314 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
May 9, 1908. 
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Gdifopial. 
Sta Scottish Xo?ttcuttu\:al 
ftssociattovi 
Very few of the numerous mutual im¬ 
provement associations throughout the 
country can boast of a membership of 
i,ooo, but the Scottish Horticultural As¬ 
sociation has a list of i,i49 i n their trans¬ 
actions for the past year. A record is 
made of the transactions at each meeting, 
mentioning the exhibits and those that 
received certificates or awards of any 
kind. 
Lengthy extracts are also made of the 
papers read at their monthly meetings 
and amongst them was the address of 
Mr. D. W. Thomson, the past President of 
the Association. In this he discussed the 
gardeners of the future, mentioning vari¬ 
ous particulars of what would be required 
of the gardeners in the future. He had 
been on a visit to Ireland, and came back 
with a much better opinion of that 
country than he previously held. He saw 
some of the best horticultural establish¬ 
ments he had seen anywhere, and was 
surprised with the beauty of the public 
parks and scenery generally. On the 
whole, however, what was chiefly lacking 
in Ireland was horticultural education, 
as the gardeners there and other cultiva¬ 
tors had not by any means risen to the 
importance and capabilities of their 
country in the matter of soil, climate, etc. 
The second paper printed was that of 
Mr. P. Murray Thomson, late secretary of 
the Royal Caledonian Horticultural So¬ 
ciety. For some years past he has been 
filling up his spare time in making experi¬ 
ments with various plants, especially in 
cross-breeding and hybridising them with 
the view of discovering what the results 
would be. This paper dealt with the re¬ 
production of the plants from seeds as 
explained by the Mendelian theory, and 
to illustrate his experiments he dealt with 
the crossing of garden Peas, the round 
with the wrinkled varieties, and the re¬ 
sults are here given, bearing out what 
Mendel had discovered and published on 
the subject, but which had since been 
neglected owing to the great popularity of 
Darwin and his “ Origin of Species ” 
about the same period. 
-+++ 
Two Fine Blue-Flowered 
.. SAGES. , 
Colour descriptions are very loosely ap¬ 
plied in plant descriptions, so it may be 
as well to state that the plants under 
notice have flowers of a true blue shade. 
There is not even a suggestion of purple 
in the flowers of Salvia patens. It is a 
tuberous-rooted perennial of doubtful 
hardiness. We say “of doubtful hardi¬ 
ness” advisedly, since some people who 
Maclaren and Sons. 
Narcissus Sir Watkin. 
(See Page 311.) 
have been successful in keeping the plant 
outdoors throughout the winter would de¬ 
mur at a description which did not agree 
with their experience. At the same time, 
in the majority of gardens, this handsome 
plant requires to be treated as a half- 
hardy plant. It is easily raised from 
seeds, which are obtainable at the rate of 
six a penny. If sown'before the second 
week in March, the plants will bloom the 
same year. After flowering is over the 
roots should be lifted and stored away in 
dry soil or sand in a frost-proof shed or 
dry cellar. 
The following February or March will 
be soon enough to start the roots into 
growth, and if desired cuttings may be 
rooted, giving the same treatment as to 
Dahlia cuttings. In fact, “Dahlia treat¬ 
ment” suits this splendid plant quite well. 
The spikes of rich, deep, almost Gentian 
blue flowers are very freely produced on 
stems 2 ft. high. This is an indispensable 
border plant, where flowers of this colour 
are desired. Young plants or dry roots 
may be procured at this time of the year 
at as. 6d. or 3s. per doz. 
Salvia azurea'grandiflora is more hardy, 
perhaps, than the foregoing species. It 
is a native of Mexico, probably found at 
considerable altitude. At the same time, 
it would not be wise to risk the entire 
stock outdoors. In favourable winters, 
and on dry sandy soils, the plants would 
no doubt survive. It is such a very ele¬ 
gant pot plant, and is so easily transplan¬ 
ted into pots from the border when in full 
bloom, that, if a greenhouse is available, 
a succession of flowers may be obtained 
under glass for several months. When 
the Chrysanthemums are in bloom there 
is usually a scarcity of blue flowers, so 
that this plan may be followed to advan¬ 
tage. 
This Mexican Sage is a herbaceous 
perennial with a somewhat woody root 
stock. In passing we may note that 
plants of this character, that is, peren¬ 
nials with sub-shrubby rootstocks, unless 
they are natives of temperate regions, are 
always more troublesome to keep alive 
during our damp winters than plants 
which are quite herbaceous; that is, 
plants which die quite down to the under¬ 
ground stems. 
Of slender, graceful habit, S.a. grandi- 
flora forms neat bushy specimens and is 
easily propagated from cuttings of the 
young growths in spring. Seeds are also 
obtainable and are easily managed. They 
should be sown in gentle heat and grown 
on without check until May, when the 
young plants may be planted out in the 
border. We have in mind a bed of long- 
spurred Columbines mingled with this 
plant and carpeted with the dwarf White 
Alyssum. 
Erica. 
-f+4- 
Beautiful . . 
Campanulas. 
Cultural Notes. 
All the bellflowers are immensely popu¬ 
lar, and deservedly so, for they are indis¬ 
pensable to every garden, large or small; 
there is also amongst them a great 
variety of form, many of them 'being of 
tall pyramidal habit, supplying objects 
of great beauty in the mixed border, 
while others are' of the dwarfest possible 
nature, covering the ground with a carpet 
of bloom. 
It is quite impossible in the space of a 
short article to mention the numerous 
species and varieties in cultivation; they 
may, however, briefly be divided into two 
classes, i.e., biennial and perennial, the 
great majority belonging to the latter 
class. Among the biennials are the well- 
known Canterbury Bells, of which there 
are several forms and colours, the doubles 
and those with cup and saucer flowers 
being general favourites. 
Nearly all the Campanulas make beau¬ 
tiful pot plants for conservatory decora¬ 
tion, notably C. pyramidalis, the well- 
knotvn Chimney Campanula, which often 
rises to a height of from four to five feet. 
C. persicifolia of both single and double 
form are also very useful for this method 
