September ii, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



367 



monest fall-flowering perennials. It is an erect plant with 

 stout stems twelve to eighteen inches high, and has broad 

 glaucous leaves. The rosy purple flowers are produced in 

 broad corymbs at the ends of the stems, and they last for sev- 

 eral weeks. S. spectabile grows fairly well in shaded posi- 

 tions, but it does best in a sunny place. It will grow in almost 

 any kind of garden-soil, but it produces larger corymbs and 

 broader and longer glaucous leaves when given a deep rich 

 soil. 



Catananche ciurulea is a south Europe Composite which has 

 been flowering very freely for several weeks. The flower- 

 heads are blue, and borne singly on stalks which are nearly 

 two feet long. The flowers are produced plentifully on strong 

 healthy plants, and they last well when cut. There is a form 

 in bloom now which has flowers of a blue and wliite color, 

 and is known as C. bicolor. Both are good border plants and 

 grow in any ordinary garden-soil. In spring they are easily 

 raised from seed, and the plants bloom the following summer. 



Harvard Botanic Garden. -ff. Cameron. 



GEUM MONTANUM, a European species of Avens, is con- 

 spicuous in late spring with its wealth of large, bright 

 yellow erect flowers, each an inch and a half across, borne on 

 long leafy stems well above its tufted dark green foliage. In 

 ordinary soils the plant thrives well and blooms abundantly, 

 forming broad, slowly spreading tufts. 



Geum miniatum is a charming plant, growing nine to fifteen 

 inches high and producing bright glowing orange flowers in 

 few-flowered clusters, each individual flower being about 

 three-fourths of an inch in diameter. The plant forms a low- 

 tufted mass of light green foliage and thrives well in all situa- 

 tions tried. G. coccineum, or Chiloense, cannot be trusted 

 either in its typical forms or its double and various-colored 

 varieties in the neighborhood of Boston, owing to spring 

 rot. 



Most of the Oriental Poppies are through blooming by early 

 July, and the Iceland and Alpine Poppies are not happy in the 

 scorching summer months, except in cool situations. A spe- 

 cies, therefore, that will carry on the bloom during this inter- 

 val is especially desirable, and Papaver strictum fills the 

 requirements. A native of the higher portions of the Altai 

 Mountains, it forms with us a many-stemmed plant of dense 

 growth, with densely hairy, glaucous foliage and branched 

 flower-stems rising to a height of eighteen inches, with a con- 

 stant succession of saffron or eleep flesh-colored flowers, mak- 

 ing a brave daily show up to noon on hot days and continuing 

 to bloom until mid-Septemljer. Though hardly adapted for 

 cutting, on account of its fugacious petals, as a border plant 

 it is unique. It has proved a good perennial and perfectly 

 hardy. I first had it under the name of P. croceum, but im- 

 portations of P. strictum seed from a reliable source pro- 

 duced the identical plant. 



Malva alcea, the Hollyhock Mallow, bears flowers of a clear 

 rich pink, devoid of any traces of purple. Plants which pro- 

 duce flowers of medium size and in succession are not 

 comfnon in gardens, and therefore this is a desirable species. 

 It is of European origin, making a large, broad, densely 

 branched bush, four to five feet high and as much through. 

 Itcomes into Ijloom in early Juneand continues up to late Sep- 

 tember. Individual flowers are an inch and a half across, of rich 

 clear pink, and borne in clusters on every branchlet. It is so 

 seldom that catalogue promises of persistently flowering plants 

 are fulfilled in actual practice that I am glad to say that there 

 has not been a day between the dates named when I have not 

 been able to pick an abundant quantity of flowers from a sin- 

 gle specimen of this plant in my border. 



As I saw Geranium armenum last year both at Geneva 

 and Brussels, as well as in Kew Gardens, it seemed the best 

 of all the species of Cranesbill. The plant formed a vigorous 

 clump, with good foliage and showy flowers, which were borne 

 in flat clusters. Each flower was about an inch across and of 

 a brilliant red color. This is said to be a constant bloomer, 

 even into the fall. 



Echinacea angustifolia is now in perfection, forming mod- 

 erately bushy, self-supporting plants some two to three feet 

 high. In many respects this species is preferable to E. pur- 

 purea, the purple Cone-flower, since its petals do not recurve 

 as they do in tlie latter species. The flowers are three inches 

 or more in diameter, well opened, and vary in color from rich 

 purple to pure white in its various forms. The stems are 

 long and slender, not as stiff as in E. purpurea, and much 

 better adapted in consequence for cutting purposes. The 

 species is a native of Wisconsin and southwards and blooms 

 from July to Septemlaer. 



