620 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 27, 1899. 
Japan Cherry we have seen. The flowers are of great 
size, double, of a rich rosy-pink, and profusely pro¬ 
duced in heavy bunches from the short lateral spurs. 
The young leaves are of a rich bronzy hue, and very 
handsome when the plants are in bloom. (First- 
class Certificate.) Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., 
Chelsea. 
Lathyrus splendens Pride of California.— 
This little known species has shrubby stems and in 
habit reminds one of a Swainsonia. Like that it also 
enjoys the protection of a greenhouse. The leaves 
consist of two to four pairs of small, elliptic, glau¬ 
cous leaflets. The flowers are freely produced in 
axillary racemes, the blooms being scattered from 
the base to the apex of the stalk. The standard and 
wings are crimson-red. The keel is rosy with a red 
tip. (Award of Merit.) The Director, Royal Gar¬ 
dens, Kew. 
The Royal Botanic Society made the following 
awards on the 17th inst. 
Paeonia Moutan var. —The flowers of this tree 
Paeony are semi-double, having several rows of 
broad, beautifully frilled and snow-white petals. 
The inner ones have a faint tint of pink, while the 
large bunch of anthers is bright golden-yellow. 
(Floricultural Certificate of Merit.) Messrs. Barr & 
Sons, King Street, Covent Garden, London. 
Darwin Tulip May Queen.— This is a beautiful 
Tulip of tall and stately growth, with large and soft 
rose flowers, on stout stems, and a blue-black base. 
(Floricultural Certificate of Merit.) Messrs. Barr & 
Sons. 
Cattleya nobilior Walker’s var. —The flowers 
of this variety are large for the type, with rich 
lavender-pink sepals and petals. The lamina of the 
lip is largely expanded and darker in colour than the 
rest of the flower with a large, pale yellow disc. The 
interior of the tube is buff, and streaked with brown. 
(Botanical Certificate of Merit.) Walter C. Walker, 
Esq. (grower, Mr, Geo. Cragg), Percy Lodge, Winch- 
more Hill. 
Paeonia Moutan Mrs. Jessop Hutton. —Here 
we have a large white flower, with the faintest flush 
of rose. The stamens are pure yellow, and well 
developed round the violet cdloured ovary. (Flori¬ 
cultural Certificate of Merit.) Messrs, Kelway & 
Son, Langport, Somerset. 
Dracaena cannaefolia. —This is a broad leaved 
form, the leaves being light green, edged and streaked 
with creamy-white. The leaves are about 3J in. wide. 
(Botanical Certificate of Merit.) Messrs. J. Laing & 
Sons, Forest Hill, London, S.E. 
MORTON HALL, MIDLOTHIAN. 
(Concluded from p. 602.) 
The Fruit Houses. 
The Fig-house is in capital condition; the trees are 
in good heart and well furnished, bearing yearly 
splendid crops The borders are not of the shallow 
depth recommended for the growth of Figs ; yet 
they are not at all deep. The breadth, rather though, 
is narrowed. Liberal nourishment is given and 
constant waterings, with rain water, rarely any other. 
The varieties represented are Brown Turkey, Black 
and white Ischia, White Marseilles and Castle 
Kennedy. 
On an end wall of the house Tomatos are being 
grown. Spaces between the trees in nearly all of 
the fruit-houses are filled with Tomato plants, 
which thus considerably add to the yearly out-put. 
We do not so very often see the Cinnamon plant, so 
useful for the supply of green foliage, and so 
pleasantly odorous. In the Fig-house there was a 
dozen large plants. Adiantums of varieties, of 
whose fronds Mr. Harvey has so much need, are 
grown in profusion below the trellis-trained trees; 
and Phoenix rupicola, Areca lutescens, Lomaria 
gibba, Cycas revoluta and such like Palms, Ferns 
and Cycas, composed a view in all points—leafy. 
Figs have a very tropical appearance. Beyond this 
house the other fruit houses extend. This range is 
lean-to, faces south or south-east, and joins at right- 
angles to the corridor section. 
In a porch next the Fig-house, that favourite 
climbing Rose, Marechal Niel, was doing its best to 
be first with flowers. Myrtles, Euonymus vars , 
trained Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums, and Pteris tremula 
with some dwarf-flowering plants were employed for 
decorative show. 
