328 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{^Noveviber, 



BRUGMANSIA SUAVEOLENS IN THE FLOWER 

 GARDEN. 



nv \V. I AI.CONKU, CAMHUIIXiK, MASS. 



At Mv. Mtitloy's, at Jamaica Plains, I lately 

 saw this line old favorite in good condition. 

 The plant is four years old and flowering in a 

 sub-tropical Hower border, crowded on every side 

 by neighboi-s — Ficuses, Cannas, Solanums, ttc. 

 Mr. M. informs me, however, that during the 

 Summer time he saw as many as one hundred 

 expanded blooms on it at one time; and when 

 I was there (September -4th), in addition to the 

 flowers and buds on the plant, I saw a dozen of 

 immense white trumpets that had just been cut 

 from it. 



The plant is lifted on the approach of frost, 

 cut back and potted, and wintered in some out- 

 of-the-way corner in a greenhouse, where it can 

 be kept nearly dry. 



DOUBLE GERANIUM, "BISHOP WOOD." 



BY GEO. S. WOODRUFF, MOUNT AIRY, TIIILA. 



I have grown this new Geranium side by side 

 with another from Veitch's collection, called 

 Guillon Mangilli, and have been unable to find 

 any difference between them. Others who have 

 grown both give the same testimony, and I sus- 

 pect that by the time a few enterprising florists 

 have "substitued," a few times, the one for the 

 other, the purchaser will not be able to tell 

 which he has. As Mr. Harris is above suspicion, 

 and doubtless obtained his Bishop Wood from 

 seed, we have here an interesting instance of 

 independent workers arriving at the same result 

 about the same time, as has often happened to 

 inventors and discoverers. 



But another interesting thing is, that I have 

 obtained seed from these and some other new 

 doubles, all similar to Asa Gray in their dwarf 

 habit and semi-double flower, the latter, however, 

 being much larger than those of Asa Gray. Of 

 these "Auguste Willaume" is of a very peculiar 

 shade of red, nearly vermilion, and "Edward 

 Lequin " somewhat like it. "Asteroid " is a rich 

 crimson scarlet. A splendid pink one, "Noe- 

 mie" (namy), also seeded, as did Eugene Band- 

 ouin, but the seed did not mature, owing to 

 excessive rains. The same thing happened with 

 George Sand and Wilfred, both improvements 

 on Aline Sisly. 



I think that with more uniform moisture 

 ripened seed might be had from all these. 



The whole series is so much superior in habit 

 to the rank-growing doubles to which most peo- 

 ple are accustomed that they desire mention. 



Another of similar habit, " Meteor Flagg," (!) 

 has flowers as perfect as roses, somewhat like 

 " Le Negre," but uiili/ce that, perfect in form and 

 produced freely all Summer. 



Now that I have. made this article so much 

 like a catalogue, I might as well mention that 

 " Happy Thought " seems happy in either wet 

 or dry weather. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Taste in Farm Houses. — An exchange tells 

 us that Colonel IngersoU wants to see farmers' 

 wives dress with more care and better taste, 

 which would cost no more than their present 

 style, and above all, he wants to see them pitch 

 their miserable little cook stoves out of the 

 window and get a decent range, over which they 

 can cook without cooking themselves. We 

 should like if he had added a word on the floral 

 surroundings. No one knows how a neat little 

 garden adds to the pleasures of life. But we 

 hardly know whether it is right to address this 

 counsel to women. If they are careless or 

 slovenly it is too often the men's own fault. A 

 woman when married usually becomes what her 

 husband makes her. If what she does seems 

 not to interest him, it is natural that she become 

 indiflcrent. If husbands — young husbands es- 

 pecially—took more interest in their Avives' dress 

 and neat appearance, the cook stove or the 

 flower garden, we will guarantee there would be 

 less " farmers' wives " of the class Col. IngersoU 

 refers to. 



Preserving Flowers Fresh.— The Worcester 

 Spy says : — "A friend of ours received a day or 

 two ago through the post-office, from Olympia, 

 Washington Territory, a roundish, irregular pack- 

 age, which on examination proved to contain a 

 large potato. Further investigation showed that 

 the potato had been cut in two and the inside 

 scooped out, and in the cavity were found flow- 

 ers and leaves, which, as he learned by a note 

 previously received, had been picked in a garden 

 in the open air on the 26th day of December. 

 The flowers, — pansies, geraniums, and others, — 

 were as fresh and bright as if they had been 

 gathered within an hour, though their journey 

 across the continent had occupied fifteen days. 



