44 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 205. 



applicable to Palms. Fumigation with tobacco-stems is the 

 best preventive for green-fly and thrips, and should be applied 

 at regular intervals. 



Holmesburg. Pa. IV. Ji. laphn. 



Begonias. 



AMONG the numerous new Begonias of the shrubby section 

 introduced recently, the crosses between B. Olbia and 

 B. rubra seem especially striking, handsome and useful. 

 Souvenir de F. Gaulain, President Carnot and Bismarcki are 

 somewhat similar in general effect, the former having the 

 darkest flowers and the latter the lightest. The leaves are long, 

 finely notched and satiny, emerald-green above and reddish 

 beneath. While similar in general effect, they have marked 

 distinctive qualities. President Carnot is especially attractive, 

 the upper part of the leaves bemg suffused with a reddish 

 bloom, which has a very handsome effect. The flowers of all 

 the varieties are large and borne in profusion. They are rather 

 tall-growing subjects, but the limited space at my disposal will 

 not allow me to let them grow to ascertain whether they pos- 

 sess the vigor of B. rubra. Apparently, they would be inter- 

 mediate in size between the parents if well grown. 



Hybrids and seedlings of B. metallica do not seem any.great 

 improvement on the parent as far as tried. B. metallica is one 

 of the best of foliage-plants, free-growing, with a distinct char- 

 acter in its well-marked veins. The hybrids all have a weakly 

 pallid look from absence of the strong veinings, and do not 

 seem to have gained in freedom of flowering. These remarks 

 especially apply to B. cuprea and B. velutina, which are seed- 

 lings. B. pictavensis, one of the new hybrids (with B. Scharf- 

 fiana), is rather better, but does not, to me, seem as attractive 

 as the latter parent. 



In the tuberous section the most important offering this year 

 is a new fragrant species, B. fulgens, by the Messrs. Lemoine. 

 As tuberous Begonias are invaluable for greenhouse decora- 

 tion in summer, the infusion of a distinct fragrance to the 

 present hybrids will be a great gain. There seems a premo- 

 nition of a great boom in hybrid tuberous Begonias this year 

 for bedding purposes. Certainly they have their uses for that 

 purpose, and well-selected kinds, started in a cool place and 

 brought on slowly, average very well as out-of-door flowers if 

 carefully staked and given proper attention. I think, however, 

 that no one who has grown them largely will consider them a 

 satisfactory bedding plant in the same sense that the Ge- 

 raniums are satisfactory — that is, as always reliable growers, 

 producing a ma.ximum of effect with a minimum of care. 

 Even the sturdiest of them require staking, as the hold of the 

 shoots on the bulbs is of tlie slightest, so that a wind will twist 

 them oft", and the black rust, or some fungus, is very partial to 

 theshootsin certain conditionsof thesoil. If bedding effects are 

 attempted, reserve plants should be grown to replace losses. 

 As wet-weather flowers they are certainly superb, remaining 

 in perfect condition after rains which entirely wash out ordi- 

 nary flowers. To those not addicted to the bedding-habit, and 

 who are not quite satisfied with mere big flowers, may be 

 commended the tuberous species, which, without exception, 

 are all charming, each with character peculiar to itself. It 

 is singular that, as a race, tuberous Begonias are free from 

 objectionable colors. Only when crossed with B. Socotrana 

 have I noticed any magentas ; but this color is, I think, never 

 found among the summer-flowering kinds. 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Winter-flowering Aquatics. 



■\1 rATER-LILlES are naturally summer-flowering plants, but 

 ' ' it is no longer a matter of question that their loveliness 

 may be enjoyed in the depth of winter. I have never been 

 without flowers of Water-lilies of some varieties since the 

 closing of the season for them out-of-doors ; and in the 

 greenhouses at Prospect Park, Broaklyn, many beautiful flow- 

 ers were to be seen at ChristmaS-time and into the new year. 

 As it is the aim of the managers, however, to have flowers for 

 the sun)mer decoration of the park lakes, the temperature of 

 the houses where the Water-lilies are now placed has been 

 lowered to induce rest, otherwise they would have kept on 

 blooming, and as it is, tliere are yet flowers, though fewer in 

 number and smaller in size. An amateur in the vicinity of the 

 park has a unique water-garden where tropical Nymphasas are 

 always in bloom, and other aquatics are seen in summer luxu- 

 riance. These tropical varieties of Nymphaea are the ones 

 suitable for winter-flowering, and plants which have been 

 grown in tubs or tanks out-of-doors will continue to bloom 

 through the winter months if placed in water where the tem- 

 perature does not fall below sixty-five degrees. In the stove- 



house but litde pipe is needed in a tank to keep it at a tem- 

 perature of seventy degrees. The difficulty I have experienced 

 with heated tanks is that they become too warm. Plants of 

 the Zanzibar Water-lily, of the blue Lotus of the Nile (Nymphasa 

 coerulea) and of N. scutifolia will do well in tubs where tanks 

 cannot be provided, but, of course, the latter are preferable 

 where space can be secured. 



