232 



Garden and Forest. 



[July ii, i8 



specimen of L. Chincnsis, about eight feet high, that has 

 formed a considerable trunl? already. Near by is an Acrocomia 

 schrflcarpa about four feet high, raised from a seed planted 

 eight years ago, and which did not germinate for four or live 

 years. 



A Jiibaa spectabilis, twelve years old and not over a foot 

 high, though apparently healthy, seems to warrant the asser- 

 tion that in Chili, its native country, tliis Palm is one hundred 

 years old before it produces flowers and seed. 



Areca rubra, A. sapida and other species of this genus are 

 grown with the protection of a shelter made of slats placed 

 several inches apart, in order to alTord partial shade and pro- 

 tection from frost. 



A good specimen of Oreodoxa regia, the " Royal Palm " of 

 southern Florida and the West hidies, has been protected 

 through several severe cold snaps by headless and bottomless 

 barrels slipped down over the leaves and around the trunk, 

 and then filled up with earth. 



Many other Palms are represented in small specimens, but I 

 have noticed most of those that have attained any size. 



Cycads, too, are well represented. First and foremost there 

 is a noble specimen of Cycas revohifa, about fifteen years old, 

 and in the healthiest possible condition. Scattered in various 

 places throughout the grove and grounds are at least as many 

 as a hundred more small specimens of the plant. Zamia 

 in/egrifolia, our Florida species, is there, as well as the rarest 

 exotic species, like Macro^ainia cylindrica, M. Dennisonii, 

 Dioon cditlc, Cycas circinalis, Macrosamia tcrrcstris, etc. 



In a few years the "Palms of Federal Point" will be well 

 worth a long journey to see. 



Manatee, Fla. 



P. IV. Reasoner. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Letter. 



IN my last letter I spoke about the many beautiful 

 American trees and shrubs that were now making our 

 open-air gardens so gay with bloom. I ought to have 

 finished the list by recounting the charms of the numer- 

 ous Oriental plants whicli enrich English gardens. Chi- 

 nese and Japanese trees, though not so hardy and so 

 suitable for our climate as American, are, nevertheless, 

 invaluable, and if some of them are killed in a severe 

 winter, the choice is so great that we can afford to leave 

 aside the tender things in making a selection. Just past 

 is the glorious Yulan {Magnolia conspictia), which has'been 

 the attraction of many a garden, and this year, owing to 

 the lateness of the season, it has been more beautiful than 

 ever, having escaped the late frosts and cold winds. Of 

 the several forms of it there is none to equal in purity 

 the snovi^-white form, whose flowers have not the faint- 

 est trace of color. A large mass of this was exhib- 

 ited at the Royal Horticultural Society a short time ago, 

 and though surrounded by the rarest and showiest Orchids 

 and other plants, every one who saw them was capti- 

 vated by their chaste beauty. Quite recently I saw at 

 Mr. Anthony Waterer's nursery at Woking a large bush of 

 another white eastern Magnolia {M. slellata or M. HaUeana, 

 as it is also called). It was standing out in the open en- 

 tirely without shelter, and every bloom was as pure as if 

 grown under glass. These two Magnolias are among the 

 loveliest trees one can possibly have in a garden. The 

 Exochorda grandiflora, otherwise called Spircsa grandiflora, 

 from north China, is a shrub that is rapidly becoming 

 popular with us since it has proved to be quite hardy. At 

 one time it was always planted against a wall, but now 

 one sees great bushes of it eight or ten feet high and as 

 much through. The snow-white flowers, an inch or more 

 across hang thickly wreathed on every branch, and, in 

 contrast to the tender green foliage, are delightful. The 

 Japanese Apples have been exceptionally fine this season. 

