802 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
August 10, 1901. 
CARNATIONS AND WATER LILIES AT 
EDENSIDE. 
On p. 770 we gave an account of the border Carna¬ 
tions and yellow ground Picotees which we examined 
a little time ago in the famous collection of Mr. 
James Douglas, Edenside, Great Bookham, Surrey, 
who is well known as a specialist, and devotes the 
greater portion of his glass ranges to them. At the 
present time the yellow ground Picotee is being 
evolved or developed to a similar state of refinement 
with which we have been familiar for many years in 
the case of the white ground Picotee. This class, 
needles to say, is a great favourite with Mr. Douglas, 
and we mentioned only a limited number of the best. 
We must now allude to the other sections we noted 
at Edenside. 
Malmaison Carnations. 
New Varieties. —To Martin R. Smith, Esq., Hayes, 
Kent, the honour is due for having developed so 
many fine varieties belonging to this type. Mr. 
Douglas first commenced putting them into commerce 
in 1894. The flowers of Lord Rosebery are of fine 
form with smooth dark rose petals, and are very 
freely produced. The grass is splendid, and the 
same may be said of Monk, a handsome salmon-red 
variety. Lady Grimston enjoys great popularity, 
the pinkish-white flowers being closely striped with 
bright rose, and deliciously scented. A soft and 
beautiful colour is that named Lady Rose, the 
flowers being of a pleasing rosy-pink. Still paler is 
Calypso, the flowers being of a light rosy tint, 
ultimately becoming very pale. A favourite colour 
is the deep salmon of Albion, while the flowers are 
of beautiful form. 
The dwarf habit and vigorous foliage of Church¬ 
warden makes it quite unique in the section to which 
it belongs, and those who have not yet put it in their 
collection should secure it. The crimson-scarlet 
flowers are of large size and handsome form. The 
brilliant scarlet and sweet-scented flowers of 
Trumpeter have also form and quality to recommend 
them. Those of Mrs. Everard Hambro are of a rich 
crimson-rose and massive. Altogether distinct is the 
deep rosy-pink of Sir Charles Freemantle. The 
raiser of Prime Minister considers it the finest 
scarlet Malmaison, having amongst its qualifications 
size, colour, scent, and great vigour of habit. The 
flowers of Mrs. Martin Smith are of a lovely tint of 
rose, and the habit is somewhat different to other 
Malmaisons. The first pure white Malmaison ever 
raised was Nell Gwynne, and is still the foremost of 
its kind. The earlier flowers of this section were 
over before our visit; nevertheless the above were 
still in bloom. 
Old Malmaisons. —These are so well known and so 
extensively cultivated that nothing more need be 
said here than that the old Blush, Pink, Princess of 
Wales, and the Crimson varieties are all grown at 
Edenside. 
Show Carnations. 
These are chiefly favoured by the specialist who 
grows the flowers for exhibition. Some of the old 
masters in this particular culture have passed away, 
but young fanciers have taken their places, so that 
the show stands continue to be filled. For those in¬ 
tending to take up their culture we may say that Mr. 
Douglas keeps a stock of the best named and stand¬ 
ard varieties, including the bizarres in their various 
colours as well as the flakes. Not many additions of 
importance have been made to them for years past, 
so that their colours are well known to those who 
grow them. 
White Ground Picotees. 
The white ground Picotee has been brought to a 
great state of refinement. The flowers are moderate 
in size, and the petals relatively few in number, so 
that they can all be arranged to advantage on a flat 
surface, so as to show their beautifully rounded 
outline and charmingly refined colours. The entire 
flower is white, with the exception of a narrow 
margin of red, purple, rose, or scarlet, being classi¬ 
fied according to these colours. They may further 
be subdivided according as the edging is broad or 
narrow. Varieties belonging to the former are said 
to be heavy edged, while those with narrow margins 
are said to be light or wire edged. 
Amongst those in bloom very lovely was Charlotte 
Bronte with a heavy and well defined crimson 
margin. Acme is another very marked and telling 
variety belonging to the same colour section, with a 
heavy margin. As a contrast to these we may men¬ 
tion Lavinia, a lovely and neat bloom with a narrow 
purple edge. The collection of fine standard 
varieties is very extensive. 
