28o 



GARDENING. 



June /, 



if they do they may not object to the lan- 

 tana smell which comes from the leaves, as 

 I do. 



In our hedge rows, and I wish it was 

 more in cultivation than it is, is the beau- 

 tiful Viburnum prunifolium. The fiat 

 heads of white flowers are well set off 

 by the background of shining dark green 

 leaves. And then the scent of the flowers 

 is just the same as that of the hawthorn. 

 Viburnum Lentago is often mistaken 

 for this. In fact, seeds received from 

 botanical friends for it have yielded pru- 

 nifolium. Not until I was fortunate 

 enough to receive some cuttings from 

 William Falconer could I claim to have it 

 true. It is quite distinct. The leaves are 

 larger, and they do not shine, the growth 

 is freer, and it flowers a week later than 

 prunifolium, besides other differences. 

 Joseph Meehan. 



varietv, laden with medium sized flowers. 



P.japonica simplex alba, the flowers a 

 trifle larger than nivalis, the two last 

 being both excellent varieties. 



Pyrus ( Cydonia ) Mauleii, a more recent 

 species of Japan quince, is also attractive; 

 it is much dwarfer, seldom growing more 

 than 3 feet in height and very compact in 

 habit. It is more covered with thorns 

 than the japonica type and the colors 

 take on a different tone of reds and pinks 

 than do the older Japanese quinces. Its 

 various forms make one of our most 

 beautiful of recently introduced shrubs. 

 Chas. J. Dawson. 



P/RUS (GYDONIfl) JflPONIGfl. 

 At the Arnold Arboretum the special 

 attraction at the present writing is the 

 magnificent collection of Pyrus japonica, 

 or the Japanese quince. This is a shrub 

 which has been well known for a half 

 century or more, having been discovered 

 in lapan in 1815, its main use having 

 been that of a formal hedge. Grown 

 naturally with judicious pruning to keep 

 it in shape it makes a handsome shrub 

 being good both as a single specimen or 

 used collectively in large plantations. 



Here in the Arboretum the plantation 

 comprises some twenty-five distinct 

 named varieties grown to specimen plants 

 ranging from 4 to 8 feet in height and the 

 same in depth, the flowers ranging from 

 a pure white to a deep red in color. The 

 following varieties were noticeable either 

 from their distinct habit, color or size of 

 flower, or character of their leaves. 



The type, Pyrus japonica, has a very 

 dark red flower of considerable size; the 

 foliage at this time takes on a purplish 

 tinge and the habit is upright. 



P. japonica Moorlosi is an extremely 

 fine variety. In habit it is low with arch- 

 ing branches, in fact almost pendulous, 

 the foliage very slender and narrow, 

 while the medium sized flowers are pink 

 and white in color. 



P.japonica Wallardi is ofmedium good 

 upright habit with flowers of the very 

 darkest crimson in color. 



P. japonica atrosanguinea is similar to 

 Moorlosi, only the habit is not so airy, 

 the flowers are not borne so abundantly 

 and the leaves are much larger and not so 

 narrow. 



P. japonica macrocarpa is of a splendid 

 spreading habit with dark foliage and 

 medium sized flowers of a light carmine 

 red color. 



P.japonica foils rubris: The foliage is 

 decidedlv colored, the flowers salmon red 

 in color,' while the habit of the plant is 

 very compact and not of the average 

 height. 



P.japonica rosea {lore p/eno has good 

 semi double deep rose flowers of large 

 size. 



P. japonica versicolor: Flowers pink 

 and white, the habit of the plant being 

 very compact. 



P. japonica atrosanguinea plena: In 

 this variety the habit is very dwarf and 

 compact and it is a decidedlv free bloomer. 

 The flowers, of a deep red, are only 

 slightlv double. 



P. japonica grandiflora, one of the best; 

 flowers verv large, pink and white in 

 color, and very fine airy habit. 



P. japonica umbellata, also a very 

 good variety, with flowers of deep rose 

 color borne very abundantly. 



P. japonica nivalis is a splendid white 



LHGERSTROMIflS IN THE NORTH. 



The beautiful specimen of lagerstromia 

 which is represented in the cut gives a 

 correct idea of the appearance of this 

 shrub, so indispensable to the south. 

 This and some other ones are varieties of 

 indica, one of the oldest plants in cultiva- 

 tion, and which is found in most green- 

 house collections at the north. 



But it is really a hardy shrub further 

 north than is supposed. Writers follow 

 one another sometimes and this is why 

 so many make Washington, D. C, its 

 northern limit, just as they do for the 

 English holly, the Aucuba japonica, Mag- 

 nolia grandiSora and many other like 

 trees and shrubs. The fact is that all the 

 above mentioned sorts, including the 

 lagerstromia, live out in Philadelphia. 



What they ask is a sheltered place until 

 they get root hold and some hardened 

 wood. It is not saying that they need 

 special care, any more than it would be 

 to say it of such as prefer a damp or a 

 dry place. If quite young plants are set 

 out here, of the crape myrtle, as the 

 lagerstomia is universally called, and left 

 unprotected, it may be killed to the 

 ground the first winter, and, in fact, for 

 several winters until it in some mild win- 

 ter gets through wholly or partly unin- 

 jured. After it gets wood over a season 

 old, it rarely gets materially cut back in 

 this neighborhood. 



