358 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 393. 



observer, though (hey possess both grace of habit and distinct- 

 ness of foHage. They make much litier in the garden, and 

 it is quite late in tlie summer before they show their effective- 

 ness. Wliatever tliey may prove to be out-of-doors, they cer- 

 tainly make good decorative plants if grown under glass, where 

 they are suited with conditions under which Palms thrive. 



Crotons are plants which flourish in dampness and heat. 

 They have been so much recommended for bedding lately 

 that I plunged out a few plants to fill a bed which had been 

 used for spring-flowering bulbs, fn full sunshine they have 

 grown well and made good foliage, but this has not Ijecome 

 as highly colored as could be desired, and they would evi- 

 dently be better in a hotter season. However, it is evident 

 that they are desirable and effective plants in such a position. 

 Their special drawback would be their care duritig winter, as 

 they require storage in warmth such as can only be had in a 

 greenhouse, while a tropical house would suit them better. 



Cultural successes often depend on conditions which one 

 fails to note in his rules. One of the friends who responded 

 to my request for cultural notes for Gloriosa superba, kindly 

 accompanied the note with a fine specimen of the tubers as 

 produced l>y him. Evidently the tuber is the thing. With a 

 strong root the culture is simplicity itself, and where formerly 

 with small tubers 1 had no Howers, with the large ones, imder 

 the same conditions, this quaint fdalabar Lily Howers as freely 

 as can be desired, without any special conditions in the green- 

 fiouse fairly well ventilated but ratlier moist usually. A col- 

 lection of plants is well calculated to keep one thinking on 

 cultural requisites. It often happens when one has con- 

 cluded that he understands all about growing certain sorts 

 which have heretofore come along as certainly as Pusley, these 

 same plants refuse, for some occult reason, to prosper. At 

 about the same time someotherone, which has.a reputation for 

 confounding the most skillful growers, will start up and flower 

 beautifully, and the perplexed gardener can only conclude 

 that the plants do most of their own growing and owe very 

 little to him. 

 Elizabeth, N.J. /. A'. Gerard. 



Rosa Wichuraiana. — This creeping single-flowered white 

 Rose, which has been so largely used about Boston for covering 

 slopes, mounds and the like, is adapted to many other pur- 

 poses. A two-year-old plant at the home of Mr. C. A. Dana, 

 on Long Island, has been trained on an arch at least seven feet 

 liigh. The plant was put in at one side of the arch only ; it 

 has already covered the woodwork all round with a dense 

 growth, and the points of the growing shoots take root firmly 

 on the opposite side as they reach the ground. It evidently 

 flowers more profusely in this position tiian when allowed to 

 trail along the ground. Some spev;imens of this Rose which I 

 saw at Kew, planted on a sunny slope, did not appear to be 

 making mucli headway ; this was, perhaps, owing to the very 

 dry weather they have experienced there recently. In the 

 Botanic Garden here plants one year old from cuttings 

 cover a space of about twenty square feet and flower very 

 freely. This Rose should certainly have a trial in every gar- 

 den. Cuttings of half-ripened wood from outdoor plants put 

 in damp sand about this time in a shady spot, and covered with 

 a few large panes of glass, will soon take root. In fact, it is 

 one of the easiest of Roses to root. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. IV. Oliver. 



The Faxon Squash.— For two seasons we have been culti- 

 vating this variety, wliich is also known here as the Brazilian 

 Squash, and find it for summer use superior to either the 

 Summer Crookneck or Scallop Squash, and for winter of 

 equally good quality with tlie Hubljard at its best. It is not 

 large, but bears well, and is easily prepared for cooking on 

 account of its soft sl;in. It is a good keeper, too. It may not 

 behave everywhere as well as here, but with us it is a decided 

 acquisition. 



Fruilvale, Calil. H. G. P. 



Two Blue-ffowered Annuals. — Browallia speciosa major has 

 flowers of much the same color as the well-known B. elata, 

 although containing, perhaps, a trifle more of purple, but they 

 are much larger and the plant makes one of the showiest an- 

 nuals imaginal.ile. To do it well the seed ought to be sown 

 indoors and pricked off into boxes, so that when planting-out 

 time arrives the seedlings will be in an advanced condition. 

 Lobelia heterophylla resemljles an upright-growing L. erinus, 

 with few branches and flowers of the same color as that popular 

 species, and about one and a half mches in diameter. If planted 

 closely together the effect of these plants when in bloom is tell- 

 ing. Altogether, it is one of the prettiest blue-flowered an- 

 nuals in cultivation. 



