May 25, 1907. 
inclined to dispute the term “ silver-white” 
_ ^as applied to the species — riper experi¬ 
ence would seem to prove the poet’s des¬ 
cription, under certain conditions, to be 
fairly accurate. C. B. G. 
-- 
Cydoni a japonica Simonii. 
The flowers of this variety of the 
Japanese Quince are of a brilliant fiery 
crimson, and though only of moderate 
size, they are borne in great profusion. 
Award of Merit was accorded by the 
R.H.S. on April 30th, when shown by 
Lord Aldenham (gardener, Mr. E. 
Beckett), Aldenham House, Elstree. 
Aethionema 
eoridifolium. 
This is a lovely little plant that pos¬ 
sesses many charms. Its wiry little stems 
grow out from a woody root-stock in a 
pretty manner. They are clothed with 
neat glaucous foliage which makes the 
plant interesting the year round, and its 
little terminal heads of rosy stock-like 
flowers are produced with great freedom 
from the beginning of June to the waning 
of August. Well-established plants will 
grow vigorously and flower profusely, 
whether planted on the rockery or in the 
oipen border. It is, however, one of 
those things that resent interference with 
the roots, anti it is here where so many 
failures are made. It is almost useless 
to lift a plant of Aethionema eoridifolium 
from the open ground, for its roots will not 
take readily to fresh soil, and while the 
plant is struggling to obtain a fresh root- 
hold, the drying winds and warm sun play 
havoc with the foliage, and the plant_ be¬ 
comes a poor miserable-looking object. 
The best way, and the only right way, 
with Aethionemas is to start with young 
plants that have been brought on quickly 
from the seedling stage (the plant comes 
well from seed) and worked into 3-inch 
pots. As soon as the roots have worked 
through the soil the plants should be trans¬ 
ferred to permanent quarters. Treated 
thus there is no difficulty in establishing 
a nice little colony of this showy and inter¬ 
esting subject. Where the difficulty comes 
in, however, is the difficulty of obtaining 
such plants as I have described. The 
average nursery supplies plants in pots, 
it is true, but many times we find them 
pot-boifnd and stunted from having been 
too long in the pots. It is not the 
nurseryman’s fault, for he cannot tell when 
your order null arrive, and consequently 
cannot be expected always to have plants 
in just the right condition. 
The surest method is undoubtedly to 
raise the plants from seed. The seed 
should be sown in gentle heat in February, 
and the plants will be ready for planting 
in May, or failing the necessary accom¬ 
modation for sowing so early, seed may 
be sown in a cold frame in May or June, 
and the young plants can be put out in 
September to become established by the 
following season. 
Heather Bell. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
Elwes’ Fritillary. 
=- 7 -" 
(Fritillaria Elwesii). 
Two or more forms of Fritillary are in 
cultivation under the name of F. Elwesii, 
and one of them we have seen named F. 
acutiloba, but as they only differ in a 
slight amount of brown colouring, it 
seems invidious to give more than one 
name to them. These forms are also 
closely allied to F. acmopetala, which is 
a stronger grower and perhaps the most 
handsome of the group. We do not 
think that these Fritillaries always behave 
in the same manner from year to year, 
for the flowers of F. Elwesii may be small 
and narrow as if too weak to flower pro¬ 
perly. There is also another species 
which behaves somewhat similarly, 
brown blotch at the base of each seg¬ 
ment outside and corresponding to the 
position of the honey pores inside. This 
serves to give the flower distinction and 
makes it an interesting plant for the her¬ 
baceous border. 
There is no difficulty in cultivating this 
species of Fritillary, provided the bulbs 
are planted about 4 in. or 5 in. deep in 
a free and well worked soil, though it is 
probable it would bloom satisfactorily 
even in a sandy soil. The latter can, of 
course, always be improved by the addi¬ 
tion of top dressings of better matter, 
and a careful cultivator who likes to see 
every plant in his garden well treated 
and 
Fritillaria Elwesii. 
[Maclaren 
Sons. 
namely, F. sieheana, the flowers of which 
are sometimes quite devoid of ornament. 
In its best form, that is, when the 
flowers reach full size, F. Elwesii is a 
quaint and handsome plant. The ground 
colour is a light green and the tips of the 
segments, both outside and inside, are 
polished and more or less overlaid with a 
purple-brown. In the particular form 
here figured there is less colouring at the 
Sps of the segments, but there is a large 
would spare no pains to get a handsome 
plant like this to grow and flower freely. 
-- 
A New Vegetable. 
Epicures are said to be raving about 
a new vegetable called Laver, which is a 
marine vegetable found among the wild 
rocks on the Scottish coast. It is served 
hot with roast mutton and looks somewhat 
like Spinach. 
