282 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 225. 



dens, in wliich the white (lowers tinned with rose sjeneraily 

 appear at Christnias-tinie. The abundance of this beautiful 

 plant in the woods of Salvatore is prodigious, *and tlie effect 

 produced bv its flowers, wliich last from November until 

 February, must be delightful. But this is not all, for with 

 Anemone Hepatica appears Cyclamen Europeum, which, by 

 thousands, spreads its handsome circular leaves, dark o-reen 

 spotted with white on the upper and vinous red on the lovver 

 surface, and in summer enlivens the shades of the forest with 

 its delicately fragrant red flowers. The rosettes of foliage of 

 Anemone Hepatica vie in grace with the Cyclamen, and in one 

 spot I noticed the white variety of ^'inca minor, which is an ex- 

 ceedingly rare plant outside of gardens. On the margins of 

 cultivated meadows and terraces appears Narcissus radiflorus 

 with a white perianth, the cup bordered with red; the bril- 

 liant flowers give the fields tlje aspect of a garden. There are, 

 besides, clusters of Galanthus nivalis and of Primula acaulis, 

 with its dark yellow flowers, clumps of the robust Helleborus 

 viridis with green flowers, and of the beautiful Myosotis syl- 

 vatica of tenderest blue, the bright purple flowers of Orobus 

 vernus, var. tenuifolius, of Symphytum tuberosum with its 

 yellow pendent bells, and here and there the noble Slrulhiop- 

 teris Germanica, with the curious Dentaria bulbiferu with its 

 living bulblets in the a.xil of each leaf and peduncle, as well as 

 its congener, D. pinnata, with its great \\hite flowers. These 

 add interest and variety to the upper slopes, and in summer 

 the flanks of Salvatore facing the east, shelter flowering 

 masses of the most beautiful of the Scabiosas (S. graminifolia) 

 with its silvery linear leaves, and the white-flowered Heli- 

 anthemum polifolium. 



The walls of dry stones, which abound in this country, de- 

 serve special attention, tor, thanks to the humidity of the cli- 

 mate, they are covered with a thick carpet of verdure com- 

 posed of rare and beautiful plants. The thick sod of 

 Asplenium trichomanes forms the principal part of this cov- 

 ering, in which appears the delicate Selaginella Helvetica, 

 whose last year's fronds are distinguished by their bright red 

 color; Ledum album, var. maximum and var. cet;t;a, the 

 Maiden Hair Fern, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris and Asplenium 

 Adiantum-nigrum are mingled with Ceierach officinnrum, 

 covered with its dark brown scales. On the blocks of granite 

 found among the limestone of Salvatore, Asplenium septen- 

 trionale, Moehringia trinervia and Cardamine impatiens grow 

 side by side with splendid clusters of Cystopteris fragilis. 

 These "plants form the principal vegetation of the walls which 

 line the paths of the base of the mountain. Those walls, so 

 beautifully decorated by nature, suggest the possibility of 

 imitating "her example and of clothing our own dry walls with 

 the plants which affect naturally such situations, by trans- 

 planting them into the cracks between the stones. In doing 

 this the gardener will be able to convert his bare and ugly 

 walls into a charming flower-garden, where he will find that 

 many rock-plants, which cannot be cultivated in any other 

 way, can be made to flourish. It is only necessary to inspect 

 the" garden of the late Monsieur Boissier, the distinguished 

 botanist at Valleyres, in Switzerland, to understand how many 

 rare plants, which he found impossible to grow in any other 

 way, can, when planted on walls, be made to thrive as luxu- 

 riantly as if they had been planted liy nature. 



I can only give a brief account of the floral treasures of Sal- 

 vatore ; it certainly does not contain a more beautiful plant 

 than Helleborus niger, which possesses the marvelous faculty 

 of developing its charming flowers in the middle of winter, 

 surrounded by snow, in a very low temperature — a flower 

 which is the touching emblem of the joy which the Christmas- 

 time brings to us all. . 



Bale, Switzerland. J^- Llirist. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



SPIR^A THUNBERGII is the first of the Spiraeas to develop 

 flowers in this latitude. The present season was a little 

 more backward than the average, and the first blossoms be- 

 came conspicuous in the latter days of April. The fruit of this 

 pretty species is now well advanced toward maturity. It ripens 

 liere about the first week in June, and any one desirous of 

 raising plants from seed should carefully observe when the 

 little capsules begin to open and collect them before the seed es- 

 capes. The seed germinates very readily, with shade and 

 moisture and the slightest covering of soil, and will start at 

 once and make good little plants by the autumn of the same 

 season in which it ripens. In two or three years such plants 

 will be bearing flowers. Of course, a more expeditious way 



of obtaining new plants of this species is by cuttings, and 

 strong young plants may be very easily propagated by green 

 cuttings, taken at this season or a little later, and started m a 

 moist atmosphere, as under a bell-glass or glass frame. S. 

