326 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 442. 



dant. Since 1890 it has been growing in Professor Sargent's 

 garden in Brookline, Massachusetts, where it was sent in 

 1890 by our correspondent, Miss Anna Murray Vail, and 

 where it has proved perfectly hardy and flowered freely 

 every year during five or six weeks after the first of June. 

 The illustration on page 325 of this issue is made from this 

 cultivated plant. 



Dr. Robinson has pointed out* that forms intermediate 

 between Clematis Addisonii and Clematis Viorna occur. 

 One of these intermediate forms is considered a hybrid by 

 Dr. Britton. The bright flowers of Clematis Addisonii make 

 it a good plant for the rock or wild garden, and, like its 

 brighter-flowered relative, the Texan Clematis coccinea, it 

 may prove valuable in the production of natural hybrids. 



Cultural Department. 

 Roses. 



'"THOUGH one may grow and experiment with all manner 

 ■*■ and species of plants, hardy and otherwise, the conclusion 

 will generally be inevitable that the Roses stand preeminent 

 as garden plants, and their flowers are the most acceptable at 

 all times. Yet, though these plants are so generally loved that 

 a garden is poor indeed which does not contain some speci- 

 mens, it can scarcely be said that they are generally satisfac- 

 tory plants in the garden of the careless cultivator, except 

 possibly in the early summer, when the hardy varieties usually 

 cultivated are at their best. At other times in such gardens 

 they suffer neglect, crowding and starvation, with the inevita- 

 ble result of defoliation by innumerable insect pests. Then, 

 having invited these guests, we complain of their presence and 

 condemn the plants rather than our own carelessness. Yet 

 there are no plants more easily grown under comparatively 

 simple conditions. 



Probably, if more general attempts were made to grow the 

 Teas and other continuously flowering kinds, more satisfac- 

 tion would be found in actual results of flowers, and the plants 

 would be apt to receive the required attention during the sum- 

 mer. Of course, during the dry, forcing weather of our ordi- 

 nary summers the blooms will not mature slowly enough to 

 gain large size or great substance, but even at the warmest 

 time there will always be charming flowers in fair abundance 

 from a collection of the Roses of this section. The choice 

 must be somewhat a matter of experiment, as the different 

 varieties will not do equally well everywhere. In my mod- 

 erate experience the hybrid Tea, La France, is the first of 

 ever-blooming Roses in abundance of flowers and perfect hardi- 

 ness. One plant has grown in my garden fifteen years with 

 no protection in winter. The climbing La France is as shy in 

 flowering as the parent is prolific. Of other pink Roses, the 

 Bridesmaid and Madame Testout are satisfactory in the open, 

 and the old Bourbon, Hermosa, is still handsome enough for 

 a place in the garden. For a pillar Rose it far exceeds the 

 Climbing Hermosa, though its summer flowers are not too 

 frequent. In fact, for this climate we have no continuous- 

 flowered climber which is not usually cut to the ground in 

 winter. The beautiful Gloire de Dijon is the nearest approach 

 to such a desired variety, but its laterals seldom survive the 

 winter, though otherwise it is perfectly hardy here. 



It is not my intention to make a list of Roses, for there are 

 endless varieties of Teas, and varying tastes, but there is one 

 comparatively new variety, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, which 

 seems to me a great gain for the garden. This white flower is 

 of fine form and greatsubstance, and the plants are of the most 

 sturdy habit. Lest it should be thought that I have somesecret 

 for the successful cultivation of Roses, it may be as well to 

 explain that, according to my best knowledge, they require 

 simply abundance of fresh air, best provided by comparative 

 isolation (few plants suffer more from crowding), a com- 

 paratively stiff soil with some humus, of which cow-manure 

 provides probably the most suitable, with abundance of bone- 

 meal well worked into the bed on first making; and to make 

 a satisfactory bed there should be two feet of this compost. 

 Thirdly, there should be an adequate supply of water at all 

 times, both to provide for growth and to deter insect pests. 

 There is no better insecticide for a Rose-bush than a strong 

 stream of water from a garden hose frequently applied. Of 

 course, there are times when Nature brings on her destructive 

 battalions in such force that one is compelled to employ 

 harsher measures, but one year with another I do not find that 



* Robinson, Syn. Ft. N. Am., i., pt. i., 5. 



the insects in my garden get more than their small share of 

 food, ft seems much the fashion now to hunt insects with the 

 microscope and many wonderful insecticides, but one can 

 garden more comfortably and quite as satisfactorily in the old- 

 fashioned way without them at most times. 

