68 



• GARDENING. 



Nov. 15, 



NEW WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUM FRANK HARDY. 



Young plantations ami in some cases 

 very old beds, have suffered most during 

 the dry spell, while vigorous two or three 

 year old ones withstood the severe trial 

 better generally. On our own grounds, 

 for instance, we have Anemone japonica 

 in an old established row, which grew as 

 usual 5 to 6 feet high and flowered as well 

 as ever, the roots of these plants having 

 penetrated several feet into the ground 

 and there found all the moisture they 

 required, while a more recent planting in 

 a bed near by would not grow even half 

 that height and presented a sorry ap- 

 pearance along side of the other. Many 

 of the buds dried up when only half 

 grown and would not open out, the roots 

 being too near the parched surface where 

 the ground was dry as powder. 



Coreopsis flowers on old clumps were 

 very small compared with those on two 

 year-old plants, but this summer's seed- 

 lings did not make any show at all this 

 fall as in other years; gaillardias acted in 

 the same way. Numerous plants which 

 have been divided late in spring or in the 

 earlj' part of summer have made but little 

 growth where they have not been watered 

 regularly and owing to the unusually dry 

 tall we have, with few exceptions, aban- 

 doned our usual practice of fall dividing 

 lor this year. 



Among the plants which withstood the 

 drought fairly well and are still in bloom 

 at this date (Nov. 1) with us, mention 

 should be made of Callirhoe involucrata, 

 numerous bright colored flowers being 

 yet seen on the plant. The statices are 

 as attractive as ever and have not suf- 

 fered in the least. Scabiosa eaucasica and 

 its improved variety connata perfected 

 their lovely light blue flowers continu- 

 ously during the dry weather, although 

 in size they were not up to the average; 

 S. ocrolcuca and the large flowered S. o. 

 alba acted in the same way and all of 

 them are in excellent shape now. The 

 bright pink flower heads of Daphne cneo- 

 rum are conspicuous at this time of the 

 year. Erodium Manescavii has not 

 ceased to perfect its pretty clusters for the 

 last three months and the foliage retains 

 its freshness at all times. Plumbago 

 larpenta? has been and is now in as good 

 shape as can be desired, covered with its 

 fine blue flowers for the last two months. 

 Aconitum autumnalc and /I. japonicum 

 are still showy and we can find quite a 

 number of beautiful well-developed pani- 

 cles in the delphinium patch. 



Armerias seemingly have taken a new 

 lease, for all the species are blooming at 

 present very profusely;»rgaillardias are 

 really good now and Salvia pratensis has 



not given up flowering, late as it is; 

 neither has the lighter colored S.farinacea. 

 Campanula rotunilifolia has furnished 

 us with a profusion of bloom all summer 

 and is decidedly better to-day than it 

 was a month ago. Silene maritima fl.pl. 

 exhibits half a dozen flowers or more on 

 each little plant. Saponaria eaucasica 

 fl. pi. is grand at all times, flowers abund- 

 antly now and has hundreds of unopened 

 buds. The slender spikes of Reseda glauca 

 are not highly colored but they are pro- 

 duced uninterruptedly until snow falls. 



Diantbus superbus gives us quantities 

 of sweet-scented laced flowers yet; so does 

 the deeper colored D. Seguierii and D. 

 atrorubens, the brightest of all, shows 

 now a greater number of densely crowded 

 flower heads than at any time in the 

 season. Achillea aurea, with its bright 

 golden yellow flowers, appears to like the 

 cold, it blossoms as freely as in summer. 

 Flowers of nearly the whole collection of 

 our Phlox suflruticosa could be gathered 

 today in good shape. Lychnis semper- 

 florens plenissima is a marvel for bloom- 

 ing and seems to enjoy the cooler fall 

 weather, for it has sent up numerous new 

 flower stems within the last month. L. 

 vespertina plena also keeps right on per- 

 fecting its large double white flowers. 



Cedronella cana has a neat habit doing 

 admirably well while the drought lasted 

 and is in splendid condition today. Eri- 

 geron speciosus and E. speciosus major 

 seem to outlast the asters; the latter were 

 seriously damaged by the dry weather 

 and did not last as long as usual, except- 

 ing where they had the benefit of an occa- 

 sional liberal dose of water. Aster Amel- 

 lus bessarabicus and .4. ptarmicoides 

 hold out longer than any of the others. 

 Carlina acaulis was mentioned sometime 

 ago in these columns; it isas good asever 

 now and will be until snow falls. Silene 

 Schafta? looks bright and cheerful still, 

 while the half shrubby Caryopteris mas- 

 tacanthus is really past its best, owing, 

 no doubt, to the dry and warm spell, for 

 last year the plants continued in fine 

 shape until after the middle of November. 



A few tall perfect spikes of Galtonia 

 candicans are out of season, so are the 

 oriental poppies and the Anenone sylves- 

 tris which pop up here and there on the 

 plants, and I only mention them here as 

 a curiosity, although it happens quite 

 often that such things are ready to bloom 

 a second time late in the fall. Iris Cha- 

 masiris is also now in flower on half a 

 dozen different plants, a rather strange 

 behavior in this locality and probably 

 caused by the check the growth received 

 during August and September. 



I should state here that we do not prac- 

 tice watering our herbaceous plants; we 

 have neither time nor convenience to do 

 so. When the ground is very dry at 

 planting time, we may administer a thor- 

 ough watering just after planting but 

 ordinarily the plants are left to take their 

 chances. The exceptional!}- dry fall we 

 experienced this year has certainly short- 

 ened the flowering season of a great num- 

 ber ot hardy plants, else the above list 

 would be much longer, though under the 

 circumstances it is a pleasant surprise to 

 me and perhaps to many others, that so 

 large a number of species came out un- 

 harmed and are able to hold their own 

 so late in the season. J. B. K. 



Rochester, N. Y. 



BED OF GRASSES— HOLLY. 

 1 have prepared a circular bed eight feet 

 in diameter for hardy grasses and intend 

 having Arundo Donax for the centre. 

 Will you please give me some information 

 as to the number of roots I want of this 



