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C.iRDt:^EI<S• CllRO.\ ICl.E 



Foreign Exchange Department 



A DWARF HORSE CHESTNUT.— The North American 

 Horse Cliestnut (.TlscuIus parviflora'l. or American Buckeye, is a 

 nx)St distinctive shrub, or low tree, and one which would be more 

 widely planted were it better known. In this country it grows to 

 a height of some six feet to ten feet, with a wide spread of 

 branches ;uid the noble foliage which is common to most of its 

 race. Above tlie copious leafage the white, sweet-scented dowers, 

 with their red-tipped stamens, rise in erect, pyramidal clusters in 

 August, so that an established specimen, or group of them, makes 

 a most charming and effective picture in open woodland or on 

 the lawn. This is a most desirable Horse Oiestnut for gardens 

 of moderate size, and its late-blooming habit will appeal to many. 

 It is also known as Pavia macrostachya. — The L7aidcii. 



THE ALPIXE C.\TCHFLY.— An indispensable occupant of 

 almost any rock garden, however small it may be. is Siler.e alpes- 

 tris. It is consistently frec-tlowering. and so easy to grow that 

 the merest tyro in the culture of Alpines may embark upon its 

 cultivation if possessed of a little rockery, or even if that is not 

 available it may be attempted, with every prospect of success, in 

 the front of the mi.xed border, where the soil is not too heavy, 

 it is a charming little dwarf plant of slender growth, with pretty 

 leaves, and giving in abundance from May to July a succession of 

 its beautifully-formed glistening white dowers. In cultivation S. 

 aJpestris appears to like a moderately light soil, but it is not too 

 fastidious, although it does not flourish well in stiff clayey soils. 

 Loam and peat or leaf-soil w itli a good dash of sand seem as good 

 a compost as one may have. Its height is given by as many as 

 three inches, but it is sometimes a little more. It is always neat. 

 however, and is such a pleasing subject and blooms so satisfac- 

 torily tliat it ought to find a home in every rock garden. It is 

 increased by division, and can also be raised from seeds, Avhich 

 are best sown in pots in light soil and placed in a frame or cool 

 greenhouse. — Gardening Jllustratcd. 



HYPERICUM CORIS.— Here we have one of the choicest 

 gems of the rock garden, albeit one which is generally easy to 

 please. Sometimes, in our colder localities, it suffers sadly in 

 certain Winters, yet. as a whole, it is hardy. It is one of our 

 most precious St. John's Worts, and one which writers on alpine 

 flowers never tire of praising. It has delicate little stems, which 

 serve to carry its exquisite leaves of bluish-grey, which in their 

 arrangement and general appearance remind us of some of the 

 Heaths. On these, again, are borne the star-like flowers of good 

 size and of a charming tone of pale gold, the whole plant, espe- 

 cially when of good size, having an elegant and chaste effect. 

 Those who know it in its native habitats, especially in the South- 

 ern Alps, wax eloquent over its charm as they see it there in 

 clouds, as it were, and .showing its grace and loveliness in a man- 

 ner we cannot hope to enjoy in the limited space of our gardens. 

 Save for its liability to suffer in severe Winters in certain places. 

 •t is hardy, but it is not generally kniown that it is naturally a 

 limestone plant, though not invariably so. It is more plentiful by 

 far on the limestone formations. It is pre-eminently a plant for 

 the rock garden in a sunny place. — Gardniiiig Illuslrntcd. 



A '-BLUE DAISY" FOR THE ROCK GARDEN.— There are 

 several so-called "Blue Daisies" for the rock garden, none of 

 which is either a Daisy or blue. Erigeron leiomerus is the best 

 and prettiest of them all. a delightful, thrifty little plant, forming 

 compact carpets of narrowish leathery leaves half an inch high 

 and carrying in May or June a generous crop of lavender blue 

 Daisv flowers on stiff, erect stems only two inches high. It is 

 like a tiny, very dainty edition of Aster alpinus. It grows sedately 

 but steadily, forming neat mats. After a year or two in one place 

 E. leiomerus is apt to grow leggy — in its small way — but an occa- 

 sional top-dressing soon remedies this, or the plant may be dug up, 

 pulled to pieces and transplanted. — The Garden. 



STANDARD ROSES.— In choosing a standard Rose one would 

 favor a young plant ; that is to say. a specimen budded last year 

 and grown in the nursery this. Such have youth and vigor, and I 

 should regard one that has been in the ground longer, and may be 

 cut back a season or two as faulty, even if it had a fairly bushy 

 top or head. Plants or trees like this which have been hanging 

 about in the ground so long rarely do well when replanted. If I 

 selected a Briar, one that is young-looking, if in reality compara- 

 tively thin, would \te favored as being likely to furnish my future 

 standard — a tree that would last. This would he a greater con- 

 sideration even than the size of the head of growth. When plant- 

 ing there is a small item easily forgotten. This is at once to stake 

 the tree. When the stem is secure there is a chance given for 

 the roots at once to start into new growth, but if swayed by the 

 winds tiny rootlets become injured, and thus we lose time. A 

 standard Rose may be deeply planted. The roots of the Briar 



should be just covered, trod firmly, and they obtain all the ad- 

 vantages of surface soil. A form of standard out of the ordinary 

 is a variety with a climbing habit of growth worked on to a tall 

 Briar. Such furnish splendid objects in isolatctl positions, and 

 are trained by t\ing in the points of long-flowering shoots made 

 the previous year to the standard stem. — Gardming Illustrated. 



