October 1, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
785 
Geum Heldreichi superbum. 
(See Supplement.) 
Within the last ten or twelve: years some beautiful varieties 
or hybrids of Geum have been put into commerce aild make 
useful subjects' for border decoration or for planting in beds 
or masses upon the grass in various parts of the grounds. The 
section to which we refer has orange flowers of greater or lesser 
intensity, and are rendered doubly valuable by the fact that 
they continue in bloom for 1 many months together. Upon the 
advent of autumn rains they may flower again, and in the case 
of young plants put out in, spring, this is almost certain, to be 
the case,. 
Those who wish for a continuance of bloom can make provi¬ 
sion for it by taking cuttings every year, or making divisions 
of the plants themselves in early spring, and whether cutting’s 
or divisions are used, these may bei planted in beds of well- 
prepared and well-enriclied soil. In, all but the driest seasons 
a, fine, effect can be produced by such beds:, and in wet seasons 
we think they are well calculated to take, the place of scarlet 
Pelargoniums, which get so disfigured by sudden, thunder¬ 
storms,, while in decidedly wet, seasons they can hardly be said 
to get well into bloom before it is time to dig them up again. 
The particular Geum to which we wish to refer on this occa¬ 
sion is the variety G. Heldreichi superbum, to- which an Award 
of Merit was given at the: Temple Show of 1903 by the Royal 
Horticultural Society. It differs from the typical G. Heldreichi 
by the larger size and the richer colour of its flowers-. To 
give some idea of the continuance of the plants to flower, we 
may say that, the Certificate was given for blooms produced at 
the, end of May, while our coloured plate wasi prepared from 
blooms produced at, the end of August and well into, Septem¬ 
ber. 
Some years ago a race of hybrid Potentillas was developed 
having very large single and double flowers, but the stems 
were so' weak that the flowers, were mostly always found toss¬ 
ing about on the ground unless carefully staked and supported. 
The hybrid Geums to which we, refer are all, or nearly all, self- 
supporting, which in, itself would 'be a saving of labour to those 
who have many flower-beds to attend to in the course of the 
summer. The plants are also perfectly hardy, which is another 
recommendation, so that housing of plants to form beds would 
be an insignificant matter by comparison with an equal number 
of Pelargoniums. Of course, this variety requires: no housing. 
The flowers of the variety from which our plate was prepared 
were furnished us by Mr. Amos: Perry, Hardy Plant Farm, 
Winohmore Hill, London, N., who has been an enthusiastic cul¬ 
tivator of this class, of plants for a, long period, and is con¬ 
tinually on the outlook for anything new and valuable for the 
garden. 
From the above, our readers will be able: to glean that cul¬ 
tivation is: of the easiest, and, provided the ground is, well en¬ 
riched before planting and is well drained, the cultivator will 
experience no, difficulty with this: plant under a wide variety O'f 
conditions. 
Watsonia meriana iridifolia O’Brieni. 
It took botanists many years to make out the true botanical 
characters and affinities of this plant, and consequently we find 
that its: history is burdened with a number of names. Wat¬ 
sonia as a genus is closely allied to Gladiolus, and some re¬ 
garded it, as allied to> Antholyza. Inded, the species was 
figured in the “ Botanical Magazine,” t. 418, as Antholyza 
meriana, the name having been originally given it by Linnaeus. 
As: far as: the vigour of the plant is concerned, and the size 
of the, leaves, number and size of the flowers, the variety W. m. 
iridifolia takes a leading place- amongst varieties', and at the 
present, day is more extensively cultivated than, any other. 
Mr. J. G. Baker describes this variety a,s having pink or white 
flowers', and Mr. Nicholson, in his “ Dictionary of Gardening,” 
simply describes it as white without any modification. In, 
gardens two other names have been added—-namely, W. m. i. 
Ardernei and W. m. i. O’Brieni. Under the latter name, which 
is the correct and authenticated one, it is grown by Messrs. 
W. Manger and Sons, Brook-dale Nurseries, Guernsey, in whose 
establishment our photograph was: taken. 
The wild plants grow 2 ft. to 3^ ft. in height, but under 
cultivation that height, can be nearly doubled. The main 
features of the plant are that the leaves are broader and the 
flowers closer and more numerous upon the stem. According 
to climatic conditions and the richness of the so-il the stems 
can be grown strongly, and the brandies which they give off 
towards the base increased in number and length and in the 
number of flowers. In one instance at least 139 bl-oomsi and 
buds were counted upon a. single spike in this Guernsey 
nursery, and that should give our readers an, idea, of the flo-r- 
iferous, character of the plant when, liberally treated and grown 
under favourable conditions. 
The flowers are funnel-shaped and narrowed downwards into 
a, bent tube, as can be seen by reference to our illustration. 
Watsonia meriana iridifolia O’Brieni. 
They are pure white,, arranged in two ranks, borne on, the 
main stem and the branches, so; that a plant in full bloom is a 
very effective and handsome subject. When grown together, 
however, in beds, clumps or masses, this effect is greatly 
heighten,ed and raises, the plant to' the first rank as an in¬ 
teresting and beantiful garden subject. The leaves are sword- 
shaped, leathery, mostly confined to' the basei of the stems', and 
form a, fine setting from amongst which the flower-stems: arise. 
Several varieties of this species have been cultivated at one 
time or other in, British gardens, and though the typical form 
has bright rosy-red flowers,' there is a variety with scarlet 
flowers 1 a,s well as a white one, so that, in a single species we 
have a. range of colour that seldom falls to the lot of the 
cultivator in a single species which can be arranged together 
for the purpose of producing contrast or colour harmony, while 
furnishing the’ greenhouse or conservatory with interesting and 
decorative, plants. The scarlet variety is known as W. m. 
