October 2, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



397 



spikes of rich purple, pungently fragrant tubular flowers, the 

 plant forming a bush three feet high ami nearly as much in 

 diameter. Centaurea niontana and its red and white varieties, 

 particularly the latter, are giving occasional flowers, which are 

 eagerly sought for bouquets. Cheloue Lyonii is just passing 

 its best, but it continues a conspicuous object, forming strong 

 bushy specimens three feet high and quite as broad, with rich 

 green foliage to set off its dense heads of showy reddish pur- 

 ple flowers. This can be reckoned among the best of the late 

 summer and early autumn bloomers. C. obliqua, var. alba, 

 both in the garden and in its native meadow localities, makes 

 a fine show in spite of the cold nights it so bravely endures. 



The early-blooming Chrysanthemums are now making a 

 good effect, particularly such of the earliest forms as Golden 

 Fleece, bright yellow, double, and La Petite Marie, double, 

 white, tinged with pink in fading. Captain Nemo, rich purple ; 

 Lu.xemburg, bronzy red; Precocity, yellow; Souvenir d'une 

 Amie, snow-white, and St. Croix, white, tipped with pink', are 

 just beginning to open, and they will bloom until the ground 

 freezes hard. 



Clematis crispa is still opening its wax-like, bell-shaped, lilac- 

 colored flowers, and Conoclinium coelestinum, the Mist Plant, is 

 in perfection, forming spreading clumps a foot and a half high, 

 with handsome foliage and every branchlet ending in a clus- 

 ter of rich blue Ageratum-like flowers. Coreopsis lanceolata, 

 C. grandiflora and C. tripteris are now giving ample second 

 bloom, and although not needed so much as in early summer, 

 on account of the abundance of yellow flowers at this season, 

 yet they are always desirable. Delphinium Chinensis and the 

 hybrid Larkspurs, in all their forms, after Ijeing cut back to 

 prevent them from seeding, are now again in bloom, with 

 smaller spikes. Lespedeza Sieboldi is now in perfection, 

 every one of Its lithe branches arching under the weight of 

 its pendulous racemes, of rich red and purple, and in one 

 variety pure white, pea-shaped flowers. Dicentra spectabilis 

 has been sending up a second and rather unseasonable bloom 

 of late, but our old favorite, D. eximia, is still giving a brave 

 effect of bloom to contrast with its handsomely cut foliage, 

 always so useful with cut flowers, and its variety Multipinnata, 

 with its fresh green, beautifully compound foliage, is a rich 

 sight among the waningfoliageof other ripening borderplants. 



Of the Gentians, G. alba and G. Andrewsii are now excep- 

 tionally good, making strong clumps two feet or less high, the 

 former with showy clusters of creamy white flowers, the latter 

 with rich purple-tipped white, closed flowers. Gypsophila 

 repens still forms creeping masses of glaucous narrow foliage, 

 with broad heads of white flowers tinged with pink ; and He- 

 liopsis Ijevis is throwing up a second growth of its orange- 

 yellow flowers, while the form known as H. Pitcheriana, of 

 dwarfer growth, is a marvel of beauty with its fine formed 

 flowers of deep orange. 



Tritomas, though barely coming under the head of hardy 

 plants, but which, if properly treated, will prove such, now 

 give some of our best garden effects in their towering spikes 

 of crimson, vermilion, red and orange flowers, fading with age 

 to shades of yellow. Lathyrus latifolius, the Perennial Pea, 

 and its white variety show occasional flowers, the white form 

 displaying more freely its dense clusters of pure white on stiff 

 wiry stems, which make it one of the best for cutting pur- 

 poses. Lepachys pinnata still makes some floral show with 

 curiously drooping lemon-yellow petals, so oddly different 

 from the rigidly upright habit of the plant. 



Linaria Dalmatica has bloomed since early June and bids 

 fair to continue until hard frost, a great improvement on the 

 wild Butter and Eggs (Linaria vulgaris) of the roadsides, grow- 

 ing some two feet liigh and producing showy branched spikes 

 of yellow and orange flowers. Lotus corniculatus is again dis- 

 playing dense globular heads of bright yellow, orange-tipped 

 flowers above its narrow-tufted foliage. Lobelia cardinalis is 

 about past, but a few short spikes of rich cardinal flowers con- 

 tinue to make bright spots in the border. L. syphilitica is in 

 perfection with its long showy spikes of rich, clear blue flow- 

 ers. Lychnis Chalcedonica, in its double white and double 

 scarlet forms, is making good second bloom ; both are first- 

 rate additions to hardy plants and superior to the typical form, 

 growing slowly into spreading clumps three feet high. The 

 double Campion, L. vespertina, after a short rest, is again flow- 

 ering, and is a boon to the florist, with its wealth of fragrant, 

 showy double white flowers. 



