198 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 377. 



large lieart-shaped leaves six to ten inches across. Its rose- 

 colored Howers are produced in larfje panicles on stout stems 

 nearly a foot long. S. crassifolia is also in bloom, and is closely 

 allied lo the above. It has large, leathery, oblong leaves. The 

 flowers are of a reddish color, and are also produced in large 

 panicles on thick stalks eight to ten inches high. Both of the 

 above plants come from Siberia and are very hardy. They 

 are desirable for the rock garden, and if they have partial 

 shade their large bold leaves are not so much destroyed in 

 wmter. The soil they thrive best in is a light rich one, where 

 they make large healthy leaves, which are attractive when tlie 

 plants are not in bloom. 



The White Rock Cress, Arabis albida, is at its best now. We 

 use it in the front row of the herbaceous border, where its ra- 

 cemes of white fragrant flowers are seen to the best advantage. 



Phlox subulata, the Moss-pink of old-fashioned gardens, is 

 so full of bloom at this time that its leaves can hardly be seen. 

 It is an exceptionally good plant for a dry sunny border, and 

 seems to grow the best in the dry summer weather. 



Cambridge, Mass. Ji- Cameron. 



Begonias for Bedding Purposes. 



APART from the tuljerous-rooted Begonias there are sev- 

 eral species and varieties which, on account of their 

 handsome flowers and foliage are very suitable for the out- 

 door garden during the warm months. B. Evansiana, from 

 eastern Asia, is quite hardy in Washington, having stood out 

 in the Botanic Garden for the past thirty years. The roots, of 

 course, die out, but the little bulbils which form around the 

 axils of the leaves come up thickly in the spring and form nice 

 blooming plants in a few weeks. B. Evansiana is valuable 

 both for its leaves and flowers. The best of those valued for 

 their flowers alone is the old B. coccinea ; it stands the sun 

 well ; in fact, the more sun it gets the better it likes it. The 

 flowers are produced in large pendulous clusters, and, as the 

 specific name denotes, they are red ; the female flowersare the 

 showiest, lasting a long time in perfection. This species revels 

 in very rich soil ; large plants in small tubs when in flower — and 

 you scarcely ever see them without flowers — are very desirable 

 to place on lawns around a dwelling. The best manure is that 

 from the poultry-yard. Mix it up with equal parts of loam and 

 leaf-soil several weeks in advance of the time when it will be 

 required for use, spread it out and let the sun dry it thoroughly ; 

 this makes the plants put on a strong growth, producing a 

 wealth of bloom that is remarkable. 



The hybrid called President Carnot is a stronger grower, 

 standing the sun equally well ; it makes larger trusses of flowers 

 than Begonia coccinea, but not so many ot them, and it is more 

 serviceable as a winter bloomer. B. carolinitefolia, a species 

 forming a thick succulent stem, is good for its old palmate 

 leaves. B. Weltoniensis and B. Dregei are free bloomers when 

 planted in partial shade ; they need open soil and must be kept 

 watered. B. Vernon sometimes does admirably, but it is an 

 erratic grower here. This variety comes true from seed, the 

 seedlings blooming when only a few weeks old. 



Begonia Erfordia? is by far the best of the recent introduc- 

 tionsfor bedding, and it has proved itself a first-rate acquisition 

 during the two seasons I have tried it ; there are two colors 

 among plants of it raised from seed, a clear pink and a creamy 

 white ; the pink is the most valuable, as tliere are other whites 

 superior to this. B. Erfordia; may be said to flower itself to 

 death, as cuttings of the flowering wood are next to useless ; 

 they continue flowering without making side-shoots. It seeds 

 freely, however, and should be included among the plants for 

 spring sales bv those who grow bedding-plants. B. Wettsteinii 

 has coccinea blood in it, although it is a more fragile grower. 

 B. Diadema, in a slightly shaded place, makes a nice display 

 with its white spotted leaves, and B. alba-picta is good for the 

 same purpose. Among the creeping varieties, B. scandens 

 does well when grown in good soil and kept watered ; the flow- 

 ers of this species are snow-white, very small, but they appear 

 in trreat numbers. 



Botanic Garden, Wasliington. Lr. iV. UllVCr. 



