3^4 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 394. 



Florida westward to New Mexico, Arizona, tlie Sierra Ne- 

 vada IVEountains and adjacent portions of northern 

 Mexico.* 



Salix Bonplandiana, HBK. — Found growing in a cafion 

 near Tucson, at ttie base of tlie Santa Cataiina Mountains, 

 by Professors Sargent and Toumey, 1894, not before Itnown 

 to occur north of ]\'Iexico. Professor Toumey writes that it 

 is "a frequent tree in the cations and along the washes in 

 the foot-hills throughout southern Arizona. The bark is dark 

 gray and very rough, more so than that of Salix nigra. I see 

 no reason why this Willow should not extend north as far 

 as the great rim which separates the southern plains from 

 the Colorado plateau. The leaves of the previous year do 

 not fall until the flowers of the following spring are fully 

 out." This habit of the aments appearing in the axils of 

 the leaves of the preceding year's growth is one taken on 

 more or less by all Willows which invade warm countries, 

 but it is particularly noticeable in the case of S. Bon- 

 plandiana. 



Rockford, 111. M. S. Bcbu. 



Foreign Correspondence. 

 London Letter. 



I HAVE just returned from visiting some of the great 

 gardens of Scotland and have brought home with 

 me memories of the delightful and distinct phases of plant- 

 life that luxuriate in that cool and moist climate, and 

 which we cannot attain to in the south. The most 

 striking effects one sees on the great estates are those pro- 

 duced by the Chilian Tropteolum speciosum, wlrich 

 brightens the walls of almost every cottage with a mantle 

 of intense vermilion blossoms, which are not infrequently 

 intermingled with the yellow Canary creeper, a charming 

 mixture. And all this beauty is obtained with little or no 

 trouble, as the moist climate is exactly adapted to the 

 plants; yet we in the south do all we can to coax the 

 Chilian native into healthy growth, generally with but 

 indifferent success. We sometimes succeed by planting it 

 against a wall facing north, where, of course, it is always 

 in shade ; but it wants sun and a moist cool atmosphere. 

 This is one of the most attractive plants in Scotch gardens 

 in August, but a host of others that like similar conditions 

 help to make the gardens gay. Violas especially flourish 

 to perfection, and marvelous collections, as those in Forbes' 

 nursery garden at Harwich, produce color-effects that 

 few other plants are capable of. Roses are flowering as 

 luxuriantly now in the north as with us in the middle of 

 July, and many of the open air plants that here are past 

 before August sets in are in perfection there now. It is 

 thus easier to obtain the best color-effects in August and 

 September in the north than it is in the south. 



To relieve the monotony of the shrub-border during the 

 flowerless period is no easy matter, but lately I have seen 

 somehappy results from introducing some of the bolder types 

 of perennials in a thinly planted shrubbery. This week I 

 saw a mass of Verbascum phlomoides, with its dense col- 

 umns of pale yellow bloom, from eight to ten feet high, 

 rising out of a mass of Spiraeas which, since their flower 

 time, were an insipid group. I have rarely seen so striking 

 an effect. Other instances of brightening shrubberies 

 were made by groups of the tall Aconitum autumnale, 

 eight feet high, single-flowered Hollyhocks, various Amer- 

 ican Helianthuses, Cimicifuga racemosa and the taller 

 Solidagos, all of which are suitable for combining with 

 shrubbery if planted in sufficiently bold masses. In some 

 of the Scotch vi'oods I saw, beneath the great ruddy boles 

 of Scotch Pines, broad, spreading masses of the Evening 

 Primrose, CEnothera Lamarckiana. The effect of this 

 golden glow of color in the shade was most pleasing. 



It is sometimes a difficult thing to make shrubberies 

 attractive after midsummer, and until some fortunate dis- 



* The typical Sali.Y occidentalis is Cuban, and niarlced mainly by being more or 

 less cinereous-pubescent, but forms of var. lonpjipes from southern Florida 

 {= forma gori^ylocarpa, Andersson) present an e\ident transition from the more 

 norlhern var. iongipes to the West Indian type. 



covery is made of autumn-flowering shrubs we must trust 

 for flowers among them to the methods already described. 

