326 



GARDENING. 



July 15, 



them, as soon as the flowers have faded; 

 new growth and new stems will then 

 come forth, furnishing us with a succes- 

 sion of bloom until severe cold weather 

 sets in. 



As to soil they are not fastidious. They 

 do equally well high and moderately dry 

 or in moister positions, though in very 

 stiff clay, on low places, perfect drainage 

 should be provided. After four or five 

 years the clumps should be taken up and 

 divided or else they may be thinned out 

 by removing eacn alternate plant to give 

 more room for those remaining in the 

 bed. Annual and generous manuring 

 will greatly encourage vigorous growth 

 in all parts of the plant, mulching during 

 the hot summer months also has a benefi- 

 cial effect on the size of the racemes and 

 the lasting quality of the flowers. The 

 best time for dividing is early in spring 

 when vegetation is just beginning. If for 

 some reason fall is chosen for the opera- 

 tion the safest way is to cut down the 

 plants just above the ground in Septem- 

 ber and then wait until the end of the 

 month, when new growth will begin to 

 develop. The clumps are then ready for 

 division and the roots will have ample 

 time before frost to take hold in the 

 ground, yet it is always best to providea 

 winter covering for iall planted stuff to 

 prevent heaving out. 



The delphinium is one of the few hardy 

 herbaceous plants which have not been 

 entirely neglected by our florists, perhaps 

 principally because the flowers are useful 

 for cutting and most of them are easily 

 raised from seed. The frequent sowings 

 have resulted in a great many hybrids 

 and mixtures between the leadingspecies, 

 so that it is often found difficult to tell 

 which class they belong to. Special 

 names have been attached to a goodly 

 number of these seedlings whenever they 

 showed some peculiarity in coloring or 

 otherwise. Improvement is going on in 

 size of flowers as well as in length and 

 fullness of racemes. Double varieties have 

 been raised of several species; some of these 

 are very handsome, though the singles are 

 preferable for general use in my opinion. 



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



MIDSUMMER FLOWER?. 



One of the most useful flowers of late 

 July is the common trumpet vine. It 

 exists here in three sorts, radicans, scar- 

 let; Thunbergii, crimson; and granditiora, 

 orange. The first two are natives; the 

 last comes from China. A mistake is 

 made in not planting these on lawns as 

 shrubs, as they may be called. Set a vine 

 anywhere, drive a stake by it, ot about 

 five feet in height, to which tie the vine as 

 it grows. When the stake has rotted 

 away the vine will have a woody stem 

 which will support itself, and the "shrub" 

 is made. The few to be seen occasionally 

 are most beautiful when in flower as they 

 are in the latter part ot July and through 

 August. 



Even the wild honeysuckle, sempervi- 

 rens, is not always the best planted when 

 set to a trellis. Supported for a while as 

 recommended for the trumpet vine it 

 forms a pretty, tangled clump, interest- 

 ing and charming to look on. The newer 

 honeysuckle, fachsioides, which is nearly 

 out of flower by the time the first of Au- 

 gust comes, has rich, rosy scarlet flowers. 

 It is in the same class as semperrirens, 

 and like it is as pretty when let ramble 

 about a stake as in any other situation 

 it can be placed. 



Everybody has heard of the Scotch 

 heather, but many persons are not famil- 

 iar with the plant. An occasional plant 

 is met with in gardens here. There is no 



reason why many of them should not be 

 seen, for it is entirely hardy and easy to 

 grow. When bushes of two to three feet 

 in diameter are seen full of bloom it is a 

 sight pleasing to everyone. Individually 

 the spikes of flowers are not showy, but 

 when hundreds of them are together the 

 whole makes a matchless picture. The 

 neat foliage well sets off the violet purple 

 flowers Two other heaths flourish with 

 it out of doors here, Erica ragans and E. 

 stricta. The former has cream colored 

 flowers, but the brown stamens which 

 project from them, give the appearance 

 of two colors to them. Stricta has rosy 

 purple flowers. All of these heaths are 

 of delicate beauty, both of foli?ge and 

 blossom, while being quite hardy. 



Viburnums are known as being among 

 the most valuable of ornamental shrubs 

 But there is one species, the Lantana, 

 which deserves a great deal of praise 

 for its uncommon beauty at this time. 

 It is ripening its fruit now, July 7, and 

 the lovely appearance of the bunches calls 

 forth the admiration of all that see it. 

 In early spring its beauty starts with its 

 large flat heads ot white flowers. As these 

 disappear, berries take their place. About 

 the close of June the green color of the 

 fruit gives way to white, later on the 

 white to red, and the red to black. If 

 every berry on the one bunch changed at 

 once it would be pretty, but it does more 

 than this. Often there are white, red and 

 black ones on the cluster at the same 

 time. It is an English shrub and, though 

 known in catalogues as Viburnum Lan- 

 tana, is called by many the "wayfaring 

 tree." Anewer viburnum, Sieboldianum, 

 is also making a good display of pretty 

 berries and besides this and its white 

 flowers in spring, it is very nea rly ever- 

 green. 



