THE 



NEW YORK 



BOTANlCAl 



CARDEN 



GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



AND 



HORTICULTURIST. 



DEVOTED JO HORTICULTURE. ARBORICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS. 



Edited by THOMAS MEEHAN. 



Volume XVIII. 



JANUAEY, 1876. 



Number 205. 



BIlOWER &RDEN AND pLEASURE &OUND. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



In the North, with the great body of vegetation 

 still shrouded in snow and the usual habiliments 

 of winter, little can be done in this department ; 

 but in the Southern States gardening operations 

 will be about commencing actively. Pruning 

 should be completed as soon as possible. Some 

 judgment is required in pruning flowering shrubs, 

 roses, &c., although it is usual to act as if it were 

 one of the most conamon-place operations. One 

 of the most clumsy of the hands is commonly 

 set with a shears, and he " goes through " the 

 whole place, clipping off everything indiscrimin- 

 ately. Distinction should be made between those 

 flowering shrubs that make a vigorous growth, 

 and those which grow weakly; and between 

 those which flower on the old wood of last year, 

 and those which flower on the new growth of 

 next season, as the effect of pruning is to force a 

 strong and vigorous growth. Those specimens 

 that already grow too strong to flower well, 

 should be only lightly pruned ; and, in the same 

 individual, the weakest shoots should be cut in 

 more severely than the stronger ones. Some 

 things like the Mock Oranges, Lilacs, and others, 

 flower on the wood of last year — to prune these 

 much now, therefore, destroys the flowering: 

 while such as Altheas, which flower on the young 

 Qjwood, cannot be too severely cut in, looking to 

 LOImat operation alone. We give below a full list 

 ■•— . of the shrubs in most common cultivation, of the 

 t^-j diff'erent classes. 







Ornamental shrubs that flower chiefly from the 

 wood of the preceding year : Snowy Mespilus, 

 Dwarf Almond, the different kinds of Androme- 

 das, Azalias, Kalmias, Rhododendrons, Calycan- 

 thus, Corchorus, Cornelian Cherry and the other 

 Dogwoods; Philadelphuses, Deutzias, Mezereon, 

 Leather-wood, Fothergilla, Golden Bell, Hydran- 

 geas, Itea Virginica, Jasmines, Privet, Upright 

 Fly and Tartarian Honeysuckles, Pyrus japonica; 

 the Missouri and other ornamental currants; 

 most of the early flowering Spiraeas, Dwarf Pavias, 

 Snow Berries, Guelder Rose, Wiegelia rosea, Per- 

 sian and other Lilacs, Annual Roses. 



Shrubs that flower from the present season's 

 growth: Amorpha fruticosa, Ceanothus Ameri- 

 cana, Bladder Senna, Coronillas, Burning Bushes, 

 Genistas, Scotch Broom, Althaea; Hypericums, 

 such as Kalmianum, Prolificum, &c. ; Green- 

 fringe, Flowering Locusts; the Fall-flowering 

 Spirjeas, Tamarix, Vitex agnis-castus, &c. These 

 lists also embrace the most desirable of orna- 

 mental shrubs in cultivation, from which the 

 amateur may select when the planting season 

 arrives. 



In pruning roses, the Fall-blooming kinds, 

 which flower on the new growth, may be pruned 

 as severely as we wish— in fact, the " harder " they 

 are cut in the better. In this class are the Nois- 

 ette, Bourbon, Tea, China, and Hybrid Perpetual, 

 and Perpetual Moss. Without considerable ex- 

 perience it is difficult for the amateur to distin- 

 guish these classes. The best way to get over 

 the difficulty is to obtain the catalogues of the 

 principal rose-growers, in which each kind is 



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