SOME MUSK ROSES.— That delightful Himalayan Briar 

 Rosa Hrunonii should be in every collection of Rose species. It is 

 a prodigious grower and profuse bUiomer when established. There 

 seems to be some confusion with these Rose species. 1 always look 

 upon the variety known as R. polyantlia grandifiora as a near 

 relative to Brunonii. In any case, both are worth growing. As 

 with all the Mu.sk Roses, huge panicles of bloom are a feature of 

 R. Brunonii. and the pure white flowers with profusion of yellow 

 stamens have a simple beauty all their own. Closely allied to this 

 is one Mme. d'Arblay. a semi-doulde white, and also a rampant 

 grower. The wood is apt to suffer in a har<l Winter. A grand 

 variety of the Hybrid Musks that every lover of single Roses 

 should possess is Miss Morcnce Mitten. I know of no Rose that 

 so persistently holds its blossoms, and the large Apple blossom 

 pink llowors remind one of a glorified .-Mexandra Day Rose. 

 Unlike the others I have named, it is a more compact grower and 

 blooms right down to the ground. — The Garden. 



A FINE MOCK ORANGE.— To those who know only the 

 common form of the Mock Orange, Philadelphus \'irginal is a 

 revelation. This is the largest flowered of its race. The blossoms 

 arc semi-double, nearly three inches across, and a cold, snowy 

 white. In the purity of their whiteness and the compactness of 

 their form, they might be likened to a double white Camellia, and 

 the large, unusually deep green foliage tends to increase that 

 similarity. The characteristic fragrance of the Mock Orange is. 

 howextr. almost absent in P. Virginal — an omission for which 

 some may have cause to be thankful. This plant will succeed 

 in any average .soil, and is generally deemed a hardy, easy-tem- 

 pered shrub that most people can plant with every confidence of 

 success. — The Garden. 



BUTCHER'S BROOM.— 1 have just had given me by a friend, 

 who brought it from her garden at Bridgwater, a branch nearly 

 two feet long of this uncommon shrub. It is covered with its 

 bright red berries from top to bottom. The dark green cladodes. 

 with the bright red berries about the size of large peas, are most 

 attractive. I have seen this many times, but never so thickly set 

 with berries, no doubt due to the very hot' Summer of 1921. It 

 grows well under the drip of trees, and seldom attains more than 

 two feet high. I have the spray in a glass against a high wall. 

 and_ purpose allowing it to remain tliere to see how long it will 

 last, — Gardening Illustrated. 



. ACONITUM ORIENTAL.— It is a plant certainly worth in- 

 cluding among our hardy plants for its neat, sturdy habit, unusual 

 color and great freedom of flowering at the end of Summer. The 

 height does not exceed two feet, while the much branched stems 

 bear foliage remarkably like that of the Delphinium, and terminate 

 in short close spikes of pale yellow flowers. It will succeed in 

 practically any soil and is not particular as to situation, for we 

 have seen it rendeiHng a splendid account of itself in partial shade, 

 as well as in positions fully exposed to sunlight. Indeed, there 

 can be no doubt that it prefers the latter but — at the same time — 

 it is a plant to note where shade is fairly heavy with, however, 

 the proviso that it is not overhung by trees. — The Garden. 



COLCHICUM .\UTUMNALE.— Though not the choicest of 

 Colchicums, by any means, this is a very useful species for mass- 

 ing, and as it increases rapidly, it soon makes a good show. I 

 saw a large drift of it recently in a country gar<len bordering a 

 drive throug'u some thin Beech trees, and it made quite a carpet 

 of bright color. The soil, which was rather light and sandy, 

 seemed to suit it admirably. The drawback to these Saffrons is 

 the large, rather coarse foliage in the Spring, which is not very 

 pleasing, especially when it begins to go over. With this and 

 other Colchicums it is necessary to be on the lookout for slugs 

 when the buds appear, as these pests are very fond of nibbling 

 off the tips. — O. C. C. — Gardening Illustrated. 



1 Department of Book Rex-iews | 



Ou)-TiME G.vRDENS, by Alice Moore Earle. The Macmillan 

 Company, New York. 



Presented anew, in attractive form, is this delightful book, which 

 though nearly a generation old, is. in its ideals of what consti- 

 tutes the charm of gardens, fully modern; good taste is leading us 

 back to the tried and the really satisfying. The author felt, for 

 example, that "an ideal flower garden must be an enclosed garden. 