 Thunbergii is one of the most useful of all shrubs for plant- 

 ing in shrubberies, because,^ besides its ornamental flow- 

 ers, its delicate foliage is interesting and beautiful all summer 

 long, and in the autumn its colors are hardly surpassed by 

 those of any other shrub in cultivation, and the leaves have 

 the merit of persisting for an unusually long time. 



For a double-flowering Spir;ea the old-fashioned plant called 

 S. prunifolia is the only really hardy species as yet available 

 for our northern gardens, and the foliage of this is also notable 

 for its bright autumn coloring. The flowers this season have 

 been less beautiful and satisfactory than usual, owing to wet 

 weather and long-continued cold. We have not yet had a 

 plant with single flowers which could certainly be called the 

 wild type of this double-flowering favorite in gardens. 



All persons interested in the double-flowering forms and 

 who have space and patience for e.xperiments should try the 

 double form of S. Cantoniensis, which is, perhaps, more com- 

 monly known among nurserymen as S. Reevesiana. The 

 flowers of this are the largest and most beautiful of any in cul- 

 tivation, but in this latitude the fault of the plant is that it is 

 not perfectly hardy. Some years it survives the winters better 

 than others, but we always expect the tips, and often portion 

 of the older wood, to be killed, even with a good deal of pro- 

 tection. The blossom of the single-flowered form is much 

 handsomer than that of S. trilobata, of which the supposed 

 form, or hybrid, known in the trade as S. Van Houttei, is the 

 best of all the thoroughly hardy Spirjeas for cultivation at the 

 north. This Spiraea and S. Cantoniensis blossom at the 

 same time, and are just now (June 3d) in their best and most 

 beautiful condition. There are various species and forms of 

 Spirjea which are intermediate in their time of flowering be- 

 tween the earliest blooming and these, but most of them are 

 characterized by blossoms with a yellowish or greenish tinge 

 instead of being pure white, and they are, therefore, not so 

 attractive as the flowers of V^an Houtte's Spiraea, which are 

 large and quite white, andaresetoff by peculiarly clean-looking 

 dark green foliage. In good soil the plant grows four or five 

 or more feet high, becoming widespreading by the bending 

 and arching over of its stems and branchlets, whose upper 

 sides are covered by numerous umbel-like corymbs of flowers. 



Any person able to afford space for but one Spira-a, and 

 wishing that one for its blossoms, should select S. Van Houttei, 

 if the climate is as severe as that of Boston. The blossoms of 

 many of the white-flowering species of Spiraea possess a pe- 

 culiar odor, not agreeable to most people. This odor is less 

 noticeable in the flowers of S. trilobata and of S. Van Houttei, 

 and is almost entirely absent in S. Cantoniensis, so that the 

 value of its large handsome flowers is thus enhanced. 



The flowers of shrubs are most abundant at this season. All 

 of the early Spirceas have white flowers, and the closely allied 

 Pearl-bush (Exochorda grandiflora) surpasses them all in the 

 snowy whiteness of its bloom. It is sometimes complained 

 that the flowers lack individual interest, are cold and with- 

 out anything to excite sentiment or admiration except by the 

 almost dazzling effect of the full bloom. But, although the 

 blossoms are formal and almost bold in effect and lack agree- 

 able fragrance, they appear after Apple-blossoms have faded 

 and before Deutzia and Philadelphus flower, and certainly at 

 this season we have nothing surpassing it in effectiveness. 

 The flowers themselves are most interesting just as the buds 

 are opening. The great fault of the plant is its open habit and 

 thin uninteresting foliage. Except when in bloom it has no 

 value, and it needs to be massed with other shrubs that its de- 

 fects at other seasons of the year may be hidden. It is not con- 

 sidered an easy plant to propagate, and probably the amateur 

 will procure new plants most readily by layering at this sea- 

 son. Few seeds are produced on young plants, but as they 

 get old they often fruit quite abundantly, and as the seed grows 

 quickly new stock may in this way be easily procured. 



•Close beside the Pearl-bush, in botanical order, is placed the 

 old-fashioned Corchorus of our gardens, a name which should 

 be supplanted by that of Kerria Japonica, as being more cor- 

 rect and quite as euphonious. The most common form seen 

 is the double-flowering one, which some amateurs have been 

 known to call a " Flowering Almond with yellow flowers." 

 But the double-flowering form is not nearly so charming and 

 beautiful as the single or aboriginal form, whose five bright 

 golden petals and numerous long stamens in each blossom 

 give it something of the appearance of a St. John's-wort. The 

 flowers average nearly an inch and a half across, and as they 

 are produced singly on slender stalks, and are set off by pretty 