It is not possible to have a complete 

 collection of beautiful summer blooming 

 shrubs without the Pavia alba, better 

 known as P. macrostachya. It is a na- 

 tive shrub, which makes a rather flat 

 growth, and which in gardens is usually 

 seen of a size trom four to five feet, though 

 it gets as large again in time. From the 

 flatfish surface of foliage arise numerous 

 spikes or racemes of white flowers, and 

 from the center of each flower there pro- 

 ject numerous long red stamens. A bush 

 given room to develop is certainly the 

 prettiest of all shrubs in mid-July, which 

 is its season of flowering with us. 



Philadelphia. Joseph Meehan. 



GENTAURBA MARGUERITE. 



If some of the readers of Gardening 

 will tell us how to grow this beautiful 

 flower successfully they will be doing 

 good missionary work. I confess to an 

 inability to bloom the plant well. I have 

 sown the seedswheretheplantis intended 

 to bloom, and have started them in the 

 hot bed. I have planted them in several 

 conditions of soil and situation, and yet 

 just as the plants are ready to bloom 

 they die back. The nearest success I 

 have yet met with is where I transplanted 

 to a mound of rough yellow clay loam, 

 thrown over a cistern to prevent winter 

 freezing. In this situation, receiving no 

 cultivation, or artificial watering, and 

 allowed to grow as a weed, the one 

 plant tried does fairly well. There must 

 be some way to bloom it. Let us know 

 how. W. C. Egan. 



native and perfectly able to endure the 

 winters but requires considerable moist- 

 ure and should be somewhat shaded from 

 the scorching summer heat; a northern 

 exposure will suit it best. Osmunda 

 Claytonia L. is a superb fern and seems 

 to bear transplanting well. It is, by far, 

 the most beautiful of all the osmundas. 



Your wild flower, as well as can be 

 judged from the specimen, which has lost 

 every trace of color, is Pogonia ophio- 

 glossoides Br. (arethusa ot L.) a native 

 bog orchid rangingfrom Canada through 

 New England to Carolina and Kentucky. 

 It is an interesting plant with a pretty, 

 sweet scented flower. It would have to 

 be treated as a bog aquatic; about the 

 same conditions as required by Sarrace- 

 nia purpurea. 



Parks. 



OSMUNDA RBGALIS-FLANT NAMED. 



Replying to B. S. N., Osmunda regalis 

 is no doubt hardy in your locality as it 

 is one of the most widely distributed of 

 our native ferns. Here in Chicago it is 



TUB IDEAL PARK SUPERINTENDENT. 



During the last few years the public 

 parks of the west and north divisions of 

 Chicago have been drifting more and 

 more into the control of the politician, 

 and the Horticultural Society of Chicago, 

 feeling that education of the people as to 

 the essential qualifications of the men to 

 be placed in charge of the parks, was nec- 

 essary to a successful campaign of merit 

 against political influence, requested Mr. 

 0. C. Simonds, superintendent of the 

 beautiful Graceland Cemetery, and a 

 landscape architect of more than local 

 reputation, to prepare and read at a reg- 

 ular meeting of the society a paper on 

 "The Ideal Park Superintendent." The 

 paper was read at the quarterly meeting 

 of the society held Saturday, July 10, and 

 was printed in full in the Sunday issue of 

 one of the leading dailies, the organ of 

 the political party now in control of the 

 parks. The address was listened to with 

 marked attention and was received with 

 hearty applause. 



Mr. Simonds spoke as follows: 



"It may seem presumptuous for one 

 who has never been a park superintendent 

 to attempt to give the qualifications 

 needed for such a position. Undoubtedly 

 practical experience would add to one's 

 ability to speak with authority on this 

 subject, but I may claim such ability as 

 comes from being engaged in a similar 

 calling — from having great admiration 

 for parks, from visiting many such insti- 

 tutions, and from studying what has 

 been written on landscape gardening as 

 well as the actual landscape effects. 



"When Mr. Egan asked me to prepare 

 this paper he enclosed a slip on which 

 was written: 'What are the qualifications 

 for an ideal park superintendent? As the 

 ideal combination can probably never be 

 found in one man, which qualities can 

 best be spared? Which are of the great- 

 est importance? What is the relative im- 

 portance of the various essentials, such 

 as engineering, tree planting, administra- 

 tive ability, etc?' 



SHOULD BE OF GOOD CHARACTER. 



"A park superintendent should first of 

 all be honest, reliable, conscientious, gen- 

 tlemanly — in short, be a man of good 

 character. The people's money, which he 

 spends, should secure the best results for 

 the people. If it goes for material it 

 should be for the best quality and the 

 greatest quantity that the amount ex- 

 pended will command; if for labor, the 

 work done should correspond with the 

 wages paid. But all this is so generally 

 admitted, and is true of so many other 



