504 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 15, 1890. 



(lie genus, they are not nearly so showy because they are 

 small and much hidden by the leaves. The foliage of E. 

 alata assumes rich purple, rosy red or scarlet colors in the 

 autumn, constituiing its chief merit and value in ornamental 

 planting. A less valuable plant is the Warty-barked Euony- 

 nius (E. verrucosa) of central Europe. It is a species of 

 close, upright habit, and with light green leaves. But neither 

 foliage, (lowers nor fruit are particularly striking ; the chief 

 interest and peculiarity being in the little wart-like excrescences 

 by which the bark is thickly covered. „ 



Arnold Arboretum. J • (*• J • 



Growing Hippeastrums. 



ONE of the most interesting papers in the latest volume 

 of the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society is 

 on the Hippeastrum, or, as it is more generally known 

 in gardens, the Amaryllis, by Mr. Harry Veitch. The story 

 of the development of these flowers by selection and cross- 

 ing up to their present beauty of form and varied brilliancy 

 of color is admirably told, but we have space only for the 

 following paragraphs relating to the cultivation of these 

 plants. 



Soil. — The compost should consist of two-thirds good 

 fibrous loam, such as is used for vines, and one-third cow 

 manure fresh from the stall. These ingredients should be 

 brought together toward the end of July, and allowed to re- 

 main in heap for about three months, when they should be 

 turned over and well mixed together. The mixture must at 

 no time be allowed to get too wet, and when required for pot- 

 ting, in the early part of the following year, a proportion 

 to the whole of nearly one-third of silver sand should be 

 added. 



Potting. — The pots selected should be in proportion to the 

 size of the bulbs, and the smaller the pots that can be so used 

 the better; in every case the drainage must be ample. Before 

 potting, every vestige of old soil should be shaken off, and any 

 decaying roots, and any other decayed matter that may be 

 found about the bulbs, should be removed. The potting should 

 be performed according to the time the bulbs are required to 

 be in bloom, a period of eight to ten weeks being the usual 

 interval between the potting and the flowering of the bulbs. 

 We usually commence potting about the middle of January, 

 and have bulbs in flower about the middle of March, the flow- 

 ering season continuing for eight to ten weeks. After pot- 

 ting, the pots should be plunged in some suitable material; no 

 bottom heat should be applied at first, but the bulbs should be 

 allowed to start into growth as gently as possible. 



Temperature. — After potting, the temperature of the house 

 should be maintained at fifty-five degrees for three or four 

 weeks, then a little bottom heat should be given, and the tem- 

 perature of the house raised to sixty degrees F. With this 

 temperature the house should be damped down occasionally, 

 and when the weather is warm and bright a little air should 

 b'e admitted at the top for a couple of hours in the middle of 

 the day. When in flower, a light shading should be used to 

 prolong the flowering season. 



Watering. — This requires the most careful attention ; it is, 

 in fact, the pivot on which successful Hippeastrum culture 

 turns. More bulbs are injured or die from excess of water 

 than from any other cause, and excess of water is one of the 

 causes of the so-called Eucharis mite, one of the most de- 

 structive pests the cultivator of the Hippeastrum has to con- 

 tend with. At the time of potting, the new soil should be a 

 little moist ; after potting, no water should be given for four 

 or five weeks, or till the foliage and flower-scapes have at- 

 tained a height of two or three inches ; then it should be spar- 

 ingly applied until the flower-buds appear, but from that time 

 a more liberal supply should be given till the foliage is per- 

 fected ; it should be then gradually reduced until about the 

 middle of August, when it should be withheld altogether. 

 Eight or nine weeks later the pots may be lifted out of the 

 plunging material, and after an interval of another month all 

 the plunging material should be removed from the house and 

 the bulbs kept perfectly dormant on the stage till the potting 

 season comes round again ; the house, too, should be kept as 

 dry as possible the whole time the bulbs are at rest. We use 

 no liquid or artificial manure at any time. Much has been 

 written in the horticultural press about the mite that appears 

 both on the Eucharis and on the Hippeastrum, but we have 

 no fear of it. In my opinion its prevention is simply a matter 

 of not over-potting and not over-watering, and we have sel- 

 dom seen bulbs, however badly affected, that could not be 

 brought into perfect health again. 



