i8 97 . 



GARDENING. 



7 1 



SOME BUSH PLANTS AND STANDARDS AT THE CHICAGO SHOW. 



The Supple Jack, Berchemia rolubilis, 

 a native of Arkansas, is rather attractive 

 on account of its rather small neatly 

 plaited foliage and graceful climbing or 

 twining growths. The flowers are small 

 and rather inconspicuous. Lonicera sem- 

 pervirens, prettier by far than any of the 

 foreign species, and found wild in the 

 woods plentifully, where, owing to its 

 straggling habit, hiding itself from view 

 among the foliage of shrubs and trees, it 

 is rarely seen, and still more rarely seen in 

 anything like a perfect condition. On the 

 fence near the east end of the White House 

 it may be seen at its best covered by myr- 

 iads ot its orange-red flowers. 



Brunnkhia cirrhosa a near ally of the 

 beautiful mountain rose of Mexico, An- 

 tigonon leptopus, is not however, as 

 beautiful as the mountain rose; its flow- 

 ers are ivory white in long racemes. The 

 only drawback to the use of this vine is 

 the habit of the roots which spread to 

 daces where they are not wanted, sending 

 up growths many feet distant from the 

 parent plant. 



The variegated form of Ampelopsis het- 

 erophylla is an extremely ornamental 

 plant but when given a place on a low 

 trellis work it needs considerable tying in 

 to keep it within bounds, as its growth 

 is very straggling. It looks best when its 

 thin branches have a background of Eng- 

 lish ivy or of Ampelopsis Veitchii. Not 

 only the leaves but the fruit are highly or- 

 namental, as at different periods of their 

 growth they are green, ivory white and 

 greenish blue. To perpetuate a well 

 marked specimen it is best to propagate 

 it from cuttings', but from seed we can 

 always be sure that some of the seedlings 

 will come handsomely variegated. 



Some of the spaces on this wire fence 

 are devoted to tender flowering vines; 

 prominent among them is the curious 

 flowered Aristolochia Sturtevantii. This 

 is commonly known as the Duck flower 



from the shape of the unexpanded flow- 

 ers having a striking resemblance to that 

 fowl. This plant when grown out of doors 

 must have good soil and an abundance of 

 water in dry weather as it is a rank 

 grower, and if it be starved in any way 

 the flowers refuse to develop beyond the 

 earliest stages. It is a plant well worth 

 growing as the flowers never fail to excite 

 wonder on seeing them for the first time. 

 We have to depend upon cuttings for its 

 propagation as the plants have never 

 produced seed in this part of the country. 



Schubertia grandiflora is another good 

 thing which has been grown in the same 

 space for several years past. The flowers 

 are large, pure white, somewhat resemb- 

 ling the well known Stepbanotis Horibun- 

 da. If the plants are put out early enough 

 in the season they are almost sure to ripen 

 seeds which is the best method of propaga- 

 tion, either sowing it in the fall or in the 

 early spring. G. W. Oliver. 



Washington, D. C. 



HIBISCUS MflNlflOT. 



This handsome member of the hibiscus 

 family was introduced to the American 

 public a few years ago as " Hibiscus Queen 

 of the Summer." Being new to us, the 

 unitiated were left to guess its botanical 

 identity. Messrs. Peter Henderson & Co. 

 this year catalogued it under its specific 

 name, but describe its flower as pure 

 white. If the seeds they offer produce a 

 white flower, it is evidently a modified 

 form or another plant, as the true Hibis- 

 cus manihot produces flowers of a clear 

 sulphur yellow. The cut they give resem- 

 bles in shape of flower and leaf the H. 

 manihot, but strong, healthy plants as- 

 sume a much more pyramidal habit, some 

 beingquiteslender and attaining a height 

 of four or more feet. 



The introduction of this plant as a nov- 

 elty is merely a repetition of numerous in- 



stances where plants long ago cultivated, 

 and for various reasons have become al- 

 most discarded and forgotten, are again 

 brought to light, generally under some 

 such name as "Queen of the Summer" in 

 order to hide its identity until the one in- 

 troducing it has filled the field of purchas- 

 ers. This plant has been known in the 

 botanic gardens of England since 1712, 

 although it is not mentioned in Nichol- 

 son's Dictionary of Gardening. 



Hibiscus manihot is a native of China 

 and Japan, perennial in nature, growing 

 from three to five feet high. Mr. C. H. 

 Curtis, in a contribution to The Garden- 

 er's Magazine (England), from which 

 most of the facts in this article are taken, 

 describes the plant as follows: "Peren- 

 nial, with succulent herbaceous stems. * 

 Leaves are palmate-digitate, five 

 to seven lobed, deep green in color, hand- 

 some in appearance and borne on long, 

 stout foot stalks. The flowers are pro- 

 duced towards the apex of growth. ' 



Individually they are Ave inches in 

 diameter, circular in outline, and a soft, 

 clear yellow color closely approaching a 

 sulphur tint. At the base of the flower is 

 a dark, blackish area formed of the com- 

 bined blotches found at the base of the 

 five segments. The stigma is conspicu- 

 ous, black or deep purple, stellate organ 

 capping a moderately longl^style. Al- 

 though the flowers are fleeting, this is 

 atoned for by the large number borne, for 

 if at the close of the day the most of the 

 blooms of yesterday have faded there are 

 plenty of others unfolding their petals 

 and waiting for the approach of light to 

 create a little sunshine of their own." 



The plant is not hardy, in fact it is quite 

 tender, but in the warmer climate of the 

 south and Californiaitshould provequite 

 an acquisition. Here in the north the seed 

 should be sown in the greenhouse as early 

 as February in order to obtain strong 

 plants by June. They should be planted in 



