i886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



1 1 1 



the other pretty Ccreus in Fig. 3, nnniely: 

 the Whip-cord or Rat's-tail Cactus. This 

 is an exquisite {grower, its .slender branches 

 often extending downward from four to six 

 feet, if allowed to drop, as it always shotdd 

 be. We have .seen it trained to trcllise, but 

 it deserves better treatment. The flowers are 

 bright rosy-colored and open in the daytime. 

 Figure 4 is a fine engraving of Echino- 

 cereus viridiflorus. Yet it can after all but 

 give an idea of the shape of the plant, leav- 

 ing out the beautiful appearance of the 

 spines. These when they first come out are 

 purple and white of remarkable brightness 

 and beaiity, looking very much indeed like 

 flowers. The real flowers. 

 which are also shown in 

 the engraving, come out 

 during the months of 

 May and Jime. 



Mr.S.H.French,of Mont- 

 gomery Co., N. Y. , sends 

 some notes to this paper 

 concerning the article on 

 "Rose Culture in America" 

 that appeai-ed last month. 

 He is of the opinion, and 

 with which we quite 

 agree, that the best service 

 that Rose groweis could 

 give to Rose culture would 

 be to publish Usts of the 

 hardiest varieties in each 

 class. By doing this they 

 would "fill a long-felt 

 want." We are aware 

 that a few nurserymen are 

 now doing this very thing ; 

 there is room for an ex- 

 tension of the plan. 

 That such aid could 

 well be supplemented 

 by amateurs giving the 

 names of the sorts they 

 have been most successful 

 with, he also calls atten- 

 tion to, in these words, 

 and adding a list of kinds: 

 " But the combined ex- 

 perience of many individ- 

 uals will fxirnish the same 

 information, and to that 

 end I append the names of 

 a few kinds of monthly- 

 blooming Roses that have 

 with me siu-vived at least 

 two winters and are now 

 in good condition. I hope 

 some of your other sub- 

 scribers will add to the Ust : 

 Duchess de Brabant, Mal- 

 maison, Reine Mai"ia Henrietta, Washington, 

 Hermosa, Queen of Bedders, Madam Joseph 

 Schwart." 



success seemingly, in a yard partly shtided with 

 buildings on the south side and with trees. 



* * * 

 The longer I cultivate the soil, the more am 

 I convinced that much labor is often needlessly 

 spent in summer watering. The use of the hoe 

 should oftener take the place of the hose and 

 watering-pot, and when done it will save work. 

 There is this to be said against the free water- 

 ing of bedded plants ; they make roots near the 

 surface, and suffer sooner from dryness. The 

 hoe well used, serves to drive roots to a depth 

 where they will rarely suffer. 

 * 

 » « 



Is there another flower either cultivated 

 or wild that just now can excel in loveliness 



FIG. 6. 



A TWO YEAR OLD PLANT OF THE GRAND FLOV^ERED NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS- 

 Ct'reufi grantlifionia. 



Notes from Lyndale. 



BY A. H. E. 



It is frequently stated that the Tree, or 

 Standard Roses as they are called in Europe, 

 do not succeed in our country. That they do 

 not do as well here ordinarily as in the Old 

 World is true, owing to the greater heat and 

 dryness of our summers, but that they cannot 

 be made to thrive is an error. A group here, 

 standing in a place well sheltered from the 

 wind, is now showy with buds and flowers. 

 The trees were set out a year ago last April. 

 All the time since their trunks have been kept 

 protected from sun and wind by a single thick- 

 ness of coarse canvas, wound around them. 

 They will be kept thus protected until a good 

 top of foliage has developed when the cover 

 can be dispensed with. I recall another in- 

 stance elsewhere of these Roses gi'owing with 



the White Water Lily, Nympha'a oiforato (■' 

 Patches of these near the east shore of the lake 

 show many charming floral cups daily, and 

 afford great delight to the children who ven- 

 ture out for them. On our table, too, no flower 

 of the year is more admired. If only this com- 

 mon native was not so common; if the tubers 

 had to be brought from India or Africa and 

 woidd cost five dollars apiece, how we would 

 prize them and rejoice if we would succeed in 

 raising some of the flowers. 



