ROCK -GARDEN 



May they may be planted out permanently. Seeds 

 may also" be sown in a shaded frame in spring and 

 the" plants transferred to the rockery in autumn. 



In planting a newly made rock-garden, it is a mis- 

 take to plant too thickly. Each plant should be given 

 sufficient space for a reasonable growth, and to show 

 its true character. Compact-growing and tufted plants 

 may be planted closer than those of a spreading habit. 

 Alf variegated-leaved varieties and plants having an 

 aggressive habit or that cannot easily be kept within 

 reasonable limits should be rigorously excluded from 

 a rock-garden. The whole rock-garden should be 

 replanted and fresh soil placed in the pockets about 

 even.- four or five years. In dry weather a thorough 

 watering should be given at least once in two days, and, 

 as in other parts of a garden, weeds will insinuate them- 

 selves wherever they can gain a foothold; these, of 

 course, should be removed as soon as they appear. In 

 winter, the plants in the most exposed positions, such 

 as those which overhang ledges of rocks, should be 

 protected by branches of hemlock or pine laid lightly 

 over them, and a light covering of half -decayed leaves or 

 manure placed between most of the plants, especially 

 on a southern exposure, protects them from excessive 

 thawing and freezing. The general care required is 

 usually much less than for an ordinary flower-garden, 

 but the pleasure to be derived from a well-constructed 

 and well-planted rock-garden is very much more. 



EDWARD J. CANNING. 



RODGERSIA (named in honor of Commodore 

 Rodgers. United States Navy). Saxifragacese. Hardy 

 herbaceous perennials suitable for garden planting, 

 with showy terminal flower-clusters. 



Rootstocks horizontal, thick and black: Ivs. alternate, 

 large, peltate or digitately or pinnately compound, 

 usually dark green: infl. tall and variously compound, 

 paniculate; fls. very numerous, small; calyx-lobes 5; 

 petals usually none; ovary 2-3-celled. About 8 

 species, China and Japan. Botanically Rodgersia is 

 close to certain species of Astilbe, having 10 stamens 

 and no petals; it differs in having connate carpels, 

 scorpioid infl- and 5-cut rather than thrice-ternate 

 foliage. 



Perhaps the best-known species is R. podophylla, as 

 it was the first introduced into cultivation. It grows 3 

 to 4 feet high, and the leaves are finger-shaped, the 

 five lobes being bold in outline, angled, and serrate. In 

 the spring the foliage is light green; in summer it 

 assumes a metallic bronzy hue. The plant is a vigorous 

 grower, and under favorable circumstances has been 

 known to make a clump 9 feet in diameter, the largest 

 leaves being a yard across and borne on stalks 3 feet 

 long. The flowers are borne in midsummer on stalks 4 to 

 5 feet high. The general style of inflorescence is that of 

 the popular astilbe, to which it is closely allied. The 

 flowers are very small, but make a feathery spray of 

 fluffy white bloom. The panicle is a foot or more long 

 and as wide at the base. Technically the flowers have 

 no petals; what seem to be petals are the white calyx- 

 segments. As a flowering plant it has been said by 

 enthusiasts to be superior to astilbe, but the bloom is 

 scantier, rather greenish at first, and perhaps does not 

 last so long. It may not be so amenable to forcing. 

 Rodgersia is a native of the subalpine regions of Japan 

 and is presumably hardy in our northern states. It is 

 offered by importers of Japanese plants. The plant is 

 highly esteemed by English connoisseurs, but seems to 

 be nearly unknown to American gardens. Although 

 any deep rich garden soil will do, it is said to prefer a 

 moist peaty soil. It should be placed in a sunny posi- 

 tion, with plenty of room, where high winds cannot 

 damage it. Easily propagated. (Wilhelm Miller.) 



aesculifSlia, Batalin. About 2}/H> ft. high: Ivs. 

 large, basal as much as 18 in. across, digitately com- 

 pound, usually 7 Ifts.; Ifts. 4-10 in. long, narrowed to the 



RODRIGUEZIA 



2973 



base, coarsely toothed: infl. 1J4-2 ft. long, composed of 

 flat clusters of white fls.; sepals rounded or blunt at 

 apex: petioles, peduncles, and principal veins of Ivs. 

 covered with shaggy brown hairs. China. The Ivs. 

 are like those of the horse-chestnut. 



pinnata, Franch. Fig. 3420. Tall simple-branched, 

 34 ft. high, with a large horizontal rootstock: st. hollow: 

 Ivs. long-petioled, digitately pinnate; Ifts. 5-9, 6-8 in. 

 long, obovate or oblanceolate: fls. in a large much- 



3420. Rodgersia pinnata. 



branched panicle with rose-red rachis and branches; 

 calvx puberulous, lobes ovate, red outside, white within. 

 B.M.7892. G.C.in.32:131. G.M. 54:592. Gn. 73, 

 p. 531; 76, p. 378. Var. alba, Hort., differs from the 

 type in somewhat longer and broader panicles, the com- 

 ponent parts of which are clustered more loosely: fls. 

 white. China. G. 28:147. Var. superba, Hort., is 

 much finer than the type, with the infl. more than 1% 

 ft. long: fls. delicate rose: fr. dark red. China. 



podophylla, Gray. Herb with a thick scaly rootstock, 

 2-3 ft. high: basal Ivs. few, long-petioled, peltately 

 5-foliate, 6-18 in. diam.; Ifts. sessile, 5-10 in. long, 3-6 

 in. broad, cuneately obovate or almost deltoid to above 

 the middle, then trifid; margin coarsely serrate; cauline 

 Ivs. few, smaller, commonly 3-foliate or 3-lobed: infl. 

 a large panicle composed of scorpipid cymes; fls. small, 

 yellowish white calyx-lobes spreading-o vate : caps, very 

 small. China. B.M. 6691. G.C. II. 20:141. G. 13: 

 239; 21:531; 35:67 and 431. Gn. 36, p. 171; 38, p. 125; 

 46, p. 34. G.M. 33:477. G.W. 5, p. 193. R.H. 1908, 

 p. 15. 



sambucifdlia, Hemsl. About 2-3 ft. high: basal Ivs. 

 9-15 in. long, long-petioled, bright green; Ifts. in 3-5 

 widely separated pairs with an odd one at the top; the 

 cauline Ivs. solitary or 2 uneven pinnate, 9-11-foliate; 

 Ifts. subsessile, subopposite and oblong-lanceolate: infl. 

 small, terminal, densely cymose, paniculate; fls. white, 

 small, and inconspicuous; sepals fleshy, ovate, sub- 

 acute. China. G.C. III. 54:131. 



tabularis, Kom. Herb, about 3 ft. high: Ivs. very 

 long-petioled, peltate, 1-3 ft. diam., shortly many- 

 lobed, resembling teeth, the lobes broad-acuminate, 

 usually sparingly setulose: infl. scapose, many-fld.. 

 resembling an astilbe; fls. small, white; calyx-lobes 5, 

 broad obovate-oblong, rounded; petals 5, obovate- 

 oblong. China. G.C. III. 44:210; 54:130. G. 35:829. 

 Gn. W. 25:648. F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



RODRIGUEZIA (Emanuel Rodriguez, Spanish bot- 

 anist and apothecary). Including Burlingtbnia. Orchi- 

 dacex. South American epiphytic orchids, a few of which 

 are cultivated for graceful racemes of delicate flowers. 



Pseudobulbs small, compressed, 1-2-lvd. and bearing 



