Notes and Gleanings. 295 



the goad taste of the owner has left undisturbed by improvements), is carpeted 

 with it. A month ago, the same spot was impurpled with Polygala sangtdnea, and 

 nodding lieads of purple and white prairie clover {Petalostcinotn); and I thought 

 how well these two plants were adapted to ornamental purposes, for bedding 

 and massing in sunny situations. Both are easily cultivated. 



My planting done, I have filled my deep saucer with good peat-earth, and I 

 know the gentians will do their best now that I have done mine. But human 

 nature is never satisfied, and I covet most of all that hardy mountaineer which 

 botanists find on the Ouitendian Andes. I have a specimen of this {G. russicola) 

 from Dr. Shuts's herbarium, which was gathered on Cotopaxi, at an elevation of 

 twelve thousand feet. The flower is as large as our harebells, on a sturdy little 

 stem just tall enough to keep it from touching the ground ; and the plants 

 grow in patches just on the borders of eternal snows, a reward for the explorer. 



Mr. Ruskin speaks of a traveller, who, visiting the Tyrol in spring, saw a 

 strange mountain in the distance "belted round its breast with a zone of blue." 

 Was it cloud ? was it substantial ? It did not vanish as they neared it, but ex- 

 panded into richer breadth and heavenlier glow, until it became a belt of gentians. 

 Is not this a hint for planting, say, in New England ? With Gentiana vcrtia to 

 brighten our cool May, and the prairie gentian to touch with tenderness our sad 

 November, the circle of the seasons would be complete. Jeanne C. Carr. 



Madison, Wis., Oct. 21, :S67. 



A Plaxt for the Million. — We do not mean that it is not suited for 

 the choicest of gardens ; for it is, perhaps, next to the hollyhock, the most 

 effective plant known for out-door decoration. We mean the Oriental Poppy, 

 with its cousin the Bracted Poppy. They are perennials, and perfectly hardy. 

 The only cultivation they need is to be planted in a good garden-soil, kept free 

 of weeds, and let alone. They do not need to be taken up and divided more 

 than once in five or six years, and they continue to improve every season during 

 the first four or five years. We have seen the flowers six inches in diameter : 

 they are formed like a hemispherical cup, and vary in color from a brilliant scar- 

 let to an equally brilliant crimson. Planted by a clump of red paeonies, they com- 

 pletely outshine them. Sometimes the bottom of the cup is marked with large 

 blotches of an intense glossy black. When the plant has reached its perfection, 

 it will bear twenty of these dazzling flowers at once ; and, seen across the garden, 

 it looks like a bonfire. After it is done blooming, the leaves die away ; though 

 a slight growth takes place again in September. If plants cannot be had, you 

 may raise it from seed; and it will commonly begin to bloom in the second 

 year. As the roots are long and fleshy, it requires care in transplanting ; but, 

 when once established in a warm and sunny place, it is difficult to kill it. 



F.P., 



RivERs's Summer Beurre d'Aremberg Pear. — This is said to be a vari- 

 ety ripening between the earliest sorts, as Doyenne d'Ete and Bartlett. It is 

 also described as healthy and vigorous in growth ; fruit smooth, melting, sugary, 

 juicy, with delicious flavor. Do any of our readers know aught of it ? If so, we 

 should be obliged for information. 



