M 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



195 



were put out, a " cold wave " swooped down 

 upon us with vengeful fury. For over a week 

 the mercury ranged from 33° to 49° at night, 

 with a cold easterly wind, and storm part of the 

 time. 



I covered them up, poor little " babes in the 

 woods," with leaves, straw, inverted flower-pots, 

 and the like, but the cold went through it all and 

 chilled them to the very marrow. I really 

 couldn't sleep nights, thinking of the new 

 " slaughter of the innocents " going on, it seemed 

 to me, at my instigation. All this time the 

 leaves were losing their beautiful color; and 

 though it grew warmer, a little after a time, the 

 Caladiums only grew smaller. After three 

 weeks trial, fearing I should lose them utterly, I 

 took them all up into pots and set them in a 

 sunny window. Ah ! how delightful they were! 

 They grew like magic, and spread out their 

 lovely leaves, each leaf growing prettier and 

 prettier in its markings the season through. 



But I have lost my confiding faith in " Cala- 

 diums as bedding plants," at least for New Eng- 

 land. But who cares for a Caladium bed any- 

 way? Baltimore can have them all to herself. 



I flowered for the first time Hyacinthus can- 

 dicans last summer. I think it has been much 

 overrated. The stalk runs up spindling and the 

 flowers look straggling, being someway apart, 

 and never many at once, as they soon fade. 

 They have no fragrance, and only by having a 

 large bed of them would they make any show in 

 the garden, and I do not think they will prove 

 of any value for cut flowers. Perhaps, however, 

 a more favorable season will give me a better 

 opinion of them. 



I grew, from seed, a bed of new Salvia 

 farinacea. It began blooming about the first of 

 August, and was the last to succumb to the frost. 

 I was, however, a good deal disappointed in this 

 also. I had somehow got the impression that 

 it was after the style of S. splendens. Its small, 

 close-set flowers are not at all conspicuous in the 

 garden. It makes no show at a little distance, 

 but the curious woolly-looking calyx gives it a 

 dainty look on close inspection, and the delicate 

 shade of color is excellent for toning down reds 

 and yellows in bouquets. It is worth growing 

 for this purpose alone. But I hope some day 

 florists will give us a blue Salvia of this shade, 

 with flowers the size of L. splendens, and as 

 closely set and as free flowering. 



Through the generosity of Mrs. Wm, Barr, of 

 Orange, N. J, (a lady who grows plants for the 



pure pleasure of giving them away), I received 

 a half dozen seedling plants of the new single 

 Dahlias. She imported the seed from Cannell's, 

 from which they were grown. But I hear them 

 called '' Mexican Dahlias," and the question 

 arises, why import seed from England if they are 

 natives of this continent? 



They grew freely and came into flower about 

 the middle of August. One grew over six feet 

 high, and the plant and flower were no different 

 from seedlings I had previously grown from 

 our ordinary Dahlias. The flower was large, 

 single, and in color a fine maroon. The other 

 five, however, were very dwarf and bushy in 

 growth, and the flowers were about half as large. 

 The colors were light and dark scarlet and 

 canary yellow, the color very pure and vivid. 

 They are charming for bouquets, as well as ex- 

 ceedingly brilliant and showy in the garden. If 

 they could only be made to flower earlier they 

 would be of great value for garden work. I 

 have seen lovely shades of pink, purple, and a 

 rich, velvety claret, as well as pure white. If 

 they can be kept dwarf I think they will be- 

 come exceedingly popular. A plant in full 

 flower — and they are very floriferous — looks as 

 if set with glowing stars, as they stand erect on 

 their long, graceful-looking stems, 



I also received from Mrs. Barr a basket of the 

 new Coleus, something over twenty varieties. 

 With a few exceptions they grew and colored 

 finely, notwithstanding the exceptional charac- 

 ter of the weather. Of the dark sorts Super- 

 bissima was best. Marvellous and Kentish Fire 

 next. The light varieties doing best in open 

 ground were Illuminator, Sunfish, Speciosa and 

 Retta Kirkpatrick, the last two green and white. 

 Of the spotted varieties Spotted Gem is the most 

 reliable. All the striped and spotted sorts are, 

 however, very much alike. For indoors. Star- 

 light is the prettiest thing I ever saw. It is a 

 beautiful yellow veined with vivid crimson. All 

 of them are, however, fine for the house, if you 

 keep them close enough to the glass. And yet, 

 after all, for a rich mass of color on a lawn, 

 Verschaffelti is still king. 



The prettiest thing in the way of a foliage 

 plant I ever grew, and which I have never seen 

 mentioned, though it may not be new, was Nico- 

 tiana variegata. I had the seed from E. Wyman, 

 Rockford, 111., and have seen it advertised by no 

 one else. It seems to be a variegated form of 

 the ordinary Nicotiana. It is, however, less 

 robust in growth, mine growing from three to 



