266 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
December 26, 1896. 
and rare. The soft greenish-yellow flowers of Cypri- 
pedium boissierianum are also very handsome in 
their way. Miltonias are represented by M. bleuiana 
aurea, M. vexillaria Leopoldi, M. v. alba, and M. 
Phalaenopsis, making preparations to bloom. A 
beautiful hybrid is Epidendrum wallisio-ciliare. 
The collection at Chelsea is remarkably rich in 
Laeliocattleyas, including L. Rosalind, L. Pallas, 
and others in bloom. Very choice also is Cattleya 
intermedia alba. 
Greenhouse Rhododendrons. 
It seems to us superfluous to speak of seasonable 
flowers in connection with the splendid collection of 
hybrids and others coming under the above designa¬ 
tion at Chelsea, for we have never been able to find 
them out of season, whatever the period of the year 
may be when we inspect them. The fact that they 
do furnish a good supply of their beautiful and ever 
welcome flowers at Christmas is, however, gratifying. 
The undermentioned were all in bloom on the 
occasion of our visit : — 
Javanico-jasminiflorum Section. — The origin of 
this class is indicated by the name given to the 
section, and we may state that in their present 
condition they have the largest flowers of any. 
Improvements continue to be made, and no one is 
more decided than the rich golden-yellow Nobilius 
which received an Award of Merit on the 15th inst. 
For description, see under “ Plants Recently Certi¬ 
ficated,” in another column. Aphrodite is a soft 
blush-pink variety, almost white in summer, chaste 
and pretty. Ceres is another golden-yellow variety, 
with large flowers and rosy stamens. Jasminiflorum 
carminatum has a long rosy tube and a carmine 
lamina to the flower, becoming more intense as it 
develops. Very pretty is the ivory-white Imogene, 
with a faint flush of rose. The flowers of Duchess 
of Fife are of a soft blush, with a yellow centre, 
which tones the whole bloom. It is new and 
received an Award of Merit recently. Freely pro¬ 
duced are the large, soft rosy flowers of Amabile. 
The flowers of Purity are large and white, with a 
pale lemon throat. Another grand new hybrid is 
Ariel with huge, yellow flowers and a pale yellow 
throat. The well-known Taylori has large rose 
flowers produced in huge trusses, and should be in 
every collection. Maiden's Blush comes into the same 
category for usefulness, and has blush flowers with 
a pale yellow throat. The large buff-yellow flowers 
of Princess Fredericka are also handsome. Princess 
Alexandra is a good standard variety with blush- 
white flowers. 
Balsamaeflorum or Double Section. —The 
flowers of this race last in good condition three 
times as long as the single ones, and they are 
flowering now as they do at all seasons. The flowers 
of Balsamaeflorum roseum are rose shaded with 
scarlet, and have a long yellowish tube ; they forcibly 
remind one of those of an Oleander. The variety is 
the freest flowering of any. B. carneum has a 
shorter tube with more spreading segments to the 
flower of a flesh colour. B. album resembles a 
Gardenia, both in colour and the form of the large 
flowers. The blooms of B. aureum are also large and 
of a clear rich yellow, and made up of a few broad 
segments. B. Rajah makes the fifth in this series, 
which from an evolutionary point of view is one of 
the most remarkable in the whole history of Rhodo¬ 
dendrons. All are the produce of one pod of seed. 
Multicolor Section. —The flowers of varieties 
belonging to this group are generally small but of 
intense colours. They have originated from Rhodo¬ 
dendron multicolor crossed with some of the large 
flowering sorts above mentioned. A remarkable 
exception to the rest is Mrs. Heal, which is 
dwarf in habit and floriferous, with large flowers of 
the purest white. In fact it is the purest white of 
all the hybrids. The glowing crimson-scarlet flowers 
of Ruby are rich and telling. Neptune is a softer 
scarlet, with larger, more expanded flowers. Latona 
is of dwarf habit, with pale primrose, bell-shaped 
flowers. There are other distinct and beautiful 
varieties in this section to come, but they are not yet 
in commerce. 
Malayanum Section. —This new race is being 
evolved from Rhododendron malayanum crossed 
with the varieties of the Javan type. Little Beauty 
received an Award of Merit on the 15th inst., and a 
full description of it is given under " Plants Recently 
Certificated.” The flowers are of a shining scarlet. 
