October 13, 1900 
lor 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
there is something in either soil or situation which has 
to do with the fruit bearing of this glorious shrub, 
because to find it laden with berries as I have done 
this season is quite a revelation as to the extreme 
beauty of B. Darwinii as a berry bearing plant.— 
W. B. G. 
MORNINGFIELD NURSERY, 
ABERDEEN. 
The visitor to the Granite City will find much to 
interest him at the Morningfield Nursery of Messrs. 
James Cocker & Sons, Aberdeen, even in the month 
of September. Many things even at that late period 
are still in full bloom, including Roses in the height 
of their second display and Dahlias just coming into 
their best form. A large number of the herbaceous 
plants are still at their best. The seed and cut 
flower offices are at 130, Union Street, Aberdeen, 
and from thence one can proceed by the frequent 
cars almost to the principal nursery, at Morningfield. 
At no distant date the visitor will have to go even 
further afield to the new nursery,for that at Morning¬ 
field has been cut in two by a new street ; and it is 
only a question of time when the site will be fully 
built upon, for the city is growing very fast in this 
direction, in the meantime the various pieces of 
land are well stocked with plants. 
Florists’ Flowers. 
The past season in Scotland was very late and the 
Dahlias in the first week of September had not 
reached their best. Every effort is being made to 
keep the Cactus Dahlias up-to-date by adding the 
new and best of the varieties as they come out. Well 
known and first-class sorts are Mrs. W. Noble, Night, 
Primrose Dame, Radiance, Ruby, Starfish, Stella, 
Laverstock Beauty, Britannia, Cycle and Progenitor, 
descriptions of which are unnecessary, as they are 
amongst the pick of any collection of first- 
class merit. Peculiar in its way is Tillie, 
pink, shaded red in the centre; Uncle Tom is 
dark, blackish-maroon ; J. E. Frewer, bright scarlet; 
Innovation, white, with red edges; and Mrs. J. J. 
Crowe is a lovely, clear yellow. Loyalty has just 
been added to the list of new sorts and has long, in¬ 
curved, orange florets. Progenitor is peculiar in 
having its long, carmine florets split at the tips. A 
large yellow flower is Amber, beautifully tinted with 
that colour. The above are the “ pink ” and pick of 
the collection and all first-class of their kind. 
Pompon Dahlias are also well cared for here and 
grown in considerable quantity. A selection of the 
collection would include Distinction, deep purple 
red ; Demon, maroon-crimson ; Ceres, primrose ; 
Crimson Gem, deep, crimson-red ; Captain, maroon- 
crimson ; Bacchus, a lovely bright scarlet; Annie 
Holton, red, tipped white ; Achilles, soft rose ; and 
Ariel, buff-yellow or terra-cotta. 
Border Carnations have greatly increased in 
popular favour, and are well represented here. 
Duchess of Fife is so well known as to require no 
commendation. The same may be said of Uriah 
Pike, Mrs. Muir, Mrs. Reynolds Hole, the fragrant 
Cantab and the scarlet Oriflamme. Other choice 
things are Duchess of York, delicate pink; Sweet¬ 
heart, striped rose on lemon ; Crombie’s Pink, which 
'does not split the calyx; Mrs. Cochrane, salmon- 
pink and not a burster ; Mrs. S. Kerr, striped scarlet 
on yellow ; Primrose League, finely striped crimson 
on yellow; Mrs. Eric Hambro, one of the best 
whites; Ketton Rose, large and rose; and Geo. 
Cruickshank, scarlet flake. 
A collection of the florists’ Carnations proper and 
Picotees is also grown. A. Curzon is a scarlet 
bizarre; Mrs. F. Whitbourn, rose and crimson 
bizarre ; and Sarah Payne, rose and purple bizarre. 
Ivanhoe and Mr. T. Lord are two of the best scarlet 
flakes; while Brunette is a lovely heavy crimson 
edged Picotte; and Acme a crimson wire edged sort. 
Early Chrysanthemums are grown in considerable 
quantity in the borders, and furnish a great 
quantity of flowers for cutting from the end 
of August till the end of November, the later 
ones being sheltered by canvas at night and during 
stormy weather. That early Chrysanthemums 
should prove so easy to flower in the far north should 
be a great boon to gardeners in private establish¬ 
ments. One of the earliest is J.B.Dunvoir.rosy-purple; 
others are M. L. Pere, crimson and orange tip; 
Craigmillar, golden-yellow, of good size, and dwarf 
in habit; Gustave Grunnerwald, rosy-purple ; and 
Louis Lemaire, a bronzy sport from it, with broijzy- 
crimson and orange flowers. There are other sports 
from the same variety. Marie Masse may also 
be added to the early ones, including its sports. 
