December 8, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



613 



Ornamental Conifers 



TSUGA UIVKKSIFOLIA 



The hemlocks like to grow in damp surroundings; 

 they suffer in winter iTom dry north and northwest 

 wind. Tsuga canadensis, the common hemlock, grows 

 all over northeast America. It is a graceful tree, young 

 or old, and can be u=ed for big plantings ; they are also 

 much used for hedges. There are a few forms in culti- 

 vation wliich are very ornamental and best used as iso- 

 lated on the lawn. Compacta, as its name indicates, is 

 of compact growth and when young is nearly round. 

 Parvifolia or microphylla has very small needles, is 

 much branched and of small size. Macrophylla has 

 much larger needles and is compact in growth. Gracilis 

 pendula generally without leader branches has long 

 slender branches droo|)ing outwards on the top. Sar- 

 gent pendula is a good weeping tree, very distinct, flat 

 at the top. Alba spica has the points of the young 

 shoots white when growing. Globosa Manning is a 

 dwarf, very compact growing, little tree. 



Tsuga Carolinian;! has tlie habit of growth of the 

 common hemlock, with larger and darker needles; it is 

 quite a distinct tree. 



Tsuga Mertensiana or Pattoniana, the black hemlock 

 from the West, is here a very compact, slow growing, 

 dark green tree, but not very hardy. There is a form, 

 which comes from further north — Hookeriana — which 

 has the needles smaller, is more compact in growth, of 

 a bluish color and is more hardy. 



Tsuga diversifolia and Sieboldii are both from Japan; 

 the first is of compact growth, the needles are short and 

 flat, glossy and regularly set; the other g^ows more 

 slender, has longer needles of a grayish green color. 

 They are both good hardy trees for the lawm. Tsuga 

 Abbertiana from the West and Brunaniana from Hima- 

 laya are not hardy trees. 



Pseudo-Tsuga (or a newer name, .\bietia) Douglasii 

 — sometimes called also Pinus taxifolia — from Wash- 

 ingtfin to New Mexico, has the flat needles of an abies 

 and the persistent pendant cones of the spruce. It is 

 one of the best conifers to be planted, of large spreading 

 graceful pyramidal habit, and very hardy. There are 



r.SI.LUD.JsLOA DouGi.Asn 

 In front Tsuga Pattoniana Hookeriana 



some glaucous, pendulous and fastigiate forms from it 

 in cultivation. It is one of the conifers which varies 

 the most from seeds; in a patch of a couple of hundred 

 seedlings from four to six feet high, we have at least half 

 a dozen good varying forms among them. The Douglas 

 fir which comes from Colorado has the needles narrower, 

 giving the shoots a more feathery appearance. It is of 

 very light green and quite a distinct tree, but not very 

 hardy; we had a nice lot but lost them nearly all. 



(To he continued.) 



Begonia glaucophylla scandens 



(See Frontispiece.) 



Begonia glaucophylla scandens, although an old 

 variety, is a plant not so generally well known as its 

 beauty warrants. It is fibrous-rooted, and flowers dur- 

 ing tile winter months, and its long trailing growths 

 make it an ideal plant for growing in hanging baskets 

 for the decoration of the conservatory. 



Every shoot has a terminal cluster of rosy scarlet 

 flowers which last a long time, and which shows to 

 great advantage when suspended. 



It roots quite freely from cuttings, and these, taken 

 in spring and when well rooted and put three or four 

 in a ten-inch pan or basket, make very attractive plants 

 by fall, if pinched a few times during their growing 

 season. 



It readily res]ionds to liberal treatment by giving a 

 mass of flowers during January and February, when 

 they are much appreciated. 



