354 



Garden and Forest. 



TNUMBER 231 



blossoms, but the abundance or scarcity of bloom on different 

 plants is still more marked. Certain plants appear to have the 

 liabit of flowering much more freely than others, and of bear- 

 ing the blossoms well above the foliage, which last is a result 

 of less vigorous new growths or the habit of the plant to put 

 its energies into the flowers instead of devoting them to the 

 formation of long new shoots. Ordinarily, and when less 

 abundant, the flowers of this species are somewhat obscured 

 by the new growths and foliage. The botanist, of course, will 

 find much variability in the minor details of the leaves, tfow- 

 ers, etc., but these are not generally interesting to the horticul- 

 turist. 



R. arborescens has been compared with our northern 

 Clammy Azalea (R. viscosum), and in some respects they are 

 somewhat alike. The flower-buds of both are covered with 

 hairs which are tipped with dark-colored viscid glands, but, as 

 a rule, these hairs are most abundant on the Clammy Azalea. 

 Great numbers of minute insects are often ensnared by the 

 sticky secretion of the glands. The buds of both species are 

 about the same length, but those of R. arborescens are stouter, 

 and when they open the expanded blossoms they appear much 

 larger than those of the other species, and this adds greatly to 

 their beauty. While the stamens of the Clammy Azalea are 

 usually white, with the pistil sometimes reddish, the stamens 

 and pistils of R. arborescens are of a bright deep rosy red 

 color, which is well set off by the white corollas. 



It has been stated that these two species of Azalea are 

 marked by a difference in the time of blossoming, and in the 

 main this statement is quite true. 



This season R. arborescens began to blossom here about the 

 2oth of June, while the first flowers of R. viscosum did not open 

 until quite ten days later. R. arborescens is now (July 19th) 

 quite generally without a flower ; but, among probably over 

 a hundred plants raised from seed, there are two which 

 are just in their very finest condition of bloom, being quite as 

 late as any R. viscosum. Where lateness of flowering is a 

 desideratum, such individuals as these might be well worth 

 propagating if they are any improvement on the best-selected 

 forms of R. viscosum ; poor forms of this species are not 

 worth a place in the garden, and are, perhaps, quite as variable 

 as R. arborescens. Where a large number of seedlings can 

 be seen together there will appear even a greater difference 

 between individuals in thin foliage. The differences in foli- 

 age have been noted by botanists. A very common form has 

 the leaves green on both surfaces, but a great many plants 

 have foliage which is quite glaucous beneath, in which they 

 resemble R. arborescens, while occasional specimens have 

 the leaves glaucous on both sides. The leaves vary from 

 being perfectly smooth on both surfaces on some plants, to 

 those which have the upper surfaces of the leaves and the 

 midrib beneath thickly covered with very stout appressed hairs 

 or bristles, which are bent toward the apex of the leaf. The 

 young shoots of this Azalea are clothed with stiff hairs, which 

 are bent toward the end of the shoot, and this character is at 

 once the best in distinguishing it from R. arborescens, in 

 which the young shoots are quite smooth. In the best forms 

 of the Clammy Azalea the flowers are about as large as small or 

 medium-sized blossoms of the other. The plants are inclined 

 to grow tall without spreading greatly, while those of R. arbo- 

 rescens in cultivation here, now eleven or twelve years old, 

 from seed, are of a more dwarf, compact habit, with a spread 

 of branches as great as the height, which is from three to four 

 feet. Any peculiarly fine form of these Azaleas is much bet- 

 ter propagated by layering than by any attempt at grafting by 

 an amateur. R. viscosum is now sometimes freely used as a 

 stock upon which to graft garden varieties, but it appears to 

 have an annoying tendency to send up suckers. 



Our Purple Azalea, or Pin.xter-flower (R. nudiflorum), is well 

 known for the variability in color of flowers which different 

 plants exhibit in a wild state. By selection we may get plants 

 of this species with flowers almost white, varying through 

 flesh-color to pink or purplish. 



The pretty R. Vaseyi has been described as having flowers 

 of a bright pink color, but a look over a lot of seedlings when 

 in blossom in May shows much variation in the shades and 

 depths of color, while several individuals here bore flowers 

 which were almost white. An amateur horticulturist, who ob- 

 tained through the Arboretum one of these seedling plants 

 before it blossomed, expressed great disappointment that 

 when it bloomed its flowers proved to be white instead of the 

 bright clear pink which was desired. Such tendencies to varia- 

 tion among the different individuals of the several species of 

 these pretty flowering native plants show very clearly that it is 

 sometimes necessary to grow more than one seedling from a 

 parent plant in order to exactly reproduce it in some desirable 



even though typical, character, and that propagation by some 

 form of division is the only safe and reliable way to perpetuate 

 any peculiar characteristic. /- fv i. 



