May 13, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



197 



satisfaction ; whether in the mixed border, in groups, in beds 

 with each variety kept separate, or in beds with all the species 

 mixed without the slightest regard to class or order. For the 

 past three years in our private garden we have adopted the 

 latter plan, and in this way we have a Lily bed in which there 

 are flowers from early in June until September. 



Frost in winter and drought in summer are alike fatal in 

 their results. All Lilies seem to like a loose moist,soil which 

 is well drained. Two of our native species, Lilium Canadense 

 and L. superbum, grow freely in wet marshes or swampy 

 grounds, their native habitat, but they both succeed better 

 when planted in dry ground if properly mulched in summer, 

 so that the soil is always moist and cool, and the same condi- 

 tions best suit all other Lilies. 



Our beds have been planted three years, the bulbs being 

 placed singly about eighteen inches apart each way. They are 

 a mass of strong-growing healthy plants ; not a single variety 

 has dropped out, and in many instances where but a single 

 bulb was planted there is now a clump of six, notwithstand- 

 ing that each spring all the small bulbs that form at the base 

 of the stems the year previous have been removed. This plan 

 should always be practiced, not only to increase stock, but to 

 give the old bulbs all the plant-food within reach. The beds 

 are covered about the firstof Decemberwith coarse litter from 

 the stable ; we prefer that from the horse and cow stables 

 mixed. This is put on to the depth of three inches, the paths 

 between the beds being also covered to prevent the frost from 

 working its way down from the outer edges to the bulbs. This 

 has proved ample protection, and during the last six years the 

 frost has never reached a bulb. L. auratum, which is gener- 

 ally considered a difficult subject to manage, has averaged 

 three stems from a single bulb. Some of these are now (May 

 6th) two feet high and nearly three-fourths of an inch in 

 diameter. Plants of L. monadelphum, which are quite as diffi- 

 cult to manage, are proportionately strong ; L. Hansoni, which 

 is provokingly slow to propagate, has this year nearly doubled 

 in numbers, each stem being equally as strong as the single 

 stems of last year. The delicate little Lilium tenuifolium and 

 its nearly related L. Chalcedonicum are proportionately strong. 

 Many of the latter will bear fifteen to twenty flowers on a single 

 stem this year. Immense is the only word that fitly describes 

 plants of L. speciosum. Last year we had forty flowers on a 

 single stem, and this year we hope for what we have been try- 

 ing for years to obtain — fifty flowers from a single spike. This 

 is not from the Monstrosum section, a class we do not grow, 

 leaving those for tastes that crave unnatural forms. 



Lilium Brownii and L. Colchesterii produce flowers that for 

 the brief period of their existence are equal to the best Lilies, 

 and their near relatives, L. longiflorum and L. eximium, which 

 are not reliably hardy, if the beds are only mulched so as to 

 exclude all frost will thrive with as much vigor as L. tigrinum, 

 which nothing can kill. 



On the 10th of April we raked off the coarsest of the mulch, 

 leaving the remainder, which is so fine as not to obstruct free 

 growth of the more delicate kinds. As this is carried into the 

 soil by the rains, we shall add more, using only that which is 

 well rotted and fine. This is the only cultivation given, and 

 all that seems required. We find the less we stir the earth 

 the better, as the whole surface of the bed is a mass of fine 

 roots, and anything which disturbs them injures the plants, not 

 only for this year's production of flowers, but for the develop- 

 ment of the bulbs, upon which future success depends. 



Floral Park, N. Y. C. L. Allen. 



Saxifraga crassifolia. — This is one of the best of earliest-flow- 

 ering hardy plants. The leaves are from six to eight inches 

 long by four wide and obovate in outline. The flower-stalks 

 rise directly from the root-stock, and the flowers, which are of 

 a deep pink color, are borne on a thyreoid panicle. This plant 

 is used largely for spring bedding in England, and when set 

 among blue and white Dutch Hyacinths the effect is very good. 

 The large leaves of the Saxifrage give furniture to thVbeds 

 and help to keep the soil cool and moist, thereby prolonging 

 the flowering season of the Hyacinths. As this Saxifrage is 

 quite hardy it may be used effectively for the same purpose 

 here. It is easily propagated by division of the root, or by 

 seed, which should be sown in the greenhouse early in Feb- 

 ruary, and the seedlings grown on all summer for planting in 

 the beds in the fall. We have another Saxifrage here which I 

 have always known as S. cordifolia. The leaves are somewhat 

 larger and heart-shaped, and come into flower about ten days 

 later than S. crassifolia. According to Index Kewensis these 

 two species are now considered identical, though they appear 

 to be sufficiently unlike, horticulturally at least, to be distin- 

 guished by different names, Both are natives of Siberia. 



