AND HORTICULTURIST. 



323 



in the open air where the plants are to bloom about 

 the same time, but then the plants will not flower so 

 early. I have not the least doubt that Mrs. M. D. 

 W.'s success with this plant is owing to their being 

 in a partially shaded situation. In England the 

 climate is much moister, and considerably cooler 

 than here. 



Tropasolum canariensis, or, as it is popularly 

 called, Canary Bird Flower, is a half hardy an- 

 nual with light green peltate five-lobed leaves, and 

 bright yellow flowers ; attaining a height of from 

 twelve to twenty feet^according to the soil and its 

 situation — and is a native of New Grenada and 

 Peru; from which latter country it was introduced 

 in 1775. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



NOTES ON YUCCAS. 

 BY P. J. BERCKMANS, AUGUSTA, GA. 



I enclose a portion of a flowering branch of 

 Hesperaloe yuccaefolia, which I have had to bloom 

 every year since 1881. You may have seen it ; if 

 so it will not be new to you ; but if you have not 

 you should know it. The plant resembles the 

 Yucca filamentosa, but with fewer and narrower 

 leaves. The flower stalk is from five to six feet 

 high, with seldom more than four or five short 

 branches. It is, however, densely covered with 

 flower buds. These grow slowly and do not 

 expand until they are three weeks old, but as 

 they are all colored alike in every stage of 

 development, the effect of the plant is very 

 striking. The plant remains in flower for fully 

 three months, and this during our dryest weather. 

 I consider it a valuable addition to our hardy 

 ornamental plants. It increases slowly, however. 



Yucca Treculiana bloomed here for the first 

 time last March and April. It is the most showy 

 of all the varieties I have tried, and the earliest to 

 bloom. The flower stalk was four feet long, regu- 

 larly branched, each branch bearing from twelve 

 to eighteen large ivory white flowers ; the latter 

 numbered upwards of 500 upon one stalk, and 

 remained in bloom nearly four weeks. Our native 

 varieties, like Y. aloefolia, Y. gloriosa and Y. pen- 

 dula, of the tree growing kinds, seldom begin to 

 bloom before the end of June. 



[The Yucca family is so remarkably well adap- 

 ted to American gardening, and the results of 

 their employment are so unique, that we are glad 

 to get every item that will add to the general 

 knowledge about them. — Ed. G. M.] 



Manetti Rose Stocks. ^The Journal of 

 Horticulture says that Manetti Rose stocks, 

 "rightly prepared," do not produce suckers in 

 England. 



Fine Tuberoses. — American grown plants of 

 Tuberoses have such large roots that they have 

 had great popularity in Europe. It is now said 

 that those of the French growers in Algiers are 

 superior to the American — about double the size, 

 some say. The stems grow five to six feet high, 

 and bear about twenty-five flowers to a spike. 



A Japan Quince. — Pyrus Japonica — picked on 

 the ground of the writer was three inches long, 

 eight and three-quarter inches in circumference, 

 and weighed nearly seven ounces. It is not often 

 that they are found with such dimensions as this. 

 The fruit has a grateful fragrance, but in view of 

 the ordinary garden quince, has only an orna- 

 mental value. The plant makes a good and beau- 

 tiful live fence. 



Clematis Disease. — Clematises often suffer to 

 such an extent, from granulated roots, that it is 

 next to impossible to keep them living long. The 

 appearance is exactly similar to that produced on 

 the grape by the Phylloxera, but it is the gall of a 

 differerent insect, though the injurious results are 

 the same. Besides this a borer attacks some 

 species, working near the ground, as in the apple 

 or quince. Then there is a sudden taking off" by 

 a fungus which works near the ground, girdling 

 the plant, and causing death in a day or two — the 

 whole plant going off" as if struck by lightning. 

 It is a pity that so many beautiful plants have 

 such powerful enemies. 



Training Geraniums. — In San Francisco, 

 where Geraniums live out all winter, they make 

 beautiful specimens of great size, which surprise 

 those who have seen only specimens under East- 

 ern greenhouse culture. In some places they 

 train them. We know of one which was trained 

 to a flat trellis about twelve feet long and four feet 

 high, and was a dense mass of flowers. The ivy 

 geranium is much used for trellis work in San 

 Francisco, and is very beautiful indeed. 



The Mist Tree. — It is not generally known 

 that the Mist tree, Rhus Cotinus, is to a great ex- 

 tent, a dioecious plant, and that it is the female 

 only which has the beard, for which chiefly the 

 plant is valued. Of late years it has been custom- 



