4'4 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 451 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



Acalypha Sanderiana. — This is a new species of Acalypha 

 which Messrs. F. Sander & Co. have introduced from New 

 Guinea and flowered recently in their nursery at St. Albans. 

 It forms a sturdy bush, with ovate-acuminate dentate dark 

 green leaves, from the axils of which are developed long 

 finger-like, drooping spikes of rich crimson flowers, not 

 unlike the flowers of Amarantus hypochondriacus (Love- 

 lies-bleeding). It is unlike all other cultivated species of 

 Acalypha. the attractions in which are those of leaf varie- 

 gation. I am told by one who has seen the plant growing 

 in the tropics that the flower-spikes are sometimes nearly 

 a foot long, and as they are developed profusely all down 

 the stems, a well-grown specimen when in flower ought to 

 be both novel and picturesque. Messrs. Sander &Co. intend 

 to include it among their novelties next year. 



Polygonum Baldschuanicum. — This is a climbing- species 

 with the habit of the common Bindweed, fleshy cordate 

 leaves two to four inches long, and long, elegant branched 

 panicles of white and rose-colored flowers. It is grown in 

 the open air at Kew, where it is supported by a few pea- 

 rods, upon which it has formed a thick tangle of stems 

 and leaves, and it has been flowering freely for the past 

 two months. It stood the cold of last winter without pro- 

 tection, but even should it prove tender it is well worth the 

 little trouble necessary to keep it from year to year. It 

 ripens seeds freely and may be propagated from cuttings. 

 For its introduction we are indebted to the late Dr. Kegel, 

 who obtained it from Bokhara, in Turkestan, about twelve 

 years ago. In general characters it resembles Boussin- 

 gaultia baselloides rather than Polygonum. A figure of it 

 will shortly be published in The Botanical Magazine. 



Angelonia salicarlsfolia. — This is a pretty summer- 

 flowering herbaceous perennial of easy culture, and suita- 

 ble either for summer bedding or for cultivation in pots in 

 the conservatory. It forms a compact little bush about a 

 foot high, with opposite ovate-lanceolate toothed leaves 

 about three inches long and terminal erect racemes six 

 inches long, clothed with bract-like leaves and stalked 

 bilabiate flowers an inch across, colored purple-blue, with 

 a few reddish spots in the throat. It is easily propagated 

 from cuttings, and nice plants can be grown in six months 

 on a shelf in a warm greenhouse. This year some plants 

 have been tried in the open air at Kew and have proved 

 quite a success. I am told that in some parts of India this 

 species is popular as a bedding plant. It is a native of 

 Guiana, whence it was introduced into England about 

 seventy years ago. Angelonia is closely related to Alonsoa. 



Salvias. — The following half-dozen species are valuable 

 bedding plants for autumn effect. They are propagated 

 from cuttings struck in heat in early spring and grown on 

 until June, when they are planted in large beds on a lawn 

 in a sunny position, where they grow into bushes three or 

 four feet high and develop their flowers in September. A 

 few years ago all the species of Salvia obtainable were 

 grown at Kew, and from them these six species were selected 

 as being most suitable for ornamental gardening : S. splen- 

 dens forms a dense leafy bush and bears erect terminal 

 racemes of bright scarlet flowers ; also a most useful plant 

 when grown in pots with Chrysanthemums and brought 

 into flower in a sunny greenhouse in October. S. 

 involucrata (Bethellii), a very sturdy grower, with dark 

 green leaves, the midrib and petiole colored red, and 

 the erect racemes six inches long, crowded with large 

 flowers of a rose-red color. The buds are enclosed in 

 large bracts, forming a conical-like head, hence the 

 name ; also a good winter-flowering plant for pot-culti- 

 vation. S. azurea (Pitcheri) forms an elegant shrub four 

 feet high, with linear leaves and long terminal spikes 

 of azure-blue flowers. S. patens, a well-known garden 

 plant, though not much grown nowadays ; its stems are 

 very soft, about two feet high, and the elegant spikes con- 

 tinue in flower for months, the large gentian-blue flowers 



being most attractive. A mass of this species in a good 

 position on a lawn is one of the most effective beds in the 

 garden. S. coccinea is a sturdy grower, four feet high, 

 with hastate, rich green foliage and erect spikes a foot long 

 bearing whorls of bright scarlet flowers. S. Grahami forms 

 a thick bush two feet high, with soft, green, apple- scented, 

 ovate leaves and short racemes of rich carmine-red flowers. 

