I20 



GARDENING. 



Jan. 



local or cultural conditions, even should 

 you buy a good blue one, seeing it in 

 bloom when you bought it, there is no 

 certainty about it having blue flowers the 

 following year. In view of this no florist 

 can guarantee that the hydrangeas that 

 are blue-flowered with him shall continue 

 to be blue-flowered with anybody else. 



CRINUMS, flMflRYLllS, COOFERIflS, ETC. 



The following is in answer to J. D. W., 

 Morgan Co., 111.; Crinums, amarylHs 

 (except au//ca and i?e//adonna), cooperias 

 and zephyranthes may be planted out in 

 May in the open ground or plunged in 

 pots as the person prefers (though the 

 open ground will be best). In the fall 

 when the first frost approaches lift them 

 and cut off tbe tops and part of the roots 

 and dry the bulbs quickly. Then keep 

 them over winter in a warm dr\' cellar at 

 about 60 degrees. One mistake people 

 make is planting the bulbs too shallow, 

 where the bulbs do not get sufficient 

 moisture. A good rule is to plant the 

 bulbs about three to five inches (accord- 

 ing to size) beneath the surface of the 

 ground, I mean the top of the main bulb 

 and not the top of the neck. Criniiw 

 Americanutn and C amahile planted in 

 this way will show their necks above the 

 ground, while Amaryllis formosissiwa, 

 cooperias, etc., will have the top of the 

 neck below the surface. E. S. Miller. 



Floral Park, L. I. 



Yellow-flowered Ipomce.i. — In the 

 last number of Gardening one of j'our 

 California correspondents inquired after 

 seed of a yellow ipomiea. If it is tbe 

 Ipomoea chrysantha he refers to we can 

 get him the seed. Several 5-ears ago we 

 made a trial with it at Western Springs, 

 111., but did not get it to bloom, perhaps 

 we did not sow it soon enough. The seed 

 we had then came from Mexico. 



Chicago. J. C. V. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



PLANTING fl SANDY flILL. 



I have got a sandy hill that I am anx^ 

 ious to get somet hing to grow on. Most 

 of it is white sand. Can vou advise me 

 about it? ■ C. E. A. 



Woods HoU, Mass. 



If your correspondent will look about 

 in his neighborhood he will undoubtedly 

 find similar soil that is covered with veg- 

 etation. He will find first most abund- 

 antly and nearest the sea the sea sand 

 reed (Amwopliila arundinacea), a coarse 

 stiff" grass with long, though running 

 root stocks, thep very likely the couch 

 grass {Affropynim repens) especially near 

 habitations. Of shrubs there will be 

 found the beach plum (Prunus maritima), 

 the wild rose (Rosa lucida), the meadow 

 sweet (Spirasa salici folia), bay-berry 

 (Myrica cerilera); of trees and large 

 shrubs several of the willows (Salix alba, 

 nif^a, tragilis and discolor), red oak 

 (Quercus rubra), scailet maple {Acer 

 rubrum) , white birch ( Beliila jmpuli folia) , 

 the pitch pine (Pinus rigida). 



In hollows a little protected from the 

 full sweep of the wind a much larger va- 

 riety would be found, and if these hollows 

 are moist there will often be found grow- 

 ing with the deciduous shrubs a consid- 

 erable proportion of evergreens like the 

 ink berry and the cranberry, and on the 

 dryerland the bear berry (^rc£ostapiy/os 



Ura-ursi). He will notice too that all 

 these things are slow to grow and slow- 

 to spread. If he has observed carefully 

 plantations of cultivated plants near the 

 seashore he will see that of the various 

 garden plants that are used compara- 

 tively few do well in the most exposed 

 places, and that of these few the California 

 privet (Ligustriim ovalifolium), Rosa 

 Tugosa, tamarix and Indian currant 

 [Sympboricarpus vulgaris) are the best. 



To say what would be best for a par- 

 ticular place would be impossible without 

 examining it, but if the following sugges- 

 tions are adapted intelligently to meet 

 the conditions, and careful observations 

 are made of failures and successes, so as 

 to avoid the one and cortinue the other, 

 success will ultimately be gained. The 

 two things to contend with are the force 

 of the winds and the moving sand; the 

 one must bebroken andtheotherchccked. 

 To seed the ground is impracticable with- 

 out a mulching to keep the sand in place, 

 and in many places a mulching would be 

 blown away. If it is slightly protected 

 it would be well to collect a lot of the 

 seed of the beach-pea (Lathyrus mari- 

 timus), which is quite common on ornear 

 beaches, and sow it on sand that has been 

 fertilized with ashes, then cover the sur- 

 face with a mulch of coarse litter, marsh 

 hay, or the Uke, held in place with sticks 

 or brush. 