An essential point in the cultivation of Water-lilies in winter 

 is to get all possible light and sunshine. A tank from twelve 

 to fifteen inches deep will suffice for planting out winter- 

 blooming Lilies. These should be specially selected — that is, 

 tliey should be either seedlings of the type of Nymphtea Zan- 

 zibarensis or of plants somewhat retarded during the early 

 part of the season. The night-blooming varieties will flower 

 well and remain open a great part of the day. A tank eight 

 feet wide and eighteen inches deep would require, perhaps, a 

 two-inch pipe, although 1 find a one-inch pipe too large in a 

 tank sixteen feet long, four feet wide and eight inches deep. 

 Eighteen inches would be deep enough for immersing tubs. 

 The soil used should be thoroughly rotted manure and rich, 

 loam, as has been recommended for outdoor planting. So far 

 as I have observed. Water-lilies are quite as fragrant in winter 

 as in summer, although in winter the blooms may be smaller 

 where they do not enjoy the most favorable conditions. 



.Aponogeton distachyon is another useful winter-flowering 

 water-plant which will bloom freely in an ordinary greenhouse. 

 Another is Pistea stratiotes, a pretty floating plant, with light 

 green woolly foliage, which is always attractive. Richardias, 

 or, as they are commonly called, Callas, can be associated with 

 other aquatics, and their flowers give a charming eft'ect to the 

 M'ater-garden in winter. Azolla Caroliniana (Floating Moss) 

 is an interesting plant, and so is the Water Hyacinth and the 

 Parrot's Feather (Myriophylhmi), but they are better in green- 

 house temperature, to check too rank a growth. Cyperus 

 alternifolius is iisefid in connection with flowering aquatic 

 plants, very ornaniental anywhere, and good for cutting pur- 

 poses. The Egyptian Papyrus, too, is a most graceful plant 

 for greenhouse decoration, and should never be omitted from 

 the winter water-garden. 



Where there is space for groups of ornamental foliage-plants 

 like Palms, Cordylines, Crotons, Dracasnas, Marantas, etc., a 

 delightfid background can be made in winter, especially for a 

 tank of irregular outline on the ground level or slightly raised 

 above it. This, however, needs a large house, so as to aftbrd 

 ample light, say, sixty by twenty-five feet, and larger. Of course, 

 there is no end to arrangements which can be made with 

 these and other plants with decorative foliage, while Ferns 

 and other low-growing things can be used on the water's mar- 

 gin or to carpet the naked ground. 



DoiiKan Hills, N. Y. Will. Trtcker. 



Citrus trifoliata as a Hedge-plant. 



"T^HE proved hardiness of this plant, even in the north-west, 

 -•■ makes it certain that for the purposes of a defensive hedge 

 it is more completely adapted than any plant yet introduced. 

 Its dense and compact habit of growth and armament of long 

 spike-like spines, pointing in every direction on the rigid 

 branches, soon make it impenetrable even by the tough- 

 skinned razor-back hog of the south, to which a barbed wire 

 fence alTords a pleasant irritation. In reply to a letter concern- 

 ing this plant, Mr. P. J. Berckmans, of Augusta, says : " I have 

 fruited Limonium trifoliatum (?) nearly ten years, having intro- 

 duced the fTrst plant from Japan in 1873, ^nj have grown yearly 

 since a large stock of it. I have also a hedge of it nearly half 

 a m.ile long. We have advertised it as a hedge-plant for sev- 

 eral years past, but have been unable to raise enough to fill 

 the demand so far, owing to the scarcity of seed." Mentioning 

 this to a friend to-day, he remarked that Florida ought now to 

 be able to furnish all the seed needed, and he added that twelve 

 to fifteen bushels of these little oranges went to waste on his 

 place at Lake City last autumn, and if the proper eflbrt was 

 made any quantity of the seed could be had in Florida. 



The fact that this plant is a member of the Citrus family has 

 deterred many people at the north froni making experiments 

 with it, but wherever planted I have so far heard of no injury 

 to it from cold, and if the experiment stations in all the north- 

 ern states would test it thoroughly the degree of cold it can 

 endure may soon be deternfined. In my own experience ten 

 years ago a temperature of eighteen degrees below zero at 

 night, and four degrees below at noon, with bright sunshine, 

 did not injure young plants in the slightest degree. The com- 

 pact and dwarfish habit of the plant will make a hedge of it 

 much more easy to keep in shape than the rank and unruly 

 Madura, and the ornamental character of its sweet flowers. 



