124 
August  8',  190T. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER '• 
CARDEhL  GLEANINGS 
Gooseberry  Cobham  Seedling.— A  variety  with  exceedingly 
large  fiuit,  oval,  slightly  hairy,  greenish-yellow  in  colour,  and  con¬ 
spicuously  veined  ;  flavour  rich  and  tasty ;  a  first-rate  dessert  Goose¬ 
berry.  It  received  an  award  of  merit  on  August  30th,  when  shown  by 
Mr.  T.  R.  Cuckney,  Cobham  Hall,  Gravesend.  See  figure  on  page  138. 
lionlcera  etrusca. — Although  hardy,  better  results  are  obtained 
with  this  plant  by  growing  it  in  a  cold  greenhouse  or  corridor,  growth 
being  stronger  and  the  inflorescences  correspondingly  finer.  It  is  a 
native  of  Southern  Europe,  and  is  sometimes  seen  under  the  name  of 
gigantea,  which  name,  however,  is  but  a  synonym  of  etrusca.  In 
general  appearance  it  makes  a  strong  olimber,  growing  to  a  height  of 
20  or  25  feet  with  slightly  glaucous,  oval  leaves  and  very  large  terminal 
inflorescences  of  fragrant  jellow  flowers.  It  sucoeedsin  good  rich  loamy 
soil  and  flowers  throughout  summer  and  early  autumn.  At  Kew  a  fine 
plant  is  flowering  in  the  Himalayan  house. — K. 
Carnation  Sir  R.  Waldle-Grlffith. — This  is  truly  one  of  the 
most  distinct  and  superior  self  Carnations  we  have  seen  this  year- 
Half  a  dozen  beautiful  blooms  reached  us  a  few  days  ago  from  Messrs. 
Lairg  &  Mather,  Kelso-on-Tweed,  and  these  we  were  quite  delighted 
with.  The  stout,  smooth  petals  possess  a  satiny  surface,  and  very 
finely  sinuous  edge.  They  are  faintly  Clove-scented,  but  the  colour  is 
the  remarkable  character.  This  is  a  rich  shade  of  orange  scarlet  with 
a  suffusion  of  amber.  The  blooms  are  large,  handsomely  formed,  and 
have  a  non-splitting  calyx.  We  learn  that  it  is  quite  hardy  in  the  open 
grounds  at  Kelso,  and  is  a  variety  of  vigorous  growth  and  good  habit. 
It  was  named  with  the  cordial  consent  of  Sir  Richard  Waldie-Griffith, 
Bart.,  and  exactly  matches  his  racing  colours.  Stock  plants  are  being 
sent  out  this  autumn. 
Seasonable  Hardy  Flowers. — Amongst  the  hardy  flowers  now 
blooming,  and  of  outstanding  merit,  are  Erigeron  speciosus  superbus, 
which  grows  in  bushy  form  about  2  feet  high,  having  numerous  large 
sized  flowers  of  a  true  lavender  colour.  Helenium  autumnale  pumilum, 
with  yellow  ccmposite  blooms,  is  also  dwarf  and  very  floriferous, 
forming  a  good  subject  to  mass  in  a  bed.  Lythrum  Salicaria,  the 
common  purple  Looeestrife,  and  its  dwarfer  rosy  coloured  variety, 
bearing  the  specific  name  of  rosea,  are  two  members  worth  including. 
There  are  a  whole  regiment  of  Campanulas  both  tall  and  dwarf,  but 
none  excel  the  Chimney  Bell-flower,  C.  pyramidalis.  Catananche 
caarulea,  with  deep  and  pure  blue  flowers,  one  of  the  Compositse,  is, 
like  many  other  useful  and  beautiful  plants,  left  out  of  our  hardy  plant 
borderp,  and  varieties  of  florists’  flowers  are  substituted.  Lysimachia 
punctata  and  L.  vulgaris  are  both  much  used  for  the  decoration  of 
outlying  parts  of  kept  grounds.  In  masses  or  clumps  they  are  very 
valuable  and  showy.  L.  clethroides,  with  somewhat  downward  curving 
white-flowered  spikes,  and  growing  about  2£  feet  high,  is  also  a 
“  taking  ”  subject. 
