524 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 29, 1890. 



intended to attract the attention of the gardener as he might 

 pass and remind him to gather the seed as fast as it ripens 

 without bringing it in-doors. Herr Leichtlin complains, with 

 justice, of the practice in many botanic gardens of keeping 

 valuable seeds for months before distributing them. It is 

 well known that many seeds if not sown in autumn, oras soon 

 after they are ripe as possible, will either not germinate at all 

 or not until from one to two years after planting, long before 

 which time the pots or pans in which they are sown are 

 covered with moss. 



If Himalayan collectors, especially, would remember this, we 

 would not have to lament the repeated failure to grow such 

 fine plants as Primula Elwesiana and Gentiana stylophora, 

 which at present are two of Herr Leichtlin's special desiderata. 

 I found that though he may not be able or even willing to 

 imitate the natural conditions of plants, he is always desirous of 

 knowing as much as possible of these conditions. And he agrees 

 with me that a knowledge of physical geography in connection 

 with plant distribution is highly useful. It is a curious 

 and a gratifying fact that Herr Leichtlin seems to have more 

 correspondents, and to find more gardeners of congenial tastes 

 in England and in the United States than in his own country. 

 I would advise any one who may have a really fine, new or 

 rare and possibly hardy plant which he cannot propagate, to 

 send it to him. 



Preston, Cirencester, England. -H. J . JllWeS. 



October in the Pines. 



NO frost has yet touched the Pines, and the flowers and 

 foliage were never more beautiful than now. The ripened 

 leaves of many shrubs and trees are as handsome as gaily 

 colored blossoms. The flowers linger, many summer-bloom- 

 ing plants throwing up side shoots from the old stems. 



In my wild garden, where I am trying to imitate Nature in 

 the Pines, blue Violets are in blossom, and so is Oxalis vio- 

 lacea, as if trying to blend spring with autumn. Most of the 

 Golden-rods have faded, but Chysopsis Marianna is still beau- 

 tiful, and some of *the wild Sunflowers are a mass of bloom. 

 The wild Asters are charming. Aster Novce Anglicz is 

 in its prime. In a damp spot in the Pines I came across a 

 variety with rose-colored flowers which were more beautiful 

 and showy than those of the normal purple color. 



The water in the shallow, muddy ponds and bogs is still 

 warm enough to keep the Pond Lilies in bloom. But there 

 are no flowers on any other water plants except Utricularia. 



The foliage of the rare local Helonia bullata is beautiful now. 

 Parting the thick clump of glossy, shining leaves, I find the 

 embryo flower-buds. Last spring there were no blossoms. 

 Owing to the mildness of the winter the flower-stems started up 

 in February and March and were cut down by frost. The 

 leaves are evergreen, and grow in a thick mat, as if to protect 

 the incipient flower-buds ; but the flower-stem is very tender, 

 and as it is sure to push up on the first mild days of spring it is 

 almost as sure to be nipped by frost. 



The foliage of the Sweet Gum (Liquidambar) makes a fine 

 appearance during these mild October days. Some of the 

 trees are of a purple shade of color — deep, dark purple on the 

 upper surface of the leaves, but on the under side still 

 green. Others have yellow leaves; but the larger proportion 

 of the trees have red leaves, in varying degrees of intensity of 

 color. I have noticed year after year that each tree always 

 takes on the same color. For instance, if it is yellow one year, 

 we may be sure that it will be the same ever after. 



But the charm of the Pines at this season is the Tupelo 

 {Nyssa aquatica). Its bright crimson foliage and its peculiar 

 habit of growth — flat, spray-like branches — make it pre-emi- 

 nently the queen of the region. It does not take kindly to 

 transplanting. I have made several attempts to have small 

 young trees transferred to my garden, but they have all died, 

 some quickly, others gradually. But the tree is worth many 

 more trials, and I still hope for final success. 



The next best thing in this latitude in the way of autumnal 

 coloring is the Sassafras, which is a rapid grower. Like the 

 Liquidambar, the trees vary in tints — some take on yellow, 

 others red. A group of a dozen or more in my garden are 

 now all ablaze in bright orange-red. 



