July 2 , 1898. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
697 
qneeDS has triumphed over the dead body other rival. 
Here the bees are sadly like the human, for —" the 
king is (Jead, long live the king." The most curious in¬ 
stance of union of swarms that we remember per¬ 
sonally is one when three went together, one swarm 
settling on the cluster formed by the other, both 
being hived together, and the third lot coolly walking 
into the hive that contained the two within half an 
hour of the time that they had been placed there. 
-- 
DIANTHUS M9NSPESSULANUS 
ALPESTRIS. 
The great bulk of the plants coming under the genus 
Dianthus belong to D Caryophyllus, D. plumarius, 
D. sinensis and D. barbatus. There is, however, a 
mass of material from which to choose for the en¬ 
richment of our gardens, but particularly the rockery, 
for 238 species are known to science, and most of them 
are suitable for planting on the reck garden. 
Botanically, that under notice comes under D. 
monspessulanus, as the original had been found at 
Montpellier, in France. The type has rose flowers, 
but several wild varieties, with pale rose and white 
flowers, and others differing in habit have been 
picked up and named by botanists. This is not to 
be wondered at, for in a wild state the species occurs 
in Hungary, Calabria, Caucasus and Corunna, the 
latter being its most westerly habitat in Spain The 
plant forms a dense patch covering the ground, and 
during June and July throws up a profusion of 
flowers whose petals are deeply and beautifully 
fringed. The accompanying illustration was pre¬ 
pared from a photograph taken in the nursery of 
Messrs. R. Veitch & Son, Exeter. 
NOTES ON PARIS GARDENING. 
(Concluded fromp. 684). 
Chateau Turesnes. 
Being a gardener, and, as the old saying goes, 
" Birds of a feather, &c.,” my natural desire was to 
make the acquaintance cf some of the French gar¬ 
deners, and I must admit, with pleasure, that those 
few I had the honour of being introduced to were 
most courteous and willing to show the products of 
their skill, and also to give any information respect¬ 
ing the treatment of these products, or, indeed, any 
information, even to the smallest details; only, un¬ 
fortunately, I had to take my information second¬ 
hand, and vice versa. This was rather trjing to me, 
who was bent upon getting as much information as 
possible, and having to go such a roundabout way to 
obtain it. 
The first private garden I had the privilege to look 
over was at Chateau Turesnes, the residence of the 
late M. Worth. The place is situated about mid¬ 
way between Paris and Versailles. The spot was 
well chosen, as the house is built on the side of a 
hill, commanding fine landscape views. M. Louis 
Morin, the energetic and courteous gardener, very 
kindly conducted me over the establishment. The 
place was well worth a visit, as it was the first of its 
kind I ever saw, and no wonder, considering with 
whom the design and ideas originated, namely, the 
late M. Worth, who was, I believe, the pioneer of 
many new designs for Paris fashions. It was not 
by any means what we should call an all-round 
place, as flower gardening and house decoration 
were the two leading features; in fact, they were 
the all-imporiant part, and, practically, during the 
summer months these two branches of gardening 
almost converged into one, for during that period of 
the year the family really lived in the garden, the 
house proper being only used for domestic and 
sleeping purposes. 
The dining, drawing, billiard, and other reception 
rooms, with the conservatory were built quite apart 
from the house, and were, so to speak, accessories to 
the flower garden, or the whole grouped into one. 
The dining-room was like a grotto ; in fact, it was 
under ground, with nooks and corners about, planted 
with Ferns and other suitable subjects. On the 
centre of the table a small fountain played at will to 
the occupants. The other rooms, as regards artistic 
taste, both from a horticultural and upholstery point 
of view, were the essences of originality and perfec¬ 
tion. Baskets with drooping Ferns, Asparagus, 
Tradescantias, and other plants of pendent habit 
hanging in festoons were one of the chief features ; 
whilst about the walls ornamental receptacles were 
built here and there to hold similar and other plants. 
Besides this, a choice collection of china was 
arranged about the rooms to the best advantage, 
adding a considerable charm to the picturesque 
surroundings, and seemed to give one the impression 
of an intermingling of the old order and the new. 
