633 
7 HE GARDENING WORLD 
July 25, l'JOr 
of B. boliviensis, or is most nearly related to that species, even 
if it lias been crossed. The two outer petals are ovate, being 
very much broader than those of that species, and the flowers 
are double, the centre being filled up with very numerous 
narrow petals, forming a large, fluffy mass that weighs down 
the slender stalks. The whole of these petals are of a uniform 
rosy-scarlet, and are attached to a common, elongated axis, so 
as to give them room. Nevertheless, they are more or less 
twisted and interlaced with one another, forming a pleasing 
flower, resembling a large rosette of cut paper. 
The leaves are half-ovate, much drawn out to a slender point, 
and sharply serrate. These characters also strongly recall the 
narrow leaves of the old B. boliviensis, as may be seen by 
reference to our illustration of a massive hanging basket made 
The Lady Gardener. 
Just as I was finishing off this paper, a friend, who saw the 
title, asked me how I could write of. “ The Gardener as a Man,” 
when I knew that some of the gardeners were women 1 When 
I asked if he meant that some gardeners were “ old women,” 
he said, “ No,” rather snappishly. “ No,” he said, “ certainly 
not. What I mean is that girls are now being trained in hor¬ 
ticultural colleges and hostels, and after a two years’ course, at 
a cost to themselves or their friends of about £104 a year, they 
are turned out as full-fledged lady gardeners! And, believe 
me,” he said, “the lady gardener has come to stay! ” When I 
pointed out that the whole thing was partly a fashionable fad 
and partly a means of obtaining boarding-school pupils able 
The Gardeners’ Dinner Committee in Front of Holland House. 
up of this variety entirely. The flowers commence to expand 
while the stems are yet short, and fresh ones arise as the stems 
elongate, so that a long succession is produced. Those in want 
of a good basket plant would do well to procure this variety, 
if possible. The basket simply consists of wire netting, with 
stronger wire to support it. 
A massive specimen of this plant, grown in a basket, was 
brought before the Floral Committee of the Royal Horticul¬ 
tural Society on Tuesday last by Mr. W. Lintott, when an 
Award of Merit was accorded it. We do not remember ever 
to have seen so large a specimen of a tuberous Begonia brought 
up to a meeting of the society. The photograph which we 
reproduce was taken in the gardens at Marden Park. 
A Floral Novelty. —-A short time since the “ Madras Times ” 
contained an account of a marvellous floral novelty found growing 
in the grounds of a native gentleman. This prodigy had two 
leaves, shaped like the wings of a butterfly, of a dark colour 
spotted with gray, and resembling a piece of creased linen in 
texture. Between these wing-leaves a hollow head, gray, with fed 
lines, and resembling the head of a serpent, was attached, a 
narrow leaf being so situated as to resemble a Serpent’s tail. The 
flower smelt like a Cauliflower. 
and willing to give their labour and pay fees, and that the 
successes were less than a tithe of the failures, my friend 
waxed wroth and spake bad words! When I said that not one 
young girl in a hundred was physically fitted for the necessary 
hard and rough labour of a garden, and that even a male 
expert could never garden properly in skirts longer than a 
kilt or a “ cutty sark,” my friend’s language became quite 
beyond pen and ink, even as a mild translation! Given a be¬ 
coming costume and robust health, the bonnie lasses are quite 
welcome to come and play in the garden. We are all glad 
to see them : they are—God bless ’em—as welcome as was Eve 
in Paradise—as welcome as are the flowers of May. But the 
tall and braw lads in the bothy will pity their struggles with 
the spade, and hasten to assist them j for pity, as every 
mother’s son doth know, is near akin to love.—F. W. Burbidge, 
in “ The Florist’s Exchange.” 
O 
Something Like a Storm. —At New Utrecht, U.S.A., the heavy 
fain, during a storm, fell in such quantities that it battered down 
and broke every pane of glass of a greenhouse of Mr. Petei 1 
Swartz, completely destroying about 2,500 dollars* worth of grow¬ 
ing Roses and other flowers. 
