1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



II 



ure. Its choice of soil is one that is I'ather sandy 

 and well drained. It may tx; used with good ef- 

 fect ad an cdjring to beds of spring flowers. 

 Bulbs of it that ha\'e been used for forcing 

 should never be thrown awaj', for if they are 

 allowed to fully develop their leaves and go to 

 rest in a pit or frame, and later are planted in 

 the garden, they wiU thrive well. It ig better not 

 to disturb the tufts in ordinary culture, except 

 every two orthree years, for di\iding them. 



Pinks: The Douhle Lychnis Viscaria. Among 

 our hardy plants what can surpa.ss the exquisite 

 fragrance of the 

 hardy garden Pinks? 

 The old white Fim- 

 biiata, known in the 

 catalogues as AIha 

 fimhriata, is still a 

 good plant, and 

 happily the occu- 

 pant of nearly every 

 garden. Not a very 

 great remove from 

 the Pinks are the 

 Lychnises, although 

 botanically distinct. 

 Of these the double 

 Lychnis Viscaria, 

 Lychnis visctn^n 

 sfAendeiis plena^ is 

 one of those choice 

 border plants which 



Tui„ alazicr Point.. 'f^'""^'^ ^""^ "^ '^J'*^* 

 ni many gardens 

 where it is not now found. The color is a rich 

 magenta, and stands almost, if not quite, alone 

 in this respect. It will grow in almost any situa- 

 tion or soil, possesses the sterUng qualities of 

 free flowering, perfect hardiness, with easy 

 means of propagation, viz., by diriding the root- 

 stock. Those unacquainted with it I would ask 

 to imagine a tufted cushion of leaves similar to 

 some Thrifts, from which issue numerous flower 

 stems to a height of 18 inches, closely packed 

 with bright magenta flowers, very useful for 

 cutting. Its extreme beauty is in the embellish- 

 ments of the hardy plant border or rock garden, 

 where the flowers retain to the last that brilliant 

 hue of color which renders it so conspicuous at 

 this time. Planted in patches, it has a most ef- 

 fective appearance. It is to be had of aU the 

 moi-e extensive dealers in hardy plants for about 

 ffi cents per plant.— vl. H. E. 



Why Winter the Colens t It may not be gen- 

 erally known that one may do away with all the 

 fuss and worry of keeping over these plants 

 where a sufliciently high heat^and they need 

 high heat— is not possessed, by annually growing 

 the plants required for summer from seed. Seed 

 that is saved from one's own plants or such as 

 is purchased, and treating similar to that of 

 Balsams and other heat loring plants, may 

 readily be grown into attractive stock. We usu- 

 ally sow in February or March, in pots or shallow 

 boxes of light sandy soil, setting them in a hot- 

 bed or warm house. After the seedlings are 

 fairly under way we treat them just as we do 

 plants propagated from cuttings. The plants 

 being rapid growei-s under close glass in the 

 spring, develop to a useful size by June. We 

 have raised from a single package of purchased 

 seed, seedlings of nearly every type of Coleuses 

 now popular, besides some pretty intermediate 

 coloi-s. One may always find an interest in grow- 

 ing seedlings of any kind, looking U) some im- 

 proved sort over those now possessed, and the 

 fact tliat the Coleus is so variable and eccentric 

 in the colors of its leaves is the greater induce- 

 ment for trying one's hand here. Even if no 

 special degree of success is met there is no reason 

 why this practice of getting up a stock of such 

 useful decorative plants should not be more gen- 

 erally adopted by araateure than it is, as even 

 where there is limited space under glass this 

 space is always needed in winter. 



" The Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening, a 

 practical Encyclopa>dia of Horticulture." This 

 is the name of one of the most comprehensive 

 works undertaken in recent years with a view to 

 treating the subject of practical horticulture 

 and botany exhausti\ely from a popular stand- 

 point. The fact that such a competent author- 

 ity—practical as well as scientiflc— as Mr. George 

 Nicholson, Curator of the Koyal Botanic Gar- 

 dens, Kew, England, should be its editor will at 

 once be received by the horticultural world as a 

 sufliciently high endorsement of its great merits. 

