i8 



Garden and Forest. 



(Number 369. 



advertise the Crimson Rambler in our columns, and, so far 

 as we have learned, the probabilities are that the plant will 

 prove hardy. Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry write that plants 

 of this Rose which have been out-of-doors all winter with 

 the same protection that is given to other hardy Roses 

 prove to be in first-class condition now, in the middle of 

 March, having borne the' winter as vi'ell as any others. It 

 is further said that some of the tips of the Crimson Rambler 

 which had not been covered at all have escaped so far 

 without the slightest injury, which indicates that some 

 kind of winter protection is given. Mr. A. Blanc writes 

 that some of their plants of the Crimson Rambler have been 

 left out at West Grove, Pennsylvania, all winter, and have 

 so far withstood the severe weather without any apparent 

 injury. Mr. Patrick O'Mara, of Peter Henderson & Co., 

 reports that they left out four plants of this Rose, one on 

 each of the four sides of a house in Hackensack, New Jer- 

 sey, so that the plant could be tried in every exposure. 

 Both the wood and the buds of these plants are still plump 

 and perfectly sound. 



It is to be hoped that these prophecies of hardiness may 

 prove true, because large plants of this Rose when in bloom, 

 as we have seen it in England, are objects of striking beauty. 

 Even if it should not prove quite hardy, it would be very 

 valuable for conservatory decoration. — Ed.] 



Some New Hybrid Roses. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A few days since I received a box of charming roses 

 from Jackson Dawson, of the Arnold Arboretum. As these 

 were new hybrids and most promising, a tew notes of them 

 ought to interest those who appreciate the value of Roses 

 which are useful tor other purposes than the mere furnishing 

 of cut flowers. These Roses are all from stock of Rosa mul- 

 tiflora, or rather they are seedlings of the delightful Dawson 

 Rose, a cross between R. multillora and General Jacqueminot, 

 fertilized by pollen of Madame Gabriel Luizet and General 

 Jacqueminot. 



Ot the flowers sent me, I was especially attracted by one 

 which was a most exquisite little one, no larger than Rosa mul- 

 tiflora, but douljle, very fragrant, and a clear, light rosy pink 

 color. Its pollen parent is IVIadame Gabriel Luizet, and it 

 seems of the same habit and free-Howering character as R. 

 multiHora. I can imagine no more beautiful floral sight than 

 a trellis covered with a plant of this in bloom. There were 

 others, double and semi-double, ranging from the color of 

 Apple blossoms, through various shades of rose to a clear 

 dark cerise. In size they vary from the small flowers noted 

 above to some two inches in diameter. Judging from the 

 flower-sprays, there appears to be the same variation in their 

 habits as there is in the quality of their perfume. 



These Roses received a silver medal last June from the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and they are sure to be 

 valued by those who have been awakened by the beauty of the 

 more simple (lowers of the species which are now finding 

 favor in the best gardens. ^ „, ^ , 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Market Flowers in Private Gardens. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I am much interested in your reports of the Carnation 

 exhibition in Boston. That a society should be devoted to the 

 development of a single flower; that meetings should be held 

 to discuss the merits of its different varieties, to compare the 

 results of different methods of propagating and cultivating it, 

 and to listen to learned dissertations on its fungous enemies by 

 scientific experts; and that exhibitions consisting of these flowers 

 almost exclusively should attract crowds of visitors — all these 

 are novelties in the history of American floriculture, and they 

 certainly promise to instruct the public on every essential point 

 which the growers of Carnations need to know. We some- 

 times hear certain flowers sneered at as fashionable, but a 

 flower is not likely to gain such a position unless it has gen- 

 uine merit. Certainly the Carnation excels in many ways. It 

 has bright color, attractive form and exquisite fragrance. It 

 has foliage, too, which heightens the elfectiveness of the 

 flower, and I confess to some feeling of surprise that in the 

 reports of all your correspondents I saw not a word about the 

 foliage as a part of the beauty of the plant. A flower with a 



stem as stiff as a lead-pencil and two inches across was sure to 

 get commendation, while everybody knows that a Carna- 

 tion flower is never so beautiful as it is when seen in connec- 

 tion with its own leaves, and the leaves of some varieties are 

 much more effective as a foil and setting to the flower than 

 others. 



