26o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 223. 



Rock-garden Notes. 



ONE of the chief features of the rock-garden at this time is 

 the Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule). The plants of last 

 year have stood the winter extremely well, and are covered 

 with their beautiful yellow flowers. An abundant supply of 

 young plants are coming up from self-sown seed. These 

 will bloom during the summer when the old plants have ex- 

 hausted themselves, and there will thus be flowers throughout 

 the entire season. P. nudicaule album is a beautiful free-flow- 

 ering variety with satiny white flowers. P. nudicaule minia- 

 tum is distinct, the flowers being intense orange-scarlet. The 

 flowers of these Poppies are about two and a half inches across, 

 and are produced on peduncles from twelve to fifteen inches 

 high. They are fugacious, which renders them worthless for 

 cutting purposes, except those of P. nudicaule, which last for 

 several days after they are cut. 



From a botanical point of view, P. nudicaule and P. alpinum 

 are one species. They are; however, distmct enough for gar- 

 dening purposes to retain their specific names, and can easily 

 be distinguished from one another. P. nudicaule has a larger 

 and more robust growth, and the foliage is less divided. The 

 Iceland Poppy should be planted in a fully exposed position in 

 the rock-garden in well-drained, moderately rich and light soil. 

 Seeds are freely produced, and young plants are easily ob- 

 tained from seed. The plant is a native of the boreal re- 

 gions of the Old World, and was introduced into cultivation 

 in 1759. 



Orobus vernus is one of the hardiest and certainly one of 

 the most charming spring-flowering, herbaceous perennials. 

 It blooms annually with great profusion, even when flowers of 

 this class are scarce. It is a native of Switzerland and Ger- 

 many, and was introduced into cultivation two hundred and 

 tifty years ago. It rarely ever grows higher than a foot. The 

 flowers are produced on nodding, axillary peduncles. At 

 first they are purple and blue, with red veins, and the keel is 

 tinted with green. As they become older, they merge into 

 blue, so that a plant shows flowers in many dift'erent shades. 

 The leaves are composed of two or three ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, shining leaflets. The stem is simple and flexuose. 

 This plant does best in deep, rich, moist soil, and thrives in a 

 shady or an exposed position. It seeds freely and may be 

 propagated from seed or by the division of strong roots. 



Omphalodes verna, or, as it is sometimes called, the Creep- 

 ing Forget-me-not, is an old favorite in gardens, and was 

 introduced from the south of Europe. It is one of the plants 

 to be relied upon for planting in shady positions, and when 

 established it soon spreads. A large clump is growing luxuri- 

 ously under Pine-trees here, and it produces an abundance of 

 beautiful blue flowers for several weeks. It belongs to the 

 Borage family, and grows from six or eight inches high. The 

 single flower is about half an inch across, and is borne on a 

 few-flowered raceme, on erect stems, which emit stolons at 

 their base. The radical leaves are ovate-cordate and the stem 

 leaves are ovate-lanceolate. O. verna is increased by rooted 

 runners in the spring, planted in a shady place, in good, sandy 

 soil. 



For the last week Corydalis nobilis has been very attractive 

 in the rock-garden, and if the weather is favorable the flowers 

 will last two weeks longer. It is a Siberian plant, and was 

 brought into cultivation in the year 1783. Its habit and form 

 are good, and it grows about one foot high. The flowers 

 are pale yellow, tipped with green, and the spur is long and 

 incurved at the point. The leaves are bipinnate, the segments 

 wedge-shaped and cut at the top. The foliage is handsome, 

 and is further beautified by the graceful habit of the whole 

 compound leaf. It is well suited for the rock-garden, and 

 should be planted in a rather sunny position in deep, light 

 rich soil. It is propagated by division of the roots. 



Anemone sylvestris, sometimes called the Snowdrop Anem- 

 one, is flowering profusely on a large mound in a rather 

 shady position. This plant grows about one foot high, and 

 well-grown specimens are very attractive. Although this 

 plant is a very old inhabitant of English gardens, it is seldom 

 seen in good condition in America. The flowers are solitary, 

 pure white, about one inch and a half across when fully open, 

 and their drooping habit adds much to their beauty. The 

 leaves are three parted ; the lower lobes are deeply divided 

 and are pubescent beneath. It is a native of central Europe, 

 and is perfectly hardy in this locality. It flowers better here 

 on an elevated position in the rock-garden than it does in our 

 borders. It is easily propagated from runners, which grow 

 up around the old plants, or from seed. 



