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THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[December, 



plants, showing that the manager is well up to 

 the times in all that is interesting, new or rare 

 in plants. One of the most marked features of 

 this department of the Home was grottos of rock 

 work planted so as to produce the most pleasing 

 effect. Our lady friends who accompanied us 

 were in ecstacies over this, and hung around it 

 for hours. The planting in masses and in rib- 

 bon-line beds was excellent, and was almost 

 equal in extent to the parks at Chicago. Large 

 letters of crimson on the green velvet lawn made 

 us " Welcome" so plainly, that we felt as if our 

 good Uncle Sam was almost taking us by the 

 hand. 



GARDEN SCIONS. 



BY CANTAB, BOSTON, MASS. 

 II. 



No plant has stood the drouth more unflinchingly 

 than Vinca rosea. Planted out it keeps green 

 and stocky, and is in blossom all summer long. 

 Raised from seed in a hot-bed or warm green- 

 house in February or early March, nice plant^ 

 are had for planting out in May. It is so easily 

 raised from seeds that propagation by cuttings is 

 seldom resorted to. It is largely used for mass- 

 ing in flower beds. 



Retinosporas have grown better than anj^ other of 

 our evergreens. 



Mignonette vine, Dioscorea batatas and Mauran- 

 dia Barclayana have grown splendidly at the base 

 of a south-facing wall, where the soil is very dry 

 and the situation rather roasting. 



Among red leaved bedding plants there is noth- 

 ing, so far, to surpass Alternanthera paronychioi- 

 des major. Most Alternantheras do not assume 

 their bright coloring till the end of July, but this 

 variety is alwaj's brilliant ; summer and winter 

 are alike to it. It is an excellent grower, with- 

 stands the drouth admirably, and requires just 

 the same care as any other Alternanthera. 



Tlie variegated Stevia takes the lead among 

 white-leaved strong-growing bedding plants. All 

 the year round it retains its variegation well, is 

 reliable and a vigorous grower, and bears any 

 amount of clipping with impunity. 



As a carpet of green no plant of my acquaint- 

 ance nearly equals Veronica repens. The little 

 Mints grow so thick and soft that they damp off 

 in patches. Arenaria glabra is a good plant for 

 a green carpet, but nothing to be compared with 



this little Veronica ; neither can Thymus micana 

 nor T. Corsicus. Veronica repens grows so densely 

 and flat as to form tough sods, and judging from 

 its behavior here during the past two years, 

 keeps as closely to the ground as if it were 

 shaven, A deep green color in exposed and 

 half shaded places, never damps off when not 

 buried by other plants, is hardy, a great spreader, 

 and can be multiplied ad infinitum. To these 

 may be added a complete covering of lovely 

 blossoms in spring. As soon as they have done 

 flowering, the flower spikes should be sheared 

 off, in order to beautify the carpet. 



A NEW METHOD WITH TUBEROSES. 



BY MRS. M. D. WELLCOME, YARMOUTH, MAINE. 



I call it a new method, because it seems to 

 be such, or at least a method not generally 

 known. It has been very kindly furnished me 

 by a florist resident at Concord, N. H., who was 

 induced to write me by seeing my "Talks About 

 Flowers" in the Boston Journal. Believing ic 

 too valuable to be kept within private limits, I 

 send it to the Gardener's Monthly. 



The florist says the main point may be an old 

 idea, but in a large range of horticultural read- 

 ing he has never seen it mentioned, nor heard 

 of its being used except in the instance he cites. 

 His previous experience is, we believe, like that 

 of many others. He says : 



" I have grown tuberoses for the past ten years 

 with varying success, but the main diflBculty has 

 been that so long a time has been required in 

 rooting and stocking them, that the first frost 

 finds a large proportion of them just budding, 

 or not commenced to spindle. Had tried vari- 

 ous places, hot-bed, furnace-room and hot-house, 

 and all the early spring months and December, 

 but that made no difference ; they would not 

 start until they got ready, and I lost many bulbs 

 from rotting. Two years ago a friend who had 

 had a similar experience, surprised me by show- 

 ing me plants about the first of May with fine 

 tops that had been planted but three weeks, and 

 the first of June had stalks a foot high, while 

 my bulbs, which had been planted the first of 

 February, did not commence to sprout until 

 June, although they had been in a hot-house 

 under favorable conditions. 



" Now the reason was simply this : He had 

 taken his bulbs and not only pulled off all the 

 small ones attached, but had dug out with a 

 sharp knife all the small eyes, and had cut off the 

 whole of the tuberous part, leaving only the bulb 



