i895. 



GARDENING. 



291 



SPIR^A. ASTILBOIDBS FLORIBUNDA 



Japanese S. astilboides. It has small 

 white flowers in spicate panicles and 

 hears a good deal of resemblance to the 

 common spira;a (or properly Astiihe 

 Japonica) so much grown forctpen border 

 decoration in summer or greenhouse cult- 

 ure in winter and spring. Our illustra- 

 tion shows an improved form of it that 

 is admirably adapted for outdoor use or 

 for growing in pots for winter flowers. 

 It is called vS". astilboides fJoribunda. 



Closely related to these spirjeas is the 

 genus Astilbe, indeed, the popular little 

 plant /I. yapon/ca is often called Spinva 

 Japonica. It is quite hardy and makes a 

 fine border plant, blooming nicely in June. 

 There is a variegated leaved' (golden 

 netted) variety of it too. and also a 

 denser flowered form of it of recent intro- 

 duction, namely, Astilbe Japonica coni- 

 pacta multitlora, hnt the people generally 

 dub it the double spira;a. It is a beauti- 

 ful form to be sure, but for real beauty we 

 would as soon have the tj-pe. All like 

 good, rich ground and moisture, but good 

 drainage. And all can be readily in- 

 creased bv division in earh 



Cahuzac, both fine yellows but of differ 

 ent shades, were very striking. Lemoine's 

 Eldorado isoneof the bestot the so-called 

 yellow cannas; it is a good sort and bears 

 large trusses of flowers of compact habit 

 and good substance. At Dreer's I also 

 found a collection of about 60 varieties 

 of what are called American cannas; they 

 were raised in Florida, the originator 

 claiming that there is no French orCrozy 

 blood in any ol them; they seem to be of 

 the Haccida type, but I am afraid that the 

 blooms will not last on the plants as 

 long as those of the Crozy type. There 

 are among them, however, some fine va- 

 rieties which before the advent of Mme. 

 Crozy would have attracted attention, 

 but not now, for they are hardly equal 

 to Florence Vaughan, Columbia, Chicago 

 and other new varieties. They emphasize 

 the fact, however, that with our fine 

 climate and soil we are going not only 

 to overtake but surpass the French 

 growers in the production of fine new 



sprmg. 



NOTES f\ND COMMENTS ON CflNNftS. 



On a trip last fall through the eastern 

 states I made the following notes: 



At Henrv a. Dreer's, Philadelphia, 

 Canna Souvenir d'Antoine Crozy showed 

 to better advantage than did Queen 

 Charlotte; it has similar markings, but 

 is darker in body of the petals and has a 

 narrower yellow margin. Queen Char- 

 lotte is a striking variety with large 

 bright scarlet petals broadly margined 

 with yellow, but I am afraid that under 

 Ihc same conditions of growth it may 

 not produce as many blossoms as would 

 Madame Crozy. It seeirs to have the 

 habit ol Chas. "Henderson of coming laic 

 into bloom. L. E. Bailey and Martin 



At p. Henderson & Co. 's, Jersey City, 

 was a row of the old canna Flamboyant 

 that could easily be distinguished in a 

 large field of assorted cannas for its bril- 

 liant crimson color, it is ver\' free flower- 

 ing and makes one of the best bedding 

 cannas. Golden Rod, one of Henderson's 

 seedlings, seems to be a good bedding 

 variety. 



At Dosoris I saw the best grown cannas 

 of the season, they were well bloomed 

 and had fine foliage and good height, and 

 included most of the best new varieties. 

 I also saw there the first pure golden yel- 

 low canna, without a spot but the plant 

 showed rather weak, and the flowers 

 were not extra large. It istHe firstof the 

 pure yellow cannas not of the Prcmiccs 

 dcs Nice type that I have seen. Being in- 

 terested in the imijrovcnicnt of the canna 



for decorative foliage I found there a first- 

 class novelty in the way of a canna with 

 foliage so dark that the name Black 

 Beauty describes it well. The edees of 

 the nnrolKd leaves appeared serrated, 

 forming in the young shoots a regular 

 spiral stairs. The flowers are red and 

 should be picked off to enrich the foliage. 

 When seen it will be greatly admired, for 

 it is certainly a decided acquisition. I 

 also found there plants of Canna Ehe- 

 mannii. which is one of the most elegant 

 of cannas, with massive handsome foliage 

 and beautiful flowers, not of the upright 

 iind stiff style of most cannas but droop- 

 ing and spreading with an independent 

 style of its own, and good color. Every 

 one should grow Ehemannii. 



At James Dean's, Bay Kinoi;, I,. I., all 

 the cannas were fine. J D. Cab s was 

 doing remarkably well and showing no 

 fading out of the flower, as happens with 

 us at the west. I was surprised and de- 

 lighted to sec in a field of seedlings from 

 .VI me. Crozy what might be called sam- 

 l)les of all the late novelties, many yel- 

 lows in the way of Florence Vaughan, 

 some nearly as well marked as Queen 

 Charlotte, and othersin style of Alphonse 

 Bouvier and Chas. Henderson. Insects 

 must be active in fertilizing at Bay Ridge, 

 with us of Mme. Crozy cannas from 50 

 to 75 per cent come true when raised from 

 seed. Friend Dean thinks our French 

 brothers must have had a picnic raking 

 in good American dollars for seedlings of 

 Mme. Crozy, selected and raised by them 

 every year from pure seed of' Mme. 

 Crozy. Mr. Dean has certainly some 

 good seedlings raised that way. 



W. P. Simmons' Canna alba rosea is the 

 nearest approach to a white canna I have 

 seen; it is a cream shading to rose. Every 

 lady who sees it exclaims "how lovely!" 

 It is a favorite with them for its odd 

 shade, though it does not make as showy 

 a bed as the brilliant reds and yellows. 

 It is a free bloomer but rather loose on 

 the stalk. 



In Washington Park, Chicago, Mr. 

 Kanst, the gardener, plants the standard 

 sorts for effect, the beds are just the right 

 diameter for the various sorts and made 

 the best impression of any cannas seen 

 on our trip. He has a light yellow seed- 

 ling from Premices des Nice named Geo. 

 Nicholson, which makes a fine border for 

 a bed of Alphonse Bouvier. i.\nother 

 seedling the colorof Francois Crozy aver- 

 ages from 4 to 9 large headsof flbwerson 

 a single stalk and is extra good. Another 

 seedling named South Park is of a pleas- 

 ing shade of crimson and doing well, but 

 the foliage appeared to me to be diseased; 

 probably the dry summer had been the 

 cause; this season, however, will tell the 

 story. There was also a small bed of 

 Columbia, the Iowa seedling; it was not 

 as fine as when seen at the World's Fair 

 in '93, but it is a good canna. For this 

 season though there is a seedling raised 

 by Mr. Crozy and named Chicago and 

 now being sent out by J. C. Vaughan 

 that has overtaken it,it is a shadelighter 

 in color, blooming freely on small plants 

 and the flowers are equal in size and sub- 

 stance to any of the best new sorts. It 

 has from four to eight good large blooms 

 on each stalk nearly all the time. If it 

 does as well this season as it did last year 

 I would recommend all to try it. 



To sum up, the four best and most 

 planted cannas either east or west are, 

 first Mme. Crozy, second .\lphonse Bou- 

 vier, third Florence Vaughan, fourth Paul 

 Mar((uant. Charles Henderson is agrand 

 canna, but it seems late in coming into 

 bloom. In Washington Park a bed of it 

 was only starting into bloom when beds 