Menyanthes trifoliata. — This pretty subaquatic or bog plant 

 is now in flower, April 29th, on the edge of an ornamental 

 pond in this garden. The stems are prostrate and the leaves 

 trifoliate, witii sheathing petioles. The flowers are borne on 

 erect spikes from nine to twelve inches long. The individual 

 flowers are white, with beautifully fringed petals, and are 

 about half an inch in diameter. It belongs to the Gentian 

 family, and is commonly called the Buckbean. 



Stylophorum diphyllum. — This plant may well be considered 

 as a standard herbaceous plant. It is one of the earliest to 

 flower, and continues on well into the summer. The fistulate 

 stems rise above the foliage, and the flowers are borne in an 

 umbel at the summit. They are bright yellow, about two 

 inches in diameter. Most of the leaves are radical, pinnatifid, 

 and about one foot long. The stems have two opposite leaves 

 just below the flowers, from which the specific name is given. 

 It is easily propagated either by seed or division of the root. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. Edward J. Canning. 



Pampas Grass. — Last spring we raised some plants of Pam- 

 pas Grassfrom seed, about a dozen in all. As soon as they 

 could be handled" they were put into thumb pots and then into 

 three-inch size, and subsequently planted out along with other 

 grasses. In the fall they were lifted and divided up into as small 

 pieces as possible, put in three-inch pots, kept in a cool house 

 and potted on and divided again, until now there are about a 

 hundred nice healthy plants in four and five inch pots. They 

 make their thick succulent roots so rapidly that it is surpris- 

 ing how soon they fill the pots. In this section of the country 

 the plants occasionally get winter-killed if left unprotected. 

 A good way to protect old plants is to place over the 

 crowns old cement barrels with the ends knocked out and fill 

 them up with dry leaves. This protection will carry them 

 safely through very severe winters. 



Viola pedata. — The Birdsfoot Violet is probably the showiest 

 of our many beautiful native Violets, and the ease with which 

 it is cultivated should make it quite a favorite among spring- 

 flowering plants. The plants succeed well in soil just the 

 opposite to that in which they grow in their native haunts. In 

 this locality Viola pedata is found principally in sandy vege- 

 table mold, but in a border of heavy wet loam in which I put 

 several plants three or four years ago, it thrives and flowers 

 well. Of the three distinct forms which I have met in a wild 

 state the commonest is the variety Bicolor, with the two 

 upper petals very dark purple, the under ones pale lavender ; 

 this variety is especially showy. The monocolored form has 

 the petals much the same color as the under petals of Bicolor. 

 The third form is by no means common ; the colors are rather 

 startling, the two upper petals being dark, as in Bicolor, with 

 the lower ones pure white. This is a shy bloomer and does 

 poorly under cultivation. In a fully exposed part of the rock- 

 garden here several pockets are given up to their cultivation. 

 The soil provided is the same as that in which they grow natu- 

 rally. Every year young plants come up thickly from self-sown 

 seed. These are weeded out, as the old plants remain quite 

 vigorous year after year. On the approach of hot weather the 

 plants are given a top-dressing of leaf-mold annually, and for 

 two or three weeks the display of bloom is gay. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. Cr. IV. 0. 



Tussilago Farfara. — This imported weed, commonly called 

 Coltsfoot, has given me much satisfaction as an ornamental 

 plant since it possesses much beauty and fills an important 

 place in the flower garden. Some years ago I planted several 

 of these plants upon an embankment of red clay, sand and 

 muck on the north side of one of the wings of the house, 

 where it was exposed to the direct sunshine only in the after- 

 noon. The plants speedily clothed the embankment, densely 

 covering it with large tropical-looking foliage all summer long', 

 while in March or April, before a leaf appears, it sends up 

 many scaly stems five to eight inches long, bearing handsome 

 rich yellow heads of flowers nearly an inch across, but fully 

 open only in the sunshine. Besides, it endures our severest 

 droughts and looks flourishing and healthy all summer long. 

 It should, however, receive some protection in winter, as 

 every part of the prostrate rhizomes, or root-stems, left 111 

 ered is sure to be killed if exposed to the freezing and thawing 

 of our changing winter, and (his will be sine to destroy many 

 of the curious flower-buds which form in autumn. All the 

 parts covered, however, will be sure to live. The (lowers are 

 really pretty, but its foliage is its chief beauty. The leaves 

 rise on long (eight or ten inches), thick- purple stems, and at- 

 tached directly to the creeping rhizome, or root-stalk, and are 

 ut first covered by a dainty covering of wool, which soon dis- 



