February io, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



57 



pretty with its thickly clustered violet-colored buds and small 

 straw-colored flowers. The procession always begins with L. 

 quadricolor, known also as versicolor and as superba, followed 

 closely by L. pendula, the largest and finest of all. About 

 twenty kinds are obtainable, and all, f think, are worth grow- 

 ing. 



Oxalis of manv kinds continue to flower. O. Bowiei, the 

 largest and best species, has been blooming steadily since 

 October, as has O. cerima, which I should rank next to Bowiei. 

 This species has been introduced into Malta and has become 

 a nuisance in cultivated land, and I readonly yesterday that our 

 little American O. violacea has become an intolerable pest in 

 some parts of Ceylon. Many of the varieties of O. purpurea 

 are now flowering. The flowers are purple, lilac, rose, pink, 

 flesh-colored or white, and are frequently two and a half 

 inches in diameter, but there is only one to the stalk. O. 

 gigantea of some catalogues is really O. purpurea laxula. The 

 stalks of the leaves and flowers are bright crimson, adding 

 much to the beauty of the plant. Of the flabellate-leaved 

 kinds, O. crispa, with its deep yellow flowers, and O. leperina, 

 with while ones, are still beautiful, while O. spectabilis is just 

 beginning to throw its clusters of dark crimson blossoms up 

 through the masses of deep green leaves. 



Hemerocallis fulva is not often seen in winter. Under glass 

 it has a more refined look than out-of-doors, but it does not, of 

 course, warrant the space it occupies. I took in a pot of H. 

 fulva two years ago to hasten it for crossing with H. flava. I 

 succeeded, and forgot to throw it out again. It has just fin- 

 ished flowering. 



Ferraria strata is beginning to open its curious and attractive 

 flowers ; so are Veltheimia viridifolia and Dendrobium nobile, 

 and Phajus grandifolius is pushing up its stout flower-stalks. 

 One of the most uncommon plants now in bloom is Cerato- 

 theca triloba, a perennial plant from south Africa. It grows in 

 the greenhouse to a height of about two feet and produces 

 spikes of hanging and thickly set flowers, shaped somewhat 

 like those of the Foxglove, but with the lowest lobe prolonged 

 in a triangular or trowel-like shape. These are produced at 

 various seasons ; they are pink, marked with darker lines, and 

 are about three inches long. I have tried the plant in the open 

 ground in summer, but it grew so rampantly that fall ap- 

 proached before it was ready to blossom. Tritonias are just 

 beginning to flower. Nankin is always the first seedling 

 variety of T. crocata ; this fine large flower is of a creamy 

 white color, tinged on the edges with red. Babianas have 

 little beauty, Sparaxis produce but few flowers, Ixias are hard 

 to manage under glass, but Tritonias are the most satisfactory 

 of the smaller Cape bulbs for greenhouse use. 



In speaking of January flowers, the hybrid Streptocarpus 

 must not be forgotten, though they are always in bloom. So 

 far I have raised no seedlings which do not fall under one of 

 two descriptions : white, with lines' of purple, rose or crimson ; 

 mauve, with lines or blotches of violet. This is no great range 

 of color, but they are more distinct than many of the hybrid 

 Cypripediums which have received varietal names. 



Canton, Mass. W, E. Elldicott. 



Sowing Flower Seeds. 



TT is not always easy to discover the real cause when there 

 *■ is failure in seed-sowing, and the seedsmen are often blamed 

 when really the cultivator is at fault. Special conditions are 

 necessary for successful germination, and must be maintained 

 during the period intervening from sowing-time. The first 

 thing to consider is whether the seeds are of tropical, semi- 

 tropical or hardy plants, and in this our seedsmen should be 

 able to help us. Seeds of tropical plants require a temperature 

 of at least eighty degrees, Fahrenheit, and moist surroundings. 

 For semi-tropical plants sixty degrees is suitable. A lower 

 temperature will answer for many hardy plants ; but the degree 

 of hardiness varies as does the vegetating point, and some 

 grow at a temperature scarcely above freezing. When Siberian 

 Squills and Glory of the Snow break through the ground in 

 early spring, thousands of seedlings appear almost at the same 

 time. The effect of temperature on germination is well illus- 

 trated by two of our worst weeds, Chickweed, a native of 

 temperate regions, and Purslane, a tropical plant. We have 

 Chickweed from the opening of spring until the middle of 

 June, when Purslane begins to appear and is our worst pest. 

 After the first frost kills the Purslane, Chickweed again 

 becomes troublesome. The shadiest and coolest place must 

 be selected for Cinerarias, Calceolarias and Primulas if these 

 are sown in summer-time, and then only moderate success 

 may follow, whereas, if the sowing is done in February or 

 March, or in September or October, the result is likely to be 



altogether satisfactory, because the conditions of heat and 

 moisture can then be made favorable to their nature. 