 This gentleman, as was naturally expected in 

 any work of such a character he would undertake, 

 called to his assistance the most eminent cultiva- 

 tors and botanists of England, with the re.sult 



that able men like Sir Joseph Hooker, Prof. 

 W. H. Trail, Dr. M. T. McMasters, editor of the 

 Gardener's Chronicle, London, Rev. Percy W. 

 Myles, William Batting, James Voitch, Peter 

 Bair, and other well-known authorities, were in- 

 cluded among its leading cimtributors. The work 

 when completed will embrace seven volumes of 

 upwards of 250 pages each, with more than 2,000 

 engravings, and numerous colored plates, exe- 

 cuted in the highest style of the printing art. 

 All these volumes but the last one, and bringing 

 the alphabetical classification to S C L, have 

 been issued and received at this office. The aim 

 of its projectoi-s was to make it an encyclopae- 

 dia of practical information and botanical classi- 

 flcation, brought down to present date, and the 

 standard work on English horticulture in all its 

 branches, from the growing of the hardiest 

 plants to cultivation of tender exotics. The sub- 

 ject of insects and diseases receives a full share 

 of attention. While this dictionary was prepared 

 from an English standpoint, it will be found to 

 possess a value for Americans second t-o no other 

 work now before the public. Arrangements for 

 its sale in America have been made by its pub- 

 lishers in London through their representative, 

 Mr. James Penman, whose address in this country 

 is 129 West Newton Street, Boston. It is most 

 gratifying to us to learn that the work is already 

 meeting with a good demand in this co\intry. 



Onr Jonrnal's New Dress. The new and third 

 volume of Popular Gardening and i'Rtnr 

 Growing starts off m a bran new dress of copper- 

 faced type throughout. The style of the type is 

 also somewhat changed from the old, a step un- 

 dertaken with a \iew to giving the same amount 

 of matter per page as before, that is, using the 

 same tjixly of type but with the /act' somewhat 

 larger, hence easier to read. It may be said that 

 about the only complaint ever heard against this 

 journal, and that from aged people, has been the 

 smallness of much of the type used, and this we 

 have aimed to remedy. To show plainly that the 

 enlarged face adopted is not at the expense of 

 printing less matter, it is only necessary to count 

 the lines per column in last month's paper and 

 those of the same grade in this to observe that they 

 are precisely the same. Indeed more matter is 

 printed in the entire paper than before, through 

 making several other changes. For one thing 

 the first two or three pages of each number have 

 heretofore appeared in brerier type, a size con- 

 siderably larger than the main body which is 

 minion. But inasmuch as a stronger face of the 

 minion was chosen, it has been decided to sub- 

 stitute the regular minion for this brevier 

 henceforth, thus giving considerably more mat> 

 ter in these pages. Again a smaller sized type 

 has been adopted in which to print the Inqui- 

 ries; with some gain of space here and certain 

 heads of departments have been considerably re- 

 duced in size with the same result. Altogether 

 we are sure these changes will be voted as being- 

 most favorable ones, and we trust that the f)utlay 

 involved on this account wiU be accepted as but 

 another sign of our strong desire to still further 

 improve this the people's horticultural journal. 



blomatic of eternity. This is weighed down to 

 the platform, while the other scale, high in the 

 air, is filled with bright Bowers, suggestive of 

 earthly joys and honoi-s. Made finely it is ex- 

 tremely handsome, and may be infinitely varied. 

 Another design by the same maker is a varia- 

 tion of the broken link. A handsome cushion is 

 made, on which lies a chain composed of several 

 links, one of them being wrenched apart. The 

 entire links are made of colored flowers, but 

 draped with black ribbon; the broken link is 

 composed of white flowers, with a mingling of 

 Forget>me-nots, and a draping of white ribbon. 

 Ribbon is apt to be used rather too much; it is 

 sometimes offered as an excuse for poor flowers, 

 and always has rather a millinery look. 



We are promised a large show next month, 

 gotten up entirely by a single florist. It is to be 

 novel in every sense of the word; the originator 

 intends to turn a large hall into a mimic forest, 

 and will treat us to a lot of new designs in cut 

 flowers. October is not a very good month for a 

 flower show; Chrysanthemums are not really in, 

 and almost everything else is out, so it will re- 

 quire a little ingenuity to make it a success. 