 I do not know if they are much planted in America, but 

 here there is such a growing demand for them that nur- 

 serymen cannot keep apace with the supply. The best of 

 all is undoubtedly Pi'A7/s {}ll-a\.v&) floribunda, and one of the 

 finest of all flowering trees. The profusion of its flowers 

 and buds renders it most striking at this season, especially 

 before the deep crimson buds expand into shades of deli- 



cate pinks. I plant this beautiful tree wherever I can, 

 knowing well how hardy it is, and how rapidly it makes a 

 picturesque, though small, tree. In old gardens like Kew, 

 the Chinese P. spectabilis, a very old introduction, has been 

 very attractive in oloom, but it is not nearly so valuable 

 for ornamental planting as P. floribunda, neither are the 

 varieties Toringo, Kaido, Riversi B.n<lflo re plena, which I put 

 in the same category as the Siberian P. baccata, which has 

 the additional value of its cheerful crop of autumn 

 fruit. Pyrus Maulei is one of my chief favorites among 

 dwarf shrubs. Its flower color, a sort of orange red, is 

 incomparable, and just now, when this peculiar tint is in 

 harmony with the pale leaf green, the shrub is charming. 

 It is admirable for planting on the margin of a group of 

 our old friend, Cydonia Japonica, on a lawn. By the way, 

 there are some splendid forms of the Cydonia now, but 

 after seeing a full bloom review of them at the Knap Hill 

 nursery, I think that there is none to compare in richness or 

 brilliancy of color with the sort called cardinalis, whose flow- 

 ers are big, of fine shape and of a glowing crimson. Then 

 for purity, the variety nivalis is unmatchable, being far 

 better than the so-called white (alba), which has traces of 

 color. All the other sorts, so far as I can see, range be- 

 tween cardinalis and nivalis, and the only one I should 

 select besides them wOuld be rosea. 



The Japanese Snow-ball bush ( Viburnu7n plicatuni) de- 

 serves all the praise you see written of it, for it is unsur- 

 passable in its way. I saw it the other day in the Coombe 

 Wood nurseries flowering profusely in an exposed border, 

 every bush being a mass of white. The "balls" of flow- 

 ers are larger than those of the common V. Opidus sterilis, 

 and whiter, while the plant is dwarfer, and particularly 

 suitable for a select shrubbery. I have recently seen the 

 double Wistaria sinensis, and do not think much of it 

 compared with the glorious single kind, which for the 

 last few weeks has met one at every turn on mansion, 

 cottage and bower, clad with a profusion of mauve bloom. 

 The double kind is not so showy, because the flowers 

 seem doubtful about opening themselves widely, and 

 though when fully expanded they may last longer, in good 

 condition, than the single, I do not think that that point 

 compensates for the lack of profuse bloofn, brightness and 

 elegant growth. When I was in Belgium recently I heard 

 some nurserymen discussing the merits of a new variety 

 of Wistaria which is " coming out." It is said to be won- 

 derful, far eclipsing the long-spiked W. niuliijuga and other 

 sorts, its racemes being a yard long. I shall watch its 

 advent with interest. rrr ^ , j ■ 



London, June 8th. ». Goldritlg. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Philadelphus Coiilteri. 



PROBABLY no flowering shrub is more popular with 

 common folk, after the Lilac, than the "Seringa," 

 especially the European form (Philadelphtis coronarius), 

 with creamy, fragrant flowers. Our own species, with 

 larger, pure white flowers, but much less fragrant {P. gran- 

 diflortis and P. itiodorus, with their varieties), are also favor- 

 ites, and very common in yards and shrubberies. Others 

 are scarcelv known. The Californian P. Gordonianus is 

 sometimes to be found in gardens, and it has large 

 flowers and is very handsome in cultivation. The very 

 similar P. Leivisii, which ranges from Oregon to north- 

 western Montana, is a free bloomer, and probably its equal 

 in every way. The two species of western Texas and New 

 Mexico, P. microphyllus and P. serpyUi/olius, are dwarf in 

 habit and have much smaller leaves and flowers. 



The species of which a figure is here given, is from 

 northern Mexico, where it was discovered by Coulter many 

 years ago, and again by Professor Sargent in 1887 on the 

 foot-hills of the mountains near Monterey. It equals our 

 common species in height, with slender, drooping branches, 

 and leaA'es which have a dense, white pubescence cover- 



