402 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 235. 



that it is easily propagated from cuttings of the half-ripeued 

 shoots. Other large-flowered Aristolochias in flower now 

 are A. ornithocephalus, A. hians, A. tricaudatus, A. ele- 

 gans and A. ridicula. A collection of tropical species of 

 this genus would be a most interesting feature in any large 

 stove. Another large-flowered species, namely, A. gigan- 

 tea, is now in cultivation, and will probably soon be 

 available for collections generally. It has flov^'ers nearly 

 as large as those of A. gigas, Sturtevantii, but differs in 

 habit, foliage and the absence of a tail. 



L^LiA MONOPHYLLA is a chamiiug little species which 

 was first introduced from Jamaica, where it is a native, to 

 Kew in 1882, where it is now flowering freely. It is the 

 smallest of all the Cattleyoid Orchids, the pseudo-bulbs be- 

 ing no thicker than a knitting-needle, three inches long, 

 bearing a solitary leaf of the same length and a drooping 

 one-flowered scape. The flower is one and a half inches 

 across, not unlike that of L. cinnabarina in form, but more 

 elegant, and colored rich orange-scarlet. A plant in a 

 three-inch basket bearing tive opened flowers is a picture. 

 In Jamaica it is found at a high elevation, a fact which 

 accounts for the preference the plant shows under cultiva- 

 tion for the conditions afforded in the cool Orchid-house 

 along with the Odontoglossums, the temperature of the 

 Cattleya-house being too high for it. It has been de- 

 scribed under the name of Trigonidium monophyllum. 



LiLiu.M LO.VGiFLORUM, var. FoRMOsANUM. — Thls is one of 

 the most beautiful of all Lilies. It may be described as L. 

 Harrisii (the Bermuda Lily), with a narrow band of red- 

 brown down the centre of each segment. It is very ele- 

 gant, powerfully fragrant, and as easily cultivated as the 

 Bermuda Lily. It is hardy in England, a good greenhouse 

 plant, and at the same time, probably, is at least as suit- 

 able for tropical countries as any other Lily. For the 

 trade growers of L. Harrisii it is probably a gold mine. I 

 have lately seen a batch of about five hundred plants of it, 

 which are the produce of the seeds of one plant ripened 

 last autumn, and almost every one of these yearling seed- 

 lings is now producing a full-sized flower. The other 

 forms of L. longiflorum, such as Takesima, Brownii, Exim- 

 ium (Harrisii) and Chloraster, are all in flower now. There 

 can be no longer any reason for keeping L. Brownii up 

 as a species distinct from L. longiflorum. Among the plants 

 of the variety Chloraster lately sent to Kew from Western 

 China by Dr. Henry there are some very similar to Brownii, 

 others approximating to L. longiflorum, and others suspi- 

 ciously like L. Wallichianum. All the above-named are 

 good garden Lilies, the most refractory being, perhaps, 

 L. Takesima and L. Brownii, while Eximium and For- 

 mosanum are the best. 



Hydrangea paniculata, var. grandiflora, and Campanula 

 PYRAMiDALis Well grown and in flower make, when ar- 

 ranged together, a most beautiful group in the conserva- 

 tory. They are both hardy, of course, and both easy of 

 culture, but, like many other plants of the same category, 

 they pay for special treatment. The Hydrangea is greener 

 and healthier in foliage, and larger and purer in flower 

 when grown in pots and flowered under glass than it 

 usually is when planted permanently in the open border. 

 A group of these two plants in the Conservatory at Kew is 

 greatly admired. The Campanulas are five feet high, and 

 each plant has from three to five crowded spikes of rich 

 blue flowers. The Hydrangeas are bushes a yard high, 

 with from six to twelve grand trusses of pure white bloom. 



Bedding Begonias. — The valuable qualities of the Be- 

 gonia for summer-bedding have only recently been dis- 

 covered. The tuberous kinds are now almost as prominent 

 a feature in the flower-beds as the Scarlet Geranium, and, 

 judging by the numerous new sports novir on trial at Chis- 

 wick, their popularity is likely to increase. Among the 

 latter I noted the following as distinct and useful : Multi- 

 flore I'Avenis (Lemoine), plant only four inches high, with 

 numerous spreading racemes of double crimson flowers; 

 Madame Louis Urban, a deep pink-flowered variety, simi- 

 lar in habit to the preceding, and Rosa multiflora, a still 



paler pink of the same character. Besides these there were 

 six other kinds of very dwarf, small-leaved, free-flowering 

 bedding Begonias, all from Monsieur Lemoine, of Nancy. 

