98 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 419. 



Correspondence. 



Bedding Plants at the Botanical Garden, St. Louis, 



Missouri. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Among the bedding plants used at the St. Louis Botanic 

 Garden last year nothing was prettier than Lintana Cahfornica ; 

 its dwarf growth, spreading habit and abundant production of 

 soft yellow flowers in corymbs all being desirable characteris- 

 tics, and as seen here it is always in bloom. To do their best 

 the plants must be two years old. Younger ones will not 

 flower satisfactorily. 



Nothing in the garden was more charming than beds of 

 Plumbago Capensis. Its lovely shade of blue is unusual in 

 bedding plants at any season, but in late autumn, when the 

 Plumbago seems to be in perfection, blues of any shade are 

 extremely rare, and this especial shade combines most happily 

 with the yellow of the Lantana mentioned, and the two can be 

 associated in one bed advantageously by using the informal 

 Plumbago in the middle, surrounded by the dwarfer and more 

 regularly shaped Lantana. 



A unique effect was produced by a closely filled bed of Rus- 

 selia Juncea. Its rush-like foliage and bright scarlet Penste- 

 mon-like flowers are both pleasing and unusual. As grown 

 out-of-doors here Clerodendron Balfourii was a revelation. 

 The plants were crowded with thick masses of peculiarly 

 attractive blossoms. In the St. Louis climate, when cut back 

 hard, it makes a desirable bedder. The pretty, but unassum- 

 ing, Thunbergia elata made a pleasing bed where allowed to 

 creep over the ground and form a close mat. It is always in 

 bloom. Sedum carneum was used to replace early-flowering 

 plants, such as Pansies, which can never be depended on to 

 flower through the season in this warm dry atmosphere as 

 late-sown ones are expected to do in Chicago. 



A large mass of single scarlet Chinese Hibiscus made a fine 

 effect as seen against dark green trees and surrounded by a 

 grass plot of at least four times its own area. Plants about five 

 feet high were used in the middle, and each circle was set with 

 plants of lower growth, the result being a mound of rich, 

 glowing flowers set among their handsome, polished leaves. 

 Tree-shaped plants of Crape Myrtle were surrounded by lower 

 ones of Phyllanthus roseus purpureus, the foliage of the latter 

 being in nice harmony with the flowers of the Crape Myrtle. 

 Just inside the main entrance to the garden two beds of Eu- 

 phorbia splendens flanked the way with good effect. Their 

 gem-like blossoms and writhing, spiny stems seemed appro- 

 priately set against the gray limestone lodge at the gateway. 



Among foliage plants two comparatively new ones, Strobi- 

 Ianthus Dyerianus and Euphorbia altropurpurea, were largely 

 used. The first is especially commended by the authorities 

 here for its power to endure strong sunshine without flinching 

 or changing color, while the Euphorbia is liked in mixed 

 groups. Sanchezia nobilis looked remarkably well, its green 

 leaves, each about twelve inches in length and beautifully 

 veined with deep cream color, being highly decorative. Its 

 endurance of strong sunlight also makes it desirable in this 

 hot, dry climate. The new Abutilon, Souvenir de Bonn, pos- 

 sesses the same good qualities and retains its distinct variega- 

 tion throughout the season. Two hardy foliage plants, Arte- 

 mesia steliarina and Salvia officinalis, are found useful here, 

 the latter especially holding its variegation perfectly in the 

 hottest weather. 



St. Louis, Mo. Fanny Copley Seavey. 



Lettuce under Glass. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — -We have recently had several days of clear, sunshiny 

 weather, and the Lettuce crop has responded wonderfully to 

 the change. Now that the plants have started into vigorous 

 growth there is little trouble from rot, prices are better, and 

 altogether the outlook is less gloomy. 



One mistake every autumn heretofore has been our failure 

 to get the soil composted early enough for the Lettuce crop. 

 When the soil is first put into the houses it seems a little green, 

 and the first and second crops never do as well as the third 

 and fourth. To avoid this condition for next year we stacked 

 our soil and manure early last fall and turned it once or twice 

 before winter set in. It will be handled several times during 

 next summer, and for use next fall we expect to have some 

 soil that will be right for the first crop. Our soil is made of 

 half well-rotted manure and half clay loam from the river bot- 

 tom. We also use a little nitrate of soda as a top-dressing 

 among the plants. 



