August 14, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



327 



cuttings in a botlom-heat of seventy-five degrees and soon 

 grows into a fair-sized plant. Tlie large cordate-ovate leaves 

 are dark green and the plant is erect in liabit. A compost of 

 two-tliirds loam, one-third leaf-mold, with a dash of sharp sand 

 and a little dried cow-manure well pulverized, seems to suit 

 it. Mealy bug is partial to this plant, for which a well-directed 

 force of water from the hose is the best remedy. Failing a 

 good water-supply, hand-sponging must be adopted. During 

 the winter months the plants should be kept moderately dry 

 at the roots. The end of February is a suitable time to repot 

 them. 



Pleroma macranthum. — During July and August, when green- 

 house flowers are comparatively few, the beautiful rich violet- 

 purple flowers of Pleroma macranthum, or Lasiandra macran- 

 thum, as it is also frequently called, are sure to command 

 attention. Although the individual flowers last but a brief 

 period, the plants continue to bloom for several weeks, and a 

 bushy plant in good flower is a beautiful object, its color be- 

 ing distinct from that of any other indoor plant. The propa- 

 gation of this species is of the easiest possible nature. Cut- 

 tings inserted in a moderate bottom-heat in early spring will 

 be well rooted in about ten days, and if potted on and pinched 

 as required they will make neat plants by flowering time. 

 Pleromas are seldom or never troubled with insect pests. 



Allamanda Hendersonii. — Thisis much the best summer-flow- 

 ering greenhouse climljer ; although blooming earlier and 

 more continuously in a stove temperature the flowers lack 

 the size, substance and fine clear yellow color of those grown 

 in a cooler structure. From July until November the plants 

 are smothered with bloom ; from November until early in 

 March we give our plants only sufficient water to keep them 

 from shriveling, pruning them back well before starting them 

 into growth. Well-established plants stand liberal feeding, and 

 a mulching of well-rotted manure after scraping away some of 

 the old surface soil will be appreciated. From soft-wood cut- 

 tings rubbed off with a heel and inserted in a sharp bottom- 

 heat, Allamandas are readily propagated, and they are not 

 specially fastidious as to compost so long as it is of a generous 

 nature. This season we tried a couple of small specimens 

 planted outdoors in a well-enriched border which gets the sun 

 nearly all day long. The plants have made excellent growth 

 and flowered freely. The Hovvers are rather more bronzy in 

 hue than when grown under glass, but are equal in size to any 

 greenhouse specimens. 



Taunton, Mass. IV. N. Craig. 



Notes on Crinums. 



r^RINUM PEDUNCULATUM, now in bloom, is a good e.\- 

 ^--^ ample of the star-flowered section of these plants. Crinums 

 differ materially, but may be divided broadly into two sections. 

 Firstly, those with columnar leafy bulbs, evergreen leaves, 

 and flowers with narrow strap-shaped petals forming star-like 

 flowers ; and, secondly, those with round or ovoid bulbs, 

 leaves deciduous generally and usually drooping flowers, 

 which are somewhat bell-shaped, with broad petals. C. pedun- 

 culatum has a bulb a foot or so in length, made up from the 

 bases of the long wide leaves. Like all Crinums, it requires 

 warmth and moisture in the growing season, and flowers 

 usually at this time, the thick peduncle springing from between 

 the leaves and bearing numerous flowers — eighteen or more. 

 These are while, star-shaped, .with upright purple stamens, 

 capped with brown anthers, the petals being narrow, chan- 

 neled and recurved. On the whole, this is a quaintly effective 

 plant. 



The species are rather numerous, and while they all have 

 certain merit, Crinums Moorei and Powelli are, beyond doubt, 

 the two most beautiful and valuable. C. Moorei, with its large 

 round bulb, long narrow neck and wide-spreading leaves, is a 

 very striking plant in the garden at any time. It blooms 

 with some regularity, having flowers of a most beau- 

 tiful shade of pink, of large size and fine form. C. Pow- 

 elli is a hybrid between C. Capense and C. Moorei, and 

 seems to be hardy here in a sheltered location without other 

 protection, as it has stood out two years. Last winter, l)eing 

 unusually severe, was a good test for uncertain bulbous 

 plants, and finished up C. Capense, which, to my thinking, was 

 not a great loss from the garden. C. Powelli has leaves dark 

 green and some three feet long at this time, the bulb showing 

 only a short neck. Later it will bloom with handsonie pink 

 flowers on tall stems. There is also a white-flowered form. With 

 deep, well-worked soil and generous cultivation this forms a 

 noble plant which will prove a treasure and ornament in any 

 garden. The Crinums with striped flowers, of which C. Kirkii 

 is a popular e.xaniple, do not seem to me entirely satisfactory. 



the reddish stripes usually being of a dull, unsatisfactory hue. 

