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Foreign Exchange Department 



CORXUS KOUSA.— There is a rcmaikable. if not very large, 

 group of Cornels represented in gardens by this species, the beanty 

 of the inflorescence of which is imparted by four or more large 

 bracts, not bv the flowers themselves. Of these Cornels, the one 

 most amenable to cultivation is the Japanese species Cornus Kousa. 

 The real flowers are very tiny and crowded into small (lark cones, 

 each of which is surroiinded by four beautiful spreading bracts. 

 Each bract is 1 inch to 1 '/2 inches long, and creamy white. This 

 deciduous small tree or shrub is at its best in June, when the ni- 

 florescences ("flowers" one usually terms them) are fully expanded 

 and stand erect in rows along the branches. It then presents an 

 aspect of striking beauty. The fruit is a fleshy strawberry-like 

 mass in which the seeds are embedded, and is really a development 

 of the little cone on wliich the flowers are set. The leaves are 

 about 3 inches long, with undulated margins and conspicuous par- 

 allel veins. The real drawback to the success of this Cornel in 

 gardens is the mild, soft weather, of which our normal Winters 

 contain so much. The tree is thereby often excited into premature- 

 ly active growth, only to be injured by later frost. Otherwise it is 

 very hardy. It thrives best in rather elevated districts. 'iDung 

 plants are usually imported from Japan. — 'I'lic Gardfii. 



THE VIOLET CRESS (lONOPSIDIUM ACAULE).— The 

 value of this dainty free-flowering annual as a carpet plant is too 

 often overlooked. When scarcely 3 inches high and about ei.ght 

 weeks after the seeds are sown, the plants throw up abundant 

 masses of pretty violet-colored blossoms. As an edging plant to 

 borders, this little annual is invaluable, while it is an excellent 

 subject for carpetin.g between Roses and Gladioli. The ground 

 round about Gladioli is generally uninteresting until the flower- 

 spikes expand, and here the Violet Cress, as this plant is popularly 

 called, does great service Where the seeds have been sown early 

 in the Spring it is often possible to get a second display of blooms 

 towards the end of the Summer. AU that is necessary is to pull 

 out the plants as soon as they have seeded and rake over the 

 ground. The self-sown seedlings will very quickly appear if there 

 is sufficient moisture to start them into growth. If the weather is 

 hot at the time it is a good plan to erect a temporary shade over 

 the bed and remove it as soon as the seedlings appear. The Violet 

 Cress may also be employed for growing between the flags of a 

 stone patli, while it is essentially a good annual for the rock .garden. 

 It is a favorite plant, too. for growing in deep pans in the unheated 

 greenhouse or in the frame, and the specimens grown in this manner 

 come in very handy for household use. A suitable compost may 

 be made up of equal parts loam and leaf-mould, with a heavy 

 sprinkling of sand. — Gardening Illustrated. 



SIEBOLD'S PRrMUL.'\.— The plant usually grown in gardens 

 as P. cortusoidcs is almost always P. Sieboldii. a hand.soinc but 

 not over-hardy Japanese species, of which there are quite a number 

 of excellent forms in commerce, with flowers varying in color 

 from pure white to deep purplish rose ; some of the sorts, and 

 those not the least handsome, have fringed petals. It is rhizoma- 

 tous, and these rootstocks are very easily damaged by frost, espe- 

 cially in wet soils. For colonizing in fairly open woodland, however, 

 or for a sheltered corner in the rock garden this Spring-flowering 

 species is first-rate. — The Garden. 



PENTSTEMON HETEROPHYLLUS.— Beds filled with thi'- 

 Californian sub-shrub are very pretty, owing to the prcjfiision of 

 flowers Iwrne and their distinct and beautiful steely-blue cr)lor. 

 The.se appear on graceful stems from 18 inches to 2 feet in height, 

 and, whereas in many instances a plant will produce every flower 

 of this lovely blue, others display flowers of a purple-blue shade. 

 Although this variable coloring is much admired by many 1 pre- 

 fer the uncommon and lovely blue flowers. Where the stock is 

 increased by cuttings, the plants it is intended to propagate from 

 should be marked whilst in bloom and the cuttings taken at the 

 end of September. This jilant alsn ripens seed freely. — Gardening 

 lllu.itratcd. 



ROSA MOYESI AXD A CHARMIXC; SEEDLlXf;.— Such a 

 graceful, yet strong, hardy shrub needs no fence or support, and 

 is certainly seen to the best effect when spreading its arching 

 growths in the open, and where little or no pruning is required. 

 Unique in the color of its dark-red flowers and beautiful leaves, 

 this Chinese Rose is perhaps the most striking and handsome of 

 the wild species. Early Autumn again sees this Rose laden with 

 attractive, large, orange and red, bottle-shaped fruits, each from 

 I inch to 2 inches in length. A few seedling plants given to me by 

 a friend two years ago arc also blooming for the first time, but 

 whereas the beautiful form of leaf and stem is the same as in the 

 mother plant, the flowers arc of a fascinating cerise when fully open. 



