1869.] TO PROPAGATE DOUBLE STOCKS.- -CLEMATIS THOMAS MOORE. 265 TO PROPAGATE DOUBLE STOCKS. AffOUR Monthly Chronicle for October includes a short note on a mode by which to perpetuate Double Stocks. The method referred to is a very old one, although perhaps not generally known. It was practised by my father nearly forty years since, and was published in one of the garden periodicals of that day. I have extracted the following memorandum from his MSS. : "I have practised two methods of taking cuttings from Double Stocks, and with equal success in striking them; but I much prefer the one to the other, as I find the two methods produce very different plants. The one I consider the best, is to take the cuttings when the plants are in full bloom. On the side shoots producing the flowers, beneath the existing blossom, another, and frequently two other shoots, are produced. Take off those shoots at the lower joint before they show flower, and with a sharp knife cut off the two lower leaves; insert the cuttings in pots filled with any light rich compost, and treat them as other softwooded cuttings. When well rooted, pot them off in pots of sizes proportionate with the progress they have made, and they will make plants equal in symmetrical beauty to any raised from seed, and will flower more abundantly." This method of propagating Stocks from cuttings, may, at first sight, appear tedious, but it will not be found so in practice. Besides, there are some advantages to be derived from it, which are not so strictly within our reach when propagating from seed, viz., the certainty of commanding groups of this lovely flower, all double; and the equal certainty of perpetuating any favourite or peculiar variety. This is surely a boon to us in these days of ribbon borders and self-coloured beds, and should be practised, especially with the East Lothian varieties, in order to keep the colours distinct, and to ensure double flowers. Osberton. EDWARD BENNETT. CLEMATIS THOMAS MOORE. WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. F the many beautiful forms of the Hardy Hybrid Clematis for which the lovers of gardens have to thank Mr. George Jackman and the Woking Nursery, that which we now figure is certainly one of the finest. It is, in the first place, the largest at present known, since the flowers measure, when expanded, as much as from 8 to 9 inches across. It is, in the next place, one of the most striking and effective in its colours, which effect results from the large spreading tuft of filaments in the centre being white, so that they contrast strongly with the rich violet hue of the sepals, and give the flowers quite the semblance of belonging to some giant passion-flower. It has the free-growing and free-blooming habit of the other Woking hybrids, and must be set down as one of the best and most distinct of the series. 3RD SERIES.—II. N 1869.] CLEMATIS THOMAS MOORE. 267 Too much cannot be urged in favour of the fine hybrid race of Clematises to which our subject belongs. They are superlatively beautiful in whatever form they are introduced to the garden, whether as climbers for walls or pillars, as bedding plants, as flowering shrubs for rockeries or rooteries, as festoon plants, or as exhibition specimens. We now introduce two illustrations which show their great importance as specimen plants for the terrace or the exhibition-table, and as a flowery furnishing for rooteries or wilderness scenery; while very recently Mr. Westland has pointed out (p. 254) how admirably they may be introduced as bedding plants, supplying as they do, a colour which is much needed. Our obligations are due to Mr. Jackman, not only for the opportunity of figuring the magnificent variety represented in our plate, but also for the woodcut sketches which so admirably show the floriferous habit of the plants. AZALEA INDICA VITTATA. M. DO not think it is generally known that this plant will flower at the end of October without forcing. It has, however, done so with me for the last six years, and I have now a fine plant of it in full bloom in the conservatory. At this season of the year, it will last for at least two months in perfection. The flowers are white, elegantly marked, with purple stripes. It is a strong grower, and a free bloomer. The plant commenced blooming out-doors. The Gardens, Elmham Hall. THE NEW ROSES OF 1869-70. WM. SMYTHE. N offering the subjoined list of New French Roses, I would beg of my readers to bear in mind that the descriptions are a literal translation from the raisers' lists. Although last summer, as usual, I travelled over all the ground from which these varieties are collected, I saw but few of them in flower. The desirability of bringing novelties rapidly into the market lest they should be superseded, necessitates quick multiplication, and hence the plants are so cut about that they have but small chance of flowering. A distinguished French horticulturist who travels much, and watches the development of the