296 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 439. 



showy or desirable than this. It belongs to the Borage family, 

 and is nearly allied to Lithospermum, and although very easy 

 to grow it is comparatively rare, except in continental Europe. 

 It is a native of Armenia, but, nevertheless, perfectly hardy 

 far north. The habit is quite dwarf; it seldom grows more 

 than a foot high, forming loose tufts which for a long time in 

 summer are covered with the large pale yellow flowers 

 marked with five black or maroon spots in the same manner 

 as Nemophila maculata. They are about three-quarters of an 

 inch in diameter and produced in loose terminal spikes. This 

 species grows best in a half-shady position in rocky or gravelly 

 soil. It may be grown with success in rockeries in the shade 

 of light-foliaged trees. The propagation is best effected by 

 cuttings of the root or by seeds or division. The seeds should 

 be sown in a warm frame or cool greenhouse early in spring, 

 and the young plants may be planted out permanently the 

 same summer. 



Streptosolen Jamesonii. — This is well known as a winter-flow- 

 ering greenhouse plant, but it is an exceptionally valuable 

 bedding plant also, producing an abundance of showy flowers 

 throughout the summer if properly grown. By means of 

 pinching it may be kept very dwarf and compact, the young 

 shoots producing flowers constantly as long as a healthy 

 growth is maintained. It is appropriate in beds in company 

 of such plants as theCupheas and Browallias. The plant will 

 grow several feet high if not checked ; it has rather small 

 ovate, deeply veined, shiny green leaves and large terminal 

 corymbose panicles of orange color, more or less suffused 

 with scarlet. Streptosolon may be grown in the same manner 

 as the well-known Cigar-plant (Cuphea platycentra) ; it is prop- 

 agated in a cool greenhouse early in spring by means of her- 

 baceous cuttings, which root freely. The plant will be most 

 satisfactory if grown in a rich and moist soil in an open and 

 sunny position. 



New York. /v. J. A. 



Campanula rotundifolia. — Harebells swinging to and fro from 

 invisible seams in rocky cliffs always charm the eye with their 

 airy grace and exquisite color, and they are highly satisfactory 

 for indoor decoration as cut flowers. No matter how wilted 

 they may be they quickly revive in warm water, and every bud 

 develops with conscientious fidelity, lasting for weeks with 

 increased delicacy of color. For cultural use, however, as a 

 house plant, Campanula rotundifolia is a failure ; all its growth 

 is twisted, distorted and abortive. When planted in a pot and 

 set on a bracket for veranda use it is unsurpassed, tor it will 

 bloom therefrom the last of June, through the entire season, 

 if the seed-pods are not allowed to mature. The marvelous 

 strength and elasticity of the slender stems render them proof 

 against summer gales, heat and neglect. In selecting plants 

 for this use look around the sloping base of ledges where stray 

 specimens have well-developed roots, and where their natural 

 soil can be secured for potting. Harebells take kindly to arti- 

 ficial rock-work and will grow in any soil, but will not succeed 

 with level culture ; a certain freedom from the ground must 

 be given, for the lovely plant revels in movement, and it needs 

 the opportunity to sway "just as the breezes come and go." 



Piitsfieid, Vt. G. A. Woolson, 



Seasonable Flower Notes. 



SEEDS of Pansies to be used for bedding next spring should 

 be sown now. We find the Lyonnaise Perfection a good 

 strain at a moderate price. The flowers are large, and there 

 is a considerable range of coloring. The seed should be sown 

 lightly in drills. A good plan after sowing is to put a covering 

 of light litter over the bed until the seedlings are up ; this 

 keeps the ground moist and also prevents the soil being 

 washed when watering. All small seeds sown during sum- 

 mer-time come up better when treated this way. Myosotis 

 alpestris should also be sown now. It is the best Forget-me- 

 not for early spring flowering. In its native country, the Al- 

 pine regions, it is a perennial ; with us it is little better than an 

 annual, and for bedding purposes should be treated as such. 

 Seedlings should be ready for transplanting by the end of 

 August and put in nursery-beds about six inches apart. They 

 will make good stools before winter sets in. M. palustris 

 semperflorens is another good Forget-me-not well worthy a 

 place in the spring garden. It is about two weeks later in 

 blooming than M. alpestris. We used it as an edging to a bed 

 of Silene pendula, and coming into bloom at the same tune it 

 made a very pretty contrast. This species is a true perennial, 

 creeping and rooting as it goes. In a moist and rather shady 

 situation it will continue in bloom all summer. S. pendula is 

 among the showiest of spring bedding plants. It has often 



proved hardy with us unprotected, but whenever we have 

 sown it in a cold frame and protected it as we do Pansies, not 

 so much from frost as from alternate freezing and thawing, we 

 have lost the greater part of our batch. We find we have bet- 

 ter success by sowing in a box in the greenhouse in late 

 January. Two or three hundred seedlings transplanted in 

 boxes, and hardened on shelves in a cool house, may be put 

 out into cold frames in March and bedded out when favorable 

 weather comes. 



