jaim.^AL  -OF  HOnTmm^WRF  iMD  oottagf  gardfn-fr. 
KoVeinber  19,  1S99. 
482 
on  that  point.  Moreover,  the  Temple  Gkrdens  are  barely  large 
enough  for  the  existing  shows,  so  that  a  larger  one  would  be 
impossible. 
Next,  if  the  summer  show  of  the  Society  should  be  deferred 
for  a  few  weeks,  is  there  an  available  position  in  Loudon  in  which  it 
could  be  held  ?  We  know  of  none  ;  and  if  there  were  would  not 
the  public  rejoicings  in  various  forms  that  are  certain  to  prevail 
have  a  direct  tendency  to  divert  attention  from  a  flower  show, 
however  large  it  might  be  ?  No  one  without  experience  in  trying 
to  concentrate  the  attention  of  “  London  ”  on  any  snch  show  in 
the  “Season,"  with  hundreds  of  counter  attractions,  can  have 
any  conception  of  the  difficulties  attending  such  endeavour.  This 
is  so  in  any  and  every  year,  and  would  in  all  probability  be  doubly 
BO  during  such  a  busy  and  distracting  London  season  as  the  next 
IS  bound  to  be.  Wliatever,  then,  may  be  done  in  London  by  the 
Iloyal  Horticultural  Society  cannot,  in  our  opinion,  be  made  to 
assume  a  national  character,  or  be  in  any  adequate  sense  representa¬ 
tive  of  national  horticulture. 
Now  we  turn  to  the  “  provincial  ”  idea,  and  we  cannot  resist 
the  conviction  that  it  is  the  most  practicable  of  all  that  has  yet 
been  promulgated.  Ta  whatever  may  be  done  in  the  direction  that 
so  many  desire  in  having  a  great  Royal  Commemorative  Horticul¬ 
tural  Exhibition  there  must  be  the  least  possibility  of  failure,  and 
we  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  it  would  be  better  to  take  no 
steps  at  all  of  a  special  character  in  the  absence  of  a  practical 
assurance  of  success.  In  what  direction  can  we  turn  to  feel  certain 
of  such  assurance  ?  We  have  not  the  slightest  doubt,  if  that  ques¬ 
tion  were  put  to  the  vote  of  ten  thousand  horticulturists,  the  over¬ 
whelming  majority  of  votes  would  be  cast  for  Shrewsbury. 
The  Shrewsbury  shows  never  fail.  They  are  the  greatest  repre¬ 
sentative  horticultural  exhibitions  in  Europe.  Nowhere  elie  can 
such  a  splendid  combination  of  specimen  plants,  groups,  floral 
decorations,  fruit  and  vegetables,  be  seen,  exhibited  by  such  a 
great  number  of  cultivators — nurserymen,  amateurs,  gardeners, 
and  cottagers,  as  in  the  famous  Quarry  Grounds  in  August,  and 
nowhere  else  so  far  as  we  know,  do  such  crowds  of  people  assemble 
to  inspect  and  admire  the  productions.  The  shows  are  of  the  first 
magnitude  every  year,  and  if  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  and 
Shrewsbury  were,  so  to  say,  to  join  hand  in  hand  in  honour  of  an 
event  that  will  stand  alone  in  history,  the  exhibition  next  August 
would  be  of  a  regal  character,  and  worthy  of  the  great  occasion. 
Shrewsbury  is  central  for  England  and  Wales,  is  connected  by 
two  great  railways  with  London,  has  direct  communication  with 
the  Midlands,  also  the  populous  diatricts  of  Lancashire  and  the 
North.  Representatives  of  leading  horticultural  societies  might 
be  expected  to  attend  from  various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and 
Continental  friends  would  not  be  disappointed  by  even  a  long 
journey  to  see  what  Britain  can  do  in  and  for  horticulture  and  in 
honour  of  the  Queen  (who  is  revered  in  all  lands)  on  the  occasion 
of  Her  Majesty’s  long  and  beneficent  reign. 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
When  this  ia  written  the  g[arden  has  lost  its  beauty,  though 
less  by  frost  than  by  wind.  Frost  w  have,  indeed, '  had,  but 
though  it  harmed  the  Dahlias  and  the  Tropseoluma,  it  was  not  ao 
severe  as  to  destroy  hardier  flowers.  The  wind,  however,  has 
wrought  havoc,  and  now  there  are  few  flowers  to  be  seen,  and  some 
of  these  are  but  disconsolate  looking.  The  Michaelmas  Daisies 
are,  perhaps,  the  happiest,  for  the  others  suffer  more  from  cold 
winds  and  boisterous  gales.  Among  the  others  are  the  Crocuses, 
which,  with  a  little  covering  in  the  worst  weather,  delight  us  when 
the  storm  ceases  and  the  sun  shines  once  more,  cold  though  its 
warmest  efforts  are  at  this  season  of  the  year. 
