April  16,  1903.  . JOURNAL  OF  -  HORTICULTURE 
The  Fernery:  Gymnogrammas. 
The  Gold  and  Silver  Ferns,  as  these  are  popularly  called, 
are  grown  with  less  trouble  than  some  other  exotic  genera.  A 
number  of  the  more  distinctive  kinds,  like  pulchella,  calome- 
lanos  varieties,  argentea,  schizophylla  gloriosa,  and  G.  s,  g. 
superba,  furnish  good  commercial  subjects,  not  for  the  coster’s 
barrow,  of  course,  but  to  supply  the  nursery  firms’  demand, 
many  of  these  not  growing  their  own,  but  buying  through  a 
market  grower  who  is  a  specialist. 
Some  years  ago  Mr.  H.  B.  May,  of  Edmonton,  used  to  exhibit 
groups  of  the  Gymnogrammas  at  the  Royal  Horticultural 
Society’s  Drill  Hall  meetings;  but  ho  has  not  done  so  recently. 
Messrs.,  Hill  and  Son,  of  Edmonton,  have,  however,  come  to  the 
front,  and  from  time  to  time  have  staged  beautiful  collections. 
Notwitlistanding  the  statements  made  by  Mr.  C.  T.  Druery 
in  the  “  Book  of  British  Ferns,”  that  “  with  our  British  Ferns 
not  only  have  we  hundreds  of  lovely  and  diverse  forms 
but  in  no  other  part  of  the  world  has  a  tithe  of  such  diversity 
beeiT  found  to  exist,  even  in  those  places  which  are  infinitely 
better  endowed  with  raw  material  than  we  are  ” — notwithstand¬ 
ing  these  facts  about  the  British  Ferns,  we  still  find  the  leading 
exotic  genera  cultivated,  and  at  considerable  expense,  in  pre¬ 
ference  to  our  own  natives. 
Gymnogrammas  enjoy  a  light  porous  soil,  say  one-third  of 
good  loam,  peat,  and  leaf  soil,  and  a  liberal  adclition  of  silver 
sand ;  or  any  coarse  sand  will  answer.  The  loam  should  be 
turfy,  and  older  plants  may  have  more  of  this  than  stipulated 
above. 
Watering  must  be  attended  to  with  very  great  care.  The 
plants  soon  wither  if  dry  at  the  roots,  and  they  are  difficult  to 
bring  round  again ;  and  though  they  like  a  moist,  warm  soil  and 
atmosphere,  guard  against  extremes.  The  stages  beneath  the 
plants  should  hold  moisture,  but  the  latter  must  not  be  syringed. 
They  like  a  moderate  amount  of  light. 
Besides  the  species  already  named,  the  following  are  good  : 
pulchella,  calomelanos  chrysophylla,  C.  Alston!,  schizophylla 
glauca,  calomelanos  Parsonsi,  peruviana  argyrophylla,  p.  Mayi, 
decomposita,  japonica,  Pearcei,  sulphurea,  and  tartarea.  We 
are  indebted  for  the  illustration  to  Mr.  Ed.  Owen  Greening, 
who  edited  “  One  and  All  Gardening.” 
Decorative  Subjects. 
Continuing  from  p.  265,  one  of  the  prettiest  table  decorations  I 
have  seen  was  one  that  gained  first  i^rize  at  Parkstone  Chrysan¬ 
themum  Show  a  year  or  two  ago,  and  it  consisted  chiefly  of 
Gypsophila,  Ampelopsis,  and  other  autumn-tinted  foliage.  The 
Gypsophila,  used  was  dead,  but  had  evidently  been  properly 
dried,  and  still  retained  its  lightness.  It  can  easily  be  raised 
from  seed,  but  is  very  cheap,  and  a  few  plants  purchased  from  a 
nurseryman  will  bear  abundantly  the  first  year  after  planting. 
TJialictrum  adiantifoliuin  with  Maideaihair-like  foliage  is  another 
little  plant  seldom  seen,  yet  when  established  one  finds  it  very 
useful. 
Useful  as  they  are  there  are  few  gardeners  who  devote  any 
time  to  the  cultivation  of  Ornamental  Grasses,  a  class  of  plants 
uneciualled  for  cutting  purposes,  giving  to  bunches  of  flowers 
lightness  that  adds  to  their  beauty.  The  Animated  Oat,  xivena 
sterilis,  with  drooping  heads  on  long,  slender  stems,  is  easily 
cultivated.  Briza  maxima  is  a  very  great  favourite  of  mine,  and 
anyone  who  tries  a  few  clumps  of  it  in  some  unused  or  out-of-the 
way  spot  will  always  cultivate  it  afterwards. 
As  I  write,  a  memory  comes  to  me  of  a  pleasing  feature  in 
some  decorations  I  once  saw  that  impressed  me  much.  It  was  a 
mass  of  Raspail  Improved  Pelargoniums  into'  which  was  stuck 
spikes  of  Briza  maxima,  and  the  effect  of  those  glittering  greenish- 
yellow  heads  dancing  over  their  bed  of  glowing  scarlet  was  very 
striking.  Briza  gracilis  is  also  very  pretty.  Lagurus  ovatus 
(Hare’s-tail  Grass)  is  very  useful,  and  its  soft  downy  tufts  are 
very  pretty. 
