12 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
January 5, 1907. 
March to June. 
Cockle's Pippin, Duke of Devonshire, 
Sturmer Pippin, Lord BurgMey, Brown¬ 
lee's Russet, Court Pendu Plat. 
Kitchen. 
A ugust — S eptem her. 
Lord Suffield, Stirling Castle, Keswick 
Codlin, Frogmore Prolific. 
October — November. 
Lord Grosvenor, Cellini, Peasgood's 
Nonsuch, Warner's King. 
December — January. 
Golden Spire, Lord Derby, Lane’s 
Prince Albert, Winter Hawthornden, Bis¬ 
marck, Bramley's Seedling. 
February — March. 
Alfriston, Dumelow's Seedling. Mere de 
Menage, Hambledon Deux Ans. 
April to June. 
Barnack Beauty, Norfolk Beaufin, 
Wareham Russet, Royal Late Cooking. 
Some Good Varieties for a Small 
Garden. 
Dessert.— -Duchess of Oldenburg, King 
of the Pippins, Devonshire Quarrenden, 
Braddick’s Nonpareil, Cox's Orange Pip¬ 
pin, Dutch Mignonne, Court Pendu Plat. 
Kitchen. — Cellini, Frogmore Prolific, 
Domino, Lane's Prince Albert, Stirling 
Castle, Baumaun's Red Reinette, Northern 
Greening, Baxter's Pearmain, Seaton 
House. 
G. 
The Barberton Daisy sets seeds 
readily when two or more plants are 
grown together, so that one flower will get 
iertilised by the pollen of the other. 
THE 
Scorpio^ 
IRIS A LATA. 
Those who have a cool greenhouse, con¬ 
servatory, or even a cold frame, will be 
able to enjoy a succession of Irises 
throughout the greater part of winter, 
spring and summer. A cold frame is all 
that is necessary to cultivate the above 
species, but a conservatory would give the 
cultivator a better opportunity of enjoying 
the flowers during the winter months. If 
the bulbs are potted sufficiently early 
flowering will also be early provided the 
winter is mild and open. For this reason 
the Scorpion Iris may bloom in early 
winter or after the turn of the year. In¬ 
deed, it blooms most frequently during 
January and February in this country 
when protected by a cold frame. 
With some shelter to throw off rain and 
snow it could be grown in the open in 
various parts of this country, but the large, 
handsome and frail flowers deserve more 
certain protection during our unreliable 
winter. Those who undertake its cultiva¬ 
tion. therefore, would derive most satis¬ 
faction from it and secure it in the 
freshest condition by cultivating it under 
glass. 
When the flowers first expand they are 
of a light but rich blue, fading in a few 
days to a paler hue. They are also 
amongst the largest of the bulbous Irises, 
as most parts of the flower are ample. 
The species is a native of the countries 
lying on both sides of the Mediterranean, 
and would no doubt be perfectly hardy 
in this country if it made its growth at any 
other period of the year than in winter. 
All the same, the flowers well pay for pro¬ 
tection. 
Ax Unfortunate Sunflower.— 
There is an old story which possibly 
originated in Germany that a certain bird 
sitting on its perch was disturbed by a 
boy who walked round the tree so as to 
get out of sight of the bird, but the latter 
continued turning its head round until at 
last it twisted its head off and dropped to 
the foot of the tree as a fluttering mass of 
feathers. When first described to us this 
was said to be a pheasant. The ‘•Ameri¬ 
can Botanist” says it was an owl. Now 
from the same source we learn that a Sun¬ 
flower unfortunately suffered the same 
form of decapitation. A seed was planted 
within the Arctic Circle where the sun 
never sets during a period of the year. 
The Sunflower prospered until it reached 
the flowering stage, and according to its 
wont the bloom, having to follow the 
course of the sun during the day, kept 
twisting round continually until it twisted 
its head off. The author of this joke 
would do well to study the exact method 
of twisting performed by plants as des¬ 
cribed by Darwin. He would then find 
it impossible for such a catastrophe to 
happen. 
Snow in the Garden. —The severe 
weather that set -in on Christmas Day was 
followed by yin. to 5in. of snow early next 
morning, and vegetation has got a set 
back that will make flowers that bloom in 
January much later than for several rears 
past; indeed, no such storm has been ex¬ 
perienced in London since 1895. 
Iris cslata. 
