ii8 



GARDENING. 



Jan 



It is a gcod companion for the heavy- 

 scented clematis from the mountains of 

 Thibet, C. graveohns. This is a quick 

 growing species, hardy and with hand- 

 somely divided foliage. The flowers are 

 solitary, on long stalks in the axils ot the 

 leaves, an inch and a half across and light 

 yellow in color. The blister beetle is very 

 fond of this species and some times 

 attacks it so vigorously as to prevent its 

 attaining a height of one foot in a season. 

 W. C. Egan. 



THE PURPLE FRINGE TREE (Muts Colinus.) 



bower, C. viticella, and the Chinese C. 

 lanuginosa This variety was introduced 

 in 1863 and is more robust and more 

 easily grown than any other of the large 

 flowered forms. 



In 1894 Messrs. Jackman & Son, 

 Woking, England, exhibited before the 

 Royal Horticultural Society the result of 

 fertilizing the clematis Starof India, itself 

 a hybrid, with the pollen from our Texas 

 species, C. coccinea. The Star of India be- 

 longs to the Jackmanii section, being a 

 large-flowered form, blooming on the 

 current year's shoots. The flowers open 

 out nearly flat and are in color a reddish 

 plum with red bars. Our Texas species is 

 considered by botanists to be a variety of 

 our North American "leather flower" and 

 is therefore C. Voirna var. coccinea. As 

 will be remembered the flowers of this 

 species are produced upon the new wood, 

 and in this one feature the parents of this 

 new clematis already christened "Coun- 

 tess of Onslow," are identical. It too is 

 a very important feature in our northern 

 gardens where it is hard to save over 

 winter the old wood that produces the 

 flowers in the montana-patens and fiorida 

 types. Beyond this similarity in the 

 parents there is a wide divergence, espe- 

 cially in the form of the flowers. 



C. coccinea is a vigorous siender vine 

 with a light green foliage and a profuse 

 bloomer, especially late in the summer, its 

 flowers always being caught by the early 

 frosts. The most prominently exposed 



portions of the flowers are four thick 

 fleshv sepals, campanulate at the base 

 and ireflexed at the tips, over an inch in 

 length and bright scarlet in color. To 

 those unfamiliar with the flower they 

 present the appearanceof a bud just open- 

 ing at the tips. 



It will thus be seen that there is a wide 

 difference in the appearance of the flowers 

 of the parents of this new clematis, and 

 the result seems to be a compromise be- 

 tween the two forms. They are described 

 as being of a somewhat open bell-shape 

 and a good deal larger than C. coccinea. 

 The color is a bright violet-purple with 

 a broad scarlet band down the center of 

 each petal. Other hybrids of C. coccinea 

 have been obtained by the same firm and 

 it is to be hoped that a sufficient stock of 

 them has been worked up by this time to 

 enable our American dealers to place 

 them before thereaders of Gardening. As 

 is well known, C. coccinea is entirely free 

 from the provoking disease so fatal to 

 many of the large flowered forms, and it 

 may have transmitted to its off-spring a 

 portion of this desirable immunity. 



There is another form that is free from 

 disease and one that seems scarce in our 

 gardens, but which when established is a 

 very desirable plant. It is a form of C. 

 viticella, known as C. kermesina. It is 

 not a rampant grower, but will in time 

 cover a fair space and freely produce 

 many four-petaled flowers of a rich wine 

 color, abont two inches in diameter. 



CflNNflS. 



Among the debutantes of 1896 Cote 

 d'Or, a pure yellow of good substance, 

 Gloire de Montet, somewhat like the 

 German canna Queen Charlotte, only the 

 yellow runs into the red, making the 

 combination more pleasing, and Compte, 

 which miaht be termed a dwarf form of 

 Florence Vaughan, are all good and none 

 growing higher than two and one-half 

 feet. Here is a chance for obtaining 

 dwarf cannasiortheouter border of beds. 



Among the novelties not yet sent out is 

 a pink canna belonging to Messrs. A. 

 Blanc & Co , of Philadelphia, known as 

 seedling No. 2012. The petals are two 

 inches long and one and a quarter broad 

 and of a color marked as pure pink in 

 Mr. F. Schuyler Mathews' color chart. 

 It is extremely pleasing as an individual 

 plant and a new departure from the pre- 

 vailing yellows and reds. M. A. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



RHUS G0T1NUS. 

 (Purple Fringe <>r Smoke Tree). 



Though not a new plant, this is one of 

 the best of the mid-summer blooming 

 shrubs. It is a native of southern Europe 

 and is hard}- in this section of eastern 

 Iowa. It becomes a large sized shrub, 

 looking better as a single specimen than 

 when planted in groups. During the lat- 

 ter part of June and in early July it is 

 covered with large panicles of purplish 

 misty-looking blossoms which are very 

 effective. The} 7 last a long time when cut 

 and are largely used here for house and 

 mantel decorations. The shrub is neat in 

 habit, does not sucker, and in the fall the 

 leaves color to red and yellow and make 

 a pretty landscape effect. 



When planted in too rich a soil it is 

 sometimes attacked by a fire blight, like 

 the apple and peach trees, but where it 

 does not grow so rapidly I have not 

 noticed anything the matter with it. 



The specimen here illustrated stands 

 on the lawn of Mr. Charles Lau whose 

 residence is on the open prairie some eight 

 miles from Davenport. It was planted 

 some ten years ago, and has never been 

 protected in winter. J. T. Temple. 



Davenport, Iowa. 



SHRUBS AND TREES WITH SHOWY FRUIT. 



The ornamental value of many shrubs 

 and trees with showy fruit is an impor- 

 tant desideratum in gardens and pleasure 

 grounds. As a general rule most shrubs 

 and trees with blossoms seldom have 

 conspicuous fruit, and conversely shrubs 

 and trees with handsome fruit seldom 

 have conspicuous flowers. Of course 

 there are some exceptions to this rule. 



The winter berry (Ilex verticillata), a 

 native, tall-growing shrub, in moist, low 

 grounds, is at this time of the year very 

 gay with an abundant display of bright 

 red berries. We find it is not difficult to 

 transplant, and it does well in moderately 