 B. semperflorens rubrum, Vernon's variety, and Crimson 

 Gem are two names for a plant which is likely to become 

 a favorite as much on account of the rich Beet-like purple 

 assumed by its foliage when exposed to full sunshine as for 

 its numerous rich crimson flowers. All the Semperflorens 

 Begonias are good- bedding plants, although only few 

 people appear to be aware of that fact. One might ask 

 what is there that would not thrive in the open air in sum- 

 mer if good weather could be assured. I have seen 

 Acalyphas, Cassias, Bouvardias, Zephyranthes, H}'meno- 

 callis, New Zealand Veronicas, Plumbago Capensis, all 

 used with good results as bedding plants. It is astonish- 

 ing how we cling to pot-cultivation under glass for hosts 

 of plants which would be infinitely happier awa)' from 

 both pots and glass. [Several of the plants named above 

 are not rare as bedding plants in America. — Ed.] 



The Herbaceous Border has become almost an estab- 

 lished feature now in all good English gardens. It is the 

 cheapest of all styles, and if only a little judgment be used 

 in the selection of the various plants to be grown it is one 

 of the most delightful. Until recently there was no really 

 good herbaceous border at Kew, but one was made this 

 year on one side of a range of houses. It had been a 

 border of mixed shrubs, dull and monotonous as such 

 borders generally are, good enough to screen a wall 

 perhaps, but otherwise of no interest. The shrubs 

 were grubbed out, save only a few evergreens, to provide 

 for winter effect, and such flowering things as Spiraeas; the 

 border was widened, trenched and heavily manured. When 

 finished it was twelve feet wide and a hundred and fifty 

 yards long. It is at the present time a grand exhibition of 

 Dahlias, Hollyhocks, Sunflowers, Sweet-peas, Roses, 

 Phloxes, Pentstemons, Stocks, Carnations, Pinks, Antir- 

 rhinums, Celsias, Foxgloves, Rudbeckias, Poppies, Paeonies, 

 and other plants. The lawn in front of the border is al- 

 ready worn brown by the visitors who crowd to inspect 

 the flowers. The harvest of bloom began more than a 

 month ago, and it will continue for tvi'O months longer. 

 Perennials must, of course, be well represented, but it is 

 astonishing how much of summer-flower glory and variety 

 can be provided by annuals, the seeds of which are sown 

 in spring and the plants never shifted. 



London. 



W. Waisoti. 



Cultural Department. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



AMERICAN amateur gardeners seem to be too ready to 

 accept a popular idea that because Heaths and Heather 

 do not naturally cover our waste grounds or moors, as in the 

 Old Country, they cannot be made to thrive and bloom freely 

 when introduced into the soil of the New World. 



We rarely find a Calluna or Erica in an American garden, 

 and yet if given proper conditions they will develop a very 

 satisfactory growth, adapt themselves to their new surround- 

 ings, blossom freely in the month of August, when flowering 

 shrubs are rare, and gladden the heart of every Scotchman 

 or other enthusiastic lover of the Heaths of a former home. 



Probably one reason for the prevalent idea that Heather 

 cannot be successfully grown, when imported here, lies in 

 the fact that there have been a great many small attempts 

 to transplant them, almost every one of which has failed for 

 some unknown reason. In too many cases full-grown plants 

 have been dug up and brought over the ocean in pots, receiv- 

 ing treatment on the voyage which weakened them and pre- 

 pared them for early decadence and death when planted in 

 new and unfamiliar ground, and exposed to new climatic con- 

 ditions. When growing from seed has been tried, the at- 

 tempts have usually failed on account of a lack of knowledge 

 of the proper planting of the seed and care of the young seed- 

 lings. It may, perhaps, beacceptedastruethatourclimateis, as 

 a rule, less favorable to their growth, because of the greater 

 dryness of the air in summer, but there are many places along 

 the sea-coast where the conditions do not seem very different 

 from situations in which the Heather seems quite at home on 

 the other side of the Atlantic. 



