June 7, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



247 



The Parrot Tulips planted three years ago are still as g-ood 

 as when first set out and are very gay at this time. Their 

 quaint forms and odd colorings make them very attractive. 

 They seem to do best in a poor soil in a dry situation and need 

 only a slight top-dressing in the fall. We plant Nasturtiums 

 and Petunias between them to make a succession of flowers. 

 An Azalea-bed is also filled with Parrot Tulips, and these will 

 be succeeded by Asters. The various species of Tulips have 

 been specially good this year. T. elegans, T. Greigii, T. Ges- 

 neriana and T. cornuta are still in good condition. Tiiese 

 kinds come in later than the ordinary garden Tulips and seem 

 to last longer. 



Cypripedium pubescens and C. parviflorum, planted on the 

 shady side of a Rhododendron bed, are now in bloom, May 

 30th, and come stronger every year in such a position, as does 

 also C. spectabile, the most beautiful of all native species, and 

 which is excelled by few exotics. This kind will not flower 

 for another month, but gives great promise. These have all 

 been planted three years, and the cool moist soil seems to suit 

 them admirably. 



There are a few species of Allium that are decidedly orna- 

 mental in the flower-garden. Allium Moly is a very old gar- 

 den-plant and needs no comment, but A. Ostrowskyanum, A. 

 Karativiense and A. Rosenbachianum are all more remarkable 

 and worth growing. The latter species is in bloom now and 

 is a stately plant with broad strap-shaped leaves and a tall spike 

 of attractive rose-colored flowers. These Alliums are all per- 

 fectly hardy and can be obtained in the fall from any of the 

 Dutch growers. c- o ^ vi ^ 



South Lancaster, Mass. -C-- C/. Urpet. 



THE Pheasant's-eye Narcissus now alone remains with us, 

 and many of these have been gathered to-day to decorate 

 the graves of'soldiers. Next to N. bicolor Horsefieldi, we con- 

 sider N. incomparabihs Sir Watkin the best — certainly the 

 showiest. I must dissent from Mr. Gerard's opinion that it 

 has nothing more than size to recommend it. It is excellent 

 in constitution, and is really one of the few Narcissi which 

 make any headway in this latitude, multiplying without any 

 special care. A great majority of the rarer imported kinds 

 bloom the first year and flower less each succeeding year. On 

 the edge of a large lawn no other Narcissus has been as effec- 

 tive here as Sir Watkin. 



The cool, moist spring of this year has just suited such 

 spring-flowering bulbous plants as Scilla Sibirica and Chiono- 

 doxa Lucilliae. By a little fostering care, and withholding the 

 hoe and weeding, our stock has been increased from seedlings, 

 which come up freely in the neighborhood of the plants. One 

 can hardly have too many of these lovely harbingers of spring. 

 Another welcome spring flower which thrives here is the 

 Wood-lily (Trillium grandiflorum), very effective when planted 

 in masses. It succeeds here under a large Hickory, and it is 

 an admirable subject for shady places. Just now the Moss 

 Pinks are at their best. The brightest and most desirable of 

 the varieties is Atropurpurea. It is a dazzling mass of deep 

 pink on a grassy slope. While the development of such slopes 

 is desirable, it is easy to disfigure them. One stretch of this 

 plant is enough here, and several would produce a disagreeable 

 effect. Wherever broad areas of such bright flowers are used 

 care should be taken that they do not interfere with the ver- 

 dant aspect of the scene. Here also is an opportunity to plant 

 a few clumps of the hardiest Daffodils, and possibly some of 

 the mossy Saxifrages, as well as a few clumps of Giant Grasses. 

 Many years ago a few choice native plants were started here 

 under the shade of an Oak-tree, and they look as natural now 

 as if they had grown there spontaneously. There are fine 

 patches of Adiantum pedatum, with Dodecatheona Meadia, 

 Smilacena racemosa, Trilliums, wild Columbines and Cypri- 

 pediums. In such places Viola pedata, V. cucularia and 

 Silene Pennsylvanica are perfectly at home. 



Hand-weeding alone should be practiced among hardy 

 plants, and this work should be entrusted to experienced per- 

 sons. Seedlings coming up should be allowed to grow when 

 they do not interfere with the rightful occupants of the space. 

 This is the only way to increase some species. I was pleased 

 to note the other day a whole colony of Mertensia Virginica 

 coming up, and this plant is not by any means easy to raise 

 in ordinary practice. It is well known that a large number 

 of seeds lose their vitality if not immediately returned to the 

 soil, even though they lie there several months, and are frozen 

 before germinating. I was still further pleased to note several 

 seedlings of Saxifraga Wallacei, one of the best mossy Saxi- 

 frages, while the Fire Pink, Iceland Poppy, Alpine Poppy and 

 Callirhoe involucrata appeared in all sections of the rock-gar- 

 den. These and many other kinds we are glad to foster, but 

 others, again, though often desirable in their proper places, 



become weeds, and it is only with difficulty they are exter- 

 minated. We have had to dig out Anemone Pennsylvanica, 

 and will in all probability be digging* it for two or three years. 

