662 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
June 9, 19C0 
sively used for a’l kinds of ornamental planting. The 
species of Box trees (Buxus) are represented in 
variety. Birch trees, which do form, and ought 
further to form part in the composition of all land¬ 
scapes or ornamental grounds, vie with the various 
kinds of Beech, the copper, the purple, the Fern¬ 
leaved, and the common Beech for the greater popu¬ 
larity. 
The selection of Conifers consists most largely of 
the useful timber sorts. The Douglas Firs are 
grown in immense quantities, and so are the varie¬ 
ties of Abies excelsa, as, for instance, A. e. aurea, A. 
e. pygmaea (which is so suitable for rockeries or for 
covert), A. e. Remontii, A. e. clanbrasiliana, and 
others. The beautiful Abies Menzlesii which forms 
such handsome lawn specimens can be had from 
seedlings, two years old, up to plants a few feet high, 
in large quantities. Equally good for the pleasure 
ground is A. smithiana, A. parryana glauca, A. nigra 
(the Black Spruce), and A. Whitmanii orientalis, 
Abies alberttana, A. Hookerii, A. pungens glauca, 
and A. concolor violacea are species in the front 
rank of merit as ornamental evergreens. 
Picea is the name here give to the Silver Firs, and 
if we may place a list of suitable and commendable 
kinds before the readers, the following may be 
accepted :—Picea grandis, a graceful and fine 
growing tree ; P. cephalonica is handsome, dignified 
and large; P. Fraserii is well known and extremely 
pretty ; P. nobilis and P. magnifica are both telling 
trees when planted adjacently ; Picea nordmanniana, 
P. Veitchii and P. brachyphylla may also be in¬ 
cluded. 
Junipers have a charm all their own. They seem 
to speak of the freedom of wild mountains, of 
solitude and ruggedness. Not that they are ungainly 
themselves or unduly robust, but there they are, 
pillar-like, close set, and quiet. Yet Juniperus 
viridis pendula rather does away with the idea of 
their being •' pillar-like,” for this subject is fairly 
open and graceful. 
Then there is the Pine tribe, with varieties both 
for forest and garden. 
In all cases where noble specimens are desired 
freedom must be given to them, both to allow for 
development and the proper exhibiting of their con¬ 
tour and habit. Cryptomerias for either the shrub¬ 
bery or as lawn specimens should be included in the 
make-up of all gardens. C. japonica is the best for 
specimen planting, and C. elegans and spiralis are 
useful and pretty when mixed with other dwarf 
Conifers. 
What our gardens and lands would be without the 
varied charms of the Cupressus group is hard to 
imagine. 
But as no one has any idea of doing without them it 
does not matter. The list of them is long, and might 
be uninteresting to those not acquainted with this 
class of subjects. C. lawsoniana stricta, however, 
must be favoured with a notice. It is an erect 
growing, bright and cheery Conifer. C. Waitzii 
and C. lawsoniana lutea are both very beautiful 
evergreens, and as hardy as beautiful. 
The flowering trees and shrubs are in no less array 
than the evergreens. Rhododendrons have already 
been referred to. The selection of them is quite 
complete. And if any special shrub is desired, be it 
a Spiraea, Syringa, Viburnum, Pittosporum.Wiegela, 
Prunus, or aught else, it is pretty certain to be found 
in the nursery under note. Those who can visit 
such a nursery as Messrs. Little & Ballantyne’s 
should try to do so at a time when the flowering sub¬ 
jects are in bloom. The true character, habit, and 
beauty of each will then be seen and judged of in a 
manner compared with which the reading of descrip¬ 
tions seems useless. Besides the many acres of 
trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, all sorts of 
popular greenhouse plants are cultivated under 
glass. Great care is taken in all departments to 
have everything fit and ready for transition at any 
time. 
-- - » 
ARDENIN6 |[ISCELLANY. 
SMILAX, 
Treated like Carnations, may be grown outdoors 
in summer successfully, says an American journal. 
It advises that young stock from 2-in. pots should 
be planted in a border about May 15th, to be taken 
up about September xst. In this connection it may 
be remarked that Smilax thus grown outdoors will 
s’and from 5 0 to io° of frost without injury. 
