322 



Garden and Forest. 



[July 2, 1890. 



in the spring that a little protection must be given in frosty 

 weather. When at rest frost does not injure them ; indeed 

 fortune, who introduced many varieties into England, declared 

 that a severe winter was conducive to their health. 



The history of the herbaceous species, as represented in Eng- 

 lish gardens, was treated at some length by Mr. Paul. Almost all 

 of the several hundred named kinds catalogued to-day are 

 the progeny of P. albiflora and P. officinalis, a few only being 

 from P. peregrina, and two or three from P. tenuifolia. Mr. 

 baker, in his monograph of the genus published in the Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle in 1884, admits only twenty-two species. 

 They are distributed over Europe, temperate Asia, China and 

 America. In the last-named country, P. Broivnii is the only 

 species that occurs wild. It extends from California to the 

 Rocky Mountains. In 1884, and, so far as I know, even now, 

 this species was not in cultivation in England. A hundred 

 years ago P. officinalis and P. grandiflora were the only 

 species recorded as being in cultivation in England. Mr. 

 Paul says that the attention of the florist was not devoted to 

 the herbaceous Paeony until about 1840, when Parker, Salter 

 and Loddiges began to collect and cross them. In 1855 there 

 were twenty-four double-flowered varieties, nine of which 

 still survive in English collections. Lemoine commenced as 

 early as 1824, whilst in 1840 the Prince Salm Dyck had a good 

 collection of sorts in his then famous garden near Paris. 



The cultivation of the herbaceous species was, Mr. Paul 

 said, ridiculously easy. The richer the soil the better, of 

 course, will be the results, for Pseonies are gross feeders. 

 Mr. Wilkes, the Secretary of the Society, who showed a fine 

 collection of flowers, stated that he emptied the cess-pools of 

 his pig-sties upon his Paeony-clumps. They like plenty of 

 moisture at all times. In shade, as well as in the open, they 

 grow quite freely. Some of the growers of flowers for the 

 London markets plant Paeonies under their orchard trees ex- 

 actly as they do Gooseberries and Rhubarb ; in this way they 

 get a plentiful crop of flowers, which sell for about half a 

 dollar a dozen. The most favorable time for transplanting is 

 from November to February. Mr. Paul advised starting with 

 small crowns in preference to large clumps, which rarely 

 transplant satisfactorily. The third year after planting ought 

 to see abundance of flower. The seeds take about a year to 

 germinate, and the plants flower when four years old. 



London. IV. WatsOft. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



'THE earliest species of Lilac in cultivation to bloom is 

 *- Syringa oblata, while one of the latest is the large tree- 

 like 5. Japonica. The interval between these two extremes is 

 from five to six weeks. As a sequence of flowering Lilacs is 

 sometimes a desideratum the following data may give an 

 approximate idea of the times of blossoming of the different 

 species when growing under the same conditions. Syringa 

 oblata, of which a figure from a photograph appeared in the 

 first volume of Garden and Forest (p. 221), blossoms in this 

 climate about the middle of May, varying with the rest of 

 vegetation in being a little earlier or later according to season, 

 situation and exposure. The bright lilac flowers of this spe- 

 cies do not differ greatly from some of the forms of the com- 

 mon Lilac, and are no better, although the flowers of S. 

 oblata have a peculiar character hard to describe, but which 

 enables any one familiar with both to separate them easily. 

 The thick, leathery, rounded, heart-shaped leaves are also so 

 distinct as not to be easily mistaken. It has been claimed that 

 these are not attacked by the mildew which often seriously in- 

 jures some other kinds, but, in some localities at least, the 

 foliage of this species is by no means exempt from the disease. 

 A week or more after S. oblata begins to blossom the first 

 flowers appear on the earliest garden varieties of the common 

 Lilac (S. vulgaris). One of the most precocious of these is 

 the old double flowered, small panicled variety known in cata- 

 logues under the name of Syringa vulgaris, flore pleno. It 

 is closely followed, however, by the numerous other forms 

 originating from the same stock, or by the hybrids with other 

 species, which are likely to be greatly multiplied and give rise 

 to forms as early as S. oblata. Out of the hundreds of the so- 

 called varieties of .S. vulgaris now offered for sale, a selection 

 of a dozen might be made which would practically include all 

 of much value. A large number are being tested side by side 

 at the Arboretum with a view to comparing the distinctive 

 merits of their blossoms. For the amateur who has only 

 space in his garden for one or two plants of this type there are 

 few which can give more satisfaction than the old Charles the 



Tenth as a dark red, and Marie Lagrange as a large flowered 

 and large panicled pure white one. Both of these seem slightly 

 later in flowering than the average of the forms and it is 

 noticeable that the flowers maintain a fresh looking appearance 

 for the longest time. 