After the present crop of Lettuce comes off the houses will 

 be planted to Cucumbers and Tomatoes. We find that cucum- 

 bers pay us far better than tomatoes, as the price of tomatoes 

 here is not more than half that paid in other markets. At the 

 prices paid to the State Experiment Station in Wooster, toma- 

 toes are more profitable than cucumbers, while with us the 

 past two years tomatoes have not paid more than one fourth 

 as much as cucumbers. 



We plant our Cucumber seeds in pots or in sods, and when the 

 plants are just beginning to fall over and to run they are placed 

 in the benches about four feet apart each way. We are able 

 to get a small crop of Lettuce from between the plants before 

 the room is needed by the Cucumbers. As soon as they begin 

 to blossom we have a hive of bees ready to place in each 

 house, which saves us much time and labor in fertilizing the 

 blossoms. The Cucumber crop from the greenhouses lasts 

 about six weeks, and we continue cutting long after the crop 

 comes in from the cold frames ; in fact, as we do not try to 

 grow a crop following the cucumbers we keep the houses 

 very moist and as cool as possible, and have them bearing 

 even up to the time cucumbers come in from the garden. The 

 same method is practiced with Tomatoes, but the main crop 

 is marketed during June. On account of the low prices in this 

 market we shall only grow a few of them this year. 



It is impossible to successfully grow both crops in the same 

 house. Cucumbers need a high temperature, plenty of water 

 and a humid atmosphere, while Tomatoes have to be watered 

 sparingly and the air kept dry. We have learned to avoid the 

 error of growing the two together by costly experience. We 

 have tested the Telegraph Cucumber in a moderate way for 

 two years and have so much confidence in it that we shall try 

 to grow it for the midwinter market next season. 



Lakewood, Ohio. F. E. Carr. 



» 



The Mexican Plane Tree. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Referring to an article on Plane Trees in No. 415 of 

 your journal, I beg to ask if Platanus Mexicana is decidedly 

 preferable (and better in appearance) to P. orientalis as a 

 street-tree ; if it will grow in the United States, and where it 

 can be obtained ; also, if it has certain preferences as to soil or 

 treatment, or peculiarities in the mode of growing? 



New York. B. H. 



[Platanus Mexicana is more beautiful than P. orientalis 

 in the silver-white coloring of the lower surface of the 

 leaves. It is a smaller tree, however, and of less symmet- 

 rical habit. It may be expected to grow in the United 

 States only in western Texas and southern California. So 

 far as we know it is not cultivated except in Mexico, and 

 probably seeds could be obtained only by employing some 

 one to collect them from wild trees or from trees planted in 

 such cities as Monterey or Salteo. — Ed.] 



Recent Plant Portraits. 



IN the February issue of The Botanical Magazine Stern- 

 bergia macracantha, which is described as the finest of 

 all the Sternbergias, is figured. From the well-known 

 Sternbergia lutea this plant differs in its larger flowers with 

 long perianth tubes and in the fact that the leaves are pro- 

 duced in spring, and not with the flowers in autumn. The 

 figure is from a plant which flowered last year in the Royal 

 Gardens, to which it was sent by Mr. E. G. Whittall, of 

 Smyrna, to whose zeal and activity the lovers of good 

 bulbous plants are so much indebted. 



In the same issue Begonia umbraculifera is first made 

 known to science. It is the second of the genus in which 

 hermaphrodite flowers have been noticed, and differs from 

 all other Begonias in its peculiar habit with its simple, 

 stout, erect stems, four feet in height, furnished with 

 a few remote distichous, reniform, orbicular, peltate, fleshy 

 leaves and bearing long-stalked supra-axillary flower-clus- 

 ters, their stems concurrent at the base with the inter- 

 nodes above them. The flowers are white, rather small, 

 chiefly male, and crovvded into small corymbs with a few 

 female and bisexual flowers. 



The other plants figured in this issue of The Botanical 

 Magazine are Scutellaria Formosana, an erect shrub with 

 small blue flowers ; Hechtia argentea, a representative of 



