August 7, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
773 
King Humbert of Italy lives almost entirely on 
on bread, vegetables, and fruit. Being forbidden to 
driuk coffee, his favourite beverage is a little wine 
and plenty of water. 
A plague of weeds.—The wide prevalence of high 
temperatures followed by heavy thunderstorms over a 
great part of the seed grounds of Europe, especially 
the northern portion, has caused such a rapid 
development of weeds that the staff of workers on 
various seed farms are unable to cope with them. 
Big plant lice.—The Omaha Bee says that the fruit 
trees around Sioux City, Iowa, are so overburdened 
with plant lice (aphides) that the branches have to 
be propped up to prevent them from being torn from 
the trees. That’s not big enough for Sioux City. 
Try again, Omaha Bee. In some parts of these 
favoured Isles they are said to be large enough to eat 
a cow and then pick their teeth with the horns.— 
Snaggs. 
National Flower of South Africa—A correspondent 
in the African Critic says that the competition for 
rhymes on the Aloe as the national flower of South 
Africa, in connection with which Dr. Ensor gave a 
valuable gold ring, and to which I made an allusion 
some time back, has been won by Mr. Cowper Gray, 
LL.D. The successful verse describes an imaginary 
song sung by the Aloe to an evening wanderer in a 
garden. The following lines are a fair sample of the 
poet’s muse :— 
I grow where the storm clouds gather, 
And the rain with a mighty rush 
Lashes the earth in its fury, 
And floods the thorny bush ; 
I grow where the veld is dry, 
And the rock strewn desert is bare ; 
Where the scanty herbage withers, 
And dies in the sun's fierce glare. 
I grow where the wild deer bounding, 
Swiftly speeds from the lion’s roar ; 
Where round me the ostrich is stalking, 
And above me the vultures soar ; 
I fringe the slopes of the mountain, 
And I gem the wild Karoo, 
And Naiad-like stand by the fountain, 
In my robe of Ormison hue. 
* * * * 
Planted by healthful Hygeia, 
Her oriflamme proudly I stand ; 
A floral carving of Nature, 
And Hieroglyph of the land. 
I congratulate Mr. Gray on a graceful little composi¬ 
tion ; it is worthy of the sweet singer of Great St. 
Helen’s himself. 
-- 
NEW BRONZE BEDDING VIOLA, 
JOSEPH. 
A neatly wired spray of fifteen blooms of this new 
Viola reached us last week in excellent condition 
from Messrs. James Grieve & Sons, Redbraes 
Nurseries, Broughton Road, Edinburgh. The 
blooms are of medium size, quite large enough for 
bedding purposes, and of fascinating appearance. 
Many cultivators would be quite delighted to have a 
bed of this Viola, for it is the finest and most dis¬ 
tinct novelty of this particular type which we have 
seen for some years past. The flowers would give 
us the impression that they are easily and freely 
produced, and on these points we are assured that the 
plant “ has good habit, is free flowering, and has a 
good constitution, being easily struck and kept during 
winter.” If the stems are short-jointed and wiry 
the variety will be a boon to those whose garden is 
in any way confined and over-sheltered, making the 
cultivation of soft-wooded varieties difficult. Plenty 
of undergrowth is also a desideratum, thereby 
ensuring a succession of bloom, plenty of cuttings, 
and testifying to the perennial character of the 
variety. The three lower petals have each a blackish- 
maroon blotch, melting at its margins into a rich 
bronzy-brown, the rest of the flower being yellow 
and beautifully shaded with bronze. The golden 
eye and blue eyebrows are very characteristic. We 
feel sure that most cultivators and fanciers would be 
cha-med with it, and we certainly are. Mr. James 
Grieve thoroughly understands bedding Violas, for 
he is practically the father of the race, being the first 
to improve the Pansy for bedding purposes by 
collecting the perennial Violas on the Pentland 
Hills, and crossing the garden forms of Viola tricolor 
with them. 
BRIDAL WREATH (FRANCOA 
RAMOSA). 
