1.66 



Garden and Forest 



[Number 268. 



pensa, Lonicera Standishii, Nuttallia cerasiformis, Parrotia 

 Persica, Prunus cerasiformis, var. Pissardii, P. divaricata, 

 Pyrus Japonica, Ribes sanguineum and its variety gluti- 

 nosa, R. spectabile, Salix caprea, S. cinerea, S. mollissima, 

 Rhododendron altaclerense, R. fulgens, R. Nobleanum, 

 R. pra?cox, R. Thomsonii. A bare list, such as this, is the 

 thinnest of suggestions, simply ; I wish I could convey to 

 your readers an adequate idea of the telling effect of such 

 plants as these when planted in large masses among 

 dark-leaved evergreens, in shrubberies, or even used as 

 specimen groups on lawns. Add to the trees and shrubs 

 the wealth of spring-flowering herbaceous plants, bulbs, 

 etc., now in all their glory, and one has material for most 

 exquisite garden effects. 



Daffodils, Hellebores, Chionodoxas, Scillas, Dog's-tooth 

 Violets, Grape Hyacinths, Anemone Pulsatilla, Saxifrages, 

 Primroses ; these are some of the most striking of the hum- 

 bler plants which come before the swallows and make the 

 garden in spring as delightful as it is at any season. 



London. W. WaiSOtl. 



Plant Notes. 



Clematis indivisa. 



THIS New Zealand plant, known ever since Captain 

 Cook in the last century visited its native islands, is 

 very rarely seen in gardens, at least in those of this coun- 

 try, although it is one of the best plants we have for the 

 decoration of cool greenhouses, where it produces hand- 

 some white flowers in March. Our illustration on page 167 

 represents the end of a flowering branch, much reduced in 

 size, from a plant in Mr. Hunnewell's collection at Welles- 

 ley, Massachusetts, where it is planted at the end of a cool 

 house in a well-drained border, and now occupies 2,500 

 square feet of roof-space. The capacity of Clematis indi- 

 visa to bear flowers when well treated appears in the fact 

 that this specimen bore at one time, according to a careful 

 estimate, not less than seven thousand expanded blossoms. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes from the Harvard Botanic Garden. 



Bauera rubioides. — The flowers of this evergreen shrub 

 are very pretty, though small, and they are freely produced 

 irom early spring until late in summer. It was introduced a 

 century ago from New South Wales. Hooker, in his Flora of 

 Tasmania, informs us that it is very abundant in that country, 

 throwing in poor, wet soil, and that it is somewhat variable. 

 One form is about six feet high and of rambling habit ; another 

 erect and compact in growth, while a third is dwarf, with de- 

 cumbent stems. The second is the one most frequently cul- 

 tivated, but even that form is comparatively scarce in gardens. 

 With occasional trimming the plant makes a neat bush, from 

 two to four feet high, the deep green leaves closely arranged 

 on dark stems. The leaves have the appearance of being ob- 

 long and disposed in whorls, but in reality they are ternate, 

 sessile and opposite. The flowers, with petals pink and white, 

 are like miniature single Roses, almost an inch in diameter, 

 with yellow stamens prominently clustered in the centre. 

 They appear on the tips of the young shoots and branchlets, 

 borne on slender, slightly drooping pedicels an inch in length. 

 Much of their attractiveness is due to their noddmg habit, for 

 the entire beauty of the petals is not seen until the flower 

 spreads out like an inverted saucer. This Bauera is easily 

 increased from cuttings. A temperature of forty degrees is 

 not too low for it in winter, while in summer it makes satisfac- 

 tory progress out-of-doors. 



Passiflora racemosa. — The occurrence of flowers on this 

 species so early in the year is not rare, but the event is always 

 interesting, as showing one of several ways in which the same 

 plant may bloom. Better known as P. princeps, the plant is 

 perhaps one of the most decorative of stove climbers, bloom- 

 ing ordinarily during the summer months, and producing the 

 flowers singly at the joints of the young growths. Sometimes, 

 however, they appear on the same shoots in terminal ra- 

 cemes, and now we have the racemes, absolutely destitute 

 of foliage, pushing from the hardened old stems. P. ra- 

 cemosa has long been an inhabitant of our greenhouses. 



since 1815, when it was brought from Brazil. The leaves 

 are large, bright green, and either pandurate or trilobed, 

 most frequently the latter. It blooms freely in summer, 

 and the flowers, measuring from four to five inches in diame- 

 ter, are bright red, with the short rays of the corona white or 

 purplish. Being free of growth, the roots require a large 

 space, and the soil should be moderately rich and porous. It 

 thrives most satisfactorily when trained to a rafter, though in 

 exceptional cases succeeding fairly well on bright pillars and 

 walls. The old stems may be tied in quite rigidly, but the 

 younger ones should be allowed a good deal of their own way, 

 as they are then more ornamental and flower better. 



