iS 9 7. 



' ' ' GARDENING. 



343 



THE JAPANESE TREE-LILAC. 



Among deciduous sorts there is more 

 variety. There are the following sorts at 

 least: Virginia creeper, Japanese creeper, 

 trumpet vine, three sorts; climbing 

 hydrangea, and the one of which we are 

 writing, the decvmaria. For a dwelling 

 house, of deciduous ones, my choice would 

 be the Japanese creeper, Ampelopsis 

 Veitchii, for the reason that it makes no 

 twigs whatever, looking neater than any 

 other vine, and affording no lodgment 

 for birds. The decumaria makes some 

 twigs, much as the Virginia creeper does, 

 so that where the congregating of Eng- 

 lish sparrows is not desired, it may be 

 objected to on that score. 



Readers will desire to know about its 

 hardiness. I can say for this vicinity that 

 it is perfectly hardv, so evidently, it may 

 be trusted further north. This beautiful 

 vine flowers the latter part of June. 



Philadelphia. Joseph Meehan. 



TAB JAPANESE TREE LILAC. 



( Syringa Japooica). 



In the June 15th, 1S96, number of Gar- 

 dening a detached bloom of the Japanese 

 tree lilac was illustrated, and short 

 descriptions given of Syringa Amurensis, 

 S. Pekinensis and this species. The 

 accompanying illustration shows the full 

 tree in bloom July 1st at Egandale, and 

 presents a fair type of the shape it 

 assumes. 



This specimen is standing at the edge of 

 a shrubbery bed, amidst low growing 



shrubs. The foliage seen above it belongs 

 to trees some fifty feet away. Sometimes 

 the common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is 

 trained to a single stem, and if care be 

 taken of it, can be made to assume a tree 

 form, but this species always takes on the 

 characteristics of a small tree. It flowers 

 in the latter part of June "in a densi'- 

 flowered thyrse" of a creamy white with 

 a faint odor somewhat resembling that 

 of the privet. The foliage is dark and 

 leathery, and entirely free from mildew or 

 insect attacks. Its hardiness has never 

 been questioned, in fact it stood a tem- 

 perature of 25° below zero last winter, 

 and moves easily, as proved by the fact 

 that this spring I moved successfully a 

 still larger plant after its leaves had 

 started, cutting oft' the bloom buds. 



As a rule the tree must be well estab- 

 lished in its new home before it will 

 bloom, sometimes requiring four or more 

 years before it will flower, after removal 

 from the nursery. What my moved plant 

 will do next year is an unsolved mystery. 

 W. C. Egan. 



TAB GAINESB HONEYSUCKLE. 



Please give me the name of the- honey- 

 suckle of which I enclose a fragment of a 

 blossom. It is a climber, blossoms like 

 Halleana, very fragrant, the outside of 

 the little blossoms a dark purplish red, 

 inside yellow. Mrs. G. G. W. 



The flowers sent, together with the 



description given, indicate almost to a 

 certainty that the honeysuckle is the 

 Chinese, known in nursery collections as 

 sinensis. This species not only has pur- 

 plish red flower buds, but foliage of much 

 the same color as well. It is thought to 

 have the most pleasant odor of all honey- 

 suckles. About many residences honey- 

 suckles are planted to the posts of division 

 fences, and the Chinese always finds a 

 place among them, but where a rapid 

 growing one is desired Halleana or 

 hrachypoda is preferred, as the Chinese 

 does not cover a space as quickly as the 

 others do. 



Ferns. 



A AARDY FERN BED. 



I am informed that asubscriberto Gar- 

 dening, from Lake Forest, called at the 

 office lately, and stated that he had 

 recently seen some fern beds at Egandale 

 that pleased him, and that he wished I 

 would let him know through Gardening 

 how they were made. As Lake Forest is 

 a neighboring town, and as I was taught 

 during my Sunday School days to "love 

 thy neighbor as thyself," etc., I shall 

 endeavor to comply with his wishes. 



To tell the truth, one of my fern beds — 

 the maidenhair— is a source of justifiable 

 pride, for it certainly is a handsome sight. 

 I never miss showing it to lady visitors 

 because the delicate beauty of a sea of 

 fronds, is sure to be appreciated by them. 

 The common or American maidenhair 

 (Adiantum pedatum) grows wild along 

 the shady banks of our ravines, generally 

 being found more plentiful on the north 

 side of the banks. It must not be con- 

 founded with the early meadow rue 

 (Thalictrum dioicum) resembling it 

 it slightly when young, so much so that 

 is sometimes called the false maidenhair. 



I selected a spot where the lawn merged 

 into a gently sloping ravine bank, that is 

 the upper ten feet of the bank had only a 

 fall of a few inches to the foot. Below 

 this space the declivity was quite sharp. 

 All this produced one requisite of success, 

 viz., quick and perfect drainage. On the 

 south and west sides, in addition to the 

 shade produced by tall growing oaks, 

 maples, etc., indigenous to the ravines, 

 this spot was heavily shaded by native 

 Hamamelis virginiana, the witch hazel, 

 whose layered foliage hangs over the bed 

 like a canopy. So far the position pos- 

 sessed the second requisite of success, viz. 

 open shade. But the morning sun beat 

 in there and this element of disturbance 

 must be eliminated. I had no space to 

 spate on the lawn to enable me to mass a 

 bank of shrubbery in front so I started to 

 make a screen of living green. I put in a 

 simple woven wire fence eight feet high 

 and twelve long, immediately to the east 

 and planted thickly with the common 

 Virginia creeper. 



Now the Virginia creeper and this fern 

 are not congenial bed fellows; if put in one 

 bed they soon quarrel and the fern has 

 to get out. I therefore made two beds, 

 one east of the the fence for the vine, two 

 feet deep and wide, and one for the fern, 

 hereafter described, westof the fence. The 

 imaginary line that two quarrelling 

 children occupying the same bed, some- 

 times make, is not always conducive to 

 permanent peace, and likewise an imagi- 

 nary boundary of confinement in this case 

 will not do, so I put a 2-inch plank in be- 

 tween the two beds down to the full depth 

 of the two feet. 