The  foregoing  are  annuals,  and  may  be  sown  outdoors  in  May, 
or  they  may  be  sown  earlier  in  heat^  and  transplanted  outdoors 
in  May.  Of  perennial  kinds  there  is  the  well  known  Phalaris 
(Ribbon  Grass),  having  handsome  silvery  variegated  leaves.  It 
may  be  forced  very  well  for  greenhouse  decoration.  Stipa 
pennata  (Feather  Grass)  is  excellent  for  ornamental  work,  very 
graceful,  and  makes  a  handsome  clunip.  In  the  autumn  when 
flowers  are  getting  scarce  and  foliage  is  more  in  demand  one  often 
sees  choice  arrangements  of  tinted  foliage.  The  Ampelopsis  is 
verv  popular,  and  where  it  grows  over  a  fence  or  hanging  from 
a  chimney  stack,  one  can  get  long  trails  of  it,  so  useful  for  many 
purposes. 
Among  trees  and  shrubs  one  can  obtain  a  great  variety  of 
foliage  in  almost  evei-y  shade  of  colour,  and  what  is  more  graceful 
than  the  leaves  or  sprays  of  leaves  of  some  of  our  common  trees? 
Beech  and  Birch  of  various  sorts,  Ailantus,  Sumach,  Poplars, 
AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  3B3 
Ac.,  produce  handsome  and  graceful  foliage.  Sprays  of  Berberis 
aquifolium,  Ivies,  Laurels,  and  other  evergreens  are  always  useful 
in  winter  for  backing  up  floral  designs.  A  class  I  have  not  men¬ 
tioned  is  the  Fern  (it  would  require  a  column  or  two),  and  there 
is  great  variety  and  none  more  useful  for  decorative  purposes. — ■ 
J.  W.  J.,  Oswestry. 
Gadding  and  Gathering. 
“Here  awa’,  There  awa’.” 
Few  of  us  can  grow  to  a  highly  successful  issue  that  delight¬ 
fully  odorous  little  bushy  shrub,  the  Daphne  indica  rubra. 
Messrs.  C’utbush  and  Son  have  a  whole  house  filled  with  mast 
excellent  examples,  and  it  lasts  such  a  long  time  in  flower  that 
every  conservatory  would  be  benefited  by  having  one  or  more 
well-flowered  pieces  on  the  stages.  Then  there  is  Eurya  lati- 
folia,  a  useful  and  very  hardy  decorative  subject  for  pot 
culture.  By  hardy  I  mean  that,  like  the  ubiquitous  Aspidistra, 
it  seems  to  live  and  thrive  almost  under  any  conditions,  though 
A  weIl=grown  Qymnogramma. 
of  course  responding  to  cultural  care.  In  these  Highgate 
nurseries  the  stock  of  forced  shrubs,  roots,  and  bulbs  is  of  a 
very  large  and  representative  character. 
Messrs.  W.  Cutbush  &  Son  of  Highgate. 
The  Highgate  nurseries  are  some  acres  in  extent.  They  are 
the  headquarters  of  the  firm,  but  the  branch  nurseries  at 
Finchley,  and  at  Barnet  in  Herts,  are  each  extensive.  IThe 
original  nursery  is  beautifully  placed,  standing  high,  and  sloping 
to  the  sun.  The  houses  are  numerous,  and  all  on  the  north¬ 
west  side  of  the  ground.  These  notes  can  only  describe  one  or 
two  of  the  many  subjects  here  grown,  and  another  of  these  is 
the  pretty  little  Saxifraga  sarmentosa  variegata  in  small  pots. 
Tlie  rosy-coloured  leaves  flushing  the  white  and  the  green,  and 
their  round  shape  and  hairiness,  with  the  crimson  leafstalks, 
make  this  a  greenhouse  plant  admired  by  all ;  and  for  hanging 
bowls  or  basins  the  variegated  “  Aaron’s-beard  ”  is  perfectly 
adapted.  The  firm  had  also^  a  wonderfully  fine  stock  of  Begonia 
inoarnata,  a  conimoii  enough  stove  plant,  to  be  sure,  but  one 
seldom  seen  in  such  perfect  form  as  here. 
Their  examples  of  the  metallic  purple  B.  Gloire  de  Sceaux 
were  also  moclels  of  A1  culture,  and  they  bore  handsome 
trusses  of  deep  rose  carmine  flowers.  The  Coleus  thyrsoideus  in 
small  pots  were  very  shapely  and  sturdy,  wliile  the  collections 
of  Codiseums  (Crotons),  Cordylines,  Asparaguses,  Aralias,  Arau¬ 
carias,  Azalea  indica,  Pernettyas,  Ericas,  and  Euonymuses  were 
up  to  the  highest  standard  of  excellence.  The  Carnations,  for 
which  Messrs.  Cutbush  are  famed,  are  not  grown  here,  but  at 
Barnet.  The  Callas,  or  Riehardias,  were,  however,  being 
started,  and  the  stock  is  a  good  one. 
And  lastly  one  must  not  omit  a  reference  to  a  fine  batch  of 
Humea  elegans,  already  potted  into  6in  pots,  and  giving  fra¬ 
grance  to  the  air  through  their  great  hairy  leaves.  These  will 
form  specimen  plants  for  exhibition  groups,  or  for  sub-tropical 
bedding.  The  new  “Coronation”  Marguerite  was  also  excel¬ 
lently  shown.  .  11,-.. 
In  the  open  ground  were  Ivies  of  all  sorts,  standard  Currants 
and  Gooseberries,  and  Bays;  and  the  collection  of  Box  and  Yew 
trees  cut  into  fantastical  designs  is  well-known  for  its  variety 
and  topiary  merit.  They  are  well  associated — Cutbush  s  cut 
bushes ! — MAndering  Willie. 
