August  2G,  1897. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
197 
SExiSONABLE  HINTS  ON  FLOUISTS’  FLOWERS. 
As  the  summer  draws  towards  its  close,  and  the  shortening  days 
tell  us  that  autumn  is  upon  us,  there  are  many  things  which  call  for  the 
gardener’s  thought  and  care,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  special  portion 
of  horticulture  to  \vhich  he  directs  his  attention.  Some  are  now  thinking 
about  bulbs — what  blanks  have  been  made,  and  what  bulbs  will  be  ‘ 
required  to  make  up  the  deficiency  ;  others  are  bent  upon  propagating, 
and  are  cutting  their  “  Geraniums  ”  and  other  plants,  so  as  to  have  them  | 
ready  for  the  ensuing  spring ;  but  perhaps  no  one  is  more  deeply  ' 
interested  than  the  grower  of  what  are  popularly  known  as  florists’  j 
flowers,  nor  does  it  at  all  follow  that  the  directions  for  one  season  are  j 
applicable  to  another.  The  weather  changes  so  much  in  our  fickle  j 
climate,  that  the  conditions  of  the  plants  and  the  operations  necessary  ' 
for  keeping  them  in  good  health  vary  from  year  to  year. 
We  have  no  doubt  had  a  very  strange  season,  the  cold  drying  winds 
of  May  and  the  droughty  time  which  we  have  experienced  have  told  upon 
some  plants,  but  as  the  flowers  of  which  I  write  are  mostly  grown  under 
protection  many  of  these  adverse  circumstances  can  be  guarded  against ;  1 
whence  I  am  carcfid  to  remove  it.  I  used  at  one  time  to  take  it  away 
from  the  fleshy  roots  by  turning  the  pot  upside  down  on  the  hand  ;  but 
this  I  have  long  since  ceased  to  do,  and  I  do  not  find  that  the  plants  show 
any  sickly  appearance.  It  used  to  be  said  that  they  turned  their  heads 
oil  one  side,  as  if  they  were  .suffering ;  but  I  do  not  see  this  even  in  plants 
which  are  very  full  of  it.  I  have,  therefore,  of  late  contented  myself 
with  getting  as  free  of  it  as  I  can  at  the  potting  time,  and  not  troubling 
myself  afterwards. 
The  Auricula  in  one  respect  is  unique  ;  while  other  florists’  flowers 
increase  their  numbers  of  varieties  yearly,  it  is  only  now  and  then  that 
an  Auricula  comes  into  commerce  of  sufficient  merit  to  replace  the  older 
kinds,  and  so  if  one  is  asked,  “  What  variety  shall  I  add  to  my  collection?” 
it  is  very  difficult  to  name  any.  Thus  if  we  take  green-edged,  perhaps  the 
following  may  be  regarded  the  best  grown,  bearing  in  mind  that  it  is  always 
a  very  limited  class  : — Trince  of  Greens,  Kev.  F.  D.  Horner,  and  Colonel 
Taylor,  to  which  perhaps  maybe  added  Abbe  Lizst,  raised  by  Mr.  James 
Douglas,  although  this  is  at  present  expensive.  Monarch  I  thought  would 
have  taken  a  leading  position,  but  it  has  deteriorated  since  it  was  exhibited 
as  a  seedling.  Two  of  these  are  poor  growers.  Prince  of  Greens  and  Colonel 
Fig.  27.— .Mr.  J.  CYLTIKH’S  GHOUP  OF  PLANTS.  (See  page  188.) 
the  plants  can  be  protected  from  rough  winds  and  drenching  rains,  and 
without  being  coddled  can  be  preserved  from  evil  influences.  As  in  duty 
bound,  whether  as  regards  alphabetical  order  or  the  charms  it  exercises 
over  those  who  grow  it,  I  take  first 
The  Auricula. 
