146 



Garden and Forest. 



(Number 372. 



every good garden should contain them in abundance. 

 Even if they die after flowering every year, they are worth 

 the little outlay in money and labor to renew them each 

 autumn. The same is true of yellow Crocus and blue 

 Chionodoxa, which are as largely employed and are quite 

 as effective here as the Snowdrops. In some gardens these 

 plants will establish themselves and multiply from seeds 

 and offsets, but as a rule they fail to do this. The com- 

 mon yellow Daffodil behaves in the same manner. At Kew 

 it will not live long if left to itself, vi-hereas in some gar- 

 dens known to me it is as independent of the gardener as 

 the Dandelion. „, „, 



London. W. WatSOTt. 



Plant Notes. 



Azalea Indica. — This old and well-known plant is now 

 sold as a pot plant in such large quantities at this season 

 of the year that it may be well to call attention to the fact 

 that it has other uses than for Easter decoration. Indeed, 

 there is nothing in the whole list of greenhouse plants 

 more serviceable, more easily grovi'n or more satisfactory. 

 It is nearly hardy and can be safely and cheaply stored in 

 a cold pit from which the frost is barely excluded ; thus 

 making it possible, without trouble or much expense, to 

 hold in reserve a stock of plants which may be brought 

 into bloom at anytime from December to June, an impor- 

 tant matter in greenhouse economy. Most of the plants 

 now on sale are imported from Holland and Belgium ; they 

 are carefully trimmed and present a most symmetrical ap- 

 pearance ; it is not at all necessary, as is generally the 

 custom, to bestow so much labor and care in preserving 

 these formal figures. The plant is thoroughly good if 

 allowed to grow naturally ; wire frames and numerous 

 ties can be dispensed with. There is a method of growing 

 them not generally practiced which simplifies, in a marked 

 degree, the difficulties of handling Azaleas. They are 

 planted out in a bright, sunny border early in May; the 

 soil should be deep, well trenched and full of well-rotted 

 manure ; plenty of water should be given all summer — 

 much the same sort of care one would give Carnations, 

 Chrysanthemums or Violets in field-culture. A most vig- 

 orous growth will be the result of this treatment, astonish- 

 ing to one who knows only the ordinary increase in pot- 

 grown plants. If any one shoot obtains an ascendency it 

 must be pinched in ; if suckers appear at the base, partic- 

 ularly in grafted plants, they must be removed, but staking 

 in any form or tying is almost wholly unnecessary. In the 

 autumn, late in August or early in September, they are 

 lifted carefully and potted ; they should be kept close for a 

 few days and rather warm, after which they may stand in 

 the open air until the nights are too cold, when they should 

 be stored in pits and brought into the greenhouse in suc- 

 cessional lots through the winter and spring. The result 

 is not the formal type with which we are so familiar at 

 exhibitions and in choice collections ; but it is a health}^ 

 plant which looks like an Azalea and nothing else ; the 

 foliage is better, larger and deeper green, the flowers are 

 quite as numerous and apparently of better size and tex- 

 ture. These Azaleas are good house plants; if the living- 

 rooms are not too hot they will keep in flower for several 

 weeks ; care must be given towatering — if once they be- 

 come dry it is difficult to restore them ; if they can be kept 

 in a cool room, an attic or bedchamber, before and after 

 blooming, they will continue in good condition for years. 

 It is unfortunate that the varieties now offered are largely 

 double or semi-double ; much of the grace of the ilower is 

 lost in their malformed petals ; it is not sufficient compen- 

 sation that they last a little longer. 



Marica ccerulea. — This Iridaceous plant from tropical 

 South America is v^'ell worthy of cultivation, though the 

 flovi^ers, as implied by the generic name, are quite fuga- 

 cious. The plant appears as a flat-clustered mass of sword- 

 shaped leaves from an inch to an inch and a half in width 

 and four feet or more high. The stems on which the flow- 

 ers are borne at this season are of the same shape, and as 



wide as the leaves, with a central vein. The flowers are 

 borne from the side of this vein, near the top, on a small 

 expanding stem, and appear in succession. They most 

 strikingly resemble Tigridias in shape, with flat petals of 

 bright lilac, and a depressed bowl, which is lined and 

 striped with brown. This Marica grows well, and flowers 

 regularly in a temperate house. 



