GARDENING. 



Dec. 15, 



older it spreads and thickens according to 

 its own beautiful habit and has a stateli- 

 ness which is equalled by few other trees. 

 Added to this its rapid" growth, and its 

 vigor under adverse conditions make it 

 one of our most valuable trees. 

 South New Jersey. X. 



The Flower Garden. 



fl BULB GARDEN. 



We have got all of our bulbs planted, 

 and what a lot of them ! Every variety 

 of narcissus, tulip, and lily supposed to 

 be hardy here, and obtainable in this 

 country or Europe has been set out, be- 

 sides many others. I made six new beds 

 twenty-five feet long by five feet wide for 

 them. One bed is devoted to the newer 

 kinds of iris. We have put a frame over 

 one that is filled with anemones and cal- 

 ochortus. 



HARDY PERENNIALS FROM SEED. 



I raised a great many hardy perennials 

 and biennials from seed last summer, and 

 they are now in the vegetable garden, 

 where they will stay till spring, when 

 they will be transplanted to where they 

 are wanted to bloom. 



PERENNIAL ASTERS. 



I have now got thirty-five kinds of per- 

 ennial asters pricked off and growing. 

 They are to be planted ia the field fring- 

 ing the pathway leading from the man- 

 sion house to the cottage garden here. 

 We have already twenty-five kinds of 

 wild asters growing there, and when 

 they were in bloom there this fall they 

 were beautiful. It is a wonder they are 

 not more grown than they are, and be- 

 sides making a display of out of doors, 

 they are excellent lor cut flowers. 



SOME FALL FLOWERS. 



Our cosmos was fine. The new Erlinda, 

 white, and Rosetta, pink, were large and 

 beautiful, so was the yellow Sulphureus. 

 But our early frosts cut them before they 

 came to their best. [At Dosoris we cut 

 fine cosmos out of doors till November, 

 and although they were not destroyed 

 by frost till Nov. 20-21, after the first 

 week of the month the blossoms became 

 smaller and ill-developed. This rnildness of 

 climate is caused by our proximity to the 

 sea.— Ed.] Our dahlias were fine, but we 

 didn't care much for the cactus type. 



The choice hybrids of delphinium were 

 excellent. Plants raised from seed sown 

 in March flowered all summer and till 

 thev were cut by frost. The colors were 

 lovely and included all shades of blue. 

 They are so easily raised from seed and 

 give such a lot of flowers that we intend 

 to raise a large number of them next 

 year. Pyrethruin uliginosuw raised from 

 seed sown in March also flowered all 

 summer long. 



Some of the verbascums (mulleins) were 

 fine, notably V. phlowoides, which gave 

 us a flower spike over six feet high; and 

 V. pannosum, one three feet high. 



The platycodons raised from seed sown 

 in March were also grand, and flowered 

 all summer long. They included grandi- 

 florum, blue and white; and its dwarf 

 form, Mariesi, also blue and white. 



We would have had a nice show of .4n- 

 ewone Japonica , hut as they were coming 

 into bloom the frost caught and hurt 

 them; but where they were sheltered in 

 the garden they were very nice. 



I wish you could have seen that Clem- 

 atis panichlata which runs over the roof 

 of the little cottage (see Garueninc, page 



353, Aug. 15, '95), when it was in bloom; 

 it was grand. 



preparing for roses. 



We have never been able to grow good 

 roses in the sandy land here, so I am now 

 busy making five new beds. We are dig- 

 ging out the sand two and a half feet 

 deep and filling up with good surface 

 loam. Thev are for Tea and H. P. roses. 

 This is outside of the enclosed garden. 

 Although it entails a good deal of work 

 to begin with, I am sure it will pay. 



David Eraser, 



Gardener to Mrs. John Mayer. Mount- 

 ain Side Farm, N. J., Nov. 17, 'Ho. 



CLEMATIS DISEASE-SULPHATE OF COFFER. 



J. L., Waterloo, Canada, desires to 

 know when in spring Mr. Meehan (See 

 page 25 Vol. Ill of Gardening) employs 

 sulphate of copper for the prevention of 

 the damping ofl" disease in the Clematis 

 /acA-man/ and how often employed. Mr. 



der in dictionary sequence and style, and 

 although most every genus is also treated 

 culturally, this last is the weakest feature 

 of the book. Have both by all means. 



2. Campsidium. "I brought it in with my 

 other plants, and set it on the high wall 

 shelf of the conservatory, and it is grow- 

 ing beautifully, but ought it not to go to 

 rest to be ready for work next summer? 

