178 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 269. 



with the style expanded in the form of an open umbrella cov- 

 ering the whole interior of the fiower. Cultivation should be 

 directed somewhat by these natural conditions. Directions 

 are often given to drain pots thoroughly, and, in fact, we see 

 them growing well on drained groimd, but at their best in nat- 

 ural condition the roots are in stagnant water most of the year, 

 and my plan is to fill a pot half-full of swamp-muck or leaf- 

 mold, place the plant on this and then till the remainder of the 

 pot with living sphagnum, such as we find on swamp-borders, 

 growing somewhat rigidly and only two or three inches high. 

 This can be lifted easily with a little soil attached. Set the pots 

 in glazed saucers in which water is kept constantly. Set the 

 plants where they will have sunshine three or four hours in 

 the morning, and as much at night, with partial shade in the 

 middle of the day. For open-ground planting they are specially 

 adapted to lake borders and other moist places, with the same 

 conditions of sun and shade. 

 Hammonton, N. J. W^ r ■ Bassett. 



Correspondence. 

 Hardy Rhododendrons. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I ran out, recently, to the old Moon Nursery, now Mr. 

 Samuel Moon's, to observe the effect of the winter upon two 

 or three plants. The Crape Myrtle, Lagerstrcemia Indica, ap- 

 pears to be killed down to the ground, although slightly pro- 

 tected. It lived through the previous winter without protec- 

 tion and flowered strongly last summer. It is said to have 

 endured a succession of mild winters, both at Philadelphia 

 and Harrisburgh, Pennsylvania. There are magnificent plants, 

 eight to twelve feet high, in Trenton, which are regularly win- 

 tered, dry, in cellars. Out-of-doors in summer they are cov- 

 ered with hundreds of blooms for six weeks during July, Au- 

 gust and September. 



Rhododendron Caucasicum album has survived with R. 

 maximum in a bed of seedlings from R. Ponticum, which are 

 all killed, or badly injured. R. Caucasicum, from high alti- 

 tudes, was introduced into England in 1803, and is recorded as 

 flowering there in August. R. Caucasicum album flowered 

 at Trenton in early June. If any of the varieties of R. Cauca- 

 sicum can be had in flower at the same time with R. maximum, 

 or if the pollen of R. Caucasicum can be preserved until R. 

 maximum flowers, it looks as if American nurserymen have a 

 chance to originate a set of hybrid Rhododendrons which will 

 probably be hardy as far north as Nova Scotia, where, accord- 

 ing to Gray, R. maximum is found. R. Caucasicum sta- 

 mineum is recorded as a variety flowering in England in April. 

 Hemsley describes the flower as a clear pale yellow. Prince 

 Camille de Rohan, with large white flowers, spotted with 

 brown, and Pulcherium, with rose-colored flowers, are men- 

 tioned by Hemsley as varieties, or possibly hybrids, of R. Cau- 

 casicum. I have no knowledge of either R. Caucasicum or 

 its hybrids, English or American, but they are certainly worth 

 the attention of growers and hybridizers for their seeming 

 value for this climate, after the crucial test of the late winter. 



It would be a great gain to have a race of early Rhododen- 

 drons as hardy as R. maximum. Several varieties of R. max- 

 imum are quoted in English works, and Professor Marquand, 

 of Princeton, had a variety in bloom last summer which re- 

 minded me of the beautiful red variety figured, I think, some- 

 where in the Botanical Magazine as from North Carolina, un- 

 der the name of R. MacDonaldae. Dona Maria is another 

 variety with rosy flowers, spotted orange red, while Prince 

 Camille De Rohan is thought by some to be a hybrid of R. 

 maximum. Hardly any of these are named in American cata- 

 logues, but they are probably all well worth further trial for 

 their hardihood and diversity of color. 



Trenton, N. J. James MacPherson. 



Cinerarias at the World's Fair. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The varieties of Cineraria cruenta now on exhibition in 

 the horticultural department of the World's Fair are from seed 

 sown May 5th and June 7th, 1892. They are grouped under five 

 types — Grandiflora, " with foliage and flowers of a heavy tex- 

 ture, and the average height of the plant fifteen inches"; 

 White ; Caerulea ; Dwarf, " not exceeding nine or ten inches, 

 measuring from the surface of the pot," and with flowers simi- 

 lar to the Grandiflora type ; and Double. Thirty lots of twenty 

 plants each have been selected from the material grown, and 

 most of the nineteen exhibitors are represented by more than 

 one lot and type. The largest exhibits are those of Peter Hen- 



derson & Co., Henry Mette, Haage & Schmidt, Vilmorin- 

 Andrieux et Cie. and Henry A. Dreer. Good, and even excel- 

 lent, specimens can be found in almost every lot, but some 

 become prominent by their general excellence. 



