386 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 396. 



the intense Cold experienced here in January, 1893, the cold 

 was longer continued and more trying. Most of our Figs are 

 branched from the ground and can easily be bent down for 

 winter protection. Some of them were thus bent and covered 

 with earth, just as 1 had treated them, with success, in north- 

 ern Maryland. Others were bent down and secured by pegs 

 with hooks and were then covered with evergreen boughs. A 

 few that were of such erect habit and so stout that they could 

 not be bent to the ground, were thatched over the trunk and 

 limbs with straw. The buried trees suffered badly ; nearly all 

 the young growth rotted off, and many large limbs were de- 

 cayed in the spring. For all the cold there was too mucli soft 

 and wet weather for the earth cover to be a success. This has 

 been our experience with buried Fig-trees here for two win- 

 ters — a warm and a cold one. The first winter we tried it there 

 was no need for any protection, and the trees came out worse 

 than tliose that were unprotected, but we supposed that the 

 plan would be a success when we found what a hard winter 

 was on us. It seems evident that this method will not do in 

 the south, though I was perfectly successful with it for six 

 consecutive years in northern Maryland. The trees that were 

 merely covered with Pine boughs came out in better condi- 

 tion than the buried ones, and were tlie ones to give us our first 

 early figs, though even on these most of the early crop, which 

 is already set in fall, was destroyed. But the White Marseilles 

 gave us some remarlvably fine fruit. The trees that were 

 thatched with straw were all of the Celestial variety. These 

 came out in fine condition, and have been giving us fruit con- 

 tinuously since the last of July. Whether any other varieties 

 would have done as well with the same treatment remains to 

 be proved, for the Celestial is rather more hardy than some 

 others. A lot of over one hundred plants, four years old, 

 grown from seed of the best layer figs we could find in the 

 stores, were left unprotected and were cut back badly. Nearly 

 all of them have this year set late fruit, which will hardly ripen. 



Last spring I turned out from pots some plants of Araucaria 

 Bidwillii, and left one out entirely unprotected on the north 

 front of my house. The winter that followed was a hard trial 

 to a young green plant, without any old woody stem, and it 

 was killed to the ground. We supposed it entn-ely dead, but 

 to our surprise it has grown from the base, and if it could be 

 assured of a few mild winters I believe it would finally stand 

 well, though i-t is not as hardy as A. imbricaria. 



Last summer our Neriums were the glory of the neiglibor- 

 hood and were in profuse bloom all the season. There were 

 ten plants, all four years old. Last winter finished all but one, 

 though we had them thatched with straw. The one that sur- 

 vived lost its top, and now has grown a new one three feet 

 liigh. 



We are delighted with Spirasa Anthony Waterer. Our little 

 plants, set from three-inch pots last spring, have been in pro- 

 fuse bloom all summer, and are still blooming. Their dwarf 

 habit and numerous flowers will make this variety valuable for 

 the borders of shrubbery. With us the flowers are of a more 

 brilliant color than those of S. Bumalda. 



The hard winter prevented Pyrus Japonica from bloom- 

 ing as it usually does in January and February, and the result 

 is that our bushes are now laden with the golden aromatic 

 fruit. Those who have never seen this fruit perfectly ripened 

 have no idea of its delicious and pervasive odor. Has anyone 

 ever tried them for preserving ? They are totally inedible 

 raw, but so is the big Chinese quince, which makes a delicious 

 preserve. We have so many I propose to try them. 



I have been long convinced that our southern gardeners 

 neglect the Hybrid Perpetual Roses too much. I find that 

 most of them bloom more freely here than they do farther 

 north. On my lawn this summer there has not been a day 

 since early May when I could not cut flowers from some Roses 

 of this class. The new variety, Margaret Dickson, is particu- 

 larly Horiferous, and is still giving us flowers ; in fact, it has 

 averaged as many flowers as many of the Tea Roses. The 

 ease with which we can propagate these Roses, from long cut- 

 tings set in the open ground in the fall, should make this 

 hardy class more popular here. I have never seen mildew on 

 a plant, though lately the leaf-spot has been doing great dam- 

 age, and we will need to begin spraying another year. I am 

 disappointed with Crimson l^ambler. I bought an extra-sized 

 plant, and it has grown with remarkable luxuriance, but not a 

 flower has it made the whole summer. There have been so 

 many accounts of its wonderful profusion of bloom that the 

 failure of a big plant to throw a single flower is a surprise. 

 Perhaps it will redeem itself next year. If it does not I shall 

 bud something better on its robust stem. 



Solanum Seaforthianum has made a remarkable growth, 

 but it, too, makes too few of its pretty clusters of blue flowers. 



