FoT November, 1923 



283 



sheltered situation. If they are to be retained for forcing the 

 following year they should be trained carefully, removing all un- 

 necessary old wood immediately after flowering ; giving the roots 

 some slight stimulant during the Summer. Planted outside in a 

 shrubbery this Prunus is of great value — both for its hardiness and 

 its wealth of double pink flowers in April. — Gardi-iirrs' Chnmiclc 

 [British). 



SPIR-E-\ JAPONIC. \.— The type species of the group of 

 shrubby Spiraeas included under the above term is not so well 

 know'n. nor is it so attractive as some of its varieties. The most 

 popular of the latter is Anthony Watercr, a sub-variety of S. j. 

 var. Bumalda, one of the handsomest of its race, and especially 

 valuable on account of its late flowering. The broad, crimson- 

 carmine corymbs of this shrub, much more brilliant than those of 

 the dwarfer Bumalda, are well known, and this season they happen 

 to be especially good. This is due not only to the abundant rains 

 of the later Summer, but also to the fact that there has not been 

 sufficient sun to bleach the rich color of the flowers. 



One of the most charming varieties of S. japonica is S. j. alba, 

 or, as it is sometimes called, S. callosa alba. This is a very dis- 

 tinct little shrub — so distinct, indeed, that some class it as a 

 separate species. It does not exceed .about a foot in height, and 

 the many slender, upright branches, w'ith their pale, almost emerald, 

 green leaves, bear a profusion of white flowers in terminal corymbs. 

 S. callosa alba blooms freely and late, it is perfectly hardy, and 

 easily satisfied as to soil and situation. — Gardeners' Chronicle 

 {British). 



VIBURNUM TOMENTOSUM.— It is not always the most 

 strikingly brilliant colored foliage that proves the most effective, 

 and this idea was impressed firmly on my mind when looking at 

 a large bush of Viburnum tomentosum a few days ago. The won- 

 derfully artistic coloring is superb. Usually one regards this 

 plant as a flowering shrub only, and certainly as such it is of the 

 very highest merit, but one must also admit it holds a high posi- 

 tion for the coloring of its foliage, which ranges from the deepest 

 coppery red on the older leaf surfaces through lighter shades of red 

 and deep pink to the younger leaves that are of pretty light, bronzy 

 green flushed with deep pink markings according to age. The 

 .stem and growths are bronzy brown, whilst the leaf-stalks are very 

 deep red, and then, to finish off, there is the paler under surface 

 sufi^used with pink. The whole is marvellously toned down by the 

 leaf tomcntum. The variety V. tomentosum plicatum is almost as 

 beautiful, but the leaves are of somewhat smaller size. — Gardeners' 

 Chronicle (British). 



COREOPIS GRANDIFLORA.— Sow a few seeds of this annual 

 now in a cool house. When they are large enough, prick off the 

 seedlings into small pots of loamy soil, and grow the plants on a 

 shelf in any airy house until they are well rooted. They may then 

 be transferred to 48-sized pots, and, if grown hard in a cold house, 

 will give a welcome bunch of cut flowers in the Spring, or, if 

 carefully staked, will make quite goodly shaped pot plants. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle (British). 



THE PERIWINKLES.— Plants of the small-leaved species, 

 Vinca minor, are very widely grown in gardens. The Vincas are 

 very accommodating plants and among the most useful, 

 as in most gardens and pleasure grounds there are positions 

 where neat-looking plants will not thrive, and in such paces weeds 

 soon take the lead and become a nuisance. Under such trees as 

 Cedars, especially under the Cedar of Lebanon, it is a difficult task 

 to induce a nice green undergrowth, but I have found no difificulty 

 when employing Vinca major. The plants soon formed a dense 

 green carpet which, speckled with the lovely blue flowers, during 

 a part of April and throughout May and June made a charming 

 picture. I once had occasion to carpet a quite open border — the 

 front portion — with this variety, and the plants grew so rapidly 

 in the mixture of soil, old lime rubble and leaf-mould that at one 

 end, adjoining a wall, the shoots grew up the latter several feet and 

 were then assisted by neat supports, the effect being very pleasing, 

 as the position was one near to a door leading through the wall 

 from a shrubbery to a walled-in garden. Propagation is quite 

 easy. — The Garden. 



THE CORSICAN HEATH.— The Ericas come to the garden 

 lover witli so many and varied charms that selection becomes a 

 matter of real difliculty. Perhaps one's peat patch is rather con- 

 fined, and therefore one has to be specially critical before admitting 

 a new-comer. One w'ill not be wrong in planting Erica stricta, the 

 Corsican Heather, for there is no season in the year when it does 

 not look attractive, though most of all when the ends of the shoots 

 are decked with their pale red flow;ers in Autumn. It is notable 

 among Heaths as a very erect grower and, though of compact 

 habit, capable in course of time of attaining a stature of 3 feet, 

 or even considerably more. In addition to the flowering season, the 

 plants are extremely decorative during Summer when covered by 

 the young foliage. — The Garden. 



