(jbruafy 28, 1903. 
The gardening world. 
Round the Nurseries. 
1«3 
Begonia, but is very much larger in all its parts. When the 
flowers first open they are of a rich cam line-rose, including the 
young fruits, and as the latter become older they merely fade 
a little in colour. 
B. haageana is a bold type with hirsute leaves and red 
beneath. The large and showy flowers are white, with a bunch 
o! bristle-like, coarse red hairs that add much to the beauty of 
the flowers. Quite of a different character is B. argentea gut¬ 
tata, which may lie described as a fine foliage variety with 
pearly-white spots all over the deep green leaves. A batch of 
good saleable plants is quite of a decorative character at the 
present time. B. President Carnot is a climbing variety, very 
suitable tor training up the rafters of a warm stove or con¬ 
servatory. When in strong growth it produces large pendent 
bunches of pink flowers. A plant that is suitable for basket 
La kli oca XT lev a WKLLSIAXA magmfica. 
work is that named B. undulata, with salmon-coloured flowers 
and long drooping branches. 
In this house we noticed a variety of Richardia Pentlandi, 
with spotted leaves, reminding us of R. elliottiana, but they 
are broader, and the deep yellow spat lies have a black blotch 
at the base, showing its true relationship. Primula floribunda 
Isabellina is a pale primrose or silvery yellow variety of this 
beautiful winter-flowering species. 
Chinese Primulas are grown in variety, but we were most 
interested with the useful old Alba plena, so useful for cut 
flowers in winter. Streptocarpi have recently been lifted from 
frames, potted and placed in heat, and are now commencing to 
flower. Messrs. Laing have a very large flowering strain, and 
already the size of the blooms is notable. Violet-blue shades 
are very numerous, and some have a dark maroon band in the 
throat ; but in any case the flowers are a very rich colour. 
Messrs. John Laing & Sons. 
Being in the neighbourhood the other week, we paid a 
hurried visit to the nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Stan- 
stcad Park, Forest Hill, London. The present is perhaps the 
worst season of the year at which to pay a visit for the purpose 
of seeing flowering plants; nevertheless, some things are to be 
seen there at the present time. 
AZALEAS. 
In one of the houses we came upon a collection of Indian 
Azaleas. One of the most handsome is that named Yervae- 
neana, with double pink flowers and broad silvery edges. 
Apollo is a bright red variety. Tailes- 
mani is a beautiful salmon-pink, with 
silvery edges, but it is very liable to 
sport, the flowers being sometimes 
partly red and sometimes wholly of 
that colour. Azaleas are worse than 
Chrysanthemums in that respect, 
and are liable to dissatisfy those who 
arc not acquainted with their be¬ 
haviour. Some people, moreover, 
are perfectly satisfied or even pleased 
with a number of colours upon the 
same plant. A good double variety 
is Xiobe, with dark foliage and pure 
white flowers. 
Deutsche Perle needs no recom¬ 
mendation, as, in our opinion, it is 
far and away the finest of the double 
white varieties. Fielder’s White is 
a single variety, with yellow blotches 
on the upper segments, and of better 
substance than the old Indica alba, 
otherwise it is similar and suitable 
for the same class of work. An¬ 
other sporting variety is Citadell i, 
having pink flowers and white edges, 
but sometimes the whole flower is 
white. Rosa Bonheur should be a. 
red variety, but is often white with 
red stripes, being very liable to 
sport. 
In the same house with these 
Azaleas are batches of forced Daffo¬ 
dils, Tulips, and other plants of that 
class. Seedlings of Asparagus are 
in 48-size pots. 
BEGONIAS, 
The house where the tuberous 
Begonia was practically first de¬ 
veloped into a popular florists’ 
flower is still busy raising new and 
improved varieties of this popular 
bedding subject. These who have 
not seen a nursery of these baby 
Begonias would be surprised at the immense amount of 
work in connection with them. The seedlings are so slow 
in growth in their early stages, and the soil is so liable to 
get sour, that it is necessary to transplant early and fre¬ 
quently. At present the seedlings are only in the seed-leaf 
stage, yet some thousands of them have been pricked off into 
pans. So tiny are these baby Begonias that it is necessary 
to use a small peg to lift them, being too' small to 1 e handled 
by the operator’s fingers. 
Our intention on this occasion is to deal with the varieties 
of winter-flowering Begonias at present in bloom, rather than 
rtith the tuberous varieties which will be more showy later on, 
though scarcely more interesting. Begonia Gloire de Lor¬ 
raine has been flowering for some months past in large and 
small size pots. Quite of another type is B. carminata 
gigantea, which owns affinity with the semperflorens type of 