Pittosp'orum undulatum. — This is one of those plants which 

 are never showy, but always satisfactory and pleasing. It is an 

 Australian evergreen shrub, of compact habit and amply fur- 

 nished with deep green, wavy leaves of oblong outline. Under 

 pot-culture it is usually seen from two to four feet in height ; 

 but where the climate admits of its being permanently grown 

 in the open garden, and it will survive three or four degrees 

 of frost, it attains twice that size. Bursting into blossom 

 with the first sign of spring, the white Jasmine-like flowers, 

 borne in short terminal clusters, cover the plant completely, 

 and fill the air with their grateful fragrance. In our latitude it 

 is most useful in a cool greenhouse, serving as a foil to the 

 bright colors of Acacias, Azaleas and the like. 



Trop.^olum tricolorum. — This is, perhaps, the best of the 

 useful tuberous-rooted Tropaeolums. Indeed, the greenhouse 

 that is without one or more representatives of this section 

 lacks a striking element in the production of bright effects. T. 

 tricolorum is a climbing plant with very slender stems. The 

 small light green leaves have filiform petioles an inch long ; 

 they are peltate and divided into from five to seven obovate 

 segments. The flowers, borne on long pedicels, are axillary, 

 and about an inch in length. They are of a rich orange-scarlet 

 color, tipped with black and yellow, and have been compared 

 to a tadpole in outline, the erect, tapering spur corresponding 

 to the tail of that animal. Commencing to flower in January, 

 it continues in full bloom more than two months, and adds a 

 rich glow of color to its surroundings. A trellis of some kind 

 is needed for the support of the stems, one of globular form 

 being tasteful and serviceable, though otherwise the design 

 may be such as fancy or convenience suggests. The tubers 

 of this and similar species should be kept quite dry in sum- 

 mer, and about the middle of September they may be turned 

 out and repotted, using a mixture of loam, leaf-mold, old ma- 

 nure and sand in equal parts. The plants may then be set in 

 a sunny greenhouse, the temperature of which is never al- 

 lowed to descend lower than forty-five degrees, and here, with 

 ordinary attention to watering and training, they will in due 

 time make charming objects. T. tricolorum is usually propa- 

 gated by means of seeds, but tubers form readily along the 

 young stems if they are brought in contact with the soil. 



Cambridge, Mass. M. Barker. 



Notes on Carnations. 



CARNATIONS, which have been blooming steadily through 

 the winter at a temperature of fifty to fifty-five degrees, 

 Fahrenheit, are now somewhat oft" crop. Such, however, as 

 have been held as low as forty-two and forty-five degrees are 

 now at their best, giving large flowers of excellent color. 

 Growers are beginning to realize that it pays to clean the plants 

 of dead leaves and weeds, even if they are healthy and vigor- 

 ous, and to stir the soil gently. All useless growth should also 

 be cleaned out, to admit light and air more freely, as well as 

 to check the development of fungal diseases. 



The Carnation is a flower for all seasons and purposes, and 

 good Carnations are always in demand. The aim of growers 

 and raisers is to get perpetual bloomers as nearly as possible. 

 The fact, however, that this is the off-season is proof that most 

 varieties now imder cultivation are croppers. Growers here- 

 abouts are agreed that the varieties which Ifold out best are 

 Mrs. Fisher and Lizzie McGowan, white ; Grace Wilder, rose- 

 pink ; Hector, scarlet, and Ferdinand Mangold, crimson, if 

 grown cool, as it always ought to be. Daybreak continues to 

 give a few very fine flowers. It is doing well here, though the 

 reports generally are unfavorable. The blooms are a beauti- 

 ful blush shade, very much in the way of the old Mrs. Jolliffe, 

 a variety which has been in cultivation more than twenty 

 years, and never until now superseded. No good reason can 

 be given why location affects Carnations. Mr. Dorner has fre- 

 quently stated that having had poor success with a majority of 

 the standard kinds he has raised a set of his own, including all 

 the market colors, and these answer his purpose better than 

 any he can buy. The fact that Carnations differ in different 



