160 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  1,  1898- 
in  thj  back  of  the  greenhouse,  and  bearing  large  trusses  of  brilliant 
scarlet  flowers.  But  there  came  a  time  when  what  is  called  the  Toni 
Thumb  section  was  produced ;  but  I  do  not  think  that  I  ever  knew 
how  or  from  where  this  was  obtained.  It  gained  immense  popularity , 
and  as  the  bedding-out  system  developed,  the  plants  were  in  great 
request. 
1  hen  came  another  change,  for  Mr.  Grieve  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds 
obtained  the  brilliant  leaf-coloured  plant  Mrs.  Pollock,  and,  oh  !  what 
a  sensation  this  made.  Everyone  must  needs  have  it,  and  no  garden 
on  the  bedding-out  system  was  considered  correct  without  one  or  two 
beds  of  it.  The  flowers  were  insignificant,  but  the  leaves  wer  ■ 
undoubtedly  very  brilliant  in  colour.  Messrs.  F.  &  H.  Smith  of 
Dulwich  went  largely  into  them,  brought  out  many  pretty  plants, 
but  none  of  them  ever  attained  the  popularity  of  Mrs.  Pollock.  The* 
were  sold  at  high  prices,  a  guinea  and  a  half  being  often  given  for  a 
small  plant.  With  them  came  also  what  are  called  the  bicolor  or 
bronze  Geraniums.  To  these  Mr.  Wills  and  Messrs.  John  Laing  and 
Sons  contributed  some  fine  varieties,  while  another  variation  wa- 
seen  in  what  are  called  the  silver-edged  classes  ;  here  the  zone  was 
not  affected,  but  the  edge  of  the  leaf  was  white.  These  all  had  thei 
day,  and  there  are  perhaps  some  few  private  gardens  where  representa¬ 
tives  of  them  may  still  be  found,  but  the  time  and  money  necessary 
for  them  have  been  grudged,  and  however  beautiful  they  may  be,  they 
are  not  in  fashion. 
An  equally  great  change  has  taken  place  in  the  other  section, 
greenhouse  Pelargoniums.  There  were  two  divisions  of  this  class — 
the  large  Show  varieties  ;  and  the  smaller,  more  delicate,  and  mor< 
difficult  ones,  known  as  Fancy  varieties.  These  were  cultivated  with 
great  success  by  Mr.  Charles  Turner  of  Slough,  and  Mr.  Bailey  <  f 
Shardeloes.  Two  amateurs  set  themselves  to  work  on  these,  and 
none  of  us  who  lived  in  those  days  is  likely  to  forget  the  furore  tha' 
they  created.  These  were  Mr.  Garth,  a  clergyman  near  Farnham,  and 
Mr.  k  oster  of  Clewer  Manor,  and  their  efforts  were  most  successful. 
Jhe  grand  plants  exhibited  by  the  gentlemen  named  will  not  readily  le 
forgotten.  Plants  measuring  4  feet  through,  with  hundreds  of  trusse-, 
formed  a  most  attractive  feature  at  our  metropolitan  exhibitions 
Such  are  now  things  of  the  past;  we  never  see  them,  the  fashion  has 
changed,  and  although  very  beautiful,  and  delightfully  brilliant  and 
soft  in  their  colours,  they  have  been  made  to  give  way  to  other  and 
newer  things.  Mr.  Turner  of  Slough  used  to  bring  out  about  a  dozen 
every  year,  but  it  became  very  difficult  to  say  wherein  lay  the 
superiority.  I  know  we  used  laughingly  to  say  that  if  we  took  the 
labels  out  of  the  pots  the  exhibitors  would  be  unable  to  tell  which 
they  were. 
