2 5 8 



GARDENING. 



May 75, 



flowers can stand. Tulips were not 

 affected at all, but some varieties of hya- 

 cinths were partly spoiled though not so 

 much as one would expect. 



The narcissi are now about at their 

 best; although a number are past, later 

 ones have come on to take their places. 

 Among some of the best are N. Johnstonii, 

 Queen of Spain, a good free flowering 

 variety with large yellow flowers; N. 

 Santa Maria, yellow, perianth nicely 

 twisted, a showy and fine narcissus; N. 

 Her Majesty is of dwarf habit with large 

 light yellow golden flowers; N. Emperor 

 comes next to SirWatkin in size of flower, 

 the color deep yellow and trumpet very 

 large; N. conspicuous is a very showy 

 flower, large yellow, the edge of its cup 

 orange scarlet; N. maximus has very 

 large flowers, the trumpet being much 

 expanded while the perianth is nicely 

 twisted. Among others in flower are N. 

 Minnie Hume, N. Autocrat, N. Leedsii, N. 

 cernuus N. Humes concolor, N. moseha- 

 tus of Haworth, N. Burbidgii, N. John 

 Bain, N. bicolorgrande, N. General Murry , 

 N. Vanessa. N. Cynosure, N. Magog, N. 

 amabilis, N. S. A. de Graff, N. Barnardi, 

 and many others. N. poeticus ornatus is 

 one of our favorite flowers and is to be 

 seen in all parts of the garden. It is so 

 useful for cutting and lasts to long that 

 it should be largely grown in every gar- 

 den. All the narcissi named here are 

 hardy with no protection, only requiring 

 to be planted and left alone for four or 

 five years, when they can be lifted and 

 spread out a little. A great many of 

 them are so near alike that for the ama- 

 teur a selection has to be made, but all 

 are beautiful. 



Among the choicer tulips in flower T. 

 Florentine has been quite conspicuous; 

 the flowers are deep yellow, the petals 

 partly recurved, very highly scented. 

 Another fine tulip of the same class is 

 retroflexa; a mass of this in flower is 

 making a fine show; the color is a bright 

 yellow, the petals long and pointed and 

 elegantly recurved, in every way a fine 

 tulip. T. oculusis a dark crimson tulip 

 with a glowing black center; the color is 

 so rich it should be in every collection. 

 Golden Eagle has large yellow flowers 

 edged crimson, petals pointed, a lovely 

 tulip. Striped Beauty is rose, flaked crim- 

 son and white, a large and showy tulip. 

 T. sylvestris is a very sweet scented tulip 

 with large showy yellow flowers, one of 

 the best. T. Eichleri. very large hand- 

 some brilliant scarlet flowers, a beautiful 

 tulip. This is about all the single species 

 of tulips that are infloweras yet, but in a 

 few days we will have a great many more 

 among the common kind. Pottebakker 

 y How, P. scarlet and P. white are three 

 fine tulips, in fact for bedding tulips it is 

 hard to beat them, and they are fine for 

 cutting as they grow so tall. 



Of other plants in bloom none is more 

 showy than Arahis albida; although this 

 has been in fine flower since the 5th of 

 April, to-day it is still at its t est and 

 looks as though it would last for some 

 time yet; this we consider one of the best 

 early spring flowers we have. Phlox sub- 

 ulaia and its variety alba are now a car- 

 pet of flowers; so freely does it bloom 

 that it completely hides the plants; it is 

 very showy and lasts for some time in 

 flower. The variety alba is in our opin- 

 ion the best; its pure white flowers, when 

 the sun is on them, are truly beautilul. 

 P. procumbens is also in fine flower; the 

 color is lilac or violet, not so showy as 

 subulata. Forget-me-nots are now a 

 mass of bloom, and how useful they are 

 lor spring gardening! A stock is easily 

 gotten up. There is quite a difference in 



the plants that were wintered in the 

 frames and those left outside; the first are 

 very large plants, while the others are 

 scarcely worth garden room. Arabis 

 lucida is a little white flowering plant, 

 but as it lasts such a short time in flower 

 it is scarcely worth growing. 



Iris pumila and its varieties are now in 

 fine flower; this is a dwarf early flowering 

 iris well suited for edgings of borders or 

 beds as it grows only a few inches high. 

 Iris cristata is also in flower; this is 

 another beautiful dwarf iris with hand- 

 some light blue flowers, one of the best 

 dwarf sorts. Iris Chama?iris is making a 

 fine show, its bright yellow flowers being 

 quite conspicuous; it grows only a few 

 inches high and like the others makes a 

 nice edging plant. Anemone ranuncu- 

 loides came through the winter all right. 

 It is of very dwarf growth and has small 

 yellow flowers; it is n t very hardy and 

 should be well protected in winter. A. 

 fulgens is still in flower and is one of the 

 showiest of the spring flowering anem- 

 ones. Fritillaria Meleagris has been very 

 fine of late, but is now about past. Its 

 checkered drooping bell-shaped flowers 

 are odd and beautiful. The variety 

 aurea is a striking and lovely flower, the 

 color yellow checkered with black and 

 brown spots. The newer one F. recurva 

 is not yet in flower. Papaver alpinum 

 album is a beautiful poppy, its dwarf 

 habit of growth making it a very desira- 

 ble edging plant; it is also useful as a cut 

 flower, the flower stems being over a foot 

 long while the plant is only a few inches 

 high. Papaver nudicaule and its variety 

 alba are also nicely in flower; it is much like 

 alpinum though a freer bio mer, but all 

 three are to be commended, as they are 

 very useful in spring gardening. Leuco- 

 ium ajstivum (summer snowflake) is 

 now about at its best. Its snowdrop- 

 like flowers on long stems, make it us&- 

 ful for cutting and it lasts for some time. 

