408 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 20, 1890. 



unladed from beneath the snows. Usually only a small pro- 

 portion of the buds, which are now (August 12th) well formed, 

 open before the spring. 



Dnbacia polifolia, or St. Dabcec's Heath, as it is called in Ire- 

 land, where it is native, is one of the prettiest and largest 

 (lowered of the Heaths which can be grown in the climate of 

 New England. The barrel-shaped blossoms vary from a third 

 to about half an inch in length. The color of the typical Mow- 

 ers is dark purple, but there is also a pure white form in culti- 

 vation. The plants are low-growing, spreading and compact; 

 and the flowers are produced in loose racemes on long stems 

 above the mass of shining evergreen foliage. This is a pretty 

 little species for planting in rockeries. But it grows well in any 

 suitable soil, and produces flowers for a long period of time, 

 although most profusely in late summer, when flowers on 

 woody plants are uncommon. 



Arnold Arboretum. J- G. J. 



Devices for the Fruit Garden. 



AT this moment I have four fine Mazzard Cherry-trees cov- 

 ered with mosquito netting to keep off the birds. When 

 only a few Cherry-trees are grown, as is now the case in cen- 

 tral New York, robins, cedar birds and cat birds will take 

 every cherry within five days of their coloring. But this fruit 

 is not only very delicious to me, but invaluable as a health 

 preservative. In my judgment the sour Cherries when fully 

 ripe are the most wholesome of all fruits. Generally I cover 

 not only Mazzards, but Early Richmonds and Late Montgom- 

 ery. Of course the cost of covering will be more than the 

 value of the fruit as a market product; but the same cover will 

 last for two years. Thus protected one can gather delicious 

 Cherries from July 5th down to the end of September. The 

 fruit does not decay badly before September, but ripens and 

 then gets riper and riper till the fruit is good enough for 

 Asgard. This device is valuable when one cannot induce his 

 neighbors to plant Cherry-trees by the thousand and so have 

 enough for birds and planters. When we grew a few 

 Raspberries it was just the same; the birds took the bulk of the 

 crop; but now the cat birds and robins are welcome to help 

 themselves and pay for the privilege with music. We do not 

 miss what is taken because we harvest a hundred bushels and 

 are glad to pay a percentage to an orchestra. The Cherry-tree 

 ought to be planted again in this state as freely as it was fifty 

 years ago. The Black Knot has entirely left off troubling them 

 here and therefore even the lazy can grow them. 



My remedy for Currant-worms is to plant Gooseberries 

 about the Currant-gardens, and on these the worms first ap- 

 pear. If thoroughly dusted then the attack is far less severe 

 on the Currants. They prefer the gooseberry just as they pre- 

 fer the white currant to the red. Of course, such preferences 

 are not discoverable when very little care is taken of the bushes 

 and worms multiply beyond all measure. The currant ranks 

 next to the cherry as a matter of wholesome diet. It is to be 

 preferred far above all other berries. 



I have Quinces again bearing like the old-fashioned Quince- 

 bushes of my father's day. Thirty years ago I found it diffi- 

 cult to get crops, and till now have only had an occasional 

 peck of quinces. Two years ago I drew the limbs to- 

 gether in November with stout twine, then wound on straw or 

 hay. The result has been heavy crops of fruit. The Quince 

 needs only slight protection here. It is best to plant on a south 

 or south-east slope, and have an evergreen hedge or tight 

 board fence to the north. 



I had great trouble with my berry gardens, owing to the 

 lopping down and tangling of the bushes. To remedy this I 

 set stakes about twenty feet apart in the row, and fasten to 

 these one wire, about four feet high. To this wire I tie the 

 new canes in September with strong twine, two to four in a 

 bunch. Then I leave the canes standing six feet high to bear. 

 They are never broken down in winter, and never in the way 

 in summer. The cost is a trifle. _ 



Clinton, N. Y. E. P. Powell. 



Two Uncommon Plants. - 

 T HAVE lately had two plants in flower which I have never 

 *■ seen elsewhere, and think worthy of more extended culti- 

 vation. They both belong to the fibrous-rooted section of the 

 Iris family. 



Sisyrinchium striatum, like most of the genus, is native to 

 the lower slopes of the Andean chain, and is the finest of all 

 species known to me, from a gardening point of view. The 

 foliage grows to the height of thirty inches, is flat and flag- 

 like, as in most of the family, having a width of nearly two 

 inches. It grows in dense tufts and is of a beautiful gray- 

 green color, so that if it never bloomed it would still be highly 



ornamental. The flower-stalks are often more than three feet 

 high, and are densely clothed for many weeks with closely 

 clustered flowers, three-fourths of an inch in diameter, light 

 yellow, marked with fine lines of a darker shade. Each flower 

 lasts but a day, but new ones are constantly expanding. My 

 plant began to blossom in April, and was in full bloom until 

 the middle of July, and even now, August nth, there are 

 some flowers to be seen. 