 Campanula rotundifolia seeds itself, as does also C. Carpatica. 

 It is possible to have too many of these, but it is no trouble to 

 weed them out. 



Wellesley, Mass. 



T. D. H. 



Correspondence. 



Spi 



)ring Flowers at Short Hills, New Jersey. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Decoration Day week usually finds a wealth of early 

 summer-flowering plants in bloom in this latitude. At 

 this time one expects to find the glow of Paeonies and hardy 

 Poppies contrasting with the quieter Irises and the graceful 

 Columbines, all with foils of smaller plants lingering from the 

 earlier season. I found in Pitcher & Manda's plantation on 

 Decoration Day that the Tree Paeonies were about gone, ex- 

 cept one very good variety named Koechlini, a pink, with the 

 color deepening toward the base of the petals. It seems worth 

 while to make a note of good Tree Paeonies, as they are too 

 often unsatisfactory in color, being either an undecided pink, 

 or, if darker, showing some shade of magenta. They are glo- 

 rious shrubs in flower when in clear pure colors, but scarcely 

 worth good garden space otherwise. There was a large 

 breadth of Paeony varieties and species here, but only the 

 double dark crimson, P. officinalis, and its single dark crimson 

 variety, anemoniflora, in flower at the moment. In a warm 

 spot the great Oriental Poppies stood out boldly as the most 

 conspicuous flower of the season. There were several varie- 

 ties in flower differing in the shades of scarlet, the darkest, 

 richest-colored and tallest plant being P. Parkmanii, probably 

 the finest variety in cultivation. 



Workmen were extending the stream at the base of the hill 

 into a pond and planting a bank with Irises, so that a water- 

 garden will be added to the nursery, and there will be another 

 object-lesson for visitors to the nursery. Irises, principally 

 German hybrids, were seen in great variety and large numbers. 

 Names of these vary so much that it is difficult to call atten- 

 tion to special kinds. Madame Chereau, white, penciled blue, 

 is a well-known very lovely kind, and hybrids of Iris pallida, 

 light blue or purple, are beautiful. There was a striking 

 breadth of the light lemon-colored I. flavescens. Many hardy 

 Pyrethrums, single and double, were coming forward rapidly. 

 These beautiful and very satisfactory hardy plants are not 

 nearly as much grown as their merits deserve. Another old 

 plant seen here, the double Peach-leaved Bellflower, is a 

 striking and effective white flower at this season. Columbines, 

 of course, were in great variety. A large breadth of Aquilegia 

 alba grandiflora, showing very plainly that the greenish 

 white Columbines are the least effective in color of any of the 

 numerous species and varieties. 



Other of the larger plants in flower were the Day Lilies 

 (Hemerocallis) in variety. Azalea mollis and Doronicums. 

 The various small plants mostly met, such as Cerasdums, Ve- 

 ronicas, Phloxes, etc., are still in beauty. The pure white Viola 

 cornuta is very effective for bedding at this time, being very 

 free in flower and graceful in effect. The most striking new 

 hardy plant shown was the hybrid Hypericum Moserianum 

 (patulum X calycinum). This is a French variety with large, 

 pure golden yellow flowers, about three inches broad. It is a 

 shrub said to grow three or four feet high, with gracefully 

 incurving branches. I did not understand that the plant had 

 been tested here for hardiness, the stock being in one of the 

 houses, but it is a striking and beautiful St. John's Wort. In 

 the frames here are always to be found dainty plants. Primulas, 

 Saxifrages, Androsaces,Raymondiasandnicegemsforthe rock- 

 ery. One would like to see their effect if planted at the en- 

 trance to the Palm houses, where evidently the exigencies of 

 the business have led to the use of a wilderness of coarser- 

 growing things. 



Knowing that the Messrs. Pitcher & Manda shipped last 

 month some eight car-loads of plants to the Columbian Expo- 

 sition, where they occupy about twenty thousand square feet 

 of space, I had rather hoped to find the Palm houses so deci- 

 mated that the plants could be better seen and enjoyed. It 

 seems scarcely credible that the Tree Fern forest looks as dense 

 as before, that the specimen Palms are still crowded, and the 

 side houses packed apparently closer than ever. It would only 

 seem to one familiar with the houses that there had been a 

 slight shifting of stock, with perhaps fewer large pans of Ferns, 

 etc., than are usually seen here. There has evidently been 

 a great influx of the popular species of Palms from seedlings 

 to useful sizes for house-decoration, and these with the Rubber- 