Catalpas  at  Kew. — The  various  speoies  of  Catalpa  at  Kew  have 
this  year  flowered  with  exceptional  freedom,  the  old  specimen  near 
the  ferneries  of  bignonioides  and  the  younger  and  smaller  examples  in 
the  collection  near  the  temperate  house  having  one  and  all  been 
smothered  with  flowers.  The  genus  itself  is  interesting  in  supplying 
the  only  hardy  tree  bignoniads  for  our  gardens,  while  for  ornamental 
qualities  it  has  few  equals.  Four  species  are  in  cultivation  at  Kew, 
all  of  which  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  each  other  in  shape  of  leaf 
and  colour  of  flowers,  differences,  however,  being  noticeable  in  size  of 
leaves  and  blossoms.  C.  bignonioides,  hailing  from  the  Southern 
United  States,  is  the  best  known  species,  its  large,  handsome,  heart- 
Bhaped  leaves  and  terminal  panicles  of  large,  white,  yellow,  and  purple 
marked  flowers  making  it  very  useful  and  popular  in  gardens.  In 
addition  to  the  type  a  very  ornamental  variety  is  in  cultivation  called 
aurea;  its  principal  characteristic  is  its  handsome  golden  foliage. 
The  other  species  in  cultivation  are  Bungei,  from  China;  cordifolia 
from  Western  Kentucky  and  Tennessee ;  and  Kacmpferi,  from  Japan 
When  very  young,  Catalpas  are  inclined  to  be  a  little  tender  through 
making  long  sappy  shoots,  consequently  they  should  not  be  planted  in 
too  rich  soil. — W. 
.ti  Istromerla  aurantlaca.- — This  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  of  alt 
yellow  or  orange. coloured  .flowers  at  the  present  time,  great  olnmps  and 
masses  at  the  base  of  a  hot,  dry,  and  sunny  wall  being  most  beautiful. 
It  is  very  easily  reared  from  seeds  sown  as  soon  as  they  ripen  near 
walls,  or  in  other  positions  where  they  are  to  bloom.  Apart  from  its 
effective  and  bright  appearance  in  the  flower  garden,  its  flowers  endure 
fresh  and  fair  in  water  indbors. 
The  Pheasant’s  Tall  Grass  (Apera  arundinacea). — Nearly 
all  Grasses  are  more  or  less  elegant  in  form  and  beautiful,  but  this  is 
one  of  the  best  of  them,  and  its  graceful  tufts  are  now  bearing  its 
warm  brown  or  glistening  purple  plumes  amongst  its  slender  leaves. 
Easily  raised  from  seeds  sown  as  soon  as  they  ripen,  it  grows  freely, 
and  is  an  effective  plant  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Cut  when  about 
half  grown,  its  tail-like  plumes  dry  beautifully,  and  later  on  in  the  year 
its  leaves  take  on  a  reddish  bronzy  hue,  and  are  very  useful  in  that  state 
for  the  winter  flower-pots  and  vases. 
Statlces. — These  are  in  no  way  particularly  showy,  yet  they  are 
generally  included  in  all  collections.  At  present  we  have  in  bloom 
S.  incana  and  its  dwarfer  variety  nana.  They  produce  spreading 
cymose  heads  of  rose-lavender  flowers,  rather  inconspicuous,  of  course, 
but,  being  numerous,  they  do  furnish  a  measure  of  effect.  For  drying 
they  are  commendable.  S.  Suworowi  is  quite  distinct,  having  long 
Plantago-like  spikes  of  rose-purple  or  rose-mauve  flowers  growing  a 
foot  high.  One  of  the  tallest  (being  over  2  feet)  is  S.  Limonium,  with 
spreading  and  much-branched  cymes  of  lavender-blue  flowers 
S.  latifolia  is  known  to  all  as  being  an  attractive  and  useful  plant; 
it  is  intermediate  between  S.  Limonium  and  S.  incana.  Statice 
Heldreichi  has  white  flowers  ;  and  so  has  S.  Limonium  album,  which, 
however,  is  not  yet  fully  in  flower. — Kewknsis. 
