26o 



GARDENING. 



May IS, 



Smaller vines or trailers for vases and 

 baskets are Mesewbryanthemum barba- 

 tum, M cordifoliuw rariegatum and M. 

 crystaUinum, all with tiny pink flowers 

 and Othonna crassifolia, a very pretty 

 trailer with small yellow flowers 



Calceolaria rugosa although not a 

 trailer is well adapted for filling vases. 

 Its golden yellow flowers instills a con- 

 siderable amount of life into our stands. 

 Tropxolum, both the dwarf and taller 

 varieties, seem to give best satisfaction 

 when used in vases. For bedding I have 

 never found them to give the amount of 

 flowers claimed for them. 1 always had 

 to be contented with leaves. Was I too 

 good to them ? 



Linaria cymballaria (Kenilworth ivy) 

 with small flowers of a lilac hue. Humu- 

 lus Japonica rariegata (Japanese hop) is 

 better adapted for climbing on the porch 

 than in vases. 



Rose geraniums if not attractive as a 

 bloomer are much wanted for bouquet 

 green and should occupy a place in the 

 mixed border. Use solanum Cornucopia 

 for single plants on the lawn or in the 

 perennial border. Cockscombs (Celosia 

 cristata) are beautiful bedders, and espe- 

 cially when mixed with such plants as 

 Centaurea candidissima and Cineraria 

 maritiwa, both having silver white foli- 

 age. 



FOR MIXED BORDER OR MASSES. 

 For the mixed border or for massing in 

 separate beds the following plants can be 

 raised by every one that will take the 

 trouble to sow the seed either in the 

 house or in a hotbed, and if early flowers 

 are not desired they can be sown in the 



open gr 



id whenever wanted. 



Godetias, calendulas, asters, coreopsis, 

 Nicotiana atiinis, browallia, cypress vine 

 (doesn't like transplanting), cosmos, 

 sweet peas (sow in the open ground), 

 four o'clock, gaillardias, larkspur, mari- 

 gold, ten weeks stocks, zinnias (the 

 dwarf varieties, are very eflffctive in 

 masses orfor bordering), sunflowers, sca- 

 bios, poppies (sow in open ground), san- 

 vitalia (fine for the rockery), portui cca 

 (sow in open ground), pinks Diantlius 

 sinensis, Drummond's phlox, balsams, 

 bachelor buttons, Centaurea cyanus and 

 snaodragons. 



EFFECTIVE FOLIAGE. 



Aniarantus splendens and tricolor, 

 Ricinus Zanzibarensis, a distinct class 

 that surpasses in size and beauty all the 

 other varieties Nicotiana purpurea and 

 colossea. The latter makes a fine plant 

 for single grouping ou the lawn. Musa 

 ensete (Abyssinian banana) should first 

 be started in a hotbed. If grown to per- 

 fection its large leaves give a tropical 

 appearance to the garden. 



Caladium esculentum is fine as a single 

 specimen or as a border for canna beds. 

 Variegated corn and the red and yellow 

 leaved Chilian beets are also eflTective for 

 color in foliage. 



CANNAS. 



The plant that to-day both for its foli- 

 age and flowers, be it single or in masses, 

 almost takes the lead as a bedder is 

 the canna. Aside from the chrysan- 

 themum, no other plant has been more 

 glorified by the hybridizer in the last ten 

 years than the canna, and still we keep 

 guessing what will come next. The vari- 

 eties we are growing foots up into the 

 hundreds, but they have not all ef|ual 

 merits. 



For massing I prefer Mme. Crozy, scar- 

 let; Eg ndale, crimson flowers and dark 

 foliage; and Florence Vaughan, yellow, all 

 about the same height. They are good 

 to propagate and easy to take care of 

 during the winter. Other varieties of 



good merits are M. Alphonse Bouvier, 

 scarlet; Midway, rich vermilion; Chicago, 

 scarlet; J. D. Cabos, rich apricot; Queen 

 Charlotte, scarlet with golden border; 

 Sophie Buchner, vermilion ; ]. C. 

 Vaughan, rose, dark foliage; Flamingo, 

 crimson; Gustave Senneholz (Paul Mar- 

 quant), deep salmon and Starof '91. scar- 

 let, and the smallest of the type, making 

 a splendid bed or border for the taller 

 varieties. 



BEGONIA SEMPERFLORENS. 



Is another plant that has a future as a 

 bedder. Its varieties are good bloomers 

 and will grow in almost any position: 

 they are easily propagated from seed and 

 strong growers The best of them is 

 atropurpurea (Vernon); it has bright red 

 flowers and beautiful dark red foliage. 

 Equalh' good and for certain purposes 

 better is the dwarf form of Vernon called 

 compacta. 



ROSES. 



Of roses that give good satisfaction as 

 bedders there is none like the Polyantha 

 class, flowering as they do all summer, and 

 their dwarf habit is a great point gained 

 in bedding roses. Some good varieties 

 are Clothilde Soupert, both the white 

 and pink forms, and Kaiserin Augusta 

 Victoria, creamy white. Otherfree bloom- 

 ing bedders are Meteor, crimson, Her- 

 mosa, pink, and La France, rose. 



FINE FOLIAGE PLANTS. 



As foliage plants that can only be had 

 by those who are fortunate to possess a 

 conservatory, are acalyphas and crotons. 

 Not enough praise can be given to these 

 plants as bedders and it is to be hoped 

 that they will occupy a prominent place 

 in the garden of the future. Other foliage 

 plants useful for border or for variety ot 

 foliage in vases, and easy to propagate, 

 are the coleus, containing a number of 

 varieties, of which the best dark one is 

 Verschafleltii. The iresincsare also desir- 

 able for dark foliage in borders and rib- 

 bon-. For light colors we have golf'en 

 pyrcthrum, Gnaphalium margaritaceum 

 (antennaria), and variegated stevia. 



