218 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



furore for the latter ha? passed just as tliat fur mam- 

 moth Dahlias will peter out. 



* * * 



The fact that Dahlias are being: more and more at- 

 tacked by borers is this season discourasjintr a good 

 many New England growers. That potential pest, the 

 European corn borer, has taken a special liking to this 

 plant. Gladioli, while not entirely immune from its 

 attacks, have suffered very little by comparison. 

 Dahlia tu))ers also do not winter as easily as (jladioli 

 and take up considerably more room. They suffer 

 badU' from heavy winds and rains, and a very little 

 frost finishes them, which often comes when they are 

 at their best. In spite of these apparent drawbacks 

 there is an increasing army of Dahlia enthusiasts in 

 the East and at this season a drive through any part 

 of New England will show that there is a big army 

 of Dahlia lovers. It is good to see that the old show, 

 fancy, pompon, and single varieties have many ad- 

 mirers. It is also comforting to note that all growers 

 are not striving after ten-inch blooms. 



Anyone riding through the country at this season 

 will note the increasing use of roadside stands for the 

 sales of produce from farms and gardens. It is one 

 way wherebv producers can place their goods in the 

 hands of the ultimate consumers. While fruits and 

 vegetables fill the bulk of these stands, an increasing 

 quantity of cut flowers are sold in this wa}'. The de- 

 velopment of these roadside stands has caused a very 

 greatly increased sale of flowers by those of moderate 

 means and is doing not a little to increase the love of 



flowers amongst the masses. 



* * * 



In September there is a great scarcity of desirable 

 hardy flowering shrubs. Berried subjects, on the 

 other hand, are numerous and well varied. Probably 

 the most widely grown amongst flowering shrubs and 

 the one most heavily overplanted is Hydrangea pani- 

 culata grandiflora. It would almost seem as if every- 

 one with a front lawn felt the necessity of planting 

 one or more of these easily grown, hardy and very 

 floriferous plants to the exclusion of other equally 

 attractive shrubs. 



H. Paniculata. the type, is much more pleasing and 

 graceful than grandiflora, but it is for some reason 

 little planted. H. paniculata praecox has particularly 

 handsome foliage. Of the several forms of H. arbor- 

 escens, one named urticifolia is a late bloomer and 

 was just opening on September 1. Quercifolia has 

 large and very striking oak-like foliage. IT. radiata, 

 native of the'Carolinas, is not unlike IT. cinerea in 

 habit but the large leaves are leathery and the cymes 

 always come with sterile flowers. A strikingly pretty 

 and, withal, graceful Japanese shrub is Clerodcndron 

 trichotomum, which has proved quite hardy in the 

 Arnold Arboretum and is at its best during Septem- 

 ber. This shrub attains a height of ten feet ; its flow- 

 ers are white with a reddish brown calyx, carried on 

 forking, slender, reddish peduncles. Even when killed 

 to the ground, the Gerodendrom will sprriut up again 

 and flower freely as in the case of liuddleia. The 

 last-named shrub makes a great show in August and 

 September. B. variabilis magnifica is much the best 

 of the several hardy varieties and is equally good in 

 the shrubbery and perennial border ; plants always 

 carry much finer racemes when cut down to the 

 ground each Spring. Still another September flower- 

 ing shrub, a member of the Verbenacerc family, is 

 N'itex negimdo incisa, which stands all ordinary 

 Winters in Massachusetts and thrives well in a rather 

 dry and sunny exposure. While the individual lilac or 



lavender colored flowers are quite small, produced as 

 they are in loose terminal panicles five to eight inches 

 long, thev are effective. Even when not in flower this 



shrub is attractive on account of its foliage. 



* * * 



In a previous note I referred to the flowering of 

 Lilium giganteum in Boston. A friend in Newport, 

 R. I., advises me that a very fine spike, carrying a 

 dozen flowers, was a striking feature in the attractive 

 garden of Mrs. T. J. Emery, where Andrew J. Dor- 

 ward is superintendent. I have also been told that a 

 fine spike was produced last year in a garden in Man- 

 chester, Mass. A correspondent writes of how splen- 

 didly it used to flower with him in North Wales. At 

 the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society of 

 England at Wisley there are some splendid colonies 

 of this most noble of all lilies, which carry numerous 



stalks of flowers each season. 



* * * 



A charming pink flowering plant now in full beauty 

 is Chironia florilnmda, a member of the natural order 

 Gentianese. I saw a group of splendidly flowered 

 plants in seven-inch pots at a recent show in Man- 

 chester, Mass., which appeared to interest the many 

 society ladies present. This is by no means a new 

 plant, having been introduced from South Africa as 

 long ago as 1843. The Chironias, of which there are 

 several species, are small, soft-wooded perennial herbs 

 or shrubs and all are native of South Africa. They 

 can be readily propagated from cuttings in gentle 

 heat in Spring. They need perfect drainage and thrive 

 well in a mixture of fibrous peat and loam with plenty 

 of sand added. The plants referred to were rooted 

 in the Spring of the preceding year. The small flowers 

 produced on solitary peduncles are. very numerously 

 carried on well-rounded, shapely plants, which do not 

 rise over a foot above the tops of the pots. This is 

 one. of the most charming Summer flowering pot plants 



we have. It needs cool greenhouse treatment. 



* * * 



Not all of us can grow Orchids, more especially 

 tropical varieties. Some amateurs, however, are able 

 to handle our native varieties quite successfully. Even 

 though we cannot grow them we have the privilege 

 of admiring them at our exhibitions, and in this con- 

 nection it is interesting to know that the American 

 Orchid Society has issued preliminary schedules for 

 a great special show of these plants to be held in Hor- 

 ticultural Hall, Boston, May 8-11, 1924. 



There are sixty-seven classes for plants, of which 

 no less than twenty-three are for groups, and a sup- 

 plementary schedule to be issued early in January will 

 contain a number of cut flower classes. Five classes 

 are allotted to native Orchids, and specialists in these 

 latter plants have been oflercd greenhouse facilities 

 for the gentle forcing of their ])lants. (lold, silver, 

 and other medals, as well as silver cups are oflercd 

 in dozens, mainlj^ by the American Orchid Society, 

 but also by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 

 the Societv of American Florists, the Natic)nal .'\sso- 

 ciation r)f Gardeners, and a number of amateur en- 

 thusiasts. The exhibition will be the most notable ot 

 its kinrl ever held in America. It is j)Ianned to have 

 all admissions free. There will be illustrated and 

 practical lectures each day. .\ number of growers 

 have for some time been making preparations for this 

 great show, which will set a new milestone in .'\meri- 

 can orchid exhibitirms. All of the exhibition halls of 

 till- Massachusetts I lurd'cultural .Society will be need- 

 etl ti) accommodate the displays and already several 

 Etiropean specialists have announced their- intention 

 of being present. 



