84 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 366. 



and strengthen our realization of spring. A Violet, very 

 much lil^e the Schonbrunn, has lately been grown about 

 Boston, introduced from Florida ; it succeeds admirably 

 for forcing in a cold frame ; the flowers are larger, the 

 stems longer and the habits of blooming more nearly per- 

 petual. I'his Violet blooms profusely in the autumn up to 

 the time of heavy frosts. It is sometimes called the 

 Florida Violet, but is as yet little known ; it is probably 

 hardy. 



Viola odokata, var. Lees Victoria. — This plant is old, but 

 little known, and so much resembles the well-known Czar 

 that it is almost impossible to distinguish between them. 

 The flowers are single, deep blue, large, and borne well 

 above the foliage ; it is not sufficiently hardy to warrant 

 its cultivation in the open air in this latitude, or at least in 

 New England. Its habits of growth and the liberal man- 

 ner in which it blooms, throwing a great quantity of flow- 

 ers within a comparatively short time, makes it an impor- 



young plants should be set out in early spring on a warm 

 sunny slope in vi'ell-drained soil ; if the season is at all 

 favorable there will be an abundance of bloom from Sep- 

 tember until severe frost. The propagation is by division ; 

 the stubby nature of the growth makes it best to treat the 

 pieces as cuttings and plant them in sand. 



Lycoris SQi'AMiGERA. — Under the more familiar names of 

 Amaryllis aurea and A.,Hallii, this plant has long been 

 known in American gardens, chietly from bulbs distributed 

 by Messrs. Hovey, of Boston, sent them originally by Dr. 

 George A. Hall from China. It has, however, always been 

 a scarce plant owing to the fact that since its original intro- 

 duction few bulbs have been imported. It is said that the 

 plants have been cultivated for a long time at New Bedford, 

 Massachusetts, from bulbs brought over by one of the old 

 China traders resident there, and in the Manning Nurseries 

 at Reading a mass of them have flowered beautifully every 

 autumn for years. The bulbs here were planted at the base 



Fig. II. — A Flowering Branch of Spiraea Thunbergii. — See page 83. 



tant plant, and more valuable than the Czar for most 

 purposes. It is highly desirable for blooming in a cool 

 greenhouse during winter, and much better suited for pot- 

 culture than the more commonly grown double-flowered 

 sorts. The treatment is the same that would be given to 

 the hardy Primroses and Polyanthuses. Establish the plants 

 in five or six inch pots in early September, and for this 

 purpose plants which have been starved in smaller pots 

 during the summer are often better than the stronger speci- 

 mens obtained by field-culture. Store them in a cold frame 

 or dry pit ; water sparingly, and do not encourage the fall 

 bloom ; bring them into a cool house in successional lots 

 any time after the turn of the year. Kept near the glass 

 they will give plenty of flowers for ten days or a fortnight, 

 when they can be thrown away or preserved for blooming 

 another season, the second or even third year's flo.wer- 

 ing being often very satisfactory. This Violet is also a 

 free bloomer in the open air in autumn ; for this purpose 



of a south wall, where they have ripened well and 

 proved perfectly hardy. We learn that recent importa- 

 tions by an English firm have made this fine hardy bulb 

 more plentiful, and it is to be hoped that we can soon 

 obtain it in quantity, for there is no doubt of its hardiness 

 here, although it has proved tender at Kew, and is there 

 cultivated in a cold frame. Probably the bulbs do not get 

 fully matured there, for it is well known that many Japa- 

 nese and Chinese plants withstand more cold here and 

 thrive better than they do in English gardens. A descrip- 

 tion of Lycoris squamigera, with a figure, was published in 

 Garden and Forest, vol. iii., page 176. There is also a 

 colored figure of L. aurea in a recent issue of The Garde7i. 

 This Lycoris will require about the same treatment as that 

 given to L. radiata, or, as it is often called here, Nerine 

 Japonica. In structure Lycoris is more nearly allied to 

 Nerine than to Amaryllis, but is quite distinct from both, 

 not only botanically, but horticulturally. 



