November 30, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



573 



son berries, which remain on the plant for a considerable time, 

 and add mucli to its decorative value. F. procumbens is a 

 cool-house subject, and can, therefore, be grown in some win- 

 dows in which more tender plants would suffer from the low 

 temperature. 



The Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums are also admirable plants for 

 window-decoration, combining beauty of leaf and flower. 

 Marked improvement has been made in the later introductions 

 among this charming group. Among the older varieties 

 L'Elegante still liolds its own as a handsome variegated-leaved 

 sort; in fact, it is doubtful if there is a finer-foliaged variety in 

 cultivation, its combinations of white and pink found in the 

 variety being most attractive. The chief improvement aimed 

 at in the newer varieties has been in the flower, and mucli has 

 been attained, both in single and double flowers, the foliage in 

 most cases being bright green, and more or less marked with 

 a bronzy zone. 



It is scarcely necessary to note the value of German Ivy 

 (Senecio mikanioides), the Tradescantias and Saxifraga sar- 

 nientosa for the purpose in view, their merits being already 

 so well recognized for basket-plants, while their propagation 

 is also well understood by all plant-lovers. Some Ferns can 

 also be grown in window-baskets with success, two of tlie 

 best for the purpose being Nephrolepis exaltata and N. daval- 

 lioides furcans. Both are strong growers and withstand the 

 dry atmosphere of a dwelling quite well, providing their roots 

 are not allowed to get dry. They belong to the Sword Ferns, 

 and have long, graceful pinnate leaves, often four feet long in 

 large specimens, and as these plants send out stolons or run- 

 ners, somewhat like a Strawberry, it is not difficult to increase 



Holniesburg, Pa. f"^- H. TapUn. 



Chrysanthemums Naturally Grown. 



NOW that severe weather has blighted the last of the flow- 

 ers in the border it may be well to say something about 

 the Chrysantliemum in the garden. The seasonable notes in 

 the horticultural press mostly give only one phase of Chrysan- 

 themum culture, that under glass, and generally the cultural 

 directions are only meant to aid in the production of the largest 

 possible flowers. From one point of view tliis is entirely satis- 

 factory, but the owners of spare glass are few, and there are 

 those to whom mammoth flowers are not all-satisfying. With 

 the keenest appreciation of the best efforts of the cup-hunter, 

 one feels, after visiting the various growers, that the matter 

 becomes somewhat tiresome. Every one grows them on the 

 same plan with not largely differing results, and to see one lot 

 is to see them all. With all the variety in the houses of the 

 grower of large flowers one could never gain an idea as to the 

 abounding wealth of form and variety to be found in the 

 family. 



To one who loves a garden with all the flowers of the various 

 seasons, the Chrysanthemums are indispensable for the ending 

 of the floral year. There are no plants which, for the same 

 care and attention, will give a more satisfactory and abundant 

 harvest. They may be flowered in the garden in this latitude 

 with temporary shelter, which may be arranged at slight ex- 

 pense, a necessity which they well repay. Foi some years I 

 have so grown them, protecting them sometimes under sash, 

 and sometimes under a tent. Hot-bed sash on a tem- 

 porary frame are the most satisfactory, as a tent is a difificult 

 subject to anchor and cools off too rapidly under a high wind. 

 It is scarcely possible to secure exhibition flowers under such 

 conditions, but one can easily obtain really fine blooms, and 

 quite as large ones as are useful. Flowers so grown are mostly 

 lacking in depth, which is only obtainable by culture where all 

 the conditions can be controlled, with manuring, watering and 

 like processes carried on without regard to conditions of out- 

 side temperature. Where they are partially exposed, there 

 will, of course, be days when these attentions could not be 

 given safely, and the plants have to be kept generally on the 

 side of dryness after the middle of October. Flowers grown 

 under these conditions, freely exposed to the air when the 

 temperature is above the freezing point, though protected at 

 all times from high winds, are to me the most satisfactory and 

 enjoyable, as they seem entirely in character. After roughing 

 it for about a decade with Chrysanthemums in the garden, 

 those under glass seem to me about as tame as a deer in a 

 paddock. There are many flowers which please me as well as 

 the Chrysanthemum, but none which so excite or exhilarate 

 me as these in a bright frosty October day. Under such con- 

 ditions, with the beautiful forms, the wealth of color and the 

 faint odor, tliey are fairly intoxicating. This is not an effect 

 singular to myself, as I have noticed after some experience 



with visitors. A few years ago, when my collection attracted 

 some local interest, it first amused, and then puzzled, me to 

 see very frequently rather indifferent visitors to the Chrysan- 

 themum shows become enthusiastic over my flowers, which 

 were only mediocre ones in comparison. 



