Copyright, 1898. by 

 rbORISTS' PUBLISHING CO.. 520-535 Gaxton Building, GMICftGO. 



Vol. U 



CHICAGO AND NEW YORK, APRIL 28, t898. 



No. 22. 



Easter Basket of Lilies, Azaleas, Hyacinths and Ferns. 

 Arranged by Mr. E. Wienhoeber, Chicago. 



SPRING BLOOMING PERENNIALS. 



The past winter has been remarkable 

 for its mildness: not one of the many 

 species of perennials, even those of a 



rather tender constitution, have suf- 

 fered in the least, neither from frost 

 nor by too much moisture, and every- 

 thing has started vigorously quite 

 early in March, much earlier, in fact. 



than they are accustomed to show any 

 signs of growth in this latitude. At 

 the end of March we very seldom can 

 boast of having anything in bloom in 

 our borders, excepting perhaps the lit- 

 tle scillas, snowdrops. puschl<inias. 

 chionodoxas. crocus and other bulbous 

 plants, but hardly any of the real so- 

 called herbaceous plants show any in- 

 clination to flower until well along in 

 April. 



This season, however, was an ex- 

 ception and a surprise to many of us. 

 The English primroses and their hy- 

 brids were out in full flower on the 

 LMIth of March. Aubrietias were then 

 quite well advanced, with many of 

 their little flowers fully opened out. 

 Arabis albida was also beginning to 

 loolv gay and bright, and the rarer A. 

 rosea was well studded with its nu- 

 merous rosy lilac flowerheads. Mega- 

 seas made a decided show with their 

 bright pink spikes, rising from among 

 the well preserved, shiny, large leath- 

 ery leaves. The charming, free bloom- 

 ing hepaticas were ready to burst open 

 with hundreds of their variously col- 

 ored buds, the large flowering single 

 white being about the very earliest 

 one among ^.^em. Erythroniunis in 

 several colors were well developed and 

 are perfect as ever today (April lii). 



The first week of this month brought 

 on several days and nights of severe 

 hard frosts. We feared serious and 

 permanent injury to such things as 

 were well advanced, but no great 

 amount of damage can be noticed on 

 any of these plants now; though for a 

 few days some of them were drooping 

 and looked as if they never would put 

 up their heads again, all look today as 

 bright and cheery as ever before, cov- 

 ered with a profusion of flowers and 

 with perfect, unharmed foliage. 



Other spring flowers have come out 

 since, such as the yellow calthas, the 

 whole of the phloxes of the subulata 

 section, and P. amoena, a great many 