The race is characterised by having its leaves dotted 
with white scales above and rusty ones beneath. 
Eos has rosy-pink flowers, and is larger both in 
leaf and flower than R. malayanum 
Rhododendron Numa is a remarkable hybrid 
which does not belong to any of the above sections. 
It has a complicated parentage, having been raised 
from R. (Azalea) indicum Stella crossed with R. 
Lord Wolseley, one of the Javanico-jasminiflorum 
type. It has bell-shaped, orange-red flowers, with a 
short tube, and is very interesting. 
Species used in Hybridising. —A considerable 
number of the originals are flowering at the present 
time. R. malayanum is the hardiest of all, as it 
succeeds admirably in a greenhouse temperature. 
It has small rosy flowers, with a tube about J in. 
long. The leaves are lanceolate-elliptic, dotted with 
white above and rusty scales beneath. R. multicolor 
has soft primrose-yellow flowers of fair size, and 
gave rise to that grand variety Mrs. Heal. R. multi¬ 
color Curtisii has rich crimson-scarlet flowers, and 
gave rise to Ruby. R. jasminiflorum has white 
flowers resembling those of a Jasmine, and the long 
slender tube is a feature of the species. The leaves 
are small and oval. R. javanicum is the strongest 
grower of any, and has large oblong-elliptic leaves 
and orange flowers spotted with red. It flowers all 
the year round. 
-- 
CHRYSANTHEMUM GROUPING. 
Commencing with the autumn months the excitement 
of competition in the cult and exhibition of the 'mum 
runs riot in the blood of the devotees of the Autumn 
Queen, and the tension gradually increases in 
severity until it reaches its climax somewhere about 
the middle of November, after which the fever heat 
commences to abate, and gardeners begin to return 
to their own old prosaic selves again ; and amidst the 
general reaction of listlessness that follows in a 
degree corresponding to the depth of the excitement, 
the sounds of conflict gradually fade into the mists of 
the past. Then comes the period of reason, and 
sane once more, we are able to dispassionately 
consider whether we have made any advance upon 
previous years, whether any special system of culture 
which we may favour will have to be amended in 
order to keep pace with the times, and tin require¬ 
ments of the modern exhibition, and also as to 
whether we have made any advances in the artistic 
arrangement of our plants and flowers. 
There is no doubt that the November show of the 
National Chrysanthemum Society demonstrated 
most unmistakably that in order to win a prize in a 
competition for a group a man must not only be a 
good grower to obtain high-class material wherewith 
to work, but he must also know how to dispose that 
material to the best advantage—he must be more 
than a bit of an artist. 
A. P. on p. 229 in a recent issue of The Garden¬ 
ing World gives us a concise account of his views 
upon the subject of “ Chrysanthemum grouping,” 
and we should conceive that he would have a very 
strong following. He asks “ what beauty is there in 
a mass of plants crowded together in a few square 
feet, each bloom touching its fellow ? ” and 
although he does not give the answer in so many 
words, he is evidently of our opinion, that there is 
very little. He goes on further to ask " what 
pleasure does the sight of such a group give ? ” 
Here we should fancy that the word “ pain ” would 
better express the emotion than “ pleasure ”—pain 
to see so much fine material rendered ineffective — 
pain to see such mute evidence of the lack of 
artistic taste. 
Now we would not bring a railing accusation 
against the gardening faculty, but we opine there is 
too little attention paid by gardeners generally to 
the effective grouping of plants, Chrysanthemums 
included, not only at exhibitions but at home in the 
conservatory and the mansion. This fact becomes 
patent when we consider that, to judge from the 
plant houses that we too often see, their managers’ 
idea of effect is an arrangement in which as much 
material as possible is included, either for the sake 
of variety, brilliancy, or both. Now these two 
points are both important adjuncts to a well set-up 
group, but they are not the only two. To destroy 
the individuality of a plant by crushing it against 
its neighbour is to rob it of half its beauty. A carpet 
bed is both varied and brilliant in colouring, but it 
is scarcely a model for the construction of a group 
of Chrysanthemums, for in it the individuality of the 
plants has been sadly mutilated to the point of 
annihilation. 
