54 



Garden and Forest. 



[March 28, 1S88. 



berries shone among the green." The red berries mentioned 

 by the novehst are those of the English Holly {Ilex Aqtiifoliiiiu), 

 of whieh there are many very fine trees. This Holly, which is 

 made to play so impo'rtant'a part in some of Dickens' tales 

 and in English 'Christmas' literature generally, has brighter 

 red berries^and dark green very glossy leaves, and altogether, 

 as an ornamental shrub or tree, is much more attractive than 

 the American Holly {Hex opaca.) 

 Roval G.irdens, Kew. Geor'ge Nicliolson, A. L. S., Ci/rir/ar. 



Yucca Treculiana. 



THE illustration of this fine tree (Fig. 10 on opposite page), 

 the " Spanish Bayonet " or " Spanish Dagger," of western 

 ■ Texas, is from a photograph of a plant grown m the city of 

 Austin, where, as in other towns of western Te.\as, it is quite 

 commonly cultivated and forms the most conspicuous garden 

 ornament. Dr. Engelman's very complete description of this 

 species renders it unnecessary to say anything of its botanical 

 characters. The Spanish Bayonet becomes, under favorable 

 conditions, a tree sometimes thirty feet in heiglit, with a 

 slender trunk and wide-spreading branches.* It is common 

 through south-eastern Te.xas, and extends south across the 

 plains' of northern Mexico, where it is associated with Yucca 

 filifcra, as far south as Saltillo and Parras. It forms on the 

 Texas coast near the mouth of the Rio Grande, just back 

 of the sand dunes, straggling, stunted forests ; and further 

 inland low, impenetrable thickets. 



Yticca Treculiana was introduced into Europe by the French 

 traveler Trgcul, whose name it commemorates. According to 

 Naudin it is verv hardv in the south of France, where it flowers 

 freely. ' " C S. S. 



Cultural Notes. 



Hardy Herbaceous Perenuials from Seed. 



FROM the time the winter Aconites, Snowdrops and Cro- 

 cuses appear in earliest spring till tlie Ijold Tritomas are 

 cut down by hard frost in November, we have among hardy 

 lierbaceous perennials an uninterrupted display of flowers. 

 But in oi'der to have them so that we can best enjoy them we 

 must have masses of the finer sorts rather than a single plant 

 of each. Individuals are lost in a landscape ; there we want 

 broad colonies of a kind. In the decoration of our gardens 

 one Phlox or one Tulip is of no avail ; we want a clump or 

 mass of each. For cut flowers one Iris or one Coreopsis 

 would not help us much ; we must have several. 



How best to increase our stock of plants and variety of kinds 

 must therefore concern us. Heliantlius, Plumbago Larpentce, 

 I'eronica, Plilox and many others may be readily increased by 

 division, but Aquilegia, Delphhiium and Pentsteiiwn should be 

 multiplied by seed. True species usually come true from 

 seed, but garden varieties should, in order to keep them true, 

 be perpetuated by division or cuttings. The seeds of some 

 perennials, Fraxinella, for instance, are slow and uncertain to 

 germinate ; those of others, the Virginian Spiderwort, for ex- 

 ample, come up with the persistence of weeds. 



In growing herbaceous plants from seed, the amateur 

 should begin with such sorts as are easily grown, for most 

 perennials are more difficult to raise than are annuals, and 

 need not only care before the seeds germinate, but consider- 

 _.able attention after the seedlings appear. He should also 

 limit his list to suit his garden needs. If his desire is to fur- 

 nish a small rockery, then choose Erinus alpinus, Ej'ysiinuin 

 rupestre, Dianthus alpinus and the like ; if for edgings in his 

 garden, then grow Arineria, Globularia, Chrysantheinuin 

 Tchi/iatchewii and evergreen Candytuft ; if for showy flowers, 

 try Oriental Poppies, perennial Larkspurs and Kcempfer's Irises. 



In raising perennials from seed we can begin at any time: as 

 soon as theseed is ripe and before winter sets in; in the green- 

 house in winter or hot-bed in earlyspring; orinacold-frameor 

 out-of-doors in late spring. What perennials I raise from seed 

 and do not sow in fall I try to sow and get off my hands before 

 I begin to sow annuals in spring. Be careful not to sow slow- 

 germinating seeds in xvarm quarters, as a hot-house or hot- 

 bed, else the chances are that the seeds will rot ; but seeds 

 that were sown in boxes in fall and wintered in a cold frame, 



^Viicca Treculiana, Carf'ihre, Kt'^. Nttr^. iS^S,/. J So ; iS6i, />. joj : iS6q,/. ^06, 

 f. 82. 



Y. canaliculata, Hook, Bot. Mag. t. S201 (i860) — Ealcer, Card. Chronicle, 1870,/. 

 SsS : your. Linn. Soc. xvjii., /. 2 2t>. — Etii^elin., Trans St. Louis Acad. Hi., 41. — 

 London Garden, xii.,p. 3 28, t. Q4. — Saigent, Forest Trees N. America, I'ol. i.e., i otJt 

 Census U. S., p. 21S. — Hemsley, Bot. Ant. Cent, iir, sjl. 



I', loiigifoha, Engilin. in SV;("(/.— Buckley, Proc. P/iit. Acad. xiv.,j>. S { i Sb2 . 



may Ije introduced to the green-house in spring witli quicken- 

 ing effect. 



