THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 17, 1899. 
662 
culture. When in a suitable situation it will easily 
come up self-sown every year, and has snow white 
flowers. 
A glacialis, a native of the Himalayas, is of easy 
growth and well adapted for the rockery. 
A. foliosa is another Himalayan plant, but more 
difficult to grow than A. glacialis. 
A. lanuginosa is good for rock-work, and has 
downy foliage, rose flowers, with yellow eye. It is 
also a native of the Himalayas. 
Other species are A. alpina, A. imbricata, A. 
carnea, A. obtusifolia, A. pubescens, A, Laggeri, A. 
wulfeniana, &c.— I. Etherington. 
ROUPELL PARK NURSERIES. 
The firm well known for its fineCaladiums, Gloxinias, 
&c., to wit, the Messrs. John Peed & Sons, Roupell 
Park Nurseries, Norwood Road, London, S.E., do 
not confine themselves alone to these specialities. 
From a recent visit to the place we can direct the 
visitor, when down in that direction, to call and see 
the Begonias, Cannas and the many houses filled 
with flowering and foliage plants. The Begonias 
are very fine, especially the single varieties, and a 
large selection is grown. Gloxinias are likewise 
handsomely flowered and represented in a dozen 
pretty shades of colour. 
Caladiums, it is needless to say, are in great 
quantity. The plants are very large, at least many 
of them, with deeply coloured, brilliant foliage. 
Young batches of plants are constantly being 
advanced. As we have said, Cannas are in great 
force and judging from the size and strength of the 
flower spikes just being thrown up at the time of our 
visit, the blooms will be as fine as need be desired. 
Then whole houses are devoted to Maidenhair Ferns 
in the various useful varieties ; Palms, always in 
demand for decoration ; stove plants, represented by 
most beautiful Crotons, Dracaenas, and flowering 
bulbous plants ; in fact, stocks of all the plants most 
sought after to use for house furnishing or room 
decorations. We must not omit to remark on the 
pot Vines, which this reason are breaking very 
strongly. They are clean, healthy, stout, and there 
are many of them. The established fruiting vineries 
are also in a favourable state. In conclusion we may 
add that to preserve their cut flowers over a length¬ 
ened period, Messrs. Peed & Sons have recently built a 
large underground cellar below their flower-sale-room 
and are able to keep cut bloom fresh for 5 or 6 days 
longer than usual. 
-->*—-- 
SWEET PEAS IN POTS, 
I suppose there is no more popular or useful 
annual than this ; its fragrance and beauty, com¬ 
bined with the diversity of colour to be obtained, 
renders it useful for all kinds of decorative work. 
Yet how seldom one sees blooms out of season ! 
Many other subjects less beautiful and useful are 
forced. Yet none are more amenable to forcing or 
yield a better teturn. As they are much appre¬ 
ciated here for dinner table and other room decora¬ 
tion I grow a batch in pots, and generally get them 
in bloom a month before those outside. I have now 
been picking flowers for a week from plants grown 
in unheated houses. My method is to sow five 
seeds in a 60-sized pot about the first or second 
week in February. These placed in a Peach house 
will germinate and grow steadily and strong, and in 
due course are shifted into 32’s, keeping them as 
near the light as possible, and supporting the plants 
with twigs. This year I gave some more pot room, 
using 16’s, but so far I have observed no better 
results than from small pots. Growth is stronger, 
but they are not so floriferous. When about to 
bloom I remove them outside and stand them in 
front of a greenhouse or fence. They produce 
plenty of bloom til! outside ones are ready. If I had 
much conservatory work to do I should use these, 
for I think a group of Sweet Peas pretty, graceful, 
and light, and always command admiration. 
The dwarf Cupid, both pink and white varieties, 
have been much abused since their introduction a 
few years since ; but I like them very much as pot 
plants notwithstanding their little eccentricities such 
as dropping their blooms when on the point of 
expanding, and the very short peduncle. Three 
plants in a 32-sized pot make a nice bushy little 
specimen, and for edging of stages and walks and if 
allowed to grow naturally, without any stakes, th»y 
are very effective, and remain iu bloom several 
weeks. Careful watering and a shady and airy 
situation, when in bloom, will prevent many of the 
flowers falling. 
I have tried most of the best varieties and find 
them all very amenable to pot culture. I have, this 
year, in addition to the dwarfs just mentioned, Mars, 
a brilliant red ; Venus, very delicate straw colour, a 
charming flower; Black Knight, one of the best 
darks I have yet grown ; Duke of Sutherland, a dark 
claret standard, with bluish wings; Duchess of 
Sutherland, pinky-white, blooming pure white when 
fully expanded; Lady Mary Currie, a delicately 
shaded bronze-pink, a lovely colour; Prince of 
Wales, bright rose self, richly coloured ; Chancellor, 
orange-pink ; Lady Nina Balfour, a beautiful mauve, 
very effective where this shade is favoured: 
Colonist, a rosy-lilac, very good. These are all 
produced on long stems and are of good form. 
Copious supplies of water are needed ; and weak 
manure and soot water aid the production of fine 
blooms. 
A very pretty and light arrangement of cut blooms 
for dinner table decorations may be made by using 
small, developed growth of Asparagus—now in 
plenty on outside beds as foliage—associated with 
the tendrils of the Pea itself, interspersing small 
sprays of Gypsophila elegans. The prettiest 
possible effect may be produced by the judicious use 
of these very simple materials— A. P. 
