October 2S, 190o 



HOKTICULTURE 



NEW TRITOMAS AND OTHER RIV- 

 ERTON SPECIALTIES. 



A joy to the soul are the Drct-r trial 

 grounds to the horlicultural scribe and 

 historian. HORTICULTURE would be 

 derelect in its obligations to its read- 

 ers if it failed to make frequent and 



Helenium pumilum magnificum 



copious use of the opportunities of- 

 fered in this remarkable horticultural 

 centre. 



The tritoma is familiar to every 

 reader of Horticulture. That some im- 

 provement such a.s grandiflora and 

 Pfitzeri had been made in recent years 

 IS also well known; but that there are 

 new varieties to the number of twenty 

 or more, many of them possessing ex- 

 ceptional merit, will be news to the 

 majority. We will endeavor to give 



Aster grandiflorus 



a few points in connection with the 

 best varieties as noted by us during 

 a recent visit. 



Pfltzeri: Dwarf. 3 to 4 feet high 

 heads of bloom measuring 13 inches in 

 length, orange shading to salmon at 

 base. Blooms from August 10 until 

 frost. Cut flowers bring $2 per 100 at 



wholesale, and are in good demand for 

 mixing with brown oak leaves, etc. 

 The effect of the orange and brown in 

 such combination is very charming. 

 Uvaria grandiflora: Not as brilliant 

 as Pfitzeri, and does not commence to 

 bloom until about September 15. 

 Floribunda: Fiery red, August to Oc- 

 tober. Mr. Eisele considers this one 

 of the best. Nobilis: Orange scarlet. 

 Rufus: Canary yellow, reddish chrome 

 at top. 



Obelisque: Commences to bloom in 

 .luly; saffron with deeper shadings; a 

 vei-y strong bushy grower. This last 

 characteristic distinguishes it instantly 

 from all other varieties. It makes 

 about four times as much foliage as 

 any of the others; August to Sep- 

 tember. 



Obergartneri Ruthi: Four to five 

 feet, pomegranate shading to salmon 

 at base; August to September. R. Wil- 

 son Ker: Finest of all; has blooms 12 

 inches long, and is as free as Pfitzeri 

 Blooms from July to October. Color^ 

 brilliant orange; height, 3 feet. 



Diana: Buttercup yellow, with long 

 protruding scarlet antlers tipped with 

 black; very unique. September. Quar- 

 teriana: According to Mr. Gumbleton 

 the English expert, this variety when 

 potted in the fall should have bloomed 

 indoors in the winter, but it didn't. 

 Up to April there was no sign of a 

 flower, so they were planted out in the 

 open ground and commenced blooming 

 in May. Rich orange scarlet. 



Trmmpb: This might be described 

 as a sort of double-headed giant, as 

 many of the stems produce a lateral 

 shoot bearing a fair sized flower head. 

 The main heads are immense, running 

 from 12 to Ifi inches in length; saffron 

 yellow, shaded red. August to Oc- 

 tober: 4 to 5 feet. Tucki: Orange 

 red; commencing to bloom in July. J. 

 Salier: Rich cochineal red, protruding 

 stamens, dark tips. W. E. Gumbleton: 

 Seems to be identical with Pfitzeri. 



Tricolor: So named because it Is 

 white at the base of the flower head 

 orange in the middle and red at the- 

 top. Small plant and flower but 

 charming and very distinct. Star of 

 Baden-Baden: The biggest of all 6 

 to 7 feet high with flower heads is' to 

 18 inches long; primrose striped with 

 green. Lemon Queen: Chrome yellow 

 August to October. Mr. Eizele think.s 

 highly of this new one. That ends tlir 

 list except for a few that were <,\ 

 rather inferior merit. It looks as ii 

 the tritoma is destined very soon tn 

 rank as a bedding plant with the can 

 na and ger..nium, besides being a good 

 thing for cutting. Make a note of it 

 Leaving the tritomas we were regaled 

 with a walk over the rest of the 

 nursery and noted some of the good 

 things in herbaceous plants that wei-o 

 fine at the late season (mid-October). 

 Aster grandiflorus: One of the rar- 

 est and the best of all the hardy as- 

 ters or michaelmas daisies, blooming 

 freely until hardest frost. Mr 

 Eisele tells us it was a mass of bloom 

 last Thanksgiving. Even after hard 

 freezing it can be taken indoors and 

 flowered. Used in connection with 

 chrysanthemums the effect is very 

 beautiful. The flowers are a lovely 

 shade of violet one and one-half to 

 two inches in diameter; the plant of 

 dwarf, compact habit not over three 

 feet in height and has foliage resem- 



445 



l)ling the stonecrop (Sedum acre) at a 

 short distance. Speaking of sedums 

 we were shown a bed of S. spurium 

 eoccineum which should have been a 

 sheet of bloom it it would only do for 

 MS what it does for Amos Perry in 

 London. Under our trying climate it 

 only blooms in patches. 



Dianthiis Napoleon III 



Napoleon III.: A hardy carnation 

 that always delights the visitor with 

 Its brilliant color. It was still in good 

 shape at the date of our visit and was 

 a striking feature of the grounds. A 

 number of new everblooming hardy 

 pinks, have originated here and the 

 most promising and distinct in the 

 collection are Sparkler, White Reserve 

 and Delicata. 



In June there are few finer things 

 in the way of a dwarf yellow peren- 



\nemone. Queen Charlotte 



nial than Coreopsis grandiflora. For 

 fall flowering a somewhat similar 

 plant is Helenium pumilum. Just now 

 it is simply smothered with its bright 

 golden yellow blossoms and is a 

 charming sight, one and one-half feet 

 Senecio pulcher: This gives a nice 

 bit of color at an off time of the year; 