Euphorbia hasmatodes. — This is one of the handsomest of the 

 dark-foliaged plants for outdoor decoration. The leaves are 

 almost round, dark claret-color above, paler beneath. During 

 the summer it will grow to a height of about two feet. It is 

 useful as a contrasting color to some of the variegated grasses, 

 and is just what is needed for planting in situations where a 

 good supply of water is not available, as it does not seem to 

 suffer from drought in the least. In propagating from cut- 

 tings, as many of the leaves as possible should be left on the 

 pieces, as they seem to give nourishment to the cutting until it 

 sends forth one or two tiny roots ; they should then be carefully 

 taken from the sand and put, say, half a dozen round the edge 

 of a five-inch pot, and shifted into three-inch pots as soon as 

 they make a little growth. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. G. VV. O. 



Correspondence. 

 The Flower Garden at Wellesley. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A special feature of this garden, and one not usually 

 found, is the use of many rare, and often valuable, plants. 

 The garden is surrounded by a hedge, and facing one of the 

 openings is a bed of mixed plants. Some of these are her- 

 baceous and bloom early in the season, such as Delphiniums, 

 Foxgloves and Canterbury Bells, the colors blending harmo- 

 niously, and they are most effective when seen in lines. A 

 row ot mixed Hollyhocks follows later, the season being wound 

 up with a goodly variety of herbaceous Phloxes. The nu- 

 merous interspaces are tilled with summer-flowering plants — 

 Celosias, Zinnias, Amaranths, Daturas, Cannas, Marigolds, 

 Sunflowers, Antirrhinums, Petunias, Salvias and a host of 

 other showy plants. Inside the path which circles the garden 

 are a number of beds. Many contain commonplace plants, 

 but always used with a true artist's knowledge of the proper 

 blending of colors, for which Mr. Harris, the gardener, has a 

 well-deserved reputation. 



The " Tropical" bed is just now one mass of foliaged plants, 

 relieved only, but quite elfeclively, by a few plants of Cleome 

 pungens, a showy annual, which, although coming from the 

 West Indies, has proved hardy here. The variety of plants 

 used are Abutilons, Daturas, Eucalyptus, Castor-beans, Aloca- 

 sias and Wigandias. 



The Phormium bed probably could not be duplicated any- 

 where in the United States. P. tenax is the well-known New 

 Zealand Flax. It has large coriaceous sword-like leaves nearly 

 six feet long arising from a common root-stock in the same 

 way as those of the common Iris. It belongs to the Lily 

 fan'iily. Both known species are here represented. P. tenax 

 is the strongest grower and the best known, attaining the 

 height of six feet or more. P. Cookianum (P. Colensoi) is rarer 

 in cultivation, and characterized by more or less drooping 

 leaves with entire tips. The variegated form is here shown, 

 which is said to make an elegant pot-plant. P. tenax Veitchi- 

 anum, also a variegated form, is thedwarfest of all, not more 

 than three feet tall ; it is a very compact grower. The whole 

 bed is appropriately etlged with Chlorophytum (Anthericum) 

 elatum variegatum. 



The Grass bed is another interesting feature, and, if not the 

 brightest, it is certainly one of the most attractive in the gar- 

 den, not excepting the succulent bed. Here the giant among 

 Grasses, Arundo Donax, looms up twelve feet tall. It is quite 

 hardy, but the variegated form is not. The green, striped and 

 barred forms of Mischanthus Sinensis (Eulalia Japonica) and 

 also Eulalia univiitata, var. gracillima, are all in pleasing con- 

 trast. Papyrus Antiquorum stands out in bold relief, and along 

 the edge of the bed another dwarfer and more graceful kind 

 of Papyrus, yet unnamed, Panicum plicatum, with, compara- 

 tively, broad deeply furrowed, recurving leaves, makes a very 

 beautiful edging. 



There is a remarkably healthy bed of Clothilde Soupert 

 Rose which endured (he last winter successfully. This is the 

 handsomest of all the Polyantha Roses, and nearly a perpetual 

 bloomer. 



A bed of Lantanas is worthy of note, if only on account of 

 the age and size of many of the specimens. They are all 

 trimmed into neat bushes. Some of the larger ones are nearly 

 twenty years old, while many of the smaller ones, not more 

 than eighteen inches high, are from eight to ten years old. 

 The water-tank is an attraction which must not be omitted. It 

 is a circular basin, with a vase on stilts, over which a small 

 fountain plays. In the vase is a plant of the water Milfoil, 

 Myriophyllum proserpinacoides, from Chili. Its long, grace- 

 fully drooping stems are clothed with finely divided verticil- 