The double Wliite Campion, Lychnis vespertina, until late 



years seems to have been quite lost to cultivation. We are 

 indebted to Europe for the ordinary single form, where it is a 

 common meadow plant. The flowers are pure white, an inch 

 and a half across, very double and quite fragrant during the 

 early evening hours. The plant has a compact bushy habit, 

 about two feet high, and consists largely of flower-stems. In 

 good soils, where there is little danger of drought, it is in con- 

 stant bloom from early June to late .September. No plant in 

 my entire collection gives more general satisfaction than this. 

 The only weak point that I can name is that when severely 

 affected by drought tlie foliage becomes infested with a rust, 

 which, however, does not injure the flowers. The remedy of 

 good culture is so simple that this disease is of little moment. 

 Reading, Mass. J- IVoodwaril Manning. 



Cannas. 



T^EW bedding plants give as much satisfaction as the modern 

 -"■ French Canna. Cannas are easily cared for in winter, 

 easily started in spring, and with good, rich soil are almost a 

 certain success. The general cliaracteristics of the florists' 

 Canna are so well marked that, although scores of new varie- 

 ties are introduced every year, it is quite easy to include all the 

 best in a selection of twenty. There are lacking the trifling 

 differences we find in Roses, Carnations and Chrysanthemums 

 which fix the popularity of one variety above another in dif- 

 ferent sections of the country. The best crimson Canna is the 

 best everywhere. The same can be said of otlier colors. In 

 the march of improvement every step is toward a certain ideal 

 which all growers and raisers aim for. The typical Canna 

 should have the terminal truss, or spike, erect and well de- 

 veloped ; the flowers should be large ; the petals broad and 

 long-limbed, so as to make an evenly rounded flower, stand- 

 ing well out, spreading rather than erect, not bundled, but 

 evenly distributed on all sides of the flower-stem. The new 

 crimson F. R. Pierson comes nearest to this ideal. 



Captain Suzzoni, until this season the best light-spotted yel- 

 low, is now superseded by Madame Montefiore, the flowers of 

 which are rounder and more evenly placed. Mrs. A. D. Cow- 

 ing is another fine variety of this color, but much more dwarf 

 than either, and better suited for the front row. Eldorado, one 

 of this season's introductions, is a very fine yellow, with faint 

 spots. It is practically yellow. It has not, however, done 

 well so far as I have seen, so that further trial will he required 

 to properly test it. Should it prove free and vigorous it will 

 be an acquisition. Florence Vaughan, as a dark-spotted yel- 

 low, is without a peer. As a bedder it is practically orange, 

 as seen from a distance of twenty-five yards. It shows up 

 well everywhere. In form and the arrangement of its flowers 

 on the spike it is equal to the best type. Madanie Dugas is 

 the one variety which, in point of beauty, comes nearest to 

 Florence Vaughan, but the tones are softer and the habit more 

 dwarf. Rose Unique is a free-blooming pink. This is about 

 all that can be said in its favor. It suffers by comparison and 

 should never be massed with other Cannas. Its place should 

 be among subtropical plants. 



There is some divergence from the Madame Crozy type, but 

 no decided improvement, and no variety is fit to supplant it, 

 though variations from the Crozy type have given us many 

 handsome varieties. Souvenir d'Antoine Crozy is undoubt- 

 edly the best. The scarlet ground is a trifle deeper in tone ; 

 the distinct yellow border is fully one-eiehth of an inch deep 

 and uniform. A mass of this Canna at Mr. James Farquhar's, 

 of Claredon Hills, Massachusetts, makes a beautiful display. 

 Mrs. Fairman Rogers, which was honored with a silver medal 

 by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, has proved disap- 

 pointing so far as I have seen. It was shown from plants 

 grown indoors as a giant Crozy, with a wide yellow border. 

 Planted out it is in no way superior to Madame Crozy. Still 

 further deviation from the Crozv type shows a wide and irreg- 

 ular yellow border, denotinsr the influence of the yellow varie- 

 ties in the breeding. Oueen Charlotte is the handsomest of these 

 that I have seen ; the yellow and the crimson in it are about 

 equally divided. Next comes Vanden Berg, Junior, with scar- 

 let in place of the ofimson ground ; the petals are broad and 

 the arrangement of the flowers good. -As a bedder this is a 

 striking novelty of medium height and sturdy growth. 

 Madame Bouvier is similar to the last named, but a foot taller. 



We have some fine varieties of scarlet and orange shade. 

 Paul Bruant is a scarlet, extremely rich in tone, with broad, 

 wavy, satiny petals and a large well-developed spike. Mrs. 

 J. M. Samuels is another good variety, with large, broad 

 petals, of bright orange-red color. It is a fine grower. 

 Helen Gould is a large, loose-petaled, orange-red, with a 

 peculiar crystal -like lustre, which is perfectly charming. 



