224 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 432. 



Mr. Baker called special attention to Tulip Greigii, a 

 native of Turkestan, introduced in 1873. It has broad green 

 leaves, spotted with dark brown and enormous flowers of 

 a rich scarlet color, richer than in any tulip, while in the 

 elegance of the curves assumed by the petals it is distin- 

 guished from all other species. So far, however, cultiva- 

 tors have not been successful with it, and it remains still a 

 rare plant. Mr. Baker thinks it might pay to try it under 

 various conditions in various climates. If only such a 

 Tulip could be produced in quantity, as the Dutch, for 

 instance, produce the common Tulips, it would be the most 

 popular of all. American horticulturists might act upon 

 this hint. 



The cultivation of Tulips is easy, but there are several 

 important points to be remembered, and the first of these is 

 that if grown in the same soil for several years in succes- 

 sion the bulbs are apt to fall a prey to a fungus, the soil 

 becoming what is called Tulip-sick. To avoid this it is 

 necessary to either change the soil every three years or so, 

 or to transfer the Tulips to other quarters. The second point 

 of importance is that of harvesting. If the Tulips are 

 planted in beds that are required for other plants in sum- 

 mer they must be lifted carefully about the end of May and 

 "heeled in" clean coal ashes or light soil till the leaves 

 have faded. Then the bulbs should be cleaned and laid 

 in baskets or trays in the sun to ripen before they are finally 

 placed in store to await replanting in October. Choice 

 species and varieties should be lifted and replanted in a 

 little fresh soil even when they occupy permanent positions 

 in the garden. Some of the species, such as T. Hageri, 

 T. linifolia and T. Eichleri, do well and look well when 



planted among grass in the wild garden. 



London. 



W. Watson. 



Plant Notes. 



Leucothoe recurva. 



THE value of the northern native plant Leucothoe race- 

 mosa for the decoration of the parks and gardens of 

 the northern states has often been insisted on in the pages 

 of this journal. It is a hardy, fast-growing shrub which 

 sometimes attains the height of ten feet ; its slender 

 branches are covered with ample dark green leaves which 

 late in the autumn, long after those of every other tree and 

 shrub cultivated in gardens have fallen, assume a brilliant 

 and beautiful scarlet color, and its handsome waxy white 

 cup-shaped flowers are produced in long, erect or slightly 

 curved terminal racemes from buds formed the previous 

 autumn and covered during the winter with closely imbri- 

 cated bracts. The splendor of color of the leaves of this 

 shrub in the late autumn makes it one of the most desira- 

 ble hardy plants for our northern gardens. 



Although of lower stature, Leucothoe recurva, a native 

 of the southern Alleghany Mountains and botanically 

 closely allied to Leucothoe racemosa, is almost as desirable 

 a garden plant. It is a shrub with slender ashy gray stems 

 three or four feet in height, slender divaricate branches 

 covered with bright orange-red bark, thin ovate-acute leaves 

 and elongated spreading and recurved racemes of hand- 

 some waxy white flowers which open late in May when 

 the leaves are about half-grown. 



Leucothoe recurva inhabits shady, rather dry hillsides, 

 and is distributed from south-western Virginia to northern 

 Alabama, growing usually at elevations of from two to 

 three thousand feet. Introduced into the Arnold Arboretum 

 in 1885, whence it has been gradually distributed among 

 the botanic gardens of Europe, it is still rare in cultivation. 

 Mr. Faxon's drawing, reproduced in our illustration on page 

 225 of this issue, which is the first that has been published 

 of this interesting shrub, is from wild specimens gathered 

 in Virginia and North Carolina. 



Cercis Canadensis. — The American Red-bud, or Judas- 

 tree, was described two hundred years ago and was grown 

 in English gardens as early as 1730. Like many other in- 



habitants of our forests, however, it has been comparatively 

 neglected by planters in this country, although it is one of 

 the most desirable of small trees all the season through, 

 from the time in early spring when its deep red calyxes 

 and rose-pink petals are clustered thickly along the 

 branches with the opening leaves, until the autumn, when 

 these leaves turn to a clear bright yellow. There is no 

 more striking combination in our wood borders than these 

 abundant flowers of the Red-bud mingled with the white 

 ones of the Flowering Dogwood and of Crataegus mollis. 