Hybrid Primroses are among the most charming of spring- 

 flowering plants. Years ago we had a large number of good 

 varieties, which were used to decorate the spring garden. 

 Although most effective when in bloom, they are not well 

 adapted to the bedding system. When transplanted in spring 

 their rather fleshy roots do not take hold of the soil quickly 

 enough to support a somewhat ample leafage, so that when- 

 ever the sun shines directly upon the plants they wilt badly. 

 They do best when permanently planted, and are very effective 

 on moist shaded slopes. A few plants set out in the woods 

 near a spring eight years ago bloomed abundantly this season. 

 Our original lot are nearly all gone. The)' seemed to lose 

 constitution by frequent removals, as when used for spring 

 bedding they had to make way for summer bedding, to be 

 moved back the following spring. We have raised a new lot 

 this spring, and intend to set the plants in the autumn when 

 summer bedding plants are past ; there should thus be time 

 for them to become established before winter sets in and they 

 should stand better the coming spring. Along with the hybrid 

 Primroses come plants of Primula Japonica. P. denticulata 

 capita ta and P. cortusioides will be tested for their value as 

 spring bedding plants. 



Foxgloves, Hollyhocks, Canterbury Bells and Sweet Williams 

 are now ready to plant in nursery-beds. The two first-named 

 make good pot-plants for piazza decoration, and with Deutzia 

 gracilis, Astilbe Japonica and Chinese Hydrangeas make 

 effective groups. These hardy plants have the advantage over 

 tender plants in that they bear exposure better during the cool 

 spring months than tender plants like Fuchsias and Pelar- 

 goniums. 



Coreopsis Drummondii has proved a first-rate winter-bloom- 

 ing plant for cut flowers. In order to have good plants ready 

 to take into the greenhouse when cool weattier comes we sow 

 a little seed now out-of-doorf, Toward the end of the month 

 a little good Mignonette-seed should be sown indoors for 

 winter flowers. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Hardy Plant Notes. 



ONE of the handsomest hardy perennials in bloom at this 

 time is Spirasa palmata. When in a favorable situation it 

 increases rapidly and small plants quickly develop into bold, 

 showy clumps. The most complete success is secured with 

 the plant here only when it is set in a slightly damp place and 

 a fairly rich soil, where it makes stems tbree or four feet high, 

 which carry large broad clusters of rosy crimson flowers. If 

 it is planted in the border it must be watered freely or it will 

 make a miserable plant not much more than one foot in 

 height. Our plants do nicely in a moist spot in the rock-gar- 

 den, where they are shaded from the sun during the hottest 

 part of the day. There is a good form of this plant with white 

 flowers. A few weeks ago a bed ten feet in diameter of the 

 American Goat's Beard, S. aruncus, was an imposing sight. 

 This plant is the noblest and boldest of the herbaceous species 

 belonging to this genus. It is of easy cultivation and readily 

 accommodates itself to almost any situation or soil. Our 

 largest groups of this plant are grown in an exposed position 

 in good rich soil. They grow five feet or more high and pro- 

 duce large compound panicles of white flowers. Other plants 

 grown under large Oak-trees, where they are shaded nearly 

 all day, do not grow as tall as those in the open, but they blos- 

 som well and they have compact panicles ot flowers. S. astil- 

 boides is a good Japanese plant that is perfectly hardy here 

 and makes a good border plant. It is about two feet high and 

 the whitish flowers are produced in stout, erect, spicate 

 panicles. 



Astilbe Chinensis is just beginning to open its flowers. It is 

 a fine perennial, growing freely in a rich, moist soil. It has 

 stout, erect panicles, two teet in height, of dull rose-colored 

 flowers, which are held well above the dark green foliage. 

 This species blossoms later than A. Japonica. 



The Speedwells are excellent border plants, and from early 

 spring until fall some species or good variety embellishes the 

 borders or rockeries. Quite a number of species are blossom- 

 ing now, the following the most distinct and decorative ones: 

 Veronica incana, a distinct plant with silvery leaves, its flower- 



