742 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
July 13, 1901. 
Mary Fitzwilliam, Prince Camille de Rohan, and 
Fisher Holmes. (Silver Medal.) 
Messrs. J. Peed & Son, West Norwood, showed a 
few very fine cases of Roses. Ulrich Brunner, Pride 
of Waltham, and Kaiserin Augusta Victoria were in 
very good form. (Silver Medal.) 
BOCCONIA MICROCARPA. 
For making a striking effect there is no plant better 
suited for isolation on the lawn than the above named 
species. It was named after Paolo Bocconi, M.D.. 
a Sicilian botanist and author of many valuable 
botanical works. It is a no ole plant with a stately 
habit and beautifully cut foliage. It requires a posi¬ 
tion that is not too much shaded by trees and a good 
loam in which to grow. It grows to the height of 8 
ft. or io ft. and is worthy of a place in every garden. 
It is easily propagated by lateral cuttings or by 
division of the root. Being a deep rooting plant it 
will not thrive on shallow soil. 
A FINE POPULUS NIGRA. 
Methven Wood, like Birnam Wood, possesses 
many magnificent pieces of timber, and like many 
other districts in Perthshire is inseparably mixed up 
with the history of Scotland, especially where 
Wallace is concerned. It is mentioned in chronicles 
even before our dates reached four figures, and has 
always been noted for its trees. This specimen 
which we note is not of an exceptionally great age, 
but is a magnificent specimen of the Black Italian 
Poplar. Although it has suffered severely from storms 
during the last few years, it girths 20 ft. 7 in. at the 
base and 15 ft. 9 in. at 5 ft. from the ground. It was 
planted in 1776. In 1836 it was estimated that it 
contained 300 cubic ft. of solid wood. 
READ THIS. 
A weekly award of 5s. will be made by the pro¬ 
prietors of The Gardening World, to the person 
who sends the most interesting or valuable item of 
news upon passing events likely to interest horticult¬ 
urists at large ; hints containing suggestive facts of 
practical interest to gardeners or growers of plants, 
fruits, or flowers ; successful methods of propagating 
plants usually considered difficult ; or any other 
topic coming within the sphere of gardening proper. 
The articles in question should not exceed 250 words 
and should be marked “ Competition.” The address 
of the winner will be published. The Editor's 
judgment must be considered final. The communi¬ 
cations for each week should be posted not later 
than Monday night. 
The Editor would be much obliged if competitors 
would forward their articles earlier in the week as 
the work is heavy on Wednesday morning, delaying 
the paper in going to press. 
The prize last week was awarded to Mr. T. W. 
Dollery, Whitburn Gardens, Sunderland, for his 
essay on " Herbaceous Calceolarias, 1 ’ p. 717. Four 
other competitors were within measurable distance 
of him ; one was too much under the number of 
words to secure the requisite points for winning ; 
and one was too lengthy to be eligible. 
Photographs of Plants. — The proprietors 
would be pleased to receive photographs of interest¬ 
ing plants from correspondents with a view to repro¬ 
duction in The Gardening World. They need 
not necessarily be large ones, but such as would 
prove interesting and instructive to readers. Those 
representing individual plants would be more accept¬ 
able than photographs of groups. 
_ — M _ 
Quesnons sra snsuieRs. 
*** All correspondence relating to editorial matters 
should be addressed to ‘‘The Editor,” 4, Dorset 
Buildings, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, 
E C. Timely notes or notices about interesting 
matters or current topics relating to gardens, gar¬ 
deners, or gardening, are always cordially welcomed. 
When newspapers are sent would our friends please mark 
the paragraphs or articles they wish us to see ? 
Two Species of Digitalis.—A. J. G. Read: The 
large flowered species is Digitalis ambigua, a native 
of . Western Asia, and also known id gardens under 
the names of D. grand-floia and D. ochroleuca, 
which may be regarded as synonyms. The small 
flowered species is Digitalis lutea, a native of South 
Europe. We have seen^a hybrid between these two, 
having flowers about the size of those of D. lutea, or 
slightly larger, with a little brown colour infused 
into it, thus indicating a cross with the larger 
flowered species just mentioned, and of which there 
is a small brown flowered variety in existence. 
Possibly it may also be a hybrid. The hybrid we 
mention is known as D. media. 
A Supply of Green Mint During Summer and 
Autumn.— Jos. Bell: Your best plan would be to cut 
down a portion of your bed or beds, and then give 
the ground a good soakmg of water to encourage 
fresh growth. Should you want to dry it for future 
use, tie up the cut stems in small bunches and hang 
them up in a shed which is dry and airy, but not 
exposed to sunshine, that is, the sun must not shine 
directly on the Mint or the leaves will become 
brittle and crumble to pieces on handling. When 
the remainder of the uncut Mint comes into full 
bloom you can cut and dry it in the same way. 
