February 17, 1S92.] 



Garden and Forest. 



79 



teal Magazine under t. 6692, where the plant is figured. Its 

 stems, as grown at Kew, were from fifteen to twenty feet 

 long, thickly clothed with leaves 'five inches long by one 

 in width. The umbels, which are simple, are composed 

 of from thirty to fifty flowers, each two and a half inches 

 long and colored bright crimson, with bluish anthers. The 

 Kew plant flowered in winter, but in the collection of Mr. 

 Chamberlain, at Birmingham, it was in bloom almost the 

 whole year round. 



B. Salsilla is sometimes grown in the open border in the 

 extreme south of England. It has rather small flowers on 

 loose compound umbels, their color being mauve-purple. 

 The stems are from three to eight feet long. It is figured 

 in the Bolatiicai Magazine as Alstrcemeria oculata, and is 

 called B. oculata in some gardens. B. Shuttleworlhii has 

 broad leaves and yellow and orange-red flowers two 

 inches long, with perianth segments equal in length. It 

 was introduced in 1882, but I have never seen it in flower. 

 Others which have been noted as garden-plants are B. 

 multiflora, B. vitellina and B. Kalbreyeri. This last, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Baker, is doubtfully distinct from B. Cal- 

 dasiana. It is now in bud at Kew. 

 London. W. Wa/son. 



Cultural Department. 



Five New Bulbous Plants. 



'T^HE bulbs of the plants referred to, three Lachenalias and 

 A two Freesias, were procured last summer, potted about 

 September 18th, and have all flowered. 



Lachenalia pendula superba is apparently only a fine seed- 

 ling form of L. pendula. Its flowers are of the same colors — 

 carmine, purple and green — and have the same drooping po- 

 sition, which gives the species its name, but they are very much 

 larger than those of the type, both in length and breadth ; some 

 of the lower flowers were an inch and three-quarters long, 

 while the upper ones were as large as the largest of the old 

 variety. The flower-stalk was fifteen inches tall, and the leaves 

 very long, broad and fleshy. The name Superba is worthily 

 bestowed. It is to be regretted that the same adjective is ap- 

 plied to a variety of L. tricolor; there is too much confusion 

 already in the nomenclature of Lachenalias. 



L. Regeliana is undoubtedly a hybrid between L. reflexaand 

 L. tricolor aurea, as the vendor states. Its flower-stalk is about 

 twelve inches high, green, blotched with purple, the upper 

 third all purple. The flowers of the main spike were about 

 eighteen, of a rich deep yellow, except that the upper sepal is 

 tipped with green. They incline somewhat upward, and the 

 three upper segments are somewhat longer than the lower. 

 In size they almost equal those of the variety Superba ; they 

 straggle along the stalk a little more than I wish they did. This 

 is the most satisfactory among the Lachenalias in the quantity 

 of its flowers. The bulb, not larger than a pigeon's-egg, gave 

 seven flower-stalks and not less tlian eighty blossoms. 



L. Comesii is evidently raised from L. reflexa and L. quadri- 

 color, which is, I believe, a variety of tricolor. It is very 

 pretty, but not equal to L. Regeliana. My bulb gave five 

 flower-stalks, bearing from four to nine blossoms each. These 

 are curved, about an inch and a half long, and stand out nearly 

 horizontally from the stalk. Their general color is lemon- 

 yellow. The three outer segments are somewhat shorter than 

 the inner ones, and are tipped with green ; the inner are tipped 

 with crimson-lake. The coloration is derived from L. quadri- 

 color, the position of the flowers from L. reflexa. This variety is 

 interesting because it shows its parentage so plainly, but it can 

 hardly take rank as an improvement upon many existing 

 kinds. There is no doubt, however, as to the desirability of 

 the two other varieties. 



Freesia refracta purpurescens bears a flower as broad as it 

 is long, of the same yellow tint as F. Leichtliniana. The out- 

 side of lobes and tube is very deeply stained with purple, and 

 three of its segments are marked on the inside with large 

 orange blotches of a very deep, strong shade. The general 

 appearance of the flower is peculiar, and not entirely pleasing; 

 it has, however, the delightful fragrance which we associate 

 with the genus. The plant is very robust, the leaves about an 

 inch broad, the flower-stem about twelve inches high, erect, 

 rigid and branching, and, on the whole, hardly desirable, in 

 my judgment. 



Freesia odorata lilacina is declared by its originator to be "a 

 delicate sky-blue or lilac" flower, provided it be grown in the 

 open air. As seen in greenhouse culture I find its color not 



much unlike the ordinary white form so extensively grown, for 

 that sometimes shows nearly as much purple, externally, as 

 this. The new variety has other good qualities worthy of no- 

 tice. The flower-tube is less slender than in the common va- 

 riety, and its lobes are much broader; the whole flower has 

 much more substance, and appears whiter and more waxy, but 

 its chief superiority is in its sturdiness. Its foliage is upright 

 and strong; its fi'eely-branching flower-stalk is twenty inches 

 high and rigid enough to withstand heavy syringing. I think 

 it a decided gain to horticulture. 



