DOMESTIC NOTICES. 



of all evergreen trees — remains yet to be 

 proved. 



One of the handsomest of all the new ever- 

 greens, is the new Yew-like tree from Florida — 

 Torreya taxifolia. Its rich, dark green foliage, 

 its extremely elegant habit and rapid growth, 

 recommend it particularly to amateurs. It has 

 borne the past three winters about New- York 

 and in this neighborhood quite without protec- 

 tion. 



Rhododendron catawbiense and its many beau- 

 tiful varieties, sent out here from English nur- 

 series, prove much better adapted to hardy 

 culture than even the R. inaxiinum of our native 

 woods. They should find a place in every good 

 garden — and should be planted in a deep shady 

 border composed of sand and leaf mould. 



Wiegela rosea, Spirea primifolia pleno, Bud- 

 dlca, Lindleyana and Forsythia viridissima — 

 three of the finest new deciduous shrubs lately 

 introduced, prove perfectly hardy in all situa- 

 tions. The evergreen Euonymus and its two 

 rarieties with gold and silver striped foliage, 

 are quite hardy about New- York, and seem 

 I)artlcularly well suited for town gardens, where 

 verdui-e in shrubs during winter is desirable. 



The Camellia, hardy at BALTiMORE.-Pass- 

 ing through Baltimore a few days since, we made 

 a hasty visit to the conntry-scat of Dr. Ed- 

 MUNDSON, a mile from the city, to see Camellias 

 growing and blooming in the open air, (see 

 Hort. vol. iii. p. 417.) The sight was one well 

 worth seeing. In the rear of Dr. E.'s house are 

 fine groups of oak trees, standing in the lawn. 

 Under the partial shelter of these trees, we saw 

 three large clumps or beds of Camellias, con- 

 taining, perhaps, a couple of hundred plants. 

 They were growing in a dry, light, gravelly 

 loam, where they have now flourished for some 

 five or six years, and have grown to various 

 heights, from 2 to 6 feet. They receive no pro- 

 tection whatever, in winter, except a covering 

 of three or four inches of the oak leaves thrown 

 over the surface of the soil in autumn, to keep 

 the severe frosts from the roots. The plants 

 were in fine condition, and when we saw them, 

 (April 17,) they were nearly in full bloom — 

 at the same time with the fruit trees in the sur- 

 rounding orchards, and apparently almost as 



will very much surprise those who look 



upon the Camellia as a tender green-house 

 plant — but not those who are familliar with the 

 fact, that in that part of China where the Ca- 

 mellia grows naturally, the rivers are occasion- 

 sionally frozen. 



Dr. Edmundson found that the finer double 

 sorts taken from the green-house, were not suf- 

 ficiently hardy to stand without protection — 

 partly, no doubt, from their having been ren- 

 dered more tender than they were naturally, 

 by the constant high temperature of the green- 

 house. He then took seedling plants, and plant- 

 ed them, when only a foot high, in the open 

 borders, as we have described. These proved 

 perfectly hardy — and have been exposed once 

 to a temperature of zero, or 32° below the 

 freezing point. 



In Carolina, nearly all the double Camellias 

 are hardy enough to be treated as garden 

 shrubs. But the success of Dr. Edmundson 

 proves to our minds, that the Camellia might 

 be acclimated as far north as New-York — not 

 by means of slicltering green-house sorts, but 

 by raising seedlings. His plants produce seeds 

 in abundance, we understand, and no doubt 

 seedlings raised from them would give us plants 

 perfectly naturalised to many parts of the 

 northern states. 



California Seeds. — Every botanical reader 

 is aware of the riches of the Flora of our new 

 territory on the Pacific, and a project was start- 

 ed a year ago, to form a subscription to send 

 out a collector to procure rare plants and seeds 

 in California and Oregon, — which, however, 

 was never carried out. We notice, however, 

 that Messrs. Thorburn & Co., offer for sale 

 (at their warehouse, 1-5 John-street, N. Y.) a 

 collection of seeds of 47 different species of the 

 most attractive and showy trees, shrubs, and 

 flowering plants of California, carefully labeled, 

 and put up in tin boxes. These seeds, we are 

 informed, have just been received from Califor- 

 nia, where a collector of experience has devot- 

 ed a season to the exploration of the country, 

 and their collection and preservation. Among 

 them we notice the "Nut Pine," (Pinvs mo- 

 nophyllu.1,) a new evergreen oak, several spe- 

 cies of Spirae, Philadelphus, Stc, not hitherto 

 known or described. Amateurs will do well to 

 make a sowing, in the hope of adding some 

 thing new to their grounds. 