I  think,  upon  the  whole,  the  summer  has  been  favourable  for  these 
plants  ;  it  is  true  we  have  had  some  hot  days,  but  the  hot  weather  has 
not  been  continuous,  and  consecpiently  I  think  the  plants,  at  least  as  far 
as  my  own  are  concerned,  look  very  well,  are  free  from  aphis,  and  few  of 
them  have  peidshed  during  the  summer,  as  they  often  do.  It  will  be 
necessai’y  soon  to  see  that  they  are  placed  in  their  winter  quarters  ; 
some  have  houses,  other  frames,  and  others  pits  in  which  to  keep  them. 
Wherever  they  are  placed  care  must  be  taken  that  the  lights  are  sound 
and  free  from  drip.  The  Auricula  will  stand  a  good  deal  even  of  frost, 
provided  the  soil  is  dry,  and  nothing  is  so  injurious  to  them  as  a  drip, 
and,  of  course,  if  frost  enters  the  place  where  they  are  housed  it  lays  liokl 
much  sooner  of  a  sodden  soil. 
The  plants  ought  now  to  be  carefully  looked  over,  all  dead  foliage 
removed,  and  the  plants  brushed  with  a  camel’s-hair  pencil  if  there 
be  any  signs  of  aphis  ;  but  when  they  are  housed  in  their  winter 
(luarters  it  would  be  well  to  give  them  fumigations,  so  as  to  kill  any 
that  might  be  left.  I  do  not  think  we  need  be  so  much  afraid  of  the 
woolly  aphis,  which  gave  us  such  a  scare  a  few  years  ago  ;  in  fact,  I 
take  little  notice  of  it  now,  except  it  be  round  the  collar  of  the  plant. 
Taylor,  the  most  useful  of  the  section  being  undoubtedly  Rev.  F.  D. 
Iloimer.  When  we  come  to  grey-edges  there  is  a  greater  choice,  and 
although  George  Lightbody  was  raised  many  years  ago  by  Mr.  Ileadly 
of  Cambridge,  there  is  not  one  variety  raised  since  which  can  comparo 
with  it.  Richard  Headly,  Lancashire’s  Hero,  George  Rudd,  Conserva¬ 
tive,  and  Traill’s  Beauty  (sometimes),  are  all  good  and  useful  f  owers. 
Then  in  white  edges  we  have  Acme,  Heep’s  Smiling  Beauty,  Mrs. 
Dodwell,  and  John  Simonite,  the  last  scarce  and  difficult  to  grow.  Selfs. 
— A  more  prolific  class  than  any  other,  and  if  seed  be  sown  a  gi’eater 
number  of  seedlings  may  be  seifs,  although  the  seed  may  have  been  saved 
from  edged  flowers,  yet  after  all  very  few  fibst-rate  kinds  have  been 
added  of  late  years  ;  Heroine,  Mrs.  Potts,  Black  Bess,  and  Sapphire 
being,  however,  all  first-rate  varieties.  Of  the  older  ones  Lord  of  Lome, 
C.  J.  Perry,  Mrs.  Douglas,  and  Mrs.  Sturrock  are  serviceable  both  for 
exhibition  and  stage. 
This  will  now  be  a  good  |timo  to  add  to  the  collection  any  varieties 
that  may  be  desired,  as  they  need  not  bo  sent  in  pots,  but  if  turned  out 
and  put  into  paper  envelopes  without  disturbing  the  soil  and  potted  on 
arrival,  will  have  time  to  recover  themselves  before  the  winter  begins.  I 
have  said  nothing  about  the  Alpine  section  because  I  do  not  grow  them. 
There  are  some  very  handsome  flowers  amongst  them,  but  somehow  or 
other  I  never  took  to  them,  and  “  I  am  too  old  a  dog  to  learn  new  tricks.” 
And  so  with  regard  to  Fancies,  I  was  very  much  taken  with  some  that  I 
saw  exhibited  at  the  Drill  Hall  last  spring,  and  almost  decided  to  have 
some,  but  on  thinking  it  over  my  conservative  instincts  were  too  strong. 
