MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2240, 4 February 1897, Page 8

MISCELLANEOUS.

SOME PRETTY IRISES. Peacock Iris. — Vieusseuxia glaucopifi, sometimes known as iris pavouia, is a charming bulb for any lover of out of the common plants. It has long flue grassy foliage, from which arise slender stalks, some 6in or Bin high, which j boar flowers not unlike au iris, the Ihrfce lower petals widening till the bloom is of the trefoil | order ; the petals are dead white with a tiny : circle of true peacock blue near the centre, outI lined with darker blue. A dreamy ghostly flower, exquisitely delicats, and of a colouring as beautiful as it is uncommon. The peacock iris is said to live out of doors in warm sandy soils, but we can only speak of it in pots. It

likes a good deal of sand in its compost, and a , sunny corner in the greenhouse, and the nearer : it stands to the light the more compact it will ' be. We hare never succeeded in ripening the i bulbs so as to flower them a second year, but [ that may be our own fault. At any rate the ; bulbs are not expensive, and are well worth ! growing. Iris Alata. — This is a beautiful species, a native of the Mediterranean regions, aud bearing in autumn and early winter large blossoms of a lilac-blae, spotted witn yellow. It will thrive in any good ordinary mould in a sunny, well drained border, or on a rockery. Bulbs may be planted this month. Persian Iris. — Iris pereica is one of the very ; early plants that are so cheering while the days i are still short and the weather cold. With ' forcing it may be had in bloom in the ! second month of winter, and very moderate heat will bring it out by the following month, Three bulbs in a sin pot will tend up a few pale green leaves, and then good-sized iris blooms — white ground mottled with orange, with deep velvety purple at the tip of the falls, and pale blue and white standards, .a scheme of colour suggesting an orchid. They are not quite as lovely as iris reticulata, but Jthen they are infinitely cheaper, and make excellent table plants. After flowering, they should have plenty of sunshine, and liquid manure while the foliage is maturing, or they will not bloom a second season. They will also thrive and flower out of doors, in a sheltered place with a warm soil ; we have had them in bloom, .early in March, in a snow storm, which they did not seem to mind at all, and they are trus harbingers of spring whether grown indoors or out. — M. P. S. in Amateur Gardening. HYDHANOEA PANICULATA OKANDIPr.ORA. This is probably tbe most beautirul ot all the S hydrangeas, and, growiog freely uuder good culture, it quickly makes a good-sized plant. The flower-heacis, which are produced at the end of each shoot-, frequently attain a length of 6in to lOin. When grown in a 6in or Bin pot and liberally treated it will produce from six to a dozen of its massive spikes ; and it is a suitable plant either foe cutting or oonsetvatory decoration. ' PRIMULA OBCOKICA. This soft, lilac-flowered primrose from the wilds of China is more easily grown than the ordinary Chinese primulas wo are familiar with at this time. The p!ant does well in loamy soil mixed with a little well-rotted leaf m mid and sharp silver sand. A light position in the greenhouse and kept well watered suit it. It may be called almost perpetual-blooming, as the sturdy plant never /senma without a mass of the delicately-shaded flowers on slender stems ; they vary somewhat in shade, some deeper than others. ( THE DAPHNE. i A sweeter shrub than this does not exist — ' I mean, writes a correspondent in a Home I paper (one go thoroughly hardy and useful in all gardens) large and small alike. A bold group should be made of it in all places of sufficient size, as then the purple flowers tell, whilst their iragracco pervades the garden in late winter or early spring. This hardy daphne is known to cottagers as the mezereoD, and the first time I saw it in bloom was in a cottage garden in E»her. It was one early spring day, aud a purple covering suffused every shoob from , the wealth of fragrant blossoms, so penetrating that the air was scented many yards away from the cottage plot. This is tbe plant I want my readers to get, and now is a good time to pur- { chase. The mezereon grows only a few feet in j height, it hardy, and flowers either in winter or j in first spring days, when the purple bloom lias ! a distinct effect. The position selected for the '- shrub should be open, as sunshine is essential, and the best soil is moist loam, as in ground of r this description it lives in its native woeds of Northern Europe. LILIUM LOWT. This is a beautiful new lily discovered in Upper Burmah a few years ago by one of the collectors in the emoloy of Messrs Hugh Low i and Co , Clapton, E. As yet bulbs ot it are j expensive, but when more largely propagated i they will be cheaper, and then it will rank as j one of the finest of lilies for pot culture. The { stem of L. lowi rises to a height of about 3ft 6in, and is clothed with numerous sessile, linear I leaves,' from 3in to 4in in length ; about three | flowers are produced from the apex, and these I have lairly long peduncles. Each bloom is about 4iu long aud 3in aoross at the mouth. The . colour on the outside is white tinged with green, the apical part of each segment is white shaded with yellow on the inside, while tbe basal portion is of the same colour, bat heavily spotted with reddish-brown ; the midrib widens and I becomes more yellow towards the bate. This lilium is an elegant species, and much credit is due to the firm whose i-atne it bears for their trouble in introducing it into European gardens. GARDENING IN GERMANY. Having been very much struck with the effective bedding in some German gardens, we venture to point out its good results. For large groups the Germans excel, and a big circular or oval bed of tall, deep red cannas mixed with castor oil plants was most s«,tisfacI tory ; the castor oils were in the centre, grow- | iog treely with ona or two caunas, coming up among them ; then came a close rovr of cannas, dark red with dark foliage, and a ring of lowgrowing coleus, and another of Cineraria mwitima made a pretty finish. In another place we found dwarf cannag, orange and scarlet, planted in small round beds rather far apart, the spaces batween filled with the graceful umbrella grass (Cypcrus albernifolius), and a border of white lobelia as a finish. Round a fountain were narrow borders of the usual geraniums and lobelia, making a square, the corners filled with specimen plants sunk in their pots of thong lilies (Imanfcophyllums_, % rather small-flowered kind) and a pale pink crinum ; both plants were* floweriog freely, bub even without bloom? their bild foliage would be j very cff-ctive. Hollyhocks, again, were moitstrikingin small groups on grave. They grew only about sffc high, very double, and wore put in small groups, perhaps a clump of four to six stems, all one colour, with either coleus or Cineraria maritima round them to hide the lower part of the stems, so apt to go bs,re. One lawn had five or six of these groups, all brilliant colours, Against a background of shrubs. Bananas 6ome 3ffc high stood out above a stiff-patterned bed of begonia sempsrflorens, white, piuk, and red, divided by i dark blue lobelia ; and a splendid bed of palms was finished off by a wide border of orange-red large-flowered begonias. Some other curious bub effective beds were a mass of white foxgloves (only one flower i remaiced, the others were cut back), with • montbre'Jao planted between ; this ensuring two floweriufr sea^ou:?, and the brilliant colour I of the montbretias w*s well *hown up by the handsome foxglove leaves, and, of course, it was bordered with a white-leaved foliage plant. Another wan gc&rlet lobelia Victoria, tail, darkleaved spikes of vivid red, bordered with pale pink ivy geraniums well pegged down. PolyJ anth»,and choice roses grown about a foot high made charming borders to fountains, and bloomed very freely, and clematis jackmanui i I Degged down made a gorgeous carpet round a

