308 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
April  15,  1897, 
dissected  ;  samples  of  sickly  plants  or  sound  ones  ;  in  fact,  what¬ 
ever  they  may  desire  to  place  before  the  Editor,  including  articles 
for  publication,  from  young  probationers  to  old  practitioners, 
from  amateurs  and  gardeners,  all  should  be  addressed,  not  to  Fleet 
Street  as  usual,  but  direct  to  Mr.  J.  Wright,  8,  Rose  Hill  Road, 
Wandsworth,  London,  S.W.  They  will  cost  no  more,  while  they 
will  be  more  quickly  attended  to  than  if  sent  to  the  old  address, 
and  then,  as  they  must  be,  re-directed. 
This  notification  is  made  as  prominently  as  possible  in  the 
interests  of  all — readers,  writers,  editors,  and  clerks.  A  few  mistakes 
may  occur,  but  it  must  be  the  desire  of  all  that  they  be  reduced  to 
a  minimum.  “  Ah  !  preparing  for  the  Royal  Jubilee,”  will  be  the 
remark  of  passers-by  when  the  renovations  are  in  progress.  Be  it 
so.  More  will  no  doubt  be  heard  of  the  great  event  before  the 
season  is  over,  and  then,  all  being  well,  the  “Journal'’  will  have 
a  Jubilee  of  its  own  next  year. 
RECORD  REIGN  SHOWS. 
There  is  an  unusual  amount  of  activity  in  every  section  of 
society  this  season  to  fitly  celebrate  the  completion  of  the  without 
precedent  reign  of  our  beloved  Queen,  that  it  would  be  odd  indeed 
if  gardeners,  who  are  amongst  the  most  loyal  and  admiring  and 
law-loving  and  law-abiding  of  citizens,  should  be  behindhand  in 
signalising  that  glorious  reign  by  every  means  in  their  power.  We 
may  take  it  that  many  horticultural  events  will  be  celebrated  with 
greater  enthusiasm  than  usual  ;  that  all  the  customary  annual 
shows  will  contain  either  some  new  feature,  some  enlargement  of 
benefits,  or  some  alluring  and  interesting  development. 
Many  new  shows  will  be  started,  some  old  ones  revived,  and 
some  perhaps  will  strike  out  on  special  and  original  lines.  We 
have  evidence  of  this  state  of  things  in  your  advertising  columns 
this  week.  I  will  take  two  of  them — a  large  one  and  a  small  one — 
of  which  I  have  some  personal  knowledge  to  illustrate  my  meaning, 
and  Shrewsbury  shall  be  my  large  illustration.  We  all  know  that 
as  a  provincial  show  this  is  second  to  none  in  ordinary  years,  but 
this  year,  the  twenty-second  year  of  its  existence,  and  because  of 
the  Queen’s  record  reign,  the  Society  is  considerably  enlarging 
its  borders,  and  its  show  on  the  18th  and  19th  of  August  is  to  be 
a  Great  Royal  Commemorative  one  to  illustrate  the  advance  in 
horticulture  during  the  sixty  years  of  Her  Majesty’s  reign.  The 
cash  prizes  offered  in  the  Society  s  schedules  for  1897  amount  to 
nearly  £900,  with  special  cups,  medals,  and  other  extra  awards. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  are  sending 
down  a  deputation  consisting  of  the  President  (Sir  Trevor  Lawrence, 
Bart.),  and  selected  members  of  the  Council  to  co-operate 
with  the  officers  of  the  Shropshire  Horticultural  Society,  and  to 
award  a  gold  Banksian  and  a  silver  Knightian  medal  to  special 
productions  (particulars  of  which  will  be  found  in  the  Society’s 
schedule),  besides  other  medals  and  awards  ;  and  the  Worshipful 
Company  of  Fruiterers  (London),  are  offering  their  gold  and 
silver  medals  in  the  fruit  classes  ;  whilst  in  addition  to  these  the 
Yeitch  Memorial  Trustees  are  offering  the  Veitch  Memorial  medal 
and  £5,  in  addition  to  the  first  prize  of  the  Society,  for  a  decorative 
dessert  taMe.  Shrewsbury  has  done  great  .things  in  past  years, 
but  this  year  will  be  a  record  year  for  it  there  is  not  the  least 
doubt.  May  we  all  be  there  to  see. 