Iris Rosenbachiana. — This Bokharan plant flowers with 

 the Irises of the Reticulata section, although it is much 

 larger and more showy. Its blooms are the most striking 

 and distinct of the early Irises, and are variable both in 

 size and color, red and blue purples and yellow being the 

 prevailing ones. A very good form, sent to this office by 

 Mr. Gerard, has falls of deep velvety red-purple, shading to 

 a lighter tone of same on the claw, which is striped in two 

 lines of dark color on each side of the bright orange-yellow 

 ridge, which extends to the base. The crests are of an 

 intermediate shade of purple, fading out on the styles, 

 which are white beneath. The standards are small, spoon- 

 shaped, and extend horizontally. The falls are slightly 

 wider than the claws, but appear narrower, as they are 

 partly folded usually. The claws and styles make a long 

 tunnel, and Mr. Gerard observes that the bees, which are 

 now active, have some difficulty in finding the nectar. 

 They are deceived apparently by the open shape of the 

 flower, and search around the base of the styles, neglect- 

 ing the signals, which point the true way. This Iris be- 

 longs to the Juno section, with Iris Persica, etc.; and has a 

 white-coated bulb with curious ovoid short roots, which 

 would seem to be inverted offsets. The flowers appear in 

 succession, usually two or three from each bulb, before the 

 leaves. The leaves appear too late to be damaged by the 

 frost, unlike others of the section, such as I. orchioides and 

 I. Caucasica, and yet the more forward foliage of these 

 plants usually suffers little, if at all. 



Hyacinthus ciliatus (Muscari azureum). — -This deserves 

 high rank among the earliest spring-blooming bulbs. B. M. 

 Watson, Jr. , of the Bussey Institution of Harvard Univer- 

 sity, writes that it was well in bloom during the last week 

 of March in a bed planted with Crocus, Snowdrops, Iris 

 reticulata, Bulbocodium vernum and many varieties of 

 Squills and Chionodoxa ; the Crocus Cloth of Gold, Bulboco- 

 dium vernum and the Snowdrops were its only companions 

 in braving the cold winds and frosty nights of the season. 

 Grape Hyacinth has been received for several years past 

 from Van Tubengen, Haarlem, but it does not seem to be 

 described by any of the gardening authorities on bulbous 

 plants, nor is it generally offered in the trade lists. It re- 

 sembles in its general habits of growth and flower the well- 

 known Muscari botryoides ; the principal difference is 

 that it blooms fully four weeks earlier and the flow- 

 ers are much lighter in color, a beautiful robin's-egg blue. 

 It is perfectly hardy and robust. Altogether it is a decided 

 acquisition to our few very early blooming plants, and 

 should be more frequently used. 



Cultural Department. 



Seasonable Work in the Flower Garden. 



AFTER the severity of Ihe past winter, there is not much 

 doubt as to how to prune the hardy Roses, for with us 

 they are killed down to the snow-level, and some lower still, 

 but this has happened before, and the summer crop of bloom 

 has not been much affected in the majority of kinds. Some of 

 the weaker growers are sure to die out after hard winters, and 

 this goes to prove tliat there are but few really reliable hardy 

 Roses that can be planted in those parts of New England 

 where arctic weather may be expected. A good coat of snow 

 is the best protection, and if tliis is absent we always put straw 

 round the roots, so that the plants may not be killed to the 

 ground. It is best to cut off all dead wood as soon as possible 

 before the sap begins to move and the buds to swell, pruning 

 off at the same time all weak and useless wood that would not 

 flower the coming season. We like to put on a sprinkling of 

 some good commercial fertilizer and liglitly dig it in after the 

 beds are raked over ; it helps to give the young buds a good 

 start, and brings fine Roses later as well as good wood for next 



