Vol. VI 



82.00 a Year. 

 24 Numbers. 



CHICAGO, MAY i, 1898. 



Single Copt 

 10 Cents. 



No. 136. 



A VIEW IN THB GROUNDS OP H H. HDNNEWBLL. WELLESLEY. MASS 





The Flower Garden. 



flBRBflGBOUS PLANT NOTES. 



Plants in the herbaceous borders had 

 an unusually early start this spring. The 

 mild weather during March favored the 

 early development of the spring flowers 

 and'many of the plants which inordinary 

 seasons would not be ready to bloom 

 until the middle of April were almost 

 fully out in the latter part of March. 

 Especially noticeable was this in slightly 

 sheltered positions, on southern slopes or 

 on the sunny side of hedges, buildings or 

 tight fences. 



We had a few clumps of Primula 



acaulis in a southeastern exposure well 

 covered with their showy pale yellow 

 flowers long before April, while those 

 planted under tall trees, though plenty of 

 sunlight could reach them all day, have 

 not yet (a month later) fairly developed 

 their flowers. The former clumps were 

 out at the same time with the scillas and 

 snowdrops, both of which are past now, 

 but the primulas are still as fine as at 

 the beginning and will hold out, appar- 

 ently, for a long time to come. A few 

 hybrids of P. acaulis, which were planted 

 last season, show great variety in color, 

 golden yellows, pale and coppery red 

 shades, velvety brown and deep, dark 

 crimson purple, but most of them do not 

 show their near relation to P. acaulis, 

 producing their flowers in umbels on 



stems not so tall as in P. variabilis or P. 

 officinalis. 



The large leaved saxifragas sent up 

 strong spikes of their finely colored flow- 

 ers and were nearly at their very best 

 when, early in April, a few nights of 

 severe frost threatened to destroy their 

 beauty; but only in the most exposed sit- 

 uations did they suffer any, and most of 

 the plants are as attractive to-day as 

 they were before the cold snap. Aubrie- 

 tias in variety were among the earliest 

 flowers in the border; they form a dense 

 green cushion in winter, and as soon as 

 the frost is out of the ground the buds 

 make their appearance, opening out one 

 after another until the whole mat is cov- 

 ered entirely with pretty bloom, varying 

 in color from pale lilac, almost white, to 