" Have you no common English name for it ? ” is a 
question pretty frequently asked of the gardener and 
amateur ; " for I cannot remember your Latin 
names.” This has often to be answered in the 
negative, and sometimes common names are not of 
much value, because they give a stranger no idea 
either of the beauty or utility of the subject 
indicated. The subject of this notice is, however, 
most happily named, for its long branching sprays of 
pure white flowers form a wreath fit to adorn the 
brow of any bride. A native of Chili, and introduced 
in 1831, its decorative value has not been very 
generally recognised till recent years ; but now in 
some establishments it is grown by hundreds, its 
beautiful sprays of white bloom being of great 
service in any floral display when cut, and moderate 
sized plants in bloom interspersed among other 
plants have a most pleasing effect. In light warm 
soils it withstands the vigour of an ordinary winter, 
but is not hardy enough to risk in low, damp 
localties. A cool greenhouse is the best place for it. 
It grows freely, and can readily be increased by 
cuttings in the early part of the year. Insert these 
singly in small pots, and keep close till rooted. 
Grow on well through the summer and then there 
will be a harvest of floral beauty to be reaped during 
the autumn and early part of the winter. 
Unique in its way, it comes freely from 
seed when procurable. I have seen instances of its 
having flowered during the summer in airy green¬ 
houses, where young seedling plants have been 
scattered in profusion on the surface of the soil of 
almost all the other plants in the structure. — W.B.G. 
--ofi-- 
POPULAR FLOWERS AT READING. 
Flowers of all sorts are now so common that those 
having little opportunity of seting them at public 
meetings and shows could not do better than pay a 
visit of inspection to trial grounds and similar places 
where they are grown in quantity and variety. Here 
the colours may be seen and selected according to 
taste. The habit of the plants, their free-flowering 
character or otherwise, and the nature of the ground 
in which they give any particular result 
may be seen and noted for future reference. We 
paid a visit of inspection recently to the trial grounds 
or seed farm and the Portland Road Nursery of 
Messrs. Sutton & Sons, Reading, and here make 
some notes of what we saw. 
Trial Grounds. 
These are situated alongside oi the Great Western 
Railway, and passengers cannot fail to be interested 
in the bright patches and bands of colour of the 
various subjects in bloom in their season. We 
described the fine trial of Sweet Peas recently, and 
now proceed to review some of the other subjects. 
Shirley Poppies are fairly extensively grown in a 
great variety of the most delicate and charming 
colours. There are white varieties with pink edges, 
pink with white edges, salmon edged white, white, 
pink fading to white, salmon glittering with satiny 
gloss, and various other shades. Salmon-coloured 
flowers are the most durable of any. The autumn 
sowing was in full bloom in June; but the spring 
sowing only commenced to bloom about the beginning 
of July, thereby giving a succession. 
Calendula officinalis Prince of Orange is a hand¬ 
some variety, the colour of which is expressed by 
the name. Sweet Williams are selected and grown 
according to colour in different parts of the ground 
to prevent their being mixed by insects. In other 
cases they are sown in mixture. A very variable 
variety is Harlequin, the flowers of which are white 
when they expand, but soon change to pink, and then 
to scarlet, all the changes being present on one head. 
Tropaeolum Fairy Queen is a beautifully refined 
variety with primrose flowers deepening to apricot. 
T. Cloth of Gold has yellow foliage and orange- 
scarlet flowers. 
In passing through the grounds we came upon 
Sweet Williams in mixture of salmon, white, and pink. 
A variety simply named Dark Crimson is an isolated 
instance. Further on we came upon salmon, helio¬ 
trope, blight pink, and carmine varieties. All are 
most floriferous, and a large proportion of them are 
of branching, pyramidal habit. Sutton's Superb 
Mixed Sweet Williams is the name given to the 
strain. We were particularly taken with the salmon 
variety. Another interesting mixture was passed ; 
then a patch of Sutton’s Pheasant's Eye, having 
brilliant crimson flowers, with a small white eye. 
It is both pretty, distinct, and comes true from seed. 
