June 10, 1899. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
65B 
Silver Flora Medals. 
1. Malcolm S. Cooke, Esq., Kingston, for Orchids. 
2. Messrs. Thos. Cripps & Son, Tunbridge Wells, 
for Maples. 
Silver Banksian Medals. 
1. Ludwig Mond, Esq., Regent’s Park, for Orchids. 
2. Messrs. E. Webb & Sons, Stourbridge, for 
Gloxinias and Calceolarias. 
3. Mr. Pritchard, Christchurch, for Herbaceous 
Plants. 
4. Messrs. Isaac House & Son, Bristol, for Violas. 
5. Mr. T. Jannoch, Dersingham, for Lilies of the 
Valley. 
6. Messrs. Van Waveren & Kruyff, Haarlem, for 
Astilbes. 
7. Mr. W. Poupart, Twickenham, for Lilies of the 
Valley. 
8. Messrs. Storrie & Storrie, Dundee, for Auriculas. 
9. Mr. T. Perkins, Northampton, for Sycamores. 
10. R. Hoffman, Esq., Dulwich, for Caladiums. 
11. Mr. H. J. Jones, Lewisham, for Begonias. 
12. The Countess of Limerick, St. Albans, for Fruit 
and Vegetables. 
13. Mr. Walter Godfrey, Colchester, for Asparagus. 
-> « ■»- 
PORTABLE ROCKWORK. 
One of the most attractive features at the late 
Manchester Show was the “Portable Rockwork’’ 
exhibit of Messrs. Clapham & Sons, of West Dids- 
bury, Manchester. It had a most natural appear¬ 
ance and looked as if it had been erected for years- 
The production of this seems to be exactly what has 
been wanted for years. The old style of rockwork 
was built on very heavy lines and could not be 
removed without great expense. The new style as 
produced by Messrs. Clapham & Sons, is so light in 
composition, and made in such handy sections, that 
anyone can remove it easily. The frame work of this 
rockwork is modelled in steel wire which is covered 
by a patent composition, consisting of Datura! mater¬ 
ials in the formation of sandstone. The finished 
surface is a most excellent imitation of the aforesaid 
rock, and will stand all weathers, like ordinary stone. 
It can be made to suit any locality, situation or 
position. As an ornamental staging it is a great 
success, being so easily adapted to the changing of 
pots of plants Another way it will be found most 
useful is in the formation of window boxes, which 
are made light, artistic, and most natural. As an 
alpine rockery there is nothing to touch it. Pockets 
can be made in quantities to suit the position, the 
natural sandstone colour showing off the plants to 
the best advantage. The sections of this portable 
rockwork can be removed without disturbing the 
plants, should necessity require it. For an ordinary 
Fernery this is just the thing ; plants do remarkably 
well on it, if planted in the ordinary way. 
This rockwork being very light in construction, 
one ton weight will represent at least twenty tons of 
stone, so that the cost of carriage is something very 
considerable. Any ordinary person can arrange it, 
as it is made in sections, marked and fitted accord¬ 
ing to the plans. This reduces the cost to a 
minimum. 
It is only necessary to send a plan and give the 
space the work is required for, and Messrs. Clapham 
& Sons can fit you up in a manner most surprising. 
The firm also undertake the fouadation of rockwork 
to any extent in natural stones, for the laying out of 
parks. The gigantic rockwork erected at the Black¬ 
pool Tower Gardens, is by this firm; also the 
magnificent rockeries at Waddesden, the seat of the 
late Baron de Rothschild, are amongst the many 
erected by Messrs. Clapham & Sons .-Alfred Outram, 
F.R H.S., 7, Moore Park Road, Fulham, London. 
Hardening IIiscellany. 
PRUNUS AVIUM FLORE-PLENO. 
I have seldom seen this well-known old favourite so 
profusely flowered as it has been this spring. I re¬ 
member the time when, as schoolboys, we raided a 
fine old lady’s garden wherein grew noble speci¬ 
mens of this native plant, and those poor trees used 
to suffer, but all the same they always put forth an 
undiminished supply of blossom yearly. To those 
in doubt as to what they should plant for a hand¬ 
some tree, I would ask them to decide on thisdouble- 
floweriDg Gean.— D. 
