February i, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



55 



chortus amoenus, C. flavus and C. Kennedy! are three 

 pretty additions to this genus, the last-named being- excep- 

 tionally brilliant in color, that is, bright scarlet, with black- 

 purple basal spots. Chionodoxa Luciliae, var. AUeni, is a 

 Ijeautiful large-flowered variety, and Chrysanthemum ro- 

 tundifolium (Kew) is a Transylvanian species, two feet 

 high, with numerous white flowers an inch across. One of 

 the very brightest-colored of the pinks is Dianthus callizo- 

 nus (Kew). It is only six inches high, blooms in July, is 

 tufted, with glaucous foliage, and flowers two inches wide 

 of the brightest rose-purple, zoned with a darker shade. It 

 also is Transylvanian. Emmenanthe penduliflora (Veitch 

 & Sons) is a Californian annual, a foot high, which in July 

 is covered with nodding, bell-shaped, creamy yellow flow- 

 ers. Iris parabid is a hybrid between I. Iberica and I. para- 

 doxa, raised by Professor M. Foster, and I. Nepalensis, var. 

 Letha (Foster), is a pretty plant with fragrant flowers. 



There are three new additions to Kniphofiain K. modesta 

 (Kew), an elegant plant with grassy leaves and spikes of 

 white flowers two feet high ; K. Nelsoni, a new species 

 with brilliant scarlet flowers on scapes two feet high, and 

 K. pauciflora (Kew), also grassy-leaved, and remarkable for 

 its loose racemes of pale yellow flowers. Nemesia stru- 

 mosa (Sutton & Sons) is a bright-colored Cape annual of ex- 

 traordinary attractiveness. I have lately described this in 

 Garden and Forest. Ranunculus Carpathicus, from Hun- 

 gary, is a showy perennial a foot high, with palmate leaves 

 and golden yellow flowers two inches in diameter. Tchi- 

 hatchewia isatidea is a badly named beautiful-flowered 

 perennial Crucifer, and bears its racemes of bright rosy 

 pink fragrant flowers in May. It was introduced by iVIax 

 Leichtlin from Armenia. Thalictrum rhyncocarpum (Kew^), 

 from the Transvaal, is an elegant plant, three feet high, 

 with Maidenhair-like foliage. 



Buddleia Colvillei is a beautiful Himalayan shrub which 

 has been brought into prominent notice by Mr. Gumbleton, 

 in whose garden at Cork it flowered profusely last year. It 

 has loose racemes of large rose-colored bell-shaped flowers. 

 It is scarcely likely to be hardy except in favored parts of 

 England. Cornus Kousa, Amygdalus Davidiana, var. alba, 

 and the white variety of Wistaria Sinensis, received certifi- 

 cates last year, but they are not really new additions, 

 although as yet little known. The varieties of Camellia 

 Sasanqua, shown in December by Messrs. Veitch & Son, 

 and said to be quite hardy, are of sufficient interest to be 

 included here. There is apparently a good opportunity 

 for a nurseryman who would interest himself in the intro- 

 duction of new trees and shrubs for the outdoor garden. 

 London. W. Waison. 



Cultural Department. 



Irises and Their Cultivation. — VII. 



IN the change of fashions and tastes in matters horticultural, 

 plants which have continued to interest successive genera- 

 tions of gardeners, at least as long as the garden has had a 

 literature to make records, are few in number. One of the 

 plants to continue in favor is the Mourning Iris, I. Susiana, 

 which seems to-day as interesting to the owners of the best 

 gardens as when it was first introduced from its eastern home. 

 The interest in I. Susiana has also been increased rather than 

 lessened by the discovery and introduction within recent years 

 of other species of the same group, the Oncocyclus, and an 

 allied one, the Regelia, among which may be found the most 

 beautiful, if not curious, flowers in the large family. Some 

 cultivators, with favored conditions of soil and climate, seem 

 to have little difficulty in flowering I. Susiana and I. Iberica, the 

 other best-known member of the group, but these fortunate 

 gardeners are few. Probably a number of the rhizomes sold 

 by the plantsmen each year flower the succeeding spring, 

 but only to disappear or dwindle in the following season. Un- 

 der the glass of a cold frame or cool house the plants are not 

 specially difficult ones to grow, but 'they are perfectly hardy, 

 and the open border seems the place for them. A well-grown 

 and well-flowered group of these plants in the borders in early 

 May would be as interesting and enjoyable as it would be rare, 

 and, perhaps, unique, for they are plants which require a 

 distinct resting season and careful treatment, and are 



among those which test the ability of the most skillful ci.dti- 

 vators. 



