i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



RODBECKIA LACINIATA PL PL 



d ug out the soil two feet and put two feet of 

 oak leaves in the excavation and put 

 good soil on top. I was able to get in 14- 

 or 16 inches of soil as the leaves sunk 

 under the weight of the soil. The leaves 

 held the moisture in the light soil with- 

 out souring it. The bed was sunk several 

 inches below the surrounding ground, 

 and during and before the time of flowers 

 I kept the soil soaked with water. In 

 this way I got the largest flowers I have 

 ever seen, It is needless to say I put fully 

 six inches of fresh cow manure on top 

 last fall. I also did what would have 

 killed anything but the iris, covering the 

 bed in the spring with chicken manure. 

 The iris family are all interesting and 

 beautiful and easily grown, but no one 

 ever stood before a well grown bed of 

 Iris Kccmpferi in flower without Leing 

 rilled with wonder and admiration. 



JAPANESE ANEMONES. 



My garden is now preparing for its 

 last effort in hardy perennials. A bed of 

 200 plants of Japanese anemones is 

 already showing flower, and they will 

 bloom'until the frost lays its fatal blight 

 on all outdoor vegetation. I planted 

 them in the light soil of my garden and 

 in a shaded position. They made large 

 plants and many buds, but small and 

 few flowers. They are vigorous looking 

 this year and loaded with buds, and 

 unless they showgreatimprovement over 

 last year I will transplant them to a 

 sunny position and heavy soil. 



My garden though but four acres is 

 heavily wooded with forest trees, and I 

 am striving to have the forest and garden. 



ANDROMEDA ARBOREA. 



I have five small trees of Andromeda 

 arborea in flower and the long white 

 honey-scented spikes of flowers with the 

 beautiful tints of young ioliage together 

 with the red autumn color make this a 

 very beautiful tree. Why is it not more 

 grown? 



pitcher's heliopsis. 



Let me say a word before closing ot 

 Heliopsis Pitcheriana. It has been in 

 flower seven weeks without any intima- 

 tion of tiring and is the most constant 

 piece of yellow in the garden. 



The man who undertakes to garden 

 without water and cow manure will find 

 '"love's labor lost." John Marron. 



Sewickley, Pa. 



GOLDEN GLOW GONEFLOWER. 



(Rudbeckia laciniata Uore pleno.) 

 This is one of the forms of our western 

 wild plants, belonging to the same genus 

 as our black-eyed Susan, but it has so 

 changed the character of its cone, that it 

 now gives us a most lovely double chrys- 

 anthemum-like decorative flower of a pure 

 yellow color, and about three inehes'in 

 diameter. Some say it looks like a yellow 

 aster of the Semple's branching type. I 

 imagine that this flower will become as 

 popular as the "Dahlia sunflower" (Heli- 

 anthus nwltifiorusplemis) which it faintly 

 resembles. Where plenty moisture is 

 given it it will grow eight feet high and 

 produce in August on long wiry stems 

 numerous blooms whose reflexed p tals 

 make it very effective. It is a splendid 

 keeper when cut. I have not wintered it, 



but as the type is extremely hardy, there 

 can be no question regarding it on that 

 point. The photograph herewith sent to 

 you [and from which our illustration has 

 been engraved. — Ed ] is that of a plant 

 set out in my garden less than six months 



ago. 



W. C. Egan. 



This double-flowered rudbeckia has 

 been repeatedly referred to editorially in 

 Gardening. Its origin is unknown; what 

 we know of it is this: Two years ago we 

 saw it — one plant — in bloom in Mr. 

 Childs' garden at Floral Park, Long 

 Island, as it was (and still is) the only 

 double-flowering rudbeckia we had ever 

 seen we were much "struck" with and 

 deeply interested in it. Mr. Childs told 

 us he didn't know from whom, where, or 

 how he got it, but presumed it was one 

 of the many plants sent to him now and 

 again by his customers and track of it 

 had been lost. At planting time in spring 

 all miscellaneous plants known and un- 

 known were set out in the garden, it 

 among them, and no more notice was 

 taken of it till it came into bloom and its 

 lloral beauty and profusion attracted no- 

 tice. We got a chip of it, and the way it 

 grew and bloomed at Dosoris was won- 

 derful. It was "sent out" a year ago and 

 has now become quitegeneral in gardens. 

 It is hardy, very free growing, extrava- 

 gantly profuse as regards blooming, and 

 withal a first-class perennial but in habit 

 a little inclined to coarseness. 



NEW GERANIUMS. 



If the English do not stop their pro- 

 ductions in the round flowering section 

 we shall have no adjectives with which 

 to follow them. Wenowhave two white 

 flowered sorts, Dr. Nansen and Snow 

 Drop, in the line of Cannell's Lily, so long 

 a favorite, but far ahead of it. The 

 salmons are finely represented by Mid- 

 summer, -Pmone, Florence Farmer and 

 Galatea. The red varieties seem to have 

 reached perfection, both as to size and 

 color, John Forbes and Enid being two 

 of the largest and finest. 



From France we had Triomphe de 

 Nancy, a double-flowered erimson-and- 

 white of the Mirande type. Very beauti- 

 ful, as are the various sorts of the Corona 

 section, where three colors are combined, 

 usually in distinct rings about the center. 

 All the above are grand for pots, or for 

 special uses, but we still have to come 

 back to the Bruant or "sun-proof ' section 

 for our bedders; two of the finest of these 

 in pink are Mine. Jaulin, double, and J. 

 D. Cabos, single. Good bedding pinks 

 are always in great demand. In scarlets 

 two of the finest are Ville de Poitiers, 

 double, and W. P. Simmons, single. 



A new plant that is bound to prove 

 very useful is Allamanda Williamsii, a 

 tender shrub bearing clusters of the most 

 beautiful trumpet-shaped canary flowers; 

 it is very useful in the window or veran- 

 da box, being a free bloomer and of nice 

 habit. 



In begonias we find two valuable a 1- 

 ditions in the Semperflorens Gigantea 

 class; one of these is elegantissima, a 

 beautiful free flowering pink variety; the 

 other is elegantissima alba, pure white. 

 Any person growing the rosea variety 

 will give a warm welcome to these new 

 comers. 



Every year hundreds of valueless novel- 

 ties must be discarded in the various 

 classes of plants, but notwithstanding 

 this fact the testing of these new varie- 

 ties is one of the greatest pleasures of the 

 florist; more and more the selection of 

 the best is being made by the florists, 