Stepping dow into the late Peachery we find every 
corner made use of. The trees are a credit to any 
gardener, and we can also speak for the quality and 
quantity of the fruits which they bear. Lime water 
drenchings are very frequently given and the practice 
seems justificatory. As a rule, whenever rain falls, 
the borders are watered. Of Peaches, Princess of 
Wales, Sea Eagle, Stirling Castle ; Barrington and 
that good late variety Lady Palmerston, are prime 
favourites ; while Victoria and Humboldt Nectarines 
are well favoured in their class. Malmaison Carn¬ 
ations are especially treated and two long top 
shelves bore many a dozen beautiful types with dark 
gray broad curly foliage, and big bloom buds just 
bursting. Then Ixias, Jonquils, and Azaleas, large 
well flowered old Ghent types, filled a whole long 
stage. 
In the early house, trees and plants were fresh, 
and good crops were in the first-named. Lord 
Napier Nectarine and Violette Hative Peach and 
others were here. Bedding plants chiefly filled the 
stages. A few plants of Diosma ericoides with 
white, starry flowers and leaves giving a faint aroma 
were noted for their brightness. 
The conservatory, a span-roofed house abutting 
from the centre of the lean-to range, was gay with 
well-grown Hippeastrums, Statice profusa, Azalea 
D. Perle, A. vervaeneana, &c.; Tulips, Hya¬ 
cinths, Narcissus, Primulas, and a host of other 
spring flowers. Two plants of Clematis indivisa, 
planted one on either side of the house cover the 
whole of the under-roof surface, and when in flower 
the long floral festoons blaze forth in a dazzling 
picture. It flowers during March. 
In the vinery things appeared as in the other 
places, all fresh and strong. A year or two ago the 
Vines shanked badly, but since a better heat circula¬ 
tion was obtained, and the borders renewed, the 
appearance and condition of the rods now give hope 
for good crops. Black Hamburgh, Black Alicante, 
Muscat of Alexandria, Bucklaud's Sweetwater, 
Foster’s Seedling, and Mrs. Pince, were all doing 
finely. Here, too, was a staging of Cacti among 
which Opuntias, Cereuses, Epiphyllums, and 
Mammillarias predominated. In the late vinery tall 
growing zonal Pelargoniums sent out a rich blaze of 
colour from their places on the back wall. It 
requires a sight of these to comprehend how useful 
and handsome “ Geraniums ” grown in this way, 
can be. 
But now in a word we must part. It always gives 
us pleasure to make note of any worthy place and to 
accredit the labours of able gardeners. We feel 
that not half justice has been given to all there is of 
notable interest about Morton Hall, but what we 
have now omitted may at a future visit, all well, be 
then recorded. After hospitalities from Mr. and 
Mrs. Harvey we took leave, pleased in every way.— 
Van Dyck. 
—-•*- - 
FLOWERING SHRUBS. 
All of us who have health to move about have been 
enjoying the bright colours on our rough hill slopes 
or over the wide moors where the yellow Whins and 
Brooms have been blowing. We see this and other 
great beauties all around us, and according to our 
natures are pleased and show thankful appreciation ; 
or we may make no effort to enjoy it, perhaps 
hardly see it; all, as we have said, depends on our 
regard for such things. Some may think there is 
enough of this sort of thing about us already and 
possibly there may be in certain territories, but 
without opposition, we can say, not everywhere ; not 
very many places in fact. 
Suppose now that half of these yellow-flowering 
Whins or Brooms, or whatever else it might have 
been, were singled out and taken away, would you 
have been so much tickled with the effect ? Or 
if they were reduced to a quarter, and then less 
than a quarter and, finally, none were left, would 
it not appear as though one more of the 
pleasant things in life had been blotted out ? And 
so with all our natural and our gardening decora¬ 
tions ; it is only when we have none to enjoy 
that we wish for them, and we. gravitate towards 
something else that is pleasant and beautiful. 
One plant is very nice, ten plants together are 
nicer than one ; a hundred are better than ten, and 
a thousand are better than a hundred. 
When we have an object in view, we are apt to 
use our persuasion to some length. However, wbat 
we desire to see is a more liberal use of hardy flower¬ 
ing shrubs about the grounds of gardens, or even 
throughout the wider areas of estates. 