RANUNCULUS AMPLEXICAULIS. 
Among all the members of the genus Ranunculus, 
few of them have white flowers. Most of them have 
yellow blossoms, but R. amplexicaulis has flowers 
which are pure white, and leaves of a glaucous tint. 
It flowers freely, and is a well-liked subject for the 
rockery, a sheltered position in deep porous soil 
should be selected for it. 
SELECTION OF JAPANESE MAPLES. 
The following embrace distinct variations indi¬ 
vidually, and for anyone wishing a small selection 
the list may well be taken as it stands. Acer 
reticulatum, A. marginata, A. atropurpureum, A, 
atropurpureum dissectum variegatum, A. pictum 
album, A. palmatifidum, A. sanguineum, and A. 
Negundo variegatum. 
PLANTS FOR A SUNLESS CORNER. 
Nothing portrays what grace is, so well as does 
Solomon's Seal. It is one of the very finest plants 
we have for the early summer garden, and for a sun¬ 
less corner, associated with Ferns, Creeping Jenny, 
Saxifraga umbrosa, Bluebells, and other things it is 
par excellence the finest early flowering plant 
which can be used. 
CHOISYA TERNATA. 
This is now widely distributed and may be found in 
all sorts of positions both indoor and out ; that is, 
in the southern counties, where it makes most rapid 
growth when planted out in sheltered situations, but 
frequently gets slightly damaged by frost. Owing to 
the luxuriant growth it makes when planted outside, 
it seldom flowers with the same freedom it will un¬ 
der other treatment. I saw in a drawing room 
recently a large plant which during the winter had 
been kept in a cold orchard house exposed to all the 
fresh air it could be; this was most profusely flow¬ 
ered and really marvellously beautiful. I know of 
nothing unless, possibly, a well-flowered Eriostemon 
with which to compare it. It has in many cases 
been planted outside because of its failing to flo wer 
with sufficient freedom under glass. This need not 
be done, for if plunged out in the open during the 
summer and the roots confined to the pots, so that 
a short sturdy growth is secured and well ripened, it 
will flower most profusely.— W.B.G. 
CHIONODOXA LUCILIA E ALBA. 
Lovely as the normal type of this, one of the most 
beautiful of all hardy flowering bulbs, is, it is far 
eclipsed by the white variety. If Glory of the Snow 
is a fitting name for C. Lucillae what can be said 
of this one which far exceeds it in ;glory ? See 
Naples and die! Well,a lover of flowers might fittingly 
say " see this and die,” for there are few I take it 
who, seeing a good batch of it for the first time, 
would not fall into an ecstatic mood over it. It is 
truly a glory of the snow, whiter than very much of 
the snow we get a sight of near London, and un¬ 
questionably the most beautiful of all white early 
floweriDg bulbous plants.— W.B.G. 
WILD GARDENING AT KEW. 
In one or two of the bordering belts of grass-land 
and shrubbery which fringe the outskirts of the kept 
grounds in the Royal Gardens, Kew, there has 
been planted quite a collection of bulbous and hardy 
plants. At the present time amid the long grass, 
most of which is also flowering, there may be noted 
red,yellow,and white Tulips,thousands of Blue bells, 
Buttercups, Daisies, Saxifragas, Brodiaeas, Poet's 
Narcissi, banks of the pinky-red Lychnis, Camassias, 
with large and picturesque-leaved oriental Poppies 
with their hairy flower heads. All these plants (and 
they seem in far greater variety growing in the grass) 
are mixed in delightful confusoD, driblets of white 
here, fading into a scattering of bright yellow there, 
and blue and red all over ; furnishing a scene ever 
changing, ever new—one which we never tire of 
which appears always fresh and beautiful. 
A HANDSOME SHRUB BED. 
It sometimes happens that we wish to plant a tri¬ 
angular or other shaped corner bed at the place 
where paths diverge. It may be that only moderately 
dwarf plants are desired for the purpose. I can 
imagine nothing finer than the following three shrubs 
in combination, and which I recently saw in just 
such a position as above described. It consisted of 
Osmanthus ilicifolius, which is very dark, bushy, and 
• crisp-like ” ; Taxus baccata fastigeata variegata, 
and an edging line of Euonymus radicans variegata. 
