:i6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 389. 



coral, and a pale yellow within. The foliage is more thin 

 and open than that of Clematis crispa, so that the plant is 

 not as useful as some other species where a thick screen is 

 desired. But this peculiarity of habit makes it specially 

 useful for planting among shrubs, as it climbs through and 

 over them without covering them up and smothering them. 

 Our common C. Virginiana never looks so well as when it 

 garlands and festoons wayside shrubbery, but C. coccinea 

 has quite a different effect in such a situation, as the long 

 stems hold the bright flowers well out from the foliage of 

 the bushes among whose branches it rambles. We know 

 a plant of this Clematis which for at least ten years has 

 been growing among some Viburnums, and the group is 

 brightened by its flowers from early July until after hard 

 frosts, for it is one of the striking merits of this plant that, 

 while it bears flowers somewhat sparsely, it produces them 

 continuously throughout the season. 



CuRMERiA Wallisii. — This is a very compact Aroid with 

 ornamental leaves, and as a stove ornamental plant can 

 hardly be excelled for neatness of habit and beauty of 

 foliage. The broadly ovate-lanceolate leaves are of a deep 

 velvety green, with silvery gray and yellow blotches par- 

 allel with the secondary veins. The spathe is quite incon- 

 spicuous, being of a yellowish white color, shorter than the 

 spreading leaves. The plant grows to a height of eight or 

 ten inches, forming a mass of foliage from underground 

 stems. It requires heat and moisture for its full develop- 

 ment. It grows well in a mixture of peat, sphagnum-moss 

 and broken pieces of cow-manure, preferably in a close 

 atmosphere. The propagation by means of division or by 

 pieces of the short fleshy rhizome is slow, but easy. The 

 plant, although too tender for general use, makes a fine 

 object for table decoration. 



I 



Cultural Department. 



Hardy Perennials. 



N the front row of the mixed border, and also in the rock- 

 garden here, are large patches of Sedum stoloniferum 

 thickly covered with pink blossoms. This is an exceptionally 

 good Sedum and makes a bright display at this time. It is a 

 prostrate plant, and the part of the stem that creeps along on 

 the ground is without leaves, and roots at almost every node. 

 Tiie upright stem is about six inches high, has opposite spath- 

 ulate leaves, which are coarsely toothed above the middle, and 

 they are about one inch and a half long. The pretty pink flowers 

 are three-fourths of an inch in diameter and are borne in ter- 

 minal cymes, which measure three inches across. It is a 

 native of the Caucasus, and is perfectly hardy here without 

 any sort of protection whatever. A good position for this 

 Sedum is a sunny place in the rock-garden or the front row 

 of the mixed herbaceous border. It is not particular about 

 soil, but the most vigorous plants here, and those that pro- 

 duce the most flowers, are in a light, sandy soil, where they 

 get plenty of sunlight all day. Another point in its favor is 

 that it readily endures long periods of dry weather. The plants 

 are easily increased. Every small piece has plenty of roots 

 and will soon grow into a large specimen. This species has 

 had several specific names and is figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine under the nameS. spurium. 



Another good Stonecrop in liloom now is Sedum Kamt- 

 schaticum, a prostrate plant with stems six or eight inclies 

 long, and oblong-obovate deep green leaves. The yellow 

 flowers, which are three-fourths of an inch across, are in ter- 

 minal cymes and are plentiful. It is quite hardy and grows 

 well in any ordinary garden soil, but, like S. stoloniferuin, it 

 does best in a sunny position. 



The Japanese Stonecrop, Sedum Maximowiczii, is an erect 

 species and a good herbaceous plant. It is about fifteen inches 

 high and its stems are terminated with large spreadmg cymes 

 of yellow flowers, which are produced abundantly either in sun 

 or shade. 



A small bed of Campanula pusilla alba attracts special atten- 

 tion at this time. The dark green leaves of this handsome 

 dwarf Harebell make a thick carpet, and from it rise slender 

 stems four or five inches high, with pendulous, pure white, 

 bell-shaped flowers, which are borne in goodly numbers and 

 make a fine contrast against the foliage. It is a useful plant 

 for the rock-garden when in a slightly shaded position and 



not too dry. It increases readily, either by division or when 

 grown from seed. 



