March 24, 1900. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
473 
Lawn Mowers.— S. T. W .: Some of the Ameri¬ 
can lawn mowers are quite suitable enough, but for 
long service and really good work we advise you to 
consult such firms as Messrs. A. Shanks & Son, 
Ltd., Arbroath and London, or Messrs. Ransome, 
Sims, and Jefferies, Ltd., Ipswich, the former of 
course is your nearest. Both firms send out 
lawn mowers of diverse patterns, the quality of 
which we can in both cases amply testify for. 
Worm Burrows Plugged.— M. C. : Darwin gave 
his opinion on this question. He thought it was (i) 
partly for protection, for worms like to lie at the 
mouths of their burrows, (2) to pievent the inrush 
of cold air as they are rather sensitive to cold. 
These are the principal reasons. See Darwin’s book 
on " Vegetable Mould and Earth Worms.” 
Azara microphylla.— S. Salter : Yes, this very 
beautiful evergreen shrub (which is like some of the 
Berberis in foliage) is quite hardy in Midlothian. It 
does well as a wall plant or as a bush in the open. 
CALADIOMS. 
No ether class of plants, perhaps, even including 
Coleus and Codiaeum, presents such a vast range of 
The leaves of Caladium Maria Dubil (see p. 471) 
have a bright crimson centre surrounded by a border 
of pale or Pea-green, the contrast of colour giving 
this new variety a subdued and refined appearance. 
Many of the Caladiums are notable for their trans¬ 
lucent or sub-transparent appearance. This is due 
to a thinning out of the colour as well as of the 
substance of the leaf, but more particularly the 
former. Caladium John Peed (see illustration) 
would come into this category, though the dark red 
colour is about uniformly distributed over the sur¬ 
face, except at the margin, which is of a pale green. 
The habit of the plant is vigorous, and the foliage 
both ample and abundant making it suitable for ex¬ 
hibition purposes. A third variety may also be 
noted here, namely, Caladium Mdme. Fritz 
Koechlin (see p. 475) the ground colour of whose 
leaves is white, and the slender veins of a dark green, 
giving the whole a chaste and delicate appearance. 
The stronger ribs are violet-rose, and in bold relief 
to the green veins. We are indebted to Messrs. John 
Peed & Son, Roupell Park Nurseries, West Norwood, 
London, for this opportunity of figuring the above 
three beautiful varieties. The Messrs. Peed have a 
very extensive collection which they cultivate very 
successfully. 
texture in Salvia argentea; very large in Heracleum 
giganteum, Gunnera manicata, Rheum officinale, 
and R. corallinum. Such types as these which 
occur are fitting for the back row of herbaceous 
borders or as isolated specimens. 
Leaves again may present a metallic appearance 
of steel blue, as in Eryngium oliverianum ; ivory¬ 
like in E. giganteum. They are Fern-like in Thalic. 
trum adiantifolium; of a glaucous green in Rud- 
beckia maxima; of a Cabbage-like appearance in 
Ligularia macrophylla; and presenting a lace-like 
formation in Ferula gigantea and Oreocome Can- 
dollii. 
The shapes of leaves may be either hand-shaped, 
heart-shaped, foot-shaped, or spoon-shaped to those 
of needle-like proportions. 
In the dwarfer perennials and rock plants we have 
more mixture of tint and contrast of colour; and 
leaves are smaller and generally attached to stems 
of trailing habit. Others take the form of dense 
green tufts, as in Saxifraga adscendens, and others 
of a gray and crusted appearance and rosette-shaped 
as in Saxifragra longifolia crustata and Androsace 
Chumbyi, A. sarmentosa, &c. Leaves of a thick and 
fleshy character and of bronze and metallic hue 
occur in Sedums and Sempervivum. 
Caladium John Peed. 
colour and combinations of colour as the Caladiums, 
represented amongst British plants by the spotted 
Arum maculatum, or Lords and Ladies of our hedge¬ 
rows. The quaint flower spathes and spadices, and 
later on, the clusters of red berries give interest to 
the Arums, but their tropical representatives, the 
Caladiums, are admired solely for their gorgeous 
foliage. Within the last decade a great fillip has 
been given to the cultivation of Caladiums in this 
country, and the many handsome forms that have 
been introduced during that time have furnished 
every hue and form that the most ardent decorator 
could desire. 
Their cultivation is of the easiest when their 
likings are attended to. Fibrous loam, peat, leaf 
mould and plenty of sharp sand supply the staple of 
a suitable compost. The tubers should be potted by 
February or early in March. Little water is 
required until the plants have made some growth 
and permeated the compost with roots; and with 
increasing foliage so must the water be increased. 
Plenty of atmospheric moisture must be maintained; 
and a temperature ranging between 60? and 70° 
kept up. Before introducing the plants to the con¬ 
servatory or drawing room they must be hardened 
off in a cool house. 
AN OUTLINE OF CHARACTER AND 
CULTURE OF THE HERBACEOUS 
AND ALPINE FLORA. 
(Continued from p. 427.) 
Sweet-Scented Flowers. 
Among this class of plants scented flowers are some¬ 
what limited in number, especially among alpines, 
but appear rich in fragrance in those perennials of 
medium and tali growth, such as Lily of the Valley 
and the Violet, the two which take premier honours ; 
also Sweet Alyssum, Rockets, the Paeony, Phlox,and 
Hemerocallis. But this, as in many of the fore¬ 
going instances, is one of a diverse character, many 
of the flowers possessing odours which are not by 
any means pleasant; and in one instance a species 
surrounds its flowers with a volatile atmosphere, 
which is said to be of an explosive nature as in 
Dictamnus alba and D. rubra. 
Foliage : Its Structure and Colour. —Foliage 
or leaves in many perennials are attached to erect 
growing stems, generally green, sometimes a darker 
tint as in Acanthus mollis, and of great length. They 
are woolly and very long in Verbascum pannosum 
and V. olympicum; of a silvery, cottony or woolly 
The best silver foliage is in the possession of 
Artemisia stellarianum and in the Antennarias. 
Androsaces have coverings of long silk-like hairs, 
also Eritrichium nanum. These, I think, will suffice 
to show us outlines of character in brief of flower 
colour and leaf found in those which are more or less 
fitted for culture ; and enable us to choose a few out 
of the many which would prove to possess a pleasing 
effect in the many positions in the 
Rock Garden. 
This may consist of limestone boulders, so arranged 
as to form, naturally, hillocks, ledges, crevices, 
pockets, miniature valleys of loam and peat soils. 
The rockery may be small in size or of larger propor¬ 
tions, according to the ground space available. The 
larger the space, of course, it adds to effect both in 
scenery and in quantity of plants which can be 
grown, especially if we can introduce water taking 
the form of cascade, mountain torrent, streamlet, 
and pond. This, in some instances, can be arranged 
to run through the alpine garden ; in others, it may 
surround the rockery, thus acting to keep out slugs 
and snails coming in from adjoining lands, which 
play such havoc among the smaller and choice 
plants. 