NERIUM OLE.\NDER.— This handsome flowering shrub, with 

 its glossy, evergreen leaves, is frequently grown in a warm green- 

 house, where it becomes a prey to mealy-bug, scale, thrips, etc. 

 Grown outside during the Summer and Autumn, with the protection 

 of a light, airy house in the Winter only, it is much less liable 

 to become infested with these pests, and is a most useful plant for 

 late Summer decoration in the formal or terrace garden. Well- 

 grown plants in tubs make beautiful subjects for this purpose wlien 

 in flower, and are not unattractive even when not in liloom. 



To produce good specimens, copious watering and liberal feeding 

 are necessary during the period of active growth, the plants being 

 kept slightly dried after flowering, so that the new growths are not 

 incited to flower. 



The flowers are produced in terminal, racemose cymes from 

 well-ripened wood, and the new growths develop at the base of 

 the spray of blossom at the same time — hence the only pruning 

 that is needed is the removal entirely of any worn-out branches 

 to allow their places to be taken by occasional new growths that 

 develop at the base. 



When the plant finally becomes too leggy, it can be cut hard 

 back in early Spring, but it will not then flower during that seasoa 

 Cuttings of matured shoots root freely if inserted in small pots 

 and placed in a close frame, and a few cuttings should be struck 

 yearly and the plants grown on so that old and worn-out specimens 

 may be discarded. — Gardeners' Chronicle (Britisli). 



Brief Horticultural Jottings 



A writer in the Garlenzoell (Berlin) draws attention to the fact 

 that, although in ancient times collections of plants existed which 

 could be considered to be the equivalent of the modern botanic 

 gardens, the range of the plants must have been very limited before 

 the discovery of America or the opening up of the continent of 

 Africa. In the si.xtcenth and seventeenth centuries, however, the 

 movement towards botanic gardens was rapid, and in 1560 there 

 were already fifty of such gardens in Italy, the first, at Pisa, hav- 

 ing been founded in 1543. The one at Padua was founded in 

 1546, and is the oldest still existing in the world; it contains a 

 "Chaste tree" (Vitex Agnuscastus ) said to be 370 years old. The 

 garden at Bologna was founded in 1568, and those at Rome and 

 Florence w-ere commenced about the same time, while the one at 

 Leiden, the famous Dutch LTniversity town, dates from 1575. — 

 Gardeners' Chronicle (British.) 



One pretty good test of the hold that plant growing has on 

 human nature is the extent to which it is practiced by children. 

 For while they may represent a negligible factor in the commercial 

 field today, those same children are the potential growers and buy- 

 ers of the future. It is therefore interesting to find that in the 

 Junior Project work carried on by Cornell University among 

 14.189 boys and girls in New York State last year, more than 

 2,400 projects were gardens. This brings plant growing second 

 among the agricultural activities, poultry raising coming first with 

 3.056 projects. These figures are the more significant when it 

 is noted that 40 per cent of the whole number of projects (or 5,677) 

 are in the indoor or home making rather than the outdoor or 

 agricultural class. — Florist E.reluinge. 



The famous Washington elm, under whose branches George 

 Washington took command of the Continental Army, toppled over 

 a few weeks ago. Thus the famous tree passes into history. 

 A number of months ago the tree was given up as "dead" after 

 experts had examined it and declared it w-as beyond saving. To- 

 day, in a mild wind, the elm fell over under its own weight, its 

 badly rotted trunk proving unequal to the strain upon it. — New 

 York Herald. 



While supervising the construction of a series of stone houses, 

 Jocelyn Davidson, architect, noticed some peculiar cavities in cer- 

 tain of the stones, and on further investigation, found that these 

 cavities contained dried blossoms. The holes are only discovered 

 on breaking the stones, so that it seems certain that the flowers 

 have been completely sealed" in their rocky tomb. On the other 

 hand, the stone is of the Silurian Dolomite formation, some 50 

 or 60 million years old, as geologists reckon time, while the flowers 

 are of a high development and much later in origin. They appear 

 to be akin to the common wild Rose of Canada, but different in 

 color, the majority being of a rich dark crimson, while some few- 

 are yellow. Fossil flowers are, of course, not unknown, but these 

 are dried as if pressed in a book, except that the petals are rolled 

 together instead of being flat. The find appears to be entirely 

 novel and it has been referred to the university, where it is now 

 being considered. The stone comes from Owen Sound, where 

 there are large quarries of this variety of limestone.^Toroi/o Star 



