so 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



as Buddleia asiatica, and it is by all means deserving of 

 all the good things which have been said in its favor. 

 Of free habit of growth it is a first-class plant for con- 

 servatory decoration, coming into flower right after the 

 Chrysanthemtims are over, and under cool conditions re- 

 maining in good form from two to three months. The 

 long, arching racemes of white flowers give it a very 

 graceful appearance, and they have a sweet odor which 

 makes them still more pleasing. Everybody with a 

 greenhouse should grow it. Cuttings rooted in April 

 make good flowering plants in six or seven-inch pots, 

 and the plants do well if the pots are plunged out-of- 

 doors for the summer. 



Eiiangea tomentosa is another comparatively new plant 

 v.'hich can be regarded with equal favor. Though a 

 native of tropical Africa, it thrives under the same cool 

 conditions as the Buddleia, for which it makes an ad- 

 mirable companion and serves the same useful purpose. 

 It is a free branching plant with grayish leaves that are 

 strongl}- scented, the mauve-colored flowers being- 

 borne in clusters and last well when cut. 



Alost people are fond of blue, and flowers of this color 

 are not too plentiful in the winter tirtie. The introduc- 

 tion of Colciis thyrsoidcns from Central Africa a few 

 years ago gave us a notable addition, and when well 

 grown this is a worth while plant with its long, upright 

 racemes of bright blue flowers lasting in good condition 

 for three months. A few plants arranged in combina- 

 tion with Begonia "Lorraine" makes a very stunning 

 efir'ect. It is rather more difficult to grow real well 

 tiian ;ire the common kinds of Coleus, but it well repays 

 the extra care. Early in May is a good time to sow 

 seeds, which as far as I know, are listed in only one 

 catalog, that of R. & J. Farquhar & Co., Boston, Mass. 



Broz<jaUia spcciosa iiiajor as a greenhouse plant may 

 l)e new to some who know it very well as an annual in 

 the summer flower garden. For contintious blooming 

 few plants can equal it. Seeds sown in early June will 

 give plants flowering by the end of September and they 

 keep it u]) without a break for eight or nine months. It 

 grows and flowers just as well in a sunny window as in 

 the greenhouse. Two or three pinchings in the early 

 stages of growth will improve its natural loose habit and 

 a^;tter appearance is made if three plants are grown 

 tti^Wier in a deep pan. The flowers are violet-blue with 

 a sfiiall ring of white in the centre and borne singly in 

 the axils of the leaves. 



A flowering plant which appears gay or despondent, 

 according to the time of day or weather conditions, is 

 the so-called Bermuda lUittercup, Oxalis ccrnua, a na- 

 tive of sunny South Africa. On a sunny day it makes 

 a gay display with its wide open flowers of bright yellow 

 hue. but at night and during dull weather the flowers 

 close and so remain until touched again by the life giv- 

 ing rays of the sun. In spite of this characteristic, which 

 miglit cause it to be regarded by some with disfavor, it 

 is well worth growing for winter display in a cool green- 

 house. I"ew plants are so floriferous. and started in Au- 

 gust they are in good form all winter. As a basket plant 

 it appears to good advantage, and when grown in pots 

 it is good practice to start them in. say, four or five- 

 inch pots and later shift into a size larger ; this will cor- 

 rect the tendency of the crowns to rise above the pot and 

 also encourage them to grow :uid flower with renewed 

 vigor. 



The very pretty and graceful Fairy I'rimrosc. Primula 

 tiialacoidcs. has produced several fcirms which are su- 

 perior to itself in many respects, one of the l>est being 



the variety called "King Albert," sent out, I believe, by 

 the Carter Seed Co., of Boston. It is a marked improve- 

 ment on the type in every respect and received an R. 

 H. S. award of merit when shown in London three or 

 four years ago. The individual flowers are larger, of 

 more rounded form, atid in color a lovely shade of rose, 

 while in habit it is more compact and if anything more 

 floriferous. It is not at all unusual to find plants in five- 

 inch pots with tw^enty or more flower stems developed 

 at one time, and best of all these do not flop. Altogether 

 it is a very fine addition to the list of choice decorative 

 plants available for winter use in the cool greenhouse. 



During an extreme of cold weather, such as has been 

 e.xperienced in many sections of late, it sometimes hap- 

 pens that from one cause or another plants may be 

 frozen, particularly plants that are in transit and some- 

 times even in greenhouses that are not adeqtiately piped. 

 \\'hether in such cases the plants are injured beyond 

 recovery may depend entirely on the way in which they 

 are handled immediately after the mishap. The impor- 

 tant thing to keep in mind is the fact that the liquid 

 contents of the plant cells have expanded, and if sub- 

 jected to a sudden reaction the cell walls are ruptured 

 beyond repair and the plant collapses, or at any rate the 

 affected part. The thing to do therefore to assist such 

 plants to recover is to allow them to thaw out very grad- 

 ually, and this is brought about by sprinkling them over 

 with cold water, shading from sunshine and keeping 

 them in a cool temperature till the process is complete. 

 Prompt application of these methods might often save 

 l)lants that have been touched by frost and restore them 

 apparently none the worse for the experience. In the 

 case of a greenhouse where the temperature may get 

 pretty near the danger mark, at times it is safer to keep 

 the plants somewhat drier than usual while the cold spell 

 lasts, as when their cells are quite turgid with liquid tliey 

 are most susceptible to injury from frost. 



( )f late years wonderful progress has been made in 

 improving the garden race of Antirrhinum, and the com- 

 mon Snapdragon has become one of the fashionable 

 flowers of the da}'. .A.s grown under glass at the pres- 

 ent time it must surely surpass anything that could have 

 been dreamed of not so many years ago. especially when 

 wc consider it was one of the seventeenth century gar- 

 den plants. Its prominence now as a cut flower for use 

 in the winter and spring months is not to be wondered 

 at when we see the large handsome spikes bearing flow- 

 ers of such pleasing colors. Good progress has been 

 made, too, in the development of good strains for out- 

 door bedding, for which purpose the intermediate sec- 

 tion is ideal, the plants being of a sturdy, even growth, 

 well branched and bearing good flower spikes in a wide 

 range of beautiful colors. For a mass display they are 

 great and if given good culture they respond with won- 

 derful results. It is a good plan to set out the plants 

 as soon as conditions are right, and unless early flowers 

 are desired it is just as well to pinch out the first flower 

 stems. This will give bushier plants, and for a purely 

 garden eft'ect result in a better display, while if the seed 

 pods are promptly picked oft', flowering will continue 

 until stopped by killing frost. 



GOVERNMENT 



Government is not an edifice that the founders turned 

 over to posterity all completed. It is an institution, like a 

 university, which fails unless the process of education 

 continues. — C.-vlvix Cooltdge. 



