March 5, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
201 
Round the Nurseries. 
Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons. 
At whatever season of the year one visits the nursery of 
Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, Ltd., Chelsea, there is always some¬ 
thing in bloom, always something interesting to see. Although 
the area of the nursery at Chelsea is now greatly restricted, 
the houses are mostly limited to a display of those things 
which may be in bloom during their season. Most of the 
plants are now grown in the other branch nurseries of the 
firm away out of the London smoke. For these reasons the 
nursery at Chelsea is always worthy of inspection, as the flowers 
in bloom in their various nurseries are always represented 
here. 
One very large house newly built, as most of them now are 
in this nursery, is reserved for the display of greenhouse and 
cool conservatory flowers. At the present time a fine bank of 
Loropetalum chinemse is one of the features of it. It is one 
of the Witch Hazels, with evergreen, leaves and white flowers, 
consisting of four long white ribbon-like petals. The species of 
Hamamelis have yellow flowers, and here we noted H. japonica 
zuccariniana, which differs from the type in having pale yellow 
instead of deep yellow flowers 1 . It belongs to the better-known 
genus of the Witch Hazels than the Loropetalum. 
The hybrid Wallflower Cheiranthus kewe-nsis flowers all the 
year round, but most profusely in winter, which is its proper 
season, and is sometimes termed the greenhouse Wallflower. 
The flowers open of a. golden-yellow, and by degrees shade off 
to coppery-brown, and ultimately to a coppery-red colour. It 
was derived by crossing C. mutabilis and a. variety of the' 
common Wallflower. The former comes from the Canary 
Islands and Madeira, which accounts for its flowering in the 
winter, and therefore requiring a cool greenhouse for its best 
development. Some Heaths are flowering here, including 
Erica fastigiata alba and E. nielanthera, both having white 
flowers, and the latter being in fine' pyramidal specimens. 
A fine bank of Camellias facing the entrance includes many 
of the best, varieties of C. japonica, amongst which we noticed 
some single one®. Very pretty is the small-flowered double 
pink variety of C. Siasanqua, the smallest of the species usually 
grown for the sake of the flowers. C. reticulata, fl. pi. makes 
a fine contrast, being the giant of the genus, with massive 
flowers of a brilliant rose colour. The loose arrangement of 
the petals is quite devoid of the formality of the double forms 
of C. japonica, so that here we have a rangei of choice' from 
the smallest, to the largest, together with single and double 
forms. 
Very fine at the present time are the massive, fragrant, and 
white flowers of Rhododendron veitchianum, the small leathery 
leaves always making a fine setting for the huge flowers. Close 
by is ,a group of Boronia megasitigma, almost unnoticeable as 
far as the flowers are concerned, 'but a, real rival in the matter 
of scent. Quite of another kind were some fine hybrids of 
Rhododendron ponticum, now in full bloom, and amongst, them 
was a delicate yet very pleasing variety named R. caucausicum 
pictum, with pale pink flowers spotted with brown on the upper 
segments. Rhododendron amoenum was noticeable for its great 
profusion of white flowers, with blush nerves, although at first 
they are rosy-pink. This is not the same as the well-known 
Azalea amoena,; the variety is, in fact, more akin to the earlv- 
nowering R. praecox and Early Gem. 
Azaleas* are very plentiful in this house, including A. mollis, 
A. sinensis, and their various hybrids and varieties. The 
flowers of the former are notable for their large size and 
pleasing soft colours. On the other hand, the blooms of A. 
sinensis are smaller, and usually supply brighter colours. A 
pretty double one, with salmon-pink flowers', is that named II 
The varieties of Azalea, indica, in bloom .are already plentif 
and include some very charming types. The chaste pure win 
owers of Deutsche, Perl© have not yet been superseded, and 
present it, enjoys a, peat run of popularity, whether as deem 
live plants or in the cut state, the double flowers lasting well, 
lhat named Dame Malaniei has large single rose flowers, 
deepening to amaranth in the centre, and broadly margined 
v itli white. Flowers of this character recall the similar ar¬ 
rangement 'O'f colours amongst zonal Pelargoniums on a much 
larger scale. A very pleasing flower in the same line is Mdlle. 
