July 11, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



33 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum 



One of the most beautiful shrubs now in bloom is 

 the Prairie Pose, Rosa sctigrra, the handsomest of our 

 native Boses when covered with clusters of large pink 

 flowers. In its natural state it is usually found climb- 

 ing over bushes and attains up to 15 feet in height, 

 while in cultivation it may be trained to cover walls 

 or fences or it may be planted on slopes and banks 

 which it will soon cover with its long arching and trail- 

 ing branches. It blooms later and more profusely than 

 other native Roses and is also to be recommended for 

 its clean foliage turning in autumn to orange and 

 scarlet. 



Another handsome native shrub now in flower is 

 Ceanothus americanus with panicles of white flowers, 

 but handsomer is C. hybridus flore plena with light pink 

 flowers. There are also other hybrids of C. americanus 

 with flowers in different shades of pink and blue, but 

 most of them are not hardy in the neighborhood of 

 Boston. 



A very showy shrub is now Hydrangea arborescens 

 var. grandiflora with its large heads of pure white flow- 

 ers ; it is certainly one of the best novelties of late years 

 and a welcome substitute for the tender Japanese H. 

 hortensis. At its best development it is round bush 

 from four to six feet in height or even higher, the 

 long branches weighed down by the large white flower 

 heads. The creamy white flower clusters of the parent 

 plant, II. arborescens, are far less showy as are those 

 of the very similar //. cinerea and H. radiata. Also 

 //. paniculate, var. praccox, which flowers several weeks 

 earlier than the common form, is now beginning to 

 bloom. Hydrangea Bretschneideri is out of bloom some 

 time since, but the sterile flowers of its clusters which 

 are very similar to those of Viburnum Opulus are still 

 on the plant though somewhat discolored. It is to be 

 recommended as the earliest of the Hydrangeas and is 

 perfectly hardy. 



A very graceful shrub is Buddleia variabilis with its 

 branches topped by slender racemes of lilac flowers. As 

 its name implies it is very variable and as the best of its 

 forms the variety Veitchiana is to be named which has 

 longer panicles of larger flowers of a deeper color with 

 bright yellow throat. Though it is not perfectly hardy, 

 it pushes forth young shoots freely if killed to the 

 ground and usually flowers again in the same year. 



Besides the summer-blooming Spireas mentioned in 

 the last issue Spiraea Margaritae must be mentioned as 

 one of the best and most graceful of the flat-clustered 

 kinds: it is a rather tall form with large clusters of 

 bright pink flowers and of less stiff habit than most of 

 the other allied Spireas. Of the kinds with flowers in 

 panicles several forms with broad panicles are now in 

 bloom, as Spiraea Nobleana, S. pachystachys and S. 

 syringiflora with pink flow-ers and S. notha with pink- 

 ish white flowers ; all these are hybrids between species 

 with flat clusters and those with elongated spikes. Of 

 the latter group the native S. Douglasii and S. Men- 

 ziesii and the hybrid S. Billardii, all with pink flowers, 

 are beginning to bloom. 



The Bladder Senna, Colutea arborescens, bears orna- 

 mental flowers and fruit at the same time and is now 

 very attractive with its yellow flowers and large bladder- 

 like purplish green pods which will both continue to 

 appear until September; C. media is similar but has 

 orange yellow or brownish red flowers. Of other yel- 

 low flowered Leguminous shrubs not yet noted may be 

 mentioned here Cytisus capitatus, a low shrub with up- 

 right stems topped by dense heads of rather large flow- 

 ers and C. nigricans with the flowers in slender elon- 



gated racemes; these shrubs like most Cytisus are well 

 suited for sandy or rocky soil and sunny situations. 

 Another very handsome Leguminous shrub is Indigo- 

 fer'a decora var. alba, a low Biiffiruticose or nearly herba- 

 ceous plant with handsome bright green foliage and 

 white flowers in axillary racemes. 



Some of the Cherries are now beginning to ripen 

 their fruits: Prunus pennsylvanica is very attractive 

 with its small but numerous bright red fruits along its 

 slender branches and also the Sweet and the Sour Cher- 

 ries, P. avium and P. Cerasus, are now beautiful with 

 their lustrous red fruits glistening between the foliage; 

 though usually classed as fruit trees, they deserve also 

 a place for their flowers as well as for their fruits in 

 ornamental plantations. Among the most beautiful is, 

 however, the shrubbery Japanese P. tomentosa which 

 has now its spreading branches densely studded with 

 almost sessile bright red glossy fruits; it is one of the 

 earliest to bloom, but is hardly so beautiful in flower as 

 it is in its present fruiting state. 



Rhododendrons at Regents Park 



Beneath an enormous tent in the Gardens of the 

 Royal Botanic Society at Regents Park, London, there 

 is at the moment of writing a magnificent display of 

 rhododendrons staged by the well-known firm of Amer- 

 ican plant specialists, .Messrs. J. Waterer and Sons of 

 Bagshot. The grand plan is at once effective and artis- 

 tic and the plants are tastefully arranged. Around 

 the outer edge of the tent there is a long border of good 

 width filled with the plants while in the middle there 

 is a series of shaped beds, with wide paths intervening, 

 also filled with plants in the pink of perfection. The 

 whole show is a brilliant mass of color visible from al- 

 most every point and in the aggregate there are about 

 two thousand plants many of which are of great size. 

 About two hundred varieties are included in the collec- 

 tion, the finest of which are probably Pink Pearl, 

 Gomer Waterer, Lady Clementine Welsh, Mrs. Tritton, 

 Fred Waterer, Kate Waterer and Michael Waterer. 



But apart from these there are so many other striking 

 and effective varieties that it would be extremely dif- 

 ficult for the uninitiated to make a selection — the lovely 

 shades of white, rose, pink, crimson, etc., being most 

 dazzling in the masses in which they are presented to 

 the public view. A few may be mentioned : Album 

 Elegans, a fine white: Alexr. Adie, bright rosy scarlet, 

 very fine flower: Blandyanum, rosy crimson; Butleri- 

 anum. white tinged with pink; B. W. Elliott, clear rose, 

 dark spots; Chinoides, creamy white; Concessum. light 

 centre lined rose; Countess of Tankerville, clear rose; 

 Cynthia, rosy crimson; Delicatissimum, clear white 

 tinted pink; Duchess of Bedford, crimson, light centre; 

 Bverestianum. rosy lilac; Francis B. Ha3'es, white with 

 black spots: Fred "Waterer, intense crimson: Gomer 

 Waterer, white, slightly blushed, very large flowers; 

 H. W. Sargeant, crimson; James Mason, light centre 

 with bright scarlet edging; John Waterer, deep car- 

 mine, large: Kate Waterer, clear rosy crimson, blotched 

 yellow: Loquendum, scarlet with white centre; Mnie. 

 Carvalho, white: Minnie, bluish white; Mrs. Holford, 

 salmon crimson: Mr. John Penn, salmon pink; Pink 

 Pearl, flesh colored pink: Queen, white: Sappho, white 

 with black spots: Strategist, soft pink, and many more. 



