24 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
July  8,  1897. 
Paul  Neyron,  Pride  of  Waltham,  Ulrich  Brunner,  Victor  Verdier,  and 
Violette  Boayer. 
Noisette. — Bouquet  d’Or. 
Tea-scented  and  Hybrids, — Cheshunt  Hybrid,  Climbing  Niphetos, 
Gloire  de  Dijon,  Madame  Berard,  The  Bride,  Sunset,  and  White  Lady, 
Fifty  Eoses  for  Less  Smoky  Districts  for  Beds  or 
Borders  Out  of  Doors. 
Moss. — Baron  de  Wassesaer  and  Captain  Ingram. 
Damask.— JjA  Ville  de  Bruxelles. 
A I  ha. — Celestial. 
Oallica. — Cynthie,  Duchess  of  Buccleuch,  Ohl,  and  Surpasse  Tout. 
Rugosa. — Mme.  Georges  Bruant, 
Perpetual  Scotch. — Stan  well. 
Hybrid  Perpetual.  —  Alphonse  Soupert,  Anna  AlexiefE,  Antoine 
Mouton,  Baroness  Kothschild,  Boule  de  Neige,  Centifolia  Bosea,  Coquette 
des  Blanches,  Dr.  Andry,  Duke  of  Edinburgh,  Gabriel  Tournier,  Garden 
Favourite,  G6n4ral  Jacqueminot,  Gloire  de  Margottin,  Glory  of  Waltham, 
Hippolyte  Jamain,  Jean  Cherpin,  La  Duchesse  de  Morny,  La  France 
de  ’89,  Lord  Bacon,  Mme.  Isaac  Pereire,  Magna  Charta,  Mrs.  John 
Laing,  Paul  Neyron,  Prince  Arthur,  Princess  Louise  Victoria,  and 
Prosper  Laugier. 
Bourbon. — Mme.  Baron  Veillard  and  Mme.  Desprez,  Robusta,  Sir 
J.  Paxton,  and  Souvenir  de  Malmaison. 
Noisette. — Aim4e  Vibert,  C41ine  Forestier,  Rive  d’Or,  and  Wm.  Allen 
Richardson. 
Tea-scented  and  Hybrids. — Gloire  de  Dijon,  Grace  Darling,  Pink 
Rover,  Reine  Marie  Henriette,  and  Waltham  Climber, 
Thus  far  of  sorts  :  we  have  still  a  few  words  to  say  with  regard  to 
the  selection  of  plants.  Above  all  things  avoid  plants  that  have  been 
made  tender  by  the  employment  of  excessive  heat.  In  May  of  this  year 
we  were  in  a  house  of  young  Eoses  where  the  thermometer  stood  at  96° 
in  the  shade  at  half-past  six  o’clock  in  the  evening.  The  grower  very 
truly  said  “  that  was  the  way  to  make  them  grow.”  But  is  it  the  way 
to  produce  plants  that  will  flourish  in  the  future  under  the  ordinary 
conditions  of  plant  life  ?  We  think  not.  What  sort  of  men  and  women 
should  we  expect  our  children  to  become  if  in  their  infancy  they  were 
coddled  in  this  manner  ?  Again,  we  have  heard  of  plants  from  the  north 
of  Britain  recommended  on  the  ground  that  “  they  are  hardier  than 
those  brought  up  in  the  south.”  This  is  a  fallacy.  The  ripening  of  the 
wood  is,  as  all  experienced  persons  know,  the  true  test  of  hardiness,  and 
the  shoots  of  Roses  are  not  likely  to  ripen  better  in  the  north  than  in 
the  south.  Once  more,  plants  that  are  overfed  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
large  and  fat  flowers  for  exhibition,  and  plants  that  are  underfed  through 
indolence  or  greed  of  gain,  are  equally  objectionable.  Everywhere,  and 
always,  but  in  town  gardening  especially,  the  purchaser  should  look  for 
moderate  well-ripened  wood  when  purchasing  his  Roses  ;  he  would  do 
so  if  about  to  purchase  Grape  Vines  or  Peach  trees,  and  this  state  of  the 
wood  is  as  important  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other. — Wm.  Paul, 
Pauls'  Nurseries,  Waltham  Cross,  Herts. 
RYECROFT  BEAUTIES. 
The  beauties  of  Ryecroft  are  very  numerous,  and  extremely  varied 
both  in  character  and  in  their  time  of  reigning.  In  the  autumn  the 
visitor  to  Ryecroft  Nursery  would  go  to  see  the  Chrysanthemums,  and 
be  BO  charmed  with  them  that  he  would  have  eyes  for  nothing  else. 
