December  5,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
511 
(the  Comet  or  Chrysanthemum  flowered)  in  white  or  purple 
afford  a  lovely  effect.  The  Quilled  and  Anemone  flowered  are 
anything  but  things  of  beauty.  The  Asters  are  also  useful  for 
cutting. 
Hardy  Fuchsias  furnish  bright  plants.  Old  plants  can  be 
lifted  and  stored,  or  plants  can  be  raised  from  cuttings  taken 
from  stock  plants  in  early  spring,  and  struck  in  warmth.  The 
latter  make  nice  dwarf  plants  which  flower  from  August  onwards. 
Serviceable  varieties  are  Dunrobin  Bedder,  macrostema  longi- 
flora,  macrostema  gracilis,  and  Riccartoni. 
Ivy-leafed  Zonal  Pelargoniums  are  charming  bedding  plants, 
though  the  only  varieties  used  for  bedding  in  the  North  are  Mme. 
Crousse  and  Souvenir  de  Charles  Turner ;  but  I  see  no  reason 
why  such  other  varieties  as  Jeanne  d’Arc,  Ryecroft  Surprise,  and 
Annie  Pfitzer,  should  not  be  successfully  used.  Nemesia 
strumosa  is  a  pleasing  half-hardy  annual,  and  can  be  grown  in 
large  masses  in  front  of  herbaceous  borders.  The  individual 
flowers  are  large,  the  variety  called  Suttoni  being  best  known. 
large  enough,  and  grown  cool  until  they  can  be  bedded  out, 
furnish  plants  for  a  fine  display  in  the  late  summer  months.  At 
Brancepeth  Castle,  Durham,  there  are  annually  about  800  plants 
so  grown,  and  are  planted  into  the  borders  in  the  kitchen  garden 
near  a  main  walk,  where  they  are  always  resplendent  in  the 
late  summer. 
Beds  of  Violas  in  self  colours  are  always  admired.  Saponaria 
calabrica,  when  sown  early  in  April,  is  charming  for  the  front 
of  borders,  the  small  pink  flowers  being  borne  in  great  profusion. 
Heliotropium,  more  particularly  the  deep  blue  varieties,  when 
given  generous  treatment  are  grand  bedding  plants.  One  may 
also  mention  herbaceous  Lobelias,  especially  L.  cardinalis, 
L.  '  fulgens  Queen  Victoria,  the  most  brilliant  for  bedding. 
Humea  elegans  is  a  graceful  plant,  which  is  bedded  to  the  extent 
of  100  plants  at  Lowther  Castle,  Westmoreland.  The  seed  is 
sown  in  a  cold  frame  in  June,  and  the  plants  grown  cool  all 
through.  They  are  potted  on  as  required  until  the  bedding 
time,  in  the  end  of  June.  They  must  be  most  carefully  watered, 
A  MODEL  GROUP  OF 
Zinnias  have  done  well  during  this  hot,  dry  summer,  but  they 
do  not  please  everybody,  being  rather  formal  in  character. 
French  and  African  Marigold  in  bold  clumps  are  rich  in  colour. 
The  dwarf  French  Marigold  Legion  of  Honour  has  been  most 
effective  in  large  beds.  Tropseolums  (Nasturtiums)  of  the  dwarf, 
Tom  Thumb  class,  are  wonderfully  brilliant  and  free  flowering 
when  not  planted  in  fresh  manured  soil,  as  they  are  liable  to  run 
too  much  to  leafy  growth.  ;  . 
Calceolaria  amplexicaulis  and  Salvia  patens  look  fine  when 
planted  in  close  proximity,  the  deep  blue  of  the  Salvia,  and  pale 
yellow  of  the  Calceolaria,  pleasingly  contrast.  Coreopsis  Drum- 
mondi  and  C.  tinctoria  are  also  showy,  as  are  the  German 
Scabious  when  a  good  strain  is  procured,  and  I  have  always  found 
them  admired  as  cut  flowers  in  rooms.  The  miniature  annual 
Sunflower,  from  its  free  flowering  and  dwarf  branching  habit,  is 
a  most  desirable  bedding  plant.  East  Lothian  Stocks  are  not 
so  largely  nor  so  well  grown  as  they  should  be.  When  sown  in 
July  and  wintered  in  frames  they  are  fit  to  be  planted  out  early 
in  May,  and  flower  well  throughout  the  summer;  or,  if  sown  the 
first  week  in  February,  and  potted  singly  into  3|m  pots  when 
CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
and  never  allowed  to  become  pot-bound.  Fumigating  at  regular 
intervals,  to  keep  green  fly  at  bay,  is  also  practised. — F.  Street. 
Preservation  of  Wild  Flowers. 
Perhaps  it  is  as  necessary  here  as  in  the  United  States  to 
inaugurate  a  fund  such  as  that  contributed  by  the  Misses  Stokes 
to  the  New  York  Botanic  Garden,  for  the  furtherance  of  such 
measures  and  investigations  as  would  aid  in  the  preservation  and 
protection  of  the  plants  of  the  native  flora.  the 
sum  of  3,200  dollars  has  been  given.  The  establishment 
of  this  fund  will  widen  the  usefulness  of  the  garden  in  a  very 
desirable  direction,  and  its  administration  will  doubtless  accom¬ 
plish  much  in  the  promotion  of  a  healthy  public  sentiment  m 
the  matter.  An  active  propaganda  looking  to  the  preservation 
of  the  native  flowers  is  imperative  in  our  own  land,  quite  as 
much  as  in  America.  The  ill-judged  and  misdireeted  energies 
of  certain  so-called  nature-study  movements  are  having  a  dis¬ 
tressing  effect  in  devastating  the  suburban  districts  of  their 
natural  beauties. 
