i8g6. 



• GARDENING. 



343 



Cof'yiiglit, jS'i't, 6v D. Apflelon e Co. 



AMERICAN BUTTON WOOD (/' 



edition of Gray's Field, Forest and Gar- 

 den Botany are given as the accepted 

 ones, when this name differs from that 

 given by Prof. C. S. Sargent in his monu- 

 mental work The Silva of North America, 

 Prof. Sargent's name is given too. There 

 is a capital systematical index, and also 

 nn index to the names of all of the places 

 referred to in the work. Altogether it is 

 an excellent, useful, helplul, authoritative 

 and popular book, and we heartily 

 recommend it to our readers. 



JftFflN MflFUES IN ILLINOIS. 



M. B. L., Princeton, 111., asks if Jap; 

 laples would prove hardy with her. 



These maples cannot be grown i 

 fully at Chicago. They will live a few 

 years, but do not thrive. I imagine that 

 our lake winds especially in winter and 

 spring are against them. I think that 

 some of the more robust forms would do 

 well in Princeton if planted in a rather 

 sheltered place, and artificial watering 

 withheld after the middle of August in 

 order to induce early ripening of the new 

 wood. The following varieties from the 

 Parsons & Son's exhibit at the World's 

 Fair, bought by the Lincoln Park Com- 

 missioners looked fairly well after pass- 

 ing two winters there. Acer Japonkum, 

 A. J. macranthum, A. J. wkrophyllum. 

 The enquirer probably refers to the 

 smaller, more shrubby forms, known as 

 Acer polymorpbum. Of this species the 

 following varieties seemed to do the best 

 during my trial of them, namely, Atro- 

 purpureum,dissectuwatropurpiireum and 

 sanguineum. I think that .Iccr/a/jon/cijm 

 palmatum, belonging more to the tree 

 form, will do well. \V. C. Kcan. 



f\ HEDGE PLANT. 



In answer to the (juestion about "A 

 Hedge Plant" by H. K. S. ol Middle Lan- 

 caster, Pa., let me suggest the Japanese 

 barberry (Berheris Ihunbergii). The 

 reader has grown it very satislactorily. 

 The Hcrberis Thunbergii docs not grow 

 higher than three or four feet, never has 

 to be cut back, grows in any common 



soil, is perfectly hardy and will stand the 

 sun without any shade. It has pretty 

 tiny flowers in spring, the leaves turn 

 crimson, orange, bronze and green in late 

 autumn, and there are scarlet crimson 

 berries. The reader has hers surrounding 

 her garden, where it is exposed to the 

 severe northwest winds of winter, with 

 no protection, and it has stood the test 

 splendidly. [It is isoneof the bestshrubs 

 ever introduced to this country, and ad- 

 mirable for low broad-headed hedges. 

 We have a thousand plants of it in our 

 nursery- readv for planting in the park.— 

 Kn.] " " C. A. B. 



Taunton, Mass. 



The Flower Garden. 



THE FLOWER GflRDBN. 



Bedding plants should b • in their finest 

 condition. Keep them within bounds 

 and neatly in their rows, panels or pat- 

 terns; don't let the leaves of the different 

 lines run into each other, nor allow car- 

 peting plants to grow up over the agaves, 

 cacti and other plants of that nature 

 stuck in among them. If one plant grows 

 higher than the others pinch it in, in fact 

 coleus, alternantheras, stevia, santolina 

 and all plants of that nature must be 

 kept to a set height, else the beds will 

 look unkempt and reflect discredit upon 

 ycrurself. Bedding plants and formal bed- 

 ding are all proper enough in the right 

 place, but confine them to that place, and 

 if you have these beds be sure you keep 

 them trim. Wherever a plant dies out 

 and leaves a gap fill up the gap at once. 

 Go over the cannas every few days and 

 pick off the old flowers. Have the dah- 

 lias securely staked. Cut over the old 

 hollyhocks for neatness' sake. Save seeds 

 of the best varieties and sow them at 

 once. We raised a lot of hollyhocks, 

 campanulas of various sorts, columbines, 

 delphiniums, foxgloves and other perenni- 

 als from seed in frames a couple of months 

 ago, and these are nice plants two to four 

 inches high now, so we arc planting them 



out now, some permanently, others pro- 

 visionally in beds ornursery rows. Those 

 in rows are columbines, delphiniums, 

 coreopsis, several bellflowers and others 

 that are hardy enough to need no protec- 

 tion in winter; we can lift and transplant 

 them permanently any time we find it 

 convenient to do so. Those in rows in 

 beds are foxgloves, Canterbury bells, hol- 

 lyhocks, chimney campanulas, poly- 

 anthuses, "hardy" carnations, etc., that 

 are benefited by a good mulching in 

 winter; we shall transplant them in 

 spring. 



Our perennial phloxes were a good deal 

 mixed, but now that they are in bloom we 

 have lifted all of a kind and planted the-n 

 together; on account of the wet weather 

 and lifting with good balls they have 

 stood this transplanting first rate, and 

 are blooming as if uothinghad happened. 

 As we wanted to get up a big lot of moss 

 pink (Phlox subulata) we lifted, divided 

 and transplanted all of our old stock in 

 spring; the settings were a foot apart; 

 they have now grown enough to nearly 

 meet and are throwing out young roots 

 from the branches; about the end of 

 August we will lift and divide them again, 

 this time planting closer, and we shall 

 mulch the plants with some branches in 

 winter. They should make fine stock for 

 setting out next spring. 



The cardinal flower is splendid just 

 now. One of our prettiest combinations 

 is the swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus 

 tiioscheutos) interplanted along th- front 

 with cardinal flower. Both are marsh 

 plants, still these are growing on a hill 

 side. 



Now is a capital time to sow the seeds 

 of all kinds of hardy perennials either out 

 of doors or in frames, and of course if the 

 seed is of this summer's crop so much the 

 better; it will germinate the readier. In 

 fact a capital way to get up a lot of per- 

 ennials easily is to let some of the finest 

 hollyhocks, delphiniums, columbines, core- 

 opsis and the like ripen and scatter their 

 seed on the ground, and clear awaj' over- 

 hanging and neighboring plants to let the 

 seedlings come up sturdily. Lift these 

 seedlings and transplant them thickly 