This species may be propagated by division, by cuttings of 

 the flower-stem, and, best of all, by seeds, which are abun- 

 dantly produced. The plant, whose dimensions I have given, 

 is in an eight-inch pot; it is likely that it would grow to a 

 larger size if planted out. 



Orthrosanthus midliflorus is an Australian species. Its man- 

 ner of growth is much like that of the plant just described, 

 but it is not so tall, its foliage is dark green, instead of glau- 

 cous, and much narrower. The flowers, also, are less numer- 

 ous, though they continue to appear for nearly the same 

 length of time. They are nearly an inch in diameter, and are 

 of a beautiful porcelain blue. There is no difficulty in grow- 

 ing this beautiful plant, nor is it at all shy in flowering ; every 

 year when April comes round the spikes push up plentifully. 

 Both of these plants derive much benefit from being plunged 

 in the ground during the autumn, care being taken to take 

 them in-doors before frost. 



Canton, Mass. W. E. EndlCOtt. 



Hardy Flowers for Florists' Use. 



T T needs no argument to show that hardy perennials should 

 *■ not be neglected where a mixed collection of plants is 

 grown for sale; but it does not seem so generally understood 

 that many of them are valuable for cut flowers and well de- 

 serve the attention of the commercial florist, especially since 

 these plants are well able to take care of themselves, and es- 

 pecially in the winter, when all other things tax all the re- 

 sources of the cultivator. What can exceed for simple ele- 

 gance a vase filled with Painted Daisies ? And yet how seldom 

 are these single Pyrethrums grown by the florist. They are 

 easily raised from seed and flower the first year. The beauti- 

 ful perennial Candytufts, too, are much better than the an- 

 nual kinds. Iberis correcefolia and /. sempervirens are inval- 

 uable where pure white flowers are desired about Decoration 

 Day. The double Achillea serrata, a somewhat new plant, 

 will speedily supersede the old A. ptarmica, to which it is as 

 superior as the Japan Anemone is to the common Wood 

 Anemone. And certainly no one who grows annual Sunflow- 

 ers can reasonably neglect the perennial one, so perfect in 

 form, so free flowering and so durable when cut. It is rather 

 singular that this double Sunflower, which I could never per- 

 suade to survive a New Jersey winter, has lived out here for 

 years without attention. 



The Coreopsis, especially C. lanceolata, is pretty well known, 

 but it is not generally known that there are two plants being 

 distributed under this name. The one is a fair plant, but the 

 other is a far better one. It is to be hoped that by next year 

 this case of mistaken identity may be cleared up. Gillenia 

 trifoliata and G. stipulacea, two beautiful native plants, are 

 both invaluable for mingling with cut flowers, owing to their 

 pure white color and their graceful position on the stems. 

 Both should be grown, as the one follows the other in the 

 order named, and flowers can be had for over a month. The 

 Gypsophilas, especially G. paniculata and G. Steveni, are most 

 useful among other cut flowers. No other hardy plants have 

 such an airy appearance and loose sprays scattered among other 

 flowers in a vase will surround the whole as with a delicate 

 mist or halo. 



Doronicums are sure to be popular, and the leading nurser- 

 ies are preparing themselves with large stocks, so that they 

 can be purchased reasonably in fall, and if placed in a cool 

 house where Mignonette or Violets are grown, beautiful yel- 

 low flowers three or four inches across may be had in Feb- 

 ruary and March from D. Caucasicum, D. Clusii and D. plan- 

 tagineum excelsum. The flowers of these plants last long, 

 even when cut. The Larkspurs are always popular. Of the 

 single kinds, D. formosum is hard to excel among dark blues 

 and it comes readily and true from seed. The lovely sky-blue 

 D. Belladonna would be indispensable if it could be raised 

 otherwise than by division, for unfortunately it does not pro- 

 duce seed, owing, it is said, to its hybrid origin. But perhaps 

 the Larkspurs of the future are the double ones. The best 

 way to have them and to keep them is to get named double 

 kinds, save the seed, and raise your own, weeding out the sin- 

 gle ones — about ten per cent, of the whole. Larkspurs thus 

 raised will have a strong constitution suited to the locality in 

 which they are grown. 