Bedding Out. — Where much summer bedding is done the 

 planting-out season is always a busy time, and much time is 

 saved by having the designs and planting plans all ready before- 

 hand. The principal points to be observed are the tasteful 

 blending of colors and the most agreeable contrasts. The 

 selection of plants will be largely determined by the location 

 and size of tlie beds and borders. If the borders and beds, for 

 example, have a background, or if they are situated so that the 

 plants are intended to form a screen to break an undesirable 

 view, the plants for the back row should be tall. The best 

 effect would then undoubtedly be obtained by planting in lines 



lowering gradually toward the front. If the borders are near 

 the margin of a lawn where the view should not be obstructed, 

 a better effect is obtained by having a groundwork of one kind 

 of plants with other sorts planted through it in masses. Plants 

 of the medium dwarf sorts may be used instead of regular 

 carpet-bedding kinds, which are apt to look too squatty in a 

 border. 



Beds must also be filled with plants corresponding to their 

 size and position. Those at a distance in prominent positions 

 require something large and showy, and for this purpose 

 Cannas are most admirably adapted. A mass of the scarlet 

 Madame Crozy, with a border of Caladium esculentum gives a 

 good effect, while for those nearer the walks low-growing plants 

 should be chosen. It sometimes happens that beds are placed 

 in a shady position, in which case soft-wooded or flowering 

 plants would be far from satisfactory, but such plants as 

 Yuccas and Agaves should be used, the tallest plants being 

 placed in the centre, and the others graduating to the edge, 

 finished with a border of low-growing Echeverias. 



Tarrytown. N. Y. William Scott. 



Nymphsea Laydekeri rosea. — This is one of the best of 

 the small-flowering Water-lilies for general use either as 

 an ornamental plant or for cut flowers. While it grows as 

 freely as any of the other kinds, it has baffled all attempts at 

 propagation, so far as known. The plant keeps on growing 

 from the same crown, forming a thick succulent stem, the 

 lower part of which is continually decaying as the top makes 

 new growths. I have tried to increase it in various ways, but 

 never have succeeded in even starting a lateral growth, and 

 the worst of it is, the plant usually dies if it is disturbed too 

 much. I have killed four plants already, and am as far from 

 a solution of the problem as ever. Several other people have 

 tried to propagate it, with like results. It sometimes produces 

 seeds, but they do not come true. I am inclined to believe 

 that the best way to raise it is to cross-fertilize the two parents 

 every time seed is wanted, and thereby renew it in the same 

 manner in which it was originally produced. Its parents are 

 said to be the Chinese Nymphaea pygmasa, fertilized with pol- 

 len from the pink variety of N. alba. I am the more inclined 

 to believe these to be its parents, because, for want of the 

 flowers of the last-named kind, I have tried pollen of a dark 

 form of N. odorata rosea on flowers of N. pygmaea with suc- 

 cessful results. The flowers of this hybrid are nearly of the 

 same color as those of N. Laydekeri rosea ; there are more 

 petals to the flower and the shape is more star-like. 



Botanic Garden, Washington. G. IV. OllVCr. 



Correspondence. 



Notes from a West Virginia Garden. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Among many shrubs now in bloom at Rose Brake, 

 Xanthoceros sorbifolia (see Garden and Forest, vol. vi., p. 

 285) is the most beautiful. It is now a compact bush, five feet in 

 height and is covered with its delicate blossoms, as large as 

 those of the Weigelia. They are pure white, with centres of a 

 pale greenish lemon color when they first open, and gradually 

 deepening to a peculiar shade of deep red. The Xanthroceros 

 remains in bloom a week or ten days, according to the weather, 

 and is a very showy and striking acquisition to our list of hardy 

 shrubs. The foliage is well developed at present only on the 

 lower limbs. It resembles that of the Mountain Ash, as its 

 specific name indicates, but is darker and more glossy. The 

 habit of the shrub is graceful and compact, so that it is attrac- 

 tive at all seasons and should have a place of honor in the 

 garden. I wish some one would give it a prettier name. 



The wild garden and the rockery are now most interesting. 

 Two varieties of Senecio are flowering, both native to 

 our woods. These are the interesting S. aureus (Squaw- 

 weed), with its beautiful purple-lined leaves and heads of 

 showy yellow composite flowers and its taller variety, obova- 

 tus. Phlox subulata is still flowering, and P. divaricata is 

 very pretty now in the woods, but, though easy to transplant, 

 it does not flourish in the heavy clay soil of our garden. It is 

 not an aggressive plant and is easily discouraged by the en- 

 croachments of grass or perennials of strong growth. It seems 

 to require the rich loam, partial shade and leaf-mulching of 

 open woodlands for its best development. It is such a charm- 

 ing plant that it is a pity we cannot give it the conditions it 

 requires. It seems to me the most refined and pleasing of all 

 the Phloxes. (P. divaricata was flgured in Garden and Forest, 

 vol. vii., p. 256. — Ed.) 



Veronica Buxbaumi is a bright-eyed, cheerful little plant, 