Rose in France, reports to me that he finds the same state of things, adding that, looking upon him as a fancied rival, and a good judge of a rose, the raisers will scarcely let him see their novelties when they are in bloom. The reason of this is obvious, and to which I have often before alluded-if a novelty is good, it will usually sell to any extent without being shown to the many; if indifferent in quality, the less it is shown the better it will sell. A noticeable feature in the novelties of the present year is that we have two batches of seedlings from that grand old rose Gloire de Dijon, some of which will doubtless take a distinguished position in the future. There are also some white roses, and whites with rosy centres, of which we have still much need; some scarlet and black according to the descriptions, and some new shades of colour. It is to me gratifying to find that many of the raisers are getting away from the "one idea" of looking at the form of the flower only, and are paying a due share of attention to the foliage, habit, and general constitution of the plant. "It rains new roses," wrote a French cultivator recently, and let us hope that as usual there may be some pearly drops that can be referred to in the future as having nourished the taste for this favourite flower. 1869.] THE NEW ROSES OF 1869-70. HYBRID PERPETUAL ROSES. 269 Abbé Giraudier: reddish cerise, large, full, and of fine form; very vigorous, flowering abundantly. A seedling from Louise Peyronny. Adelina Patti: bright rosy carmine, large, full, and of fine form; flowers freely, habit good, growth vigorous. Albion: cerise-scarlet, large, full, and of beautiful globular form; foliage fine; growth vigorous. Alexandre de Humboldt: clear bright rose, the edges of the petals white in summer, large, full, and of fine globular form; growth very vigorous. Amélie de la Chapelle: delicate flesh-coloured rose, large, full, of fine form and habit; foliage fine, colour new; flowers freely, very sweet, distinct; growth very vigorous. Auguste Neumann: fiery red, shaded with violet, often mottled with white, large, full, and of fine form; habit vigorous and good. Baron Chaurand: velvety scarlet centre, shaded with blackish purple, large, full, and of finely-cupped form; foliage fine; growth very vigorous. Blanche de Meru: white with faint rosy centre when first opening, changing to pure white, of medium size, full, and of fine form; flowers freely; growth moderate. Candide rosy white, changing to pure white, of medium size, fine form, and full; growth moderate. Charles Turner: bright glossy red, very large, full, of finely-cupped form; habit good, growth vigorous. Charlotte Gagneau: brilliant rosy cerise, colour new, large, almost full; growth vigorous. Clémence Raoux: blush edged and spotted with rose, petals stout and enduring, blooms late in autumn, very large and full; growth vigorous. Comtesse d'Oxford: bright carmine-red, shaded, very large, full, and of fine form; growth vigorous; foliage handsome. Edouard Morren: in the way of Jules Margottin, but of a fresher and more delicate colour, of better form, more double, and much larger; growth vigorous. Elisa Boëlle: white, slightly tinted with rose, changing to pure white, of medium size, fine form, and full; growth vigorous. Enfant de Chatillon: purplish red, shaded with scarlet, of fine form, full, very sweet, flowers freely; growth vigorous. Eugène Vavin: bright glossy cerise, very large, of fine globular form; growth vigorous. Exposition du Havre: dark bright carmine-rose, large, full, and of fine globular form; growth vigorous; foliage fine. A seedling from Jules Margottin. Ferdinand de Lesseps: purple, shaded with violet, large, full, and of fine form; growth vigorous. Général de Lamartinière: dark rose, the centre vermilion-rose, very large, full; fine foliage and habit; fine form; growth very vigorous. General Grant: scarlet, strongly shaded with bright carmine, large, and full; growth vigorous. General Miloradowitsch: fine clear red, slightly shaded with violet, very large, full, and of fine form; foliage fine; growth very vigorous. Jacob Pereire: brilliant fiery red, shaded with purple, large, and full; growth very vigorous. Jeanne Guillot: bright satin-like rose shaded with purple, very large and full; form cupped; foliage fine. Jules Chrétien: bright glossy rose, large, full; form fine; foliage good; growth very vigorous. Jules Seurre: vermilion-red shaded with bluish purple, centre fiery red, large, full; foliage fine; very vigorous. A seedling from Victor Verdier. La Motte Sanguine: bright reddish carmine, in the way of Baronne Prevost, very large, full; growth very vigorous; foliage and habit good. Lena Turner: bright cerise, sometimes shaded with slaty violet, large, full; form imbricated; growth vigorous. Louis Van Houtte: reddish scarlet and amaranth, the circumference blackish crimson shaded with bluish purple, very large, full, and of fine globular form; growth vigorous. |