October 21, 1916 



HOETICULTURE 



535 



Tunica Saxifraga 



Any seed house carrying- lianiy i)oreiiuial llower seeds 

 knows by experienee that one of the tirst questions asked 

 by the anuiteur buyer is: "Does it flower the first year?" 

 .Vs salesiiuiu, 1 always felt jrlail wheu now and then 1 

 could answer in the affirmative. The number of species, 

 of course, is limited but ]ierliaps not so much so as we 

 usually may think. By early sowiuff under glass, liardy 

 fall asters, antheniis. boltouias, Cliyrsantliemum maxi- 

 mum, coreopsis, delphiniunis, gailhirdias, lychnis, I'hlox 

 paniculata, platycodon. Sedum spectaiiile, Scaliiosa 

 caucasica, Stokesia cyanea tritomas and even sometimes 

 astilbes may be brought to bloom the first year. One 

 of the easiest to handle and absolutely sure to produce 

 its full crop of blossoms during the first season is the 

 subject of this note, Tunica Saxifraga. A low creeping 

 genus of the order Caryopiiylleae, hailing from Central 

 Europe, it prefers an ojx-n sunny exposure and accord- 

 ing to my observation does not suffer by occasional 

 drought. Well adapted for snuill border, it is even more 

 valuable for the rockery. The plantation depicted by 

 our cut shows the August effect of early JIarch seed- 

 lings in a rock garden which the writer built in Maine. 

 The small narrow lineai- foliage and tlie great abundance 

 of little pink blossoms gives the whole an admirably 

 graceful appearance. Tunica Saxifraga in a cut state 

 may be used for floral work in a similar way as we use 

 the panicles of the gypsophilas. For this purpose the 



TlMl .V Saxifuaua. 



new dimble flowering form is the most valualde one. 

 The latter is a shy seeder and plants must lie propagated 

 by divisions or sumimer cuttings. 



Glenside, Pa. 



-^jUAAXfudL-^</tkAy 



A GLANCE AT ROWAYTON. 



The Rowayton Greenhouses of 

 Traendly & Schenck at Rowayton, 

 Conn., are well known to most of our 

 readers. We know of no place where 

 rose growing under glass is carried on 

 with more watchful exactness than at 

 this establishment and the product as 

 In evidence from day to day at their 

 New York salesroom finds favor ac- 

 cordingly among the buyers. Ophelia, 

 Stanley, Mock, Beauty, White Killar- 

 ney and Ward are the varieties grown 

 most heavily and among those in itie 

 experimental class is a seedling which 

 goes under the name of "Red Ward" 

 for the present. 



As previously mentioned In Horti- 

 cuLxruE two mammoth Lord & Burn- 

 ham houses have been added to this 

 already large range this season and 

 the graceful 125-foot stack of yellow 

 brick recently completed is a land- 

 mark seen from afar. Labor troubles 

 all through the summer have seri- 

 ously hampered all work on this place 

 and the heating system for the new 

 houses has only recently been com- 

 pleted. It is what is known as the 

 "vacuum system" and every modern 

 device for efficiency and reliability has 

 been made use of. Two monster Lord 

 & Burnham boilers are installed in a 

 spacious new boiler house of concrete 

 and steel, which is now approaching 

 completion. 



Roses are not the exclusive product 

 at Rowayton as chrysanthemums and 

 carnations are also grown to a con- 



siderable extent. The latter, in com- 

 mon with the carnation crops of other 

 growers generally, are backward for 

 the season. Beacon is the most prom- 

 ising variety in its present appearance 

 and presages a fine fall crop. Of 

 chrysanthemums there are many 

 houses, all rather late in blooming. 

 Crystal Gem, Golden Queen, Chryso- 

 lora and Oconto are the varieties now 

 leading and the mid-season and late 

 sorts are rapidly developing. 



Extensive provision is being made 

 here for the leading essential for up-to- 

 date rose growing — sod — in large 

 fields sowed down to humus produc- 

 ing crops. 



CYPRIPEDIUM 



POLLETTIANUM. 



This pretty hybrid was introduced 

 by Sander in 1891. It is the result of 

 a cross between C. x callophyllum 

 and C. oenanthum, the parentage of 

 C. X calophyllum being C. barbatum 

 X C. venustum. Our illustration is 

 from a photo, by M. J. Pope. 



GORDONIA ALATAMAHA. 

 With the exception of the Witch 

 Hazel, which in this latitude is a 

 shrub rather than a tree, this Gor- 

 donia is the last tree of the year to 

 llower in the Arboretum, and its pure 

 white, cup-shaped flowers, resembling 

 a single Camellia flower, can now be 

 seen. This handsome little tree has 

 an interesting history. It was discov- 

 ered by John Bartram, the famous 

 Pennsylvania traveler and botanist, in 

 17tJ5 near Fort Barrington on the Al- 

 tamaha River in Georgia. John Bar- 

 tram's son William visited the locality 

 in 177S and collected seeds and roots 

 of this tree, and Dr. Moses Marshall 

 who visited the locality in 1790 was 

 the last botanist who had seen it 

 growing naturally. Many botanists 

 have hunted for it in vain in the neigh- 

 borhood of Fort Barrington but with- 

 out success, and this tree has been 

 preserved by the plants and seeds col- 

 lected by William Bartram and their 

 descendants. Many of these are grow- 

 ing in gardens near Philadelphia and 

 there are large and very old specimens 

 in the neglected arboreta of the 

 Brothois Painter at Medina and of 

 John Kvans in Radnor Township, Del- 

 aware County. Good plants may be 

 seen in Fairmount Park near the Hor- 

 tictiltural Building and in a tew pri- 

 vate gardens near the city. This Gor- 

 doiiia has been an inhabitant of the 

 Arboretum for many years where it 

 flowers in sheltered positions every 

 autumn. Late in the season the leaves 

 turn orange and scarlet before falling. 

 — Arnold Arborelinn BtiUctin. 