number of standard rose twes.— M. P. S. irj Amateur Gardening. TULIP TREE (liniODBNDHON TULIPJFEBA). This beautiful tree, noted for the delicate texture of its leaves, and for tho delightful blending of tbe green, yellow, and pink in itH tulip-shaped flowers, does not in some districts in England bloom annually. In fact, one 'from which flowers and leaves were taken has n< b blossomed for two years. It is a large tre--, probably 60ft high, and stands in my neighbour's garden, and is, as far as I know, the only specimen of its kind iv the district. Though rare in England, the tree is a common one in the United States, the wood being much used in cabinet making. It has a peculiarity in seasoning, however — it shrink* not only very much, but in both directions ; though when once seasoned it will not warp or twist. , The leaves are borne on slender petioles, partially three-lobed, the midrib being well marked ; from this branch off well defined equidistant veins, between which is to ba seen a network of fine delicate veins, and also a mottling of lighter green extending to the circumference of the leaf. The middle lobe of the leaf appears as though cut off, and thus gives the whole a peculiar and characteristic appearance. The flowers resemble in form the tulip, hence the common name of the tree. The outer whorl of leaves consists of three green sepals, very reflixed and concave. There are six petals, and the colouring of these is most beautiful. At their bases they are pale yellow, merging .through amber to pink, from whioh they change again to mixed shades of green. - The veins of these petals are very definately marked. - The stamens are about 30 in number. The anthers are longer than the filaments, and of a bright i yellow colour, and judging by the specimen before me, split aud disperse their pollen before the pistil is ripe. They furround the pistil like a fringe. The pistil is a hard conical mais formed by the fusiou of the numerous styles ; these probably split; apart; when reaching maturity, as the seeds form in a large coneshaped clatter. The flower-bads are conical, and the inner petals are qui^e enclosed at first; by tbe three massive green sepals. 1 !n America it is said to yield large quantities : of honey, bur of dark colour, and not; of very | high quality ; it blossoms with them about | April or May, but is considerably later, and I luve been unable to findany bees in England at work upon it. — Amateur P. Sharp in Gardening.