June 5, 1889.] 



Garden and Forest. 



269 



a handsomer form than any of the French varieties we have. 

 This is specially true of some of the white-flowering seedlings 

 with yellow berries. 



In connection with the remark that L. Xylostewn is a good 

 honey-producing plant, I will add that our fine hedge-row of 

 the Amur Barberry and our plants of Acer Ginnala are also 

 thronged at this time with honey-seekers, while the Spiraeas, 

 Siberian Almonds and most other shrubs in flower are neg- 

 lected. <v r D Jj 



Ames, la. /• -^- Blldd. 



Notes on Wild Flowers. 



ONE of the earliest and prettiest spring flowers is the pur- 

 ple Saxifrage, Saxifraga oppositifolia. Its little tufts or 

 mats of dense foliage start into growth as soon as the snow is 

 off in spring, and the solitary rose-purple flowers which im- 



At all events the plants in groups thrive better than where 

 each plant is set separately with more room. Of the Dog-tooth 

 Violets (Erythroniums), E. Atnericanutn, with its pretty yellow 

 flowers, is not difficult to grow. It should be planted in au- 

 tumn, six inches below the surface, and will flourish in sun or 

 shade. E. grandiflorum, from California and Oregon, is easily 

 grown in the same manner, but like all of these early-flower- 

 ing plants, it does best when planted in autumn. 



One of the prettiest early flowers, and not a difficult one to 

 grow if placed in a cool and shaded location, is that charming 

 little Orchid, Calypso borealis. It is seldom in flower before 

 the middle of May in its natural home in the dense shade of 

 Arbor Vitse trees, but when set in the coolest nook of our 

 gardens it is fully a week earlier. 



Of the Spring Beauties, Claytonia Caroliniana is mostly out 

 of flower, and the C. Virgiiiica is just beginning to bloom. 



The Home of the Carolina Hemlock. — See page 267. 



mediately follow are often so dense as to almost hide the foli- 

 age and produce a solid mass of color. It should be set in the 

 autumn, and prefers a moist, loamy soil. It is desirable for 

 slopes of rock-work. Another early species, with white flow- 

 ers, is the common Saxifraga Virginiensis, but it is not to be 

 compared in beauty to the former. 



Our two Dicentras (Z>. Ciicidaria and D. Canadensis) are both 

 early, and are now gone to seed. Their fine, delicate foliage 

 is as beautiful as their flowers. They do best in a rich, well- 

 drained soil, with plenty of leaf-mould about their roots. 



The Bloodroot {Sanguinaria Canadensis) is a pretty plant, 

 with its large, kidney-shaped leaves and its early, solitary, 

 handsome white flower. It likes the shade and moist, well- 

 drained soil, with plenty of peat or leaf-mould. It does best 

 when planted in clumps of six or ten, so that they will form 

 dense masses of foliage which seem to keep the roots cool. 



Both are pretty, and should not be overlooked in making a 

 collection of this class of plants. A rich, shaded and well- 

 drained situation is what they like. 



Two very desirable plants now in bloom with us, in the 

 open sunlight with ordinary culture, are the Mertensia Virgin- 

 ica (Virginia Cowslip), with its large, hanging clusters of blue 

 or purple flowers, and the Dodecatlieon Meadia (Shooting-star), 

 with its purplish-yellow flowers. The former is the first in 

 flower, but there is usually little difference in their time of 

 bloom. Mitella dip/iylla (Miter Wort) is in bloom, and its 

 long racemes of small, white flowers are pretty, but we think 

 it not so desirable a plant as the False Miterwort (Tiarclla cor- 

 difolia), which flowers at the same time, producing more 

 showy flowers and much handsomer foliage. 



Two charming little plants are ThaUctrum anenionoides and 

 the Wind Flower {Anemone neinorosa). The former seems to 



