228 



GARDENING. 



April is, 



SHRUB QUERIES, 

 Ed. Gardening : — Has anyone succeeded 

 with Andromeda Mariana and Crataegus 

 Pvracantha in the locality of Chicago, and 

 if so, what are the necessary conditions? 

 Also, what has been decided upon as the 

 best way to grow Hypericum Moser- 

 ianum? We do not find it a free bloomer. 

 Is there any such plant as Hydrangea 

 vestita? F. N. B. 



I doubt if any species of andromeda 

 will thrive near Lake Michigan, in this 

 section. I am planting A. Mariana this 

 spring for trial. A. arborea (Oxydendron 

 arboreum) and the new A. japonica have 

 failed. As our soil is naturally strongly 



I have tried wintering the handsome 

 Hypericum Moserianum out of doors 

 under good protection, but found no life 

 in them the next spring. I now take 

 them up in the fall, and winter in a cellar 

 or deep cold frame; the latter is the best, 

 if well drained. I cut them back quite 

 severely in early April, so as to encourage 

 a strong new growth, planting out after 

 they have become hardened off; they then 

 bloom quite freely. I like Hypericum 

 aureum, from the mountains of Tennessee, 

 about as well. The flowers are not quite 

 so large, but the shrub is perfectly hardy 

 and of good form. 



Hydrangea vestita is catalogued by 

 the' Shady Hill Nursery Co., Boston, 



the base will be nearly as thick as a 

 broom handle. It blooms in clusters 

 composed of large numbers of double 

 flowers about the size of a double cherry 

 blossom. It blooms only once a year, it 

 is true, but it is a grand sight for three 

 weeks or a month after it commences to 

 flower. The flowers are a bright cheer- 

 ful shade of crimson, and it has a very 

 telling effect in the landscape, no matter 

 whether the garden wherein it is planted 

 is small or in the more pretentious pleas- 

 ure grounds of the wealthy. 



This grand rose has been referred to 

 before as an Easter plant; this gives it 

 additional value, though, personally, I 

 would never have suspected that it would 



THALIA, THE WHITE RAMBLER ROSE. 



impregnated with lime, a condition sup- 

 posed to be injurious to this family, I 

 prepared a special bed for them of peaty 

 soil, but in two years they died. 



Crataegus Pyracantha. being an ever- 

 green and not thriving in exposed situa- 

 tions in the east, will not, in my opinion, 

 succeed here. But few. if any, of the 

 broad-leaved evergreens do well with me, 

 the nearest approach to success being the 

 Berberis aquifolia (Mahonia), which is 

 very apt to lose its foliage in winter. 

 Crataegus Oxycantba does fairly well 

 when surrounded by a shrubbery that 

 keeps the sunoff the soil around the roots. 

 I have them ten to twelve feet high; they 

 do not, however, grow as luxuriantly as 

 at the east near the coast. 



Mass., as blooming in June, growing six 

 to eight feet high, and as being as showy 

 as H. paniculata grandiflora. I have had 

 it one year, placed a box over it last 

 winter, and it now seems to be in splendid 

 condition. W. C. Egan. 



Highland Park, Lake Co., 111. 



ROSE CRIMSON RAMBLER. 

 Crimson Rambler is the greatest rose 

 that has been introduced in modern 

 times. It may not be hardy everywhere, 

 though I have not heard of any place 

 where it is not so. It is distinct in growth 

 and in manner of blooming. The third 

 year after planting it will make canes 

 from eight to fifteen feet in length, and at 



be considered useful for that purpose, but 

 such it is, and in Philadelphia it will be 

 used in large numbers this year. Messrs. 

 Robert Craig & Son, Robert Scott & Son, 

 and Wm. K. Harris saw a future for it 

 and went into it heavily. There is noth- 

 ing at all like it, or approaches it in 

 effectiveness at this season of the year 

 when well done. Some plants we saw at 

 the Messrs. Craig's had been in bloom for 

 three weeks and they were still in excel- 

 lent shape, showing how well adapted it 

 is for such a purpose. No other rose that 

 I know would remain salable so long. If 

 I am not mistaken our good friend, Jack- 

 son Dawson, should receive the credit for 

 showing the possibilities of this plant for 

 use at Easter, and another good friend, 



