264 



Garden and Forest. 



[May 28, 1S90. 



Spring' Flowering Iris. 



TWO of the prettiest of all the spring Iris lately in flower are 

 iris Persica and /. Rosenbachiana. Other kinds now past 

 are Iris reticulata cyanea, I. "J. G. Nelson," the bright little 

 yellow /. BornmUlleri, and we have had Mowers of Iris stylosa 

 alba, and the "Snake's-head," or "Widow Iris," /. tuberosa, 

 a fragile little Mower that has a sombre appearance, suggestive 

 of apple-green satin and black velvet. The typical Iris siylosa 

 of Algeria has yielded odd blooms ever since Christmas, and 

 quite lately a large tuffof it, covered by a frame light elevated 

 on posts, gave vis quite a dainty crop of its soft lilac buds and 

 blossoms. The typical Iris reticulata is after all one of the 

 sweetest and most useful of all the spring blooming kinds, and 

 has become luxuriant since Mr. Bedford, of Straffan, taught us 

 the right way to grow it in peat, sandstone grit and cocoa-nut 

 fibre refuse. The rich violet-blue Mowers are deliciously 

 scented, and our friends and visitors have been quite de- 

 lighted with them this season. 



One of my pet Irises is the old /. Persica, which, apart from 

 its beauty, is quite of historical interest, since it forms No. 1 of 

 that splendid series of plates issued in the Botanical Magazine. 

 It was formerly the fashion to grow its roots in water-glasses, 

 as is now occasionally practiced with Hyacinths, but in a deep 

 sandy peat-bed the bulbs are far more robust, and more per- 

 manently healthy. The Mowers of this species are of a delicate 

 blue tint, verging to green, the hue of a thrush's egg, for ex- 

 ample, and there is a velvety blotch on each of the "falls" 

 around the end of the rich orange crest, and some dark dots 

 and markings help to emphasize the satin-like delicacy of the 

 petaloid styles, or standards, as Iris-lovers call them. 



One of the most robust of all the newer species seems to be 

 I. Rosenbachiana, which bears a bold little flower, similar in 

 shape to that of /. Persica, but of a smoky lilac color, having a 

 rich dark blotch on the falls, lit up by a vivid orange ridge or 

 crest, on a nearly white ground. It is strong and beautiful, and 

 promises to be quite an addition to a very beautiful group. So 

 far as I have tried them, all the species and varieties of Iris are 

 quite delightfully adapted for cutting, provided that they be cut 

 in the full grown bud stage, and not allowed to open on the 

 plant. Iris reticulata and all its forms, /. stylosa in variety, /. 

 Rosenbachiana, I. Persica and all the great Flag Irises yield 

 exquisite blooms as cut in the bud state and opened in water 

 in-doors. Certainly if allowed to expand on the plants, or to 

 remain long open in the open air, nearly all Irises are fragile 

 and fugacious enough, and one might paraphrase old Robert 

 Herrick, who lamented that the Daffodils " wasted away too 

 soon." — F. IV. Burbidge in the Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Notes on American Plants. 



T^HE California Pitcher-plant (Darlingtonia Califomica) is 

 ■1 now in flower here. Our plants were set in a moist place 

 on the south side of a stone wall, which perhaps accounts for 

 their blooming so early. The almost naked scape bearing the 

 single flower is fifteen to twenty inches high, curving at the 

 top, so that the flower is pendent or nodding, as is that of 

 Sarracenia purpurea. The narrow, greenish straw-colored 

 sepals are an inch and a half long. The purplish petals are an 

 inch long by half as wide, slightly streaked with yellow, and 

 only partially hidden by the longer sepals. In fully developed 

 plants the long and peculiar pitcher-shaped leaves are very 

 interesting. It is seldom that really fine specimens of this 

 plant can be had from collectors, but we have seen such with 

 beautiful long leaves over a foot in length. It is generally con- 

 sidered a difficult plant to grow, yet, I think, if in the right 

 place, and with a protection of leaves in winter, it can be 

 grown and flowered with success. It seems to prefer a black 

 peaty soil. Ours, now set in sand, do not show health as we 

 have seen it in decayed peat. In a boggy situation, set in peat 

 unmixed with sand or gravel, we believe it would thrive. 



Uvularia perfoliata, one of the Bellworts now in flower, is 

 about a foot high, with light yellow or cream-colored pendent 

 flowers, nearly an inch long by a fourth of an inch in diameter, 

 and it has darker foliage than either U.grandiflora or U. sessi- 

 lifolia. It seems to do best in a fine loamy soil. We have 

 never succeeded with it in a heavy soil. It needs to be set in 

 early autumn in order to flower freely the following spring. 



The Scarlet-painted Cup {Castilleia coccinea) is a biennial, 

 with a hairy stem and leaves. At the summit around the 

 flower are so-called floral leaves, the upper portions of which 

 are of a beautiful bright scarlet color, more showy than the 

 flower itself. It may be easily grown in moist sandy soil. 