Dicentra spectabilis is one of the best herbaceous perennials 

 in cultivation. It was brought to England from China in 1846, 



and was known then as Dielytra spectabilis. It thrives well 

 either in the rock-garden or m the herbaceous border, but de- 

 lights in a deep sandy soil. It is largely used for forcing in the 

 spring, and for this purpose a large number of the plants are 

 grown in Holland and Germany, and sent to this country in the 

 fall. It is propagated by division of the roots in the fall. 

 Cambridge, Mass. -ff. Cameron. 



Roses. 



T N order to secure a regular supply of Roses for cutting dur- 

 -'■ ing summer and fall, preparation is necessary early in the 

 season. For summer flowers, out-of-doors, Marie ^'an Houtte 

 and Papa Gonlier are excellent sorts, and produce a succession 

 of handsome buds throughout the season. The miniature 

 flowers of some of the Polyanthas also are useful, and those of 

 Clothilde Soupert are notably so, this charming variety being, 

 doubtless, one of the best of its class. 



Where one has facilities for indoor planting, summer 

 showers can do no damage, although it must be admitted 

 that Roses under glass wilfrequire much more attention than 

 others. For greenhouse-planting Marie Guillot is the best 

 white. La France a satisfactory pink, and Pierre Guillot a good 

 red, while Duchesse de Brabaut and Souvenir d'un Ami will 

 furnish a good supply of light pink flowers, though of some- 

 what inferior quality to those first mentioned. 



The planting of the stock should not be delayed now, and as 

 they will only require a depth of about three inches of soil on 

 the bench it is not a laborious operation to prepare for. A thir» 

 shade on the glass will be of benefit to the young Roses and 

 will prevent them from drying out too rapidly during the hot 

 weather. A thin mulching of good manure will be beneficial 

 as soon as the plants begin to grow, and abundant ventila- 

 tion will be needed. 



The month of June is the time to note the most satisfactory 

 varieties for permanent planting outdoors and to prepare for 

 increasing the collection for the following season. Dealers' 

 lists are not always reliable in descriptions of new varieties ; 

 at least personal observation is more satisfactory. Many of 

 the old varieties are fully equal and often superior to the new 

 ones, although the inexperienced buyer would hardly suspect 

 this when reading descriptions of the novelties. 



^'ery little budding or grafting of Roses is now done in this 

 country in comparison with the vast numbers of these plants 

 produced here annually, though many thousands of such plants 

 are sent from Europe each season. These are usually dis- 

 tributed by means of auction-sales in the large cities. The 

 budded plants, however, seldom prove as satisfactory as strong 

 and healthy plants on their own roots, and, besides, being- 

 more liable to be winter-killed, do not grow with the same 

 vigor. Many of these imported plants are used by the florists 

 as pot-plants in flower, but are not as strong as the plants 

 grown in the south Atlantic states, and which are own-root 

 plants. One of the most interesting questions among the 

 growers of Roses for market is how to get rid of eel-worms. 

 These almost invisible pests have been shown by Professor 

 Halsted to be the cause of the so-called club-root among Roses, 

 and, as the measure of prevention recommended is to roast 

 all the soil for the Roses before planting, it becomes a very 

 serious matter to a large grower. 



Other remedies suggested are various liquids to be applied 

 to the soil after planting. These appear of doubtful value, 

 as the worms seem able to stand quite as much as the plants. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. H. Taplin. 



The Cultivation of Blackberries and Raspberries. 



IT is not an agreeable sight, after a winter of heavy snows, to 

 find our small-fruit gardens giving no promise of a crop for 

 the year. Really this is unnecessary. My Raspberry-canes have 

 come through in almost perfect order ; the loss from breaking 

 is not one per cent. This is accomplished by tying the canes 

 in bunches of three or four above or below a wire which ex- 

 tends along the row. The variety I mainly grow is Cuthbert, 

 which does well in solid rows. These rows, before I learned 

 to tie them, were often flattened to the ground under drifts. 

 In the spring much labor was needed to put them in order. I 

 adopted the plan of cutting low ; but while the breakage was 

 less, the crop was also diminished. I now grow canes five or 

 six feet high, and tie them with stout, coarse hop-twine. Our 

 only cultivation is in the spring, when the ground is mellowed 

 as soon as possible, and kept mellowed until the cultivator will 

 break the growing shoots too badly. After that nothing is 

 done except to manure the ground in the fall. The object of 

 running the cultivator closely in spring is not so much to de- 



