OCTOPER 17, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



399 



conducting these explorations in a tliorough and able man- 

 ner. 



The setting apart of a considerable tract in the midst of a 

 rich farming district, as a public park, in connection with the 

 preservation of this invaluable relic of the past, was a most 

 happy thought ; and additional educational interest centres in 

 it from the fact that Professor Putnam has established here an 

 arboretum on a limited scale, by having planted specimens of 

 the many trees native to the region, thus returning it to the 

 conditions obtaining previous to the advent of the white man. 

 As years roll by, this beautiful spot will undoubtedly be- 

 come more and more attractive, and the wisdom of the 

 establishment of the Serpent Mound Park will be luiivers- 

 ally acknowledged. Let us hope, therefore, that tlie efforts now- 

 being made to preserve other equally interesting traces of a 

 forgotten people, in Ohio, may be likewise successful, and 

 not one but several sucli parks be the boast of the people of 

 this thriftv State. 

 Serpenl Rfouiid Park, Ohiu. Cliarhs C. Abbott. 



English Flower Gardens. 



T T is pleasing to see the increasing love and extended culti- 

 -*■ vation of hardy flowers, but the improvement of English 

 flower gardens by their use proceeds very slowly. In many 

 places the flower garden is still sacrificed to bedding out and 

 presents the same meagre assortment of plants, the natin'al 

 consequence being that in summer English flower gardens 

 liave great similarity of aspect, with few features of real in- 

 terest. Each season brings the same monotonous form, with 

 perhaps a little variation of style. 



Pattern gardening was and is the greatest enemy to both 

 gardeners and gardens ; to gardeners, because, owing to the 

 lack of material that would readily lend itself to this, manv 

 present-day gardeners are under the idea that beautiful flower 

 beds cannot be made with hardy flowers; to gardens, because, 

 in all situations and on different soils, each of which is capa- 

 ble of supporting some distinct types of vegetation peculiar to 

 itself, the same subjects hav^e been used. Hence the ultimate 

 outcome, formality and sameness. We do not meet with so 

 many of the complicated carpet enormities as in former days, 

 but there is still room for vast improvement. It is too much 

 to expect owners of gardens to undertake the work, although 

 there are a few exceptional cases where this has already been 

 done. Nevertheless, there are plenty of people who think and 

 admire, and, without a doubt, would appreciate a change 

 which tended towards the improved embellishment of flower 

 gardens by the use of an increased variety of hardv plants. 

 Before this can be done a much wider knowledge of plant life 

 will be needed. We want originality and the capacity to evolve 

 new ideas. It is the lack of knowledge of the inexhaustible 

 resources of Nature that is the root of the evil; and how can 

 it be otherwise while young gardeners are trained under 

 glass alone, and are scarcely brought into contact with hardy 

 flowers, trees or shrubs ? 



A judicious and proper selection is of great importance. A 

 few beautiful bedded-out gardens have been made, against 

 which little reproach could be urged, l.)ut thev have been care- 

 fully planted, and they have been beautified witli a greater 

 variety of summer garden plants. Tlie mass of flower and 

 gorgeous color has been toned down by graceful foliage and 

 refreshing greenery. To one beautiful garden of this kind 

 there are hundreds sacrificed to about half a dozen subjects, 

 that were grown twenty years ago and are still grown now. 

 During the present summer I was shown over a place which 

 had the reputation of being fairly good, and after having 

 walked around the flower garden and been asked to admire 

 the usual scarlet, yellow and blue monotony, I found onlv one 

 feature of real interest, and that in the kitchen garden liiixed 

 border. It was a large group, covering several square vards, 

 of a very fine form of the white Campanula Persicifolia.' The 

 distant elTect was very charming. The flower garden is the 

 true home for all such flowers as this, and manv niore might 

 be easily selected. 



The beautiful garden of the future will be adorned with 

 hardy flowers planted in open natural groups instead of the 

 old dot-a-plant-everywhere system, that rendered the mixed 

 border so unsatisfactory, and did not give a true idea of the 

 capabilities of many of the subjects planted therein. An ideal 

 English garden should have beautiful flowers for at least nine 

 months out of twelve. We want lasting interest, a garden 

 with vegetation that changes with the seasons, but is not de- 

 fined by them. Week by week, month by month, some fresh 

 charm should appear, some new picture unfold to view. 