Myosotis palustris, var. semperflorens, the ever-blooming 

 Forget-me-not, has been in bloom since spring, but now that 

 cool evenings are here is outdoing itself, forming broad- 

 spreading clumps, with masses of showy, light l.ilue, white and 

 yellow eyed flowers. This is the most satisfactory of the 

 perennial Forget-me-nots. Qtnothera macrocarpa keeps up 



its constant succession of immense trumpet-shaped, fragrant, 

 rich yellow flowers, individually three to four inches across. 

 As a plant for the front of the border or for the rockery it is 

 unexcelled and always attracts attention. CE. speciosa also 

 persists in producing pure white fragrant flowers and forms a 

 bush 18 inches high and as much through. Unfortunately 

 this requires considerable care to carry it through the winter. 



Reading, JIass. "J- IVoodwiXfif Ma?t llillg. 



Autumn Garden Flowers. 



'T^HE unseasonably warm weather of the past fortnight has 

 ■'■ given a new lease of life to all autumn flowers. Seldom 

 have the roadsides, hillsides and meadows been so bright at 

 this season of the year. The native Asters and their allies, the 

 Boltonias, are abundant everywhere, with late-blooming Sun- 

 flowers and Golden-rods in perfect harmony of color. 



In the garden, with exotics to draw upon, we have still more 

 variety. Gladioli and the late Japanese Plantain Lily have 

 past early this season, but Dahlias, single and double, and 

 especially the Pompon varieties, are at their best. So, also, 

 are the common but showy double form of Helianthus deca- 

 petalus and the silver-leaved Texan Sunflower, Helianthus 

 argophyllus, which is the best of all the annual Sunflowers. 

 H. cucumerifolius is a neat variety and excellent for cutting ; 

 it blooms earlier and is beginning to look seedy now. Mont- 

 bretias will hold on until frost, which always comes too soon, 

 as many of our showiest plants begin to flower quite late in 

 the season. Japan Anemones in the open ground are scarcely 

 yet at their best. They would have flowered earlier if the 

 crowns developed the previous season had not been winter- 

 killed. Sometimes we are fortunate enough to have a few 

 escape freezing, but usually new crowns have to be formed. 

 We have yet to find a way of protecting them, as ordinary litter 

 does not answer. Dryness at the roots seems the essential 

 condition, as some few plants kept in a cold frame, with no 

 more protection than shutters, came through just as safely as 

 those stored in the barn-cellar. These plants when grown in 

 large pots make excellent specimens for piazza decoration. 

 Tliey are now in full bloom. 



During the flowering season of Clematis paniculata letters 

 of inquiry are always received about the best way to raise this 

 plant from seed. The seed should be sown in autumn rather 

 than in spring. I have seen many plants raised in the open 

 ground which had been sown in autumn and coveretl over 

 winter with about one inch of litter. Light sandy soil a half 

 inch deep is best for covering the seed. The seeds are slow in 

 germinating, and may not be expected until the following July. 

 The beds must be kept well watered the entire summer. Per- 

 sons who have bought seed in spring have been disappointed 

 in apparent failure to germinate. Tlie seed may not come up 

 until September, but it the soil is kept moist they are sure to 

 come. The seed-bed should not be disturbed until the follow- 

 ing spring ; it should be covered with litter as before, but less 

 deeply. 



Cannas continue to flower well. There are none more beau- 

 tiful than Souvenir d'Antoine Crozy, with its brilliant scarlet 

 ground and wide border of deep yellow. Among the many 

 exotic annuals few are as attractive as Vinca rosea and its 

 white variety when used in mixed bedding. It is of neat and 

 even growth, about eighteen inches in height, and never at 

 any time unsightly. In order to succeed thoroughly with this 

 plant the seeds should be sown in a warm greenhouse about 

 midwinter. The plants will make no substantial growth until 

 put into a hot-bed in March ; bottom-heat seems necessary to 

 start them into healthy growth. 



Caryopteris mastacanthus, a reintroduced member of the 

 Verbena family, and new to many of us, promises to be an 

 excellent autumn bloomer. It makes a fine effect when 

 massed. It is a neat bushy plant, evidently a subshrub, with 

 self-supporting stems and handsome hoary foliage, being dis- 

 tinctly silvery on the under surface. The flowers are small, 

 labiate, with a fringed lower lip, in fastigiate cymes in the axils 

 of the opposite leaves, lavender-blue in color, and produced 

 in great abundance. I have also grown C. mastacanthus as a 

 pot-plant with good results. It may be quite easily increased 

 from cuttings, and, no doubt, will soon be abundant. 



Two plants which have pleased me much this summer are 

 Malva alcea and Sidalcea Candida, both near relatives of the 

 Marsh Mallow. Malva alcea has handsome palmate leaves, 

 and with a little training or trimming away of straggling shoots 

 makes a splendid pyramidal specimen, blooming from June 

 until frost. The flowers are rotate, slightly incurved, orsaucer- 

 sluqjed, and pink in color. The habit of the .Sidalcea is some- 

 what similar, but it is taller, reaching six feet in height in rich 