Iris cristata, from the southern Alleghanies, which has been 

 mentioned in former numbers of Garden and Forest, is one 

 of our earliest of this genus, and is certainly for many loca- 



tions a valuable plant, forming dense beds of its fresh green 

 foliage, only five inches high, but thick and even, with an 

 abundance of light blue and white flowers an inch and a 

 half wide. If it did not flower at all, its foliage alone would 

 make it worth growing. It will thrive in any well drained soil. 



Camassia csculenta, from the Pacific coast, now in flower, 

 grows from ten to twenty inches high, with long grass-like 

 leaves from near the root, and bearing at the top a loose spike 

 of violet-blue Mowers, five inches long. The Mowers are an 

 inch or more wide and there are from ten to twenty on a 

 spike. These are valuable for cutting. The bulb is easily 

 wintered by protecting with a thin covering of leaves. 



A rare and delicate little Primrose is Primula Mistassinica, 

 found in only a few locations. At Willoughby Mountain, Ver- 

 mont, it is quite abundant in places. Its height is from three 

 to nine inches, and it usually bears in a small umbel several 

 pinkish or light purple flowers scarcely half an inch wide. Its 

 natural home is in the moist soil at the foot of wet rocks. It 

 can easily be grown in a cool and shady place, in clay or gravelly 

 loam, and will continue to flower from year to year. 



Clematis ochroleuca is not a climbing species. It grows from 

 ten to fifteen inches high, bearing numerous pale purple or 

 nearly white flowers, three-fourths of an inch long by half an 

 inch wide. The plant is not a very showy one in flower, but 

 its plume-like fruit is pretty. In its general appearance it 

 much resembles C. Freniontii, but the latter is a stronger 

 growing species, with larger leaf and flower. This species has 

 darker flowers, and is a more stocky plant when well estab- 

 lished. C. Douglassii, of Oregon, is somewhat like the two 

 just mentioned, but its flower is more showy than either, being 

 a dark purple. The foliage is finer and more divided, and the 

 plant is not so tall. All three come into flower at nearly the 

 same season. They do best in open sunlight in light soil, and 

 are interesting both in flower and fruit. 



Frittillaria recurva, which has been mentioned in a former 

 number of this paper, is now in bloom, and it is certainly one 

 of the most attractive plants from the Pacific coast. The plant 

 can be grown readily in a light loamy soil, with a thin protec- 

 tion in winter. It blooms early, and its scarlet, lily-like flowers 

 are of long duration, and it wili be very useful for cutting. 

 Southwick, Mass. F. H. Horsford. 



Hardy Plants for Cut Flowers. — VI. 



THE best Ranunculus for cutting is the double form of A\ 

 speciosus. A patch of this variety is now a bright yellow, 

 visible for some distance. This plant has flowers, large and 

 very double, borne on good stout stems, and is far better than 

 any other we have tried. It will succeed in any moist soil; the 

 more wet the soil the better, so long as it is not liable to be- 

 come sour. R. speciosus also increases rapidly and bears 

 division annually. There is also now in bloom the earliest of 

 the Paeonies — P. paradoxa. This species always flowers two 

 weeks earlier than any other, and has large, deep rose-colored, 

 single flowers, which are very showy just now, but two weeks 

 hence would be invisible among the other varieties of garden 

 origin; but flowering so early, it is an acquisition to the flower 

 border. The foliage also of P. paradoxa is quite distinct from 

 all others in being of a dull glaucous green. 



Various kinds of Hemerocallis are also in bud, and the 

 earliest, H. Dumortieri, has already opened some of its bright 

 orange colored flowers. H. Mittendorfiana will soon follow ; 

 also H.flava, with lemon-yellow fragrant Mowers, and last of 

 all H. TJiunbcrgii, which flowers in August, but is similar in 

 color to H. flava. These are the four best of the Hemero- 

 callis for cutting. The individual flowers last but one day, but 

 the unopened buds expand in water in succession almost as 

 well as on the plant. There is another Hemerocallis, with 

 finely variegated foliage, known as H. Kwanso variegata, 

 which is one of the best of hardy ornamental-leaved plants. 

 It is liable to turn green sometimes, but if the green shoots 

 are taken out when they appear the variegation can be held 

 constant. 



The best early herbaceous Anemone is A. rivularis. The 

 Mowers are pure white, almost as large as those of A. Japon- 

 ica. They begin to open at the end of April, in May they are 

 at their best, but they are produced at intervals all summer, 

 so that this plant has considerable value for the border or for 

 cutting. Many have seen and all have admired the graceful 

 Mowers of this, the so-called "Snowdrop WindMower," ow- 

 ing to the way the flowers are borne on the stems. We find 

 A. rivularis succeeds admirably in the open border, and in- 

 tend trying it in half shaded positions in masses, where the 

 effect would be charming. One flower produces seed enough 

 to raise a hundred plants, and these flower the second year, 

 so there is no reason why A. rivularis should not be better 