GENISTA HISPANICA PUMILA. 
This is one of the dwarf sweet-scented forms of 
Spanish Broom, much used as a feeding plant by the 
hive bees, and as a rock-plant it is suitable to the 
minutest point. Its appearance in winter resembles 
a miniature Gorse, so much so that on a lady being 
supplied with plants by Messrs. Barr & Sons, Long 
Ditton, she sent it back with the note that it was a 
Genista she had seen iD the summer that she had 
wished for, not a Whin. And really she can be 
excused, for the racemes of deep yellow flowers are 
borne on the young wood of the current season, and 
the little leaves at this period have not become shiny 
or tortuous, as they do become, later on. We were 
much in love with the specimen we saw at Long 
Ditton. 
A BEAUTIFUL FLOWER BED. 
There are many forms and ideas of summer bed¬ 
ding, and each and everyone is the ideal form. But 
one that will stand the keen criticism for a long 
period is a mixture of such ordinary herbaceous 
plants as Gypsophila paDiculata, with its snowy-like, 
light and airy panicles of branched stems, and 
Lobelia fulgens Queen Victoria, showing off so well 
its tall stems and bronzed-purple leaves above the 
cloudy foliage and flowers of the former. Whether 
in a round or oval bed these plants so associated are 
simply charming, the foliage of the one so uniquely 
contrasting with the other. The number of plants 
to plant in a bed varies, of course, according to its 
size, and there must be more of Gypsophila than 
Lobelia, as the former must be in sufficient quantity 
to form an edging to the latter, so as to give the de¬ 
sired effect. Any time during the next four weeks 
the plants may be planted.— IV. L., Middlesex. 
THE ONION MAGGOT. 
Changing the times of sowing, says D. T. F. in The 
Agricultural Economist, is a very sure way of baulking 
the Onion Maggot. Sow in August or in February 
and—in the case of spring sowings—before the fly 
appears, the young plants are too tough and vigorous 
for the pest to harm them. If for some reasons a 
February sowing cannot be made, then raise the 
Onions in frames or boxes and plant them out on firm, 
rich land. 
MELON PLANTING. 
Accept a few lines, Mr. Editor, on my method of 
planting out young Melon plants in pits. I am in¬ 
duced the more to write because of the complete 
success of my plants. Instead of making borders or 
putting up mounds, I instead cut from a fine deep 
pasture a solid section of lhe loam or soil. The 
depth was over 1 ft., and the breadth about 2 ft. 
This was taken undivided, and, indeed, untouched as 
regards refining or mixing, and put hollus-bollus on 
the stage of the Melon pit. When it was warmed I 
put some fine soil on the top for giving material in 
which to plant the Melons and allow them a just 
start. Well, I put them in, and off they went, 
sturdy, ramping, disease-resisting plants, all of them 
without a sign of canker, and swelling up some 
mighty fine fruits. The simplicity of the method— 
for once planted I never need do more for them in 
the way of soil dressings—and the success of the 
results, I think, are worth recording. Of course i 
the soil was rich and free and good.— R. S. 
WATER CRESS CULTURE. 
Streams and ditches of water, running at a sluggish 
pace, on nearly level land, might often be converted 
into Watercress beds. Good Watercress will 
always be sought for, and though, now-a-days, sup¬ 
plies are larger there is yet plenty of room for more 
in the North of England towns, at least. The beds 
may be made just at the sides of the stream, and a 
little lower than the same, so that they may be 
flooded as needs require. Broad alleys should run 
between these beds. Fill up the beds; have them in 
a pulverised condition and levelled. TheD, after 
having flooded them, sow the Cress seeds in August; 
or cuttings may be put in at 4 in. or 6 in. apart 
either way. When the beds are full, in Autumn they 
should be flooded to protect the plants during winter. 
Watercress growing naturally is found of the best 
quality in clear, slow running streams with a good 
root-hold of mud. Wherever suitable conditions are 
at hand, the Watercress is worth experimenting 
with. 
