262 



* * * GARDENING. 



May 15, 



to be a variety, called gracilis, behaves in 

 the same way. The latter kind has 

 darker purple flowers than the other, and 

 will thrive farther north. 



What a show the blood leaved Japanese 

 maple is at this season of the year! It 

 seems a great favorite about this city, 

 and many is the visitor asking what the 

 handsome shrub is they see. This is the 

 Acer polymorphum atropurpureum of 

 catalogues. In early spring it surpasses 

 any other shrub or any tree in the deep 



The Greenhouse. 



LAGHENALIA NBLSONII. 

 Lachenalias are beautiful small South 

 African bulbous plants well adapted for 

 window and greenhouse decoration, and 

 none more so, of the numerous species 

 and varieties of the genus, than the sub- 

 ject of the illustration, L. Nelsonii. It 



LACHENALIA NELSONII 



red of its leaves. This maple loves par- 

 tial shade and moisture. It is often set 

 in entirely open places, but when in such 

 situations its very thin leaves get browned 

 badly at times, something that does not 

 happen to it when in partial shade. 

 Later on in summer the foliage loses 

 much of its color, in common with similar 

 colored leaved shrubs. The best of all to 

 maintain a good color to the very last is 

 Primus Pissardi. Joseph Meehan. 

 Philadelphia. 



THE TUL1F TREB IN TAB SOUTH. 



The tulip tree, in a warm climate, dis- 

 covers a fatness which we had not ob- 

 served among tulip trees of the north. 

 In moist bottom lands of the Georgia 

 pine belt, a full blooming tulip tree fairly 

 drips with liquid balm, about the end of 

 April, spattering the broad loliage, and 

 attracting a legion of bees. Though bot- 

 anists call the liriodendron a single sur- 

 viving species, one may readily perceive 

 its kinship with the greater magnolia. 

 Their bark is decidedly of the same gen- 

 eral texture; and their shafts have a 

 similar stateliness, right high and lordly. 

 The main outlines of a tulip tree blossom 

 also closely resemble the larger magnolia 

 "cup," though the foliage of the two sorts 

 has parted company, and that of the 

 great magnolia stays evergreen. W. V. 



produces its handsome golden yellow 

 flowers on racemes of from nine inches to 

 a foot in length, and will remain in good 

 shape for two months in a cool green- 

 house. They should be potted in good 

 soil, composed of 3-5 loam and 2-5 good 

 leaf soil with a liberal dash of sand added 

 thereto, any time in the latter end of 

 July or the beginning of August, there- 

 after treating them after the manner of 

 Dutch bulbs, that is, plunging them in 

 ashes or sand in a frame where a shutter 

 can be put over them to keep them cool and 

 dark; in this position they can remain 

 until the}' show signs of growth when 

 the shutters can be removed, but careful 

 watering is necessary until they are well 

 in leafage. 



In taking them into the greenhouse a 

 cool temperature suits them best, say 

 from 40° to 45° at night; in order to get 

 a compact sturdy growth with a corres- 

 pondingly good head of flower spikes, 

 they must be kept near the glass and cool 

 treatment strictly adhered to. A 6-inch 

 pot makes a nice decorative size with 

 from eight to ten bulbs in each pot accord- 

 ing to the size of the bulb. L. tricolor, 

 L. pendula and others are pretty and 

 cheaper than L. Nelsonii, but not to be 

 compared with the latter for attractive- 

 ness. 



They increase tolerably fast by bulblets 

 and should be dried off by degrees as 



freesias and other similar bulbs are, keep- 

 ingthem, however, in theold soil until the 

 repotting for the folio wing season begins. 

 Potted at the time mentioned above 

 Nelsonii would be in flower about Christ- 

 mas. When well established liquid 

 manure given occasionally will do them 

 much good. K. F. 



NEW AMARYLLISES. [See page 259.] 



The accompanying engraving is from a 

 photograph of a group of seedling ama- 

 ryllises exhibited at the May exhibition 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety at Boston, They were grown by 

 Mr. Kenneth Finlayson, gardener to Dr. 

 C. G. Weld, who was awarded a silver 

 medal by the society. Nothing has been 

 shown at the exhibitions of the Mass. 

 Hort. Society for a long time that excited 

 so much admiration and favorable com- 

 ment as these splendid seedlings. Many 

 of the flower stalks bore five and six 

 blooms each, of great size and substance 

 and unequalled inform and coloring. The 

 seed was sown just two yeais and eight 

 months prior to the exhibition. 



GALGEOLARIAS. [See page 261.] 



At the May exhibition of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society at Boston, 

 the calceolarias were unquestionablv the 

 finest ever shown there, and this is prob- 

 ably equivalent to saying that such per- 

 fect specimens were never before seen in 

 America. The accompanying engraving 

 from a photograph of one of the plants 

 shown will give an idea of the perfection 

 to which the calceolaria may be grown. 

 The flowers of the plant illustrated were 

 pure deep yellow. 



SHOW PELARGONIUMS. 



These are now in fine flower, and what 

 a show they do make! It is a wonder 

 they are not more largely grown, for I do 

 not think there is anythingintheirseason 

 that has more attraction than a house of 

 these beautiful plants. They are of easy 

 culture, only requiring a cool greenhouse 

 such as is used for cinerarias or calceo- 

 larias. Cuttings can be put in about the 

 end of August in a box of sand. I find a 

 shady frame the best to root them in, 

 keeping it quite close till they are rooted. 

 They are then put in small pots. When 

 they start to grow the head is nipped out 

 to make them break, and this is repeated 

 till the end of January, keeping them 

 potted on as needed. A 5-inch pot will be 

 large enough for the final shift. They are 

 kept well up to the glass to cause a short, 

 stocky growth; a temperature of 45° is 

 about right for them. When they begin 

 to show flower, if they are in any way 

 root-bound, a little weak manure water 

 will help them greatly. All fallen petals 

 should be picked off the foliage, as if left 

 on will cause them to rot. The foliage 

 should be kept dry, as if wet too often it 

 will rust. When they are past flowering 

 they can be plunged out in some half 

 shady place, but not under trees, as this 

 will cause them to draw and give poor 

 cuttings. 



If there is ample greenhouse accommo- 

 dation the old plants can be grown on 

 from year to year, but if only a few are 

 wanted new plants from cuttings are the 

 best. When the cuttings are taken off (or 

 better still, when they are rooted) the 

 old plants can be cut back to about two 

 eyes. Water should be given sparingly 

 till they start into growth, at which 

 time they should be shaken out of their 

 pots and all the soil removed from the 

 roots, cutting off the longest roots and 

 potting into as small pots as can be used, 



