June  22,  1899. 
■JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTU RF  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
515 
find  its  way  into  the  gardens  of  all  lovers  of  hardy  herbaceous  plants 
and  roots. 
I  have  also  some  of  the  very  beautiful  Calochorti  or  Maiiposa  Lily, 
or  Butterfly  Tulip  as  it  is  variously  called.  Mine  are  of  the  Eldorado 
type,  imported  by  Messrs.  Wallace  &  Co.  They  seem  to  be  of 
a  more  robust  character  than  those  previously  received,  and  are  certainly 
very  quaint  and  beautiful.  I  find  them  perfectly  hardy,  although 
perhaps  their  beauty  is  likely  to  be  damaged  by  the  severe  weather  we 
sometimes  experience  when  they  are  in  flower.  I  have  some  plants  of 
Primula  obconica;  that  everlasting  bloomer.  I  have  never  experienced 
injurious  effects  from  handling  it,  although  I  cannot  question  the 
fact  that  it  does  irritate  the  skin  of  some  people ;  indeed  a  lady  who 
called  on  me  the  other  day,  and  who  is  a  great  lover  of  flowers,  told 
me  she  could  not  stay  in  the  room  where  there  was  a  plant  of  it. 
Whether  this  was  the  result  of  imagination  or  not  I  cannot  sav,  I  only 
record  the  fact. 
Gladioli  and  Schizanthus. 
As  a  lover  of  bulbs  I  could  not  at  this  season  of  the  year  be  with¬ 
out  some  pots  of  the  dwarf  early  blooming  Gladioli,  especially  of 
that  delightful  form  of  Colvilli  which  we  grow  under  the  name  of 
The  Bride;  these  are  now  fully  in  flower,  and  form  a  pleasing  variety. 
There  is  one  variety  of  Schizanthus  still  in  flower,  S.  retusus,  which  I 
consider  the  showie.'^t  of  them  all ;  it  is  dwarfer  in  habit,  comes 
later  into  flower,  and  is  very  brilliant.  It  appears  also  to  be  some¬ 
what  more  delicate,  for  I  get  few  plants  Irom  the  packet  of  seeds 
that  I  sow,  while  the  other  varieties  come  up  plentifully.  I  have 
about  four  dozen  plants  of  Pelargoniums,  and  amongst  them  a  few  of 
the  curious  echinatum  variety;  this,  with  its  sharp  spines,  is  always  a 
puzzle  to  visitors,  v\ho  hardly  expect  to  find  a  “Geranium"  with 
thorns.  The  flowers  are  small  but  very  pretty,  and  as  they  are  borne 
on  long  stems  they  are  very  good  for  cutting. 
Disas. 
There  are  two  or  three  plants  which  always  occupy  a  cherished 
position  in  my  small  house,  which  are  not  yet  in  flower.  Tlm.-e  are 
Disa  grandiflura,  and  this  year  Disa  Veitchi ;  the  former  I  have  grown 
off  and  on  for  flve-and-thirty  years,  sometimes  being  very  successful 
do  not  now  see  the  wonderful  plants  which  Mr.  Turner  of  Slough  and 
Mr.  Bailey  of  Shardeloes  used  to  bring  to  our  metropolitan  exhibi¬ 
tions:  they  were  marvels  of  growth  and  of  excellent  culture,  but 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  had  a  stiff  and  formal  appearance, 
and  they  had  to  be  supported  by  a  forest  of  sticks,  but  it  was  ever 
to  me  a  matter  of  wonder  how  exactly  they  were  all  timed  to  flower  at 
the  same  moment.  Six  of  these  plants  would  fill  a  large-sized 
greenhouse,  and  the  fortunate  owner  of  the  plants  might  take  his 
friends  to  see  and  admire  them,  but  not  a  bloom  dare  he  pluck  to  give 
his  friend  a  souvenir  of  his  visit. 
