358 



GARDENING. 



Aug. IS . 



and at this season of the year when 

 flowering shrubs are scarce it is particu- 

 larly desirable. 



The sorrel tree (Oxydendron arboreutp) 

 has drooping clustered racemes of white 

 flowers. It is a difficult plant to estab- 

 lish, it growing slowly with us, but it is 

 verv beautiful and worth a trial. 



The chaste shrub ( Vitex Agnus-castiis) 

 is now in fine condition. fhe flowers 

 vary from dark blue to white, in panicles 

 at the ends of the shoots ol the current 

 year's growth. The cut-leaved form 

 "fromNorf^ern China (V.incisa) will be in 

 full bloom in a few days. We mulch both 

 forms heavily in winter with leaves. 



The dwarf sumach {Rhus copallina) 

 has large yellowish white terminal pani- 

 cles, and the Chinese Osbeck's sumach, 

 Rhus sewialata, has iramens-e terminal 

 ijanicles of white; both areingood bloom. 



The rose of Sharon ( Hibiseus Syriacus) 

 in various colors, single and doub e, is 

 very conspicuous. The nettlekaved hy- 

 drangea (H. urticifolia) is in flower, and 

 the oak-leaved one and H. arborescens 

 are barelj' past yet. 



Callicarpa purpurea has small flowers 

 borne in small clusters in the axils of the 

 leaves, but the violet-colored berries 

 which follow are pretty. It is only in 

 opf n late falls that they make any show 

 here. 



The trumpet vine ( Tecowa radicaus) has 

 been in bloom for some time, a d quite a 

 few flowers can be seen just now mstling 

 among the leaves of Rhodotypus kerrio- 

 ides, and the rugosa roses are giving us a 

 few flowers along with conspicuous red 

 heps. Kerria Japonica has a crop of be- 

 lated flowers, and Potentilla truticosa 

 continues to produce its buttercuplike 

 flowers in great prolusion, and the .Ameri- 

 can wistaria is displaying a few belated 

 clusters. Clematis Virginiana (common 

 virgin's bower) is in magnificent bloom. 



The coral berry (Symphoricarpus vul- 

 garis) is coming into bloom, but the 

 common snow berry and the Western 

 wolf berry have well developed white fruit. 

 The sweet shrub" {Calycanthus Occiden- 

 tnlis) is still in bloom. High bush cran- 

 berry has handsome bright red fruit, the 

 wavfaring tree [Viburnum Lantana) 

 reddish black fruit, the buckthorns 

 (Rhamnus catharticus and R.Ianceolata) 

 have black fruit, and R. Frangula red- 

 dish black fruit. The inflated pods of 

 bladder nut and bladder senna are quite 

 prettv in their way. Forms of cotoneas- 

 ter we have under the names of nigra, 

 with deep bluish black fruit, borealis with 

 bright crimson fruit and lucida with 

 black fruit are all pretty. J Uunbar. 



the Doctor says, his plant is by far the 

 finest we have seen anywhere in the 

 north. — Ed.] 



Xanthoceras soRBiFOLiA.— I see that 

 your correspondents reoort very varied 

 success with the seed of the xanthoceras 

 which you so generously distributed last 

 year. For my own share of your bounty I 

 can show ten fine plants from 5 to 12 

 inches high, and all thrifty. 



J.W. Barstow. 

 Sanford Hall, Flushing, N.Y., July 25. 



cultural conditions we cannot even sug- 

 gest treatment that might help them. A 

 cool, open si' nation, good ground, and 

 abundance of water in June, July iind 

 August when they are completing and 

 maturing their wood should lay the 

 foundation for flowers the next year. 



flZflLEfl INDICfl flLBfl flS fl HflRDY SHRUB. 



A snccimen of Azalea indica alba has 

 bloonn d in my garden for twelve years 

 l)ast; it had grown in a pot for ten years 

 previously. The shrub stands 8 feet high 

 and about 9 feet broad. Its hardiness 

 has been sufficiently tested by 12 Long 

 Island winters, and especially by the 

 rigors of last winter, which cost the plant 

 many of its leaves, but otherwise did no 

 damage. The profuse bloom, about June 

 1, covers the shrub with a sheet of daz- 

 zling whiteness, and theindividual flowers 

 are fully twice the size of those bloomed 

 in pots' and with heightened perfume. 

 There can be no question that this is the 

 finest outdoor specimen of Azalea indica 

 alba to be found on Long Island, or per- 

 haps anywhere in this latitude. This 

 variety is not generally regarded as hardy. 



1^1 1 is hardy at Dosoris, blooming nicely, 

 but the specimen here is nothing like such 

 a fine plant as Dr. Barstow's, indeed, as 



fl BLUE-FLOWERED HYDRftNOEfl ROSEA. 



