i8 97 . 



GARDENING. 



247 



A. stellata, A. ranunculoides, and A. ap- 

 ennina, althcnigh the last named one has 

 come through the past two winters all 

 right; however, it did not flower last 

 spring and does not show very strong 

 this year. 



The border auriculas have come through 

 the winter all right and are now in flower. 



and it is wonderful how much hard frost 

 these little plants will endure without the 

 slightest injury to their apparently deli- 

 cate and soft foliage. On the 19:h of 

 April we had freezing weather and high 

 northwest winds all day; in the evening 

 the mercury was down to 22° and the fol- 

 lowing morning as low as 16° was regis- 



Tomatues 



are now a sore looking lot. Single nar- 

 cissus, along with scillas, remained per- 

 fect, so did the snowdrops, the beautiful 

 Pusehkinia libanotica with its many 

 flowered stems of pale blue flowers, and 

 also the chionodoxas. None of these were 

 injured in any way. 



On Easter Sunday (April IS) the 

 weather was very mild and pleasant. A 

 sti-oll over the herbaceous grounds re- 

 vealed the fact that many of the early 

 spring flowers had made their appear- 

 ance. Hellebores were in full bloom yet 

 and the individual flowers are purer in 

 color and of better size than they are in 

 midwinter; they should have a partly 

 shaded place and must not be disturbed; 

 the longer they are left alone the more 

 flowers will be produced annually and the 

 mass of dark green foliage will effectually 

 cover the ground at all seasons of the 

 year. In the open border, fully exposed 

 to the sun, these interesting plants will 

 do tolerably well after two or three years; 

 we have one old patch planted in such an 

 exposed position, but the best and most 

 perfect flowers are gathered under the 

 shade of overhanging trees in another 

 place. The rue anemone, Thalictrum 

 anewonoides, Anemonella thalictroides 

 or Anemone thalictroides (which of the 

 three names is right I do not pretend to 

 know) is out with its delicate pinkish 

 tinted white anemone like flowers almost 

 as soon as the snow disappears and does 

 not stop blooming for several months. 

 At first hardly any of its pretty adiantum- 

 like foliage is virible, but a week or ten 

 days brings it out in lull beauty; itisvery 

 early, being always out in bloom long 

 before the lovely little hepaticas, which 

 are usually considered the very earliest of 

 spring flowers. 



These plants need a well drained situa- 

 tion as they are not quite hardy and are 

 the better for the protection of a cold 

 frame. Ours are growing on a raised 

 border about a foot above the level and 

 when the place was prepared for them 

 some stones were put under them to 

 assure a good drainage. They are well 

 worth giving a little extra care as they 

 are a beautiful class of plants They are 

 also well adapted for growing in the 

 greenhouse for early spring flowers, but 

 should be wintered over in a cold frame 

 and brought in as needed. 



Pansies that have been left in the frames 

 are now giving plenty of flowers and 

 come in handy for cutting. Her Majesty 

 narcissus opened its first flowers April 13; 

 it is of dwarf growth, the flowers a light 

 yellow, the trumpet large and expanded. 

 Wm. Goldring is a lovely daffodil; the 

 perianth is -very long and snow white 

 while the trumpet is a clear bright yellow. 



Amongst other things in flower Mag- 

 nolia stellata is very fine; its large white 

 flowers are highly scented and it is the 

 earliest of the magnolias to flower. Lon- 

 icera fragrantissima is a very free flower- 

 ing shrub with small pink flowers which 

 are very fragrant. The yellow jasmine, 

 Jasminnm nudidorum, has been in flower 

 for some time, but is now about past. 



Mahwah, N.J. David Fraser. 



PERENNIAL SPRING FLOWERS. 



Soon after the first warm sunny days 

 in April some of the plants in the herba- 

 ceous grounds begin to move fast; even if 

 the nights are frosty and the thermome- 

 ter drops occasionally below the freezing 

 point they continue to push their tiny 

 young leaves and flower buds through 

 the slight covering or mulching which 

 was placed between the rows in late fall, 



Radishes, Onions, Lettuce, Grapes. 

 AN AMATEUR'S GREENHOUSES. 



tered; thesky was clear and thesunshone 

 bright on to the stiff, frozen little beauties, 

 still all of the delicate younggrowthcame 

 through all right, and to-day no ill effects 

 of the untimely severe cold snap can be 

 noticed on any of these plants, although 

 hyacinths and crocus, which were in 

 bloom at the time and planted close by, 



These latter we may grow anywhere, 

 in the border or on the rockery, in the 

 shade or in full sun; even on dry, bare 

 spots under trees, where hardly anything 

 else would grow, they will readily estab- 

 lish themselves and always are satisfac- 

 tory; it is really a pity that so few of 

 them are grown. The delicate pink or 