On  another  occasion  he  might  go  to  be  dazzled  by  the  glorious  beauty  of 
the  decorative  Pelargoniums,  or  the  more  fiery  Zonal,  the  softer  hued 
Ivy-leaf,  the  graceful  Fuchsia,  the  charming  tuberous  Begonia,  or  the 
varied  Petunia.  In  all  of  these  lie  the  beauties  of  feyecroft,  and  the 
visitor  who  goes  just  now  will  come  in  for  a  fair  share  of  them,  and 
acknowledge,  as  the  writer  recently  did,  that  the  time  devoted  to 
Mr.  H.  J.  Jones’  Nursery  at  Hither  Green,  Lewisham,  had  been  well 
spent  from  an  educational  as  well  as  a  social  point  of  view.  Besides  the 
hearty  Mr.  H.  J.  Mrs.  H.  J.  was  met,  and  if  her  greeting  were  not  so 
boisterous  as  that  of  her  husband  it  was  none  the  less  sincere,  especially 
as  it  was  followed  by  an  invitation  to  an  excellent  tea,  in  which  home¬ 
made  Tomato  jam  and  Tomato  ketchup,  with  home-grown  Cucumbers, 
figured  conspicuously. 
But  with  our  French  cousins  let  us  say  revenons  a  nos  moutons,  which 
being  literally  translated  means  “  let  us  return  to  our  sheep  ” — that  is 
to  say  to  our  flowers.  We  may  first  look  in  at  the  Begonias,  which,  like 
everything  else  here,  are  grown  by  the  thousand  in  long  span-roofed 
houses.  Structure  after  structure  is  absolutely  filled  with  plants,  while 
in  frames  thpe  are  more  in  boxes,  besides  several  rods  of  ground 
occupied  with  plants,  the  quality  of  which  as  open-air  flowers  it  is 
desired  to  test.  It  will  be  remembered  by  many  readers  of  these  notes 
that  this  grower  staged  a  group  of  Begonias  at  the^emple  Show,  so  that 
they  will  know  to  what  a  state  of  excellence  the  plants  are  brought ; 
but  well  as  they  looked  under  canvas  they  certainly  show  better  at 
home,  and  produce  a  really  superb  display.  There  one  can  see  at  a 
glance  the  characteristic  growth  of  each  variety,  a  thing  that  it  is  practi¬ 
cally  impossible  to  do  at  any  flower  show,  and  all  gardeners  recognise 
the  importance  of  knowing  something  of  every  plant  they  are  about  to 
grow. 
Though  one  plant  will  be  tall  and  another  dwarf,  there  is  one  thing 
in  which  they  are  all  identical,  and  that  is  their  health.  Every  one  has 
its  handsome  leafage  in  the  best  possible  condition,  and  tells  plainly  how 
well  their  cultivation  is  understood.  Amongst  all  the  thousands  a  weak 
plant  was  not  to  be  seen.  There  were  single  varieties  and  double  ones, 
named  and  unnamed,  from  the  small  one  to  the  large,  and  representing^ 
all  colours  (except  blue)  from  pure  white  to  the  deepest  and  most 
velvety  crimson.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the  collection  is  one  of  the  finest 
the  writer  has  seen,  and  it  is  so  good  that  everyone  who  can  do  so  should 
make  a  journey  to  see  it.  It  is  not  proposed  to  mention  any  names, 
either  of  single  or  double,  for  the  simple  reason  that  where  all  are  of 
excellent  quality  the  task  of  making  a  snoall  selection  is  much  too 
diflicult,  and  Begonias  are  essentially  flowers  which  growers  should 
select  for  themselves,  so  as  to  insure  getting  the  colours  and  shapes  that 
they  most  admire. 
From  the  brilliancy  of  the  Begonia  we  turned  to  the  softness  of  the 
Petunia.  Of  these  the  number  of  plants  grown  is  very  large,  though  it 
does  not,  of  course,  assume  such  proportions  as  the  Begonias,  and  the 
range  of  colour  is  exceptionally  wide,  at  any  rate  amongst  the  doubles 
which  were  seen.  The  plants,  as  a  rule,  were  not  of  great  size,  but  they 
produced  flowers  of  exceptional  beauty  of  form,  substance,  and  colour. 
As  Mr.  Jones  is  making  a  speciality  of  them,  we  may  hope  to  see  some 
novelties  of  merit  from  this  source  in  future  years.  Then  there  are  the 
Fuchsias,  of  which  a  selection  of  upwards  of  three  dozen  named  varieties, 
comprising  both  single  and  double,  is  catalogued.  In  addition  to  these 
standard  varieties,  as  they  may  well  be  termed,  new  ones  from  all 
available  sources  are  constantly  being  tried,  and  amongst  those  that 
were  in  flower  when  this  visit  was  made  were  several  that  gave  promise 
of  considerable  merit,  either  in  size  or  colour  of  the  flowers.  These 
plants  are  deservedly  becoming  more  and  more  popular  for  flower 
gardening  in  the  summer,  and  Mr.  Jones  wisely  pays  special  attention 
to  their  adaptability  for  this  purpose. 