Crimson Marie Masse is bronze rather than crimson. 
The pure white Mytchett White is one of the best. 
Mons. Dupuis, an orange variety, is also first-class. 
Mdme. Carmeaux has long, white florets, tipped with 
pink. Edith Syratt is deep purple ; while Baronne 
Brailles is of a soft silvery lilac. There is a bronze 
sport from it. Ralph Curtis is a white Marie 
Masse. 
Princess of Wales and other Violets had com¬ 
menced to flower even in this northern latitude. A 
collection of named Gladioli is a feature of another 
border in summer and autumn. One of the finest 
in September was Madam P. Palmer, with white 
throat and broad carmine margins. Rossini is a 
bright scarlet with a red and white blotch. 
Phloxes are also favourites at Morningfield, and are 
grown in large quantities. A. Laing is rose with a 
carmine eye ; B. Comte, dark purple; Caron d’Acbe, 
salmon-rose; Coccinea, fiery-scarlet; Comedia, 
white, shaded lilac-blue; Embarassment, large 
salmon-red ; and F. Kinghorn, salmon-pink. The 
Poppy-red or scarlet flowers of Coquelicot are much 
appreciated throughout the land. The salmon-pink 
flowers of Hugh H. Smiley are produced in large, 
pyramidal panicles. Iris is still one of the best of 
the blue-purple Phloxes. Although not new the 
white flowers of James Cocker, with a deep carmine 
eye, are still much appreciated. The flowers of Mrs. 
Aberdein are of a rich dark carmine and highly 
attractive. Two charming pure white varieties are 
Panama and Snowflake, the latter growing only 3J ft. 
high. 
• The purple Heather or Ling, Heaths, &c., of the 
Scotch hills are grown in many fine varieties, which 
thrive and bloom admirably in the humic or black 
soil in a natural hollow or depression in the nursery. 
There are several lovely pure white varieties very 
much in request in the city during the shooting 
season, being mostly used as buttonholes. There 
are two in particular which should be grown in every 
garden, the one being Calluna vulgaris villosa, with 
hoary, woolly leaves, and long racemes of white 
flowers ; and the other, C. v. Hammondi, with bright 
green foliage and long racemes of white flowers. 
C. v. Searlei is a tall growing, late, white, variety. 
C. v. minor alba is .only 3 in. to 4 in. high with 
white flowers. C. v. Alportii is a handsome, crim¬ 
son variety, with long racemes. Erica vagans alba 
is the white Cornish Heath. St. Dabeoc's Heath is 
represented by Menziesia polifolia, M. p. alba, wnite; 
and M. p. bicolor, partly red and partly white. By 
the Heaths is a collection of Hypericums, including 
such choice, shrubby sorts as H. calycinum, H. 
patulum, H. - ! Androsaemum, H. arborescens, and 
H. moserianum, with red anthers. 
Herbaceous Plants. 
For many years past Messrs. Cocker & Sons have 
had a splendid collection of all the best herbaceous 
plants. The late Mr. James Cocker never missed 
adding anything good to his collection, when he 
noted it in the gardens he used to visit at a time 
when the bedding craze was ousting the fine old 
herbaceous plants from gardens everywhere. Addi¬ 
tions still continue to be made by his sous now in 
charge. Very fine was a bed of Galtonia candicans 
in full bloom last September, and which had been 
out all the winter. Very fine were four long beds of 
Scabiosa Caucasica and S. c. amoena. Rudbeckia 
speciosa (Newmani), and Tigridias were just coming 
into bloom. Lilies were particularly fine, and 
included Lilium tigrinum, L. t. flore pleno, L. t. 
Fortunei, taller, later, and finely spotted; L. 
longiflorum giganteum, 18 in. high ; and Gladiolus 
Colvillei The Bride, of which a large plot was 
grown. Other and early flowering Gladioli included 
G. ramosus, G. nanus, G. ne Plus Ultra (the best), 
G. cardinalis, G. ardens, and G. delicatissimus, all 
very lovely in their way. By leaving the corms in 
the ground the plants flower more and more freely 
every year. A good collection of Daffodils is being 
gathered together and planted here. Chrysanthemum 
grandiflorum has spreading rays ; while those of C. 
Mrs. Head droop gracefully, and form heads 3 in. to 
5 in. across. 
