GLADIOLUS PRIMULINUS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 1, 4 January 1908, Page 23

GLADIOLUS PRIMULINUS.

Although discovered 20 years ago in the Usagara Mountains of Southern Central Africa, nothing much appears to have been heard of this Gladiolus till within the past year or two, when, owing no doubt to the opening up of the country, and particularly to the advent of the Cape to Cairo railway at that part of the world where the plant is found, bulbs have been collected and distributed, especially in England, Iron; the particulars given as to its habitat, it is clear that this Gladiolus, like many of the genus, but not all, requires much moisture, for it is described by one of the officials of the British South Africa Company who has seen it growing, as flourishing in one of the wettest places close to the Victoria Falls, where the atmosphere is nearly always charged with misty vapour. The shape of the flower is curious and unusual; the upper perianth is seen to be curved right over so as to form a shield or roof over the inside, which is most delicately beautiful, and if it should turn out that the natural habitat of the plant is confined to places where it is subject to the continual wetting of fine spray, such as obtains at the foot of the Victoria Falls, the fact is only one more illustration of the extraordinary way in which nature adapts her flowers to their surroundings. The tallest plant of a group 1 have growing (writes a correspondent in an English magazine) are no less than 4 feet high, and have from eight to nine buds or flowers on them. These open regularly though slowly to the topmost - bud, which comes into flower about * three weeks after the first one, so that g the blooming period is unusually long j for plants of this genus. The stem is* not wiry and twisted, like that of G. • tristis, but firm and fleshy, as in the case jj of the German Iris, and rather more£ than a quarter of an inch in diameter at* the ground. The full-sized corms areg about as large across as a half-crown, | and of rather a stronger colour than tlieg bloom, which is an exquisite yellow; and while it does not appear pos- a sible to say much at present with cer-1 taintv about the culture, a mixture of! granite chippings, charcoal, and coarse! sand, with enough peat dust to make! the mixture brown, and very free drain-E age. has, at any rate, answered very wellE s 0 far in the case of my own plants. 'Whether or not this Gladiolus will! prove to be hardy in Great Britain is! doubtless a question which only time! can decide; and in this respect it would! probably be wise to be on the safe side! and treat it like Gladiolus sulphurous! and others of doubtful hardiness. It is! a most beautiful plant, with a singularly! attractive habit of growth and refined! flower. I Ji / New Japanese Irises. I This article tells how an American! became possessed of some bulbs on con- E d it ion that none were to be sold orß given away during the life time of the! donor. We give the gist of the article, g which we feel sure will be of interests to all who admire Iris. i/ A search through many flower markets! in Tokio had failed to reveal a singleg iris that had not already been made® familiar in America. Japanese ances told me that there were far more? beautiful specimens in Japan than any ? that America had seen, but they also / warned me that I would not find them -j on sale. You may buy what the Japanese are willing to sell, and these are comparatively familiar. Japan, with all her absorption of Western ideas, holds her finest flowers in such loving esteem that to exchange them for money would be thought sacrilege. I was told that there was a priest in the old capital, Kioto, one Osugi San, Who grew beautiful iris, probably the most beautiful in the world. He had never sold a single bulb, and there is not an Osugi iris in the world outside the temple garden. I was, after much persuasion and a solemn promise not to seek to buy, able to secure a letter to Father Osugi. I found the priest in his garden. It was a very simple garden, but wonderful beyond words with its glorious bloom, the flowers often a foot across. There was Osugi San, smiling and peaceful, his manner tinged with just a trace of doubt until he read my letter. Ah, yes! I was a Jover of the iris from America. And had

