290 



GARDENING. 



June 75, 



pass by one of these trees, no matter 

 how much engrossed in other aftairs, 

 without wondering at its beauty or seek- 

 ing its name if it is unknown. Like most 

 foreigners it possesses an air distinctive, 

 and in this case majestic. The paulow- 

 nia will soon lose her first charms, which 

 last easily three or four weeks and consist 

 of a magnificent display of light blue 

 sweet scented panicles, which seem to 

 harmonize everywhere. These will be 

 followed by a leafage truly tropical in 

 appearance. 



It is customary with some to cut this 

 tree down to the ground every year, by 

 this means causing it to produce much 

 larger leaves. A better method would be 

 to train it with one main stem and allow 

 it to make ten or more lateral branches 

 clear of the ground, and then prune hard 

 every year after it had flowered, it being 

 then easy to cut back to a new growth, 

 which by that time can be plainly seen. 

 By this plan a clean well shaped tree 

 would be formed that would prove an 

 ornament to any lawn. 



When allowed to grow at pleasure it 

 makes a tree thirty or forty feet high, but 

 seldom shapely, as branches here and 

 there die back making an otherwise fine 

 tree look unsightly. B. Hall. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 



CERC1S CANADENSIS. 

 The judas tree or red bud, which illum- 

 ines the woods in early spring with clouds 

 of pink, is too well known to require any 

 description here. It is one of our most 

 beautiful native trees. It makes an 

 effective companion to the white Cornus 

 florida and shares with it the honor of 

 standing at the head of the list of beauti- 

 ful and showy trees for hillsides and bor- 

 ders of woods, and for general planting 

 in parks and large estates. Several vari- 

 eties bearing flowers of deeper pink than 

 the type have been introduced from time 

 to time, and a fine pendulous form is an 

 especially valuable acquisition. 



NOTES FROM EGANDALE. 



One of the chief recommendations of 

 hardy perennials is that tbey flower so 

 early in the season, and at a time when 

 they are doubly welcome, after their win- 

 ter's rest. We hail their appearance as 

 that of old friends, and this pleasure is 

 carried on through the whole summer 

 season, from the appearance of the ven- 

 turesome snowdrop to that of the tardy 

 goldenrods and asters. At this writing 

 (May 25) most of the annuals are either 

 in the hotbeds or the cold frames, for our 

 nights are still cold and it is not yet too 

 late for killing frosts. I am going to take 

 a walk among the shrubberies and peren- 

 nial beds and note what blooms are there 

 to welcome me. Some have flowered and 

 are now growing actively and in the case 

 of shrubs have been cut in and put in 

 form. 



Among the shrubs in bloom are lilacs in 

 varietv. Exochorda grandiflora, Rhodo- 

 dendron Vaseyii, Azalea mollis Japanese 

 flowering quince, bush honeysuckles. Pru- 

 nus maritima, P sinensis. P. Waterii, Spi- 

 raea prunifolia, Spirxa Thunbergii, snow- 

 balls, Calvcanthusfloridus, Kerria Japon- 

 ica, Rhodotypus kerroides, barberries, 

 Caraganaju'bata. several forms of Pyrus 

 floribunda, native crabs and thorns. Cyti- 

 sus purpureus and Akebia quinata and 

 periwinkles among the vines. 



Among the perennials we find a still 

 greater number, there being the follow- 

 ing: Aquilegias in variety. Arabisalpina, 

 Arenaria dianthoides, Bellis perennis, 

 Ccntaurea montana.Cerastium tomento- 

 surn. lily of the valley, Dicentra eximia 

 and D. spectabilis, Doromcuni plantagi- 

 ncum excelsum, dodocatheons, Dicta- 

 rnnus Fraxinella, Geranium sanguineum, 

 li. maculatum, Hemerocalis tiava, Heu- 

 chera sanguinea, irises. Linum Austria- 

 cum, Lychnis llos-cuculi fl. pi. and the 

 double form of L. viscaria, Xarcissus 

 poeticus, Ornithogalum umbcllatum. 

 paonies, both herbaceous and tree, Ice- 

 land poppies, Phlox subulata, P.amoena, 



P. divaricata, P. obovata, Poientillia 

 tridentata, Primula officinalis. Saxifraga 

 cordilblia, Silene maritima. Thalictrum 

 anemonoides, Tiarella cordifolia, Trollius 

 Europseus, Veronica speciosum and V'er- 

 bascum Phceniceum. 



Here are some sixty different kinds of 

 flowers appearing before "the flowery 

 month of June," and surely that speaks 

 well for a combined shrubbery and peren- 

 nial border. Where inclination and space 

 permit, the number may be increased to a 

 very considerable extent. W. C. Egan. 



PRUNING RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS. 



The notes on rhododendrons from "H. 

 H. H.," a well known authority on the 

 plants referred to, in a recent issue ol 

 Gardening, will be a great help to those 

 about to set out some of those plants. I 

 would like to supplement what has been 

 said and relate my experience in the 

 pruning of the rhododendron and the 

 azalea. These plants are often allowed 

 to grow tall and ungainly from a beliet 

 that they cannot be pruned, but this 

 belief is quite a mistaken one. There is 

 no risk at all in the matter, as, unlike 

 coniferous evergreens, new shoots will 

 appear from old wood below the foliage. 

 Coniferous evergreens, such as pines, 

 arbor vitas, retinosporas. and the like, 

 are ruined if pruned below their foliage, 

 but not so with the rhododendron. Cut 

 it anywhere desired and new shoots will 

 appear. 



In nurseries where these plants are 

 grown one-sided, they are brought into 

 shape by pruning. The work is done 

 immediately after flowering, or earlier if 

 the plants are not required lor selling. 

 The knife is used just as it would be on a 

 deciduous shrub, and with about the 

 same result. At times there is a hesi- 

 tancy to prune from the fear of destroy- 

 ing the prospects of flower buds for the 

 coming year. This fear is justified when 

 pruning is performed late, but done early, 

 no later than at the time of the fading of 

 the flowers, the new shoots will form 

 flower buds as usual. Any one shoot 

 can be pruned back as well as all of them 

 when desired. 



Rhododendrons complete their growth 

 in a very short time after they start to 

 grow in spring, and, of course, it would 

 be useless or worse to prune after growth 

 for the season was completed. What 

 has been said of the rhododendrons ap- 

 plies just as well to all azaleas. Lots of 

 straggling bushes are seen in collections 

 which sadly need the pruning knife. I 

 desire to add my testimony to what 

 "H. H. H." says of the importance of 

 moisture to the rhododendron. I have 

 seen the wild R. maximum along the 

 ravines in the Blue Ridge Mountains of 

 Pennsylvania growing on the moss- 

 covered rocks projecting from the streams 

 which coursed by them, the roots prac- 

 tically in 1 he water. And how the plants 

 did flourish! In that region the finest 

 plants are those growingclose to streams 

 at the base of hills. Clare. 



FLOWERING TREES. 



OBROIS CANADENSIS. 



Under this heading one naturally thinks 

 of the crab, cherry, plum and peach or of 

 the magnolia in favored situations. All 

 these are handsome and showy, but there 

 are others less gorgeous and yet as 

 deserving of admiration as their brighter 

 colored associates. There is a Camper- 

 down elm on my lawn of well balanced 

 proportions, and as viewed from the 

 porch, its many branches start from the 

 center of the head with a short upward 



