i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



57 



A BENCH OF LILY OP THE VALLEY 



rarely see, yet liow beaiuilul they are. 

 Reine des Blanches is a lovely white; 

 Reine des Blau.rich blue; Keine des Roses, 

 rose color. Grow them in partial shade 

 during summer; they are of free growth 

 in blooming and the coolest house will 

 suit i hem. 



Cytesus (genista racomosus) has rich 

 racemes of golden yellow flowers during 

 the latter part of w inter and early spring; 

 there are sev ral varieties and all very de- 

 sirable plants. John Saul. 



Washington, BrC. 



OUR GREENHOUSES TO-DAY. 



Our greenhouses to-day are filled chiefly 

 as follows: 



Roses in the benches were planted in 

 June. The three most reliable varieties 

 which do best in the same temperature, 

 say 55° by night with 70° on bright 

 sunny days, are Perle des Jardins, Bride 

 and Bridesmaid. Don't attempt to grow 

 PapaGontier unless you can give it cooler 

 treatment. My neighbor, Mr. Peter Duff, 

 grows the last named very well in a cool 

 house with almost no fire heat, but other 

 roses havemildewed underthesame treat- 

 ment. 



Carnations on the benches were planted 

 in September. The house for these should 

 be cool, light and airy. If good blooms 

 are wanted leave none but terminal buds. 

 Lizzie McGowan stands a higher temper- 

 ature and should be closer planted than 

 most other varieties. The following sorts 

 do best with us: President Garfield and 

 Secretary Windom, scarlets; La Purite, 

 a deep rosy pink which has been grown 

 on this place for the last twenty years, 

 showing that it has a fine constitution; 

 Miranda, plum purple, the only one I 

 know of this shade; Armaziudy, white 



striped with rose, a no* variety with a 

 vigorous constitution and it is a prolific 

 bloomer; also Meteor, crimson; and 

 Alaska, white. 



Amaryllis aulica is coming into bloom 

 just now. We never draw oft these 

 entirely. Paneratium ovatum is also 

 coming into bloom. Scented leaved gera- 

 niums fill a considerable space with us, 

 which we use for cutting. Callas are in 

 7-inch pols and will get their final shift 

 into 9-inch pots later on. Chinese prim- 

 roses, libonias and abutilons also occupy 

 considerable space. Flowering begonias 

 need little or no shade just now. varieties 

 such as semperflorens gigantea rosea, 

 nitida and rubra require none; Olbia and 

 Metallica and varieties of Rex do. 



Cyclamens are a very important feature 

 for fall, winter and early spring decora- 

 tion of the greenhouse and go far to fill 

 the void made by the departure of the 

 chrysanthemums. This is the time to 

 sow seed of cannas. We have now in 

 bloom in pots the following, Italia, Aus- 

 tria, Alsace, Philadelphia (a beautiful 

 shade of crimson) Oueen Charlotte and 

 Florence Vaughan. In the warmer houses 

 are in bloom, allamandas, euphorbias, 

 anthuriums and the beautiful little violet 

 flowered Saintpaulia ionantha. 



Orchids — The following are in bloom: 

 Cattleya Bowringeana, C. Iabiata, C. 

 maxima superba, Dendrobium Phalxnop- 

 sis Schrodeniamim, D. formosum gigan- 

 teuin, La?lia, Perrine, Oncidium unguicu- 

 latum, O. varicosum Kogersii, Pleione 

 Lagenavia, Odontoglossum grande, Cyp- 

 ripedium cenanthum, C. Speceriamim and 

 Vanda ccerulea. 



Chrysanthemums, of course, occupy a 

 great part of our cool greenhouses. We 

 take down the benches in the fall to make 



room for them. Alter they arc past up 

 go the benches again and their places 

 will be occupied with azaleas, hydrangeas 

 from the cold frames, carnatious in pots 

 which are now in cold frames; violets in 

 pots and boxes; Roman hyacinths, hya- 

 cinths, narcissus and other Dutch bulbs; 

 freesias.scillasand ixias; flowering shrubs 

 which we have now in a cold reserve 

 house, such as, genis as Rhynchosper- 

 mum jasminoides and Bougainvillaea 

 glabra. Besides, many things which are 

 rather crowded now will get breathing 

 room. I may mention that Lapageria 

 rosea is in bloom, and so is Solatium 

 Wendlandii, which has lilac blue flowers 

 resembling Platycodon grandiflorum. 

 Wm. Fitzwilliam. 

 Baronald, Orange, N.J. , Oct 12, 1S90. 



THE COLD. FRAMES. 



These are now filled with pansies, 

 daisies, forget-me-nots and violets. While 

 a little frost may not hurt these plants it 

 does them no good, so keep it away by 

 mulching about the frames and protect- 

 ing over the sashes with mats, shutters, 

 etc. Let them have all the sunlight pos- 

 sible. Polyanthuses, Canterbury bells, 

 anemones, ranunculuses, and the like 

 need less coddling than the pansies and 

 violets, but the more careful we are of 

 -them in winter the earlier they will start 

 into bloom in spring. Be very particular 

 to have the ground about the frames so 

 graded that no water can possibly lodge 

 around it in winter; and provide for pro- 

 tection from driving, piercing winds. 



New Violets. — Wearetrying somenew 

 ones we got from France, but I cannot 

 discern any improvement in them over 

 older varieties. D. F. 