Now,  my  lesser  illustration  is  the  small  show  advertised  in  this 
week’s  Journal  —  the  Potato  Show  at  Radcliffe-onTrent,  near 
Nottingham.  Having  lived  at  Radcliffe  and  in  the  neighbour¬ 
hood  for  a  good  many  years,  once  on  a  time,  I  can  vouch  for 
the  Iona  fides  of  that  advertisement.  What  the  Radcliffe 
people  do,  they  do  well  ;  “thorough”  is  their  motto,  and  the 
two  gentlemen  who  have  offered  the  prizes  may  be  relied  upon  to 
carry  out  to  a  complete  success  the  somewhat  unique  show,  backed 
up  as  they  are  by  a  band  of  workers  who  do  not  know  what  it  is  to 
fail  in  anything  they  undertake  to  do.  Both  gentlemen  (Messrs. 
Middleton  and  Yates)  are  Potato  enthusiasts,  and  the  former,  1 
believe,  was  not  unknown  at  the  Crystal  Palace  in  the  days  of  Mr. 
McKinlay’s  Potato  shows.  The  show  will  assuredly  be  a  very 
interesting,  and  should  be  an  instructive  one,  and  I  am  given  to 
understand  that  the  judging  will  be  on  the  lines  of  the  R. H.S. 
code  of  judging. 
These  Wo  shows  will  serve  to  demonstrate  to  all  whom  it  may 
concern  that  gardeners  are  not  going  to  be  the  last  in  celebrating 
the  record  reign  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen,  a  Queen  who  has,  all 
through  that  reign,  been  a  good  friend  to  gardeners  and  garden¬ 
ing.— N.H.P, 
OUR  HARDY  PLANT  BORDER. 
{Continued  from  page  224.) 
Forget-me-nots, 
Wherever  any  attempt  is  made  to  produce  a  spring  or  early 
summer  display  of  hardy  flowers  the  Forget-me-nots  are  indis¬ 
pensable,  and  they,  moreover,  furnish  a  colour  that  is  all  too  rare 
in  our  gardens.  Their  graceful  habit,  and  the  interesting,  even 
though  fanciful,  associations  connected  with  the  popular  name 
also  render  them  favourites  with  all  garden  lovers.  The  majority 
have  besides  a  strong  practical  recommendation  to  the  favour  of 
those  who  find  the  maintenance  of  a  varied  and  extensive  display 
of  outdoor  flowers  a  strain  on  their  resources — namely,  they  are 
easily  increased  either  by  seed  or  division. 
They  are  mostly  adapted  for  situations  where  it  is  sometimes 
difficult  to  insure  success  with  other  plants,  and  three  positions 
may  be  mentioned  for  which  respective  groups  are  suitable—*  e.,  a 
rockery  or  alpine  garden,  where  the  dwarfer  species  of  Myosotis, 
such  as  M.  azorica  and  M.  alpestris,  will  succeed  ;  moist  banks  or 
low  spots  near  water,  for  which  M.  palustris  is  particularly  fitted  ; 
and  ihady  shrubbery  or  woodland  path  aides  or  borders,  where 
M.  sylvatica  will  succeed.  There  are  special  examples  of 
partialities,  but  M.  dissitiflora,  for  instance,  will  thrive  almost 
anywhere,  provided  it  is  not  excessively  dry,  and  ail  the  dwarf 
forms  of  Forget-me-nots  are  useful  for  spring  flower  beds  or 
borders. 