 These six species grown together in a large bed produce a 

 rich effect which continues till the frost ends them. 



Sternbergia lutea. — I ought certainly to have included 

 this in my notes on autumn-flowering bulbous plants (see 

 page 374). It is now flowering freely in several borders 

 here, and the rich canary-yellow of its large Crocus-like 

 flowers is most pleasing. Although an old garden plant 

 and quite hardy, at any rate in the warmer parts of Eng- 

 land, it is rarely seen, and, even where grown, a small 

 patch of it in the rock-garden is considered sufficient. In 

 my opinion it is one of the prettiest and most useful of all 

 autumn-flowering hardy bulbous plants, and if not already 

 popular with you it deserves to be. The bulbs, which 

 should be planted six inches deep, are like those of the 

 Daffodil ; the shining green, strap-shaped leaves are devel- 

 oped along with the flowers, and the flowers are erect, four 

 inches high, the upper portion being divided into six ovate 

 concave segments, forming a cup two inches across. The 

 plant is common in the Mediterranean region. Sternbergia 

 macrantha is as large again in flower and appears to be 

 quite as hardy. It is still rare in gardens. 



Crocus speciosus is the largest and most attractive of all 

 the autumn-flowering species ; it is also easily established 

 in sunny grass-clothed banks, and, unlike many bulbs 

 recommended for such positions, it comes up year after 

 year with increased vigor. Quantities have thus been 

 established in the wild garden and similar positions at Kew, 

 where for the past fortnight they have made a fine display 

 of bright purple. Bulb growers among the nurserymen 

 here are alive to the value of this plant, and some of them 

 now possess large stocks of it. Another species of almost 

 equal value as an autumn-flowering bulb of easy culture 

 is C. zonatus, which has pale purple flowers as large as 

 those of C. speciosus. These two species are natives of 

 Asia Minor, where they are met with in some localities in 

 enormous quantities. Bulb growers ought to endeavor to 

 induce these two to throw color varieties by means of cul- 

 tivation and selection from seeds. 



Sunflowers and Michaelmas Daisies in the Arboretum 

 add a rich note of color in the autumn when planted in 

 large breadths in positions where they will tell. At Kew 

 large masses of them are grouped among the Pines, Cedars, 

 etc., in and about the margins of plantations, and they now 

 give life and color just where it was most needed. The 

 perennial Helianthuses, such as H. maximus and H. 

 rigidus, and any of the autumn-flowering Asters are quite 

 at home in such positions. They are not planted in formal 

 beds, but in irregular groups, the ground being first broken 

 up and manured in spring and the plants put in somewhat 

 thickly. After this they practically take care of themselves. 

 Anemone Japonica is also most appropriate for uses of this 

 kind, as also are the Solidagos. Roses and Pasonies serve 

 a similar purpose for spring effects. 



W. Watson. 



The first frosts which bring death to much tender herbage 

 introduce no discord into the natural landscape. There is 

 never a greater expression of unity in nature than there is at 

 this restful season of the year when every shrub and tree is 

 waiting for the fall of the leaf and the silence and sepulture of 

 winter. It is not so with most garden landscapes, for where 

 the plants are killed outright they leave such a blackness and 

 such a picture of death that all unity is destroyed. Last spring 

 some Cannas were introduced in a park among some shrubs 

 with exuberant, almost tropical foliage, to bring in a dash of 

 color and differences of form, but the first frost blackened the 

 Cannas and ruined the effect of the group for a full month. It 

 is a mistake to use tender plants for massing with hardy ones. 

 Our autumns are long and we cannot afford to have their 

 beauty marred by any such violation of the spirit of restfulness 

 and peace which pervades its landscapes. — Bailey. 