That the Water Nymphe may lie grown, and 

 quite easily too, by those who have no water 

 naturally suited to them, was shown to me 

 again the other day. A neighbor whose suc- 

 cess at gardening in a small front and side lot 

 I often stop to admire from the street, asked 

 me in to see her "Water Lily lake." Sure 

 enough some tubers that I had given toWilliam, 

 the husband of the gardener, more than a year 

 ago, and which had been planted in some creek 

 mud in a sunken half-cask, were showing one 



beautiful full-blown flower, and a bud above 

 the water. The flower was perhaps not quite 

 as large as are many of ours from the lake, 

 but it was no less delicately moulded or finely 

 colored. But their proiluition was a triumph 

 which the owners enjoyed as much as they 

 could have enjoyed a hundred flowers grown 

 in a natural lake or creek. 



The flowering of the Lindens, of which Lyn- 

 dale boasts of some grand specimens, is an event 

 I always look ahead for, and when it comes I 

 never tire of drinking in the delicate beauty 

 and sweetness of the flowers. What a paradise 

 the trees now afford to the bees! Theii- i-apid- 

 ly increasing stores of the most beautiful 

 honey at this season also 

 contributes one reason 

 why I welcome the Lin- 

 den blooms evei'y yeai*. 

 To me the fragrance of 

 the blooms, so pure and 

 delicate, is without equal 

 among flowers, while 

 their quiet beauty is 

 very pleasing to turn to 

 from the many flashing 

 colors that now abound in 

 our gardens and lawns. 

 ^ * ^ 



A lull appears in the 

 floral brilliancy of the 

 shrubljery border dur- 

 ing July. For weeks 

 there have been clouds 

 of bright Deutzias, 

 Mock Oranges, Bush 

 Honeysuckles, Weigelias, 

 Rhododendrons, and 

 further back, Japan 

 Quince, early Spireas, 

 C4olden Bell, and others; 

 but now the lieauty has 

 changed to quiet forms. 

 The double Deutzias, 

 still show some flowers, 

 while the summer Spireas, 

 such as Callosa, Billard's 

 and Exima also show 

 free bloom. 



Four years' experience 

 with a border set out 

 chiefly to trees, shrubs 

 and plants with showy 

 and striking foliage con- 

 vinces me that there is 

 no need of relying sole- 

 ly, or even to any con- 

 siderable extent, on the 

 tender Palms and other 

 tropical plants for pro- 

 ducing picturesque effects 

 In the attempt here made in 



in our gardens, 

 this direction the results have been even bet- 

 ter than was anticipated. 



A rich border was given up to the free-grow- 

 ing and feathery-leaved Ailanthus glaudulosa, 

 the large-leaved Japanese Aralia, the cut- 

 leaved Sumach, the handsome Besson's Locust, 

 all of which have finely-divided foliage. Then, 

 by way of affording a wide contrsist in the 

 leaves, there were introduced two large-leaved 

 Umbrella Trees, Maiinnlia frijx'icin, one Pa.n- 

 lownia Imperialis, several lai-ge-leaved Hydran- 

 geas and the Golden Catalpa. All of these 

 have large, entire leaves. 



One end of the arrangement tapers down to 

 clumps of grasses and herbaceous plants of 

 striking appearance, inclutUng .such things as 

 Reeds, both of the variegated and the green- 

 leaved sorts ; Riblxjn Grass, Heart-leaved Boc- 

 conia. Plantain Lilies, Zebra Eulalia, Iris, 

 Spireea Aruncus, L3Tne Grass, Delphiniums, 

 Yuccas, and some others. 



Then there are added some Ricinus, Prince's 

 Flume and other Amaranthuses, from seed, 