At  the  same  time  many  growers  thought  much  might  be  done 
with  flowers  of  the  Zonal  section,  and  set  themselves  to  work  to 
increase  their  size  and  beauty.  Amongst  the  most  conspicuous  <  f 
these  were  the  late  Dr.  Denny,  who  was  a  perfect  enthusiast  about 
them,  Messrs.  Pearson  &  Sons  of  Chilwell,  Messrs.  Cannell  &  Sons  of 
Swanley,  and  Monsieur  Lemoine  of  Nancy.  Many  will  recollect  the 
fine  plants  of  Zonals  that  used  to  be  exhibited  at  our  metropolitan 
shows,  and  it  says  a  good  deal  for  one  of  those  raisers  whom  I  hav.- 
named,  that  most  of  the  plants  by  whomsoever  exhibited  were  <  f 
the  Chilwell  strain.  As  time  went  on  the  same  thing  happened  with 
them  as  with  the  Show  varieties.  They  attained  such  a  degree  of 
perfection  that  the  new  varieties  of  each  year  did  not  excel  thos<‘ 
sent  out  previously  in  any  appreciable  degree,  and  so  the  ardour 
cooled,  and  the  fashion  changed.  Occasionally  at  provincial  exhibitions 
good  plants  may  be  seen,  although  the  overgrown  monsters  <  f 
former  years  have  vanished.  I  do  not  think  the  knowledge  o' 
their  culture  has  in  the  least  degree  decreased,  and  I  have  had  th's 
year  beautiful  plants  in  my  own  garden  in  16-inch  pots  with  sixty 
trusses  of  bloom  on  them. 
One  of  the  most  remarkable  developments  was  the  Ivy-leaved 
section.  The  flowers  were  originally  very  small,  but  by  the  skill  ot 
the  hybridiser  they  were  so  increased  in  size  that  splendid  trusses  of 
very  double  flowers  covered  the  plant ;  they  became  great  favourites, 
and  owing  to  the  persistency  of  their  blooms  were  much  in  favour  for 
bedding  purposes  and  also  for  room  decoration.  The  varieties  are  not 
numerous,  but  they  are  of  many  shades  of  colour,  and  are  in  favour 
in  many  of  our  seaside  resorts  by  those  visitors  who  throng  them  in 
the  summer  months.  There  is  yet  another  section  which  has  some¬ 
how  or  other  developed  from  the  Show  Pelargonium  with  semi-double 
fringed  and  crimpled  flowers.  These  are  known  as  decorative 
varieties,  and  they  are  useful  as  summer  flowering  plants  in  the 
greenhouse. 
Now  all  this  that  I  have  written  about  the  Geranium  and  Pelar¬ 
gonium  has  its  bearing  upon  the  subject  of  fashion.  Fashion  does 
change,  and  as  far  as  flowers  are  concerned  I  think  it  well  that  it  is 
so.  It  forms  an  incentive  for  growers  to  introduce  new  forms,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  is  surely  not  well  when  a  flower  has  reached  what 
seems  to  be  perfection  to  continue  to  bring  out  new  varieties  which 
differ  in  no  degree  from  those  already  grown.  One  sometimes  wonders 
on  what  flower  the  amateur  hybridiser  will  next  try  his  hand  ;  he  has 
troubled  the  minds  of  Orchid  growers  by  his  successful  essays  amongst 
them,  but  they  are  not  everybody’s  flower,  and  while  most  of  those 
flowers  which  come  within  reach  of  us  all  have  in  turn  yielded  to  these 
successful  operations,  it  would  almost  sepm  that,  like  Alexander,  he 
had  no  more  worlds  to  conquer.  We  cannot,  however,  foretell,  and 
let  us  hope  that  fashion  may  lead  the  way  into  some  hitherto 
unexplored  regions. — D.,  Deal. 
HARDY  FLOWERS  IN  AUGUST. 