Perhaps the reason of this is that Carnations sell without 

 regard to their foliage, and it is not surprising that commer- 

 cial growers should devote tliemselves to supplying what peo- 

 ple are willing to pay for. They do business with the same 

 motive which impels other business men, and it is right that 

 profit in business should be their original aim. We often hear 

 flowers grown by florists spoken of contemptuously as some- 

 thing inferior to those grown in private places, but it is very 

 plain that a different purpose ought to rule in a commercial 

 establishment and a private establishment. All the efforts that 

 florists are making to produce flowers of the greatest sub- 

 stance and lasting power and availafjility for their particular 

 use is commendable. If it will pay them to grow nothing but 

 Carnations, and even only one variety of Carnation, this is the 

 one thing they ought to do. But is this quite tlie best way to 

 manage a private collection ? 



This is just the point to which my long preamble is tending. 

 While it is undoubtedly the proper course for a coinmercial 

 grower to grow the few things that will sell, one would think 

 that a man with a private collection would derive greater sat- 

 isfaction from growing a variety of plants. Certainly he will 

 not get the greatest enjoyment out of his garden if he devotes 

 it mainly to flowers which can be bought in the nearest florist's 

 shop. There are scores of plants which have a beauty so deli- 

 cate that it makes them unprofitable to sell either as plants in 

 flower or as cut flowers, and one cannot help but feel that the 

 place to find such things is a private collection. One can 

 go to a commercial establishment and thoroughly enjoy half 

 a dozen houses full of Carnations and admire the skill with 

 which they are cared for. In the same way, long houses filled 

 with Roses for market are interesting to every flower-lover, 

 but why a man with a range of greenhouses for his own en- 

 joyment should have in them little else than flowers which can 

 be bought on a street-stand is surprising. 



While the quality of florists' flowers is growing better year by 

 year, it has sometimes seemed to me that the quality of the col- 

 lections in private glass houses an<l private grounds is deteriorat- 

 ing in variety and growing less and less interesting. Of course, 

 it is hard to prove such a statement, and the natural reply to it 

 is, that, as we grow old, memory throws a rosy halo over the 

 past and glorifies all we saw in youth, while if we could see 

 the real thing now it would look much less attractive than the 

 imaginary one does in our musing moods. But I think I can 

 remember fine old places along the Hudson and in the suburbs 

 of Philadelphia and Boston where there were once collections 

 of beautiful hardwood plants, and the same houses now are 

 filled with soft stuff to furnish cut flowers. In fact, there are 

 many choice old plants which I hardly know where to look for 

 in these days. Once we used to see plants which were not 

 rare or hard to secure, but which were grown into such mag- 

 nificent specimens that they compelled admiration simply for 

 their size and luxuriant vigor. We now see fine Palms and 

 Cycads, Dracaanas, and the like, and often they are crowded 

 together in sucli a way that the individuality of every plant is 

 lost, and the house looks like a tropical jungle. But there is a 

 generation of Americans growing up who have never seen a 

 well-grown Fuchsia, for example. What I am trying to say in 

 a roundabout way is that whether it be the fault of owners of 

 plant collections, or of their gardeners, these private places are 

 wasting their opportunities in trying to compete with florists 

 in growing florists' flowers, and that where these great private 

 gardens are devoted to anything besides the furnishing of cut 

 flowers, they do not so much seek to attain what is beautiful 

 as that which is odd and expensive. 



Syracuse, N. Y. ^. A. VVeyman. 



Jasminuni nudifiorum. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — From this latitude southward, where Jasminum nudi- 

 florum will survive our winters in the open air, it almost 

 always shows some flowers with the warm days of early 

 March. So far, however, not a bud has expanded. We have 

 potted plants in cold storehouses which are now beautifully in 

 flower. We often use this plant as a climberamong other vines 

 in pots, and we invariably get a fine display from it in February 

 and March. It might be used in this way to advantage much 

 oftener than it is now. 



Germantown, Pa. Joseph Meehan. 



