310 



CHRYSANTHEMUM 



CHRYSANTHEMUM 



is given to the plants, the Japanese kinds are usually 

 less satisfactory than the Pompons. These Pompons are 

 a much neglected class since the rise of the large-flow- 

 ered Japanese kinds, but they are unlike anything else 

 in our garden flora. Their vivid and sometimes too 

 artificial colors harmonize with nothing else at Thanks- 

 giving time, and they are so strong and commanding 

 that they should have a place by themselves. It is not 

 uncommon for the fls. to be in good condition even after 

 several light falls of snow, and they may be considered 

 the most resistant to frost of any garden herbs. In 

 fact, their peculiar merit is blooming after the landscape 

 is completely desolated by successive frosts. The fls. 

 are not ruined until their petals are wet and then 

 frozen stiff. They are essentially for mass effects of 

 color, and great size is not to be expected. Masses of 

 ibrown and masses of yellow, side by side, make rich 

 -combinations. The whole tribe of crimsons, amaranths, 

 pinks, and the like, should be kept by themselves, be- 

 cause their colors are variable and because they make a 

 violent contrast with yellow, which few persons can ren- 

 der agreeable. 



The preceding remarks have applied wholly to varie- 

 ties of C. Indicum and C. morifolium. The culture of 

 all the other outdoor species is too easy to need any fur- 

 ther remarks, except in the case of C. coccineum, better 

 known as Pyrethrum roseum. In the cultivation of or- 

 namental plants in general, and of hardy, herbaceous 

 plants in particular, few cases are so striking as the 

 great popularity of Pyrethrum roseum in the Old World, 

 .and the feeble and uncertain hold that it has in America. 



W. M. 

 SECTION IV.-CULTURE OF PYRETHRUM ROSEUM. 



This beautiful late spring and early summer flower, 

 so popular and extensively cultivated in gardens abroad, 

 has not yet found much favor here. This fact must be 

 attributed to the general neglect of hardy flowers that 

 prevails in most gardens, as it is an easily grown flower, 

 hardy enough to withstand our winters. As repre- 

 sented to-day in the hundreds of varieties extant, it 

 should command attention. These varieties have every- 

 thing to recommend them. First and foremost, they are 

 easy to grow. Any good garden soil will suffice for 

 them, but they are rich feeders, and therefore the 

 ground should be deeply dug and liberally enriched 

 with manure. A cool, moist root-run is most conducive 

 to their flowering, and as they are surface-rooting plants 

 (and by consequence liable to suffer soon from hot sun), 

 they are materially assisted by a mulch of manure, or 

 anything that tends to conserve moisture. Propagation 

 is best performed by division in spring. The plants 

 may be lifted, divided into small pieces and potted up 

 separately or planted in a bed of prepared soil in a cold- 

 frame, and in a few weeks they will make nice pieces. 

 They can also be rapidly raised in quantity from seed, 

 which, sown in spring, will give plants that will flower 

 the following year. Unless the seed, however, is from 

 very fine varieties, seedlings may result in disappoint- 

 ment; and, in any case, they will not give that richness 

 and variety of form and color as represented in the best 

 named varieties of to-day, which are the result of many 

 years of patient labor and painstaking selection on the 

 part of those who have made Pyrethrums a specialty. 

 Pyrethrums are now obtainable with either single or 

 double flowers, embracing most varied shades of color, 

 from purest white to the richest of crimsons, and even 

 yellow, though for a long time non-existent in Pyre- 

 thrums, seems to be an assured possibility. This hue 

 is now possessed by several of the newer acquisitions. 

 To select the best varieties and recommend them is not 

 easy, when the list of one specialist alone contains 400 

 named varieties, about equally divided between single- 

 and double-flowered kinds, and the best selection of to- 

 day is ertain to be superseded less than a decade hence. 

