X72 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



JUNEji 



A Late-blooming Polygonum: The 

 Mountain Fleece. 



The vast genus, Polygonum, comprising 

 fully 150 species of world-wide distribution, 

 includes some excellent garden fiowers, 

 which have not yet received the considera- 

 tion they are entitled to. One of the newer 

 candidates for attention, is the hardy peren- 

 nial species from the Himalaya Mountains, 

 known as Mountain Fleece {I'olmioiium 

 (unplexlcauJu oxupIiyUum). This was in- 

 troduced into England about ten years ago, 

 and is gradually becoming distributed 

 wherever flower culture receives attention. 

 The accompanying engraving of this species 

 was drawn from a specimen growing in the 

 Popular Gardening grounds, October 10, 

 last year, and is a faithful illustration. 



A conspicuous merit of this perennial is 

 its late season of 

 bloom, coming 

 after the bulk of 

 the summer (low- 

 ers are gone and 

 ahead of the 

 Chrysanthemums. 

 In the two years 

 it has bloomed on 

 these grounds, the 

 flowers have never 

 opened earlier 

 than September 20, 

 and have been at 

 their best about 

 two weeks later. 

 The blooming sea- 

 son has continued 

 until the plants 

 were marred by 

 hard frosts, the 

 light frosts of 

 early October do- 

 ing them no in- 

 jury. One plant 

 has stood through 

 two winters at I^a 



Salle, unharmed, having received no special 

 protection. 



In habit the Mountain Fleece is a plant 

 some two or three feet in height, and ex- 

 tends to four feet or upwards across. The 

 foliage is of a light green color, the in- 

 dividual leaves being six inches or more in 

 length, and as the botanical name indicates, 

 clasp the stem. The flowers are white, and 

 arranged in fleecy panicles, both terminal 

 and axillary. They are possessed of a sweet 

 pleasant odor, and are freely produced. It 

 is said that when dried, the bloom keeps 

 well for use in winter bouquets, 



A picturesqe feature of this subject is its 

 bright red stems, which contrast well with 

 the foliage and bloom. The plant must be 

 classed among the easiest growing subjects 

 of the hardy flower garden, a characteristic 

 it bears in common with all the Polygo- 

 nums. Indeed there is a slight disposition in 

 this one to spread, in rich soil, by the re- 

 clining outer branches taking root in the 

 soil, but from two years' experience with 

 the plant, we should expect no trouble in 

 keeping it within bounds. We are not 

 aware that this plant is generally being 

 offered by our nurserymen. The specimen 

 in our grounds was obtained from V. 

 Hallock & Sons, Queens, N. Y. 



Another excellent species of Polygonum 

 that is growing in our grounds, is the 

 Pointed-leaved (P. cuspUlatu'in.), also some- 

 times called Siebold's Polygonum or Knot- 

 weed. This is one of the noblest herbaceous 

 plants of our acquaintance, easily reaching 

 a height of six or more feet in a year. When 

 it is planted as an isolated specimen in rich 

 soil, either on the lawn or with other strong- 

 growing plants, it assumes a luxuriance of 

 form which gives it a most striking appear- 

 ance in any collection. A well known species 

 is the Prince's Feather of the old gardens. 



The Satisfactory Gladiolus. 



C. S. VALENTINE, UNION CO., N. J. 



Is there any one flower in the whole list 

 that is as showy, as beautiful, as lasting, 

 as easy to care for— in short, as satisfactory, 

 as the Gladiolus? 



And to its other excellent qualities must 

 be added another most desirable one, 

 namely, the ease with which it can be kept 

 through the winter, the small compass in 

 which it can be stored, and more than all 

 the fact that it can be "moved" with the 

 rest of one's goods and chattels when one 

 unfortunately may be obliged to move often. 



There are two senses in which Gladioli 

 may be called "lasting." They may be 

 planted at intervals from the first of April 

 to the middle of July (saving the heaviest 

 bulbs for late planting) so that they shall 



THE MOUNTAIN FLEECE. Drawn from a a-pecimen on the Popular Gardening Qmumlfi. 



flower from .luly until frosts; they may be 

 cut when the lowest flower on the spike 

 begin to open, and they will " last " until 

 every bud has become a flower — a period of 

 about two weeks in cool weather. 



The class known as Lemoine's Hybrids 

 are hardy— some of them— certainly as far 

 north as the forty third parallel. They 

 were at flrst classed as entirely hardy, but 

 some firms are giving them as half hardy. 

