1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



grandiflora, no trees excel them in grace and dig- 

 nity. A Live Oak tree, draped with breeze stream- 

 ing moss, rivals the queenly New England Elm. 



ORNAMENTING GROUNDS. 

 BY A. G. LEWIS. 



The great pleasure I enjoyed with my flowers and 

 plants, in the summer just over, has induced me, 

 as usual, to care for them in the winter. Having 

 no greenhouse, I tied carefully my century plants, 

 twelve of them, each one separately, so as to gel 

 them in through the doors ; and tieing them ena- 

 bles me to store them away very compactly. My 

 Yuccas (aloefolia) take up very little room, al- 

 though one is eight feet high. I have had it many 

 years: they need scarcely any attention in winter. 

 Without the above two varieties of plants I would 

 be unable to change so many times the appear- 

 ance of my place as I do. I grow them in pots 

 and boxes. At times 1 take them near the front, 

 then near the hall door. My front yard is 25x75. 

 My lot runs 1 50 feet back. My back yard is all 

 in flowers. If a part of it goes out of bloom, or 

 falls short for a time, I form some, design there, 

 using my Agaves, Yuccas and other curious 

 plants. On days in which citizens jubilate my 

 . care plgjits are brought out in some conspicuous 

 way. I at least am satisfied. It pays me to grow 

 Century plants, Yuccas, Aloes, Jerusalem Cherries, 

 Cannas and Caladiums. The latter I place in a 

 box as if they were onions, and put them in a 

 warm place in the cellar — no water in winter. My 

 Gladiolus', Tigridias, and such bulbs, I hang up 

 until needed to plant out. I have too many varie- 1 

 ties of hardy plants, roots and bulbs to describe ' 

 here ; but I must say all act their part well in 

 keeping up a grand sight, from the first appear- 

 ance of the little Snow-drop and Crocus until No- 

 vember, when the Pansy and Chrysanthemum 

 seem to dare frost and snow. I am very partial 

 to hardy flowers, on account of the perpetual satis- 

 faction they give. But house plants, or tender 

 plants, are indispensable to mix for good results ; 

 also annuals and biennials ; and, for those lovely 

 vines that grow and bloom from seed annually, 

 God be praised. Youngstown, O. 



A LAWN GRASS FOR THE SOUTH. 



BY H. W. RAVENEL. 



In December number of Gardeners' Monthly, 

 a correspondent from Charleston inquires about 

 the planting out of Bermuda grass. The usual 



mode is by chopping the root stems into small 

 pieces, so that they have one or two buds to each 

 piece. A feed chopper would answer the purpose 

 very well, if pieces are not cut too small. 



As a lawn grass Bermuda has the objection of 

 being top-killed in winter. When well set, it 

 forms a beautiful green carpet all summer, but at 

 the time when it is most wanted to relieve the 

 dreariness of the winter aspect, it is only a surface 

 of dead, dry leaves. A good lawn grass has long 

 been a desideratum to the Southern country ; 

 something that will stand our hot and dry sum- 

 mers, and retain its green foliage in winter. It is 

 believed that the question has now been solved, 

 at least for the sea-coast region, in the use of one 

 of our native grasses, Stenotaphrum Americanum 

 (Rottbosllia dimidiata of the old botanists). This 

 grass grows all along our coast region, forms 

 running root stems like Bermuda and strikes root 

 at every joint, with a broad flat-lying leaf, of a 

 rich green color, and spreads rapidly on good 

 soil. It has a more prostrate habit than Bermuda, 

 and forms a really beautiful sward. 



The large Marion square in Charleston, cover- 

 ing several acres, is set in the grass, and there are 

 numerous other smaller lawns of it about the city. 

 So far it seems to meet all the requirements of a 

 superior lawn grass in that region. The question 

 now is, how far in the interior will it flourish. 

 Will it bear successful removal from the damp 

 saline atmosphere of the sea-coast ? 



We are giving it a trial here in Aiken, 120 miles 

 inland. The growth of our trial patches during 

 the past summer, (with a very dry autumn) is all 

 that could be desired. If it stands over our winter 

 weather — a few degrees colder than the same 

 latitude on the coast — we will be encouraged in 

 the belief that we have, at last, a superior lawn 

 grass for the South. Aiken, S. C. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Rosa microphylla. — In 1862 Dr. Maximowicz 

 discovered near Lake Hakone, in Central Japan, 

 the original type of the Microphylla rose in a 

 spontaneous condition — the species being only 

 known before from the cultivated forms intro- 

 duced from Chinese gardens. It had solitary 

 flowers with yellowish petals, and is marked in the 

 herbarium of the Botanical Society of St. Peters- 

 burg, Rosa chlorocarpa. The fruit is spinescent, 

 and gives the appearance of a small chestnut; 

 large, pulpy and eatable, the flavor by no means 