Canlon, Mass. JV. E. Elldicott. 



Perennial Plants from Seed. 



"C7OR those who have greenhouses the time for seed-sowing 

 -*■ is at hand, and a choice must be made at once of the plants 

 upon which we are to rely for the display of the coming sea- 

 son. It may be a trifle early for many annuals, but all peren- 

 nials of hardy kinds should now be sown if the convenience 

 of a glass-house and a night temperature of fifty degrees can 

 be provided. If their seed is sown now, most hardy perennials 

 will flower this year like annuals, and will be in a way to give 

 much better results another year. 



The proper method of sowing seeds has been often de- 

 scribed in Garden AND Forest, butthereareminordetailscon- 

 cerning which some caution and counsel may be acceptable to 

 amateurs who wish to raise their own plants. Some persons 

 may question the wisdom of going to the trouble to sow seeds 

 when a plant can be obtained as cheaply as a packet of seed, 

 and all the trouble incident to raising the plants avoided. I 

 can only reply that a true lover of plants enjoys such difficul- 

 ties and uncertainties as challenge his patience and skill. But 

 there are some plants which do not produce seed. Veronica 

 longifolia subsessilis, Dicentra spectabilis, Lychnis viscaria 

 splendens, the double Lychnis Chalcedonica and Lychnis ves- 

 pertina are cases in point. The three last named are double- 

 flowered forms, and the reason is plain, but in the two first 

 named plants it is not so easy to understand why seed is never 

 produced here. Dicentra eximia yields abundant seed at home, 

 in Tennessee, but very seldom in New Jersey, while here 

 again it seeds abundantly. The flowers of Dicentra have to be 

 punctured by bees to obtain the nectar within, and perhaps the 

 agency of various insects may explain this case. 



Among the plants that may be sown now to flower the first 

 year are most of the Coreopsis, many Campanulas, Centaurea 

 montana, Scabiosa Caucasica, Delphiniums of the formosum 

 and grandiflorum type, including all garden forms, Doroni- 

 cums, Dracocephalums, Echinacea purpurea, Globularia tri- 

 chosantha, Kniphofias, Linum perenne, Lathyrus latifolius, 

 Lychnis Chalcedonica, L. Haageana, Platycodon Mariesii, P. 

 grandiflorum, Polemoniums, Primula auricula, Pyrethrum uli- 

 ginosum, P. roseum, and the double-flowered forms. Of the 

 kinds that will make good plants this season to flower well 

 the next are Aquilegias, Aconitum, Agrostemma, Dian- 

 thus, Dicentra, Echinops, Geums, Gypsophilas, Helenium 

 Hoopesii, Heucherasanguinea, Lobelia cardinalis, Morina longi- 

 folia, Peiitstemons,Saponaria ocymoides, ThermopsisCarolini- 

 ana, Statice la tifolia and other varieties, Asphodelusluteus and A. 

 albus, Primula rosea, P. Japonica, P. Sieboldii and the peren- 

 nial Lupins. There are some kinds that require special treat- 

 ment, such as freezing, to induce them to germinate well, and 

 it is not wise to sow any seeds of these kinds now ; if sown in 

 September many months of care and attention is avoided. 

 Trollius, Hellebores, Gillenia trifoliata, Anthericum liliastrum 

 and its variety, major, are all better after freezing. Aquilegia 

 ccerulea, the beautiful Rocky Mountain Columbine, often 

 comes poorly from seed, and it is necessary to sow every year 

 a little seed, as the plant is a poor perennial ; of one hundred 

 plants about seventy-five will prove biennial, or die during the 

 first winter. The seeds germinate better after freezing, but are 

 very difficult to obtain true, and any one who is in a position 

 to collect seed from wild plants would obtain speedy sale for 

 it both here and in Europe. It is difficult to understand the 

 lack of vigor in A. ccerulea, while A. chrysantha, which occurs 

 in the same region, is the most vigorous Columbine we have. 

 These two Aquilegias, with A. Canadensis, occur together in a 

 wild state, but never or rarely mix, because there is a month's 

 difference in time of flowering, but when they are planted in 

 gardens near European kinds their individuality speedily be- 

 comes lost if they are perpetuated by home-saved seed. Many 

 of us are still hoping.for the re-introduction into cultivation of 

 the rare A. longissima, figured in an early number of Garden 

 AND Forest. Dictamnus Fraxinella seeds freely, and should 

 be sown directly it is ripe and placed in a shady place away 

 from frost, when it will germinate in the spring following, and 

 the same is true of all the Alstromerias, though these latter 



