ON THE HYDRANGEA. 
213 
of the flowers purple ; a native of Kamtscliatka ; flowers in May; 
height one foot and a-half. 
It will be at once seen, that a most splendid bed could be 
formed of all the species and varieties that are here enumerated ; 
and if any spirited florist were to set about collecting all the 
species and varieties he could get, I am confident that they 
would well repay him for the trouble that he took in collecting 
them. I am also certain that many beautiful species have been 
lost to the country, from want of attention to that beautiful tribe. 
There is not any tribe of plants which is so extensive, and at the 
same time so beautiful, and also perfectly hardy as the lilies, and 
yet there is none that has been so much neglected. For, unless now 
and then, a species might be taken care of for a time—for as long 
as it was saleable, if a nurseryman had it; but as soon as that was 
gone, so went the plant also, that is, no care was taken in its cul¬ 
tivation. It was the same with the nobility and gentry ; as soon 
as its novelty was over, away went the plant, though it was ever 
so great a beauty. 
Tooting Nursery. P. N. Don. 
ON THE HYDRANGEA. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FLORIST’S JOURNAL. 
Sir, —Having seen in the October number of “ The Florist’s 
Journal” a letter from “ Querist relative to the culture of 
Hydrangea , perhaps the following remarks may not prove worth¬ 
less to the readers of a periodical which has well and ably filled 
up a gap in the floricultural world. They are not intended as 
directions for culture, but merely as observations that may be a 
guide to your correspondent. 
The great desideratum in growing it appears to be obtaining 
blue flowers ; and I have known many persons try with the greatest 
assiduity and care, by watering it with solution of alum, &c. &c., 
to produce them, but ineffectually; while in other districts, with¬ 
out any care, treated as a mere shrub, flowers in abundance, blue 
and pink, completely cover the foliage. Probably no two counties 
in the kingdom show how much this depends on soil, better than 
tne two neighbouring ones of Wicklow and Dublin ; and in the 