S. grandiflorum has gone to the top of a tall piazza, but has not 

 shown a single flower-cluster. Antigonon leptopus survived the 

 frost, but has made a stunted growth, and will have to hurry 

 if it makes much bloom ; but as I transplanted the mass of 

 roots in the spring, that may have retarded it to some extent. 



We have fruited eighteen varieties of Mr. Munson's Grapes 

 this season. Some of them are really fine, and most of the 

 others will be useful as stocks for better varieties. 



Norlh Ciirolina Agric'l Exp't Station, Raleigh, N. C. IV. F. Massey. 



Bulbous Plants. 



1 



T is always with surprise that one discovers, some fine 

 autumn morning, the glowing vases of the Colchicums, 

 curious plants which send forth naked flowers many months 

 after the vigorous growth of foliage has passed. The bare 

 ground seems especially harsh under the flowers, and these 

 bulbs should always be grown among grass which is seldom 

 mown, or among carpeting plants, since these will serve as a 

 foil to the flowers. C. speciosum and the single white are 

 both satisfactory autumnal kinds, reliable with ordinary care. 

 The double white-flowered sort is more rare, and is distinct 

 and pretty with its many narrow petals. Except a few species 

 of Crocus and Sternbergia, the hardy bulbs will not show any 

 more flowers until the first thaw of the new year, unless, per- 

 haps, some precocious Snowdrops venture their blossoms 

 before the rigors of winter begin. The lengthening leaves of 

 the Grape Hyacinths indicate that the winter and spring flow- 

 ering bulbs are waking up under ground, and most of the 

 hardy bulbs will be found to have made some root-growth, or, 

 at least, to give signs of new life at their bases. This is a 

 warning to plant all such bulbs as soon as possible, that they 

 may not suffer any check and become well established before 

 they are bound by frost. There is no doubt that many bulbs 

 do better for being lifted and dried off, especially if they have 

 been grown in a naturally moist ground, though some of the 

 advantage probably comes from the change of soil. The dry- 

 ing off should not be loo prolonged, and there will be no ben- 

 efit if the bulbs are kept out of the ground some time after 

 they would naturally move. Most deciduous bulbous plants 

 seem to have sharply defined Iiabits as to starting-time, and 

 interference with tliem in this particular is often resented. 



Bulbs are interesting in their potentialiiies and varied habits, 

 and there can scarcely be too many of them in a garden. 

 Thickened root-stocks, except those known as corms, classed 

 in gardens as bulbs, are usually most tenacious of life. Be- 

 sides showing many of the most gorgeous flowers, they make 

 it possil)le to utilize garden space to the best advantage, espe- 

 cially in the early year. The most complete garden, and the 

 one producing the greatest abundance of flowers for the space, 

 will contain a careful selection of hardy plants among which 

 are grown bulbous plants, which in due time are covered with 

 annuals. Succession is the keynote of good gardening. 



Bulbs should be secured as soon as possible, not only for the 

 garden, but for the house. All bulbs should be pottedat once, 

 even if they are required for succession. It is an easy matter 

 to retard them, and they will become better established if 

 potted early. The Dutch bulbs make the best show and are 

 easily handled if planted in shallow pots known as Lily pans. 

 An eight-inch pan will hold four good Hyacinth bulbs or five 

 to six Roman Hyacinths. 



For my small greenhouse I find the most satisfactory winter 

 occupants are small decorative plants. Palms and Ferns, 

 Orchids, a few Begonias, and some odd favorites which have 

 a permanent place here. This collection is supplemented by 

 the various Dutch bulbs which are brought in from time to 

 time from the cache outside. A fairly good and continuous 

 supply of desiral;>le flowers is secured by this procedure, 

 though the house becomes rather congested in late winter with, 

 potted bulbs which have not yet ripened. The Orchids which 

 I have accumulated in the last few years have flowered satis- 

 factorily and interested me greatly. They have disappointed 

 me entirely in only one respect. Having read many directions 

 giving elaborate details of cultivation and treatment I gained 

 the impression that they were plants for the skilled profes- 

 sional only. There could be no greater mistake as regards 

 many of them, if a few simple requirements are observed. 

 With the inclination to water too freely I am more apt to kill 

 Begonias than any of the Orchids, which generally seem to be 

 endowed with wonderful vitality. Any one wdio can grow a 

 Geranium need not hesitate to grow the Orchids which require 

 an ordinary greenhouse temperature. The resting period 

 should always be noted, and a lesson in potting taken from an 

 expert. No plants enjoy a full supply of fresh air more than 

 Orchids. I do not grow these plants because they seem to me 