Tree Carnations. 
At the present time these are making their growth 
and preparing for winter. The collection, however, 
contains a large number of the very best varieties, so 
that we need only mention a few of them here. The 
finest formed scarlet tree Carnation is Patrocles, the 
petals of which are beautifully rounded, and being only 
moderately numerous they do not burst the calyx. 
Regalia has rosy-pink flowers that are produced 
with great freedom. The first really purple tree 
Carnation ever secured is that named Sylvanus, 
raised by crossing Royal Purple and Duke of York. 
The pure white flowers of Comus are carried erect 
on stout stalks, and there are those who consider it 
the best white tree Carnation. Julian is crimson- 
scarlet, and received an Award of Merit from the 
Royal Horticultural Society in 1896. Other indis¬ 
pensable varieties for winter flowering are Winter 
Cheer, Uriah Pike, Reginald Godfrey, Primrose 
Day, Miss Joliffe Improved, Mrs. Moore, &c. 
Auriculas. 
These are old favourites with Mr. Douglas ; indeed, 
we believe, if confined to any one single flower, his 
choice would be the Auricula in its many forms, or 
rather in all of the forms that would pass muster as 
a florist’s flower. For instance, the show Auricula 
includes the green, the gray, and the white edged 
sections and the seifs. The other great section of 
this florists’ flower includes all the alpine Auriculas. 
The fine named sorts by all the eminent raisers have 
found a home here, and though their season of 
flowering is confided to spring, they are well cared 
for at all times, and at present occupy cold frames 
on the cool northern side of the offices. At what¬ 
ever season of the year they may be examined, they 
seem always comfortable and happy. Akin to these 
are the garden Primroses and Polyanthuses, of 
which fine batches are annually raised from seed at 
Edenside, that being almost the only way of per¬ 
petuating the race in such dry and hot summers as 
have prevailed in the south for several years past. 
Hardy Water Lilies. 
About two years ago, if we remember rightly, a tank 
was built in which to grow hardy Water Lilies. The 
plants grew so satisfactorily under this method of 
treatment that there was a considerable extension of 
the tank space, and more varieties were added to the 
collection. All have made wonderful growth, so 
that there should be no hesitation on the part of 
would-be cultivators in committing a collection of 
Water Lilies to their ponds, margins of lakes and 
other sheets of ornamental water. Those who have 
no such conveniences might well build cement tanks 
in conjunction with their rockeries and bog gardens. 
The varieties of Nymphaea marliacea are numer¬ 
ous, and commemorate the Frenchman, M. Marliac, 
who first conceived the idea of hybridising various 
species and carried the experiment into effect. Very 
handsome is that named N. m. flammea, with crim¬ 
son-red centre,' rosy outer petals aad spotted leaves. 
One of the most popular and largest of the varieties 
is N. m. albida, with huge white flowers and green 
foliage. The flowers of N. m. carnea are flesh- 
coloured, as expressed by the name, with a paler 
centre. Of the two yellow varieties, N. m. sulphurea 
is the most popular owing to the great breadth of its 
petals, which are rounded at the points. Those of 
N. m. chromatella are as long, but narrower, with 
pointed apex. The flowers are of large size, how¬ 
ever, and resemble Cactus Dahlias lying just above 
the surface of the water. 
Of the several others we noted in bloom we should 
give the first place to N. Gladstonei, on account of 
the huge size of the flower, and the great breadth of 
its pure white petals. When it becomes better 
known we fancy this will prove a rival to N. mar¬ 
liacea albida, above mentioned. A pretty Water 
Lily of another kind is N. odorata rosea, with deep 
rose centre, paler outer petals and spotted leaves. 
Very distinct in its way is N. aurora, with its salmon- 
red flowers, tinted with a yellow shade or something 
similar. The foliage is slightly marked with purple. 
One of the darker varieties is N. Robinsoni, with its 
red flowers. Another strain is indicated by N. Lay- 
dekeri rosea and N. L. purpurea, the latter having 
dark crimson inner petals and rich orange anthers. 