The explanation was simply that here they felt and were 

 stirred by the real spirit of the flowers under their natural con- 

 ditions. 



For out-of-door culture the grower will find that some care 

 will be necessary in selecting his varieties, those with not too 

 thick a petal being the most desirable. Varieties with meaty 

 florets are quickly ruined by a light frost, and in many of the 

 modern varieties, favorites with the growers of lasting blooms 

 are of this character. Otherwise one can scarcely go amiss in 

 selecting according to favorite colors or types. 



Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Sonerila Hendersoni. — The dwarf, compact habit and pretty 

 foliage of this plant renders it very useful and felling in the 

 outer line of a group of larger plants or along the margins of 

 our stove stages. It first came into notice early in the seven- 

 ties, and was at once stamped a popular favorite. In habit it 

 is branching to an extreme degree, and the height seldom ex- 

 ceeds six inches, being often less than that. The ovate, oppo- 

 site leaves, with short petiole, are from three to four inches 

 in length, and closely arranged on reddish stems. The under- 

 side is light green, freely marbled with reddish purple, and the 

 upper surface rich dark green, suifused and dotted with sil- 

 very white, the spots being more distinct in the older leaves. 

 The plant has an additional charm in the beautiful flowers, 

 which are produced in large numbers during the autumn 

 months. They are borne in three or four-flowered umbels at 

 the extremity of the stems, thus having a most effective set- 

 ting in tlie pleasing foliage. The peduncles are from one to 

 two inches and the pedicels one-fourth of an inch in length, 

 and the three-parted corolla, with oblong divisions, is of a deep 

 pink color, and an inch and a half wide, the showy yellow 

 stamens being arranged in a cluster in the centre. 



Sonerila Hendersoni is extremely easy to cultivate. It is 

 most ornamental and serviceable when grown in pans three 

 inches deep and six inches across at the top. These should 

 be well drained, and filled to within half an inch of the rim 

 with a mixture of loam, peat, leaf-mold and sand, in equal 

 parts. The soil should be pressed down firmly and covered 

 with a light coat of sharp sand. In this cuttings should be in- 

 serted early in spring, placing them about two inches apart. 

 The pans may then be stood in a close propagating-frame, 

 where the cuttings will strike root in a short time. When the 

 plants have fairly started into growth, they may be at 

 once removed to the stove-stages. An average temperature 

 of sixty degrees insures healthy development, and the plant 

 likes a moist atmosphere and a position near the glass, with 

 shade from brilliant sunshine in summer. The statements 

 regarding the origin of S. Hendersoni are contradictory. Some 

 authorities say it is a garden hybrid, while others class it as a 

 variety of S. margaritacea, introduced from the East Indies in 

 1875. 



Cambridge, Mass. XJ. 



Correspondence. 



About Irises. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — It has seemed to me that the Iris is a flower of such 

 variety and beauty, of such hardiness and ease of cultivation, 

 of such value in a formal garden or in wild plantations, as to 

 rank but little below the Rose in its interest to amateurs, yet, 

 so far as I am aware, there is no good comprehensive 

 treatise on the genus, while Rose-gardeners may select their 

 books of instruction from a long list. I have thought that a 

 comprehensive treatise ought to be prepared for American 

 growers of the Iris, wliich should give specific information in 

 regard to the treatment of the separate varieties, and should 

 be in such a form as to make a pamphlet or small book when 

 gathered together. 



Some days since I was talking to a prominent amateurabout 

 the advantages of the Iris, and he said to me, "What a pity 

 that their season is so short." But we can cut the superb 

 blooms of the Mourning Iris in May, and those of the Kjemp- 

 fers and others until August ; there must be a way of so 

 choosing and planting our varieties as to give us flowers for 

 nine or ten weeks. We may not be able to get a continued 

 succession of blooms in the same location, on account of the 

 different treatment demanded by different species, but we 



