June 24, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



257 



Horned Rampions, Phyteumas, are interesting and lovely 

 allies of the Bellworts, Campanulas. Phyteuma Michellii is a 

 neat tufted kind, with blue flowers in heads on stalks nearly 

 a foot long. In the bud state the corollas appear pointed. 

 This peculiar pointed condition continues for a long time, for 

 even when the flowers are open it is only in the lower part of 

 the corolla that the lobes separate, and often the tips remain 

 united when the function of blossoming is past. 



Campanula Carpathica in several varieties is now opening, 

 with its allies C. ccespitosa and C. turbinata. These will con- 

 tinue until frost. CEnothera Missouriensis opened its first 

 flowers a few days ago. They are altogether out of propor- 

 tion to the size of the plant ; in fact, I do not know another 

 Evening Primrose with flowers as large. The large-winged 

 capsules are also remarkable, and on this account it was once 

 named macrocarpa. Ramondia Pyrenaica has been in 

 bloom for nearly a month. The flowers are few, on branched 

 scapes, rotate, and violet-colored. It is, perhaps, more inter- 

 esting than beautiful. It is the Rosette Mullein and was once 

 named Verbascum myconi. It grows on the Pyrenees and in 

 fissures of rock, often facing vertically, and is considered a 

 difficult plant in cultivation ; as is often the case with other 

 plants difficult to grow, we are liable to set down the cause to 

 the severity of the winter. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Clerodendrons. 



A MONG the many summer-flowering plants well adapted 

 -**- for conservatory decoration few are more showy than the 

 climbing Clerodendrons, and while these are by no means 

 new plants, they are uncommon enough to attract attention 

 when well grown. They are not difficult to cultivate ; liberal 

 treatment during the growing season and a subsequent period 

 of rest to ripen the wood are among the chief requisites. 



Where space will permit, these plants may be planted out 

 in a prepared bed and trained up on a trellis or on wires 

 strung along- the roof of the house. Grown in this way they 

 are, however, less under control in regard to the time of 

 blooming, and pot-culture is for this reason more convenient. 

 By liberal treatment is implied a rich soil, abundant moisture 

 and a fair amount of heat. But little shading will be found 

 necessary at any season, except during the period of flower- 

 ing, when some protection from strong sunshine will help to 

 prolong the life of the flowers. 



The Clerodendrons are strong-rooting plants and require a 

 fair amount of pot-room. Young plants may be shitted on 

 quite rapidly at this season, using as a foundation for the com- 

 post some good loam, to which should be added a sprinkling 

 of sand, a small proportion of bone-dust and about one-sixth 

 of dry cow-manure. If the loam is inclined to be clayey I 

 prefer to use a portion of peat with it in order to render it 

 more open, but this is not necessary with friable, turfy loam. 

 As the growth progresses the shoots should be supported by 

 stakes, wires orstrings, and thorough syringing will be required 

 to prevent the attack of red spiders. By September the growth 

 will be sufficiently advanced to begin the ripening process ; 

 this is brought about by gradually withholding water and giv- 

 ing abundant ventilation. The plants may be held in this 

 dormant condition until spring by keeping them dry and in a 

 temperature of about fifty-five degrees. They should then be 

 pruned moderately, the growths tied down to a suitable trellis, 

 and with thorough watering and frequent syringing a good 

 break of flowering shoots will result. 



Nothing has been said about repotting the plants in the 

 spring ; it is preferable to defer this operation until after the 

 plants have bloomed ; otherwise a rank growth of wood and 

 few flowers is likely to be the result. 



The propagation of the climbing Clerodendrons is quite 

 easy, and may be effected either by cuttings of two or more 

 joints in length, and formed from firm young growths, or by 

 means of root-cuttings. The latter should be made from the 

 thicker roots, cut up into about two-inch lengths and buried to 

 a depth of half an inch in pots of sand or in sandy soil. In 

 either case the cuttings should be placed in a warm propa- 

 gating-frame. 



Among the species and varieties to which these notes will 

 best apply are the well-known Clerodendron Thompson® ; 

 this is probably the most abundant bloomer of them all, and 

 produces panicles of bright crimson flowers which project 

 from showy pure white calyces. C. splendens, a strong-grow- 

 ing and large-leaved species with scarlet flowers, and the form 

 known as C. speciosissima, which is an improvement on its 

 parent, C.speciosa, is stated to be a hybrid between C. Thomp- 

 sonas and C. splendens, and is also an admirable variety ; the 



flowers are deep rose in color, and the calyces are also some- 

 what tinted with a similar color. 



