52 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



June 16. 1898. 



On a low knoll is a group of thirty- 

 five different sorts of maples. This is 

 the lot planted by school children last 

 Arbor day. The group includes quite a 

 few Japanese species, the deep red fo- 

 liage of Acer polymorphum atrosau- 

 guineum making a wonderfully rich 

 glow. 



A most striking variegated tree is 

 Cornus Spathii, and Mr. Jensen says-it 

 is the most satisfactory of any varie- 

 gated tree or shrub with which he is 

 familiar. It holds its variegation un- 

 tarnished through the hot summer 

 months and is always beautiful. Frax- 

 inus Excelsior variegata and Fraxinus 

 aucubafolia are equally attractive now, 

 but the foliage blisters under the hot 

 sun of July. 



Prunus triloba, the double flowering 

 plum, is a great favorite with Mr. Jen- 

 sen. He likes it even better than Bech- 

 tel's double flowering crab, being freer 

 in blooming and the flowers lasting 

 longer. But both are grand. 



In the herbaceous garden a very 



striking variegated plant is Aegopo- 

 dium podograria variegata. 



The newer ponds of aquatics will be 

 very effective this summer. Nymphaea 

 Leydekerii rosea is already in good 

 bloom and it certainly is a charming 

 addition to the water nymphs. But 

 the planting of the margins of these 

 ponds is what we started to tell about. 

 An immense number of native bog 

 plants have been utilized and all are 

 flourishing finely. Just at present the 

 native Iris versicolor is making a 

 brave show of bloom, and an occasion- 

 al flower of Cypripedium spectabile 

 adds a beautiful effect. Sagittarias, 

 rushes, sarracenias and a host of simi- 

 lar subjects are being colonized. 



A beautiful elm tree near the en- 

 trance to the parK had a hollow in the 

 base of the trunk, and to strengthen 

 the tree and improve its appearance 

 Mr. Jensen filled the hollow with stone 

 and cement of a shade so close to that 

 of the bark that probably few visitors 

 realize there is anything artificial 

 about it. 



What to Plant. 



With the plant man the greatest 

 anxiety will be to see that his future 

 crops are taken care of. A little of 

 everything should be planted out. The 

 vincas, abutilon, salvia, a few each of 

 the different varieties of alternanthe- 

 ras, santolina, achyranthes — in fact, a 

 few of everything your trade demands, 

 not forgetting the common little 

 money vine and variegated glechoma. 

 It seems this year the demand for 

 these so-called vines (droopers is a 

 better name) is larger than ever, at 

 least in our vicinity, and not one is 

 more effective for the purpose than 

 the variegated glechoma. You should 

 have some little corner of your estate. 

 if only two yards square, devoted to 

 the hardy money vine and glechoma, 

 and then you can get all the cuttings 

 you want in September. 



Geraniums. 



I hope you have planted out a large 

 lot of geraniums for your own stock. 

 It is much better to have them on 

 your own place than be running 

 around begging them from your pa- 

 trons, and as for buying them from 

 firms that make a specialty of supply- 

 ing the trade with such stock, you 

 can't do it. The quantity they grow 

 and the price forbids the quality. Old- 



er communities may have used gera- 

 niums so many years for summer gar- 

 den decoration that they have tired of 

 them, and they want something else; 

 at least, this statement has been made 

 to me, but I fail to see what they have 

 used in place of these universal favor- 

 ites. True, the flowering cannas and 

 begonias are now great favorites, but 

 they have by no means deposed the 

 geranium. 



Not only are they used by the mil- 

 lions for flower beds, but thousands 

 have been used this spring in large 

 jars or pots 12 and 15 inches in size, 

 and this is a style of "front door" 

 flower gardening that is yet young but 

 growing rapidly, so be prepared for it. 

 The jars are always filled with some 

 solid color, either a scarlet, pink, or 

 salmon, and occasionally white. Don't 

 bother with the "Souv. de Mirande" 

 type or any such stuff. If you grow 

 20,000 geraniums, you want 19,900 of 

 them in six, or, at most, eight, good 

 solid colors of healthy growing, semi- 

 double varieties. The other hundred 

 can be a number of new oddities that 

 a dear old lady can wander round at 

 her leisure and inspect. 



S. A. Nutt is still a great favorite 

 as the best all - round dark scarlet. 

 Tower Eiffel is a grand, bright scarlet 

 of the Bruant type, with a grand truss 



and stem. The newer rosy scarlet, 

 Alphonse Ricard, will be a great fa- 

 vorite. For a semi-double salmon I 

 don't know anything that is all 

 around the equal of Beauty Poitevine. 

 For a pink, Emile de Girardin has 

 been almost exclusively grown, and 

 when healthy is unequaled, but of late 

 years too large a percentage are dis- 

 eased with that peculiar curled leaf, 

 the cause of which is not yet satis- 

 factorily explained; so we are grow- 

 ing Mrs. Hayes, a little lighter than 

 Emile, but a beautiful flower and fine 

 habit. Old Ernest Lauth is still un- 

 impaired in health, and although 

 neither a crimson, a scarlet, or a deep 

 pink, is a favorite with many and one 

 of the very best bedders. For while 

 we grow La Favorite; there may be 

 better. 



There are two singles which the 

 public will have, and although not to 

 be recommended for vases or jars, 

 are grand for bedding. They are Ath- 

 lete, a vivid scarlet, and the well- 

 known Mrs. E. G. Hill, whose im- 

 mense truss attracts everyone, and for 

 a large bed it is grand. I wish to im- 

 press upon you to grow these kinds. 

 Without any self-advertising, which 

 is no object, to show you a good va- 

 riety is in demand, I had 7,<m)0 S. A. 

 Nutt in 4-inch pots, and now I want 

 to buy some; so plant out a lot of the 

 leading varieties, and if you don't 

 have them, buy them; they will make 

 lots of cuttings by October 1. 



The ivy leaf section is also in great 

 demand. Don't ever tell people they 

 are a bedding plant, for they are not. 

 When growing freely they soon go out 

 of flower, but when their roots are 

 conflned in pots or boxes, they keep 

 up their flowering quite freely. The 

 semi-double pinks are the most in de- 

 mand, so plant out enough to give you 

 lots of cuttings. 



While on the subject of geraniums, I 

 will mention that there is often a call 

 for them in pots for furnishing pri- 

 vate conservatories, and after frost 

 has killed everything outside they 

 have a greatly enhanced appearance. 

 Select a hundred or two healthy 

 plants that are now in 3 or 4-inch 

 pots. Shift them into 5-inch, stop the 

 leading shoots, and keep all flower 

 shoots picked off till the end of Sep- 

 tember. They may want another shift 

 in September, but will flower and do 

 well in a comparatively small pot. 

 Where to keep them during July and 

 August is the most important point. 

 You can plunge them out of doors. If 

 you are sure that they won't get soak- 

 ed with water during heavy rains, or 

 dry out during the hot time. For this 

 reason I believe in keeping them in- 

 doors, with their pots plunged in some 

 light material, and the glass shaded 

 very little; then they will not be like- 

 ly to be neglected. 



Lemon Verbena. 



Don't plant out the lemon verbenas 



that you want for your stock plants. 



as they lift badly. Grow a dozen 



plants in 4-inch pots plunged in a 