 Three feet of it's stem are bare of leaves. 



Ans. No, it doesn't need a rest. It is a 

 Chilian evergreen woody climber, and 

 may be allowed to grow at will, only do " 

 nothing to coax itinto any extra growth. 

 Like most all far-reaching, woody vines, 

 it is apt to lose its lower leaves, the only 

 way to keep it full near thebaseis to keep 

 it cut in a Httle. 



3. "Grevillea RontsTA. What shall 

 I do with it? It has been growing vigor- 

 ously for eighteen months. I want it at 

 its best for porch deco ation in summer." 



Ans. Let it grow all it wants to, it 

 doesn't need a rest. But if you prefer 

 bushy rather than tall plants of it pinch 

 them in a Httle. There is nothing to the 

 plant except its prettv fern-like leaves, it 

 doesn't bloom in a small state. 



4-. ' Rhododendron maximum, would 

 it need the shade of trees? and willit take 

 any soil." 



Ans. With you we should advise that 

 it have shelter from the north and west 

 winds, and a slight shade. It should grow 

 in most any soil not impregnated with 

 lime. Use lots of old leaf mould in the soil 

 and not a bit of manure. 



chrysanthemum red warrior 



Meehan replies that he has never person- 

 ally used it. It was recommended on 

 general principles. It is well known that 

 this damping off trouble is caused by a 

 minute fungus, and that sulphate of cop- 

 per is destructive of all forms of fungus 



organisms. 



He therefore feels safe in sug 



gesting that if the stems of this clematis 

 are washed with the solution, before the 

 fungus has had a chance to develop, good 

 would result. It usually develops on the 

 one year old plant. One may infer from 

 this that if the stems were washed near 

 the ground at the end of the first season's 

 growth, or in spring before the second 

 year's growth had started, the spores of 

 the fungus would be destroyed before 

 they had time to germinate, and enter on 

 their destructive work. 



CLEMATIS-ROSE-DECUMARIA. 



Would Clematis paniculata need pro- 

 tection here, should you think? And if so 

 of what sort? Mine did not grow this 

 vear at all according to promise. Two 

 shoots of six or eight feet each and no 

 blossoms were all its contribution. It is 

 on a wire trellis with full southern expos- 

 ure, but with large trees at the east and 

 west. It with several other vines, is in a 

 long box three feet deep, by two or more 

 wide, built to protect them trom the 

 encroaching roots of a silver maple and a 

 red or ' Russian" mulberry. Thebox has 

 rich earth in it and a grape vine and 

 variegated honeysuckle are doing well in 

 it, but a climbing rose Reine Marie Hen- 

 riette, has been there two summers with- 



out growing any. 



And there is also a 



SOME FLOWER QUESTIONS. 



A western reader asks the following 

 ([uestions: 



"Is the 'English Flower Garden,' 

 which you recommend in Gardening, 

 October!, page 26, included in 'Nichol- 

 son's Dictionary of Gardening,' or does 

 one want both books?" 



Ans. The English Flower Garden tells 

 how best to use all manner of hardy 

 plants for outdoor gardening the Dic- 

 tionary describes all plants, hardy or ten- 



Decumaria barhara or "American Climb- 

 ing Hydrangea," which like one men- 

 tioned by another of your subscribers has 

 never climbed at all. ' I have had it three 

 years and can't see that it has grown in 

 the very least. Yet it has (piantities of 

 water and the best of soil. X. 



South Jersey. 



Clematis paniculata is perfectly hardy 

 with you, in fact the old stems and young 

 wood should be quite hardy in southern 

 N. J. But we cannot tell why your plant 

 hasn't behaved better; with us it is a rank- 

 growing vine, and two year old seedlings 

 bloom nicely. Like most all Japanese 

 plants, however, it likes good moist soil. 

 Do you think the earth away down in 

 that box got undu'y dry? The variegated 

 honeysuckle and grape vine will thrive 

 with" less moisture than the clematis. 

 Ordinarily, under favorable circumstances 

 the rose Reine Marie Henriette is a fine, 

 vigorous, free-blooming variety and 

 although it isn't reliably hardy in the 

 north it should be hardy enough with 

 you. We are not at all surprised that the 

 decumaria doesn't grow more; although 

 often fine in the south and occasionally 

 so too in New Jersey, north of New York 

 it is hardly worth growing except to 