 Whether they prove satisfactory to the 

 buyer or not, will depend very much on 

 what he expects. I have myself been dis- 

 appointed in many of those which I have 

 grown, yet I find that nearly everyone goes 

 into raptures over them at sight. The 

 colors are certainly fine, the blotchings 

 being very attractive, but many of them 

 are so inclined to the cup-shape that they 

 do not show well, and this, with their 

 smaller size, makes the spike appear not so 

 well filled. I would advise those who con- 

 template buying any of them, to select 

 varieties that are described as well-opened. 

 The unnamed seedlings— so far as my ex- 

 perience goes, generally ipossess the faults 

 of the class without its virtues. 



To obtain a stock of choice Gladiolus is 

 not expensive. If it were necessary to pay 

 five and six dollars per bulb, which is the 

 price asked for the latest novelties, few in- 

 deed might indulge, but since the practise 

 of raising them from seed has become so 

 general they have been greatly reduced in 

 price. The late reduction of postage on 

 bulbs has also tended in this direction. 

 One firm which makes a specialty of these 

 bulbs offers not a single named variety 

 higher than seventy-flve cents, while the 

 majority of named kinds are rated at twenty 

 cents a piece and less. There are of course, 

 some higher priced kinds which do not ap- 

 pear on their list. The grand new Snow 



White generally offered this year for the 

 first time, sells everywhere at fifty cents at 

 retail. There are however, scores of fine 

 varieties which the amateur could not tell 

 from the finest named sorts, to be bought 

 at from $7 per hundred for extra fine select- 

 ed, to .*3..50 per hundred for light colors. 



One Arm on Long Island is said to have 

 had twelve acres of Gladiolus bulbs last 

 year, thousands of them being seedlings of 

 their own raising. The special knack in 

 raising them from seed consists in mulching, 

 or otherwise shading the seed until it ger- 

 minates; and anyone whose purse is short 

 and whose patience is correspondingly long, 

 can raise them in this way at small ex- 

 pense. A cold frame is perhaps the best 

 place to sow the seed, and a good, deep 

 moist soil is desirable, as is also a little 

 shade at mid-day 

 when the sun is 

 unusually hot. It 

 is claimed that 

 many of them vrill 

 bloom the second 

 year, from seed. 

 My own experl- 

 ence does not 

 warrant this asser- 

 tion; but it may be 

 that under the 

 most favorable 

 conditions and in 

 the hands of the 

 professional grow- 

 ers, it is true. 



The Lemoine hy- 

 brids increase 

 much faster than 

 the older kinds, 

 and as they come 

 into bloom earlier 

 they are very de- 

 sirable to lengthen 

 the season. They 

 often throw out 

 root-like fibre several inches long with the 

 new bulblets on the end. Some of these are 

 large enough I think to bloom the next year. 

 Perhaps Marie Lemoine and Lemoinei 

 are the best known in their class, as they 

 were among the first to be sent out; and I 

 doubt if any of the later kinds have proved 

 more satisfactory than these, which may 

 now be had for ten cents apiece, or even 

 less from some firms. 



Alsace is a variety which has a rather pe- 

 culiar coloring, being a combination of a 

 pale yellow and purple (some call it blood 

 red). Among the larger ones, Angeli is a 

 good white variety; Eugene Scribe is a fine 

 rose-and-carmine striped sort; Princess of 

 Wales a combination of white, rose, and 

 carmine; Isaac Buchanan, a pretty good 

 yellow, though not so satisfactory as the 

 others, being more valuable for variety 

 than for real beauty. All these are among 

 the lowest priced named roots. 



Many of the high priced novelties have 

 stripings of lilac, violet, slate, amaranth, 

 and purple, none of which are to be very 

 much desired; so I do not think any one 

 need feel very badly at not being able to 

 afford several dollars a bulb for them. It 

 is a little funny to find one of the aristo- 

 cratic new kinds in a foreign catalogue (in 

 colorcerise — red, "butter-color," and violet) 

 named after the famous Buffalo Bill. 



How to Grow Dwarf Poinsettias. 



W. L. WAITES, ONONDAGA CO., N. Y. 



An objection is frequently raised to the 

 height and sometimes the lack of straight- 

 ness of the common form of the Poinsettia 

 plant. I propose to explain how I raise this 

 mid-winter bloomer, to be a most exquisite 

 dwarf pot plant. 



The old plants are brought together 

 into a warm house, where sufficient sun 



