2IO 



Garden and Forest. 



[June 27, ig 



die parts, and is quite rare, if it grows at all, in the southern 

 part of the state. For this reason I am inclined to believe 

 that in eastern Canada, where the Arbor Vitce attains a mucli 

 larger growth, it is quite common. It grows very abundantly 

 in portions of Oregon and Washington Territory. 



F. H. Horsford. 



Pentstemon barbatus, Nutt., var. Wizlizeni, Gray. — " Next in 

 beauty conies the bright-Hovvered Pentstemon coccineus," con- 

 tinues Engelmann in his report on the collection of Wisli- 

 zenus; yet he could only judge of its beauty from dried speci- 

 mens, with colors more or less changed or dimmed in drying, 

 or from the accounts of his friend. Seen growing in its native 

 haunts — near streams of wooded ravines of the Cordilleras — 

 with slender, straight stems two or three feet high, clean, glau- 

 cous green leaves, and flowers in color between scarlet and 

 crimson, scattered on filiform pedicels, it is, indeed, a graceful 

 and lovely plant. In recent years Dr. Gray has referred it to 

 Pentstemon barbatus of Nuttall, and given it a varietal name to 

 commemorate its adventurous discoverer. C. G. Pringlc. 



Variations in Viola pedata- — There is a hillside near German- 

 town famous for its great abundance of this beautiful flower. 

 When a thousand plants are in full flower, as they were, a few 

 weeks ago, a more charming sight could hardly be desired. 

 While wandering among them I came upon four plants with 

 flowers white as snow, a single plant with a distinct, dark ej'e, 

 several witli very light blue flowers, and others of a color 

 almost identical with that of Houstonia ccerulea. 



Josepli Ulcehati. 



Cultural Department. 

 Poppies. 



JUST now Oriental ro];>pies are in full bloom here and a 

 brilliant display they make. Last year they were in their 

 finest cc>ndition between May 26th and June 5th, liut this sea- 

 son they, together with most other garden plants, are a week 

 to ten days later in blooming. These Oriental Poppies are 

 hardy, herbaceous perennials oi the easiest possible cultiva- 

 ticin, and long-lived, and they spread and multiply considera- 

 bly from underground shoots. They are grown here in a 

 mass se\'eral yards square on a warm, dry, sandy bank, where 

 the ground, although naturally poor, is well enriched l>y 

 surface manuring; the rqots can penetrate as deep as they are 

 inclined in the open soil — often four feet or more. Here they 

 flourish and bloom most plentifully. But where the ground 

 is better and the position more sheltered by neighboring 

 shrubs, the Poppies are finer and less apt to be scorched by 

 warm sunshine. When the pl.ants have done blooming thev 

 are cut over and Eschsclioltzia Californica is sown among 

 them ; this soon covers the ground and Ijlooms through Sep- 

 temljer and October. 



The European Corn Poppy [Papa-ocr Riioeas) is easily natu- 

 ralized on sandy banks and in bulLi beds. Here they grow at 

 will and sow themselves. The Hyacinths, Narcissus and 

 Tidips come up and blossom in April and May, and before 

 they are out of bloom the Corn Po|.)pies have covered the 

 ground and begin blooming about the end of May. After 

 their flowering season is over they are cleared away, as they 

 are only annual, the bulbs are lifted, the ground forked over, 

 and the bed planted at once with French Marigolds, Zinnias, 

 Gaillardias, Vincas, Pelargoniums, or some other sun-loving 

 plants. These are removed in October and bulbs are then 

 set out for spring flowering. Seeds enough have fallen from 

 the Poppies upon the ground for next year's crop, and they 

 conie up all over the surface like a thick crop of weeds. 



Of the large double-flowered annual Poppies known as 

 Ranunculus-flowered and Pa^onia-flowered, we have a bed 

 sixteen yards by twelve yards on a warm slope. The seeds 

 were sown early in April, l}roadcast, raked in and rolled, and a 

 &\m\\VS\'c\'goi Eschseholtzia seed was also sown at the same time 

 along tlie outer edge of the bed. The Ese/ise/io/tcia is now in 

 bloom but the Poppies will not flower till the first of July, when 

 they always make a gorgeous blaze. But they do not last 

 long — hardly three weeks. When they are done blooming the 

 ground is cleared and forked and Marigolds or Zinnias are 

 planted for autimin blooming. It is not worth while to wait 

 for these Poppies to sow their own seed, as it costs but a trifle 

 and it is better to clear off the plants before they ripen seed 

 than to delay the next crop. 



Such Ijeautiful Poppies as Peacock, Danel.irog and Mephisto 

 can be raised from seeds grown in the green-house in 

 March, and they should be grown along in pots till the first 

 of May and then planted out in the garden. Treated in 



this way, the Peacock Poppies are now in bloom; the others 

 are not. But these may be sown out-of-doors in spring in the 

 same way as the Pa'onia-flowered Poppy, or they may be 

 sown in the fall like Corn Poppies. In both cases they will 

 grow and bloom well. 