 They are easily grown and tenacious of life if kept in a warm 

 dry place in winter. 

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



Two Good Kniphotias. 



"\ 1 TTfEN Kniphofia pauciflora was first described and figured 

 ''* in T/ie Gardeners' Chronicle it was stated that it had 

 flowered at the Royal Gardens, Kew, in May and again in Sep- 

 tember, and that, though it was not so gaudy as many of its 

 race, it would be a welcome plant if its disposition to flower 

 twice a year would be regular. Since the [ilant has become 

 more plentiful it has, indeed, proved a perpetual-flowering one. 

 Its principal time is April and May, but it comes on again by 

 the end of June, and for a third time in September. It has 

 narrow grassy leaves about a foot long ; the flower-stalks, 

 which come two or three from the same plant, reach a heiglit 

 of two feet, and the loose spikes, about six inches long, droop 

 .e:racefully ; the color of the flowers is a bright citron-yellow. 

 K. Natalensis was not thought much of when it made its first 

 appearance. The color of the spikes was greenish red and dull. 

 I have, however, found a few plants among a lot of 500 which 

 had very bright-colored flowers, and which have improved 

 since. The spike and flowers differ distinctly in shape from 

 other species. The spike is loose, very narrow, about one and 

 a half feet long, the flower slightly recurved and scarcely 

 showing the mouth of the corolla. The color is a mixture of 

 brick-red and rose, and is very striking. Both K. pauciflora 

 and K. Natalensis are well worth having. 



Baden-Baden, JMax Leichtlin. 



Hardy Perennial Plants. 



/^UR native purple Cone-flower, Echinacea purpurea, has 

 ^^ been pronounced by English authorities as one of the 

 stateliest and most effective composite plants which this coun- 

 try has given to European gardens, and, really, with its pro- 

 fuse and lasting flowers, its strong and vigorous growth, it is 

 always a striking plant in the perennial herbaceous border. 

 There is no reason why it should not be abundantly used, for 

 it grows readily from seed. Its flowers are large; its dark- 

 colored disks are somewhat conical in shape, giving the plant 

 its common name, and the rose-purple rays which droop from 

 it are two inches long. 



Another showy native plant which is now in bloom is the 

 Crimson Balm, Monarda didyma, a perennial of erect habit, 

 which reaches a height of three or four feet when it is well 

 grown, and bears bright red flowers. Although not often seen 

 in gardens, this is a familiar wild flower in some of our middle 

 states, where, along the shaded banks of streams, it often 

 covers large areas. Under good cultivation in rich soil it 

 reaches a much larger size than it does in its native habitat, 

 and its Mint-like fragrance and glowing color make it attractive 

 anywhere. Large masses of it are especially striking at this 

 season. Other native species of Monarda, with purplish flow- 

 ers, like M. fistulosa, or with bracts stained with purple and 

 yellow, like M. punctata, are good plants for the hardy garden, 

 but less striking than the Crimson Balm, which is also known 

 as Bee Balm and Crimson Bergamot. 



The perennial Sweet Peas, Lathyrus latifolius, seem to be 

 somewhat neglected now, perhaps because of the popularity 

 of the annual flowering Peas. But, although the perennial 

 species laclc fragrance, they are exceedingly valuable plants 

 for cutting, especially the variety Albus, which often carries 

 half a dozen flowers as white as snow on a single stem. The 

 variety Splendens should not be confounded with the beauti- 

 ful California species, L. splendens, which has never proved 

 happy in eastern gardens. This variety cannot be trusted to 

 come true from seed, but when propagated from cuttings it 

 can be easily reproduced. It resembles in habit the white 

 form, and its flowers are much brighter in color than the 

 ordinary rosy purple ones. 



A plant which has proved perfectly hardy witli me, although 

 classed in the books among half-hardy perennials, is the so- 

 called Whorl-Howsr, Morina longifolia, a native of the moun- 

 tains in Nepaul. The leaves are narrow, deeply cut and armed 

 with thistle-like spines. The tubular flowers are at first white, 

 changing to deep crimson, borne in whorls and forming a long 

 leafy spike. The glistening leaves and the varying color of 

 the flowers give the plant a very distinct appearance, anil it 

 will always attract notice, even in a choice collection of hardy 

 perennial plants. 



A more modest plant is Micromeria (Melissa) ru]5estris, a 

 half-shrubby perennial, which, in this climate, dies to the 

 ground every winter, but throws out numerous partially pros- 