I -would advise that a plant two or 

 three years old should be planted, and 

 that for the first winter it should be well 

 mulched at the root and its top pro- 

 tected in some way. The last winter did 

 but little damage to some plants under 

 my observation which had no covering of 

 any kind, many shoots of but one sea- 

 son's growth being but little injured. 

 This plant is a native of China, and to- 

 gether with most other ones from that 

 country, may be considered fairly hardy. 

 But there are many gardeners who pre- 

 fer to house the crape myrtle in winter, 

 as being less trouble than mulching, and 

 running no risk. The plants are dug up 

 on the approach of winter and heeled in in 

 a cold frame or cellar just as is done with 

 Hvdrangea hortensis. When spring comes 

 they are set out on the lawn, and then 

 flower beautifully in July or later. The 

 rosy pink seems the most common, the 

 crimson next, while the white, which the 

 illustration represents, being somewhat 

 more tender than the others, is but little 

 seen in outdoor collections, but does well 

 when wintered in a cellar. 

 Philadelphia. Joseph Meehan. 



HAWTHORNS. 



The hawthorn is so greatly prized on 

 the other side of the Atlantic that those 

 who have seen it there naturally desire to 

 have it here in their collections of trees 

 and shrubs. Just how it came about that 

 it was condemned as unsuited to this cli- 

 mate I do not know, but I do know that 

 for thirty years and more 1 have been 

 saying all I could to the contrary. So 



far as this part of Pennsylvania is con- 

 cerned there is nothing whatever against 

 its doing 'well. On the contrary, of the 

 many hundreds I have seen — yes thou- 

 sands—in that time, I do not remember 

 one that did not do well. I was told years 

 ago that the leaves were the delight of 

 mildews, but no mildew has ever been on 

 those I have seen. Just at this time the 

 many kinds, both native and foreign, are 

 blooming here, and to-day, May 20, I 

 took notice of some half dozen sorts in 

 flower. 



The English Crataegus Oxyacantha is 

 in full display, as well as the most of its 

 many varieties. Of the latter, among the 

 colored ones, are Paul's scarlet, a double 

 rosy scarlet, another known as double 

 pink, and a beauti'ul single pink called 

 rubra splendens. I may mention here 

 that when a double and a single one are 

 growing near each other, it is a good 

 time for anyone to verify the fact that 

 the double flowers are more lasting than 

 the single ones. At the present time the 

 singles are nearly over, while the doubles 

 are good for another week at least. 



Besides those named there is one known 

 as double white, a most beautiful sort. 

 This, though white when it expands, 

 takes on a light pink color afterwards in 

 which shape it is quite attractive. 



A distinctive and useful sort is one 

 called grandiflora. I have not traced up 

 its lineage, but it bears almost solitary 

 white flowers of large size, together with 

 quite large leaves, rendering it easily dis- 

 tinguished among all others. 



Macrocarpa is another large leaved 

 sort, the flowers being white, single and 

 in clusters as ordinary hawthorns have 

 them. 



One of the prettiest of hawthorns is a 

 native species, apiitolia. The leaves are 

 finelv divided and only for this and its 

 smaller heads of flowers it might easily 

 be mistaken for an English hawthorn. 

 And it gets quite tree-like in time. 



Another native one, cordata, is flower- 

 ing, but coccinea, another with fine, large 

 flowers and large haws in the fall, has 

 been out of flower for two weeks. It is 

 one of the first to flower. 



If any reader of Gardening desires to 

 plant a hawthorn, I would advise that 

 the coolest situation be selected, which 

 being done, I am sure one would thrive 

 there, unless the climate differs greatly 

 from that of this state. 

 Philadelphia. Joseph Meehan. 



SOME UNCOMMON TREES AND SHRUBS. 



Among the many beautiful shrubs and 

 trees which bloom at this season, the 

 20th of May, are some which are not yet 

 well distributed in collections. Almost all 

 lovers of old-fashioned shrubs have the 

 Staphylea triiolia in their collections, but 

 very few of them have the newer ones, 

 colchica and Bumalda. Colchica has 

 pure white flowers, in good sized clusters, 

 not unlike a small lilac. It is now out of 

 flowtr. while Bumalda is in perfection. 

 This one has smaller bunches of white 

 flowers, not unlike the tall deutzias, and 

 they are nicely scented. 



Symplocos cratxgoides will be popular 

 if ever it is propagated in sufficient quan- 

 tities. At present it is very scarce in col- 

 lections. The pretty white flowers are in 

 flattish panicles of about four inches in 

 length, and are profusely produced. It 

 belongs to the same family of plants in 

 which are found the styral, halesia, ptero- 

 styrax, etc., and indeed those acquainted 

 with Pterostyrax hispidum would see in 

 this symplocos a somewhat miniature 

 representation of it. It is a good thing. 