 We have often spoken of this tree, but we make no apology 

 for again calling attention to it as an admirable garden 

 plant, which is perfectly hardy as far north as New Eng- 

 land, and is one of the most effective of trees to place 

 against a background of dark conifers. It thrives in bot- 

 tom-lands naturally and on swamp borders, but will grow 

 in any good soil, and when allowed a chance to spread it 

 becomes a rather low flat-topped tree, although under 

 favorable conditions it reaches a height of fifty feet. It 

 grows rapidly and begins to flower when it is quite small. 

 The European Judas-tree, Cercis Siliquastrum, is not 

 hardy in the northern states, nor is Cercis Chinensis, a 

 shrub with large rich-colored flowers, which is often seen 

 in gardens south of Philadelphia, where it is usually called 

 Cercis Japonica. Like all other native plants, our Red-bud 

 seems to harmonize with the scenery of the country in 

 which it has developed, and it cannot be too often repeated 

 that our native Crabs, Hawthorns and the Flowering Dog- 

 woods and arborescent Viburnums cannot be excelled for 

 massing and composing park pictures. 



Fothergilla Gardeni. — This is another native shrub 

 belonging to the Witch Hazel family, which has already 

 been described and figured in this journal (see vol. viii., p. 

 446). It was also introduced into English gardens nearly a 

 century and a half ago, and yet comparatively few people 

 in this country or in Europe have ever seen it. Neverthe- 

 less, in early spring it presents a beautiful and striking 

 appearance with its brush-like masses of long, white, con- 

 spicuous stamens produced at the end of branches before 

 the leaves appear. It is a comparatively rare shrub of 

 southern range, and yet it is perfectly hardy at the north, 

 and this spring, in spite of a singularly trying winter, it has 

 flowered with unusual abundance. It is a shrub of good 

 habit, attaining a height of some five feet, well clothed 

 with rich-colored foliage, and is an admirable plant all the 

 season through. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes from Harvard Botanic Garden. 



THE herbaceous grounds of the Harvard Botanic Garden 

 are very attractive at this season. A vast number of 

 plants are raised and tested yearly, and while some are of 

 botanical interest only, there are many beautiful plants of dis- 

 tinct horticultural value. A gardener will find few better places 

 to study them. 



Among many Columbines is seen the true Rocky Mountain 

 species, Aquilegia ccerulea. From seed gathered in eastern 

 gardens it becomes variable, hybridizing freely with the com- 

 moner kinds. Some of the Ccerulea x Chrysantha hybrids are 

 handsome, and groups of all shades of red, white, yellow and 

 blue, associated, have a striking effect. The Globe-flowers, 

 Trollius, make an interesting group. Only T. Asiaticus and 

 T. Europaeus are in bloom now. Old Honesty, Lunaria bien- 

 nis, is showy as one sees it here. But it is only a biennial, and 

 soon becomes ragged. Viola declinata, var. losisepala, is pretty 

 and distinct. Its color is reddish violet, almost a self, except- 

 ing only a white eye. Patches of Cerastiums, including a giant 

 from Japan, afforded means of comparing the value of these 

 low-growing evergreen Mouse-ears tor garden effect. A clump 

 of Helenium Hoopesii, with large orange-yellow, star-shaped 

 flowers, caught one's eye in the distance, since there are few 

 flowers of its color at this time. Bleeding Heart, Dicentra 

 spectabilis, established its value as a garden plant when prop- 

 erly placed. Two little pink-tiowered Erigerons, E. glabelli- 

 formis and E. Coulteri, struck me as likely to be useful plants 

 for naturalizing in grass. They certainly would be pretty if 

 they would do as well as their larger congener, E. Philadelphi- 



