxby Road, York. The 
Carnations and Picotees are evidently at their best 
there just now, judging from the specimens sent and 
which had been cut with stems bearing numerous 
fully expanded flowers and buds in various stages. 
The flowers were of good average size, and quite full, 
so that when spread out they would have large sized 
flowers as treated by the florist. We have no desire 
to see them dressed, however, but in condition to be 
used for cut flower purposes. The petals were 
almost entire and yellow shaded with buff, edged, 
and slightly striped with rose, and more or less 
deeply tinted with red over the rose, or the red hue 
may be the predominating one. Of course there are 
now several varieties belonging to the same group, 
but that under notice is calculated to supply a large 
quantity of flowers. The chief complaint we have 
against it is that the flowers have no scent. Mr. 
Holmes intends sending it out in the autumn. 
WEIGHTS OF GOOSEBERRIES. 
I see by your paper of the 29th ult. that you refer 
to some “big Gooseberries.” I picked a "big 
Gooseberry ” on the 24th ult. which turned the scale 
at 27 dwts., and six weighed 8 oz. The variety in 
question is Leveller. White Eagle and Thumper, 
seven of each, turned the scale at 8 oz. The fruits 
were gathered from trees about four years old and 
-pruned into the ordinary bush form. At most of 
our local flower shows Leveller invariably wins.— 
Herbert Newton, The Gardens, Campsall Hall, Doncaster. 
GROWTH OF TRADE IN COVENT GARDEN. 
Messrs. W. N. White & Co., Covent Garden, state, as 
indicating how the trade in this market has been deve¬ 
loped, that theweek before last one firm alone dealt with 
64,734 packages, including Greengages 27,583, Orleans 
and other Plums 15,138, Pears 8,043, Peaches and 
Apricots 5,002, Tomatos, salads, and Cucumbers 
4,077, Nuts 2,098, Cherries, Black and Red Currants, 
Apples, and Grapes 645, Bananas, Melons, and 
Lemons 995, Potatos, Peas, and Onions 1,153. Ten 
years ago it was considered a wonderful business for 
one single firm to turn over 20,000 in a week. 
NEW FANCY PANSY AND V.IOLA, 
From Mr. John Forbes, Buccleuch Nurseries, 
Hawick, we have received some blooms of a fancy 
Pansy of the florists’ style, and to all intents and 
and purposes a capital exhibition flower. This has 
been named Rev. James Robertson, and is to be sent 
out next year. The blooms are circular and measure 
2J in. to 2} in. across or more. The blotches are o i 
a blackish violet and almost completely cover the 
three lower petals, leaving only a narrow creamy 
yellow margin. The top petals are of a deep 
crimson purple with a still narrower creamy yellow 
margin. The small and well defined eye is golden 
yellow. Mr. Forbes states that it is a vigorous grower. 
Another variety sent is a bedding Pansy or Viola 
of the same type as Blue Cloud, but the ground 
colour is golden yellow instead of white. The 
ultramarine blue margin is well-defined and distinct. 
There is a small blackish-brown blotch at the base 
of the side petals, but the lip is merely rayed with 
seven dark lines. The variety named Border 
Maid is comparatively new, and was only sent 
out last year if we remember rightly. It is a 
beautiful variety, and we have never seen it in finer 
condition. 
SENECIO PETASITES. 
The leaves of this variety are nearly orbicular, 
cordate at the base, slightly lobed, and toothed at 
the margin The upper surface is of a deep green, 
with the principal veins of a reddish hue. As a 
bedding plant for subtropical gardening it is well 
adapted, and old plants lift readily and keep well, so 
that various sized specimens may be had for various 
purposes. Young plants, however, furnish by far 
the best leaves and make the finest effect. A circular 
bed in the gardens of the Royal Horticultural 
Society, at Chiswick, has been filled with young 
plants which have made good growth since they 
were put out and now completely fill the bed, even if 
they do not make further increase for the season. 
The leaves are of large size and overlap one another 
like the tiles of a roof, and hang over the edging so 
as almost to hide it. The latter consists of Echeveria 
glauco-metallica of much slower growth, and has 
therefore been partly concealed by the overhanging 
leaves of the Senecio. 
AZALEODENDRON COMTE DE KERCHOVE. 
At a special meeting of the Royal Agricultural and 
Botanical Society of Ghent, a large Silver-gilt 
Medal was awarded to a collection of Azaleoden- 
drons, exhibited by M. Ed. Pynaert-Van Geert. 
They are the result of the hybridisation of several 
varieties of Rhododendron ponticum with the pollen 
of Azalea sinensis, better known as A. mollis. As 
we stated in a former issue they were raised by M. 
Vander Meulen and acquired by M. Ed. Pynaert- 
Van Geert. Six of them are specially noticed in the 
Revue de VHorticulture Beige, but the heading of this 
note was considered the best of the lot, and a 
chromo-lithograph of it is given in the issue of the 
above journal for August. It is a shrub with the 
habit of Azalea mollis, but the leaves are evergreen, 
and intermediate in character with the parents. 
The flowers appear at the same time as the leaves, 
and are of a very pale yellow, washed with rose, and 
freely produced in terminal racemes. They are 
funnel-shaped with fine widely-spreading segments, 
the upper one of which, as well as the edge of the 
two which abut upon it, are freely spotted with 
reddish-brown, passing into olive, and then into clear 
green. There are. ten stamens as in the seed parent. 
Judging from the illustration the flowers are hand¬ 
some and the plant as a whole distinct from the 
types already in cultivation. 
LATHYRUS SATIVUS. 
Three different names have been given to as many 
batches of this Pea sent to the gardens of the Royal 
Horticultural Society for trial alongside of the Sweet 
Peas, but in neither case is the name botahically 
ccTrrect. One sowing is labelled L. sylvestris rosea, 
but what excuse there could have been in applying 
such a name is not evident, as L. sylvestris is a 
British plant, a perennial, and entirely different in 
every respect, except that it belongs to the same 
genus. The difference between the two in the leaves, 
flowers, and seed pods is very great. Another name 
given it is L. azureus or Lord Anson's Pea. Now 
both of these names are erroneous. L. azureus was 
first applied to the plant by the Fiorist and Pomologist 
in 1881, whereas the true name of the plant is L. 