Treatment after Flowering.— After flowering the pots 

 should be kept plunged, and each pot and about half the ex- 

 posed part of the bulb should be covered with the plunging 

 material. When the roo(s begin to push, more bottom heat 

 and more water should be given ; the atmosphere of the 

 house should be kept more humid, and the foliage occasion- 

 ally syringed. In bright, warm weather a slight shading should 

 be used, and the growth of the plants encouraged to proceed 

 as rapidly as possible; for the stronger the bulbs the finer will 

 be the flower-scapes and their flowers in the following spring. 

 Toward the end of July the bulbs should be gradually ripened 

 by diminishing the shading, and three or four weeks later the 

 shading may be discontinued altogether and as much light and 

 air admitted into the house as possible. 



Insects. — There will be no difficulty with these pests if their 

 first appearance is watched for, and their increase checked as 

 soon as they are discovered. Thrips will spot the foliage, but 

 fumigating occasionally will keep them under. During the 

 summer months red spider will also attack the foliage, but 

 their increase can be prevented by syringing and by keeping a 

 moist atmosphere in the house. Sometimes mealy-bug ap- 

 pears, especially if the bulbs are placed near plants subject to 

 the attacks of that plague; but it can be easily kept in check by 

 cleaning or syringing with blight composition once or twice a 

 week, and in winter, when the foliage has fallen, it can be 

 seen and removed without much trouble. 



Some cultivators of the Hippeastrum, as Mr. R. S. Holford, 

 of Westonbirt, who possesses the finest amateur collection in 

 this country, do not repot their bulbs annually, nor do they 

 plunge them as we recommend, but give them liquid manure 

 during the growing season. The bulbs are also grown in dif- 

 ferent houses amongst other plants, and in vineries, and most 

 successfully, too, with the advantage of prolonging the season 

 to such an extent that a Hippeastrum in flower can usually be 

 seen at any time of the year. The value of the Hippeastrum 

 as a decorative plant can thence be scarcely underrated, for 

 even when the scape is cut and placed in water the flowers 

 continue fresh nearly as long as if left on the bulb. Some of 

 the Dutch growers treat the Hippeastrum much in the manner 

 we do, notably Mr. De Graaf, of Leyden, whose collection is a 

 magnificent one, and to whom we are indebted for very valua- 

 ble information when we commenced the cultivation of this 

 beautiful plant, and with whom we are now in friendly rivalry 

 in the raising of improved forms. 



Achillea serrata, fl. pi. — My former note in GARDEN AND FOR- 

 EST (p. 408) on the merits of this plant has called forth many 

 inquiries, and I notice in the last number Mr. E. S. Miller's 

 method of increasing it. A strong clump of this Achillea 

 will produce quite fifty stolons, and if the plant is placed in a 

 cellar until January each of these stolons will, if used entire 

 when potted up, make vigorous plants with as many as six 

 leading growths, and I consider this the best plan to adopt 

 where a limited number of good plants are required. For 

 trade purposes, where it is desirable to get the largest number 

 from a given quantity of roots, it certainly is possible to 

 take cuttings from every joint of the stolon, but, except for 

 trade requirements, the plants will not bear comparison with 

 those obtained from the use of the entire stolon potted in 

 January or February. Achilleas may also be easily propagated 

 from the young shoots produced on the flower-stems after the 

 flowers are past, and if wintered in pots make good plants the 

 next year. 



Anemone Japonica. — The pot-culture of this Anemone, as 

 advocated by T. D. H., is certainly a good way to treat this 

 most delicately beautiful of autumn flowers. It was my 

 privilege to see the plants spoken of, and better examples of 

 good cultivation could not be desired. When I saw them 

 they were already in flower, while ours in the same district, 

 but planted out, were fully two weeks later. This season's 

 frost did not visit us until the last week in September, and the 

 Anemones have had ample time to flower and make a nice 

 display, but when they can be had two weeks in advance by 

 pot-culture this alone in some seasons would warrant the 

 adoption of this method. Pot-plants of Anemone grown in 

 this way are most serviceable for house-decoration, and help 

 to fill the gap which always occurs between the loss of out- 

 door flowers and the advent of the Chrysanthemum season. 

 If all roots of Anemones that are as thick as a Wheat straw are 

 lifted in fall and placed in the cutting-bench they will at once 

 begin to grow and may be potted in three-inch pots, and if 

 these are grown on into ten-inch pots, and plunged out-of- 

 doors in May, fine flowering specimens will be produced in 

 September. In more favored sections the same pot-raised 

 plants may be planted out-doors, there to remain, but in 



