226 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 432. 



family. The only visible sign of the relationship is in the 

 flowers, which are formed almost exactly like those of the Bar- 

 berry. It is herbaceous, and the foliage in the autumn be- 

 comes bronzy and quite ornamental. 



Wellesley. Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Flower Garden Notes. 



ONE must have a firm will these pleasant spring mornings 

 to follow up closely the necessary cultural work, each 

 night brings forth so many distractions of flower and foliage. 

 It is much pleasanter to linger over the newly expanded 

 charms of color and form than to do the necessary prosaic 

 work. 



In spite of a dry season the hybrid German Irises have flow- 

 ered as profusely as usual, with no shortening of stems or de- 

 crease in size of flowers, and at about the accustomed season. 

 The fragrance prevailing now is from masses of forms of Iris 

 pallida, an Elder-like scent, this Iris being the most fragrant of 

 the family, and the best strains being among the handsomest 

 of the bearded Irises, both in form and coloring. 



Of other Irises lately in flower, I. Germanica macrantha has 

 been glorious with immense blue purple flowers about 

 twice as large as the ordinary variety. The reddish purple 

 flowers of I. Kochii are also bold, distinct and handsome. 

 Of the varied Irises in a collection of these flowers perhaps 

 the forms of I. variegata will usually prove the most attractive. 

 These are flowers with yellow standards and usually reddish 

 falls, and are mostly bright and attractive, though not of the 

 largest size. Professor Forster's hybrid Iris Parvar (paradoxa 

 X variegata), which has before been described in Garden and 

 Forest, has again proved to be as reliable as its male parent. 

 It has had no protection or special care in the border, and has 

 shown none of the miffiness of its Oncocyclus parents, though 

 resembling it much in foliage and still more in some features 

 of the flowers, which area beautiful dark vinous red. Another 

 hybrid, Lupina x Ciengialti, did not show so much influence of 

 the Oncocvclus parent and formed surface-creeping rhizomes, 

 which unfortunately succumbed to a wet winter. This was a 

 flower of a very odd hue, a degraded heliotrope. Lately I 

 have had the pleasure of flowering a few more of Professor 

 Forster's seedlings, which it may be interesting to note as a 

 suggestion to growers who may have a fancy for hybridizing 

 uncommon things. It is not possible to give more than a 

 hint of the curious hues thus produced. I. Parkor (paradoxa x 

 Korolkowi), with narrow foliage, flowered with a curious 

 bloom, reddish purple with darker linings and dark signals, 

 orbicular falls and rather modified standards — that is, not ex- 

 cessively large as compared with the falls. I. Korolkowi x 

 vaga resembled closely one of the forms of I. Korolkowi, 

 venosa, I think, a flower of small size, fawn color, 

 with dark linings and beautiful styles of a golden brown, 

 and in one stage with a distinct olive reflection. This 

 hybrid produced apparently fertile seed-pods. The reverse 

 cross, I. vaga x Korolkowi, bore flowers which were dissimilar 

 in form and coloring, the latter being a light red-purple. The 

 standards are tall and pointed. It is several years since I. vaga 

 (Leichtlini) flowered here, and my memory does not serve for 

 a close comparison. These plants must be soon dried off and 

 kept dormant until late in the year. Another hybrid, I. Parsamb 

 (paradoxa x sambucina), not yet flowered, may be expected 

 to grow without special care, I. sambucina being as reliable 

 as it is homely. Irises cross so readily and seed so freely that 

 hybrids are produced with little trouble. There are countless 

 hybrids of the bearded species, but there is still a wide and 

 promising field among the newer species for interesting trials. 



Fall-sown annual Poppies are now flowering as the spring 

 seedlings are germinating. One cannot always carry over 

 these fall seedlings from seed scattered in September, but in 

 latitudes no more rigorous than this it is always worth while to 

 make the trial at the risk of loss. Some seasons it is neces- 

 sary to thin them out, in others few survive, but the survivors 

 are strong plants, far better than can be produced by sowings 

 at other times. Perennial Poppies now in flower are gorgeous, 

 and usually even arrest the attention of those indifferent to any 

 less conspicuous color, but they are not as handsome as the 

 annual Tulip Poppy, P. glaucum, whose flowers, scarcely 

 inferior in size, are of a most effective rich and satisfying 

 crimson. 



