486 



Garden and Forest. 



[October 9, 1889. 



])ul)lic Lircw tired of new ones, so that to-da\- they are not so 

 poiiular as live years ag"0. The Cactus Dahlias have ahiiost a 

 I')arailel history. The original D. Juaresii was and is still very 

 l>cautifnl, l)ut, not content with this, the florists took advari- 

 tage of the demand for the genuine flower to foist upon the 

 puljlic so-called white, yellow and pink Cactus Dahlias, which 

 no more resemble tlie Juarez Dahlia in form than did the early 

 double Dahlias resemble the exquisitely moulded \'arieties, 

 the so-called Show and Fancy classes we now have, and which, 

 by the way, seem to be more appreciated than they were a few 

 years ago. Wliat, to me, seems the greatest improvement in 

 the Dahlia is the dwarf race that have appeared latelv, and 

 which, for ordinary decorative gardening, will be an immense 

 gain. These plants are not only dwarf, but e.\tremely florifer- 

 ous, and, for massing on lawns, are invaluable. I saw, a few 

 days ago, a mass of the Glare of the Garden, broadly margined 

 with the pure white Pearl, which only rises eighteen inches 

 high, and I have seldom seen a more effective touch of color 

 on a lawn. A still later improvement is a dwarf strain of single 

 Dahlias, which has just been brought into notice by Mr. Girdle- 

 stone, the Secretary of the Dahlia Society, who exhibited 

 them at the centenni.al. Some of these, which are collectively 

 known as Dahlia pitmila, are under eighteen inches in height 

 and are most floriferous, so that they are likely to prove good 

 bedding plants. If we can fix a dwarf strain of single varieties 

 it will do away with one of the chief objections to the older 

 and taller sorts, which require a deal of staking and tying. 

 Beyond these there was, among all the novelties submitted to 

 the judges at this great show, no absolute departure in form 

 or color. Among the Cactus section were the following cer- 

 tificated sorts : Mrs. Douglas, salmon-pink ; Marchioness of 

 Bute, pale yellow, suffused with mauve ; and Centenary Year, 

 scarlet. The tendency of the new single kinds is towards two 

 or more colors in the flowers, the florets being sometimes 

 tipped with a color different from the ground tint, and some- 

 times collected in concentric zones around the centre. 



Though the Dahlia monopolizes the florist's attention for 

 the moment, it will, on the first appearance of frost, give way to 

 the Chrysanthemum, whose society has already begun its active 

 work for another season, and at its first exhibition this week 

 there was a fine display of early-flowering sorts, which, how- 

 ever, are few in number, though one grower managed to get 

 together over forty distinct sorts in bloom. The leading va- 

 rieties shown are, doubtless, all well known to American flor- 

 ists. They included Madame Desgranges, the white and 

 golden forms ; G. Wermig ; Mrs. Burrell (last year's novelty), 

 primrose-yellow; Sam Henshaw ; Holy innocents ; Pynaert 

 Van Geert ; Precocite ; Mrs. Cullingford and Mademoiselle 

 Lassali, white. Among the certificated novelties was one under 

 the name of Comtesse F. de Carial, described as a semi-in- 

 curved Japanese sort, of a buft-yellow color. The other cer- 

 tificated sort w£is Sam Henshaw, also a Japanese variety, with 

 white flowers, and a genuine acquisition to the early-flower- 

 ing race. 



This week the periodical visit of the floral committee to the 

 trial grounds in the Royal Horticultural Society's garden at 

 Cheswick took place, when the merits of various classes of 

 plants were discussed and adjudged. The subjects were As- 

 ters, Dahlias, Afritan Marigolds, French Marigolds, Helio- 

 tropes, Scabious and Zonal Pelargoniums. Of these there are 

 representative collections of sorts cultivated, including novel- 

 ties sent by the leading seed-houses on the continent and at 

 home. The Asters make the most brilliant displa)-, and the 

 season seems to have suited them well. After inspecting all 

 the sections, the committee certificated the strains known as 

 the Imbricated Pompon, Dwarf Pyramidal, Hedgehog, Victo- 

 ria, Cocardeau or Crown, and the new Liliput, a strain of min- 

 iature Asters a few inches high, extremly floriferous, and of 

 varied and Ijright colors. Among the strains to which awards 

 of merit only were given, and which, therefore, were not so 

 commendable as those certificated, were the Dwarf Chrysan- 

 themum, Dwarf Victoria, Dwarf Bouquet and New Victoria. 