In  those  days,  beside  the  Show  Pelargonium,  was  a  class  called 
“  Fancies,”  specimens  of  which  we  rarely  see  nowadays ;  the  foliage  of 
the  plants  is  smaller  and  neater  than  that  of  the  Show  varieties,  and 
the  flowers  are  also  of  a  different  character;  moreover,  they  require  a 
warmer  house,  and  hence  it  is,  I  think,  they  are  not  so  popular,  and 
for  one  person  who  grows  Fancies,  twenty  would  grow  the  Show 
varieties.  I  never  attempted  their  growth  myself,  because  I  could  not 
keep  my  house  sufficiently  warm — at  least,  if  I  did  so,  it  would  be  to 
the  detriment  of  its  other  inmates.  I  confine  myself,  therefore,  to  the 
Show  and  Decorative  varieties,  and  I  think  perhaps  there  is  an  undue 
preponderance  of  the  latter.  I  have  a  strong  affection  for  the  former, 
as  they  bring  to  my  mind  many  a  pleasant  day  spent  with  the  late 
Mr.  Hoyle  of  Reading,  and  Mr.  Charles  Turner  of  Slough.  One  visit 
to  the  former  I  particularly  recollect;  he  was  one  of  the  three  who  did 
so  much  to  improve  the  Show  varieties,  the  other  two  being  Mr.  Foster 
and  the  Rev,  J.  Garth.  He  had  taken  the  trouble  to  gum  into  a  book 
petals  of  some  of  the  flowers  of  each  year,  and  it  was  most  interesting 
to  see  their  gradual  development  from  narrow  pointed  petals  to  the 
round  and  beautifully  formed  flowers  of  later  years,  evidencing  what 
the  skill  and  perseverance  of 
the  hybridise!  could  effect. 
They  could  not  keep  up  their 
popularity,  and  when  what 
were  called  by  some  the  Regal 
Pelargoniums  came  to  the 
front,  the  Show  varieties  had 
to  take  a  back  seat.  Some  of 
these  came  from  the  Continent, 
and  many  from  our  home 
raisers,  amongst  whom  were 
IMessrs.  Henderson  and  Bull. 
These  are  of  a  very  showy 
description,  and  carry  large 
trusses  of  finely  marked  and 
well  shaped  flowers. 
Liliums. 
Going  into  my  greenhouse 
now  I  do  not  find  such  a 
variety  as  in  the  earlier  filling 
of  the  house,  but  still  some¬ 
thing  worth  noticing,  and  a 
great  quantity  of  flower.  At 
the  far  end  there  are  throe 
stately  plants  of  Lilium  Har- 
risi,  now  covered  with  the 
beautiful  bell  -  shaped  pure 
white  flower.  This  curious 
freak  of  Nature  (for  one  must 
so  regard  it)  is  unsatisfactory 
in  one  point,  it  is  essentially 
an  annual — what  I  mean  is, 
that  you  cannot  place  any 
reliance  on  it  the  second  year  after  importation;  in  fact,  when  I 
have  turned  them  out  into  the  open  ground,  hoping  that  they  might 
revert  to  the  old  longiflorum  type,  they  have  mostly  perished 
altogether.  Besides  these  Lilies,  I  have  some  of  the  more  recent 
additions.  There  is  one,  however,  in  which  I  have  been  grievously 
disappointed  —  namely,  Lilium  Dal-Hansoni.  This  is  a  hybrid 
between  the  dark  Martagon  Lilium  dalmaticum  and  Lilium  Ilansoni. 
It  was  raised  by  Mr.  Powell,  of  Southboro’,  Tonbridge  Wells.  I 
obtained  a  bulb  of  it  this  year,  which  grew  well,  and  developed  a 
good  head  of  bloom  buds,  much  after  the  manner  of  Ilansoni,  but  to 
my  great  disappointment  they  never  expanded  ;  why  I  do  not  know, 
except  that  when  I  received  the  bulb  it  had  made  a  shoot  of  about 
8  inches  long,  and  jirobably  the  repotting  which  was  necessary  may 
have  given  it  a  check;  the  plant  looks  healthy,  but  alas!  it  has 
disappointed  me  this  year. 
Another  Lily  of  recent  introduction  which  we  owe  to  the 
enterpiising  firm  of  Wallace  &  Co.  of  Colchester,  is  Lilium  rubellum. 
It  is  of  somewhat  small  growth,  and  is  not  more  than  18  inches 
high  ;  it  is  of  a  beautiful  pink  or  rose  colour,  and  has  a  delicate 
perfume.  It  received  a  first-class  certificate  from  the  R.H.S.,  and 
is  perfectly  hardy,  reasonable  in  price,  and  will,  no  doubt,  ere  long. 
— LiELIA  PURPURATA  AnNIE  LOUISE. 
