278 



• • • GARDENING. 



June /, 



poplar? It is one of our brightest of 

 fancy-leaved shrubs, as we cut it down to 

 ten or twelve feet and use it for a screen 

 to shut out a vista of the trunks." 

 California. M. B. E. 



1. Seedling wistarias are just as good 

 and true as those are that are raised 

 from cuttings, root sprouts, or layers, 

 except that they are slower in coming 

 into bloom; and in the case of the white- 

 flowered varieties there is no absolute 

 certainty that the seedling may be white 

 and not blue flowered. Both American 

 ( W.frutescens) and Chinese (H'. Sinensis) 

 wistarias bloom twice a year, namely in 

 full measure in spring, and seatteringly 

 later on. We cannot tell, without a fuller 

 description of it than you give us, what 

 the pale lavender one is, but suspect it 

 must be the American one, which is later 

 blooming than the other, and never so 

 full, and has shorter, chunkier clusters. 

 The effect of the irrigation after the wood 

 had formed would be, we should expect, 

 as you say, to throw the vines into a 

 renewed burst of bloom. 



2. The effect of irrigation on jessamines 

 and clematis we should expect would be 

 as you have found, but this refers to the 

 large-flowered clematis as Miss Bateman 

 and Jackmanii only and not to the small 

 fleecy-flowered ones as montana, Flam- 

 miila and paniculata? 



3. So long as you keepthe golden pop- 

 lar cut down, so long you will be likely 

 to hold it in good thrifty condition and 

 with fine foliage. But as a specimen 

 lawn tree it isn't one we would hanker 

 after. 



DOUBLE FLOWBRED IHOCK ORANGE. 



Fresno, Cal., writes: "Is it common for 

 the mock orange (Philadelplms) to show 

 blossoms of both kinds like the enclosed. 

 We have two large plants ten to twelve 

 feet high and as large through— that bear 

 every year from half to fifth of their crop 

 of double flowers. Can you tell us the 

 name of this variety as it is much finer 

 than the other common ones we have." 



Ans. The variety is, apparently, aform 

 of Philadelpbus coronarius, and a good 

 one, its flowers being whiter than usual, 

 and quite as fragrant. The doubling is 

 not uncommon, but the proportion is 

 unusual. Of course we have a variety 

 with all double flowers, and we have 

 before now seen the double and single 

 blossoms on the same plant. 



flZflLEfl IWOLLIS. 



This, more properlv speaking. Azalea 

 sinensis, is commonly known as the Jap- 

 anese flame-colored azalea. It claims 

 China as well as lapan for its home, but 

 it probably reached us from Japan. It is 

 an extremely showy plant in the open 

 garden, blooming in the middle of May, 

 and a dozen or more plants groujied 

 clo.sely together, presents a brilliant mass 

 of color ranging from a clear lemon yel- 

 low to orange red. The common name 

 "flame colored" is appropriate, but it is 

 the flame color of a brilliant sunset that 

 it imitates. These plants are propagated 

 largely in Holland, as well asinthiscoun- 

 try , and can be obtained in the form of bush 

 plantsorstandards. Thcillustration here 

 given is from a photograph taken May 15 

 of the present year, when the bloonis of 

 some of the standards were a little past 

 their best. It comprizes a dozen bush 

 and six standard plants. This is the 

 third season in which they have blos- 

 somed and they were betterbuddcd this 

 spring than when I obtained them. I 

 mention this to show that these iilaiits 



can be grown with fair success under 

 proper conditions even in our climate, 

 which is so uncongenial to this genus. 



When obtained from the nurserv- their 

 ball of roots was immersed in a tub of 

 water for ten or more minutes. A safe 

 rule is to allow them to remain immersed 

 until the air bubbles discontinue rising to 

 the surface. Every air bvtbble appearing 

 tells of a dry spot in among the roots 

 where the water has gone in and driven 

 it out. As our soil is a clay loam and 

 supposed to contain lime, which "they 

 say" is not congenial to plants of this 

 class I substituted black soil and leaf 

 mould. 



Planting the az lea — and the rhododen- 

 dron also— req uires certain speci fie details , 

 upon which the success or failure depends. 

 The immersion spoken of above is one, 

 and a thoroughly pounded, compacted 

 soil surrounding the ball of roots, when 

 planted out, is another. Thiir roots are 

 minutely fibrous, almost hair-like, and 

 multitudinous in number, and embrace 

 and permeate the soil immediately sur- 

 rounding them, in such a way that the 

 "ball" of roots can be carried around, and 

 in fact roughly treated, without much 

 soil being shaken off. When these hard 

 balls are planted in the ordinary loose 

 soil, and in the ordinary way, they shed 

 all water falling upon them; it escaping 

 into the surrounding loose soil, which 

 their roots do not penetrate to anj^ great 

 extent. Gradually the ball becomes dry 

 and weakness and death follows. 