Sutton's Black is blackish-maroon, being the darkest 
in cultivation. Salmon is white at first but ulti¬ 
mately develops its true tint, various stages beiDg 
seen on the same plant. 
Sutton’s Giant Auricula Sweet William is white, 
with a maroon-crimson zone or belt in the middle of 
the flower, and blooms most profusely. All these 
Sweet Williams are of the easiest culture, and if 
given plenty of space, produce armfuls of handsome 
heads of bloom. 
Convolvulus tricolor is still one of the hand¬ 
somest of garden annuals with its zones of bright 
blue, white and yellow. A very free flowering and 
showy Catchfly is Silene Pseudo-Atocion, with large 
rosy-pink flowers. It is an annual of branching 
habit, and allied to S. fuscata and S. rubella. Its 
native countries are Majorca and Algeria. In one 
part of the grounds we noted a fine plantation of 
Sutton’s Rhubarb, which seldom or never flowers, 
and is valuable on that account. 
Portland Road Nurseries. 
At every period of the year something of interest may 
be noted here. During the summer season the 
tuberous Begonias are of more than passing interest, 
owing to the fact that they are raised from seed. 
The double varieties bear flowers of the largest size, 
and most refined character. Particularly handsome 
are white varieties, tinted with salmon ; pale yellow, 
with wavy petals like a Hollyhock ; also scarlet 
blush, glowing scarlet, and salmon varieties. Many 
of them have their petals flat and compactly imbri¬ 
cated like a Camellia. Very seldom are names given 
to varieties of this fine strain. Reading Beauty 
Coral is the name of a strain of single varieties 
having flowers of various shades of coral and 
salmon. Prince of Orange is a type with large, 
single, luminous orange flowers. Queen of Whites 
is still regarded as worthy of a leading place on 
account of its large and pure white flowers produced 
in great profusion, All other shades of colour are 
also found amoDgst the single Begonias grown here 
from seed. 
The fibrous-rooted Begonias are accorded a lead¬ 
ing place here, and they well deserve it. We refer 
more particularly to the beautiful varieties raised from 
B. semperflorens, which may be had in bloom all the 
year round in pots. For bedding purposes they are 
very choice and succeed in wet and dry seasons 
alike. Crimson Gem is now well-known for its 
bronzy foliage and carmine flowers, the foliage being 
best in the open-air. Reading Snowflake has white 
flowers that are purest under glass. Those of 
Duchess of Edinburgh are edged with pink. Fairy 
Queen is wholly of a pale pink, and is charming by 
contrast with Crimson Gem. 
There is a houseful of Achimenes in a great number 
of varieties, differing in the size, shape and colour of 
the flowers. The large rich rose flowers of Rosy 
Queen are very conspicuous. It is relatively a recent 
variety. The Gloxinias at Reading always continue 
to assert their beauty and worth. This year's seed¬ 
lings of Her Majesty are as true to the type as ever. 
A rich purple is Empress of India ; and Sutton’s 
Scarlet is rich. Duchess of York is white, overlaid 
with a broad blue band. Azure Blue has a broad, 
blue margin, the rest being white. The spotted 
varieties are abundant and variable. 
A large collection of hybrid Gesneras competes 
with the allied Achimenes for favour. The soft and 
velvety purple and bronze foliage is a sufficient excuse 
in itself for cultivating the plants. The irregularly 
funnel-shaped flowers may now be had in a consider¬ 
able variety of colour, such as white, primrose, yellow, 
cream, salmon, orange and scarlet, the two latter 
being both conspicuous and showy. The samerange 
of colours may also be seen here pervading a set with 
green leaves, and equally deserving of cultivation. 
The Cyclamens in another house are miking gocd 
progress in 48-size pots and will claim more attention 
later on. 
In the open ground are numerous interesting trials 
of various subjects. Many varieties of bedding 
Lobelias are grown from seed. That named Dark 
Blue forms compact little balls of dark blue flowers. 
Royal Purple has purple-blue flowers, with a con¬ 
spicuous white eye. Numerous strains and varieties 
of Golden Feather are grown here, including the beit 
golden strain in cultivation. Amongst a collection 