I come all the way to see the iris of Japan. He had not yet succeeded in growing the most beautiful iris possible. In his mind there was a flower that would be very fine indeed; and it would yet come. The art of iris growing was still very young. Father Osugi led the way to a corner of the garden where in wide pots grew and bloomed his most wonderful iris, a masterpiece of infinite worth. The great satiny blossoms, measuring ten inches across, were a pure, glorious red. For a single bulb of this red iris, one of the statesmen of Japan offered £330. The city of Kioto offered Osugi San a pension for life if he would plant one hundred bulbs in the public garden. But this was no temptation. Was there not happiness and contentment enough in holding the honour of growing the finest iris in Japan? Each day Osugi San unfolded some new secret of his art, some new solution of the problems that have puzzled growers the world over. That the Western world should not be wanting of the heavenly flowers, said the priest, he had decided to send to his new American friend two hundred of his choicest bulbs. The bulbs arrived last fall in good condition, and in early spring were set out in pots according to the directions of the priest. The soil used was composed half of sand and half of rich loam. Although the native American iris is a marsh plant. Osugi San advises against too much moisture; so the two hundred pots were merely set out on a low piece of ground

that remained damp all summer. As soon as the growing season commenced a liberal dressing of oil-cake was given lonce a week, and this was reduced to lonce a month after flowering was over. IThe bed of Osugi Iris is still in part lan experiment, for no blooms of consequence were expected the first year. The three-year-old bulbs nearly always yield the finest flowers. Yet nearly 25 per cent of the bulbs bloomed, though these were naturally of the hardiest varieties. The blooms were chiefly white and purple, separate, and in a variety of delightful combinations. The largest was about ten inches across, and was of a silky whiteness, delicately edged with a pale, warm shade of purple. The texture of the petals is sometimes extraordinary, like thin silken crepe, crinkled fine in every direction, and inexpressibly soft and clear. One kind of this sort had a network of minute veins marked in violet, and these veins led into a strange, rieh oriental blue as they neared the centre. A single petal of these flowers would cover the hand. It can be easily understood that the development of such irises represents a very high degree of specialised knowledge; and. indeed, Osugi San was a veritable mine of learning on all that related to this study, such, for instance, as the chemistry of soils and fertilizers, and the relation of soils to colour development—a most intricate and abstruse subject, a knowledge of which is gained only by years of research. In selection and

cross-fertilisation he was, of course, a past master, for these have been his chief aids. I watched in vain for one of Father Osugi’s great fifteen-inch blossoms, or for the famous red iris. To see these never-to-be-forgotten treasures in our own country is a pleasure reserved for another year. The results so far have been most encouraging. The plants have responded to the treatment prescribed by the Japanese in minute details. They are ready to go to their winter’s rest with an apparently abundant store of vitality, and I have confidence that it is only a question of time when Japan's chiefest flower treasures will be rivalled in America. Wellington Summer Show. TO BE HELD ON JANUARY 15, 1908. A GENEROUS PRIZE LIST. The schedule of the Summer Show, to be held on January 15, under the auspices of the Wellington Rose and Carnation Club, discloses a prize-list which will be an eye - opener to most horticulturla societies in the colony. It is generous, and yet very well-balanced. Growers of sweet peas in Auckland and elsewhere will notice with interest and perhaps envy that in the open section for sweet peas there is a trophy valued at £lO 10/, with

£1 5/ cash, besides second and third-class prizes, and this for twelve varieties only. The show will be illustrated and reported on in “ The Graphic.” Ji Ji COLEUS. Coleus are among the most useful of decorative plants, being of quick growth and most ornamental. If they are grown in a moderate temperature they will last in good condition in rooms for a considerable time. Plants that have lost part of their foliage, or have become too big, may be cut down, and the tops inserted into small pots. They may remain in these pots through the winter, and will be nice stuff for potting on in spring. Coleus are easily raised from seed, but are generally eoarse the first season. Cuttings of the best should be taken and kept for another year’s trial. Ji Ji COTONEASTER APFLANATA. The main stem and strong shoots of this species grow upright, and thus all the branches arch over al>out the middle. They are thickly covered with red berries, and are furnished with roundly, ovate, glossy, dark green leaves and grey beneath. Award of merit by the R.H.S. on October 1, when shown by Messrs. J. Veitch and Sons, Chelsea.