TULIPA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



TULIPA. 



distinct value as the American kinds. 

 ., Abies. 



T. CANADENSIS (Hemlock Spruce}. A 

 forest tree sometimes over 100 ft. high with a 

 diameter of 4 ft. in the trunk, inhabiting very 

 cold northern regions from Nova Scotia to 

 Minnesota and southwards along the moun- 

 tains. This tree has been much planted in 

 England, but it has not so far seemed to attain 

 the stature and form that it shows in Canada. 

 The varieties of this, which are rather 

 numerous, are of slight value. In my own 

 planting of the Hemlock Spruce near water, 

 while the growth is free, constant and un- 

 harmed by any winter, I am vexed to see 

 every tree breaking from the bottom into half 

 a dozen or more stems, splitting up the energies 

 of the tree. I saw a very pretty hedge of the 

 Hemlock near Philadelphia : it would prove, 

 I think, a good evergreen hedge plant where 

 the horribly dangerous poison of our own yew 

 makes it impossible to use it as a hedge in any 

 place to which horses or cattle have access. 



T. CAROLINIANA (Caroline Hemlock}. A 

 forest tree attaining a height of 70 to 80 ft. , 

 4 ft. in diameter, and a very graceful and 

 beautiful tree in a mature state. As yet a 

 tree little planted in our country, but very 

 promising at least for the southern parts of 

 England and Ireland. Alleghany Mountains, 

 ascending to over 4,000 ft. in North Carolina. 

 Syn. , Abies Caroliniana. 



T. MERTENSIANA ( Western Hemlock Spruce]. 

 A noble tree of fine and picturesque habit, 

 allied to the Eastern Hemlock but a larger 

 tree sometimes 200 ft. high, with a trunk 

 diameter of 10 to 12 ft. A native of Puget 

 Sound, British Columbia to Alaska, and the 

 coast region of Northern California, and 

 coming from such fog-moistened region we 

 look for a tree hardy enough for our island 

 climate, and in this noble Hemlock we have it. 

 The foliage, as graceful as a fern, is of a deep, 

 lustrous green, and silvery white beneath. It 

 is a hardy tree in this country, but it is best to 

 plant it in the sheltered places in deep moist 

 soil. Syns. , Abies mertensiana, and Albertiana. 



T. PATTONIANA (Alpine Hemlock). A 

 beautiful and stately tree 100 to 150 ft. high, 

 and from 6 to 10 ft. in diameter of trunk, with 

 dark green foliage on slender branches that 

 sway in the slightest wind. Alpine and sub- 

 alpine forests in the Sierras of Northern 

 California, the Cascades and Northern Rocky 

 Mountains, often at great elevations. Hardy 

 and at home in Britain. T. Hookeriana is a 

 northern variety, smaller and sharply pyramidal 

 in form. 



T. TSUGA (Japanese Hemlock Spruce]. 

 This tree, known also as T. Sieboldi, is as 

 graceful in growth as the Canadian Hemlock 

 Spruce and is quite as hardy. It takes more 

 of the character of a large and dense spreading 

 bush than of a tree, and is useful for grouping 

 with other conifers. 



TULIPA ( Tulip). Among the most 

 beautiful of hardy bulbous flowers, the 

 finest self Tulips being unsurpassed for 



; brilliant effect in the garden. The main 

 j point is to obtain and plant the best kinds 

 in quantity, for exquisite as a single 

 flower of the striped or flaked Tulip may 

 be, it is only the self-coloured species 

 and varieties that give the best display. 

 Tulips have been so long grown and 

 are so variable in character that con- 

 siderable confusion exists among them. 

 The popular garden forms may, broadly 

 speaking, be separated into two classes, 

 early and late flowering". T. suaveolens 

 from Southern Russia is now regarded 

 as the type of the numerous early- 

 flowering varieties, of which Due v;in 

 Thol is a familiar example ; but these, 

 though commonly planted, are of less 

 value for the garden than the finer later 

 | forms which open in May. These have 

 | all come from T. Gesneriana, and whilst 

 possessing infinite variety of colour, all 

 I have the same fine form and stately 

 I character of the parent. These late 

 ! Tulips coming in succession to the Daffo- 

 dils are precious garden flowers of easy 

 j culture, but not grown to anything like 

 the extent that they should be. For 

 about three centuries they have been 

 grown by the florists, who have raised 

 numerous varieties, which form an enor- 

 mous class divided into four sections 

 j viz. breeders or self-flowers, bizarres, 

 bybloemens, and roses. When a seed- 

 ling flowers for the first time, it is 

 usually a self, and in a few years (but 

 occasionally not until thirty years) it 

 will break into the flamed or feathered 

 state. A feathered Tulip has the colour 

 finely pencilled ronnd the margin of the 

 petals, the base of the flower being pure, 

 and in a flamed flower stripes of colour 

 descend from the top of the petals to- 

 wards the base. In the bizarres the 

 colours are red, brownish-red, chestnut, 

 and maroon, the base being clear yellow ; 

 in the bybloemens the colours are black 

 and various shades of purple, the base 

 being white ; and in the roses, rose of 

 various shades and also deep red or 

 scarlet, the base being white again. 



We want however more Tulips of the 

 same character as the florists' forms in self- 

 colours. At present White Swan, Bouton 

 d'Or, rich yellow, Golden Beauty, self 

 yellow, and Golden Eagle, yellow, edged 

 with red, are good kinds ; but little atten- 

 tion appears to have been given to the 

 production of large, late, self-coloured 

 Tulips. The Parrot Tulips, with curiously 

 cut petals, are self-coloured and valuable in 

 the garden, as they make a bright display. 

 Tulips are easily grown, the rich soil of 

 ! old gardens suiting them best. They 