For convenience sake I treat many perennials as annuals ; 

 they germinate and grow readily, and bear a full cup of flow- 

 ers and seeds the first year. Among these are Ahronia, Age- 

 ratuin. Dahlia (single-flowered). Delphinium grandijlorum, 

 Eschscholt::ia Californica, Gaura Lindheimeri, Leptosyne ma- 

 ritima, Lopliospermum scandcns, Mirabilis Jalapa, Salvia 

 splendens and S. farinosa. Of course some of these, as 

 Dahlia and Lophosperiiium, are not hardy, but, treated as an- 

 nuals, it matters not whether they are hardy or tender. 



If sown early many perennials will bloom freely the first 

 year. These include Anemone coronaria, Anehusa, Cedronella 

 eana, Conoeliniuiii, Delphinium, Echinacea, Gaillardia, Incar- 

 villea OlgcF, Lychnis, Alalva, Platycodon, Pyrethrum, Salvia 

 pratensis, Sidalcea, and Slachys coccinea. Now, while Coreop- 

 sis lanceolata if sown early in spring will bloom here towards 

 fall, I am informed that in Vermont it will not bloom at all the 

 first year from seed. Antl tlie same is true of many other 

 pereiniials. 



There are many kinds of perennials that I have never known 

 to bloom the first vear from seed. These include Aquilegia, 

 Aiitheyicum, Arabis alpina, Asclepias luberosa, Astrantia, 

 Baptisia, Betonica, Bocconia, Buthalmum, Callirhoe, Chieranihus 

 alpinus. Erysimum rupestre, Globularia, LatJiyrus latifolius. 

 Iris, Lilium, (Enothera Missouriensis, Orobus vcrnus, Slatice 

 latifolia, Triloina and Veronica longifolia. 



Perennials that Ijloom in spring, for instance Crocus, Scilla 

 Sibirica, Trillium and Sangitinaria (all of these self-sow them- 

 selves abundantlv), seldom bloom the first year from seed ; but 

 we have an exception in the case of Anemone coronaria. On 

 the other hand, perennials that bUiom in fall, if sown early 

 often bloom the same year — for instance. Hollyhocks, Hyacin- 

 thus candicaiis, and Montbrietia erocosiniajlora (not quite 

 hardy). 



Many perennials, when once estalilished, self-sow themselves 

 aljundantlv. Among these are Delphinium, Coreopsis, Gaura 

 Lindheimeri, Salvia farinacea, Dianthus and Digitalis. Of 

 these, Foxgloves make good perennials with me in sandy 

 land, but in clay soil I have never found them to be satisfactory 

 other than as biennials. Sweet Williams often live over as 

 perennial, but in all cases I have had the best success with them 

 as biennials. And the same is true of Lychnis grandiflora, L. 

 fulgens, L. Senno, and the many varieties of L. Haageana. 

 While many of the commoner Pentstemons, as P. ovatus, P. 

 diffusus and P. pulchelhts, self-sow themselves M-ith great free- 

 dom, the finer species, as P. Eatoni, P. Palmeri and P. Cobcza, 

 have never, under my care, produced any self-sown plants. 

 But at Woolson's, at Passaic, I have seen numbers of self-sown 

 plants of P. grandijlorus. While P. diffusus, P. ovatus. and P. 

 Icevigatus make pretty good perennials, I always have had 

 most success with the other species when they were treated as 

 biennials. The seed should be sown as soon as ripe. 



Many perennials germinate as readily as do annuals. Among 

 these are Antheinis, Aquilegia, Arabis, Armeria, Chrysanthe- 

 mum, Conoclinium, Delphinium, Dianthus, Digitalis, Eupator- 

 ium, Gypsophila, Iberis, Iris, Lobelia, Lychnis, Malva, Pentste- 

 mon. Primula, Sedum, Sempei'vivum, Thalictrum, Thymus, Tri- 

 toina, Viola and many others. But all the species of these 

 genera do notgerminate with equal facility — forinstance, while 

 Pentstemon ovatus comes up thickly and in about nine days, 

 P. cobcva never comes up a full crop nor regularly. And the 

 freshness of the seed has a great deal to do with its germina- 

 tion. 1 have never succeeded in raising plants of Dictamnus, 

 Primula Japonica or P. rosea honi seed a year old. Seeds of 

 legiuninous plants, especially of Thermopsis and Baptisia, 

 even if the seed is fresh, germinate very irregularly. I have 

 had a fair crop come up within a month after sowing, and the 

 balance of the seed lie in the ground for a year and then grow. 

 While Lilium tenuifolium and L. pulcliellum will come up a 

 full crop witliin a fortnight from sowing time, I have found 

 that L. auratum and L. superbum take several months before 

 they germinate. Seeds of Clematis graveolens and C. tubulosa 

 germinate readily in a few weeks, but the hybrids so common 

 in our gardens take months. 



All hardy perennials, except such as we treat as annuals, had 

 better be sown in late summer or fall ; in fact, as soon as the 

 seed is ripe. By this means, in the case of seeds that ripen 

 early and germinate readily, as Aquilegia, Aubrietia, Alyssum 

 saxatile, and the like, A\-e can have fine strong- stock before 

 winter sets in, and which will bloom nicelv next vear. In fact, 

 in the case of mostall, except some Lilies, Clematises, Peeonies, 

 H ellel lores. Globe Flowers, and Siberian Corydalis, which if sown 

 as soon as ripe do not germinate till the next spring, and Gen- 

 tians and Composites that bloom late, we may reasonably 