The groups staged at the Jubilee celebrations of 
the N.C.S., were splendid proof of what could be 
done by thejudicious utilisation of foliage plants, not 
merely as a foreground or a background to, but in 
close association with the flowering element through¬ 
out. The Chrysanthemums are undeniably the 
gainers by the departure. If framers of schedules, 
instead of announcing classes for groups of Chry¬ 
santhemums to occupy so many square feet, would 
add the vords 11 to be arranged with foliage plants,” 
they would not only allow room for the greater dis¬ 
play of artistic taste on the part of the exhibitor, but 
they would add in no small degree to the success of 
their show. 
Of course it may be argued that groups of Chrys¬ 
anthemums are intended to be tests of the quality 
of the plants and the blooms, and general brilliancy 
of effect first ; but as A. P. well points out, they might 
still be so, even if the plants were so arranged as not 
to be crowding upon and spoiling each other. 
Some perhaps will contend that it is impossible to 
hide all the pots without some crowding, but it is 
scarcely fair to lay all the blame of causing this un¬ 
due crushing on the desire to hide the pots. Better, 
far better, would it be that a few of the pots should 
peep out here and there than that to hide one small 
fault we should commit a grave one—besides if the 
right kind of stuff is to hand, by the exercise of a 
little ingenuity the pots may be easily covered from 
view without having recourse to crowding.— A .S,G. 
I perused with interest the remarks on the above by 
" A. P. ” (p. 229) ; and shortly after I had done so, I 
turned to one of your contemporaries to scan the 
'Mum news down. Then I came across a note on 
" Chrysanthemum Showing ” copied from The Field,. 
After I had read it, I came to the conclusion that the 
writer preferred sport rather than the subject he had 
tackled, and would have had pleasanter recollections 
of a day in the woods with dog and gun, instead of 
wasting the time at the Aquarium Show, as he 
confesses to have *' painful memories ” of his visit on 
the occasion of the Jubilee Celebration, and " that 
the flowers were set out like coloured Cauliflowers, 
nearly as large as some of those grown at Naples, or 
as pretty as if cut out of Carrots and Turnips.” The 
taste of exhibitors is deemed “ shocking " ; and the 
groups so favourably spoken of by "A. P. ” are 
referred to as " all as formal as haycocks, and almost 
absolutely like each other, all the lovely colours of 
the plants dotted about neutralising each other, 
nothing being held together, nothing simple, nothing 
broad or artistic." What a compliment to the 
circular style of grouping ! The writer then goes on 
to praise " a few tufts of the common little cottage 
kinds grown in the open air without a particle of 
protection, and after the great tempests and rains of 
an unusually severe autumn bearing fresh and pretty 
flowers, proving that there are ways of growing 
Chrysanthemums so that one can enjoy them, and 
even find them beautiful things in a garden picture.” 
Now, I must admit that I like to see 'Mums 
growing in borders, but how often do we get favour¬ 
able seasons for them to shine forth in all their glory. 
I well remember over twenty years ago, some old 
stools planted out and growing in the herbaceous 
borders that edged the principal walks of a kitchen 
garden in Sussex, not many miles from the south 
coast. They looked bright when in bloom, but their 
season of triumph was often cut short ; the elements 
were against them ; wind, rain, and a summary visit 
from Jack Frost very soon made them present a woe¬ 
begone appearance. Some of the varieties I remem¬ 
ber were Drin Drin, Rose Trevenna, Bijou d'Horti- 
culture, Cedo Nulli, and a very pretty pompon called 
Mignonette. They certainly would have looked 
better in a 11 garden picture " than weathering the 
storms, even those small flowered compact sorts, and 
I can well imagine what the " lions ” of the exhibi¬ 
tion boards of the present day would look like ; there 
it would be absolute foolishness to degrade them. 
But to return to the subject on which I started, 
and meant to continue, were it not for the adverse 
criticism above alluded to, of what I should consider 
was of its kind ” the finest sight in Europe.” Your 
correspondent "A. P. ” would like to see the old 
style of grouping abolished. Some years ago I 
greatly admired the miscellaneous groups that were 
put up at the Kingston show, also the 'Mum groups. 
They both exemplified the art of the cultivator and 
decorator, though in different styles, and it gave both 
a chance. The exhibitor that went in for the 'Mum 