A  collection  of  these  autumnal  flowering  species  is  a  rare  and 
acceptable  feature  of  the  garden  in  September  and  October,  and 
among  those  in  flower  Crocus  vallioola  is  interesting,  not  only  for 
its  intrinsic  beauty,  but  also  on  account  of  its  comparative  scarcity. 
This  year  it  has  flowered  for  the  first  time  in  my  garden,  although 
an  unhealthy  oorm  received  a  few  years  ago  made  an  unsuccessful 
attempt' to  grow.  It  has  been  said  that  this  “valley-loving”  ^ 
Crocus  is  the  earliest  to  flower ;  but  this  is  not  my  experience  this 
year,  although  another  season  it 'may  bloom  sooner.  There  is  no  | 
doubt  of  the  correctness  of  the  name  of  what  I  have  as  C.  vallicola,  J 
and  though  we  have  a  wealth  of  flowers  in  August  I  should  like  J 
to  have  this  little  plant  in  bloom  at  that  time,  which  is  said  to  be 
its  normal  season-.  '  '  Ij 
It  comes  from  an  altitude  of  from  6000  to  7000  feet  on  the 
Alps  of  Trebizond  and  Lazistan,  and  Mr.  George  Maw  iafc  rms  us 
that  Balansa  says  it  flowers  as  early  at  July.  I  do  not  know  that  * 
I  can  describe  its  floral  character  any  better  than  Mr.  Maw  has  ■ 
done  in  the  description,  in  which  he  says  : — “  Throat  bearded  :  : 
segments  pale  cream  colour,  produced  into  fine  thread  like  term!-  '1 
nations,  internally  veined  with  purple  and  marked  with  two  small 
orange  blossoms  near  the  throat.  Anthers  and  polhn  grains  pale  ■ 
cream  colour ;  style  dividing  at  the  level  cf  the  summit  of  the 
anthers,  and  shortly  produced  into  sub-entire  cream  coloured  stiv-  i 
mata.”  This  all  seems  a  little  formal,  yet  it  is  more  precise  than  ! 
one  could  hope  to  give  in  unscientific  language,,  Looking  at  the  ) 
flower  more  from  the  flower-lover’s  point  of  view  than  the  botanist's  * 
one  may  remark  that  its  substance  is  thin,  and  that  it  is,  perhaps,  j 
owing  more  to  this  than  the  presence  of  a  creamy  colosr  in  the 
segments  that  this  milky  or  creamy  appearance  is  derived.  It  is  i 
not  so  pure  as  either  G  hadriaticus  or  0.  Boryi.  The  purple  veins  , 
also  detract  from  its  beauty ;  but  for  all  this,  one  can  appreciate  j 
and  enjoy  the  beauty  of  this  little  sun- worshipper  as  it  opens  its  J 
delicate  and  fragile-looking  flowers  to  the  autumn  sun.  J 
Lika  C,  Scharojani  and  C.  zonatus,  C.  vallicola  is  one  of  the  ^ 
three  species  with  the  distinct  features  of  glabrous  leaves,  with  the 
broad  keel  nearly  equalling  the  width  of  the  blade.  Maw  speaks  ' 
of  two  varieties,  but  I  know  nothing  of  these  except  from  reading 
about  them,  and  have  not  the  good  fortune  to  po-ssess  them,  or  even 
to  know  where  they  are  obtainable.  .Mr.  J.  G.  Baker  only  names  i 
one  —  Suwarrovianua  —  the  other,  distinguished  by  Mr.  Maw, 
“having  shorter  segments  than  those  of  the  type,  and  uniformly 
suffused  with  purple  feathered  veins.”  Mr,  Baker  includes 
C.  vallicola  in  the  section  of  Odontostigma,  and  Mr.  Maw  in  the 
Division  Involucrati  and  Section  Fibro-membranacei. 
