HiEl%Y(T WIJUM'IS., 



£-S£ 



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YOL. 28. 



APEIL, 1873. 



1^0. 322. 



Garden Topics. 



BY THE EDITOR. 

 The fountain JPlant. 



Despite the adverse circumstances which may have produced its failure in some 

 localities, the general testimony seems to be in its favor, and the Amaranthus salici- 

 folius is a success. It appears to have met with more success in northern latitudes 

 than in southern ones. We notice that the most enthusiastic commendations come 

 from gardens located along the Hudson river, or in Vermont and Massachusetts — 

 uniformly wherever the soil has been sandy. On the grounds of Hon. Horace 

 Fairbanks, near St. Johnsbury, Vt., there was raised last year, by Alfred Par- 

 ker, his gardener, a plant which was 7| feet in height, and ten feet around the 

 branches, with a stem six inches in circumference. (So says the Vermont Farmer.) 

 The seeds were sown in a pot in the greenhouse, in March, came up well, and grew 

 slowly for a while. Mr. Parker then potted them separately, and they soon began 

 to grow with surprising rapidity. Some of them were kept under glass all sum- 

 mer, others upon the verandah, and others still in the open ground ; and they 

 have done equally well in every place. No one can see these fine plants without 

 being struck with their graceful habit of growth, their long, pendulous, and beauti- 

 fully waved and crinkled foliage, as well as the striking and finely variegated colors 

 of the whole plant. The stems are a dark red with a fine polish, the leaves at the 

 tips of the main stem and branches form plumes of mixed crimson, yellow and green, 

 very clear and vivid in coloring always, but varying in shade and tint with the 

 degree of exposure to direct sunlight. The older leaves are mottled red and green, 

 growing darker and somewhat duller with age, but never shabby or unpleasing in 

 hue. So far is this plant from requiring a cool atmosphere and shelter from the sun 

 that Mr. Parker's plants did not begin to grow rapidly until warm weather began, 

 and those that have had the most sun have grown the best and exhibited their desira- 

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