 We have, indeed, a few late summer-flowering shrubs, as 

 Hydrangea paniculata, which is especially effective when 

 associated with some tiright-tinted shrubs. I have just seen 

 a large mass of it, the clusters of bloom a foot in length, 

 with a broad margin of that lovely new Spira?a, Anthony 

 Waterer, the most brilliant form of the Spiraea Japonica. 

 In a garden on the south coast I recently saw the crimson 

 Fuchsia Riccartoni taking the place of the Spirtea with the 

 happiest result. 



These combinations of different colors of shrubs and 

 flowers are valuable in proportion to the harmony of their 

 various tints. If women, with their acute taste in matters 

 of color, possessed a broad knowledge of plants they would 

 be among the most successful practitioners in gardening of 

 this kind. In some formal garden beds beautiful effects 

 are obtained here from masses of Carnations of harmoniz- 

 nig tints. A strong cf)mbination recently noticed was of 

 pure white and chrome -yellow carnations, the great 

 mass of these flowers surrounded by a broad band 

 of the scented oak-leaved Pelargonium, its foliage just the 

 right tone of green to combine with the yellow and white. 

 Great improvements have been made in artistic and deco- 

 rative gardening during the past few years in England, 

 much of which is due to the good examples in public parks, 

 and public taste has also been considerably influenced to 

 an appreciation of proper color-schemes by the displays in 

 Kevi' Gardens. Private gardeners come a distance of sev- 

 eral hundred miles to visit the national garden and to 

 carry into practice in private gardens the suggestions 

 received here. The result is that the rows of scarlets, 

 yellows, blues and similar crude and painful mixtures are 

 giving way to more pleasing combinations. 



It is now a common remark that there is a picturesque 

 Kew' and a scientific Kew, and I have never heard any one 

 venture an opinion that the more decorative element has 

 in any way interfered with the strictly botanical one. 

 Kew. W. Goldring. 



Plant Notes. 



LiRioDENDRON TULiPiFERA. — At this seasou, whcn the foli- 

 age of many trees begins to grow dull, the broad glossy 

 leaves of the Tulip-tree are conspicuous for their cleanness 

 and purity of color. It has been urged against this tree 

 that many of its leaves fall in late summer and early 

 autumn, not in sufficient numbers to injure the appearance 

 of the tree, but enough to litter up the grass and make a 

 lawn untidy. The fact seems to be that in very dry 

 weather the tree has the habit of allowing part of its leaves 

 to ripen and fall, so that those which remain are abun- 

 dantly supplied with moisture and keep their freshness 

 until autumn, when they all turn to a pure light yellow, 

 which makes a pleasing contrast to the deeper colors of 

 the Oaks and Maples. The tree itself is one of the largest 

 in our forests, not infrequently reaching a height of one 

 hundred and fifty feet, and specimens whose trunks girth 

 twenty to twenty-five feet, breast-high, are still to be seen. 

 The tall, straight and massive trunk of a forest-grown 

 Tulip-tree, with ashy color, fine texture and regular ridges 

 and furrows of its bark, is not excelled in grandeur by any 

 feature of our woods. A tree growing in the open fields, 

 well furnished with branches to the ground, is equally 

 beautiful, and in any situation it justifies the judgment of 

 Downing that this is the most stately of our forest-trees. 

 When comparatively young it is a tree of great refinement 

 of expression, and it is one of the very best of trees for 

 avenue planting, and its Tulip-like flowers add to its beauty 

 in June. The common name, Tulip Poplar, is possibly 

 derived from the fact that its leaves, borne on long slender 

 petioles, quiver in the wind like those of the Aspen. 

 Although it was introduced into England two centuries 

 and a quarter ago, and has been largely planted in Europe, 

 very few garden varieties have become established. The 



