i8q8. 



GARDENING. 



291 



curve, and then gracefully bend slightly 

 towards the earth, the tips again assum- 

 ing an upward tendency, the tree being 

 yet comparatively young, although it has 

 a spread of some ten or more feet. This 

 form somewhat resembles the outlines of 

 the out-stretched wings of a very large 

 bird. At present the branches are thickly 

 covered wit ■ its flowers of a pale pea- 

 green color. The tree seems thatched 

 with them, so closely are they arranged. 

 The resennlanee to the wings of a bird is 

 more pronounced now than when the tree 

 is in leaf, as the flowers lie more close] v to 

 the wood than do the leaves. Some 

 visitors have said it is one of the hand- 

 somest trees in bloom on the place, 

 although there are specimens of Prunus 

 triloba almost dazzling to look upon. 



Thers is a young Reitenbach maple, a 

 variety of the Norway, in bloom that I 

 consider quite handsome in its orange 

 yellow tone intermixed with the deep red 

 of its sheath leaves. The variety Geneva 

 is more sombre in color and not so pleas- 

 ing. The scarlet flowers of the scarlet or 

 swamp maple, .4cer ruhrum, are well 

 known and admired, and the feathery 

 infloresence of the hard maple is certainly 

 worthy of admiration. The drooping 

 tassels of the ironwood impart to the 

 tree a degree of airy elegance that at once 

 pleases the observer, and Cercidiphyllum 

 Japonicum is very modest in its blooms, 

 only a close examination revealing the 13. 



While we are enjoying the bursting into 

 bloom of the showy flowers, let us 

 examine and inspect the young unfolding 

 leaves of almost any tree. There is a 

 freshness and beauty in them all. from the 

 intense red of some of the oaks to the 

 folded leaves of the tulip tree. There is 

 beauty and promise in every movement of 

 nature in the spring lime that we may 

 enjoy and profit bv if we hut make the 

 effort. W. C. Egan. 



GLBMAT1S PANIGULATA. 



So rapidly has this beautiful and rest- 

 ful hardy climber been distributed, and so 

 simple are its requirements, that little 

 need be said in explanation of the illus- 

 tration herewith presented excepting that 

 it shows a portion of a space about 100 

 feet long which is planted as a hedge on 

 the north side of the office at YVaban Con- 

 servatories, Natick, Mass., and to call 

 attention to its desirability for clothing 

 unsightly or waste places with a mantle 

 which is beautiful the whole yearthrough. 

 Its rich green foliage during summer, its 

 masses of fragrant white blossoms which 

 throughout fall and winter becomeclouds 

 of feathery seed vessels, should make it 

 pre-eminently a favorite every where. 



PROPAGATION OF CLEMATIS PANIGULATA. 



This excellent plant is so easily and 

 cheaply raised from seed that nobody 

 will now attempt to go to the trouble 

 and grow them in any other way, though 

 a number of years ago, when seed was 

 scarce and rather high priced, propaga- 

 tion by cuttings was practiced in many 

 quarters with variable success. The 

 most satisfactory results were obtained 

 by summer propagation in sash frames 

 running east and west, shaded with 

 canvas stretched permanently over a 

 lattice frame a loot or so above the sash 

 on the south side, slanting up to a height 

 of about four feet on the north side of the 

 frame. About a foot of fresh horse 

 manure is tramped in the bottom of the 

 bed, covered with three or four inches of 

 sharp, clean sand, which is then well 

 firmed and thoroughly watered. The 

 thinner and weaker young green wood 



CLEMATIS PANICULATA. 



is cut up into suitable lengths for the 

 cuttings, few of the stronger sappy shoots 

 showing any inclination to root. Once, 

 or in real hot weather, twice a day the 

 cuttings receive a slight syringing over- 

 head and the frame is kept close and 

 tight for three or four weeks; then a 

 crack of air is left on each sash, overnight 

 only at first then for an hour longer, 

 until by degrees the plants are accustomed 

 to a little fresh air all day. Later on the 

 sash are removed, and in a few days the 

 young plants can be potted oft", placed in 

 the same kind of a frame and kept close 

 again for a short time Strict attention 

 and vigilance is required; to neglect them 

 once brings disaster. It is beneficial to 

 to the cuttings, when first inserted, to 

 shade them additional!}- by shutters or 

 lath shades placed over the canvas frame 

 during the hottest part of the day. A 

 week or ten days after insertion the extra 

 shade may be dispensed with. K 



HERBACEOUS PLANT NOTES. 



As the season advances we see new 

 features in the herbaceous ground every 

 day; by the end of May hundreds of 

 species and varieties are out in full bloom; 

 many of them, being very valuable for cut 

 flowers, should be grown extensively by 

 our florists. The large flowering aquile- 

 gias and some of the smaller free -flowering 

 species are truly useful in many ways; 

 they are elegant, unique and graceful. 

 What flower can we compare with the 

 delicate, slender spurred, blue and white 

 A ccerulea, or the deeper colored, shorter 

 spurred, A. glandulosa and A. Olympka, 

 with some of their hybrids? We have no 

 other flower which approaches in any 

 way the singular and elaborate construc- 

 tion or peculiar delicacy of coloring rep- 

 resented in almost all the aquilegias. Of 

 course if we only grow the ordinary 

 garden varieties of A. vulgaris or A. 

 Sibirica, which are nearly all small 

 flowered and often dull and uncertain 

 in their coloring when grown from seed, 

 and if we are not familiar with the grace- 

 ful, large, open flowers of the other species, 

 then the above description must appear 



as an exaggeration; but I have never seen 

 a lover of flowers yet who would not 

 stop a few moments at least befoie a bed 

 of the rarer species, or even the selected 

 varieties of thecommon columbines; they 

 are always interesting. 



The irises are very plentiful everywhere 

 and all of them, even the inferior sorts, 

 sell readily in the cut flower market; but 

 it is good policy to grow only the very best. 

 The pj'rethrums have found their way 

 into the cut flower market long ago, and 

 the single forms in bright red and white 

 are decided favorites; they are used often 

 in preference to the doubles for parlor 

 vases. Hemerocallis flava, the lemon- 

 colored day lily, has been used extensive- 

 ly for many years; it has been in bloom 

 with us since the latter part of May, and 

 as we have a good lot of it planted out 

 we may be able to cut from them for a 

 month to come. Lychnis viscaria fl. pi. 

 is a mass of dazzling color and attracts 

 the eye from afar. Where a bright 

 flower is wanted for any purpose this 

 fills the bill in the month of June, and we 

 cannot do without it. Having a stiff 

 erect stem of good length and excellent 

 lasting qualities, it is a capital thing for 

 vases. 



.Hthionema grandiflorum is one of the 

 daintiest cut flowers at this time of the 

 year. The slender stems grow semi-erect 

 and from ten to twelve inches long; they 

 are closely set with small linear leaves 

 and every one of the twigs terminates in 

 an elegant flowerhead. It is little known 

 and but seldom found in collections, 

 probably only because some difficulty is 

 experienced in its propagation, though 

 "cuttings of the half ripe wood root quite 

 freely in midsummer and will make good, 

 strong, blooming plants in less than two 

 3'ears; seedlings will produce a few flowers 

 in their second year, but seed is rare and 

 the young plants are very liable to damp 

 off before they are large enough to handle; 

 layering may be practiced successfully, 

 but the layers should not be separated 

 from the old plant until well rooted, 

 which usually takes more than one year, 

 unless the season and conditions 

 are very favorable for the formation of 