 The garden of hardy flowers is equal to this. — The Garden, 

 London. 



Foreign Correspondence. 



London Lettei-. 



THE Oleander {Nei lum Oleander^ is now among the 

 glories of southern gardens, especially in Italy. 

 The other day I strolled through one of the famous gar- 

 dens on the banks of Lake Como, and in that paradise of 

 flower and fruit nothing delighted me more than the large 

 Oleanders, covered with blossoms as large and as double 

 as Camellias. 1 had never before seen this plant in per- 

 fection, for it cuts a poor figure in English gardens. We 

 cannot give it the roasting stin-heat and cloudless skies 

 that seem so necessary to its perfect growth, but I believe 

 that in the United States it would flourish as it does in 

 Italy, since you could give it the summer-heat it wants, 

 and its protection in winter, when grown in portable tubs, 

 is not a great undertaking. Of some dozen distinct sorts 

 seen in Italy the dift'erence consists mainly in the color of 

 the flowers. Besides the deep rose-pink, which is com- 

 mon everywhere, I saw a variety with pure white single 

 flowers, one with flowers double white, a double deep red 

 called Splendens, a double rose, a large single, copper- 

 colored \Cuprea/uiii), a pale yellow, double and single, and 

 a very rich rose-purple named Professor Duchartre. Other 

 unnamed varieties were quite as fine. On inquiry I found 

 that the bushes received little or no attention. They 

 were for the most part in large square tubs, and all looked 

 as if they had been undisturbed for years. Each season a 

 slight top-dressing of manure and soil was given, more to 

 fill up the tubs than to benefit the plants, and all the atten- 

 tion given was frequent watering, the Oleander being a 

 very thirsty plant. In some places the tubs are put under 

 shelter in cold weather. 



The Shrubby Wallow, as Hibiscus Sj'n'ncus is commonly 

 called in English gardens, is one of the few hardy shrubs 

 at present in bloom, and very attractive it is when in 

 flourishing condition. To do well it must have a deep, 

 moist soil, the richer the better, and if, in addition to this, 

 it is sheltered and partially shaded, then it is a beautiful 

 shrub in autumn. There are now a multitude of varieties 

 in our gardens, most of them with very uncouth names, 

 and many of French origin. There is, however, a great 

 sameness in the majority of the sorts, the prevailing color 

 being a kind of purplish rose, with crimson centre. In a 

 large collection of sorts at Kew I singled out the following 

 as the most distinct : Puniceus plenus, Rubro plenus, Albo- 

 plenus, Coeruleus plenus, Arclens and Due de Brabant. In 

 Mn Anthon}' Waterer's nursery at Knap Hill there is a fine 

 display of bloom, two of tlie finest sorts being Totus albus, 

 a pure white variety, very beautiful, and Cceleste, which is 

 the nearest approach to a true blue Hibiscus that has been 

 obtained. The flowers are large, single and of a rich pur- 

 ple-blue, quite a difterent tint from that of any other sort. 

 The great value of the Syrian Hibiscus lies in its autumn 

 flower, and that is why it is always planted in English gar- 

 dens, whether the conditions are suitable for if or not. 



Lemoine's Hybrid Montbrietias are now found to be in- 

 dispensable autumn flowers, being so graceful in growth, 

 so profuse in flower, and so bright and rich in color. The 

 first hybrid which came to us a few years ago, under the 

 name of -1/ crocos)nia'flora, was the result of intercrossing 

 M. Pottsii (a Cape species, with wheat-ear-like spikes of 

 •small red and orange flowers), with the well-known old 

 Tritonia (Crocosma) aurea, with large bright orange-red 

 flowers. The hybrid combined the character of the parents 

 in a remarkable way. Its flowers became larger than 

 those of M. Pottsii, but quite as numerous, while the color 

 was intermediate and more pleasing than that of either 

 parent. It was, moreover, soon found to be much hardier 

 than T. aurea and could lie left out in the open border in 

 winter like M. Pottsii. This original hybrid, M. crocos- 

 miipjlora, has now become a popular garden plant with us; 

 in fact, is quite common, and especially as a pot jilant in 

 o:reen-h(uises. Its sheaf of waving flower stems in August 