I dig a hole some four inches wider all 

 round than the ball to be planted, setting 

 it at a depth equal to that it occupied in 

 the nursery, which is indicated by the 

 earth stain upon the stem. Then break 

 down the soil from the outer edge of the 

 hole a few inches deep at a time, pounding 

 each layer hard with a brick, rammer or 

 anything that will pound it hard, gradu- 

 allv filling up even with the surface, the 

 object being to have all the soil in the 

 bed, in between the plants, as compact as 

 it is in among the roots. Then the water 

 will go where it can benefit them. Mine 

 are planted quite thickly, in fact the 

 branches almost touch each other. The 

 standards are distributed among the 

 bush forms in such a manner that when 

 viewed from our porch it gives two tiers 

 of bloom. When planted permanently 

 more room should be allowed each plant. 

 After flowering all seed pods are cut or 

 pinched off, so as to ( How what energj- 

 the plant would naturally expend in ma- 

 turing them to be devoted towards pro- 

 ducing flower buds for next season's 

 bloom. Planted in among them are a few 

 plants of Callirrlioe inro/ucrafa, the crim- 

 son flowered poppy mallow, which trail 

 upon the ground, and give their pleasing 

 flowers all summer. Occasionally one 

 becomes obtrusive and appropriates an 

 azalea for a trellis but it is dislodged, as 

 nothing should interfere with the full ma- 

 turity of the azalea. When fall comes 

 the plants are lifted and treated to the 

 same tub bath again, as they should go 

 into winter quarters without a suspicion 

 of dryness at the roots, and then planted 

 in any box or boxes that come handy- 

 soap boxes are good— and then wintered 

 in a cellar where the tem])erature ranges 

 from 32° to -4-5°. They remain there 

 until about April 25, when they once 

 more undergo their semi-annual bath and 

 are planted out. 



In another part of my grounds is a 

 group of smaller plants that have passed 

 their third winter in the open ground, 

 well protected with leaves and a box 

 placed over them, but they are not as 

 -- igorousasthosccntertained in the cellar. 



In order to get detail in the picture 

 illustrated, the camera was placed quite 

 closely to the plants, so that their rela- 

 tive pisition in the bed is not shown. 

 The bed, part of which they occupy, runs 

 out into the lawn like a bay across which 

 you see the lawn. The border immedi- 

 ately in front of the azaleas is the multi- 

 named Astilbe Japoniea, also known as 

 Hoteia Japoniea and Spiraea Japoniea, 

 which will soon be in bloom. Those to 

 the left are perennial phlox and to the 

 immediate left of them is a group of col- 

 umbines. W. C. Egan. 



Egandale, Chicago, May 22, '96. 



[We may say that Azalea mollis (Rho- 

 dodendron sinense) is perfectly hardy at 

 Dosoris, and too, seemingly here in Pitts- 

 burg While its flowers are not as bril- 

 liantly colored as are many of the Ghent 

 varieties, its blossoms are larger and 

 more pleasing, and better still, the plants 

 bear moving with more impunity. For 

 winter forcing in the greenhouse they are 

 very good. — Ed.] 



The Burr Oak and Green Ash for 

 DRY CLIMATES. — In Rural Life a Nebraska 

 farmer is quoted as saying "One lesson 

 apparently taught by the drouth is that 

 some varieties of forest trees generally 

 planted are unsuited for our dry climate. 

 * * * This spring the maples are about 

 all dead, catalpas more than half and 

 walnuts about one-fourth dead, while 

 burr oaks and green ash are all alive and 

 growing." And the editor. Prof. L. J. 

 Budd, of Ames, Iowa, remarks. "We have 

 watched the behavior of the burr oak and 

 the green ash during the drouth and find 

 no native trees have stood it better. In 

 the blue grass sod on the college campus 

 with blue clay 100 feet thick near the sur- 

 face, our single specimen of burr oak 

 twenty or more years old kept up its 

 growth and bright green expression of 

 leaf, while hackberry, hard maple, box 

 elder, and other trees near it had a pinched 

 and starved expression. Our rows of 

 green ash also held up bravely when the 

 earth was driest and hottest. Of the trees 

 planted on dry knolls of the cuts of the 

 NortheiTi Pacific road twenty-five years 

 ago the burr oak and green ash have 

 stood it best of all, but the burr oak is 

 now king in size and thrift. It is also the 

 best tree on the high land near Devil's 

 Lake in Dakota." 



KtELREUTERIA PANICULATA. — C. P., 



Davenport, Iowa, asks: "What is the 

 name of the tree of which I enclose a 

 a leave. None of the gardeners here 

 know it. I think it is from seed picked 

 up in Washington. The tree is about 6 

 years old andSfeethigh, perfectly hardy." 



.4ns. It is Koelreiiteria paniculata, a 

 little tree from Northern China, and one 

 of the most desirable you can have in 

 your garden. It bears terminal, large, 

 compound panicles of small yellow flow- 

 ers in summer after the bulk of the pretty 

 flowered trees have done blooming, and 

 then after the flowers come inflated blad- 

 dery seed vessels most as attractive as 

 the'flowers. Look in Gardening, Vol. II, 

 July 15, 1894, and page 353, and you 

 will there see the most beautiful and 

 truthful illustration of this tree ever 

 published. 



The Lilacs Won't Bloom.— H. B., St. 

 Louis, writes: "I have some white- 

 flowered lilac bushes that were planted 

 five years ago, and they have had no 

 bloom so far. They stand about six feet 

 apart and are "healthy and strong. 

 Should they not have bloomed before 

 now?" .4ns. Young lilacs are often very 

 disappointing in this respect, and some 



