166 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



June\ 



Salvia farinosa.— This beautiful blue hardy 

 herbaceous plant, which, under the name of Sal- 

 via Pitcheri has been occasionally seen in 

 American gardens during the past ten or fifteen i 

 years, is being "brought out" by European! 

 growers, and will no doubt now become as pop- ; 

 ular as it deserves. The English and French i 

 magazines say it is a native of Mexico, but it 

 is also of the United States, extending to South- 1 

 ern Kansas. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Pruning Evergreen Hedges. — B., Cin- 

 cinnati, writes: "A few years ago my ever- 

 green hedge was very beautiful. The top was 

 so level as if it were a planed board, and the 

 sides so upright that a plumb line would hardly 

 touch a leaf. Now there are few branches alive 

 at the bottom ; and all the foliage is at the top. 

 Is there any remedy?" 



[We fear not. Our friend can scarcely be an 

 original reader of our magazine, as we have 

 continually shown that to keep a hedge with 

 perfect leaves at the base, these base leaves 

 must have light, which they cannot have per- 

 fectly when the sides are upright. No hedge 

 can be kept in perfect condition from bottom to 

 top, unless the sides are trimmed slopingly from 

 base to apex, like a. When we started the 

 Gardeners' Monthly twenty years ago, these ; 

 square up hedges were common, and we have ; 



taken some credit to ourselves for correcting 



this error. There are none now about Phila- 



[ delphia, and there ought not to be anywhere. 



I —Ed. G. M.] 



! 



I PiNUS PUl^QENS AND PiNUS BANKSIANA. — 



' A St. Louis correspondent says: "The P. pun- 

 ! gens pleases me much, its bright green and 

 I moderate growth are admirable. Pinus Bank- 

 siana is also a favorite with us ; but the nurser- 

 ies seem to have discarded it." 



Acer macrophyllum. — A correspondent 

 writing from St. Louis says : " The Oregon 

 maple has passed the Winter admirably at St. 

 Louis where the thermometer was 8° below 

 zero." This is also Philadelphia experience. 

 It was a very good Winter for deciduous trees. 



Making A New Leader to Evergreens. — 

 B., Cincinnati, O. A new leader can be forced, 

 from any coniferous tree by cutting in the side 

 branches. Every fasciculus or bunch of pine 

 needles, and indeed every single leaf on a spruce 

 or fir, has a dormant, though generally invisible 

 bud in the axil, and these can be forced into 

 growth by preventing side growth, and are so 

 forced by skilful gardeners. 



Magnolia Soulangeana.— Under cultiva- 

 tion all we ever saw of Magnolia Norbertiana, 

 M. Alexandrinae, and M. Soulangeana were ex- 

 actly alike. Can any one tell whether there are 

 distinct kinds under these names ; and if so how 

 are they distinguished ? 



Green House and House Gardening. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



THE BON SILENE ROSE. 



BY S. MEMPHIS, TENN. 



In the Gardener's Chronicle of January 11th, 

 page 55, R. B., of Philadelphia, speaks in glow- 

 ing terms of the Rose Bon Silene. Now, Mr. 

 Editor, the Bon Silene is an old rose, known to 

 me and has been in my possession for thirty 



years here in Memphis. It nearly went out of 

 existence, until certain quacks in New York 

 resurrected the old favorite rose Golconda and 

 called it Bon Silene. Both these roses are very 

 fine, and Golconda is the true name of the rose 

 now scattered as Bon Silene ; and the true B. S. 

 I have not found outside of what I have. It is 

 Devoniensis in shape and appearance of flower, 

 color dark cherry red, very distinct and striking. 