AUBRIETIAS AND ARABIS. 
When one sees masses of these plants falling as it 
were in torrents of bloom over some rock, bank, or 
any part of sloped ground, praise for the beauty and 
appropriateness of the plants cannot be withheld. 
We recently saw a mass of Aubrietia deltoidea 
growing on such a slope as we have noted, and the 
effect at half a mile distant—for we were so far off — 
was more than we can find words for describing. It 
is easily raised from seeds, or by splitting up the 
patches into little tufts and inserting them in sandy 
soil a stock is secured. It is cheap to buy. When 
associated with Arabis albida in bands or banks of 
massed colour a very brilliant show is the result. 
Alyssum saxatile compacta gives us a third colour, 
deep brilliant yellow. Other Aubrietlas are found 
in A. d. graeca, of a pale purple colour; A. d. 
violacea, violet; and A. d. Leichtlini,a beautiful rosy- 
carmine-hued variety. 
G REV1LLEA GLABRA. 
To those in search of an easily grown and graceful 
greenhouse climber we can recommend the above. 
We saw it recently in a corridor at Edinburgh 
Botanic Garden, and there it looked very lovely. 
Streamers of 6 ft. and 7 ft. long hung plentiful. Of 
course, this necessitates a high-roofed house to show 
it off clearly, and abundance of light must be 
allowed. The leaves are pale in colour, hang pen- 
dently, are wedge-shaped, and cleft at the apex. 
The flowers are white, but very small, and it is only 
their quantity which makes a show. From seeds sown 
in May or June plants are secured for planting into 
narrow indoor borders in the spring of the following 
year. Allow the plants full air, and water regularly 
during the summer. Cut back the shoots in 
autumn, and maintain a dewy atmosphere when 
they start at the New Year. 
FILMY FERNS. 
Sarracenias and Filmy Ferns are both beautiful 
classes of plants,and why they are not far more gener¬ 
ally cultivated is one of the nineteenth century puzzles. 
It may be that it requires some amount of imagina¬ 
tion to see all the beauty of them, or it may be that 
they are not favoured because we cannot cut them 
for the decorating of boudoirs and halls, but it 
certainly cannot be because of their cultural 
exactions. The Filmy Ferns should have a house 
to themselves, kept darkened by the use of shading, 
allowing no air or sunshine to pass over or about 
them, and the temperature should be cool, and the 
atmosphere moist. 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
An enthusiastic and generally successful grower of 
“’Mums ” made what was nearly a fatal mistake with 
his youDg Chrysanthemums. He had potted them 
into the 5-in. pots and a nicer batch of plants never 
was grown. He took them to low span-roofed pits 
and placed them above ashes, but before doffig so, to 
make sure of saving his beauties from the devouring 
jaws of tough old snails, &c., he sprinkled a fair 
dusting of soot and lime over the surface. He 
watered the plants, and the day being very cold he 
closed the frame completely. But whoo ! an hour 
or two afterwards he saw his proud “ 'Mums ’’ limp 
and drooping. The ammonia alone would have hurt 
them but I suppose the ammonia (N H 3 ) would 
unile with the water to form nitric acid (H„ N O 4 ), 
which is virulent.— J. D. 
VERBASCUM THAPSUS. 
This plant we feel sure is not generally found in 
all gardens, though many other things might give 
way to it as a picturesque, massive, flowering bien¬ 
nial. It thrives among rough, stoney, calcareous 
soils, and in dry borders it succeeds. The leaves 
are light gray, large and pliable, clasping the stem 
and clothing it from base to the flower spike which 
terminates the season’s growth. These flowers are 
very bright yellow and in thick array. The Great 
Mullein, Shepherd’s Rod, and Aaron’s Rod, are other 
names for this plant. It grows to over 6 ft. in 
height, and is readily propagated from autumn sown 
seeds. There are many other dwarfer and very 
handsome herbaceous Verbascums. 
DIELYTRA SPECTABILIS. 
The value of this plant for conservatory decoration 
was impressed on us at the Edinburgh spring show. 
It formed quite a feature there. Good roots may be 