Montbretias do splendidly here, but grow so fast 
that they require to be lifted and divided every 
second year. The finest of all, perhaps, is 
Imperialis, but yet rather scarce. Others well 
worth growing are M. rosea, rose, with three 
yellow blotches ; M. Phare, deep orange and yellow 
centre ; M. Rayon d'Or, large golden yellow, with 
wavy crimson centre; M. Etoile de Feu, brilliant 
scarlet; M. Tigridie, yellow with crimson markings 
in the throat; M. Pottsii grandiflora, crimson 
externally and yellow internally ; M. crocosmiaeflora, 
orange with yellow centre ; M. c. aurea, yellow ; 
M. pyramidalis, golden, changing to salmon-orange ; 
and M. Pluie d’Or, golden. All of the above 
flower with remarkable profusion and are perfectly 
hardy. 
Twelve species of Eryngium are grown, including 
many fine ones such as E. hybridum, with com¬ 
pound, deep blue heads; E. alpinum, one of the 
earliest and best; E. planum, with a profusion of 
small, bright blue heads ; E. giganteum, E. vulgare, 
E. amethystinum, with small deep blue heads, and 
long narrow bracts; E. oliverianum, and E 0. 
caeruleum, with the upper third of the stems of a 
deep indigo blue, as well as the heads and bracts. 
The latter is particularly handsome and ought to be 
in every collection. 
Alstroemerias grow and flower profusely, includ¬ 
ing A. pulchella, and its varieties, A. aurantiaca and 
others. About 100,000 Spanish Irises are grown 
and flower about the end of June and the beginning 
of July when they present a fine appearance. 
Eremurus robustus, E. spectabilis and E. caucasicus 
flowered well at the beginning of summer, and the 
last named was maturing a fine crop of seed. Incar- 
villea Delavayi did well in the open and I. Olgae 
likewise. Eucomis punctata was only in bud. Aga. 
panthus umbellatus and A. u. albus flowered in the 
open without protection. About 2,000 to 3,000 
plants of Heuchera sanguinea grandiflora is reckoned 
the biggest stock in the country. The Sunflower, 
Helianthus rigidus Daniel Dewar, bears two or three 
rows of twisted ray florets. Amongst hardy 
Fuchsias we noted F. Riccartoni, F. exoniensis and 
F. conica, the latter of pyramidal habit of growth. 
Campanula grandiflora carried flowers of fine size. 
Seedling Delphiniums were flowering in quantity as 
were seedling Trollius, the beds of which included 
many of Orange Globe, and some distinct looking 
things which had not flowered. 
A rare and singular looking subject is that named 
Plagius grandiflorus, which has a large golden disc 
like a Tam o’ Shanter bonnet, but no rays. Modern 
botanists name it Chrysanthemum grandiflorum, 
which comes from the Canary Islands. A tall sub¬ 
ject is Scabiosa gigantea, otherwise Cephalaria 
tatarica, with creamy yellow flowers. The large, 
scabrous leaves of Gunnera manicata make it a 
handsome subject for the margin of ornamental 
water. Never before have we seen so much of 
Anemone sulphurea all grown together. The downy 
gray leaves, scarlet flowers, and purple calyx of 
Lobelia Tupa make it a distinct and desirable her¬ 
baceous plant. Anemone japonica, A. j. alba, and 
A. j. Whirlwind are all well represented. The Pan¬ 
ther Flower, Pardanthus chinensis, is hardy here 
and flowers profusely. The Globe Thistles are 
represented by Echinops Ritro, E. ruthenica, E. 
sphaerocephala, and E. s. major or E. s. exaltatum. 
A fine collection of Michaelmas Daisies shows that a 
large number of them can be flowered with great 
satisfaction even as far north as Aberdeen. Erodium 
Manescavii does well, Arnebia echioides is grown 
in quantity, and evidently likes the greater moisture 
here than it gets in the south. The large red fruits 
of Podophyllum Emodi resemble those of a Passion 
flower, yet it is a dwarf herbaceous subject. A 
collection of Geums is grown, includfng G. coccineum 
flore pleno, G. miniatum, and G. Eweni, the latter 
being of a paler orange than G. miniatum, but hand¬ 
some. 
The Gentians are well represented and succeed 
admirably, including G. lutea, G. acaulis, G. septem- 
fida, G. asclepiadea, G. a. alba, &c. The new Arabis 
albida flore pleno was flowering freely for the second 
time. Libertia formosa maintains its foliage in a 
healthy and green condition, while its flowers are 
produced in spring. The orange flower heads of 
Erigeron aurantiacum are handsome. Many Sun¬ 
flowers are grown, including Helianthus rigidus, H. 
r. semiplenus, with several rows of florets, and 
various others. A collection of Sweet Peas, to the 
number of seventy variaties, is grown, but the 
Messrs. Cocker think that all the best colours might 
be included in twenty varieties, and for market 
purposes in six. 