GARDEI\ERS' CHRONICLE 



and reddish-pink in the hud. These seedlings are really handsome 

 and of great value for our gardens, but the true species is so strik- 

 ing in itself that we do not anticipate its being surpassed by any of 

 its' progeny. Where space is available it is both pleasing and in- 

 structive if the various wild species are grouped in close proximity. 

 — Garden ing lUustraled. 



THE LI-AD PLANT (AMORPHA CANESCENS).— I like 

 this graceful Missouri plant, which I saw growing in a rock garden 

 recently. It grows about 18 inches to 2 feet in height, has spikes 

 of blue-purple flowers, with protruding orange staments and pretty 

 hoary leaves and flower-stalks. It is a plant one only sees on rare 

 occasions, yet one entitled to a place in the front of the hardy- 

 tlower border. — Gardening Illustrated. 



INC.'VRVILLEA DELAVAYL— In well-drained soils this hardy 

 plant is very satisfactory, and is so distinct that it should find a 

 place in villa gardens, where there is often not too much variety. 

 It does not require an abundance of food. I have had it doing well 

 close to an evergreen hedge where the ground was extremely dry 

 during a great portion of the Summer. The fleshy roots cannot 

 endure much stagnant moisture during the resting period, therefore 

 unless lifted at the beginning of the Winter and stored in a frame 

 it is liable to perish. It will, however, be quite satisfactory if 

 grown in this way, planting out in March or early in April. 

 Fortunately, it is easily raised from seeds, which should be sown 

 early in Spring and will bloom the following year. An ideal place 

 fur this Incarvillca is in front of an evergreen shrub or tree, where 

 the tine color and distinct beauty of the flowers are fully displayed. 

 Many more would grow this beautiful plant if they were acquainted 

 with" its merits. At the present time it is neglected by the owners 

 of small gardens. — Gardening Illustrated. 



THE PLUME POPPY (BOCCONLV CORD AT A). —Very 



liandsome are the Plume Poppies with their large, deeply-lobed 

 leaves, of a gray-blue tint on the under-side, and about the size 

 of a Vine leaf. They are also graceful, tall-growing plants, reaching 

 from 8 feet to 10 feet in hei.ght, in good soil, each growth terminat- 

 ed by a 4-foot inflorescence of orange and cream. 



Good effects may be obtained by growing it in hardy-flower 

 borders, where the latter are large and possess a good depth of 

 soil. The border is. however, not the only place where these sub- 

 jects are seen to advantage, for they look remarkably well as 

 large, isolated groups in the foreground of .trees or evergreen 

 shrubs, and even planted among dwarf shrubs. The Plume Poppy 

 is a decp-rootcr, and therefore is not greatly atTected during periods 

 of drought ; nevertheless, good ground it does enjoy at all times ; 

 also a' sunny position. — Gardening Illustrated. 



GAULTHERIA PROCUMBENS.— This is a pretty little peat- 

 loving shrub of the Ericaceous order, a native of the Eastern 

 States of America, and introduced LSO years ago. It is popularly 

 known as the Creeping Wintergreen, or Partridge Berry, and it 

 has long been valued for the '"oil of winter-green" extracted from 

 its fruits and used by cliemists for the flavoring of drugs and other 

 purposes. A leaf crushed between the fin.gers at once reveals the 

 familiar odor of that extract. G. procumbens is a charming sub- 

 ject for cool, shady places where it may be used for associatin,g 

 with other lowly plants of a like nature, or for carpeting the 

 ground about dwarf .'\zaleas. It does not often e.xcced 6 inches in 

 stature, and is usually not much more than half that height, the 

 little tufts of leathery, dark green leaves being borne on erect stems, 

 which rise from the creeping roots. The almost cylindrical flowers, 

 which appear in clusters at the leaf-axils in Uite Summer and 

 Autumn, arc large enough to be conspicuous and of a fresh piiiky- 

 uhite. These are followed by berries as large as those of the 

 Holly and of much the same color. This is, perhaps, the easiest 

 of the smaller Gaultherias to satisfy. It does well in lime-free 

 loam and leaf-iiMuld. (.iardeners' Chronitle (British). 



PRUXUS TRILOBA. — This species is one of the best members 

 of the Prunus family for forcing, and lends itself to many uses, not 

 the least among them being its vahie ;is a cut flower or vase 

 <lecoration. 



N'oung plants should be procured as .soon as possible. jKitted in 

 .1 suit.'dile mixture when received and stood in a sheltered spot out- 

 of-doors. 



.\ny time after the New Year is early enough to commence forc- 

 ing them. and. as in the case of all shrubs that are forced, they 

 should be taken into an intermediate house for a week or so before 

 being introduced to the forcing house. .X temperature of 65° is 

 sin'table — in a higher temperature the plant will not give its best, 

 and constant syringing is necessary until the flower buds begin to 

 -ipen. It is well then to cool the plants down at this stage, and if 

 this is done carefully the flowers will remain for three weeks or a 

 month in perfection. 



.After flowering it is well to encourage the development of 

 growth by placing the plants in a warm Peach house, when, after 

 the severest frosts are over, they may be placed out-of-doors in a 



