i8 9 7. 



GARDENING. 



297 



long and slender, spreading spurs, the 

 flowers produced for a long period; it is 

 one of the very earliest and continues 

 until July; height from 10 to 15 inches. 

 A stronger grower, somewhat taller, we 

 have under the name of -4. c. hybrida, the 

 flowers of which are of the same shade 

 but the stems are more branchy and con- 

 sequently bear more flowers. A. c. alba 

 or grandiflora is of the same size as the 

 type and identical with it except in its 

 pure white color. 



A. Bertoloni nearly resembles the ccero- 

 lea in shape of flower, growth, height 

 and habit, but has self colored flowers of 

 lovely blue, probably a very little smaller 

 than that species. ,4. glandulosa, another 

 large flowering species with blue sepals 

 shaded lilac and white petals, has spurs 

 very short and thick; it grows only about 

 11) inches high and is surely one of the 

 best. A. formosa, somewhat resembles 

 our native A. canadensis, but is of taller 

 growth and the bright red sepals are dis- 

 tinctly tipped with yellowish green, the 

 inner petals pale yellow and the spurs 

 straight and slender; it continues to 

 bloom until September and grows 2 to 3 

 feet high. .4. canadensis is scarlet shaded 

 with yellow, and like formosa has slender 

 long spurs; its height varies from 1 to 2% 

 feet, according to situation and condition 

 of soil. 



.4. chrysantha, the tallest of all aquile- 

 gias, is pure light primrose yellow with 

 very long and thin spreading spurs; 

 the stems are many flowered and con- 

 tinue to send out flowers almost up to 

 the middle of September. Occasionally 

 we find plants that produce flowers of a 

 deeper shade and there is a variety called 

 ^4. c. aurea, or flarescens, which has 

 bright canary yellow flowers, tinged with 

 red, also a very pale, almost white, 

 variety called A. c. albescens; both are 

 very desirable and pretty and all grow to 

 about the same height, 3 to 4 feet. A. 

 Skinnerii is another one of the yellow and 



A FIVE PART TRILLIUM. 



red sorts, with long, slender spurs and 

 large flowers, blooming until almost 

 September, height about 2% to 3 feet. 



All these columbines are distinct and 

 extremely prolific in flowering. A most 

 unique colorcombinationcanbe produced 

 by planting the various complementary 

 shades near each other, intermixed per- 

 haps here and there with iome later 

 flowering tall subjects so as not to have 

 the bed or plot in the border devoid of 

 flowers after their season is past, though 

 the luxuriant foliage of the aquilegias 



A DOUBLE-FLOWERED TRILLIUM. 



would effectually cover and hide the 

 ground beneath for the rest of the season 

 and is not to be called unattractive, but 

 a little more color would greatly assist 

 general appearance in August or later. 



Now a lew words as to the propaga- 

 tion of the aquilegias may find a place 

 here. They all bear seed very freely, but 

 we seldom can obtain pure seed of any 

 species with the exception perhaps of .4. 

 vulgaris. Usuallv several species are 

 grown in proximity to each other, bets 

 and other insects fertilize the flowers and 

 the result is a general mixture of hybrids 

 unless we take the precaution to exclude 

 the insects by covering the flower stems 

 with fine gauze before the flowers are 

 ready to open. .4. canadensis, chrys- 

 antha, sibirica and vulgaris come true 

 from seed more frequently than the others, 

 still there is always a few undesirable 

 hybrids among the seedlings which have 

 to be weeded out. To increase the stock 

 of any of the other species and of the 

 special varieties, division of the roots is 

 the only reliable way, and this may be 

 done just after the flowering season is 

 past, or early in fall, so that the plants 

 may have time to make a few new roots 

 before hard frost sets in. 



In the vulgaris section also there are 

 many desirable varieties or colors, which 

 we could not possibly expect to reproduce 

 from seed, even with the muslin bag over 

 the flowers, so we must rely on division 

 in all such cases, but when only a general 

 assortment of various colored vulgaris is 

 wanted, seed sowing is usuallv satisfac- 

 tory; we can then weed out the poorest 

 among the lot the second year when they 

 flower, and in this way may get a stock 

 of fairly good varieties at a very small 

 cost. In an attempt to reproduce the 

 other species from seed we are most 

 likely to find a great lot of rather undesir- 

 able hybrids, none of which bear any 

 resemblance to the true type, and perhaps 

 if we are lucky, a very slight sprinklingof 

 the genuine article among them. 



Rochester, N. Y. J. B. Keller. 



VAGARIES OF THE TRILLIUM. 



We recently received photographs show- 

 ing remarkable variations ot the trillium 

 which are illustrated herewith. The 

 flower showing five parts was picked on 

 May 10 at Cote des Neiges, Montreal, by 

 Mr. James McKenna, and the double- 

 flowered specimens were found by Mr. 

 Roderic Cameron, Niagara Falls, Onta- 

 rio. Mr. Cameron sa\s the double flower 

 is 3 1 4 inches across, pure white and has 

 21 petals and 3 sepals. He found it in 

 Jubilee Park, and has named it the "Jubi- 

 lee lily." 



Commenting upon the cases above 

 noted Mr. John Higgins, Chicago, writes: 

 "The occurrence of deviations from the 

 normal number of parts in the trillium is 

 rare and such cases are interesting as the 

 exception which is said to prove the rule. 

 Doubling also happens in most kinds oi 

 flowers (I do not mean what gardeners 

 call doubling, or becoming "full," but the 

 coalescing of two ordinarj' flowers). 

 Last winter there was in bloom in the 

 palm house in Lincoln Park a plant of 

 Imantophyllum winiatum bearing in one 

 of the umbels a double flower made of 

 two ordinary perianths grown together. 

 The pedicel was rflat. The other flowers 

 were of the normal form. 



"In a group of dodecatheons now in 

 flower in the perennial bordersome of the 

 plants have flowers with six or seven 

 sepals and petals and one has a flower 

 plainly twin as shown by two pistils on 

 the united ovaries and a double number 

 of sepals and petals. Plants in vigorous 

 growth seem to produce double and 

 abnormal flowers more frequently than 

 plants of average strength. 



"The 'monstrosum' strain of foxglove 

 (Digitalis purpurea) of which a number 

 of plants are now in bloom here, shows 

 some very curious vagaries of form. The 

 terminal flower is a large cup apparently 

 made up of the upper five or six flowers 

 of the spike grown into a single corolla; 

 sometimes the point of union is marked 

 ontheexterior of theeup by small spurs." 



