JUNE 9, 1S9S. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



29 



One of the Houses of Garland Bros., Des Plaines, 111., with iron gutters. 



rives again, while fall or spring divid- 

 ed plants will make but an indifferent 

 show the first season. A. irgenteum 

 is usually about K) or 12 days later 

 than A. alpestre, but this depends 

 largely on soil, situation and ex- 

 posure; both do well in dry .ind sunny 

 positions and are also very act-eptable 

 for the sunny parts of a rockeiy. 



Daphne cneorum is such a prolific 

 bloomer and requires so very little at- 

 tention when once planted that every- 

 body should have it in the garden; if 

 they could be propagated rapidly I 

 suppose we would then see them often- 

 er, but it takes time to grow decent 

 salable plants, either from layers or by 

 cuttings and therefore none too many 

 are offered for sale. The sweet scent- 

 ed bright pink flowerheads form early 

 in spring in greatest profusion at the 

 end of each little shoot, and the suc- 

 cessive growth will again bloom to- 

 ward fall, though more sparingly than 

 in spring. The foliage remains fresh 

 and green all winter. We have some 

 in the rockery, in dry and sunny bor- 

 ders and on moist ground, doing well 

 in either place. 



At Highland Park I noticed lately 

 the elegant D. Genkwa, a dwarf ever- 

 green little shrub, which is admirably 

 well adapted for the border. The flow- 

 ers are produced very freely all along 

 last year's wood, bright lilac blue in 

 color, rather large and very fragrant. 

 The plants have made a good growth 

 for the last two years in the rather 

 light, dry and sandy soil and appear 

 to like it there. It is a Japanese plant, 

 I believe, and came out about -o or 30 

 years ago, but is still considered a rare 

 plant. 



Silene acaulis forms a mossy tuft a 

 few inches high only. The minutely 

 small flowers are bright pink; a few 

 are white, studded all over the mossy 



surface from May to August. They 

 are bright little objects either for the 

 rockery or in the border and very in- 

 teresting. Too much moisture in fall 

 or winter often causes the tufts to de- 

 cay in the center, but in high and dry 

 locations they are safe and may re- 

 main untouched for a number of years, 

 spreading over a considerable space of 

 ground. They divide readily and this 

 is the quickest way to increase the 

 stock. 



Another low, compact evergreen 

 plant we have is the charming Aethio- 

 nema pulchellum (often called Iberis 

 jucunda). The delicate pink flower- 

 heads are freely produced on every 

 growth from the middle of May until 

 very near July. The leaves are glau- 

 cous green, very small, narrow and not 

 over three-fourths of an inch long, 

 generally only one-half inch; the little 

 stems are woody, short and branchy. 

 It is a little gem and is highly satis- 

 factory wherever introduced. These 

 little things may not be suitable to 

 plant in among tall growing or coarse- 

 foliaged plants where they would be 

 overshadowed and lost, but they have 

 few equals when planted in the front 

 part of a neatly arranged and well- 

 kept border where their nearest neigh- 

 bors are of compact dwarf growth 

 and do not obstruct light and free cir- 

 culation of air. Neither of the two 

 last named plants are very plentiful, 

 though quite easy to grow, and they 

 are so very pretty, they surely deserve 

 to be grown in every collection. 



The dodecatheons are out now, va- 

 rious rosy shades. Lilac and white are 

 represented in D. Meadia. The flowers 

 are borne in large, loose, half -drooping 

 umbels on erect stems 10 to 1."> inches 

 high, the leaves are less than half that 

 height, oblong, broad in the middle. 

 D. integrifolia is a much dwarfer spe- 



cies with rosy crimson flowers, sel- 

 dom grows over (! inches high and D. 

 Jeffreyanum is probably only a taller 

 and more robust form of D. Meadia, 

 though it is regarded by some as a 

 separate species. All do best in a 

 partially shaded position, where the 

 ground is not too dry. but I have seen 

 them do well for some years under the 

 opposite conditions. Propagate by di- 

 vision in early spring, but they are 

 slow to increase. Seed sowing is not 

 always crowned with success except 

 when we can procure it strictly fresh. 



The trollius are grand things when 

 once they get established in the bor- 

 der. Small plants with one or two 

 flower stems do not make much of a 

 show, but when grown into large 

 clumps, they are gorgeous and keep 

 up a succession of gay bloom for a 

 long time, often again flowering in the 

 autumn. T. europaeus is pale yellow 

 when opening, growing darker with 

 age. The flower stems are branching, 

 about lYi feet high, erect and stiff 

 enough to support the large globular 

 flowers. T. asiaticus resembles the 

 former in habit and form of flower, 

 but its color is a very dark shade of 

 golden yellow. When I was young we 

 were told that trollius would rot do in 

 any but a rather moist place, but I 

 have learned long ago that we can 

 grow them anywhere if the soil is 

 moderately rich. In dry weather we 

 may have to coax a newly planted row 

 in a dry position for a month or two 

 until the plants get established, but 

 after that no difficulty has been expe- 

 rienced with them and they should be 

 left alone entirely for many years. A 

 mulching of decayed manure in fall 

 or winter is all they require. The flow- 

 ers of all the trollius are very useful 

 for cutting and are with us frequent- 

 ly called for. They last well and will 

 even perfect the half developed flowers 

 on the lower part of the stems when 

 placed in water. Division is the only 

 way to increase the stock of the double 

 forms. 



Lychnis alpina has been a mass of 

 bloom almost since the beginning of 

 May. It is not more than C, or 8 inches 

 high, but its large clusters of bright 

 pink flowers show off from a great dis- 

 tance. At Highland Park the other 

 day, Mr. Dunbar pointed to a colony 

 of this pretty perennial. We were 

 standing 8 or 10 rods away from it on 

 the hill and the cheerful mass of color 

 could have been plainly seen to advan- 

 tage at a much greater distance. It 

 does well in dry and exposed positions, 

 requires only the simplest care and not 

 much of it either. Highland Park is 

 about the only place where I have met 

 with this elegant little plant in many 

 years outside of our own collection. 

 Its many good qualities are not known 

 apparently, else it would be used quite 

 frequently along the front of borders 

 and in prominent parts of shrubberies 

 near walks or driveways. 



Iris cristata is a most prolific bloom- 

 er. From a little row, 10 feet 'ong, we 

 have picked many hundreds of its 



