August i, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
509 
PpQ c Prested Hall, 
OWool I t)ab Kelvedon. 
C7 
(Concluded). 
Amongst bicolors Beacon is still rather 
a striking flower, and in our opinion su¬ 
perior to Lady Beaconsfield. It may be 
described as cream with a carmine stan¬ 
dard, and comes true to character. 
Blanche Ferry is still to the fore as a 
bicolor descended from the old Painted 
Lady, and those who like Sweet Peas as 
early as possible could depend upon 
Blanche Ferry, Extra Early, as it is now 
mostly in seed, but the stems are very 
dwarf, as is usually the case with early 
varieties. 
Amongst striped varieties America still 
holds its own, unless the cultivator desires 
a wavy form, when he will find it in Para¬ 
dise Red Flake, probably the same as we 
have heard called Spencer America. Of 
a lighter shade of colour is Jessie Cuth- 
bertson, striped with rosy red on a cream 
ground. The old Aurora is a small but 
pretty flower of its kind. 
The varieties of some orange shade are 
now fairly numerous, but unfortunately a 
number of them are liable to burn in hot 
weather. Those who cherish these orange 
shades should make a sowing in a some¬ 
what shady situation, where the direct 
sunshine will be broken, but where the 
plants will otherwise be well exposed to 
diffused light. Miss Willmott still takes a 
high position in this class, and is less 
liable to burn than Henry Eckford, 
though there are several shades of dif¬ 
ference between the two. Last year Helen 
Lewis took a very high position at the 
various Sweet Pea shows, but does not 
seem to be behaving so well this year. 
Some stocks of seeds come true, w T hile 
others are sportive or not quite up to the 
mark in colour. The standard should be 
of a beautiful rich orange hue. Gorgeous 
might now well be dispensed with, seeing 
that we have such as the new one St. 
George, which was in excellent form. It 
is practically a uniformly scarlet-orange 
Saxifraga Oppositifolia. 
1 This section of Saxifraga is among the 
first to flower, and is distinct in habit and 
colour. Its purple rose flowers are more 
than welcome, and a more suitable plant 
for the rockery could not be wished for. 
About every two or three years it will 
need shifting, as nearly all this section 
has a tendency to decay, and when that 
begins it is no use’ top-dressing with the 
hopes of arresting it, but directly after 
flowering any clump that shows symptoms 
J of decay should be taken up and pulled 
into little bits and replanted in a com¬ 
post of loam, road sand and leaf soil, 
"hen it will take hold and grow as vigor- 
ou.-ly as before. In autumn great benefit 
and told well by comparison with Evelyn 
Byatt. The latter seems less vigorous, 
although the flowers are bright, 't he be¬ 
haviour of St. George last year and this 
augurs well for the success of this 
variety. 
Proceeding from light to darker colours 
we come to such grand varieties as Queen 
Alexandra, Scarlet Gem, and Miss E. F. 
Drayson, a recent variety with large 
flowers of a rich scarlet colour. A lighter 
scarlet is Chrissie Unwin, but the shade 
of colour is almost uniform throughout. 
As a rule, however, it only bears two 
flowers on a stem. King Edward VII., on 
the other hand, is darker and classed 
amongst the crimson varieties. It is still 
a grand variety and well grown. 
Lord Nelson, otherwise known as Bril¬ 
liant Blue, is several shades brighter or 
darker than Navy Blue, and is certainly 
an improvement upon that. In the way of 
blues, however, we like the lighter 
colours better, such as, Countess Cado- 
gan, while the marbled blue of Helen 
Pierce is still unique of its kind and 
should find its way into every collection. 
Lady Grizel Hamilton is still a good 
lavender, and Miss Philbrick a pleasing 
light blue, although the flowers are not so 
large as many of the more modern varie¬ 
ties in other colours. 
On another occasion we shall have 
something to say of the large trial of 
culinary Peas being conducted here. 
From an economic point of view, no doubt 
this kind of Pea is the more important, 
though, at present, the Sweet Peas are 
sufficient to rivet the attention of those 
who specialise in that class of flower. 
After iuncheon the party were driven to 
Prested Hall, where Mr. Sherwood de¬ 
sired to have his party photographed as a 
memento of the fact that the idea of the 
establishment of a Sweet Pea Society 
originated on the farm of Prested Hall. 
will be derived from a top dressing. I 
append the varieties of this plant that 
are in common use: Opp.major, rosy 
pink. Onp. pallada, light pink, and Opp. 
alba, white. 
H. Stevens. 
Woodbridge. 
Two Beautiful Varieties of Phila- 
delphus. 
Allow me to draw the attention of the 
readers of the Gardening World to two 
unique and beautiful varieties of the well- 
known Mock Orange, which have recently 
been sent out by Vilmorine, Andrieux 
and Co., Paris. 
P. boquet blance answers well to its 
name; it is a double variety, bearing 
large bouquets of pure white, sweetly 
scented flowers, which spring from the 
axils of the leaves. The leaves closely 
resemble those of the common Mock 
orange. P. purpureo maculatus is quite 
unique. It is a single variety, with white 
flowers, shading into rosy purple at the 
base of the petals. The flowers are 
saucer-like in form, having prominent 
bright yellow anthers, and possessing a 
most pleasing and unique odour. The 
branches are arching in form, and are 
clothed with small obvate leaves. 
C. C. 
Melissa officinalis variegata. 
Those who require a cheap and easily 
grown plant should give the variegated 
Balm a trial. It is as fragrant as the 
common one, and makes a very effective 
edging to a border of early flowering 
Chrysanthemums or Dahlias, if the plants 
to be used are raised from cuttings inserted 
in a cold frame in the autumn. By this 
means we get a dwarf edging at the start, 
which should be allowed to grow to a 
height of 15 or 18 inches, and then kept 
pinched. Being well furnished with 
white and green foliage right down to 
the ground, there is not the same abrupt 
appearance as when ordinary edgings are 
used. 
H. Arnold. 
Stirling. 
Treatment of a Rose. 
A friend of mine bought a plant of 
■Duchess of Portland when it was first 
produced, and potted it and placed it in 
his cold greenhouse. For three years he 
had nothing but blind shoots, then gave 
it to me in disgust, to try my luck with 
it. It was the month of July when I took 
it home, replaced the top soil with some 
that was fresh and stood the pot on 
cinders in the garden. I had noticed a 
dormant bud near the base, so pruned all 
the shoots hard back, and syringed it fre¬ 
quently to make it break into fresh wood. 
In a week or so I was rewarded by seeing 
the bud break away, and gradually it 
grew to a good shoot. In the autumn I 
took it into my cold greenhouse, pruned 
it, and the following May had a magni¬ 
ficent bloom. 
B. B. 
Wimbledon. 
Two Splendid Forget-me-nots. 
The Forget-me-not has many admirers, 
and the common kinds are probably 
known to most people. But there are two 
varieties to whose merits I particularly 
wish to call attention, namely, Alpestris 
Star of Love and Alpestris rupicola, the 
true Forget-me-not. Both of these are 
truly beautiful when nicely managed, are 
regular in height, and very free flowering. 
The foliaee of the former is fresh green, 
and the latter more of a greyish tint". 
Rupicola only grows to the height of 
about 3 to 4 inches, and so makes a 
charming subject for the rockery. Seed 
should l_e sown now in finely prepared 
beds, and when the seedlings are large 
enough it will be best to have them trans¬ 
planted where cold frame protection from 
excessive damp can be afforded during 
the winter months. This will prevent 
disappointment in early spring. 
C. T. 
Highg..te. 
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