AMERICAN PLANTS. 



TO 



ANDROMEDA. 



house, there is no place more suitable for 

 clumps of American plants. It is well to 

 draw attention to this, even though it is the 

 shrubbery and its tenants that are now 

 under consideration. 



CHOICE AMERICAN PLANTS FOR SHRUBBERIES, 

 ETC. 



Height 

 in feet. 



Andromeda floribunda to 2 



polifolia Wild Rosemary 



, grandiflora ,, 2 



Azalea calendulacea ,, 6 



ledifolia 6 



,, Pontica 4 ,, 6 



procumbens j,, 



,, viscosa 2 ,, 4 



Erica Australis 3 6 



carnea * 



cinerea alba * x 



rosea i i 



Mackiana ,, 2 



Mediterranea 6 



stricta 3 



tetralix 



vagans Cornish Heath 



Gaultheria procumbens Creeping Win- 



Shallon 



Kalmia augustifolia 



ter green ... 

 5 



3 

 3 



:; i 



6 



cuneata 



., hirsuta 



j, latifolia , 10 



Ledum glandulosum 6 



latifolium Labrador Pea 



Canadense 



globosum 



palustre 



,, decumbens 



Rhododendron albiflorum 3 



Catambiense 3 5 



,, chamaecistus Ground Cistus J 



Dauricum 2 3 



Ponticum , 10 ,, 12 



,, odoratum 3 4 



Culture. The plants in the foregoing 

 list all belong to the natural orders Ericaceae, 

 or Heath worts, and, being thus akin, they 

 require for the most part similar soil and 

 treatment. The soil that is suitable for 

 them has been already mentioned. The 

 Andromedas may be propagated by layers 

 in September ; Azaleas by layers in March ; 

 Ericas by cuttings consisting of the points 

 of shoots plunged in sand or sandy peat, 

 covered with a bell-glass, and put in a close 

 pit or frame ; Gaultherias by layers and 

 seeds; Kalmias by young shoots under 



hand-lights, by seeds in shallow pans in 

 close frames, or by layers at end of summer ; 

 Ledums by layers ; and Rhododendrons by 

 seeds in spring sown in shallow pans and 

 kept in close frames, by layers in spring or 

 autumn, or by cuttings of young shoots 

 taken when the base close to the older 

 wood is getting firm, and set in silver sand, 

 placed at first in a close frame, and after- 

 wards subjected to a little bottom heat. 



The following materials, all of them 

 within the reach of most persons, may be 

 made to form a compost adapted to their 

 culture. Rotted leaves, spent tan, saw- 

 dust, old thatch or straw, weeds, grass- 

 mowings, and vegetable refuse of all kinds 

 old manure, even the bottoms of old 

 wood-stacks. Any or all of these in a 

 decomposed state, blended with a certain 

 proportion of garden soil, may be rendered 

 fit to grow American plants ; but as it is 

 the character of all decomposed vegetable 

 matter fit to enter rapidly into the com- 

 position of the vegetable fabric, to subside 

 rapidly, this must be guarded against by 

 employing also such organic matter as 

 tree-leaves, lumps of peat, peaty turf, or 

 other vegetable matter, which will take 

 long before decay takes place. Where 

 old tan or sawdust is liberally used, the 

 leaves should be fresh ; those which have 

 been used as linings for hotbeds by prefer- 

 ence, from their tendency to mass together. 

 Old thatch, or litter, forms an excellent 

 basis for the whole clump, and weeds and 

 other vegetable refuse, when burnt or 

 charred. This compost, with a subsoil 

 sufficiently retentive of moisture, and 

 situation not too much exposed to the 

 direct influence of the sun, will grow these 

 beautiful shrubs in great perfection. 



Ampelop'sis. See Virginian Creeper. 



Androm'eda (nat. ord. Eri'cacess). 

 Hardy, evergreen, heath-like shrubs, 



