13° 



GARDENING. 



Jan 15, 



Tropical Vegetation. 



A OlflNT BAMBOO. 

 (Bambusa dendrocalamus.) 

 The generic term bambusa is derived 

 from "bambu," the Malay name applied 

 to it. The English speaking race have 

 substituted the 00 for the u and we call 

 it bamboo. It is classed among the 

 grasses and is remarkable for including 

 species that range in height from B. For- 

 tune/, a dwarf tufted form growing about 



forms and can be carried through our 

 winters under protection. The specimen 

 illustrated is one of the Asiatic species, 

 now growing in the botanical gardens at 

 Ceylon. We could not ascertain its 

 height but a comparison with that of the 

 native standing some distance in front to 

 the left will give some idea. 



GARYOTA URENS. 

 I Fish-tail Palm.) 

 We illustrate a beautiful specimen ot 

 this palm in bloom in the botanical gar- 



THE ENGLISH IRIS. 



twenty inches high, to B aspera, of the 

 Indian Archipelago, which, according to 

 Von Mueller, attains a height of one 

 hundred and twenty feet. 



Its rapidity in growth under favorable 

 conditions have been noted by observers. 

 B. balcooa was found by Wallich to grow 

 twelve feet in twenty days. B. tulda, 

 according to Roxburgh, has grown at 

 first at the rate of twenty to seventy feet 

 in a month. Fortune noticed some Jap- 

 anese forms to grow two and a half feet 

 in a day. 



The purposes to which the bamboos 

 are applied in the social economies are 

 well known. Costa states that some 

 stems are thick enough to serve for canoes 

 when split. 



There are but few if any of the species 

 that can be grown successfully in the 

 colder part of our country. B. Metake, 

 Japanese species now classed as Arun- 

 dmaria Metake, is one of the hardier 



dens of Ceylon. This species is one of a 

 dozen known as the fish-tail palm, on 

 count pf its leaves resembling the fin or 

 tail of a fish. It is a native of India and 

 is considered one of the hardier palms, it 

 being found ascending the Himalayas to 

 an altitude of 5,000 feet where the tem- 

 perature sinks at times to 40° Fahren- 

 heit. 



It is probably one of the largest of the 

 genus, reaching a height of fifty feet, and 

 does not bloom until maturity, when 

 after producing a succession of flowers, it 

 dies away. 



In economic uses it plays its part. 

 From the sap of its flowers toddj' and 

 palm sugar are produced, and from the 

 fibre of the leaf-stalks rope, baskets, 

 brushes and brooms are made. 



When in a young state this palm is 

 often used in table decoration and is much 

 valued as a specimen palm in conservato- 

 ries. 



The Flower Garden. 



ENGLISH IRIS. 



(Iris Ziphioides. ) 



The illustration here given is from a 

 photograph taken June 14 last year of a 

 few blooms of the English iris. The term 

 English iris is misleading, inasmuch as it 

 is a native of the Pyrenees and happened 

 to reach Holland via England. This 

 name, given it by the Holland bulb grow- 

 ers under the impression that it was 

 indigenous to the British Isle, is recog- 

 nized even in England as its common one. 

 While the Botanical name here given in 

 the heading is theone used by Nicholson's 

 1 iictionaryofGardening.it is often spoken 

 of as Xiphion latifolium Whichever is 

 the accepted term matters not as it will 

 probably always bear the common one 

 among the people. 



It is certaiuly a beautilul flower, and it 

 is a wonder it is not grown more by the 

 florists for cut flowers. When cut just 

 before the flower opens, or even some 

 time prior, it develops fully in water and 

 is a good keeper. 



It is easily grown, requiring a rather 

 light soil, well drained. It does not like 

 overmoisturein the winter so that it must 

 not be planted where water will stand 

 during that season. It is not considered 

 over-hardy in our climate and really 

 requires a light mulching put on in the 

 fall. A mulching of half rotted leaves 

 does well as it can come up through it in 

 spring without harm. 



Choose a sunm- position sheltered from 

 the winds, and plant in your cutting 

 grounds or in rows about eighteen inches 

 apart, where you can plant annuals in 

 between, as during the summer months 

 the leaves die down and leave the ground 

 bare. 



There are various colors and markings 

 represented in the different named varie- 

 ties. The one illustrated is the white 

 Mont Blanc. King of the Blues is a rich 

 purple violet, and there arc othersequally 

 as handsome. W. C. E. 



HERBACEOUS PLANTS FOR DRY SITUATIONS. 



Herbaceous plants as a class are verv 

 accommodating, we can make selections 

 for every conceivable situation; be it wet 

 or dry, sheltered or exposed, cold or 

 warm, sunny or shady, there should be 

 no difficulty in finding the right thing for 

 the right place among the many hundred 

 species of hardy plants, and an attractive 

 border may as well be laid out on high 

 and dry ground on a hillside as in low 

 and damp places. The immense difference 

 in size and height also is not equalled by 

 any other class of plants, nor is such 

 great variation in form and size of foliage 

 or flower found anywhere else; we have 

 tiny little flowers not any larger than the 

 head of a pin, as for instance in the 

 Sagina pilifera or in Gypsophylla panicu- 

 lata, while others are of immense size and 

 possess the boldest characteristics. 



But it is particular!}' of suitable plants 

 for rather dry situations I shall speak 

 about to-day. On large private places or 

 even in many commercial establishments 

 it is not always possible or convenient to 

 attend to the watering of borders, and the 

 necessity of leaving the plants to their 

 fate in all sorts of weather may be fol- 

 lowed by serious disaster. Should we 

 plant indiscriminately, many of the 

 plants would succumb to a prolonged dry 

 spell, tbey would probably not die right 

 out, but their wilted appearance would 

 entirely spoil the effect of the whole plant 



