May 22, 1889.1 



Garden and Forest. 



247 



old-fashioned sort still cherish it. The low mats of stems and 

 gray-green minute foliage are now entirely hidden by the 

 masses of rose-colored and in one variety of white Howers. 

 Planted in pockets among the rocks it spreads and droops over 

 them very charmingly, extending ont over the walk, and so 

 supplying that irregular natural edge o( verdure so dil'licult to 

 obtain and so essential in any attempt to bring a touch of nat- 

 ural arrangement into a rock-garden made with human hands. 

 Phlox reptens is very fine, too, to-day. It is another dwarf 

 species which is found on the moist slopes of the Allegheny 

 Mountains. It has long, creeping pointed stems, from which 

 flower-stems rise to a height of six or eight inches, liearing 

 rather large reddish-purple flowers. Like the last it is an ad- 

 mirable plant for the rock-garden or to carpet the ground 

 under shrubs, as it thrives equally well in broad sunliglit or in 

 partial shade. The rare and beautiful Phlox Stellnria, of which 

 a figure was published in GARDEN AND Forest, Vol. I., p. 257, 

 is also in full bloom. It takes kindly to cultivation, although 



it possesses real merit. It is now propagated and can be 

 procured from the Dutch bulh-grovvers. 



The pretty little Tulipa Clitsiana, the Lady Tulip of gardens, 

 is in bloom. It is one of the most delicate and delightful of 

 the species of Tulips, with its slender white flowers, the tiiree 

 outer segments of the periantli brightly flushed with red. No 

 collection of hardy flowers is too choice to contain it. 



The English Globe-flower {Trollins Europcrus) is a sturdy 

 perennial, long a familiar object in gardens. It has palmately 

 (.livided leaves, and large orange or paler yellow flowers of 

 many-colored, concave sepals converging into a sort of globe, 

 and concealing the smaller petals, and the stamens and carpels 

 giving to it the appearance of a large semi-double Buttercup. 

 It is a native of moist woods of north and central Europe, and 

 is one of the easiest perennial plants to cultivate. Very hardy, 

 too, and perfectly satisfactory here in New England, is another 

 European plant referred to last year (p. 177), Anemone ranitn- 

 culoides, which spread considerably last summer, and is 



Yucca Aiij^ustifolia in Colorado. — See pajje 244. 



liable to suffer during very severe winters, and should find 

 a place in all collections of spring-flowering plants, for the 

 charming pale-blue color of its deeply-notched corollas. There 

 are few plants which give me greater pleasure, although it is 

 not at all showy. 



The Virginia Cowslip {Mertensia Virginica), which is not a 

 Cowslip at all but one of the Borage family, is one of the de- 

 sirable herbaceous plants which flower at this season. It is a 

 smooth, pale plant, a foot high, with long-stalked obovate 

 leaves, and large trumpet-shaped blue corollas, which, as they 

 fade, turn to a delicate purple color. It thrives in deep, rich 

 soil, and as it needs to be thoroughly established in order to 

 bloom freely, it should not be disturbed or divided often. This 

 plant is widely distributed through the Middle States, although 

 nowhere very common, and was cidtivated in England as early 

 as 1799. 



The double white Anemone nemerosa is finer than ever 

 before this year. It lacks, of course, something of the charm 

 of the wild plant, but the flowers are in themselves very lieau- 

 tiful, and tfiey last long in perfection, and as a garden-plant 



now handsomer than ever. It is a tuberous-rooted species, 

 growing a few inches high only, with bright yellow flowers an 

 inch or more across, and rather coarsely divided, dark green 

 leaves. 



Boston, May 8th. 



C. 



A 



Notes from the Arnold Arboretum. 



MONG trees which bloom here during the last days of 

 April and in early May, none compare in the magnifi- 

 cence and profusion of flowers with those species and varie- 

 ties of Magnolia which produce them in advance of the ap- 

 pearance of the leaves. They are all natives of China and of 

 Japan, and all belong to or are derived from three species. 

 Most of these plants have been known in this country for . 

 many years, and their perfect hardiness and adaptability to 

 the climate of eastern Americ-a have been abundantly demon- 

 strated. They grow rapidly under proper conditions, and be- 

 gin to produce their marvelous flowers when only a few feet 

 hi<Th. They are not seen here, however, as often as might be 

 expected, and, relatively, they are probably less frequently 