For their culture one cannot do better than follow the direc- 

 tions of the master-gardener. Max Leichtlin, who probably first 

 reduced their flowering to some certainty. These directions 

 should have double weight, in the words of Professor Foster: 

 "I place them in the sunniest, driest spot I have, in sandy or 

 rather gritty, but fairly rich, soil, planting them, if possible, in 

 the beginning of August, putting them in dry, and never letting 

 the watering-pot touch them. At the end of May or beginning 

 of June I put a light over them, but not round them, letting the 

 air have free access beneath the glass to the plants, Ijut shut- 

 ting off all the rain. I keep the light on until the end of July 

 or beginning of August, varying the exact time according to 

 the state of the weather and the forwardness of the plants. 

 Then the lights come off, and the plants are left exposed to 

 wind, rain, frost and snow until the following summer, though, 

 perhaps, during a wet November I ward off the excess of rain 

 for a few weeks. If I leave the plants exposed to the freaks of 

 an English summer they linger on flowerless for a while, and 

 after a time they are no more." These are simple directions, 

 and should probably produce satisfactory results in this coun- 

 try, but I have found that a good covering of hard leaves is 

 desirable, for our winters are very capricious, and the great 

 changes of temperature, especially in a warm corner, injure 

 the foliage so much that they fail to recover. If March 

 especially could be dropped from the calendar we could grow 

 a number of hardy things more successfully. However, I do 

 not claim much progress with my collection of these Irises, 

 and only desire to indicate the lines on which success may be 

 expected, and call attention to the wealth of material ready for 

 those who have a fancy for rare, curious and beautiful flowers 

 to be had at a considerable expenditure of care and patience. 



Baker enumerates twelve species of Oncocyclus Irises, and 

 it seems desirable to note them as I. Susiana, I. Gatesii, I. Bis- 

 marckiana, I. Heylandiana, I. Lortetii, I. Sari (and var. lurida), 

 I. Haynei (" perhaps not distinct from I. Sari "), I. lupina, I. 

 Helenae, I. Iberica (var. Perryana, var. ochracea, var. Bellii 

 and var. Van Houttei, the last a hybrid), I. acutiloba, I. paradoxa 

 (and var. violacea). To these may be added I. Marire, sent 

 out by Herr Leichtlin this season. I. Nazarena seems to be a 

 synonym of I. Bismarckiana. There are others — I. atropur- 

 purea, Baker, and var. Odysseus — bought as Oncocyclus Irises, 

 but they are yet unflowered by me, and of their places I am 

 not sure. 



When the Russians advanced into Turkestan one of the minor 

 results was the discovery of a new section of Irises, General Kor- 

 olkowi, the wargovernorof the district, having in 1872 sent home 

 from eastern Bokhara, among other valuable plants, rhizomes 

 of the Iris now known by his name. This is a species distinct 

 from, but nearly allied to, the sub-genus Oncocyclus, and was 

 determined by Professor Foster, and made a sub-genus as Re- 

 gelia. After this followed a few other species and varieties of 

 the same class. These are I. Leichtliniand var.Vaga, I.Suwarowi 

 and var. lineata, I. Korolkowi and vars. violacea, concolor, 

 venosa, venosa pulcherrima, Leichtliniana and I. Barnumas. 

 These require the same culture as the plants of the previous 

 section. Many, if not most, of these plants are obtainable from 

 dealers. None of them are without great beauty. Asia is the 

 home of all these Irises, missionaries and Russian generals 

 seeming to be the usual collectors. Some one was quoted in 

 Garden and Forest a few weeks since as objecting to a Mus- 

 covite name of an Iris. After the magazine horrors of many 

 months, it is to me distinctly pleasing to see the Russian 

 names on my labels, and to feel that, perhaps, the Mus- 

 covite is, after all, not without his finer traits when even their 

 hard fighters seem to find time for the beaudes of nature. 

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



Autumn-flowering Lilies. — II. 



LiLiUM Parkmanni is a hybrid produced by crossing L. au- 

 ratum with a dark flowered form of L. speciosum. It approaches 

 closely the form Rubro-vittatum, the latter being actually the 

 better of the two. L. Krameri, if not quite like L. auratum, is 

 very closely allied to it, requiring the same treatment. The 

 stem is very slender, smooth, tinted purple, while the leaves 

 are lanceolate, smooth, dark green, often tinted purple, the 

 flowers large, broadly funnel-shaped, pinkish purple, or deli- 

 cate pink, sometimes almost white. They are strongly 

 scented. The cultivator will find the same difficulty with it 

 as with L. auratum. As L. Krameri blooms early, seeds 

 will ripen in this country, and although I have not succeeded 

 in crossing it with L. speciosum, it readily crosses with L. 

 auratum, showing by this an affinity to the latter species. A 