Then this portion of the bed should be well watered 
once or twice a week for a time at least, and the 
fresh growth will form a succession to that which 
was previously cut with the same object in view. 
Filling the Gaps in a Thrift Edging.— C. D.: 
Replanting the whole edging would be a much better 
plan than mending or patching it, as most likely it is 
already overgrown, and other pieces will presently 
die out leaviDg gaps, especially if the soil is at all 
rich. You should give the whole edging a thorough 
soaking with water some hours previous to com¬ 
mencing operations upon it. Then dig up the plants 
carefully, laying them in a shady place, or covering 
them with mats till you are ready to break them up 
into small pieces with roots attached. The ground 
should then be evenly dug througnout the length of 
the border and levelled in the same way as you 
would prepare it for a Box edging. Beat it down 
with the back of the spade till it is fairly firm. 
Mark off the proper width of the edging with a line, 
so that you can plant about three lines of the Thrift, 
or four if you have plenty of space for an edging 
about 1 ft. wide. Use a dibber or trowel to insert 
the plants at fairly regular distances apart, making 
them alternate with one another in the lines. After 
planting is finished give the whole a good watering 
with a coarse rose to settle the soil about the roots. 
If you can afford to wait till the plants have done 
blooming, you may have the benefit of their flower¬ 
ing, such as it is, after which less watering will be 
necessary to re-establish them, as the late summer 
and autumn rains will be more plentiful, or the 
atmosphere will be moister at any rate. The opera¬ 
tion should be completed in time to enable the plants 
to get established before winter, and the warmth in 
the soil will help them to make fresh growth. 
Cultivating Melica uniflora for Cutting.— J.T.: 
It is seldom it ever cultivated to any great extent, 
and the supply you have seen in the florists' shop 
has most probably been gathered in a wild state. 
There is no reason, however, why you should not 
attempt to grow it for your own use. Select a fairly dry 
and rather shady position for it and plant pieces of old 
specimens or try and get seeds, either from a seeds¬ 
man, or failing that you could collect some seeds for 
yourself Even if you only get a small quantity 
for a start you could sow the seeds in a box, 
placing the latter in a cold frame till the seedlings 
have attained some size. You can then keep a watchful 
eye upon the seedlings to prevent slugs devour¬ 
ing them till they attain a size sufficient to take care 
of themselves,- after which you can plant -them in 
the open with reasonable hope of success. You can 
further increase them if necessary by collecting 
more seeds, or by dividing the plants when they get 
large enough. 
Floating Aquatics other than Water Lilies. — 
Aquatic', Hardy plants that should give you satis¬ 
faction are Aponogeton distachyum, Limnanthemum 
peltatum.Hydrocharis Morsus-Ranae.Alisma natans, 
Hottonia palustris, Water Crowfoots (Ranunculus) 
and Azolla caroliniana. Eichornia azurea and E. 
speciosa (otherwise known as Pontederia crassipes) 
would live out of doors and, the first at least, would 
flower during the summer months. Take them 
indoors in winter, keeping them in a tank. Calla 
palustris is nearly or quite hardy. Others which 
might be planted in- the water, but which do not 
float, are Sagittaria sagittifolia, S.s flore pleno, 
Butomus umbellatus, Pontederia cordata and Men- 
yanthes trifoliata. 
Eight Orchids to Name.— J. S. C. : The eight 
flowers you send we take to be anomalous forms of 
Dendrobium wardianum. You do not say how 
many plants you have picked them from ; but we 
must say we have never seen so many strange forms 
of this or any other Dendrobium at one time. No. 1 
is, perhaps, the most fully developed, but the petals 
are curved in a similar manner to the lateral sepals. 
No. 2 has only one sepal, lying beneath thelip. The 
latter organ is only represented by a half, the other 
half with its maroon bl tch being gone, and its place 
taken by wbat mqjht be one of the lateral sepals 
joined to the lip. No. 3 is the greatest curiosity of 
all, the flower being represented by two lateral 
sepals and a small linear green lip. One half of 
each sepal is also greeD, the rest being yellow. A 
small tongue about half the length of the lip seems to 
consist of the two petals joined. The dorsal sepal in 
No. 4 is absent and its place taken by the two petals 
united nearly to the tips. No. 5 is nearly normal, 
but the parts of the flower are narrow and thin. 
No. 6 is an albino, the flower being white with 
exception of the orange disc of the lip, and two small 
brown blotches on it. Here again the segments are 
very narrow. No. 7 is nearly normal but small and 
the sepals narrow. No. 8 is another great curiosity. 
One of the petals is united to the dorsal sepal, the 
other to the column in front of it. This has the 
result of bringing both of the petals in front of the 
dorsal sepal. The lip is also imperfectly developed 
on one side. The whole batch of eight blooms we 
may sum up as a brotherhood of curiosities, and we 
should have liked to know the conditions under which 
they grew, or what caused them to behave in this 
way. 