Too  swiftly  pass  the  sweet  flowers  of  spring,  and  the  bright 
blossoms  of  the  midsummer  time.  Too  soon  comes  autumn  with  its 
more  brilliant  garden  flowers,  which  in  turn  give  place  to  the  sober' 
tints  of  the  latest  of  the  year.  August  is  speeding  to  its  close,  and: 
we  look  upon  its  garden  treasures  with  wistful  eyes,  feeling  that 
when  they  have  gone,  with  them  will  have  passed  away  the  golden 
time  of  the  flowers.  Let  us  look  around  and  see  what  call  for  notice 
among  the  perennial  hardy  flowers  when  other  gardens  are  perforce 
filled  with  bedding  or  other  half-hardy  plants. 
Graceful  ever  wl  en  in  bloom  is  the  exquisite  Gypsophila  panicu- 
lata,  whose  mass  of  delicate  lace-like  flowers  tosses  gently  in  the 
wind  which  comes  through  and  over  the  parden  hedge.  Well  does  a 
good  plant  look  near  a  background  of  Michaelmas  Daisies  not  yet  in' 
flower,  but  whose  dark-hued  foliage  enhances  the  white  of  the  lace¬ 
like  Gypsophila.  Poor  plants  of  this  are  often  seen ;  dull  in  colour 
and  dense  in  habit,  they  want  the  grace  of  the  better  plants  seen 
here  and  there  in  gardens  of  the  time. 
Although  we  have  long  had  cause  to  disbelieve  the  poetical  fable 
that  the  Sunflower  turns  its  face  to  the  sun,  we  cannot  but  think  of 
the  verses  to  which  this  belief  has  given  rise  as  we  look  upon  the 
Sunflowers  now  in  bloom.  Helianthus  rigidus  is  usually  pleasing, 
tut  its  running  habit  makes  it  obnoxious  to  many.  Even  the 
beautiful  Helianthus  Miss  Mellish  increases  too  quickly,  although  it 
seems  ungrateful  to  so  fine  a  flower  to  say  anything  about  its 
demerits.  Very  fine  is  the  true  plant  with  its  showy  semi-double 
flowers.  There  are  unfortunately  other  Sunflowers  sold  for  it,  and' 
only  those  who  possess  the  true  stock,  or  see  it  in  bloom,  can  realise 
its  b  illiant  colour  and  form. 
Honoured  indeed  beyond  his  merits  was  the  King  of  Illyricum,. 
whose  name  of  Gentius  has  been  kept  evergreen  by  its  association 
with  the  Gentian.  Fine  are  the  flowers  of  the  greater  number  of  the 
species,  and  alth<  ugh  none  are  finer  than  the  favourite  G.  acaulis,  we 
prize  those  which  bloom  in  the  later  months  of  the  year.  We  cannot, 
but  admire  the  fine  flowers  of  the  dwarf  plant  generally  known  as 
G.  septemfida  cordifolia,  or  the  taller  growing  G.  asclepiadea.  Less 
fine  than  they  is  G.  linearis,  which  grows  only  about  6  inches  high 
here,  but  its  neat  erect  habit,  fresh  green  leaves,  and  long,  narrow, 
semi-closed  flowers,  make  it  pleasing.  A  North.  American  species,  it 
is  hardy  in  my  garden,  and  on  the  lower  terrace  of  a  rockery  thrives 
with  a  fair  exposure  to  the  sun,  a  good  supply  of  water,  and  a  soil  of 
sandy  peat. 
Going  through  the  garden  the  other  day,  I  observed  \hat  a  new 
plant  to  me  had  just  come  into  flower.  This  is  Medicago  echinus, 
not  a  showy  or  particularly  pleasing  plant  when  in  bloom,  and  more 
interesting,  perhaps,  because  of  the  blood-like  markings  on  its 
trifoliate  leaves  than  for  its  yellow  flowers  in  clusters.  The 
latter  are  very  small  and  pea-shaped.  For  Medicago  echinus  I  have 
been  indebted  to  Mr.  A.  Black  of  Carton  Gardens,  where  he  hae 
charge  of  a  large  number  of  hardy  flowers,  in  which  he  takes  muchu 