There does not seem to be any special reason why an ama- 

 teur should take any unnecessary trouble with his garden, and 

 it has always seemed to me that under this head was included 

 the replanting of hardy Water-lilies in the tank boxes each 

 season, most disagreeable and chilly work. My Nymphreas in 

 the tanks are in ordinary soap boxes, and have not been 

 replanted for three years. They are running riot now, flowers 



are plentiful and as large as the average, and there is more 

 foliage than space on the water, so that it is fair to infer that 

 these plants do not really require the manures rich in humus 

 which are usually advised. This is not strange when one re- 

 members that still waters, not too often changed, accumulate 

 available plant-food from decay of insects and organic matter. 

 In the centre of my plant border is a Rose bush, now three 

 or four feet high, covered with dainty pink and white single 

 flowers not much over an inch in diameter. This Rose 

 is remontant and bears several crops of flowers during 

 the season. I notice that flower fanciers are quiet before 

 this plant and are usually glad to pocket a few hips, which it 

 bears plentifully. This Rose is the R. polyantha remontant 

 introduced a few years ago, of which seeds are offered in 

 the catalogues. It comes readily from seed, from which it 

 flowers in three months, and the plants are perfectly hardy 

 here. In three or four years it has had no winter-killed 

 branches. The flowers vary in coloring and in number of 



P eta l s - ~ „, ^ 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Nymphaea gigantea. 



"THE blue-flowered Nymphaea gigantea of Australia is un- 

 -^ fortunate in having a specific name which is also applied 

 to a variety of N. odorata. I have been unable to see any- 

 thing very attractive in this variety of odorata, especially for 

 Lily ponds where there is a limited water-surface. The com- 

 mon N. odorata is preferable, as it flowers profusely in smaller 

 quarters than does its variety. The Australian species is un- 

 doubtedly one of the finest of the genus. Unlike any other 

 kind, the flowers can be used either open or closed, for when 

 once they open they close up in the evening in such a way 

 that the outer covering only hides part of the petals. It is, 

 therefore, very desirable for cutting. Unfortunately, this 

 species has the reputation of being difficult to grow, and it is 

 said that young plants go to sleep without any apparent cause ; 

 but so will any Nymphaga having tuberous roots. If the 

 plants are kept in active growth all the time there is little 

 danger of their going to rest. When starting the tuber into 

 growth, it often makes one or two water leaves and then 

 remains stationary for months. This was my experience at 

 first, and I found that the tubers were planted too shallow in 

 the soil, and when they did sprout, as they almost always do, 

 with stolon-like growths, the roots did not get a chance to take 

 hold of the soil, which as a rule is loose at the surface and 

 very much mixed up with a confervoid growth. Two inches 

 beneath the surface is a safe distance. As soon as the tuber 

 develops two or three fairly good-sized leaves, it is an ex- 

 cellent plan to sever the stolon-like growth from the tuber 

 and pot it carefully in loam and sand and grow it on in this 

 way. If it has no check from a sudden change in the tem- 

 perature of the water, it will form a blooming plant just as 

 quickly as any of the Zanzibarensis varieties. The little tuber 

 should be put back in the soil to sprout again, which it will 

 do several times over, without any apparent diminution in 

 vigor. In fact, I have sprouted a tuber more than a dozen 

 times during a summer and kept it over till the next season, 

 evidently as sound as ever. By keeping a few plants in a 

 small state all the time we have an unceasing supply, and if 

 one plant fails when put out there are others ready to take its 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. W. Oliver. 



Rex Begonias. 



THE popularity of these plants is more or less injured by the 

 fact that quite accurate artificial imitations are so often 

 seen. Of course, these shams can be easily detected by any 

 close observer, but the real plants themselves have, to some 

 eyes, a made-up artificial look, and the prevalence of counter- 

 feits in shop windows helps to strengthen the impression that 

 they are stiff, unnatural and undesirable. Nevertheless, many 

 of them are really beautiful, rich in color and not devoid of 

 grace in form and habit. The varieties of the large-leafed 

 section of these Begonias B. Rex is the principal projenitor of, 

 may be counted by the hundred, and new varieties are con- 

 stantly being produced, all laying claim to some special 

 points of superiority in coloring, form of foliage or habit of 

 growth. Of somewhat recent introduction, and quite a depar- 

 ture in form of foliage, is Countess Louise Erdody, which has 

 the two lobes at the base of the leaf wound in a spiral way 

 suggesting the appearance ot a snail's shell. The entire 

 leaf shows a rich metallic lustre, the centre a dark silver shad- 

 ing to coppery rose toward the margin. The plant is a free 

 grower and makes a striking specimen. Leaf-cutting is prob- 