Arnold Arboretum. ^. G. jf ack. 



The Water Garden. 



'T'HE Water-lily ponds and basins are now the most delight- 

 ■'■ ful spots in the garden. Growth was somewhat retarded 

 during the cold, backward spring, and this has had a marked 

 effect on some plants, but the latter part of June was most 

 favorable to their growth, and the result is at the present time 

 a gorgeous display of all the hardy Nymphaeas which come in 

 for first honors. Nelumbium speciosum follows hard after 

 them, its first flowers opening the second week in July, but 

 they will be at their best when some of the hardy Nymphaeas 

 are past. The new varieties of the latter are rapidly increas- 

 ing, and so is public appreciation of them, for the supply has 

 not equaled the demand this spring. Besides the sorts of 

 sterling merit describedby Mr. Gerard in the issue of this jour- 

 nal for July 13th, I would mention Nymphfea Marliacea rosea as 

 worthy of a place in every collection where even a few can be 

 grown. The plant is vigorous, resembling N. alba in style of 

 growth ; the flowers are freely produced, and until late in the 

 season its lovely cup-shaped flowers on opening are a tender 

 rose color several shades deeper than those of the variety 

 Carnea. When fully expanded the petals are much lighter, 

 but they retain their color at the base. 



The variety Exquisita, of N. odorata, has flowers more deeply 

 colored than any other hardy Nymphasa. These flowers are 

 large, of rich rosy carmine, and with delicious fragrance. The 

 leaves are green on the upper surface, and intensely red on 

 the reverse. 



I consider N. odorata sulphurea one of the very best new 

 hybrids. The plant is very vigorous for the odorata type ; its 

 large cup-shaped flower, standing out of the water, resembles 

 a Lotus-flower in the distance. The color is more accurately 

 described as a canary than as a sulpihur yellow. It has light 

 golden stamens, and petals narrower than those of N. 

 chromatella, but longer and more numerous, while it retains 

 the fragrance of N. odorata. The leaves are reddish on the 

 reverse, heavily blotched with reddish brown. It flowers freely, 

 and is a great acquisition. 



Nymphaea pygnifea helvola is another hybrid of special 

 merit. The flower is about three inches across, sulphur-yel- 

 low ; petals longer, narrower and more pomted than those of 

 N. pygmseaalba ; the leaves deep green, blotched with reddish 

 brown. It will be found very useful for tubs or small aquariums. 



Nymphaea Laydekeri rosea is larger than the preceding va- 

 riety, but is a most worthy novelty of the Pygmasa type. The 

 flower on opening is a delicate pink, and the second day it is 

 many shades deeper, the sepals retaining their whiteness. The 

 stamens on the outside ray are rich yellow, while the centre 

 ones are orange — a most pleasing combination of color. The 

 third day the flower assumes a deep rose color. The plant 

 is stronger than the type, and very free-flowering ; it fre- 

 quently shows flowers with all these different shades of color 

 at once, as some of them open almost daily. These different 

 colors are distinct enough to give the plant a novel appear- 

 ance, as they inevitably suggest two or more kinds of flowers 

 from one root. 



Dongan Hills, N. Y. W. T. 



Alstrcemeria aurantiaca. — The Amaryllis family is well repre- 

 sented in our gardens, but the genus Alstrcemeria, which be- 

 longs to it, has few representatives in American gardens. The 

 reason for this is that many of the species are too tender to 

 endure our severe winters. One of them, however, grows vig- 

 orously here, and makes one of a group of striking beauty. A. 

 aurantiaca is still flowering here, and only requires a covering of 

 dried leaves in the winter. Three years ago I received two 

 small tuberous-rooted plants, which I planted in a sheltered 

 position in good deep sandy soil. They have grown so vigor- 

 ously that they cover a space of three feet in diameter. I know 

 several gardens where this plant has failed, but the reason of 

 this is, without doubt, an unsuitable position or unsuitable soil. 

 It is an important point to plant the tuberous roots deep in the 

 soil, where the frost will not get to them. After they are es- 

 tablished they should not be disturbed often. This Alstrce- 

 meria was brought from Chili in 1831. It grows about four 

 feet high, and the stems are so stout that if it is groWn in a 

 sheltered posifion they do not require staking. The leaves on 

 the stem are lanceolate-obtuse, and the petiole has a peculiar 

 twist which inverts the leaves. The blossoms are large, 

 orange-colored, streaked with red, and are produced in umbels 

 of from twelve to fifteen flowers. Last year when I visited the 