The deep green Hollies mingling with these bright colors 

 make charming pictures. There are places here and there in 

 the Pines of such wonderful beauty at this season that no 

 words can do them justice. Less than thirty years ago this 

 town, with all its outlying farms, was covered with a growth 

 of some of the most beautiful trees and shrubs. These were 

 all cut down, and attempts made to grow ornamental trees 

 from the nurseries, many of which are a complete failure. 

 Yineland is a standing proof of the blindness of our people to 



true artistic surroundings. From the teachings of Garden 

 and Forest the more cultured class are beginning to see the 

 mistake ; but many of these trees, like the Oaks, and especially 

 the Holly, are of such slow growth that our impatient people, 

 who want quick results, are deterred from replanting. 



On the place which I now occupy, several Hollies were 

 planted twenty-five years ago. The largest is less than fifteen 

 feet in height, about twelve feet across the lower branches, 

 and fifteen inches in girth. The trees had not been cared for 

 and had been badly mutilated. The lower branches had been 

 trimmed off four and five feet from the ground, and many 

 of the remaining branches had been broken for winter 

 decorations. A near neighbor planted a Holly-tree about the 

 same time that these were set, and this one tree is worth more 

 than my seven. Its branches touch the ground, and it has 

 been headed back just enough to make it symmetrical without 

 giving it a stiff appearance. It measures nineteen inches in 

 girth, and is about eighteen feet high and fifteen feet broad. 

 It is far more beautiful and effective than a group of Norway 

 Spruces which stand a little distance from it. 



Vineiand, N. j. Mary Treat. 



New or Little Known Plants. 

 Two American St. Johnsworts. 



THE genus Hypericum contains a number of shrubby 

 North American species of considerable value as 

 garden-plants. They are little known, however, to gar- 

 deners, and a few, at least, have probably never been cul- 

 tivated. All the plants of this genus have bright and 

 abundant golden yellow flowers, and the fact that they 

 bloom in midsummer or in early autumn when other 

 shrubs are not in flower, and that they continue to pro- 

 duce their flowers in succession during several weeks, adds 

 to their interest and value. H. aureum, of which a figure 

 was published in this journal (vol. ii., p. 185), is a small 

 ornamental shrub of the first class from an ornamental 

 point of view, which was introduced into gardens a few 

 years ago through the Arnold Arboretum. H. Kalmianuvi, 

 figured on page 1 1 2 .of the present volume of Garden and 

 Forest, is an older inhabitant of gardens. It was discov- 

 ered on the banks of the Niagara River, one of the few sta- 

 tions where it is known to occur, by the Swedish traveler 

 Kalm, who visited America about the middle of the last 

 century; and it is 130 years since it was first cultivated in 

 England. Like many of the plants of the eastern part of 

 this continent, which were much sought after and valued 

 by gardeners 100 years ago, it was afterward neglected 

 with a change of fashion in gardening, and finally forgotten 

 outside the limits of a few botanic gardens. It is getting 

 to be understood, however, now that some of the most 

 beautiful trees and shrubs belong to our eastern flora, and 

 that they are the safest and therefore the most desirable 

 plants to use in this part of the country ; and American 

 Hypericums, like the Viburnums, Dogwoods, Roses and 

 other eastern American shrubs, now seem destined to gain 

 the place in American gardens to which their hardiness and 

 beauty entitle them. 



Figures of two of the shrubby Hypericums appear in this 

 issue, H. prolificum and H. densiflorum, and it is proposed 

 to figure from time to time such of the other little known 

 species as are likely to prove desirable as garden-plants. 



H. prolificum * (Fig. 66) is a stout, bushy plant growing 

 to a height of three or four feet by as much in diameter, 

 with stout erect stems and branches covered with light red- 

 brown bark separating readily into thin scales, and slender 

 two-angled branchlets. The leaves are nearly oblong, 

 obtuse or acute at the apex, terminated by a minute mucro, 

 and narrowed at the base. The numerous flowers, which 

 are often an inch and a half across, are produced in great 

 profusion in single or compound terminal clusters. They 

 open in succession and continue to appear almost continu- 

 ally from July to September. 



If. prolificum is not a rare plant, and is widely and quite 

 generally distributed from New Jersey to Minnesota and 



* Hypericum prolificum, Linnaeus, "Mant.," 106. — De Candolle, "Prodr.," i., 

 547.— Coulter, Bot. Gazette, xi., 84. — Watson & Coulter, " Gray's Man. N. States," 

 ed. 7, 93. 



