42 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 21, 1888. 



Akebia quinata. — In Philadelphia we can c;'"ow, with a little 

 protection, many of the southern vines, such as the Carolina 

 ]asm\ne,Berchi:7niavol!ibi!is,Bigiw?i!acap?'eolafaixn(lDecui/iaria 

 barbara, a privilege denied to many but a few degrees north of 

 us. But after all we could hardly spare the useful and pretty 

 Akebia qttinata. Its trifoliate leaves, though apparently so 

 tender, when young, are sturdy enough for any weather, and 

 the plant itself defies our most severe winters. Its rapid 

 growth, and its early plum-colored flowers with their delicious 

 fragrance make it altogether desirable. When planted where 

 thick, yet not dense, shade is required, no vine is more effec- 

 tive. It rarely produces fruit here, yet on several occasions 

 specimens of the fruit have been exhibited at our Horticultural 

 Society. One of the best ways to propagate the Akebia is to 

 take half-ripened wood in midsummer, cut into lengths of 

 from one to two eyes each, and insert them in pans of 

 sand and ■\vatcr. . Joseph Meehan. 



bright purple. The flowers are so placed as to resemble a fly- 

 ing Ijird, and justify the popular name of "Bird of Paradise 

 Plant." W. A. Manda. 



Wayside Beaut}'. 



T N these days there is no lack of advice to plant trees by every 

 •'■ roadside, and Village Improvement Societies are furnish- 

 ing good examples of neatly kept highways. But many of our 

 country roads are already bordered with trees and shrubs and 

 climbing vines of Nature's own planting, and it is quite as im- 

 portant to preserve the wild beauty of this spontaneous growth 

 as it is to provide for the inore formal and stately rows of Elms 

 and Maples which are planted on Arbor days. The illustration 

 below gives a glimpse of a New England by-road which, 

 fortunately, has escaped the axe and brush-hook of the enter- 

 prising path-master. Many ofiicials in charge of our highways 



A Countiy Road. 



Strelitzia augusta. — Most gardeners are familiar with the 

 Strelitzia Rcgina. generally cultivated and flowered in our 

 green-houses, but the plant named above is rarely seen and 

 still more rarely in flower. It does not bloom until it is from 

 fifteen to twenty-five years of age, but afterwards it keeps push- 

 ing up its curious spathes of flowers which last long in per- 

 fection. Aside from the showy flowers which are produced 

 nearly the whole year round, its stately form and large leaves 

 make it conspicuous. Those only can enjoy its possession, 

 however, who have large green-houses, for the plant grows 

 from 15 to 20 or more feet in height. Its culture is simple. It 

 flourishes best if planted out in the green-house in a good, rich 

 compost of loam, sand and leaf-mould, and in this way it will 

 take an unlimited amount of water. It can be grown from 

 seed as well as from offshoots which are produced from the 

 base of the plant. It is related to the Banana which it resem- 

 bles in appearance and structure. The stem is marked with 

 irregular rings where the leaves have separated. The leaves 

 are large, oblong-lanceolate and slightly arching. The stout 

 scape branches" out into three or four spathes resembling- 

 small canoes, from which the flowers are produced in succes- 

 sion. The three nearly equal sepals are eight inches long and 

 pure white, while the two halbert-shaped petals are smaller and 



appreciate the value of trees when planted in straight rows 

 and at equal distances, but a group of Cockspur Thorn, or 

 Sassafras, or Black Haw, or a thicket of Sumach, or Hazel-nut, 

 is too often looked upon as a disfigurement and a proof that 

 the overseer is neglecting his duty to keep the roadside neat 

 and clean. Miles on miles of wayside lieauty are sacrificed 

 every year to this mania for " trimming up," but the trees and 

 shrubs spring up again to clothe the desert made by man. In 

 smooth and level regions a strip of greensward bordering the 

 wheel-way and running under the open fences into adjoining 

 fields is always pleasing, and it cannot be too neatly kept. But 

 in all hilly and stony regions east of the AUeghanies, no love- 

 lier road-border can be conceived of than the native trees and 

 shrubs which flourish wherever they are left to themselves. 

 Every one recalls some narrow lane or by-way, with fern-em- 

 broidered thiclvets on either hand, where the June Berry and 

 Wild Plum and Witch-Hazcl blossom above the Roses and 

 Honeysuckles and Red-root ; where the Wild Grape covers 

 the nakedness of the stone walls and the Bitter-sweet swings 

 from the branches of the trees overhead ; where wild flowers 

 can be found in bloom any day between April and November; 

 where the brown thrush sings and the rabbit makes her home. 

 Indeed, it woifld be difficult to name a spot where there is 