 Aubretia violacea is now a carpet of 

 blue. For edging this plant is very desir- 

 able and it lasts a long time in flower. 

 A. Leichtlinii has carmine-rose colored 

 flowers, ar\d is considered better than 

 violacea, but both should be grown. 

 Trillium grandiflorum is now in flower. 

 Although this is often found plentiful in 

 the woods a few plants in the garden 

 don't go amiss for cultivation improves 

 it greatly, as sh wn by the large size of 

 the flowers. The hardy primroses and 

 polyanthuses are now a grand sight. Of 

 these plants we grow a vast number; in 

 half shady places or naturalized ia the 

 grass they grow nicely and are quite 

 hardy. The strains we have in flowerare 

 Sutton's show and Sutton's prize, and 

 although we raised them all from seed 

 there is scarcely one but what is worth 

 growing. This summer we will raise a 

 few thousand more from seed, sowing 

 them after the rush of spring work is 

 over. Bellis rotundifolia is a small free- 

 flowering daisy. We had it associated 

 with the blood root (Sanguinaria cana- 

 densis) and this made a pleasing combin- 

 ation which was much admired. The 

 English daisies are now at their best. 

 For a free flowering showy plant they 

 are hard to beat for they are just a mass 

 of flowers. Pansies that were left in the 

 bor ers all winter are now at their best. 

 Associated with the forget-me-nots they 

 make a pleasing show and will last til 

 the end of June. Those in the frames are 

 used to cut from, and we find it pays to 

 grow a frame full for this purpose. Mer- 

 tensia virginica (blue bells) is a showy 

 and free flowering plant with drooping 

 panicles of handsome light blue flowers 

 fading to pink, a plant of easy growth 



which will grow in the shade or the open. 

 It is a good and a useful plant. Lily of 

 the valley is now beginning to flower but 

 it will be some time before it U at its 

 best. 



Among shrubs in flower none is more 

 showy than Forsythia Fortuneii; it makes 

 a big spreading bush and has handsome 

 pendulous trumpet-shaped bright yellow 

 flowers; where a mass of it s grown it is 

 quite conspicuous and can be seen at a 

 great distance. F. suspensa with us is 

 not so free flowering as the preceding but 

 both are good and coming so early in 

 spring makes them very desirable shrubs. 

 Spiraea Thunhergii is now a cloud of 

 white flowers. '1 his is one of the showi- 

 est of all the spiraeas and for cutting is 

 the finest thing we have at this season. 

 When out of flower the foliage is much 

 sought after to use with flowers in vases 

 and a few plants in the reserve garden 

 come in handy, as they save the others 

 from so much cutting. Spiraea prunifolia 

 tiore plena is a fine double floweringsort; 

 it has white flowers arranged all along 

 the smaller twigs, which makes it very 

 showy. David Fraser. 



Mahwah, N. J. 



DICENTRfl SPEGTflBIUS flLBfl. 



The white variety of the so-called bleed- 

 ing heart, though an old plant is not very 

 often seen in gardeners. It is not such a 

 rampant free grower as the ordinary 

 pink one, but its many good qualities 

 should not be overlooked and I, tor one, 

 consider it among ourmostcharmingand 

 desirable spring and early summer flow 

 ering plants. Whether we plant it in the 

 border or along the edges of a shrubbery 

 it is very effective, and will, if room enough 

 is allowed the plants, annually spread out 

 more and its gracefully arching racemes 

 will attain the same size and length as 

 those of the well known colored varietv. 

 It is true that Dicentra spectabilis loses 

 its attraction soon after flowering; the 

 foliage turns yellowish and partially dries 

 up, but by planting some later blooming, 

 spreading and bushy hardy plant near 

 by, the decaving and discoloring leaves 

 are hidden from direct viewand may take 

 their own time to ripen up without being 

 noticed. 



The white dicentra was always consid- 

 ered a weak grower and slow to increase 

 perhaps merely because we all expected 

 to divide and propagate it as fast as its 

 near relative and the plants were never 

 allowed to remain undisturbed long 

 enough to regain their full strength and 

 vigor. The desire to work up a stock 

 prompted frequent dividing and theyoung 

 stock grew weaker with every division 

 until at last theircultivation was entirely 

 discontinued by the discouraged grower 

 as unsatisfactory. Their peculiar and 

 sensitive nature in respect to repeated 

 divisions is now better understood and 

 ample time is allowed the plants to gain 

 back their full vigor before an attempt is 

 made to disturb their roots in any way. 

 Newly divided plants will not produce a 

 very strong growth the first season, bet- 

 ter the second, but it usually takes a 

 third year to obtain a good specimen 

 and if not wanted for division then, they 

 should be left undisturbed for some years 

 after until the crown or center shows 

 signs of decay, which may not be until S 

 or 10 years after first planting. Oldei 

 clumps divide more readily than 3 or 4 

 year olds and the separated pieces if not 

 cut up too small, generally start with 

 two or more good healthy growths, 

 while 3 T ounger roots make a more feeble 