The general arrangement of the flower beds, and 
bedding was quite in keeping with the taste and skill 
shown in the inside furnishing. Begonias and 
Cannas were well to the front, and besides these 
many other choice and tender plants were employed 
for the purpose, and to summarise the whole they 
were in the pink of perfection. M. Morin informed 
me that he bedded out at least three times during the 
season, beginning early, and continuing as late in the 
autumn as possible. They have a fair amount of 
glass there, principally low span-roof houses and pits, 
for growing plants to meet the requirements of the 
flower garden, &c. 
Chateau Lebaudy. 
The next place of special interest was at Chateau 
Lebaudy, Bogival, the residence of M. Lebaudy, 
situated between Paris and St. Germain. These 
gardens were more after the English style, and more 
of an all-round place than the one previously alluded 
to. Although the bedding here was quite a 
speciality, M. Page, the head gardener, who is a 
most enthusiastic plant cultivator and hybridist, and 
his son, who, by the way, had spent several years in 
English gardens, kindly conducted me around the 
establishment. Of glass there is a considerable 
quantity, built much after the English style, and 
with the latest improvements. One block consisted 
of a long corridor, with several span-roofed stoves 
and Orchid houses, leading out at right angles. The 
corridor was used as a show house, and contained 
some well-grown Palms, Bamboos, &c. Orchids 
were well represented, and the several houses were 
filled to their utmost capacity, with a clear healthy- 
lookiog collection, Cattleyas and Cypripediums 
taking the lead in quantity. M. Page goes in for 
hybridising, and amongst his latest products, which 
was varied and in quantity, he pointed out many 
fine forms of Cypripediums. The general collection 
of Orchids contained some very fine pieces of 
Laelias, Cattleyas, Vandas, Phalaenopsis, &c 
Besides these I noticed some grand Anthuriums, 
showing exceptionally large spathes. 
The flower garden, well, to say the least of it, was 
truly magnificent. The principle feature here was the 
massive beds of one colour. Begonias, both 
tuberous and fibrous rooted, being the chief sub¬ 
jects. Many fine varieties of both sections, the 
results of the head gardener's handiwork were 
pointed out and compared with the parents. Cannas 
were largely used with good effect, especially in one 
instance, where a huge mass of these popular sub¬ 
jects was planted on a slope and graduated down 
from plants of 3 ft. to 4 ft. to 1 ft. and under. 
Besides these, many of the high class Pelar¬ 
goniums were used, also other choice plants of the 
higher order, including such subjects as Anthurium 
andreanum, A. crystallinum, A. ferrierense, Crotons, 
and Diacaenas of sorts. The lawn was quite in keep¬ 
ing with the flower beds, rather spongy to walk on, 
but pleasing to the eye. In fact, I should not be 
wide of the mark in saying that the whole place was 
in tip-top order, and it only took a cursory glance to 
come to the conclusion that there was no lack of the 
incentive that keeps good gardens up to the mark. 
In addition to the other subjects previously men¬ 
tioned. M. Page has taken the Gloxinia and Strep- 
tocarpus in hand, with a view to improvement by 
cross-fertilisation, and judging by the size of the 
flowers and variety of colours on view, he fully 
demonstrated that he was no mean hand at the work. 
I cannot leave M. Page without passing one more 
remark. I trust his fellow countrymen will not think 
him unpatriotic when I say that he has a little weak¬ 
ness towards the English. Any ho w, on this occasion he 
exhibited his appreciation of them in a very practical 
manner. 
Ferrieres. 
The establishment of Baron Alphonse de Roth¬ 
schild was the next and last place I visited. 
This place is too generally known for me to 
enter into any geographical details, and as 
my time there was limited in proportion to the 
magnitude of the place, I could not grasp enough in 
the time to go into any horticultural details. I may 
say, that this is an establishment where gardening is 
carried out in all its branches to as near perfection 
as it is possible to get it. There are, I believe, 
about sixty glasshouses in all, and about 6,000 
frames, besides many other temporary erections for 
protecting plants. Nine of these houses are devoted 
to Orchids; twenty-one to fruit, and the remainder 
to stove and greenhouse plants. Orchids in the 
various sections were well represented, especially 
Odontoglossums, and looked the picture of health. 
The plant houses were furnished with nearly every 
kind of stove and greenhouse plant worth growing ; 
and in appearance were everything that could be 
desired. One noticeable feature about the plaDt 
houses was the mixture of plants grown together, the 
Dianthus monspessulanus alpestris. 