A few days ago, at the Shady Hill Nursery, Bedford, Massa- 

 chusetts, I saw a large bed ot Campanula Carpathica. As is 

 well known, this Harebell produces more or less flowers dur- 

 ing the entire summer. The bed, completely covered with 

 flowers, suggested the advisability of using this as a bedding 

 plant. Large plants in the borders are flowering profusely. 

 The flowers are large, cup-shaped, and are borne on stems ten 

 inches high. It is one of our best border plants, growing well 

 in a light rich soil, away from the shade of trees. Seeds are 

 produced in great abundance, and a stock of seedlings can 

 readfly be raised. Several good varieties of this species have 

 been distinguished ; some of them have pale blue flowers, and 

 one has pure white ones. As tlie varieties do not always 

 come true from seed they should be increased, either by divi- 

 sion of the roots or from cuttings. 



A large bed of Platycodon grandiflorum is especially. attrac- 

 tive at this time. It is sometimes named Campanula grandi- 

 flora, and was figured under this name in the Botanical Mag- 

 azine. It has beautiful, large, dark blue flowers, and some of 

 the visitors to the garden compare their color to that of Cle- 

 matis Jackmanni. We find this one of the easiest hardy 

 perennials to grow. It requires no protection in winter, not 

 even a covering of leaves. In vol. vi., p. 346, of Garden and 

 Forest, Mr. Watson calls attention to P. grandiflorum, and 

 says it is of questionable hardiness, and if the weather is 

 severe in winter it perishes at Kew. This must be from some 

 other cause than its inability to endure cold, because plants 

 that are less than one year old can stand zero weather without 

 protection here. Platycodons produce seeds very abundantly, 

 and from these young plants are readily raised. Plants that 

 were grown from seed sown last March are blooming now and 

 have good-sized flowers, considering that the stems are only 

 six inches high. In raising plants from seed one gets a num- 

 ber of different forms. Some come with semi-double flowers, 

 while others are a whitish color, and many of them are of dif- 

 ferent shades of blue. The typical color is dark blue. P. gran- 

 diflorum is an old plant and vi'as introduced in 1782. It has 

 thick, long, fleshy roots, and full-grown plants carry six or 

 more stems, which vary in height, some being a yard high. 

 The tallest are better for being staked. The foliage is dark 

 green. The flowers are from two to three inches across, and 

 are produced in clusters at the ends of the branches. A deep 

 rich soil and a position where they will not get too dry in sum- 

 mer seems to suit the Platycodons in our garden. 



Large plants of Cimicifuga racemosa, or, as it is sometimes 

 called. Black Snakeroot, are conspicuous with their long, 

 feathery racemes of white blossoms. The variety dissecta 

 is also in flower, but the only difference between the two is in 

 the leaves. The leaves of the variety are more deeply cut 

 tlian they are in the type. 



Harvard Botanic Garden. R. Cameron. 



Some July Flowers. 



T^WOSPATHED flowers of the Spotted Calla are very com- 

 -*• mon, but last week I found two examples of abnormal 

 growth which I have never seen or heard of before. The 

 stems in these cases, instead of being solid, were like tubes not 

 grown together all round, but with two edges folded in from 

 the spathe to the ground, as though the stalk had been flat, 

 about an inch broad originally, and then the edges folded 

 inward, one lapping a little over the other; the inside of this 

 imperfect tulje being white, just like the spathe itself. One of 

 the two specimens had two spathes, but, as in other " double" 

 Callas, only one spadix. 



Galtonia princeps is now in bloom ; it is smaller in all its 

 parts than G. candicans, and its flowers are greenish white. 

 On the whole, it is hardly worth growing by those who care 

 only for conspicuous display, but it has a distinctness about it 

 which will secure for it a place in my garden for some time at 

 least. Its chief deviation from the pattern of G. candicans is 

 that its flowers are produced in a head or umbel, and not in 

 the form of a spike. According to the Genera Plantarum, 

 there are but two species of Galtonia, but there is a third, G. 

 clavata, a crreen-flowered species, which is figured in the 

 Botanical Magazine, t. 6S85. 



I take great pleasure in forcing Galtonia candicans ; a bulb 

 planted in a five-inch pot in December will flower finely in 

 March, and will attain as stately a growth as those grown out- 

 of-doors. It is somewhat singular that bulbs taken from the 

 ground in October, and started after only two months' rest, 

 will bloom as early as those wliich were forced last season and 

 dried oft" in May. 



Littonia modesta, which is commonly treated as a green- 