Another  very  beautiful  Crocus  which  I  have  flowered  this  year 
for  the  first  time  ia  C.  speciosus  Aitchisoni.  There  is  a  richness  of 
colour  about  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the  typical  C.  speciosus  that 
makes  one  think  any  of  its  varieties  should  equal  it  in  depth  of 
colouring.  Thus  when  Aitchison  s  variety  began  to  open  (or  rather 
struggled  to  open  in  unpropitious  weather),  I  was  greatly  dis¬ 
appointed  to  find  that  it  was  much  paler,  and  I  felt  at  a  loss  to 
discover  why  it  had  been  so  much- eulogised.  One  day,  however, 
the  sun  shone  more  brightly  than  usual,  and  Aitchinon’s  Crocus 
opened  out  almost  perfectly  flat,  and  displayed  to  perfection  its  size 
and  colouring. 
It  was  exactly  5  inches  in  diameter,  and  with  the  sunlight  full 
upon  it  the  blooms  looked  much  brighter,  and  a«sumed  a  delicacy  of 
tinting  which  compelled  admiration.  I  regret  that  my  infoimation 
regarding  it  is  so  meagre.  It  comes  from  Afghanistan,  and  one 
would  snppose  from  its  name,  bad  been  introduced  by  Sargeon- 
General  Aitchison,  who  has  done  ao  macb  to  introduce  to  our 
knowledge  many  plants  from  these  wild  regions.  I  think  Herr  Max 
Leicbtiin  first  put  this  Crocus  into  commerce.  Although  lighter  in 
colour  than  the  type,  and  less  attractive  in  some  ways,  this  variety 
is,  likely  to  be  welcome  in  many  gardens  where  its  large  flowers 
can  receive  s^ime  shelter  from  boisterous  winds  and  heavy  rains. 
The  Japan  Anemones  are  among  the  most  admired  of  our  late 
autumn  flowers,  and  we  would  miss  them  sadly  were  they  banished 
from  our  gardens.  Fortune  in  his  “Wanderings  in  China”  tells 
us  that  when  he  first  found  Anemone  japonioa  “it  was  in  full 
flower  amongst  the  graves  of  the  natives  which  are  round  the 
ramparts  of  Shanghae  ;  it  blooms  in  November,  when  other  flowers 
have  gone  by,  and  is  a  most  appropriate  ornament  to  the  last 
resting  places  of  the  dead.”  Althoogh  it  blooms  earlier  with  us,  it 
comes,  as  it  were,  to  remind  us  of  the  death  of  the  flowers,  and  to 
give  us  some  recompense  for  the  loss  of  so  many  blossoms.  We 
can  thus  appreciate  this  Anemone,  although  it  seems  so  unlike  the 
“fair  and  frail”  Anemone  of  spring  the  poets  have  loved  and 
praised. 
Admiring  it  thus  we  gladly  welcome  new  varietieti,  hoping  to 
find  among  these  some  which  will  be  cherished  among  our  choicest 
flowers.  Yet  these  new  varieties  have  come,  but  slowly,  although 
lately  the  pace  has  been  more  rapid.  We  have  the  newer  varieties, 
named  Lady  Ardilaun,  Lord  Ardilaxin,  and  Whirlwind  ;  and  now  ; 
from  fair  France  three  others  have  come,  which  are  worthy  of 
being  tried  in  our  gardens.  For  the  opportunity  of  seeing  these  I 
am  greatly  indebted  to  Mr.  W.  E.  Gumbleton,  whose  garden  at 
BeJgrove,  Queenstown,  seems  to  contain  so  many  new  and  rare 
plants  that  one  is  driven  to  wonder  how  he  secures  such  scarce  j 