In a cold-frame the beautiful Alpine Poppies (P. nudieaicle) 

 have bloomed since April. They are hardy perennials, but 

 the best practice is to treat them as annuals or biennials. They 

 are of dwarf habit, and some are white, others bright yellow, 

 and others orange ; and when growing near each other the 

 yellow and orange varieties mi,x together, and we often get 

 yellow blossoms that are striped witli orange and orange blos- 

 soms striped with yellow. These are lovely and appropriate 

 plants for the rock-garden and they should be grown where 

 water will not lodge about them, or hot south-west sunshine 

 strike them in summer. If you grow them in the rockery let 

 them naturalize themselves there ; thisthe}' will soon do, as they 

 scatter their seeds and seedlings come up all about them. 

 Some young plants, raised from seed sown in the green-house 

 last February, and planted out early in May, are now in 

 bloom. William Falconer. 



Glen Cove, N. V. 



Bedding Plants for Spring. — The expensive fashion of "bed- 

 ding out" is gradually losing favor, especially in England. It 

 survives here perhaps because the numlier of plants available 

 for summer bedding in this coimtry is considerable, and suc- 

 cess is comparatively easy. With spring bedding this is not so. 

 The English system has been generally followed, but the diffi- 

 culty here is in using tlie variety of plants used there. Wall- 

 flowers, Aubrietias and Saponaria Calabrica cannot be used at 

 all. Hybrid Oxlips wilt, and rapidly fade after the first 

 spell of warm, bright weather. Arabis albida and JSTyosotis 

 Sylvatica quickly run to seed, and JMyosatis dissitijlora, which 

 is a perennial and not an annual, and by far the better kind, 

 is later in flower here because it must make new flower- 

 ing shoots ; those formed the previous fall, and which should 

 flower early the next spring, being invariably killed back to the 

 root-stock during winter. Perhaps seed sown or cuttings 

 taken in August and wintered over in a frame would give 

 early flowers; but I have never seen this tried. Silene pen-- 

 dnla compacta does well if sown in July or August and kept 

 over in a protected frame ; it comes in well, and is charm- 

 ing when planted as a groundwork for yellow Tulips. As a 

 groundwork for scarlet Tulips nothing is more beautiful than 

 a bed of Pansies, especially since the great improvement in 

 the French varieties of tliese plants. They have also the ad- 

 vantage of being easily and cheaply raised. 



In addition to the above named, many early flowering 

 American plants are useful for spring Viedding. It will possi- 

 bly be regarded as an expensive innovation to suggest a bed 

 of Trillium grandijloritm. But the expense would not be 

 greater than tlie cost of many pieces of summer bedding, 

 while the beauty woifld be infinitely greater. Why not have a 

 bed of Viola pedata, even though the plant is common in 

 some localities ? The Dog-tooth Violet would make a hand- 

 some spring bed, and could be as easily followed by summer 

 bedding as Tulips, though the same could not be urged in 

 favor of the Trillium. The beautifid varieties of Moss Pinks 

 (Phlox siibnlata) have proved admirablespring fieddingplants. 

 The vru'ieties best adapted to this purpose are Nivalis, white; 

 Atropurpurea, purple ; Vivid, bright rose ; and Model, light 

 rose. It takes considerable time to work up a stock of these, 

 and in order to keep their foliage green they should be 

 protected in winter. T. D. Hatfield. 



Wellesley, Mass. 



Primula officinalis. — Several patches of the English Cowslip 

 are now in full bloom on a north hillside. These were plant- 

 ed six years ago and have had no protection whatever other 

 than snow. The soil is a very poor clay loam. Our winters 

 are very severe, the thermometer often registering more 

 than 20° below zero. On the same hillside, though in belter 

 soil, are some clumps of Siilla nutans (Bluebells), also of S. 

 campanulata in var. These have proved to be perfectly 

 hardy and make quite an addition to our early summer flow- 

 ers. We grow a large number of these Scillas in pots for house 

 decoration, and now that we are sure of their being hardy, shall 

 plant out all our surplus corms. Narcissus Polyanihtis is 

 hardy here, although they do not flower well, but N. poeticus, 

 both doul.ile and single, bloom freely, and I have never seen 

 better or larger flowers of the double variety, than those now 

 on the hillside and which have come up through the sod. 

 Jonquils are equally hardy and flower freely. ErytJironiwii 

 grandifloruni alhifiorum (vide p. 177) is hardy here, having 

 withstood several severe winters, and flowers annually. A 

 small bed of Iris xiphioidcs has wintered well without the 