Passlflora  racemosa. — This  is  one  of  the  most  useful  and  showy 
of  the  Passion-flowers,  and  one  whioh  is  worth  cultivating  largely.  It 
is  a  Brazilian  plant,  and  was  introduced  as  long  ago  as  1815.  Usually 
it  is  planted  in  a  tropical  house,  but  it  grows  equally  well,  and  flowers 
if  anything  better,  in  an  intermediate  temperature,  the  cooler  house 
enabling  it  to  rest  better  during  winter.  The  leaves  are  usually 
three-lobed,  and  rarely  produced  towards  the  apex  of  the  branch,  their 
place  being  taken  by  flowers.  The  flowers  are  3  to  4  inches  across, 
scarlet,  and  borne  from  March  until  the  commencement  of  winter,  the 
same  shoot  in  some  instances  continuing  to  grow  and  produce  flowers 
throughout  the  whole  of  that  time.  Its  good  flowering  qualities  have 
led  to  its  being  taken  in  hand  by  the  hybridist,  with  the  result  that 
several  good  garden  plants  have  been  obtained. — D. 
Rubus  pboenlcolaslus.  —  Although  in  favoured  places  this 
Japanese  species  is  hardy  in  the  open,  in  most  places  it  requires  the 
protection  of  a  wall  or  cold  house.  In  whichever  way  it  is  grown, 
however,  it  is  very  attractive,  whilst  its  fruit  is  very  palatable. 
Indoors,  planted  in  good  soil,  it  makes  shoots  15  to  18  feet  long  in 
a  single  season,  which  shoots,  the  following  year,  produce  large  bunches 
of  soarlet  fruit  from  their  apex,  the  fruit  being  about  as  large  as  a 
medium-sized  Raspberry,  and  rather  more  acid  in  flavour.  The  whole 
plant  is  smothered  with  viscid,  reddish  hairs,  which  give  it  an  unique 
appearance.  After  the  fruiting  season  is  over  all  old  fruiting  wood 
must  be  cut  out  to  throw  all  the  energy  into  the  following  year’s 
fruiting  wood,  and  also  to  let  in  more  light  and  air  to  thoroughly  ripen 
the  branches.  Throughout  July  and  early  August  two  large  plants  were 
smothered  with  fruit  in  the  Himalayan  house  at  Kew. 
Iilllum  Henryi. — Much  has  been  written  during  the  past  few 
weeks  in  favour  of  this  Lily,  its  hardy  constitution  and  floriferous 
nature  coming  in  for  abundance  of  praise.  Undoubtedly  it  deserves  all 
that  has  been  said  in  its  favour,  for  it  grows  well  out  of  doors,  and 
increases  rapidly  in  size,  flowering  bulbs  being  easily  raised  in  three 
years  from  scales  or  seeds.  Good,  however,  as  it  is  out  of  doors,  it 
succeeds  better  in  a  cold  house,  where  it  is  not  subjected  to  such 
extremes  of  heat  and  cold  and  moisture.  At  Kew  it  may  be  seen 
growing  both  in  and  out  of  doors,  and  in  the  former  case  remarkable 
results  are  evidenced.  The  indoor  group  is  growing  in  a  well-drained 
border  of  peat  and  loam  among  Rhododendrons,  and  the  stronger  plants 
range  from  10  to  11$  feet  in  height,  many  of  them  bearing  forty  flowers 
each,  whilst  two  exceptionally  strong  plants  are  bearing  sixty-nine  and 
sixty-five  flowers  respectively.  For  those  people  who  make  a  hobby  of 
the  genus,  a  cool  house  planted  with  Rhododendrons  and  Lilies  would 
be  a  most  interesting  place,  and  many  of  the  choicer  species  would* 
succeed  under  the  treatment  whioh  often  do  badly  out  of  doors. — W. 
