November ii, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



457 



A £ 



Hardy Ornamental Grasses. 



S ouldoor decorative plants these Grasses are gaining 

 favor every year. When once planted out the only 

 care they need is cutting down the withered stems annually, 

 giving a little mulching and reducing the size of the clumps 

 when they become too large. If planted either in large beds 

 wholly by themselves or associated with such plants as 

 Cannas. Ricinus, Aralia papyrifera, or the taller-growing per- 

 ennial Sunflowers, they make a most telling display. The 

 tallest of the species in common use, not including the Bam- 

 boos, is the Arundo donax, which under favorable circum- 

 stances makes an annual growth of about fifteen feet and die's 

 down each autumn to the crowns. It completes its growth by 

 the end of July, and afterward sends up large panicles of 

 flowers. The variety named Versicolor has the leaves rib- 

 boned with white ; it only grows about six feet in height, and 

 this is one of the most desirable of all the Grasses. It is easily 

 propagated by placing the full-grown stems lengthwise in wet 

 moss or water, in a moderately warm house. In a short time 

 the small shoots in the axils of the leaves will take root, when 

 they should be separated from the parent stem and put into 

 small pots. Pieces of the thick roots cut up into lengths of 

 about two inches and put in ordinary soil in a cool house will 

 grow well. Erianthus Ravenna? is next in importance ; it 

 grows to a height of about ten feet, the leaves are very long 

 and narrow, the panicles stand well above the foliage. This 

 Grass is well suited for planting singly in wide borders. 

 There are two forms under the same name, but they 

 only differ in height and time of flowering. The flower- 

 heads are very little inferior to those of the well-known 

 Pampas Grass, and if they are cut before full development 

 takes place and dried in the sun they are quite as handsome. 

 It is best increased by dividing the roots. It will ripen seed, 

 but in the seeding stage the plants have to be closely watched, 

 as the English sparrows are very fond of it. The Japanese 

 Eulalias (miscanthus) form a valuable group. E. Japonica is 

 a dense grower, about five feet in height ; the leaves are nar- 

 row, with a faint whitish band down the centre. The variety 

 Variegata is longitudinally marked with white ; Zebrina is 

 marked transversely with yellow blotches. Another species 

 known as Univittata is not quite so tall as the three first men- 

 tioned ; it forms a very beautiful plant in an isolated position ; 

 it has narrow green leaves, with a light strip down the centre 

 of each. The Eulalias are best increased by division ; this 

 should be done in the spring-time just when the plants are 

 starting into growth ; old plants may be dug up and with a 

 hatchet cut into pieces small enough to go into three-inch 

 pots. Keep in a shaded frame till they are rooted. 



Among the many low-growing Grasses the most useful is 

 Pennisetum longistylum, which, when planted in suitable soil, 

 is never out of bloom during the entire summer. Plants of 

 this sometimes get winter-killed with us when left out-of- 

 doors, and we therefore usually dig up the clumps and put 

 them under sash for the winter. Plants raised from seed eariy 

 in the season do well enough, however. A nice bluish-gray 

 Grass for edging is Festuca glauca. It grows in dense tufts 

 about eight or ten inches high. Another Grass of the same 

 color is Ely m us glauca, with a rather straggling habit, but 

 when grown in masses this fault is not obvious. This Grass is 

 of a most desirable color, and it grows to be about eighteen 

 inches high. For dwarf variegated Grasses the variety of Dac- 

 tylis glomerata is the best with us, although the variegated 

 Bambusa Fortunei is a more permanent plant. We have tried 

 several of the Bamboos for the last few years; those which 

 have proved hardy here are B. sulphurea, B. mitis, B.Simonii, 

 B. chrysantha;, B. Ragamowski, Arundinaria metake and A. 

 gigantea. 



^Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. 



G. W. Oliver. 



Notes on Chrysanthemums. 



FOR a number of years I have noted the development of 

 Chrysanthemum-blooms from the time the buds show 

 color until they are fully open, and also the effects of artificial 

 heat and moisture, especially on the colors of the flowers. It 

 used to be difficult to hold our specimen plants of Louis 

 Boehmer until exhibition time, usually the first week of No- 

 vember. When the variety was first introduced the blooms 

 showed color on the 25th of September. Every year since it 

 has been a few days later, and this season it did not show color 

 until the nth of October. If the exhibition had been held 

 this year during election week it would not have been in 

 bloom. The first year I grew Portia it was difficult to hold. 