At this season wild flow-el's are again coming 

 in, to the grower's disgust. Golden Kod and As- 

 ters produce very showy effects when massed in 

 vases or banked in corners. Autumn leaves, 

 too, will he used to a certain extent; last year the 

 decorations at some of the prettiest country 

 weddings were of autumn leaves and wild 

 flowers; they were both elaborate and showy. 



It is probable that Carnations will be more used 

 this winter; a larger niunber of them are being 

 grown. With long stems and their own foliage, 

 they make the most appropriate coi-sjige bunch 

 for street wear; they are more suitable to walk- 

 ing toilets than Roses. 



In all designs or floral decorations the ten- 

 dency is still to avoid the mixture of many sorts 

 of flowei-s in one piece. It is apt to give an in- 

 congruous effect, like the combinations on a 

 London dinner table, consisting of Primroses, 

 Pink Azaleas, White Rhododendrons, Pelargo- 

 niums, and White Wood Anemones. 



The dinner-giving season has not commenced 

 yet, but the prevailing effect will doubtless be 

 one of choice sirapUcity. Colored centre-cloths 

 are becoming rather old-fashioned, and there is a 

 tendency to banish excess of plate and the elab- 

 orate dessert which has formed part of thedecor- 

 ati<m. One effectively simple arrangement for a 

 table was merely a bed of Maiden-hair Ferns, with 

 double red Geraniums laid at intervals. English 

 hostesses are decorating their dinner table with 

 Orchids, Hghtly set in oriental blue china vases, 

 but the china must be old and good, a relic of 

 the possessor's grandmother, if she had one. 



Some exceedingly handsome wreaths are now 

 made, w-ithout any suggestion of the stiffness we 

 used to see in this shape. A perfectly plain 

 wreath is a rarity; they are usually made in 



Floral Notes From New York. 



This time in September is the summer of our 

 discontent, as far as flower work is concerned. 

 Every one is out of town, except a few hundred 

 thousand toilers, who do not count where luxur- 

 ies are concerned. It is a singular fact, how- 

 ever, that these toilers are just as^f ond of flowers 

 as their wealthier sisters, and they are not satis- 

 fied with any but good ones, either. They must 

 have Roses, whether in bouquets or designs. 



There is a very great improvement in the qual- 

 ity and appearance of everlasting flowers, and 

 they are used to an extent that the regular 

 flower grcjwers cannot regard with much favor. 

 The immortelles, always stiff and rather un- 

 graceful, are replaced mth the starry Cape Flow- 

 ers. They are dyed much better than they used 

 to be; the colors are very good, and the dye is 

 permanent, so that they are not affected by 

 water. They come in exquisite shades of laven- 

 der and lilac, quite different from the aggressive 

 purples formerly in vogue, and the bright shades 

 are really beautiful. Of coui-se a grower cannot 

 be expected to admire these dried flowei-s very 

 greatly, and the most disinterested cann()t for a 

 moment consider them equal to fresh ones, but 

 undoubtedly they have their place. 



A new design, originated by Mr. Le Moult, who 

 has protected it by a patent, is the Scale of Life. 

 It is a pair of balances, bearing the words 

 '■ Scale of Life " on the platform. One of the 

 scales holds a crown, resting on Palm leaves, em- 



Ttie Siberian Squill. 

 crescent shape. Sometimes they are made with 

 the points of the crescent tied together; othei-s, 

 and prettier, too, merely taper off without the 

 ubiquitous ribbon bow. There is often an ad- 

 mixture of foliage in the bunch at the broader 

 side of the wreath; some of the Silvery Cala- 

 diums, Arundo, or Begonia leaves, are most ef- 

 fective. Caladium Argjrites is especially useful 

 in cut-flower work; it is most charming in bas- 

 kets as well as designs. 



Somehow we seem to be getting rather too 

 symbolic in some of our designs. Witness the 

 tribute offered some prominent railroad men: A 

 Gates Ajar, with a railroad running through the 

 gates, and the inscription: " He has the right of 

 way to Heaven," or words to that effect. It 

 might have been approjiriate, but the sugges- 

 tion was certainly rather incongi-uous. 



Emily Locise Taplln. 