A X.J. correspondent writes; "1 have 

 mailed a bloom of thistoyou. The plant 

 remained out all winter planted under a 

 pear tree. 1 have reverseen a hydrangea 

 flower so blue. Could it have been the 

 shady situation that caused its flowers to 

 assume this blue color? Its normal color 

 is rosv pink, sometimes fading to a pale 

 blue "' 



The color is as deep a blue as we have 

 ever seen in hydrangeas. But what caused 

 it we don't know. Beingout over winter, 

 and the simple shade of the pear tree 

 couldn't have done it. f rwe have several 

 plants of it Dosoris just now under pre- 

 cisely the same conditions and they are 

 in full bloom and every flower is rose- 

 colored. A dozen or so years ago when 

 » e first had rosea we looked upon it as .a 

 prob ible species, at anyrate so steadfast 

 did it adhere to the clear pretty rose color 

 of its blossoms that we hoped we had 

 got a hydrangea of that race that 

 wouldn't assume any of the hortensis 

 bluing, but before a few years had passed 

 it showed its inconstancy by getting 

 blue-tinted And the blue was a dirty, 

 dead, purplish hue, not at all agreeable. 

 After awhilesome had pretty blue flowers, 

 others held to the disagreeable purple, 

 and some to the pure rose, and so they 

 continue. V\ hen planted out of doors, in 

 the soil here, the tendency is to rose color; 

 grown in pots there is a leaning to 

 bluish Evidently something in j'our soil 

 or water induces the blue. But if is a 

 fine hydrangea, hardier than hortensis, 

 and much earlierblooming, and although 

 cut doi* n to near the ground with us in 

 winter its crown is hardv and it is sure 



PURPLE BEECH AND FlSSflRDS PLUM TREE. 



I planted a purple beech tree in my gar- 

 den in October, 1892. The folio wing July 

 it seemed dying. A neighbor o( horticult- 

 ural experience told meit would not srrow 

 in this vicinity, in fact a nurseryman de- 

 clined to sell her one, as he knew it could 

 not succeed owing to the hot sun. I at 

 once made a moveable screen of wood 

 like an easel and protected the tree. The 

 following year it was just existing, and 

 in July a strong wind broke off" the main 

 branch; on examination it was found 

 weakened by being perforated by a borer 

 which we caught and killed. A Prunus 

 Pissardii and red bud also had branches 

 in the borer's possession. Both were 

 severelv pruned and washed this spring 

 with a lime wash, and all arc now doing 

 well. Had the beech died I would have 

 been convinced that it could not live here. 

 Later, I read in a paper ttat the Prunus 

 Pissardii was especially liable to the 

 borer. M. F. M. 



Detroit. 



WHITE LILACS NOT BLOOMING. 



B., Ky., writes: "I have a white lilac 

 sixteen years old, and another nine years 

 old, and neither has ever had a bloom 

 upon it." 



Ans. — The blooming of lilacs is very un- 

 certain. Without a knowledge of their 



Root prune over vigorois trees and 

 shrubs, if they are running more to wood 

 and less to flowers or fruit than they 

 ought to, and do it now. The v ay to doit 

 is this: Draw a circularline on the ground 

 around the butt of the tree, keeping 4, 5, 

 i; or more feet out from it, according to 

 the .size and fullnessof the tree, then dig a 

 deep narrow ditch just outside of that 

 line, with the object of severing all the 

 roots that run beyond it, and thus curtail 

 the feeders of the tree, hence lessen its 

 power to make wood. This causes flower 

 buds to form. Fill up the trench at once. 

 The sole object in digging it out is to cut 

 the roots, and this being accomplished 

 there is nothing to gain by keeping it 

 open. 



Vine for a derrick.— For a vine to 

 cover a wind mill derrick, I would sug- 

 gest the cinnamon vine (Dioscorea 

 Batatas). This will grow 40 feet or more 

 and is very fragrant while in bloom, it is, 

 moreover, a verv clean vine and never 

 troubled with insects. A. T. C. 



Hyde Park, N. Y. 



A SECOND CROP OF RosE AcACIA — .\fter 

 they had done blooming in the spring we 

 cut back a few bushes, and now they are 

 blooming again with unusual freedom. 

 They bloom a second lime anyway every 

 summer, but the cutting back of the 

 branches has added greatl}' to the florif- 

 erousness of the second growth. 



The white alth.ba known as Totus 

 albus is a pure white — without any stain 

 in the eye— single flowered variety, and 

 we believe the prettiest of all. It is as 

 hardy and easy to grow as any other. 



The bll'E alth.^a has blue, single 

 flowers with a dark eye, but the color 

 isn't a pleasant one at all. 



Roses. 



ROSES ON THE WOODED ISLAND, JACKSON 

 PARK, CHICAGO. 



There have been a very great many 

 more flowers in the World's Fair rose 

 garden this year than ever before. At the 

 close of the Fair after the various exhibi- 

 tors had withdrawn their plants, the 

 remainder were heeled in for the winter, 

 November being too late to reset them. 

 In the spring of '94 the roses were re- 

 planted in beds where they still stand 

 and this year look w ell established. The 

 soil in the garden is the light, sandy soil 

 found hereabouts, for while the greater 

 part of the fair grounds is made land, the 

 Island received none of the filling because 

 it is a part of the highest sand ridge in 

 Jackson Park. Its native growth of oak 

 trt^es still stands. The garden now con- 

 sists of plants that were set out in the 

 spring of '94 in soil that is ^ht and 

 sandv and that has not been enriched 

 since''92. 



Early in last December, after the first 

 snow had melted, the roses were turned 

 down to the ground, fastened there 

 securely with wire pins and cartfully 

 covered to the depth of six inches with 

 fallen leaves that were held in place by 

 brush, the stalks of plants and similar 

 material. The only exceptions to this 

 treatment were the; ])lants of theclimbing 