 The next season it was a week too late, while this year it is 



'again a few days too early. W. 11. Lincoln has been growing 

 later. It is unusual now to have bloom fully open for our 

 exhibitions when held during the first week of November, 

 though a few years ago I remember exhibiting flowers of this 

 variety at the Madison Square Garden, New York City, on the 

 first of November. Although the exhibition thisyearat Boston 

 is a week later than usual, our specimens of W. H. Lincoln 

 will not be quite finished until the end of die week. Compared 

 with several other late varieties, it is the slowest. S. T. Mur- 

 dock and Kitty Sanders were later in showing color than W. H. 

 Lincoln, whileGretchen Buettner, LouisBoehmerandGeorgiana 

 Pitcher were at about the same stage. All are now advanced 

 further than W. H. Lincoln, which is the last on the list. The 

 loosely built incurved flowers always open more quickly than 

 the denser reflexed types, and pink and white colored flowers 

 open faster than yellows and reds. 



Artificial heat in the development of blooms acts curiously. 

 It does not have the same effect on Chrysanthemums that it 

 would have on other plants. Naturally, one would expect that 

 heat would accelerate, and cold retard, the progress of open- 

 ing. Such plants as I have in cold frames are as far advanced 

 as they would have been if kept in a temperature ten degrees 

 higher. To keep the plants in good trim it is essential to ex- 

 clude frost, and that would appear to an ordinary observer all 

 that is nee'essary. The effect of artificial heat on color appears 

 to have a more important bearing. When the night tempera- 

 ture falls below fifty-five degrees all dark colors fade. I con- 

 sider the settling of moisture on the blooms, as it must do 

 when there is no fire-heat, detrimental to high color. It is 

 essential to keep up a dry moving air. When it was necessary 

 to hold back some early varieties I allowed the temperature to 

 fall as low as I safely could, with the result that the brilliant 

 hues of G. W. Childs and Cullingfordii vanished, leaving them 

 a tawny red. Of recent years the high and perfect coloring of 

 my specimens of G. W. Childs and Cullingfordii has been note- 

 worthy. This is especially true this season. Two weeks ago 

 one would say G. W. Childs was ready for the exhibition, .but 

 to-day the glossy crimson tones are as true as at that time, 

 while the flowers have built up to almost double the size. The 

 effect of heat on the pink varieties appears to be the same as 

 upon the reds. I think there is a liability among the yellow 

 varieties to lose their brightness ; at least, there does not ap- 

 pear to be the same necessity of heat to maintain their natural 

 colors. White-flowered kinds seem to be benefited by a warm 

 stirring air. The glistening white of Ivory never shows so 

 grandly under lower temperatures. Such doubtful varieties as 

 G. Daniels, Theo and Silver Cloud bleach out to a pure white. 



Wellesley. Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Begonia manicata. — This free-growing variety is useful either 

 as a decorative plant or for winter flowering. In summer it 

 may be used for grouping, either with the Rex varieties or as 

 a substitute for them. The foliage is of a pleasing bright 

 green ; the plants are vigorous and healthy with an ordinary 

 amount of care. A partially shaded situation is preferable, as 

 the foliage then becomes a darker green, but the plants will 

 stand the sun's rays without hurt if necessary. On being re- 

 moved indoors, before danger of frost, water should he given 

 rather sparingly, and this will help to somewhat ripen the stems 

 and induce the plants to flower more freely. The branching 

 cymes of pink flowers are useful for cutting, and make a grace- 

 ful appearance in a vase. Stems from twelve to fourteen inches 

 in length are readily obtained from healthy plants. Ordinary 

 greenhouse treatment, with a night temperature of about fifty 

 degrees, is the most suitable ; if the plants are kept much 

 warmer than this the flowers will not open so freely nor last 

 so long. Too frequent potting and large shifts are not advis- 

 able, as the plants grow more compact in shape when the 

 roots are somewhat confined. We have some good healthy 

 specimens now in ten-inch pots which measure two feel 

 through, but smaller plants are as a rule more servici 

 Propagation is easily accomplished by cuttings or by division, 

 rooted portions of the stem beine; readily obtained. 



Anthericum vittatum. — The superiority of this newer form 

 over the old variety, A. variegatum, is so marked that it 

 will undoubtedly supersede the latter in the near future. It 

 is, as the name denotes, striped longitudinally as the old foi m 

 is, but differs in being much brighter in the markings. A broad 

 band of creamy white traverses the centre oi the entire leaf, 

 which is margined with an im band oi bright green 



streaks of the green, sometimes running in through the while. 

 In short, it may be said to be white where the old form is green 

 and green where the old form is white. It possesses all the 

 good standing qualities of the older form; the habit is more 

 compact and growth somewhat slower. It is very serviceable 