[A box of cut flowers of ten varieties of Sweet Peas 
accompanied the above notes, and they were sufficient¬ 
ly convincing that fine flowers of this popular race, in 
no way lacking in size, colour, length of stalk, loveli¬ 
ness and fragrance, can be produced by this method 
of cultivation. They are certainly worthy of all the 
care and labour they entail. The varieties sent 
were Black Knight and Duke of Sutherland, both 
very dark sorts in the way of Boreatton and Shah- 
zada ; and of the two we liked the Duke best. Mars 
was bright and fiery as the name would imply. 
Proceeding down the scale of colour we come to 
Prince of Wales, and Colonist (new), both soft 
purple varieties with flowers of large size. Chan¬ 
cellor is a brilliant salmon-pink, and veined like 
Lady Penzance. Lady Mary Currie (new) is a 
lovely rose variety of a rich and popular colour. 
Lady Nina Balfour (mauve) was as well coloured 
as we have seen it. Venus may be described as 
having a salmony-apricot flush ; and Duchess of 
Sutherland is a blush, both being delicate and 
pleasing colours — Ed.] 
PEOPLE WE HAVE MET. 
Mr. Alexander Wright. 
The subject of this sketch is a native of the 
*' kingdom ” of Fife, and, omitting his earlier boy¬ 
hood, we find him commencing his career of gar¬ 
dening at Dunnikier, in Fife, at the age of fifteen. 
Mr. R. Dewar was then, and still is, gardener at 
Dunnikier, and was well qualified to impart sound, 
practical knowledge. Mr. Wright acknowledges 
his indebtedness to this gardener for many kind¬ 
nesses during the 4^ years he was under him, and 
for assistance readily proffered at various times in 
after years. The straightforward and honest way 
with which he went to work instilled into the mind 
of the pupil lessons not soon to be forgotten. The 
last year of his sojourn there Mr. Wright acted as 
foreman, so that he had every opportunity of getting 
an insight into all the different branches of gar¬ 
dening. 
His next move was to Lennox Castle, Stirling¬ 
shire, where he acted as journeyman for a twelve- 
month. It was here that he began in earnest the 
study of the British Ferns, for which he contracted 
a love that has Dever since forsaken him. He 
searched all the likely glens and corners for miles 
around, and he looks back with satisfaction upon 
the work he then accomplished. In this district he 
picked up thirty-two species and varieties. He 
received much encouragement and assistance from 
the schoolmaster (Mr. Blair) of the clachan of 
Campsie. While attending classes he discovered 
that the schoolmaster was an enthusiast in the sub¬ 
ject of pteridology, and knew most of the British 
species. Many of Mr, Wright's discoveries found 
a suitable home in the "dominie’s” greenhouse, 
which was devoted to Ferns. 
The subject of these notes next engaged as fore¬ 
man at Arniston, near Edinburgh, where he had the 
opportunity of a year’s good training under Mr, 
McTaggart, who still holds, his position there. TO 
this gardener he is indebted for m any hints and 
examples of good, sound gardening. From here, he 
went to Glasslough, Co. Monaghan, Ireland. At the 
November term he went to Edinburgh, but was told 
there was nothing for him. Later on, he was asked 
if he would go to Ireland, to which he replied he did 
Mr. Alexander Wright. 
not care, so long as the place was good. Ireland 
was a lively place about that time, and the nursery¬ 
man, patting him on the back, said, “ You're the 
kind I like to see.” While he was at Glasslough, it 
possessed one of the finest collections of plants in 
any private place in the Sister Isle, both as regards 
specimen stove and greenhouse plants and hardy 
subjects in the open. Conifers and shrubs were 
particularly well represented by good things. Those 
were the days of big specimen plants, when it took 
about two days to tie a specimen Azalea, or to stake 
and tie a Dracophyllum gracile. He was under 
twenty-two years of age when he took charge as 
foreman. He still has many happy recollections of 
the varied scenes that then passed before him during 
the two years he remained. The garden was in a 
beautiful position and the view looking towards the 
lake and woods beyond was such as we seldom find 
equalled. The new mansion then being built must 
command a magnificent view, and the owner, Sir 
John Leslie, can say that all he can survey he owns. 
Desirous of seeing the work carried on in the 
London Parks he came to London, where he stayed 
for about three months, then went as a foreman to 
Neville Court, Tunbridge Wells. Many of our 
readers may remember the pyramid Selaginellas 
shown at the Tunbridge Wells Flower Show. A 
worthy man, Mr. Scammel, had a record of taking 
the prize in that class for eleven years, and that year 
he exhibited the finest pans of Mosses Mr, Wright 
had ever seen, but the Pyramids drowned them. 
He remained there for about two years, then went 
into the nurseries of Messrs. W. Barron & Son, at 
Borrowash, Derby. Most of the time he was there he 
superintended the laying out and planting of a new 
place near Cromford. The experience he then 
gained in moving large trees with Barron's trans¬ 
planting machines has been of great service to him. 
Before finishing the place, he had the offer of, and 
accepted, "The Grove,” Stanmore, Middlesex, as 
head gardener. Here Mr. Brightwen took a great 
interest in his garden and he carried out a great 
number of alterations during the four and a half 
years his gardener remained. Those were the days 
of subtropical and carpet bedding ; and something 
like 40,000 carpet bedding plants were planted out in a 
season, besides the subtropical and other half hardy 
plants. 
His next change was to E. H. Watts, Esq., 
" Devonhurst,” Chiswick, where he remained ten 
and a half years, and where he experienced many 
kindnesses both from Mr. and Mrs. Watts. During 
his residence here in the midst of learning—he took 
advantage of hfs surroundings, and not the least 