The foliage of the latter is also slightly spotted. N. 
odorata luciana and N. Seignouretti were also in 
bloom, the latter having a rosy-salmon centre and 
paler outer petals. 
Quite of a different kind is Nelumbium japonicum 
roseum, which is thriving in a tub in one of the 
Carnation houses, but has not yet flowered. The 
glaucous leaves, like a Japanese parasol, are carried 
above the water on long stalks, which are covered 
with hard points, giving them a spiny appearance. 
Orchids. 
While still serving as a gardener, Mr. Douglas was 
a frequent exhibitor of Orchids, and still retains a 
few of his favourites. For instance, we noted a 
number of thriving plants of Laeliocattleya gottoiana, 
a bigeneric hybrid between Cattleya Warneri and 
Laelia grandis tenebrosa, and remarkable for the 
great length of its petals. The long-tailed Cypripe- 
dium dominianum, an artificial hybrid, was flowering 
finely. The sepals and lODg slender petals are 
straw-yellow, the latter being edged with rosy- 
brown. C. macropterum (C. Lowii x C. Veitchi) 
was notable for its long petals, spotted with crimson 
in the lower half and rosy-purple towards the apex 
Coelogyne speciosa seems to have no particular 
season, as it blooms at any or every period of the year. 
— - 
SPRING GROVE, ISLEWORTH. 
There is always an irresistible impulse to get away 
from the turmoil of city-life for the week end. 
Saturday is the day which is generally chosen, as 
the following day allows of taking rest after the 
excitement and fatigues of a day’s holiday. There 
is always something fascinating about electricity, so 
to make the most of our day’s outing we first made 
a trip as far as Shepherd’s Bush on London’s new 
toy, the twopenny tube. 
On coming to the surface at this station we were 
again tempted to indulge in the delight of being 
whirled along by that mystic invisible force by seeing 
the continuous procession of electric trams. We 
mounted one and after a breezy ride of several miles 
we sighted a place well known to horticulturists, the 
seat of Andrew Pears, Esq., J.P., Spring Grove 
House, Isleworth. We alighted here and were 
cordially received by the head gardener, Mr. 
William Farr, who conducted us round the ex¬ 
tensive gardens, the beauty of which is something 
astonishing. The admirable way in which they are 
kept, and the healthy and luxuriant appearance of 
all the contents are a perpetual testimonial to the 
skill and energy of this horticultural enthusiast. 
The garden is situated in rather an unfortunate 
position as the soil is very shallow, and consequently, 
during the recent spell of hot weather, the garden 
staff had been hard worked to keep things from 
suffering, and this they have done too, for everything 
looked a picture of health and vigour. 
There are some extensive ranges of glass all of 
which are built and ventilated on the most up L to- 
date style. On our way to the houses we had a look 
in at the fruit-room and Grape-room, where a good 
few Peaches are stored ready to be packed. It is an 
airy, well designed place and, we should judge, 
makes an ideal place for the preservation of fruit. 
We were next taken through the orchard-houses 
where fruit in variety and in all stages of develop¬ 
ment was found. Figs were bearing a very heavy 
crop, Peaches also were very plentiful, especially on 
the pot trees. Up the rafters cordon Plums and 
Cherries were trained, and along the front Tomatos 
were growing, producing a tremendous crop. Where 
there was any floor room to spare it was occupied 
with Cauliflowers, in fact the whole range was like 
a growing market. 
Several houses are employed to keep up the 
reserve for the big conservatory, all of which are 
packed with plants of a high quality. The roofs 
were utilised to grow flowering creepers on, 
Stepbanotis and Alamandas beiDg in very good 
condition. A large plant of Clerodendron Thomp- 
sonae has been making a fine display, but at the 
time of our visit it was past its best. In the houses 
we noticed several of those huge specimen plants 
which have been so often admired at the various 
flower shows. 
In some deep pits were a number of heavily 
cropped Figs all looking the picture of health. We 
next made a tour of the Melon and Cucumber houses, 
where the plants for producing a late crop were just 
established and seemed very happy in their beautiful 
light houses. Leaving this department we entered 
another warm plant house which was filled with 
plants suitable for decorating purposes, amongst 
which some highly coloured plants of Dracaena 