CARPETING PLANTS. 



There still remain all those plants that 

 have occupied so prominent a place in 

 our bedding of bygone days [Unfortun- 

 ately these days are not yet bygone.— Ed.] 

 and are still used to a limited extent, and 

 in geometrical gardening. I refer to the 

 foliage plants used for carpet bedding. 

 Thev include: 



DARK FOLIAGE. 



Alternanthera amabilis,an6 its variety 

 awcena, A. paronychioides, and its vari- 

 ety major, and A. versicolor. 



LIGHT COLORS. 



Alternanthera aurea nana, yellow; Leu- 

 copbyton Brownii, variegated thyme and 

 sweet alyssum; Salvia officinalis aurea, 

 Santolina chamsecyparissus incana, Mes- 

 ewbryanthemum cordifolium variegatum, 

 Othonna crassifolia , Sedum acre aureum, 

 Sedum carneum variegatum. and P/7ea 

 repens. Bulbous plants for the mixed bor- 

 der. Dahlias, gladiolus Hyacinthus can- 

 dicans, tigridias, lilies, montbretias.tuber- 

 oses, Lilium auratum, L. Brownii, su- 

 perbum and a host of others. 



Jas. Jensen. 



Supt. Humboldt Park, Chicago. 



flARDY PLflMS IN BLOOM MAY II, '96. 



Veronica gentianoides is one of the 

 earliest of the speedwells to blossom; it 

 is a low, dwarf plant with spikes of 

 lavender colored flowers. There is an- 

 other form of this plant which produces 

 its flowers two or three weeks later. 



The Asiatic globe flower (Trollius) 



makes a nice border plant, producing at 

 this time many pale yellow globe-shaped 

 blossom. 



The Iceland poppies (Papaver nudi- 

 caule) in our rock-garden has naturaliz.d 

 itself In an elevated open position they 

 grow freely, but if there is any chance of 

 water lodging around them the old plants 

 rot ofTiu the winter. They grow about 

 fifteen inches high. Some of them have 

 yellow flowers, others white or orange- 

 red ones. They are very easily raised 

 from seed and a few plants should be 

 raised each year, Dicentra {Dielytra) 

 spectabilis is one of the commonest and 

 most graceful of herbaceous plants and is 

 now in bloom. It is very hardy and free 

 flowering, about two feet high and has 

 handsome much divided foliage. Its 

 flowers are rosy crimson, heart-shaped 

 and produced in long, loose graceful 

 clusters. It grows well in any ordinary 

 good garden soil and almost in any situa- 

 tion. The golden alyssum [Alyssum 

 saxatile) is covered with fragrant golden 

 flowers. It makes a good border plant, 

 but is most effective in the rock-garden in 

 large masses. The dwarf crccpiiiK 

 phloxes are completely covered with 

 flowers. Phlox suhuhita (the moss pink) 

 and its varieties have flowers varying in 

 color from pinkish purple to pure white. 

 This plant grows well on a dry sandy 

 bank. Phlox procumhens is another 

 dwarf plant with lilac-colored flowers, 

 and Phlox Stellaria has lavender ones. 

 These dwarf phloxes grow luxuriantly in 

 light sandy soil and an open position. 



One of the finest hardy pea flowered 

 plants in bloom is Orobus vernus. It 

 grows about fifteen inches high and pro- 

 duces a large quantity of flowers for the 

 size of the plant. The flowers, purp'e and 

 blue, are borne above the foliage on 

 nodding stalks. The plant likes a deep 

 rich soil, but grows C(|u.Tlly well in a 

 shaded position or one lully c.x|)osecl to 

 the sun. It is quite hardy and iktcIs no 

 protection. Another pea flowered plant 

 is Lathy ruspalustris; itsfl')wersresemble 

 those of Orobus, but are not produced so 

 plentifully, neither has the plant so com- 

 pact a habit. Polemonium reptans is a 

 dwarf native plant that has showy blue 

 flowers. Its height is about eight inches 

 and its flowers are borne in loose trusses. 

 It thrives in an open position and a light 

 rich soil. 



Stellaria Holostea is a dwarf plant 

 with a profusion of white star-shaped 

 flowers. It grows very vigorously and 

 if not kept within bounds soon covers up 

 the dwarf plants in the border alongside 

 of it. The Rocky Mountain columbine 

 {.iquilegia C(iTu/ea) is lovely now: so is 

 A Canadensis. 



The white snowdrop-like su nmer 

 snowflake (Leucojum xstivum) is a b Ib- 

 ous plant that grows about fifteen inches 

 high and has long, narrow, deep green 

 leaves. The flowers, which rise above 

 the foliage, are produced in small clusters 

 at the ends of the stalks and are of a 

 pure white color. Plant the bulbs in the 

 lall, three or four inches deep, in good 

 rich soil and in a slightly shaded position 

 and they will produce annually after- 

 wards their beautiful flowers. 



.\ubrietia deltoidea in the rock-garden 

 clings el se to the ground and produces 

 at this time small clusters of pretty pur- 

 plish flowers. In a moist shady position 

 the fine large white flowers of Trillium 

 grandifforum ar. much admired. 



Under the shade of the native rhodo- 

 dendrons masses of the yellow-flowered 

 native dogtooth violet (Erythoniuni 

 Americanum) grows and multiplies very 

 freely in the peaty soil. 