 A few, however, of the very best are : Lord Roseberry, 

 carmine-red ; Primrose, pale yellow ; Aphrodite, pure 

 white ; Alfred Henderson, deep purple ; Leonard Kel- 

 way, clear rose ; Pericles, bright yellow, with guard 

 petals of pale pink ; Ne Plus Ultra, white, and very 

 large; Melton, deep crimson; Solfaterre, cream; Prin- 

 cess Beatrice, bright pink ; King Oscar, crimson, and 

 Captain Nares, red. These are all double. In singles, a 



dozen of the best would be : Ascot, peach-pink ; Apol- 

 lyon, bright pink ; James Kelway, brilliant red ; Oliver 

 Twist, cream ; Mary Anderson, flesh-pink ; Princess 

 Marie, pure white; Ruth, rose, tipped with white; Stan- 

 ley, deep carmine-rose; Merry Hampton, dazzling crim- 

 son ; lanthe, rose ; Ochroleuca, sulphur, and Devon- 

 shire Cream, cream color. A. HERRINGTON. 



Pyrethrum roseum in its numerous varieties possibly 

 may never become as popular in America as in England, 

 owing to the fact that it is not hardy under all soil and 

 exposure conditions in the climate of northern United 

 States. With the proper soil conditions and such atten- 

 tion as may be necessary, 

 it is possible to raise Pyre- 

 thrums to the best advant- 

 age and with splendid flow- 

 ering results. The ideal 

 soil for Pyrethrums is a 

 rich, sandy loam that is 

 sufficiently porous to pre- 

 vent stagnant moisture 

 accumulating about the 

 crowns of the plants. This 

 is the first and principal 

 essential in the culture of 

 Pyrethrums. While they 

 have been grown to com- 

 paratively good advantage 

 in soils of a clayey nature, 

 yet unless extreme care is 

 taken to prevent this ac- 

 cumulation of moisture 

 about the crowns, sad 

 havoc is frequently made 

 during severe winters, 

 and especially during un- 

 usually abundant rains in 

 the fall. While it is pos- 

 sible to grow Pyrethrums 

 even under the adverse 



459. Leaf of Feverfew 

 (C.Parthenium.) 



conditions of a retentive clayey soil, yet in such instances, 

 coldframe culture is preferable to depending upon the 

 plant to take care of itself under ordinary conditions. 

 Aside from the danger of winter-killing, there is the 

 danger of crown rot during extremely wet periods in hot 

 weather. In many instances, valuable collections have 

 been quite lost owing to this trouble and the lack of ap- 

 preciation of the fact that this trouble could be easily 

 remedied by cutting away the rotting foliage nearly to 

 the ground, so as to admit light and air to the center of 

 the crowns to induce fresh and healthy growth. In late 

 autumn, however, this would not be a successful treat- 

 ment, except in a modified degree. From a commercial 

 point of view, Pyrethrums are among the most difficult 

 of plants to handle through the danger of crown rot, 

 which is the most frequent cause of loss in shipping 

 plants. They are among the most difficult plants to 

 import, and can only successfully stand importation by 

 the utmost care in packing and by shipment of the plants 

 in late fall or very early spring; it is also essential that 

 they should be strong, well-developed clumps in order 

 to withstand the dangers of transportation. A stock of 

 Pyrethrums once established in this country is easily 

 shipped by means of our quick express transportation, 

 if a little care is given to ventilation as well as to pack- 

 ing the plants as dry as possible. The confusion in the 

 names of the varieties offered by American nurserymen 

 is due to the inordinate desire on the part of the Euro- 

 pean dealers to produce a long list of varieties, many of 

 which are very similar in all outward characteristics. 

 Some of the leading dealers publish a list of from 50 

 to 100 varieties, and others in still greater number. 

 At the present time, over 400 varieties of Pyrethrums 

 are catalogued, which, while it illustrates the great inter- 

 est taken in this particular plant in Europe, is evidence 

 that many varieties must be very similar where the range 

 of color extends only from pure white through -shades of 

 scarlet to purple, and with only a few varieties that are 

 in any way a satisfactory yellow shade. The yellow- 

 flowered forms at best are hardly deeper than a rich 

 buff or light lemon, and while these shades are distinctly 

 yellow in their effect, still there is no clear golden yellow 

 yet offered in the trade. j. WOODWARD MANNING. 