The Heliotropes considered worthy of certificates were all 

 raised by Lemoine, and were named Fleur d'Ete, with a very 

 large truss of pale purple and of compact growth; Capus, large 

 truss of very deep purple ; Victor Durny, a tall and strong va- 

 riety, with pale purple flowers in very large clusters. New 

 certificated Pelargoniums, also, were mostly all from Lemoine, 

 their names being Charbon, double orange-scarlet ; Souvenir 

 de Mirande, single flowers with white centres and cherry-col- 

 ored edges, and two unnamed seedlings, different in color from 

 older sorts. The dwarf strain of Scabiosa atropiirpiirea is now 

 becoming very popular, especially for market, and Vilmorins 

 strain, named Half-dwarf Blood Red, is one of the best I have 

 seen, and was worthily certificated. Of the French Marigolds, 



the new sorts named Electric Light and Dobbies Selected were 

 the best, and among the African Marigolds, certificates were 

 voted to those named Lemon Queen, Prince of Orange and 

 Dwarf Orange (which, by the way, is not very dwarf), and 

 Dwarf Golden, very compact and pretty. Among the Dahlias 

 approved were Professor Baldwin, a brilliant scarlet Cactus 

 variety ; Empress of India, the finest deep crimson Cactus 

 sort, and North Light, a scarlet Pompon. Altogether, there 

 is a most valuable series of trials being carried on at Chiswick 

 this year, the im]5ortance of which is recognized by all who 

 wish to make selections from classes of plants abomiding iri 

 varieties. Being grown under precisely the same conditions, 

 the relative merits of every sort may be seen at a glance. The^ 

 full reports of the committee's observations are published in 

 the Society's journal, issued periodically, so that the fellows 

 of the Society derive the l^enefit of independent ojiinion of 

 novelties. 

 London. W. Goldriug. 



Cultural Department. 



September Notes on Interesting Shrubs. 



nPHE custom of spending the months of July and August at 

 -*- the seaside, now so common among people both frona 

 the countr\' and city, naturally involves the loss of apprecia- 

 tion and value for many garden plants which are most attrac- 

 tive at that time. To those living in the country, or who have 

 a rural place in which to spend a month or two in the spring 

 or autumn, it is of importance to have such hardy ornamental 

 plants as are most effective or interesting at these periods. 

 There is naturally no lack of interesting or beautiful flowering 

 plants in May or June, but, when the summer is over, the 

 brilliant colors of autumn foliage and fruit, the Sunflowers 

 and native Asters and Golden-rods have largely to be depended 

 upon to make up for the loss of the greater variety found ear- 

 lier in the season. But brilliantly-colored foliage in Septem- 

 ber is dependent, very much, on various meteorological condi- 

 tions, as the present wet season in eastern Massachusetts lias 

 shown in the continued greenness of the leaves of nearly all 

 trees and shrubs. And much of the beauty of some Golden- 

 rods and Asters is destroyed by long-continued rains. 



Native woody plants in full flower at this season are rare, 

 but a few have showy fruits, and some foreign species are 

 notable for both flowers and fruit. The showy Cleinaiis Jack- 

 mani and other kindred varieties are becoming well and 

 widely known. The period of most profuse flowering is ear- 

 lier in the season, but sometimes a good number of blossoms 

 continue to appear during the early autumn. These flowers 

 are extravagantly admired and praised by most people, but 

 there are a few other, though less striking, species which are 

 equally desirable. The fragrant Clematis crispa, with re- 

 curved light purple sepals, and C. Pitcheri, with its dark, dull 

 purplish flowers, continue to bloom in the early part of the 

 month and the latter species even until hard frost. The Vir- 

 gins Bower (C Virginiana) is often past its best flowering con- 

 difion by the first of September, but the flowers are followed 

 by the conspicuous feather-tailed fruit. This species bears 

 staminate, pistillate or perfect flowers on the same or different 

 plants, so that where the ornamental fruit is desired, as well 

 as the flowers, care should be taken to select or propagate (by 

 cuttings or layers) from fruit-bearing plants. Clematis panicti- 

 lata, a closely-related Japanese species, and the Traveller's 

 Joy (C vitalba) of Europe, both flower at about the same time 

 as the last and cannot be called September bloomers. One of 

 the best species is Clematis orientalis (C graveolens is a syno- 

 nym often used) which bears its yellow flowers most abun- 

 dantly during September, and which becomes covered with 

 the beautiful silvery-white, long-tailed fruit while still in bloom. 

 Among all the introduced climbing flowering-shrubs few 

 have proved more satisfactory than Lonicera Japotiica, var. 

 Hallii. It differs from the typical L.Japonica chiefly in being 

 practically ever-blooming, and froni June until after severe 

 autumn frosts its fragrant white and yellow flowers are con- 

 tinuously produced. It is becoming well-known and com- 

 monly planted. The well-known and very fragrant Dutch 

 Monthly Honeysuckle {^Lonicera Periclyineniim) also has a few 

 flowers at this season, but they are very apt to be unpleasantly 

 infested by Aphides. Lonicera Sullivanti, which has been 

 generally grown as L. flava, is frequently met with in old gar- 

 dens. When trained upon some support or trellis, and well- 

 grown, it is very handsome in September with large clusters, 

 from two to four inches long, of large, shining, bright red ber- 

 ries. L. hirsiita and the true L. flava, which is very rare, also 

 bear an abundance of fruit, but on account of having a slight 

 bloom it appears less brilliant in color. 



