rS 97 . 



' ' ' GARDENING. 



?i 



NORDMAN S FIft TflEE (Abies Nordmanniana). 



best days and are of kinds not as new as 

 are to be found in parks more recently 

 formed. 



The Botanic Garden, under William R 

 Smith, always gives me pleasure. The 

 grounds are pretty well filled up, but M r. 

 Smith is known as one who will not let 

 his grounds lack a new plant if he c an 

 help it. Room is found for it somewhere . 

 I merely "ran through his garden" on 

 this occasion but had time to notice the 

 Sterculia platanifolia, the Chinese parasol 

 tree, thriving nicely. This only gets 

 through a Philadelphia winter when 

 somewhat protected. A large shrub 12 

 feet high by as many feet in width, Yitex 

 cannabifolia,a. native of Japan, was new 

 to me. Yitex Agnus-Castus does well 

 at home, but it gets a little nipped in 

 winter. Evidently this one of the Botanic 

 Garden does not. It has panicles of pale 

 purple flowers. 



Another new thing to me w T as Zizyphus 

 japonica. Zizyphus vulgaris is not un- 

 common about Philadelphia. It bears 

 reddish brown fruit, of about the size of 

 marbles. This one, japonica, had long 

 greenish looking fruit, somewhat of the 

 shape of the acorn of the English oak. I 

 tried to cajole Mr. Smilh into promising 

 me a few seeds, and with regret learned 

 from him that it never perfected its seeds. 

 The leaves are of a glossy green, and are 

 larger than those of vulgaris. 



Parrotia persica is a beautiful shrub, 

 evergreen if I am notmistaken, and hardy 

 considerably north of Washington. The 

 late John Saul had some fine specimens of 

 it about his home grounds some years 



ago. The Paliurus aculeatus, the Christ 

 Thorn, I was fortunate enough to see in 

 flower. The flowers are small, yellow, in 

 little tufts, the seeds being like small, 

 flattened bells. Handsome plants of the 

 rare Japanese trees Idesia polycarpa and 

 Hovenia dulcis were a pleasure to see. 

 The hovenia was as full of clusters of 

 black fruit as it could be. If I mistake not 

 the first trees of this to fruit in this 

 country were thosein this garden, though 

 the late Mr. Brackenridge, of Govans- 

 town, Md., had them a good many years 

 ago- 



I noticed in the border of perennials the 

 pretty native plant, Conoclinium ca?Iesti- 

 num, a blue flowered ageratum-looking 

 plant of much beauty. What a pleasure 

 it is to walk through this garden and find 

 everything conspicuously labeled! Those 

 superintendents of grounds, and there are 

 lots of them, who think the public do not 

 care for names, are greatly mistaken. A 

 park or garden to be what it should be, 

 should have labels on all its trees, shrubs 

 and plants. Joseph Meehan. 



Philadelphia. 



PRETTY BERRIED TREES AND SHRUBS. 



With the coming of October there is a 

 great falling off in the display of flowers 

 on trees and shrubs, but ascompensation 

 there is a rich display of ripened berries 

 by many of them. I desire to call atten- 

 tion to some of the best. Between the 

 handsome colored foliage ot many others 

 and the fruit of those I am about to men- 

 tion, there is a good list to select from 



for the making of a beautiful displav in 

 late fall. 



Among trees the various magnolias are 

 effective, though theirfruit is mostly over 

 in early October. M. tripetalaisthe most 

 effective of all, its carmine colored pods 

 attracting much attention. M. macro- 

 pliylla does not take on such a deep color, 

 neither does M. grandiflora, though be- 

 ing far from unattractive. The mount- 

 ain ash, both European and native, have 

 large clusters of bright colored berries, 

 which last of good color until late in 

 winter. I have seen them in February in 

 as good condition as before freezing 

 weather sets in. 



Philodendron amurense is a good sized 

 tree, having pinnate foliage, and in late 

 fall large clusters ot brownish black ber- 

 ries. Our native holly and the English 

 have their berries well matured by the 

 middle of October. In several of the 

 parks of Washington aiefine large bushes 

 of the English holly, both in its normal 

 form and in its variety lauritolia. Lauri- 

 folia is a variety having almost no spims, 

 and it is thought to be rather hardier 

 than the common one. 



The deciduous holly, Prinos verticillatus, 

 as well as other species such as decidua, 

 monticola and ambigua, are all of great 

 value. Their red berries are perfect until 

 hard continuous freezings occur, when 

 they lose their color There is a hand- 

 some native shrub, Lindera Benzoin, 

 which could be used more than it is. hi 

 early spring there are numbers of small 

 \ ello w flowers. All the season the leaves 

 and shoots if bruised give off a pleasant 

 odor, and now, in late autumn, it is dee- 

 orated with scarlet berries. And it makes 

 a handsome, large shrub as well. 



The old and valued Crataegus pvracan- 

 tha has yellowish red fruit, in clusters, 

 which maintains its color all through the 

 winter. In Europe this and many coton- 

 easters are trained to low walls, which 

 they greatly adorn when the fruit is ripe. 

 There are many cotoneasters, all bearing 

 numerous red berries and all seemingly 

 quite hardy with us. They are evergreen 

 or nearly so. 



If the Irish yew would but fruit every 

 year as it has done this I would quickly 

 place it among the ornamental Iruited 

 evergreens. I have never seen them as 

 they are this year. The orange yellow 

 berries are beautiful amidst the" dark 

 green foliage. 



Hawthorns add a good deal to the 

 general display. The English, oxvacantha, 

 and the two natives, coccinea and corda ta, 

 are the best. The berries of the English 

 are of a bright red, so are those of coc- 

 cinea and besides this, the fruit of the 

 latter are as large as the wild crab. 

 Cordata has small berries, which ripen 

 late. The clusters are large The cock 

 spur thorn, crus-^a///', fruitsgood enough, 

 but there is not much color to it. In the 

 berberry list the three of most merit are 

 Tbunbergii, vulgaris and purpurea. All 

 _ have red berries, those of Tbunbergii the 

 most conspicuous and the most lasting. 



Among roses there are a great many to 

 select from. All single flowered ones bear 

 red fruit. The Japanese, rugosa, the 

 several native sorts, the sweet briar and 

 the dog rose of Europe, with many of the 

 more recently introduced sorts are on the 

 list. 



There are three sumachs, Rhus copa- 

 lina, R. glabra and R. typhina, which 

 while not bearing berriesi displav large 

 scarlet "cones" of seeds, which make a 

 brilliant display. And were I speakingof 

 foliage now I would say that on all three 

 of them it is now of a flaming scarlet. 



Old, but beautiful yet, are the red and 



