November 5, 1904, 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
887 
Notes on the Illustrations in this Issue, 
Scented Pelargoniums at Gunnersbury House. 
For a number of years past trained! specimens of scented 
Pelargoniums have been 1 a feature of Gunnersbury House, 
Acton, one of the seats of Leopold de Rothschild, Esq., and, as 
far as we remember, this form of cultivation is quite unique. 
The specimens belong to the scented-leaved type, and pn> 
vided always the specimens are well furnished with leaves the 
flowers are not in' any particular request, 
Our illustration on this page shows some of these trained 
specimens, but a,s they are. stood under a verandah between the 
mansion proper and another building the individual specimens 
are not seen in their entirety, but our readers can glean some¬ 
thing of their outline from the specimens, as they are rounded 
on, the top and are practically semi-circular in outline. At 
■the same time they are' trained light and left from the main 
stem in, the pot or tub in which they are grown, and upright, so 
that they form practically a very thin hedge of sweetly-scented 
foliage when stood end to end, as they are in, this instance. 
These specimens are often used for many weeks at a time at 
the town residence, while in winter they are all brought back 
and kept in a, cool house devoted to plants that require shelter 
in winter, but not very much heat. Practically this is identical 
with the orangery of our forefathersi, only the plants are 
different. 
Several species and varieties are employed for this method 
of training, though the larger specimens are confined to a few, 
chiefly P. Radula and P. oapitatum. It would be difficult to 
say which of these is the more sweetly scented, for most people 
regard them as having a very pleasing odour, especially when 
rubbed 'Or brushed against. P. capita-turn is' largely grown in 
the south of Europe, along the shores of the Mediterranean for 
the distillation of the essential oil to which its peculiar fra,- 
grance is due. This- oil is. largely used in perfumery and for 
the- adulteration of attar of Rose. We believe the oil is somei- 
tirnes termed attar or otto of Geranium. Some of the smaller 
specimens consist, of Lady Plymouth with variegated leaves, 
and P. fragrans', a- small-leaved and sweetly scented variety, 
though the odour is entirely different from either of the pre¬ 
ceding. A very small-leaved one is P. crispum, with lernon- 
scented leaves. Two. varieties of it, however, are grown.— 
namely, P. e. major and P. c. minor, with larger and smaller 
leaves respectively than, the type. 
Those who have regularly visited tliei Temple and other 
London, shows within, the past few years could scarcely have 
iailed to see some of the exhibits of these uniquely grown Pelar¬ 
goniums. Besides scented-leaved varieties, a rather novel use 
is made of zonal varieties, which are grown, in the form of 
standards with a tall -single stem surmounted by a bushy head. 
Whether grown out of doors or under glass, these specimens 
usually flower very profusely and are very effective. Helio¬ 
tropes are also favourites at Gunnersbury House, and are 
grown to a large size from seed sown in February. Myrtles 
and sweet-scented Verbenas (Lip-pia citriodora) might also be 
numbered amongst the sweet foliage subjects associated with 
the Pelargoniums. Tire, very largest specimens are grown in 
slate tubs held together by a pitch Pine frame. 
Referring again to the picture, we may say that the dwarf 
plants with larger leave® at the base of the Pelargoniums con¬ 
sist of Salvia splendens nana, a dwarf variety which stands the 
wind well in situations that, are in any way exposed better than 
some of the stronger-growing varieties. The gra.ssdike plant 
forming the edging consisted of Ophiopogon Ja.buran varie- 
gatus, which had assumed a beautiful yellow colour in, this 
situation. 
Mr. James Hudson, the gardener, is well known for the en¬ 
thusiastic way in which he takes up specialities and novel forms 
of cultivation, such as one seldom sees in any other garden. 
The big specimens must, have taken many years to grow to this 
size, though the chief attention they would require after being 
once trained would be little beyond watering, chiefly in the 
summer months. 
Darwinia hookeriana. 
The above plant will be best known to our readers under the 
name of Genetyllis fuchsioides 1 . The name Darwinia was, how¬ 
ever, established in, 1813, whereas Genetyllis was not used till 
1828. Darwinia, is, therefore the oldest name and the most 
correct. 
The flowers are peculiar in more than one respect. Those 
which are usually termed the flowers by gardeners, generally 
are not flowers at all, but merely a whorl of enlarged and red 