Whether we start our seeds in a cold frame, a hot-bed or a 

 greenhouse, depends on the facilities at hand. A hot-bed 

 may be started now, but a cold frame cannot be brought into 

 successful use until the beginning of April. If I had a green- 

 house I would commence seed-sowing now, for, in addition to 

 all tender plants raised for summer display, many hardy 

 annuals and some perennials will germinate as well indoors 

 and have better attention, with the result of earlier flowers. 

 Some hardy perennials require a long time to germinate, and 

 often a whole year will elapse before the seeds come up. 

 Whenever this happens we know from experience that it is 

 better to sow in autumn, and winter the seed boxes in cold 

 frames. Seeds that are slow in vegetating should be sown as 

 soon as they are ripe, or during the autumn. It is probable 

 none will germinate until spring-time. If such seeds were 

 held for spring sowing, few, if any, would come up until 

 autumn, and some would remain dormant for another year. 

 This has happened with Barberries, Clematis, Rhodotypus 

 kerrioides, Paeonies, Hellebores and Dictamnus. 



A light, sifted soil, with charcoal dust added, is suitable for 

 nearly all seeds, certainly of all terrestrial plants. Shallow 

 boxes are preferable. We use the shiftings for drainage, and 

 then fill up the boxes to within half an inch of the top with the 

 prepared soil, which is made moderately firm and smooth. 

 Drills are marked out with the edge of a label, and the depth 

 of the drills is varied according to the size of the seeds. Very 

 fine seeds need no drill and may be scattered along the sur- 

 face. A shaking will generally sufficiently cover them, and 

 the surface should again be pressed smooth. With the excep- 

 tion of very coarse seeds, I do not practice overhead watering, 

 preferring the subirrigation plan of immersing the boxes to 

 the edge and letting in the water from below. Less frequent 

 wetting is thus required and most seedlings will be up before 

 a second application is necessary. There are several ways of 

 disposing of the seed boxes until germination takes place. 

 When space has been limited I have put the boxes away in 

 tiers, so arranged that the bottom of one tier did not rest upon 

 the top of the other — that is, set up so that air could freely pass 

 over the soil. The seeds germinated as well as when the 

 boxes have been spread over more space. By this plan only 

 the top box needs shading, and less watering is required. As 

 soon as germination takes place I expose the young plants to 

 light and air. At this stage they require very careful water- 

 ing, otherwise they would all quickly damp off. The seedlings 

 should be transplanted as soon as they are large enough to 

 handle. 



Among the most useful plants for a summer's display are 

 those which furnish cut flowers. We like to have these as 

 forward as possible. Among these we group Stocks, Asters, 

 Coreopsis Drummondii, Phlox Drum mondii, Angeloniagrandi- 

 flora, Salvia Blue Beard, Indian Pinks, Gaillardias, Senecio 

 Jacobcea, Scabious, Rocket Larkspurs, Zinnias, Verbenas, 

 Chiysanthemum carinatum, var. Burridgeanum, and small 

 Sunflowers. All these we shall sow at once in intermediate 

 temperature. Another group, also more or less tender, 

 will include plants useful for the borders or for bedding, such 

 as Antirrhinums, Pentstemons, Petunias, Begonia semper- 

 florens Vernon, Salvia splendens, Browallias, Celosias, Bal- 

 sams and Poppies. If time and space permit it we may sow 

 some hardy perennials in a cool greenhouse. We shall, how- 

 ever, be likely only to try a few novelties or rarities in this 

 way and leave the bulk of the hardy varieties for the cold frame. 

 A good selection of perennials should include some of the fine 

 hybrid Delphiniums, particularly D. formosum.var.coelestinum. 

 Iris Kasmpferi, Oriental Poppies, Campanula grandi flora, hybrid 

 Phlox, Paeonies (these are slow of germination), Mertensia 

 Virginica, Lupinus polyphyllus, Trollius Europasus and T. 

 Asiaticus, Pyrethrum rosea, Heuchera sanguinea, Dictamnus 

 Fraxinella, Sweet Williams, Lobelia cardinalis and some of 

 the new hybrids of L. fulgens, Hollyhocks, Foxgloves, Aspho- 

 dels, perennial Sunflowers, species of Asters, Alyssum saxa- 

 tile, Thermopsis Caroliniana, Baptisia australis, Hemerocallis 

 Thunbergii and Coreopsis grandiflora. 



Wellesley, Mass. J ■ -L>- Hatfield. 



Notes from Baden-Baden. 

 Iris Histrio.— Owing to the mildness of the season this Iris 

 opened its first flowers by the end of November, and buds 

 are still coming on, prolonging the flowering time to the end 

 of January. It is a native ol .Mount Lebanon and belongs Io 

 the reticulata group, having the largest flowers of this tribe. 

 The body-color of the flowers is bright ultramarine, the three 

 blades having only a colored rim ; the middle parts are white, 