These have to be kept distinct and clear from each 
other by clipping, though they need very little of this, 
their habit being upright and bushy. The Yew and 
the Osmanthus should be planted alternately. A 
bed of good bushes is first-rate in appearance. 
Liliums for summer flowering must be placed 
throughout the bed.— J. 
KALMIA GLAUCA. 
Shrubs like the above named, which are bushy, free 
flowering, and brightly coloured as well as being 
otherwise interesting, are valuable, and might be 
made use of more freely. The present is the best 
time to see this shrubb y North American member 
at its best. The habit is compact, with dark green, 
short, elliptical leaves, and it bears crowds of flowers 
of a peculiar pink colour. The shape of the flowers 
and the manner by which the stamens are held 
down to the inner edges of the corolla, is very 
curious. If a wide bed be planted with Kalmias, 
Liliums or Foxgloves may be placed between the 
bushes all over the bed. These will succeed and 
continue the'flower display after the Kalmias are 
over. A peaty soil, as deep as can be got, should 
be selected or accorded to them. 
A FINE BOX BED. 
On the north side of the Palm house in the Royal 
Gardens, Kew, there are two very finely planted 
beds of Buxus. They are beds I always admire, and 
they must be classed as strictly formal. They are 
circular, about 39 ft. in diameter, raised in the 
centre, and contain four kinds of Box. The centre 
is covered with the beautiful Buxus sempervirens 
pendula variegata, a bright and gracefully growing 
variety. Then come three formal edging rows. The 
innermost of these is devoted to B. s. marginata, 
trimmed as conical bushes. The middle row is of the 
common Box, also clipped into nice even bushes of 
nearly 2 ft. in height and about 2 ft apart. And 
outermost of all is B. s. aurea, nearly 1 ft. high, and 
as broad, or broader than it is high, and coloured a 
bright yellow. The evenness and exactitude 
of the beds, laid out as they are on grass and sur¬ 
rounded with other formal beds and trees, are 
exceedingly pleasing.— J. 
SOCIETIES. 
MANCHESTER SHOW. -June 2nd to 7 th. 
The annual Whit-week festival was opened in 
charming weather, and with a display for extent and 
varied character that fully sustains the traditions of 
the Royal Botanical and Horticultural Society of 
Manchester. Possibly the chief point of interest 
was the Orchid exhibits, but those visitors who will 
not be tempted by this section of the floral world 
found sufficient of interest in the many other forms 
that Mr. P. Weathers had secured for his Gala. 
Florist, border flowers, and shrubs were in quantity f 
and what is more to be desired, of high excellence, 
whilst the Gloxinias, Caladiums, and many other 
plants produced an exhibition of great interest and 
extent. 
Orchids. —Five classes were devoted to these, and 
in addition several large groups were arranged not 
for competition. For the best collection for amateurs, 
E. Ashworth, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Holbrook), Wilm- 
slow, staged the premier lot, including Cattleyas, 
Laelias, Odontoglossums, and Cypripediums of fine 
varieties. Thomas Statter, Esq., Whitefield, was 
second. Ia the nurserymen’s class Mr. J. Cypher, 
Cheltenham, had a superb lot arranged in the form 
of a double crescent well raised at the back. Ferns 
and Caladiums were interspersed, which threw out 
the charms of the many varieties of flowers that 
were utilised. Mr. John Robson, Altrincham, and 
Messrs. J. Heath & Sons, Cheltenham, were the 
remaining prize takers. 
For the collection of Cattleyas and Laelias, open, 
Mr. J. Cypher again took the lead with plants of con¬ 
siderable size and fine quality. Messrs. J. Heath & 
Sons came second. For ten specimens Mr. J. Cypher 
still held his own with Laelia purpurata, L. p. Queen 
Victoria, Miltonia vexiliarium, Cattleya Mendelii, C. 
Skinneri, &c. 