The admirable collection of Ernst Benary, Erfurt, Prussia, is 

 of the Grandiflora type, and the plants are of good habit, from 

 twelve to fourteen inches high. The corymbs are broad and 

 somewhat convex, so as to show the heads effectively. They 

 are remarkable for the beauty and variety of the colors and 

 their harmonious combinations. The heads are concave or 

 flatfish, some having the rays a little recurved, and are quite 

 uniform in size, from an inch and a half to two inches in 

 diameter. Being of compact structure, the heads are free 

 from that loose and open look seen in the old-time Cinerarias. 

 Each plant is distinct, and to describe the colors it would be 

 necessary to describe the plants separately. The blues and 

 purplish blues, some of them velvety, are among the best. 

 The effect is very cheerful where the main color is white, with 

 a band of blue or red of varying width and intensity surround- 

 ing it. Sometimes the rays are coppery, and glow with a me- 

 tallic lustre. A lot of Peter Henderson & Co. was nearly as 

 good, but lacked the variety of Benary's. The plants are rather 

 taller, and particularly commendable for their so-called "vel- 

 vets." These are of deep or dark shades — crimson, purple 

 and blue, or some other pronounced colors, varying in inten- 

 sity, so as to give quite a range of tone. A dark rose and a 

 bright crimson, not velvety, are also found in the lot. The 

 heads are very compact, and mostly convex in form. In an- 

 other and similar lot from this firm is a beaufiful velvet purple 

 with a white band encircling the disk. It is a well-marked 

 plant, showing strong individuality. James Carter & Co. and 

 William Bull, of England, have good lots, Mr. Bull's dark purple 

 velvets and red velvets being noteworthy. A beautifully marked 

 flower, with a ground of bright red, and a red disk, enclosed 

 by a narrow clean-cut band of white, was seen in the collec- 

 tion of R. & J. Farquhar & Co. Dippe Brothers, Quedlinburg, 

 Germany, have good parti-colored flowers. A showy one has 

 the ground white, edged with a narrow rim of reddish purple. 

 One could not fail of noticing the pure and delicate colors seen 

 in the flowers shown by Vilmorin-Andrieux et Cie., Paris. 

 They were well represented in the Grandiflora type. Among 

 them are seen a bright rose-pink and a crimson-red, with sev- 

 eral velvets of red and blue shades. 



The flowers of the Dwarf type are so nearly like those of 

 Grandiflora that they need no special description. Of the half- 

 dozen lots, that of Hildebrand and Bredemeico, Italy, is most 

 pleasing in its variety, the noticeable flowers being pink, purplish 

 blue, some with metallic reflections, and velvet blues. A gay 

 flower is in the lot of Farquhar & Co., white, with a blush of 

 pink at the tips of the rays, and the disk bright red. A very pure 

 and perfect blue is seen in the exhibit of Frederick Roemer, 

 Quedlinburg. Henry Mette has a pure blue velvet recurved, 

 a purplish blue, a delicate pink and a very bright rose-red, the 

 last three concave in form. 



Only two lots of white flowers were shown, one by Vilmorin, 

 the other by Dreer. In the first group the rays are a little 

 creamy and quite free from spots of red and blue at their tips, 

 only an occasional one thus marked being seen ; the bright 

 blue disk presents a neat appearance in its setting of white. 

 Dreer's collection is also good, but the flowers are a little more 

 creamy and the spots of red and blue more frequent, although 

 in growth and habit about the same. These white varieties 

 are dwarf to medium in stature, from eight to twelve inches 

 high. 



There is but one lot of the Caerulea type, though many 

 stands with blue flowers are seen in the Grandiflora and Dwarf 

 types. It is from Henry Mette, and is quite distinct in the col- 

 oration of the flowers. This varies from azure to deep cyanic 

 blue, some of the heads being velvety. There are several 

 shades, grading into each other and readily detected by the 

 eye, but difficult to name in any scheme of color. It is rare to 

 find so pure and intense a blue as these Cinerarias show. An 

 additional charm is imparted to the flowers when the florets 

 of the disk shed their yellow pollen, for it is a combinadon of 

 "blue and gold." The rays are thin in texture and the heads 

 small, from an inch to an inch and three-fourths across. Aster- 

 like inform, but in sufficient numbers to be effective for dis- 

 play. The plants are low, from seven to twelve inches high 

 and bear the corymbs well above the foliage. 



About the same number of Double varieties as of Dwarf 

 ones were shown. The salient points of the type are given by 

 Mr. Thorpe as plants "of a good, stocky habit and fairly good 

 growers. The flowers are becoming larger and more double 

 each succeeding year. The best types to-day are globular in 

 shape, and measure two inches in diameter and two inches in 



