1877.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



in full bloom. Havre has superb gardens, nota- 

 bly the one before the City Hall, which is truly 

 a little paradise of a garden. 



" On a bank leaning against a deep mass of 

 high shrubs I saw perhaps the most successful 

 of mosaic compositions ; oblong border of di- 

 vers kinds of Alternanthera and Teilanthera 

 in large festoons. On a white centre letters of a 

 yard length, formed by Mesembryanthemum tri- 

 color and Alternanthera paronychoides, edged 

 with Matricaria avirea, compose the words — City 

 of Havre. The execution is admirable and the 

 effect of it is striking. 



" I would further instance : a round group rep- 

 resenting the national colors ; another large de- 

 sign composed in this way: centre-piece, Cinera- 

 ria purpurea spectabilis ; border, first dwarf 

 Dahlia, white flower, round which second border 

 Amaranthus mel. ruber, <fcc. But I must limit 

 myself, my object being to draw my fellow-hor- 

 ticulturists in America to this interesting subject 

 of Europe, whilst in turn I shall borrow some 

 points from their studies, their works and their 

 experience." 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Preserving Spikes of Pampas-grass.— Mr. 

 Henry Vilmorin, of Paris, communicates the fol- 

 lowing to the London Gardeners Chronicle: — "I 

 have always found the best plan for preserving 

 the spikes of Pampas-grass in perfect condition 

 to be the following : — Cut the stems before the 

 spikes are half out of the sheaths, store them in 

 a dry place and leave them undisturbed till en- 

 tirely dried, then remove the leaf which partly 

 envelopes the spikes ; the latter will appear per- 

 fectly bright, and with a silky gloss on them, 

 only they are rather stiff; then submit them 

 carefully to a goodly heat, either in a well-heated 

 oven, or, better still, before a brisk fire, when 

 each floret will expand, and give the spike the 

 feather-like appearance so much appreciated. 

 The spikes prepared by that process will not 

 drop one of their glossy pistils, and will keep for 

 any length of time if kept free from the tarnish- 

 ing effects of dust." 



Weeping Sequoia Gigantea.— An illustration 

 of a beautiful Weeping Sequoia in the London 

 Gardener's Chronicle, makes us feel a renewed re- 

 gret that this tree is so utterly a failure in the 

 Atlantic States. 



Beautiful Specimens of Trees. — It would be 

 a pleasure to record in our pages the heights and 

 dimensions of rare and favorite trees. These 

 often get placed on record in other countries, 

 butwehavelittleof itin our own. The following is 

 from the London Gardener's Chronicle : — " It may 

 be interesting to our readers if we name some of 

 the fine specimen ornamental trees growing on 

 their grounds, out of the many hundreds which 

 are to be seen there. A beautiful tree of Abies 

 Nordmanniana, 14 feet high (one of the finest of 

 all evergreens) ; a Cut-leaved Alnus, 25 feet high ; 

 a Willow-leaved Ash, 20 feet; a Weeping Birch, 

 30 feet high, wide and spreading ; Purple Beech, 

 20 feet high ; Cut-leaved Weeping Birch, 50 feet 

 high ; a Salisburia, 30 feet high ; Oak-leaved 

 Mountain Ash, the original tree brought to this 

 country, 20 feet high, the same in diameter of 

 the head ; and specimens of the following Mag- 

 nolias prove perfectly hardy, namely, Soulange- 

 ana conspicua, tripetela, and Norbertiana. M. 

 macrophylla requires a slight protection in win- 

 ter, as well as M. Thompsoniana. M. grandiflora 

 will not succeed out of doors." 



And here is an account of another : — "We learn 

 from the Gardener that there are two enormous 

 Irish Yews growing in the kitchen garden at 

 Netherplace, near Mauchline. The largest is 33 

 feet in spread of branches, and its height is 29 

 feet eight inches. Its companion is 32 feet six 

 inches in spread of branches, and 30 feet in 

 height. They are dense and in perfect health, 

 being of a rich dark green. These two trees 

 stand within a stone's throw of Burns' cottage." 



Enonymus radicans variegata. — All lovers of 

 low growing hardy evergreens, know this plant 

 by this time, as it has been offered by leading 

 American nurserymen for some years past. But 

 it is not known that it has handsome berries. 

 Of this the London Gardener's Chronicle says :^ 

 " The variety or species radicans, both the green 

 and variegated states, is very ornamental and 

 suitable for covering small spaces of wall. Like 

 the Ivy it emits aerial roots very freely, and at- 

 taches itself to rocks or walls, and, therefore, re- 

 quires little or no nailing. The ordinary broad- 

 leaved variety, latifolius of the nurseries, with 

 rich, dark green, glos.sy foliage, is certainly one 

 of the most ornamental of small-growing ever- 

 green shrubs, and wherever it is hardy, should 

 be largely planted. Unfortunately, its handsome 

 fruit is extremely rare in this country. Indeed, 

 we never saw it on living plants until this season, 