It  may  be  well  to  point  out  the  chief  characters  of  these  species 
before  detailing  the  culture  we  have  found  successful,  and  the 
first  to  be  considered  is  M.  alpestris.  For  colour,  habit,  and  general 
usefulness  this  deserves  a  foremost  place  in  every  garden,  at  least 
that  is  our  experience  founded  on  careful  and  extensive  trials  of  all 
the  Forget-me-nots  in  general  cultivation.  When  grown  upon  a 
rockery  this  plant  presents  the  characters  of  a  true  alpine,  3  or 
4  inches  high,  compact,  with  abundant  short  spikes  of  flowers,  but 
in  ordinary  beds  of  fertile  soil  it  is  nearly  double  the  size,  though 
still  compact,  with  vigorous  spikes  of  moderate  height,  bearing 
flowers  closely  set  from  the  apex  to  the  foliage,  and  produced  in 
such  numbers  that  the  plants  appear  to  be  almost  tufts  of  flowers 
alone.  The  flowers,  too,  are  of  good  size,  a  brilliant  blue,  heightened 
by  contrast  with  a  yellow  eye,  and  possess  the  additional  recom¬ 
mendation  of  becoming  fragrant  late  in  the  day.  Excellent  strains 
of  seed  are  obtainable  of  this  Forget-me-not,  frorp  which  thousands 
of  plants  can  be  quickly  and  certainly  raised,  and  they  come  so 
even  and  true  that  the  slower  process  of  increase  by  division  or 
cuttings  is  unnecessary. 
Two  varieties  of  M.  alpestris  are,  in  our  opinion,  the  finest  of 
all  Forget-me-nots  for  spring  gardening  when  they  can  be  had 
quite  true,  namely,  Yictoria  and  Distinction.  With  regard  to  the 
former  of  these,  however,  we  have  had  some  difficulty  in  securing 
seed  true  to  character.  Yictoria  is  an  improvement  on  the  common 
type  of  M.  alpestris,  being  compact,  the  flowers  large,  and  the 
colour  bright.  Distinction  as  we  have  had  it  is  similar,  but  if 
anything  more  compact  and  floriferous.  Both  are  admirably 
adapted  for  culture  in  pots  for  early  flowering  under  glass,  a  use 
which  is  fully  appreciated  in  many  gardens  where  diversity  is 
requisite  in  the  occupants  of  greenhouses  or  conservatories.  They 
must,  however,  have  cool  situations,  for  in  a  moist  warm  house 
they  are  quickly  drawn  up  and  spoiled.  Two  other  varieties  of 
M.  alpestris — i  e.,  the  white  and  rose  coloured,  are  attractive 
in  some  degree,  but  they  are  not  so  well  adapted  for  massing  as- 
the  blue  forms. 
Taking  it  in  all  its  points  M.  alpestris  has  proved  in  our 
experience  one  of  the  most  useful  Forget-me-nots  that  can  be 
grown  in  quantity,  and  we  have  had  no  difficulty  in  procuring  seed 
that  produced  plants  of  high  quality,  equally  as  beautiful  and 
serviceable  as  the  best  selections  that  receive  varietal  designations. 
Next  in  importance  comes  Myosotis  dissitiflora,  though  perhaps 
some  would  be  disposed  to  give  this  the  first  place.  Certainly  where 
very  early  flowering  is  required  it  would  be  most  useful ;  but  it  is 
less  compact  than  M.  alpestris,  though  a  free  and  continuous 
flowerer  in  suitable  situations.  The  flowers  are  large,  rich  blue,  on 
spikes  a  foot  or  more  in  length. 
For  general  use  in  damp  situations  and  heavy  soils  the  common 
Marsh  Forget-me-not,  M.  palustris,  is  both  a  charming  and  service¬ 
able  plant,  easily  increased,  of  good  constitution,  and  a  persistent 
flowerer.  The  corolla*  are  large,  of  a  particularly  bright  blue  with 
a  yellow  eye,  and  the  plants  look  well  in  masses  or  line*  ;  but  it  is 
rather  tall  for  the  latter  purpose,  except  in  shrubbery  borders. 
The  Wood  Forget-me-not,  M.  sylvatica,  is  usually  the  tallest  of 
those  in  general  culture,  and  its  looser  habit  of  growth,  combined 
with  the  fact  that  the  flowers  are  more  distantly  placed  on  the 
spikes,  gives  it  a  rather  more  weedy  and  straggling  appearance.  It- 