Holmesburg, Pa. IV. H. Taplill. 



Strawberries. 



OUR first gathering of this fruit was made this year on May 

 30th, fully a week earlier than in ordinary seasons. The 

 earliest sort to ripen was Leader, which came in three days 

 before Michel's Early. Leader has proved itself much the best 

 variety with us ; its berries are of good size and form, and of a 

 fine rich crimson color. In flavor and quality Michel's Early 

 is, however, slightly superior. For our main crop we grow 

 chiefly Bubach No. 5, Belmont and Marshall. Marshall did 

 rather indifferently with us last year and the foliage was badly 

 affected with leaf-blight during the autumn. It stood the win- 

 ter as well as any kind, and this year is giving a heavy crop of 

 large, handsome berries, the two-year-old plants being espe- 

 cially thrifty. For exhibition purposes Marshall is the lust 

 strawberry of which I know, and some marvelously fine 

 dishes have been shown at the Boston Strawberry show dur- 

 ing the past three seasons. Complaints are quite general, 

 however, that it winter-kills badly and is not a profitable 

 variety for market-growers to handle. It is a vigorous grower 

 and is easily distinguishable from any other sort. The fruit 

 is of a beautiful rich crimson color and of fine flavor. Bubach 

 No. 5 and Belmont are more grown in this locality than any 

 other varieties. The extensive Strawberry fields in Dighton, 

 Massachusetts, which supply Boston and other large New 

 England markets, grow more of these two sorts than of all 

 others combined. We have tried Parker Earle for two sea- 

 sons ; it is a good late variety and sets an immense quantity 

 of fruit, more, in fact, than it can properly mature. It is usurp- 

 ing Sharpless to some extent, although a little inferior in flavor. 

 Timbrell is proving an extremely productive sort, of superior 

 flavor, but the rather peculiar mottled appearance of the fruit 

 will operate against its being grown extensively for market. 



We begin to layer our plants for a new plantation about 

 June 20th, using three and four inch pots for the purpose. We 

 do not sink these pots in the ground, and one good watering 

 a day suffices when they are stood on the surface. As soon as 

 the pots commence to fill with roots we remove the plants and 

 stand them in a batch where they can be more conve- 

 niently watered. We like to have the plants set out by August. 

 The earlier this is done the better the prospects are for a fine 

 crop the following year. We plant in heavily manured ground, 

 allowing the plants eighteen inches apart in the rows and the 

 same distance between the rows. Between every fourth 

 row we leave a two-foot path. We do not find it profitable to 

 fruit the plants more than two seasons. The finest fruit is 

 produced the first season, but two-year-old plants give 

 the heaviest yield. After planting out our runners we give the 

 bed a thorough soaking of water, and also whenever the 

 ground becomes dry while the plants continue to grow. 



Taunton, Mass. W. N. Craig. 



Correspondence. 



A Garden of Single Roses. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Although the many different varieties of single Roses 

 have often been described in Garden and Forest, it mav be 

 of interest to some to know the result of a small garden 

 formed of the different varieties of these plants. 



In the spring of 1894, abouttvventy small Roses were planted, 

 mainly obtained from the Arnold Arboretum, and after two 

 seasons most of these plants have become good bushy speci- 

 mens, covered with bloom each spring. While some of these, 

 especially the Japanese varieties, are well known, most of 

 them are seldom seen, except in our public parks, where they 

 make a fine effect planted in large masses. 



The earliest Rose in my collection is the European Rosa 

 alpinn, a plant of vigorous growth, forming a large dense bush 

 of a somewhat stiff habit. Its foliage is a pleasing light green, 

 and it seems to be well adapted for a garden hedge. It is 

 closely followed by Rosa blanda, a charming plant of graceful 

 habit ; both of these Roses have fine pink flowers, with but 

 few thorns, and are well worth growing. Another early Rose, 

 and perhaps the best of all, is the Scotch Rose, Rosa spinosissi- 

 ma, a low-growing plant with fine dark foliage, and an object of 

 great beauty when covered with its garlands of white flowers. 

 Its foliage- is retained very late in the autumn, and this makes 

 it especially valuable. There is a counterpart of this Rose 



