January 22, 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
329 
You may allow each cane to carry two or three 
bunches without fear of injury to the plants. 
Cyclamen —N.B.: You are rather late in sowing 
the seed. The plants will flower late next season 
after those raised from the autumn sowing are past 
their best. The seed should be buried about a 
quarter of an inch deep, but not more. A tempera¬ 
ture of 55 0 will be necessary to insure speedy ger¬ 
mination. 
A North House. — A glass house such as you 
describe, G. Hendon, facing to the north may be 
turned to good account in a variety of ways. First 
of all you may turn it into a Fernery with the best of 
results. It would also do for late Camellias, some of 
which might be planted out if the house is large 
enough, and others grown in pots. Lapagerias 
might be utilised for covering the roof. Such a 
house will also be bandy for retarding flowering 
plants of various kinds. If you want it permanently 
furnished, however, the Fernery project would 
probably yield the most satisfaction. 
Cherries Under Glass —Cherries are not grown 
so frequently under glass as Grapes or Peaches, E. 
Morton, but they are still treated in this w'ay fairly 
extensively. The great thing in their under glass 
cultivation is not to force them too hard at the early 
part of the season. Cordon trained trees are the 
most suitable. If you decide to plant some Cherries 
we shall be pleased to give you a list of good dessert 
varieties. 
-- 
NOTES FROM CHELSEA. 
Begonia Eudoxa. 
Not the least charm that attaches to the foliage of 
Begonias lies in the fact that they are so distinct in 
habit and general appearance from any other of the 
plants with which they are associated in the warm 
or intermediate houses. The curious obliquity of 
the leaves common to the members of the genus 
gives them a certain grotesqueness of form that 
arrests the attention of even the casual observer, 
and when to this is added unusual shades of green, 
with quaint dottings or markings, the foliage 
becomes beautiful, while the plants do not cease to 
bs interesting. The accompanying illustration (for 
which we are indebted to the Messrs. Veitch) shows 
a charming novelty in this class of Begonias, which is 
being sent out this year by the Chelsea firm, and is 
certainly one of the handsomest plants ever raised 
at the Royal Exotic Nurseries. It is of hybrid 
origin, having been obtained from B. Burkei, 
fertilised with the pollen of B decora, a well-known 
and beautiful foliage Begonia. 
The leaves are from 6 in. to g in. in length, and, 
as will be seen in the illustration, of pronounced 
obliquity. The nerves and ground colour of the 
upper surface are rich bronze-green, the whole 
surface being thickly studded with white verrucosities, 
which are tinted more or less with light rose. The 
under surface is rich carmine in hue, and perfectly 
smooth. Seen in a good light this colour imparts a 
richness of tone to the whole leaf, which is really 
pellucid In habit the plant favours that of the 
pollen parent, B. decora, which is dwarf and 
spreading. 
Dracaena Warrenii. 
There are now so many Dracaenas, representing a 
wide range of habit and style that anew one must of 
necessity be really first-class if it is to attract atten¬ 
tion. Through the kindness of the Messrs. Veitch 
we are enabled to present our readers with an illus¬ 
tration of a very elegant new variety named D. 
Warrenii, which is the result of a cross between D. 
Gladstonei and D. vivicans. It was raised by Mr. 
Albert Offer, gardener to John Warreo, Esq., Hand- 
cross Park, Sussex, from whom the Chelsea firm has 
acquired the stock The plant is most distinct in 
habit, and is in fact one of the very finest of the 
narrow-leaved forms. The gracefully arching 
deeply channelled leaves are from fifteen to twenty 
iaches in length, and a little over an inch in width. 
The colour is rich crimson-black, the youDger 
leaves breaking the monotony by having a compara¬ 
tively broad carmine marginal or sub-marginal 
stripe running their whole length. The general 
appearance of the plant is exceedingly elegant, and 
it will, without doubt, be largely grown in the future 
for table decoration, if for nothing else. The happy 
way it has of accommodating itself in small pots is 
an additional qualification to this end, for a plant 
loses half its decorative value when it needs a huge 
pots to contain its roots. The value of this 
Dracaena has been already recognised by the Award 
of Merit bestowed upon it by the Royal Hort¬ 
icultural Society in September, 1896. 
Greenhouse Rhododendrons. 
Amongst the numerous plants in the cultivation and 
improvement of which Messrs. James Veitch and 
Sons have played a most important part there has 
been no more conspicuous success obtained than in 
the case of the hybrid greenhouse Rhododendrons. 
So skilfully has Mr. John Heal employed two or 
three species that he has given us an entirely new 
race of plants remarkable for their beauty, freedom, 
and continuity of flowering, while they are of com¬ 
paratively easy culture. Tt e value of these plants 
for conservatory decoration, more especially during 
mid-winter when flowers of all sorts or any sort are 
at a premium, can scarcely be too highly appraised. 
It does not seem to matter much what time of the 
)ear a visit is paid to the Royal Exotic Nurseries at 
Chelsea, some of the Rhododendrons are in flower. 
On December 26th last there were no fewer than 
thirty-two distinct forms in full bloom, and this 
number had even increased when we paid a visit 
early in January. Wa found that the plants had 
been recently potted, and, although it would seem to 
be rather early in the year for this kind of work, 
this treatment seems to suit the plants to perfection. 
They are given a temperature of from 50° to 55 0 
Fahr. by night with •vl proportionate rise by day 
during the winter months, and the atmosphere is 
kept constantly moist and kindly. Flowering and 
growth are well-nigh continuous as a consequence. 
There are several distinct sections of these hybrids, 
both single and double flowers being represented, 
although the former are numerically much the 
stronger. By crossing the Javan species R. 
Javanicum, which has orarge-yellow flowers, spotted 
more or less with red, and R. jasmioiflorum, a 
species which bears white Jasmine liks flowers with 
a pink eye, common to Malacca, the race of Javanico- 
jasminiflorum hybrids has been obtained. In this 
section we get dwarf sturdy plants with flowers of 
varying sizes, but generally large, and as varying, 
brilliant colours. Many of these have from time to 
time received a First-class Certificate or Award of 
Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society, and 
abundantly indeed are the awards deserved. 
Hercules is an especially grand form with huge 
flowers that exhibit a rich shade of orange-yellow, 
toned here and there with splashes of rose-pink. 
Lord Wolseley may be described as an improvement 
upon the species R. javanicum, for the flowers are 
bright orange-yellow spotted with rose towards the 
Dracaena Warrenii. 
