September IS, 1S09 



HORTICULTURE 



401 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum The Rose in South Africa 



Several very ornamental species of our native Elders 

 have recently been introduced into cultivation. The 

 best of them is probably Samhucus canadensis acutiloha, 

 a form with deeply and finely cut leaves which give the 

 shrub a very graceful appearance. It is particularly 

 beautiful in June when it is covered with its large clus- 

 ters of white flowers and again in September, when the 

 branches are weighted down by masses of purplish black 

 berries. Another striking variety of the same species 

 is Sambuciis canadensis maxima, a strong grower with 

 large foliage and exceedingly large flower clusters meas- 

 uring often twenty inches in diameter. It is a very 

 effective shrub especially for planting on the banks of 

 brooks or ponds. A variety somewhat similar in foliage 

 to the first named one is Samhucus puhens dissecta 

 which is very handsome particularly when it is studded 

 with its pyramidal dense clusters of scarlet berries rip- 

 ening in June ; the foliage is tinged purplish when un- 

 folding. All three are of course perfectly hardy here 

 and are of vigorous growth. 



Besides the well known Trumpet Vine, Tecoma rad- 

 icans, its hybrid with T. chinensis called T. hybrida 

 merits attention; the orange and scarlet flowers sur- 

 pass those of the first named parent in size and the in- 

 florescence is larger and looser. It also climbs by aerial 

 rootlets though it does not seem to grow as high as T. 

 radicans and is slightly tenderer than tliat species, but 

 hardier than T. cJmiensis which it almost equals in the 

 size of its flowers. 



Another little known late flowering climlier is Poly- 

 gonum haldschnanicutn which bears from August until 

 late in fall large clusters of pinkish white or nearly white 

 flowers. The bright green leaves are ovate or oblong- 

 ovate in outline, heart-shaped at the base and from two 

 to four inches long. It grows to a height of about 

 twenty feet and looks its best when climbing into loose- 

 ly branched trees, as it bears its flowers chiefly on the 

 upper part of the stems. Compared with other late 

 flowering climbers as Clematis paniculata and the sim- 

 ilar, but smaller and more graceful C. apiifoUa it has 

 the advantage of its flowering time extending over a 

 much longer period. 



The young plants of the Chinese Tulip tree, Lirioden- 

 dron chinense, look promising and vigorous; the hand- 

 some foliage is very similar to that of the native species, 

 but is somewhat larger, more glaucous on the underside 

 and tinged purplish while young, the lobes are general- 

 ly more pointed. The flowers are smaller and the tree 

 in its native habitat seldom exceeds twenty feet. Its 

 hardiness has not yet been tested here, but as it has 

 been found in Central China at an altitude of six thou- 

 sand feet, we may hope that it will be fairly hardy here. 

 The discoveiy of a Tulip tree in Central China has been 

 of great botanical interest, as until then Liriodendron 

 had been considered a typical American tree. A simi- 

 lar case we have in Sassafras which was up to a few 

 years ago considered as a tree peculiar to the American 

 flora, until Sassafras Tzumii, which can hardly be dis- 

 tinguished from the native species in its general appear- 

 ance, was discovered in Central China. It also has been 

 introduced into cultivation and has proved hardy in 

 England. 



The following interesting information concerning the 

 cultivation of roses is taken from a communication by 

 E. Paetzold of the Nursery Tarkastad (South Africa), 

 and given in Die Gartenwelt for August 28. "Wherever 

 a valuable variety of a rose appears in Europe it soon 

 gets to South Africa. We possess the best of the nov- 

 elties to be found in Germany, England, and France. 

 The raising of roses differs, owing to the mildness of 

 the winter, from European practice. Seedlings as stocks 

 are unknown; only cuttings are employed which in late 

 summer, here, at an altitude of 1500 metres above 

 sea level, as early as the beginning of February are set 

 out in close lines. By the beginning of May they are 

 fit for working. The worked plants remain till early 

 in the spring undisturbed, and are then planted out at a 

 sufficient distance apart, and allowed to grow as freely 

 as they may before cutting the shoots back; and the 

 method is found to work admirably. At lower levels 

 the cuttings are set out in July — the winter season here 

 — and are ready for budding in November. By the em- 

 ployment of strong buds these begin to grow in the 

 course of fourteen days, and with weak buds in three to 

 four weeks, and flowers appear from February till Whit- 

 suntide at which season the temperature descends to 

 2 degs. C. At flowering time the nurseryman and gar- 

 dener has the interesting opportunity of observing the 

 old and the constantly developing novelties. 



Although the latter are not always the finer, there 

 are sure to be some that may prove desirable improve- 

 ments on older varieties and worth preserving. It is 

 not every variety that finds favor in Europe which is a 

 success here, for it is not every variety that is equal to 

 enduring the African sun and climate. Many varieties 

 cannot withstand the vertically descending rays, the 

 changeable temperature at great altitudes, and the at- 

 tenuated parched air. Tliere are a number of varieties 

 which cause much labor and effort in keeping them par- 

 tially free from mildew : The new Rose Eeichs-Kanz- 

 ler is one of the complete failures and the worst failure 

 that has found its way to South Africa, and so it may 

 turn out in the future in Germany. The reigning 

 drought demands the most careful application of water 

 by means of water channels and sluices, more especially 

 when rose stocks are grown from cuttings; and in high 

 summer the land requires to be laid under water every 

 eighth day. As has been stated the flowering time for 

 roses endures to the end of May, and beginning of June 

 South Africa offers a paying business field to experi- 

 enced clever gardeners, although competition has greatly 

 increased in recent years. The love of flowers is fos- 

 tered by horticultural and agricultural exhibitions not 

 alone in the towns but likewise in the country. The 

 average farmer is a rose lover and a judge of roses, and 

 for these reasons the good novelties soon get distributed 

 over the entire country. Every owner of _ a garden 

 knows the white hybrid pei-petual Frau Karl Druschki; 

 and notwithstanding that the plant cost in the first 

 vear £1 per plant there were plenty of purchasers. A 

 house without a garden is unknown or a garden without 

 a rose. At rose flowering time, the rose is the constant 

 decorative material, and the rose bouquet is found with- 

 out fail on the Englishman's table. 



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