June 13, 1908 



HORTICULTURE 



781 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum 



The Ehododendrons are now in full bloom and the 

 group at the foot of the Hemlock Hill presents a beauti- 

 ful picture. A few of the earliest have already dropped 

 their flowers and the latest are Just starting to bloom, 

 while the great mass is in its prime. As there have been 

 often published lists arranged aeoording to the color of 

 the flowers, but not according to the time of flowering, 

 which is certainh^ a point also to be taken into conside- 

 ration in forming effective groups of Ehododendrons, 

 the following lists attempts to give an arrangement ac- 

 cording to the time of flowering, beginning with those 

 which are already out of bloom: Coriaceum, Lady Arm- 

 strong, Prometheus, Atrosanguineum, 'Kettledrum, R. 

 S. Field, Smirnovii, Charles Dickens, Everestianum, 

 James Macintosh, Purpureum. crispum, Mrs. H S. Hun- 

 newell, Caractacus, Alexander Dancer, Boseum elegans, 

 Edward S. Rand, Mrs. Hardy Ingersoll, Charles S. Sar- 

 gent, Hannibal, F. L. Ames, Purpureum elegans, Ro- 

 seum elegans, Milton, Lady Gray Egerton, F. D, Cod- 

 man, Henrietta Sargent, Album- elegans. Album grandi- 

 florum, Charles Thorold, Delicatissimuin, H. II'. Sar- 

 gent. 



The native Rhododendron calendulaceum is now verj- 

 beautiful ■with its rich flame-red or orauge-red and 

 orange-yellow flower and is hardly surpassed by 

 any of the Ghent Azaleas with flowers ranging 

 in color from pure white to deep crimson. They 

 are chiefly hybrid.s of Rhododendron flavum 

 {Azalea pontica) and the American species, partly also 

 with an infusion of Rhododendron sinense {R. molle). 

 The following is a list of the best now in bloom ar- 

 ranged according to colors. White: Auguste Me- 

 chelynch, Mme. M. Singer, Daviesii, Souvenir de Louis 

 van Houtte; yellow: Anthony Easier, J. A. Koster, 

 Nancy Waterer, Guelder Rose; pink: General Traujf, 

 Aurora de Royghem, Jan van Tol, Grandeur triom- 

 phant, Mme. Moser, Julius Caesar, Queen Victoria, 

 Cardinal; red, crimson or purple: Ghent des batailles, 

 Comte de Flandre, Igneaxnova, Roi des Beiges, Fama 

 and Bronze uniqne vnth. deep crimson flowers, one of 

 the darkest. 



A shrub of striking beauty is the Golden Chain with 

 its drooping racemes of golden yellow flowers; it seems 

 to have fallen somewhat in disfavor because Laburnum 

 rvlgare the species commonly planted is not perfectly 

 hard}' in this section of the country, but there is an- 

 other species, L. alpinum, which has proved much 

 hardier and is equally handsome. The individual flow- 

 ers are somewhat smaller, but the racemes are usually 

 longer and the lustrous foliage is even prettier; its 

 habit is more upright and it grows in its native coun- 

 try into a small tree up to -30 feet in height, but re- 

 mains more often shrubby. Another very effective Le- 

 guminous slirub is Cytisus scoparius, the Scotch Broom, 

 now covered with its large golden yellow flowers ; it is 

 well suited for planting on sandy dry slopes, but is apt 



to suffer in severe winters; it has become naturalized at 

 several places, particularly along the coast. 



Syringa villosa and S. Josikaea are now the only 

 Lilacs in bloom; both are closely related and very simi- 

 lar. The former grows into a broad and bushy shrub 

 and produces its rather dense panicle of pale pink flow- 

 ers in great profusion, while S. Josikaea is a slenderer 

 shrub with violet narrower and looser panicles. Par- 

 ticularly S. villosa (S. Bretschneideri) is to be recom- 

 mended for its good habit and profusion of flowers. 



Some of the Mock Oranges are now in bloom; the 

 earliest is Philadelphu>- hirsutus, a native species, but 

 le.ss ornamental than most other kinds on account of its 

 smaller and scentless flowers; tliis is followed by the 

 popular strongly scented P. coronarkis and by two less 

 known species from eastern Siberia, P. tenuifolius and 

 P. Schrenkii, with only slightly fragrant flowers of a 

 purer white color. Among the handsomest Mock 

 Oranges are certainly the numerous forms derived from 

 P. Lemoinei, of which the exceedingly pretty Boule de 

 neige and Manteau d'hermine are the first to bloom; 

 l)oth are low, graceful shrubs with their slender branches 

 curving under the weight of comparatively small double 

 flowers exhaling a delicate perfume. 



One of the last, of the Bush Honeysuckles to flower 

 and one of the finest is Lonicera Maackii which grows 

 into a rather tall shrub with the spreading branches 

 densely covered with rather large white, slightly fragrant 

 flowers; it is a native of eastern Asia and has proved 

 perfectly hardy, but is still little knovra, though it cer- 

 tainly deserves a place in ornamental shrubberies. While 

 this species is in bloom, Lonicera gracilipes and L. cana- 

 densis (L. ciliata) show already their handsome scarlet 

 berries. 



The many varieties of Diervilla are now in full bloom 

 exhibiting a profusion of flowers mostl}' in different 

 shades of pink and carmine, one of the most beautiful 

 of the pink varieties being Abel Carriere; a handsome 

 pure white variety is Dame Blanche, while one of the 

 darkest is D. floribunda var. Lowei, but the darkest of 

 all and one of the latest to bloom is Eva Rathke. 



Several species of the wild Roses are showing their 

 flowers. One of the most beautiful is the Rosa rugosa 

 with its large purple flowers and its handsome foliage, 

 of which there is also a variety with double flowers and 

 one with pure white flowers. Of Rosa spinosissima 

 which forms a low shrub with very small foliage, the 

 var. altaica with rather large flowers, is one of the 

 prettiest. One of the earliest among the native species 

 is Rom Man da which now brightens up the borders of 

 slirubberies with its pink flowers. 



Our Cover Illustration 



Peonies fill the public eye at present and the present 

 week finds them in full glon' from the latittide of 

 Philadelphia north to Buffalo. The variety Duchesse 

 de Xemours (Guerin), which forms the subject of our 

 cover illustration, is one of the finest of the pinks a 

 sturdy growing, free flowering, effective flower There 

 is another Duchesse de Xemours in the market raised 

 l.v C'alot, which is white. 



