August 15, 1903. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
693 
Messrs. Dicksons’ Nurseries, Chester. 
Last week we liad a run round a portion of the extensive 
(-•rounds of Messrs. Dicksons, Ltd., Chester, but, owing to the 
extent of the- place, we.were unable to visit all parts of the 
around, and owing to the fact that the fruit trees are- in the 
same fruitless condition as elsewhere, we did not undertake 
the journey to the fruit nurseries. However, we noted a great 
variety of material in the near vicinity of the offices, and 
were well pleased with what we saw. The nurseries occupy an 
elevated site between the rivers Dee- and Mersey, -so that they 
are always much exposed to the weather, and when the west- 
winds are blowing the nurseries always receive their full force-. 
West winds, we may say, are very prevalent here, so that all 
classes of plants in the open air are kept- in a sturdy and hardy 
condition, and if they will grow here they will grow any¬ 
where in the British Isles. All branches of nursery work are 
none of them being staked nor requiring any support. Close 
by was a collection of Delphiniums, raised from -seeds last 
year, and now flowering freely. A great variety of colours 
may bo noted amongst them, ranging from violet to dark blue 
and light azure blue. The flowers also vary in the breadth 
of the petals, and in other particulars. There can be little 
doubt of the value of these perennial Larkspurs when grown in 
quantity. Those wdio de-sire refined varieties, with large 
flowers -of different shades of colour, can select and name or 
number them, according to their liking. A collection of named 
varieties is also grown in the nurseries here. Tigridias are 
grown in mixture, and amongst the-m we noted rose-red, white, 
and scarlet varieties. Excellent plants for cutting -are Seabiosa 
caucasica, S.' c. alba, with blue and white flowers respectively. 
Michae-lmas Daisies are growing strongly, but will no-t- come 
into blo-o-m for so-me time yet. Montbret-ias were making a 
fine display, especially M. Germania,, with rich, orange-scarlet 
Weeping Beech in the Chester Nurseries. (Fagus sylvatica pendula.) See p. 694. 
carried on by the firm, so that gardene-rs calling in there have 
an opportunity of seeing not only trees, shrubs, or Conifers, 
1 but- fruit- trees, Roses, hardy herbaceous plants, climbers, and 
hothouse plants of all descriptions. 
Herbaceous Plants in the Open Air. 
A large collection of all the best varieties of bedding Violas 
is grown, and the plants are now in full blo-om. We shall men- 
1 tion only a few of the-m to indicate the character -of the collec¬ 
tion. The old golden-yellow variety, Bullion, is still as useful 
as ever for the purpose. Alongside of it was the white and 
rayless Sylvia,. Other useful varieties were Lark, white with 
a broad blue boi der; Sydney, a ve-ry fine rayle-ss yellow 
variety ; William Ni-el, rose; Ship jack, bronzy maroon, with a 
paler buff-yellow shade on the upper petals ; King of the Blues, 
a large, dark blue, and Councillor Waterer, blue. 
Early-flowering Gladioli are grown in quantity, and in many 
varieties, but, as they are getting past their first, stage of 
bloom we will not make further comment upon them a.t- pre¬ 
sent. Several species and varieties of Lilies are grown, includ¬ 
ing Lilium Mart-agon, L. M. dalmatieum, and other varieties. 
The flowers of L. chaleedonieum were notable for their large 
! size and brilliant- scarlet colour. L. longiflorum was also in 
bloom, and L. tigrinum was fast approaching that sta-fre. All 
these Lilies were notable for their dwarf and sturdy habit, 
flowers. A different, species is M. rosea, with funnel-shaped, 
rose-coloured flowers. 
In another path of the nurse-ry we came upon a fine planta¬ 
tion of Helenium pumilum grandiflorum, standing about 2 ft. 
high, and producing its large flower heads in great quantity. 
Undoubtedly one o-f the best, o-f the Erigerons for the hardy her¬ 
baceous border is E. specio-s-us-, with its large pale- lilac-blue 
heads. One of the finest- o-f the perennial Veronicas is V. sub- 
sessilis, with its long spikes and large dark blue flowers. Chry¬ 
santhemum maximum is still one of the mo-st useful for cut 
flo-we-r purposes. Other -excellent things we noted were Boo- 
conia cordata, Eryngium olive-rianum, Mo-narda didyma, or 
Bergamot, and Echinops Rit-ro, most of these be-ing grown in 
some quantity. One of the finest of the Agro-stemmas is A. 
coronaria Walked, which has large, rich carmine flowers. The 
Cape Hyacinth Galtonia, candieans is grown in some quantity 
in various parts of the ground. Hybrid Pote-ntillas are also a 
feature o-f 'one part of the nursery, where they are grown in 
quantity in double and semi-double forms, of rich scarlet, 
orange, and yellow colours. 
A fine collection of Carnations occupies a considerable area 
of ground, and the plants h-a-ve been, in bloom for some time. 
Layering was proceeding rapidly on the occasion of our visit.. 
Space will not- permit us to give a detailed account of the 
many named varieties, but the mention of a few may serve as 