When the forms of S. vulgaris are grafted upon stock of the 

 common Privet (Ligustrum vulgare) they make much more 

 dwarf and compact plants and bloom sooner than when 

 grafted on stock of their own species. The two Lilacs known 

 as Syringa Persica and ^. Chinensis blossom at the same time 

 as 6". vulgaris, and the flowers last as long as those of the best 

 forms of the most common species. These plants are becom- 

 ing even more common in some old gardens than S. vulgaris; 

 and, on account of smaller size and more slender, graceful habit 

 and the particularly large, thick clusters of flowers which they 

 bear, they are too valuable to be omitted from the amateur's 

 garden. There are forms of both with flowers varying in 

 color from dark purplish red to white. 



Syringa pubescens as it grows at the Arboretum has rather 

 small panicles of pretty, pale lilac flowers, which appear with 

 those of the preceding species. It is of rather straggling habit 

 and does not present any marked peculiarities which would 

 make it of special value to the horticulturist or florist. It is 

 not until the last flowers of all these species and varieties have 

 disappeared or are fading that the blossoms begin to expand 

 upon the Asiatic S. villosa, and upon S. Josikcea, which is sup- 

 posed by some botanists to be a variety of it. The inflores- 

 cence, however, is so strikingly different that it seems quite 

 probable that they may yet be proved to be distinct species. 



The first flowers of 5. villosa generally appear at the end of 

 the first week of June. The buds and outside of the corollas 

 are of a rose or lilac color, but when expanded the open flower 

 is very pale lilac or almost white. They are produced in 

 broad, heavy clusters on rigidly upright branches, the whole 

 plant having a coarse and stiff aspect. A figure of a flowering 

 branch has been given in Garden and Forest, vol. i., p. 521. 

 The flowers possess a good deal of odor, but it is less agree- 

 able, though less intense, than that of the common Lilac. 



Syringa Josiktza is not known in a wild state, and has all 

 been propagated from a single plant found in a Hungarian 

 garden. The slender, tubular, dark purplish flowers are pro- 

 duced in much smaller panicles than those of S. villosa ; and 

 as the plant does not appear to bloom so profusely as most of 

 its congeners it is of less value for ornament. But on account 

 of its lateness and the peculiar color of its blossoms it is not 

 likely to be neglected or left out of any collection. These two 

 species continue to maintain some fresh looking flowers for 

 about a fortnight, and it is not until the last of them are fading 

 that the blossoms appear on those species belonging to that 

 section of the genus which have white flowers and very short 

 tubular corollas. The two or three kinds in cultivation are all 

 of quite recent introduction, and are as yet very little known 

 outside of botanical gardens. The finest and most desirable 

 of these is 6". Japonica, which was described by Professor 

 Sargent and figured from photographs in Garden and Forest, 

 vol. ii., pages 293 and 295. The plants raised from seed ap- 

 pear variable in their time of flowering, a difference of a week 

 being noticeable in specimens growing under very similar 

 conditions in different gardens. Last season was an unusually 

 early one, and the plant which was figured in Garden and 

 Forest was in full flower about June 15th, -but this year it did 

 not reach the same stage of development until about June 

 24th. This plant is one of the earliest ; others at this date 

 (June 24th) hardly have the first flowers open. The small 

 white flowers have a slightly creamy tinge of color, and in 

 odor as well as general appearance they are more like gigantic 

 panicles of the flowers of the common Privet than those of a 

 Lilac. If it should be found possible to hybridize this splendid 

 tree-like species with any of the Lilacs of our gardens some 

 remarkable productions may be expected. The best plant at 

 the Arboretum is now twenty feet high, with a clean trunk six- 

 teen inches in circumference at four feet from the ground. 



Syringa Amuretisis has much of the appearance of S. Ja- 

 ponica, but so far seems to be inferior to it. A plant sold 

 under the name of S. Sibirica seems to be the same as this. 

 S. Pekinensis is flowering freely at the Arboretum this season. 

 The flowers are smaller and a little purer white than those of 

 6". Japonica, and the panicles are not quite so large. The 

 whole aspect of the plant is strikingly different on account of 

 its smaller leaves and much more straggling or spreading 

 habit. The largest plant has now exceeded the stature noted 

 by Abbe' David when collecting about Pekin, who described 

 this species as a shrub three metres (about ten feet) in 

 height, and the white flowers exhaling an odor of honey. 



Arnold Arboretum. J • &• J • 