Cytisus scoparius, either on ground lying idle 
or within the nearer precincts of the country man¬ 
sions, is a hardy shrub, and, though common, none 
the less to be thought of. Cytisus s. andreanus is 
more used as a pot plant for forcing, yet it is per¬ 
fectly hardy anywhere north, to Fife, at least. The 
side petals or wings of this variety of the Broom are 
a rich orange-brown colour. 
Cytisus albus flowers outdoors during May and 
June, and the flowers are borne in dense sprays of 
pure white. C. praecox, massed into circular beds 
or planted on ridges, is another form we can well re¬ 
commend for use. It makes a fine show even as a 
single plant in the front rows of the shrubbery. C. 
decumbens is a pretty little Alpine species, handy 
for fringing a sunny part of rockeries. The Brooms 
are not at all fastidious as to the quality of the soil, 
but a warm, rather light, well-drained soil produces 
vigorous and floriferous plants; and in such soil 
severe winters have less effect on them. 
Berberis Aquifolium (or Mahonia Aquifolia), 
so freely used as covert and as ground shelter every¬ 
where, is a fine old flowering shrub. When not in 
flower, the foliage and the compact picturesqueness 
of this shrub are standing qualities; and such 
aspects are increased at the flowering time, which is 
late April, May, and early June. Then after the 
flowers come the blue-purple berries (dangerous to 
the children and loved by the birds), produced in 
great clusters, the juice of which stains the fingers 
of those who would pluck them. A botanical in¬ 
terest is attached to the flowers in the fact of their 
having sensitive stamens. They shew the power of 
movement best when fully expanded to the sun. It 
attains to a height of 6 ft. in favourable places. 
B. A. repens is a dwarf form, only reaching about 
1 ft. or so high. B. gracilis resembles B. Aquifolium, 
but is more slender. The leaves are finer, and have 
red stalks or petioles. It grows 5 ft. or 6 ft. high. 
B. Darwinii represents what many term the true 
Berberis type, for the Mahonias are not generally 
known as synonyms of Berberis by the average 
grower. Be that as it may, the B. Darwinii is known 
very generally, and where known it is a favoured 
member. It reaches to 7 ft. and 8 ft. as a bush, and, 
isolated on the outskirts of a belting, or fringing a 
lawn, nothing in its season is better. It is in bloom 
by April, the orange-yellow flowers depending in 
showers from the arching shoots. 
B. stenophylla has much resemblance to the 
former. It is a hybrid between B. Darwinii and one 
named B. empetrifolia. The flowers are a clear, 
good yellow, and plenteous in quantity. B. vulgaris 
is the common species. No doubt all of us who 
have lived in the country parts will have seen this 
shrub flinging itself about in the loose hedge-rows, 
and may have tasted its crimson, acidulous fruits. 
I know of a lady who would not allow her hedger 
to trim the hedges in which B. vulgaris flourished. 
Ceanothus azureus, belonging as it does to 
Mexico, requires in our cold clime some shelter; 
more especially does this apply northwards. We 
find it often grown as a wall-clothing shrub, and 
where the buildings are broad and large and more 
out of the way, against such support Ceanothus 
azureus is all right. But from its vigour in these 
places it is not neat enough or close growing to be 
used in proximity to house entrances. It grows to 
ten or more feet high, and sends forth clusters of 
azure blue, little flowers from the ends of the shoots. 
It blooms in June, and where the soil is not hot and 
drv they last a loDg while fresh. 
’Olearia Haastii has within recent years been 
largely planted in some of the gardens around Edin¬ 
burgh, and has flourished handsomely. It is one of 
the brightest of our flowering shrubs, and its success 
and the appreciation it has received wherever intro¬ 
duced make us hope that more of the lesser known 
but yet worthy shrubs will find their way into many 
more east of Scotland gardens. The cry is that 
nothing can stand against the searching east and 
north winds, which so constantly and severely strike 
these coasts in the northern latitudes. And it is 
true; but given some shelter until they become 
established and somewhat naturalised, I am of 
opinion that much advancement and many additions 
could be made. This Olearia makes a fine specimen 
lawn shrub, for if it has not much of beauty in its 
foliage its general habit and arrrangement, to¬ 
gether with the shining pale green foliage and the 
Star or Daisy-like, white clustered flowers, are 
pretty in their union. It is evergreen, and attains 
to 4 ft. or 5 ft. in height. — Edina. 
(To be continued,) 