One ot the cheapest nursery shrubs that 

 will grow is the California privet, and 

 this should be planted freely in belts as a 

 windbreak for lower plants, and mixed 

 with it the tamarix and strong rooted 

 cuttings of willows. Where a lower 

 planting was desirable use the wild rose, 

 bayberry, Indian currant, meadow sweet 

 and beach plum mixed together, and Rosa 

 rugosa. Well rooted young trees may be 

 planted occasionally among these with 

 the expectation of their becoming estab- 

 lished in time. Plant thickly at first, 

 from one to two feet apart and mulch 

 heavily with any coarse strawy manure, 

 salt hay or litter. Close to the seashore 

 or on places where bushes are notwanted 

 sod the surface with one of the grasses 

 named. Of the couch grass it is not difli- 

 cult to get good sod that will hold to- 

 gether, and of the sea sand reed rough 

 tufts can be secured with roots by digging 

 deep. Generally in spring planting it is 

 safer to keep the plants dormant as long 

 as possible by frequent shifting and then 

 plant late, for the springstorms are pretty 

 sure to destroy the first leaves of newly 

 planted shrubs so that they will have to 

 make a new start. Of most of the kinds 

 named small plants can be procured in 

 nurseries in quantity at a low rate. If 

 strong well rooted native plants can be 

 collected they will grow but they should 

 be planted "more closely than nursery 

 specimens. 



Do not expect to get the same success 

 with plantations in drifting sand that 

 would be secured in better soil, or the 

 same effect, for you can not. The chief 

 object will be to get an unbroken ground 

 covering. The character of this cari be 

 varied materially by different combina- 

 tions of the comparatively few plants 

 that can be used successfully, and the 

 result will be bv no means unattractive. 

 Warren H. Manning. 

 Brookline, Mass. 



Michigan. Some plants have lived 

 through two winters and each spring 

 looked as if ashamed to acknowledge it. 

 Neither did they get overtheirbashfulness 

 all summer. When wrapped with straw 

 they do better, and perhaps away from 

 the lake winds might thrive. Frost in the 

 ground does not seem to injure them, as 

 the balls of my potted specimens get well 

 frozen. A glance at the illustration in Gar- 

 dening of January 15, 1893, will show 

 that they make novel and handsome 

 specimens for porch decoration. Being in 

 partial shade, the leaves retain their bril- 

 liancy of color well towards fall, and also 

 color up as well in the fall as if outside. 

 Plant them in rustic wooden boxes, as 

 ordinary flower pots would break by ex- 

 pansion of the frosty soil in spring and 

 winter them in a cool cellar or bam. In 

 spring, when the buds areexpandingkeep 

 them from sudden cold changes of wind, I 

 ha ye known a sudden change to destroy 

 many of the young leaves. W. C. E. 

 Chicago. 



ARE JAPANESE MAPLES flARDY NEAR 

 CHICAGO. 



My experience with these maples iscon- 

 fined to limited trials on my own grounds 

 and observations of the experiments of a 

 few others, all within half a mile of Lake 



SOME NEW OR RARE TREES AND SHRUBS. 



Among trees and large shrubs Styrax 

 Japonica, Halesia bispida, Stapbylea 

 Humalda,Phellodendron Amurense, Idesia 

 polycarpa, Hovenia dulcis, Diworpban- 

 tbus Mandscburicus, the red flowering 

 dogwood, the golden barked willow 

 {Salix vitellina aurea) and Salix Britzen- 

 sis, also Cedrela Sinensis and Gordonia 

 pubescens. 



The halesia is one of the best of the 

 newer small trees; it has large leaves and 

 a profuse display of drooping racemes of 

 white flowers. The staphylea is a large 

 shrub that has small clusters of white 

 flowers in early summer and which look 

 not unlike those of a white lilac. Phello- 

 dendron makes a good sized tree, grows 

 fast, has smooth, dark bark and seems 

 free from insect pests. It has compound 

 leaves and clusters of greenish white 

 flowers which are followed by berries 

 which turn black in the fall. Idesia has 

 fine large single leaves on long reddish 

 stalks. Its flowers are inconspicuous 

 and borne in clusters and noticeable only 

 on account of their prominent yellow 

 anthers. Though hardy here it is not 

 reUably so north of this.' Perhaps a little 

 protection for some years until it gets 

 started would help it. 



The hovenia is a good sized spreading 

 tree with a slight "mulberry" look to it 

 when a little distance off. The flowers 

 are in flattish clusters, white and give 

 place to berries which turn dark brown 

 in autumn. Dimorphanthus differs from 

 our native Hercules club in flowering a 

 week or ten daj'S earlier. It has immense 

 handsome headsof greenish white flowers 

 in late summer. 



The red flowered dogwood (Cornus 

 Horida rubra) is a beautiful small tree 

 with all the good qualities of the typical 

 form and the additional one of having 

 bright pink flowers. The willows men- 

 tioned have beautifully colored wood in 

 winter; that of vitellina aurea is deep yel- 

 low, and of Britzensis flame colored. The 

 Cedrela Sinensis is an ailantus looking 

 tree [It is now named Ailantus flavesccns 

 — Ed.], the flowers of which are on droop- 

 ing, string-like racemes, but there is no 

 such odor to them as makes the common 

 ailantus so unbearable. The gordonia 

 has beautiful white flowers and is quite 

 rare. While hardy here, it cannot be rec- 

 ommended for planting much further 

 north. 



I may also mention Viburnum plicatum 

 rotundifolium, Andromeda racemosa, 

 Caryopteris Mastacanthus, Hypericum 