Names of Plants.— J.: The False Acacia 
(Robinia Pseudacacta).— G. Donald: The plant is 
Libertia paniculata, a very uncommon plant, and a 
native of Australia.— R. J. G. Read: The large 
flowered species is Digitalis ambigua; the smaller 
one is D. lutea. (See separate note).-— A. K.\ 1, 
Philadelphus microphyllus; 2, Cistus ladaniferus; 
3, Inula Helenium ; 4, Tilia vulgaris; 5, Spiraea 
Aruncus.— D. W. : 1, Campanula isophylla alba; 2, 
convolvulus mauritanicus; 3, Veronica Teucrium 
latifolia; 4, Geranium pratense ; 5, Lychnis 
coronaria ; 6, Veronica Traversii.— G.R.: 1, Oncidium 
sphacelatum; 2, Oncidium flexuosum ; 3, Cattleya gas- 
kelliana ; 4, Cypripedium lawrenceanum— J. Read : 
1, Thymus vulgaris ; 2, Erodium Manescavii; 3, Im- 
patiens Roylei; 4, Spergula pilifera aurea; 5, Aconi- 
tum variegalum ; 6, Artemisia pontica ; 7, Cineraria 
maritima.— A. T. B.: 1, Lilium candidum; 2, 
Dianthus plumarius var.; 3, Sedum reflexum 
monstrosum ; 4 Sedum Rhodiola.— W. Alexander : 
1, Liatris spicata ; 2, Sidalcea malvaeflora Listeri; 
3, Nierembergia gracilis; 4, Choisya temata.— 
T. H. : 1, Asplenium Trichomanes ; 2, Polystichum 
Lonchitis ; 3, Lastrea spinuloja .—James Wright: 1, 
Onobrychis viciaefolia; 2, Ononis spinosa; 3, 
Anthyllis Vulneraria.— A. C. : 1, Aralia elegan- 
tissima; 2, Dracaena Lindeni; 2, Dracaena 
Doucettii.— F. G. Brewer: The Miltonia is M. 
Clowesii castanea; the other Orchid is Cattleya 
Loddigesii Harrisoniae; the shrub is Colutea 
arborescens. (Your other question next week.) 
Communications Received.—R. G. Waterman.— 
A. T. B—Burton.—J. H.—Floral.—W. B. G.—T. 
E. H.—F G. Brewer.—R. M.—E H. D.—T. D.— 
W. M.—R. J. H.—D. Tidy.—A. M. S.—R. S. O — 
A. J. 
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 
Mr. James Douglas, Edenside, Great Bookham, 
Surrey.—List of Choice Daffodils for 1901. 
FIXTURES FOR 1901. 
(Secretaries of shows will oblige us by sending early notice 
of their fixtures.) 
| ULY. 
16. —Royal Horticultural Society Exhibition, and 
Conference on Lilies at Chiswick (2 days). 
17. —N.R.S , Ulverston (North Lonsdale Rose Show); 
Cardiff and County Horticultural Show (2 
days). 
18. —Prescot Exhibition ; Hoddesdon Exhibition; 
Royal Botanical Society Meeting ; Halifax 
Rose; Bootle Show. 
19. —National Carnation and Picotee Society (pro¬ 
visional). 
23. —Durham, Northumberland, and Newcastle 
Botanical and Horticultural Society Exhi¬ 
bition at Newcastle (2 days) ; Tibshelf Rose. 
24. —Strathbane Horticultural Exhibition (2 days) ; 
Southern Counties Carnation Society Show. 
25. —Selby Exhibition ; National Sweet Pea Society 
(2 days). 
30. —Buckingham Exhibition; R.H.S. Committees. 
31. —Wilts Exhibition. 
August. 
r.—Isle of Wight Horticultural Association Exhi¬ 
bition. 
2. —Devon and Exeter Horticultural Society; Sum¬ 
mer Flower Show. 
3. —Auldearn Horticultural Society. 
5. —Atherstone Exhibition ; Castleford Exhibition 
(2 days); Eynsford Exhibition ; Cholmond- 
eley ; BeddiDgton, Carshalton and Walling- 
ton. 
6. —Abbey Park, Leicester, Flower Show (2 days). 
8.—North Oxford Exhibition. 
10.—Keighley Horticultural Society. 
13.—R H.S. Committees. 
14 —Clevedon Exhibition ; Sevenoaks Exhibition. 
15.—St. Andrews Hoiticultural Association. 
16—National Co-operative Festival at the Crystal 
Palace (2 days). 
17.—Bankfoot (Perth) Horticultural Society. 
20. —Grandpont Horticultural Society. 