The  beauty  and  quality  of  the  Ivy-leaved  Pelargoniums  at  Ryecroft 
has  been  referred  to  in  the  Journal  by  other  writers  in  previous  years,  but 
they  deserve  another  word  or  two  now.  The  chief  points  in  the  collec¬ 
tions  are  the  size  of  the  individnal  flowers,  large  numbers  of  blooms  to 
a  truss,  and  the  distinctness  of  the  colours .  In  Ryecroft  Surprise  with 
its  immense  blooms  we  have  one  of  the  finest  varieties  in  cultivation, 
the  deep  salmon  pink  hue  of  its  flowers  making  it  singularly  pleasing. 
Superb  is  the  new  form  known  by  the  name  of  Achievement,  which 
is  the  result  of  a  cross  between  Souvenir  de  Charles  Turner  and  a  pure 
White  Zonal,  partaking  of  the  characteristics  of  both.  The  short, 
sturdy  growth  is  that  of  a  Zonal,  while  the  leafage  resembles  the  Ivy- 
leaf,  as  do  the  handsome  trusses  of  soft  salmon  pink  flowers.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  decided  acquisitions  that  have  been  placed  before  the  horti¬ 
cultural  world  of  late.  Others  there  are  of  striking  beauty,  and  of  the 
first  merit,  but  the  two  mentioned  must  suffice  for  the  time  being,  as  to 
do  justice  to  the  collection  would  mean  the  writing  of  a  special  article, 
and  the  description  of  two  or  three  dozen  varieties.  Besides  those  in 
commerce  there  are  new  ones  under  trial,  but  only  one  or  two  promise 
to  be  up  to  the  standard  of  excellence  adopted  by  Mr.  Jones. 
Turning  now  to  the  Show,  Fancy,  and  Decorative  Pelargoniums,  we 
find  the  most  glorious  display.  The  plants  that  have  been  named 
previously  were  all  beautiful,  but  none  of  them  approached  the  glorious 
spectacle  presented  by  these  in  a  large  span-roofed  house.  The  broad 
centre  stage  and  the  side  and  end  stages  were  absolutely  full  of  plants 
of  all  the  best  varieties  in  cultivation,  and  as  all  of  them  were  carrying 
several  trusses  of  flowers  of  white,  pink,  rose,  scarlet,  and  crimson 
colours,  with  the  intermediate  shades,  the  effect  can  be  imagined. 
There  were  old  forms  and  new,  small  plants  and  large,  dwarf  and  tall, 
light  and  dark,  all  placed  carefully  in  the  position  where  their  best 
feature  would  be  brought  into  the  greatest  prominence.  Thus  no 
two  similar  colours  were  brought  together,  but  were  so  chosen  that 
each  assisted  materially  in  enhancing  the  charms  of  its  neighbour. 
Much  had  been  heard  of  the  Ryecroft  Pelargoniums,  but  no  idea  had 
been  formed  of  the  magnitude  and  the  quality  of  the  collection,  which 
came  as  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  several  Ryecroft  surprises  to  the 
writer  of  these  brief  notes,  who  had  previously  only  visited  Ryecroft 
once,  and  that  during  the  reign  of  the  autumn  queen. 
To  speak  of  the  varieties  is  a  matter  with  which  it  is  not  easy  to  deal, 
as  the  average  quality  is  so  excellent.  Endeavour  will,  however,  be 
made  to  mention  half  a  dozen  only,  as  being  amongst  the  cream  of  the 
whole,  though  a  personal  inspection  when  buying  is  likely  to  prove 
much  more  satisfactory  than  a  selection  made  by  another.  First  of  all 
must  be  placed  Eucharis,  which  everyone  is  sure  to  admire.  The  bloom 
is  large,  pure  white  in  colour,  and  excellent  for  use  in  a  cut  state.  Mr. 
H.  J.  Jones  is  the  most  profuse  flowering  variety  in  the  whole  collection, 
of  which  the  colour  is  bright  rosy  red  with  a  crimson  blotch  on  the 
upper  petal,  while  the  blush  white  of  Mrs,  H.  J.  Jones  makes,  as  it  should 
do,  an  excellent  companion.  Mrs.  Gordon,  a  lovely  delicate  blush,  is 
not  yet  in  commerce,  but  is  certain  of  popularity.  Mrs.  W.  Wright  is 
superb.  The  colour  in  the  early  stages  is  soft  rosy  blush,  passing  to 
pale  blush  with  age,  while  Victoria  Regina,  a  pure  white,  will  hold  its 
own  for  some  time  to  come.  The  many  others  of  equal  merit  cannot 
now  be  named  for  the  simple  reason  that  all  are  excellent,  and  one 
cannot  therefore  choose. 
It  is  now  time  to  draw  these  notes  to  a  close,  though  mention  has  not 
been  made  of  all  the  beauties  of  Ryecroft.  Some  day  in  the  future 
another  invitation  may  be  forthcoming,  which  will,  unless  something 
very  extraordinary  occur,  be  promptly  accepted,  for  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jones  is  not  likely  soon  to  be  forgotten  by — Stranuer, 