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



Preparing for Winter Flowers. 



T T is time now to prepare for winter-flowering bulbous plants. 

 ■*- The first to need attention are the Lachenalias. In general 

 appearance these South African bulbs resemble Squills ; the 

 flower-stem, particularly, is like that of Scilla campanulata. 

 The foliage is heavier and more or less mottled. We keep 

 our bulbs in the soil in which they were grown last season, 

 and although dry, on a shelf, the bulbs will start into growth 

 if left much beyond this date. If they have done well there 

 will be a large number of bulblets formed about the original 

 bulb, which also remains good, and many of these will be 

 large enough to bloom this season. Such as are undersized 

 can be grown one year in boxes, and with good culture they 

 will be large enough to bloom the following season. There 

 are many species and varieties of Lachenalias. L. tricolor is 

 the handsomest and the kind most commonly grown. Its varie- 

 ties, Nelsoni and Aurea gigantea, are especially fine. While 

 the flowers of L. tricolor are red, yellow and green, nicely 

 blended, those of the last two named are nearly yellow, and 

 practically so at the distance of a few feet, especially when 

 massed, as they always should be. L. lutea gigantea, as its 

 name implies, is a very strong-growing kind. When well 

 grown its flower-stems exceed a foot in length, clothed nearly 

 the whole of their length with beautiful pendent bells. 

 Lachenalias are easily raised from seed, and if sown as soon 

 as ripe the seeds will germinate in a few weeks, and bulbs will 

 be formed large enough to bloom in a little more than a year. 



The bulbs may be grown either in pots or pans, as conveni- 

 ence suggests. We find they do well planted at the rate of 

 six bulbs to a six-inch pot. The soil should be rich and con- 

 tain a fair admixture of leaf-soil and sand. The drainage must 

 be free, as an abundance of water is needed during the grow- 

 ing season. It is not necessary to bring the pots into a cellar 

 or to bury them, as is usually done with Dutch bulbs. An 

 ordinary cold-frame will do well enough, and if shaded to some 

 extent it will do better. In well-protected frames these African 

 bulbs may be kept growing all winter, and I have known these 

 and Freesias pass through two or three degrees of frost with- 

 out injury when leafage was well advanced. As we need our 

 plants for winter decoration they are kept in a genial tempera- 

 ture so as to have them in bloom about New Year's Day. This 

 cultural treatment may be given to all African bulbs, or such 

 as we find in gardens here. 



Few people realize how many beautiful bulbous plants can 

 be grown in the winter-time with very little fire-heat. In fact, 

 forcing, as we understand it, is not at all congenial to a large 

 number of bulbous plants so grown. Except the tender Afri- 

 can bulbs here noted, all so-called Dutch bulbs are brought to 

 the greatest perfection when grown in cold-frames and brought 

 into heat only when well advanced. 



Snowdrops, Dog-tooth Violets, Squills, species of Hyacinthus, 

 Grape Hyacinths, Fritillarias and many Asiatic Tulips and 

 Irises are never so interesting as when grown in pans in cold- 

 frames. A large number of them are not well suited for out- 

 door planting in this country. The breaking up of our winters 

 is too severe and prolonged. A fine day or two in early spring 

 brings them into bloom only to be frost-bitten and miserably 

 set back. When grown in frames they may be left undis- 

 turbed until early in February. The bulbs will have been 

 growing all the winter, though but little of them is visible 

 above the soil. When watered and aired on sunny days it is 

 surprising how soon they will come into leaf and flower. 



It is a mistake to suppose the moving of bulbous plants can 

 be left until frosty weather. Nearly all hardy bulbs commence 

 root-growth in August. There may be no visible upward 

 growth, but when root-action takes place there must be im- 

 portant natural changes occurring within the sheaths of the 

 bulbs. Potting and replanting should be done without delay. 

 A long season of undergrowth is necessary, and, no doubt, the 

 reason why store bulbs so often do poorly is because the time 

 for this natural function has been delayed. On the 3d of 

 August I moved some bulbs of Grape Hyacinths and found 

 them started. Snowdrops, Chionodoxas and Squills were still 

 dormant. To digress a little, these bulbs were raised from 

 seed sown two years ago. They are all large enough to han- 

 dle, and some will bloom next spring. The intention is to 

 plant them in grass on a protected slope which is quite sunny 