Emma Erckhoutte, with bright, rose flowers, having a, broad 
white border. The flowers of President Oswald de Kerchove 
are of a, delicate pink blotched with crimson, with a, white lacing 
round the border. A nearly white-flowering variety is that 
named Sacunt,ala>. Simon Mariner has double flowers of a 
bright or rich rose colour of uniform hue', and quite different 
from any of the above, which are single. 
On the other side of the house the delicious and penetrating 
odour of Daphne odora, better known as D. indica,, is unmistak¬ 
able. The same qualifications apply to' Lily of the Valley, 
grown in pots, with numerous large bells on a, spray, and power¬ 
fully fragrant. A group of tree Carnations also serves to 
brighten this house, and amongst them we> noted a cheerful 
rose variety named Mrs. H. Cut,bush. That named Prince of 
Wales has maroon-crimson flowers of .a very rich shade, while 
the form of the flower is excellent. A group of Cyclamen may 
also be noted here, including the persicum and giganteum 
typer., the flowers in both case® being large enough for any 
purpose. 
Amongst the plants on the large middle bed were numerous 
specimens of Coleus thyrsioddeus, still flowering, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that they have served their purpose at, two' or three 
exhibitions recently. This alone would show that, the blue 
Coleus is worthy the attention of gardeners everywhere, who 
i equire a, bright blue' flower to brighten their houses in winter. 
Even if one set of flowers through some mishap were injured, a 
fresh display would be expanded in a few days afterwards, the 
blooms being produced in succession over .a, long period of 
time. 
Hardy forced subjects now in bloom are Viburnum plica,turn, 
in the form of standards, Spiraea Thunbergii, and S. confusa, 
with its flowers arranged in corymbs like a, miniature Haw¬ 
thorn. Forsythia, suspensa, is an admirable subject for forcing, 
a,si it requires but little heat, and the yellow flowers of Labur¬ 
num are equally serviceable, and quite distinct in appearance 
from that previously named. Some retarded Lilies are now in 
perfection, including L. tigrinum and L. auratum, known as 
the Tiger Lily and the Golden-rayed Lily of Japan respectively. 
Several of the span-roofed houses in the nursery are devoted 
to hard-wooded greenhouse subjects, now seldom seen in, culti¬ 
vation, notwithstanding their beauty and neatness of growth. 
Some of the Eriostemona are now in full 'bloom, including E. 
intermedins and E. densifolius, differing in the length of their 
leaves, and having white flowers produced in trusses and orange 
anthers. Several of the Acacias are now in bloom, and will 
keep up a succession for many weeks to come. A. oordata 
has pale yellow fluffy-looking flowers and small triangular 
phyllodia,, popularly termed leaves'. A much larger-flowered 
one is A. Drummondii, with long spikes of bottle, brush-like, 
yellow flowers. 
Alongside of this house was another, in which we noted a, 
group of tlia,t lovely old-fashioned Genethyllis fuchsioides, with 
bracts so arranged as to> resemble drooping red flowers. 
Another group consisted of Mitraria coccinea in fine, bushy 
plants that will give an account of themselves later on. In 
some parts of the country this is hardy, but as a greenhouse 
plant it may be grown anywhere. About half of this house is 
devoted to cleant-grown plants of Araucaria, excels®,, ranging 
from 1 ft. tO' 3 ft. in height. The lovely early-flowering 
Clematis indivisa may be noted in several of the houses, and 
although the plants are grown in small pots, some of them 
are flowering freely. It make® a, splendid climber for a cool 
conservatory, greenhouse, or even a conservatory porch. 
A new house has been, built for the Amaryllis, and bekm 
rather narrower than the, old one, the path runs down the 
centre, with a side bench on. either side. The bulbs were 
potted on February 10th, and on the 25th the flower spathes 
had commenced pushing up from the bulbs on the side nearest 
