136 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 476. 



during May, but this would be too long a season when smaller 

 pots are used to finish them in. By easy stages we shall 

 transfer our plants into the flowering pots by the middle of 

 June. In the mean time the plants will need careful stopping 

 to insure sturdy growth. To get low, well-balanced growth 

 we must begin now to make a foundation. It is not a work 

 which can be arranged by the week or month, but must be 

 attended to daily. There will always be an abundance of lead- 

 ing shoots, and if these are allowed to get away it will be at 

 the expense of the side shoots. A lateral growth is desired at 

 all times, for it is far easier to (rain the shoots upward than 

 outward. 



We pot firmly, but do not pack the soil. Our experience 

 has shown that the roots of large, healthy plants when confined, 

 as they are in pots, increase the bulk so much that but little 

 room is left for water, especially toward the end of the season. 

 Sometimes the roots choke up the drainage, and last season 

 we had to drill holes in the sides of several pots which had 

 become waterlogged. We advise that three holes be made 

 in pots intended tor specimen Chrysanthemums ; this can be 

 made with a sharp-pointed chisel. In potting it is well to allow 

 at least two inches for water. This makes it convenient to 

 give a top-dressing to some of the less thrifty plants late in the 

 season. 



Our stock plants for specimen blooms are still in cold 

 frames. They will soon furnish an abundance of cuttings. 

 All early varieties, such as Madame Bergmann, Marion Hen- 

 derson and Glory of the Pacific, may be taken during April. 

 May will be early enough for midseason varieties, and June 

 for close planting, where medium-sized blooms only are 

 wanted. 



For propagating we use a frame which can be kept closed 

 during bright days, and well shaded. We air thoroughly dur- 

 ing the night. Plenty of water is required for the first week 

 or ten days, and the cuttings should not be allowed to wilt. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D . Hatfield . 



Carnation, Chabaud. 



SUMMER-FLOWERING annual Carnations are of quite 

 recent origin, and it is only about five years since the 

 Marguerite strains were introduced and accepted with much 

 caution by cultivators, for it did not seem possible that they 

 could be brought into flower from seed in so short a time. 

 There has not been any apparent improvement on the Mar- 

 guerite strain since its introduction ; on the contrary, there 

 seems an even greater tendency to the production ot single 

 flowers than when first sent out. I have noticed that a large 

 proportion fail to flower the first season, and it is evident that 

 the strain has not been perpetuated with as much care as it 

 deserves. 



The Chabaud strain of annual-flowering Carnations was 

 therefore a valuable addition. These seem to combine all the 

 good features of the older Carnations, such as free flowering, 

 diversity of color, fragrance equal to the indoor varieties, and 

 good yellow varieties occur quite frequently. This is one of 

 the few sterling novelties that cultivators are always seeking, 

 but do not succeed in finding with all their purchases. 



Annual-flowering Carnations should be sown early in the 

 year if they can be sown under glass. Treated in this way the 

 flowers will be most satisfactory, but it is by no means too late 

 to sow now, as there will be rapid growth during the brighter 

 and longer days. We made a sowing last December to see 

 how large it was possible to have them and how early in the 

 summer, but another sowing made now will lengthen the 

 flowering period considerably in the late summer months, 

 when flowers are scarce. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



California Garden Notes. 



Antholyza .ffithiopica. — This is a showy bulbous plant com- 

 mon in gardens of southern California, and it blooms freely 

 during the winter months. It belongs to the Iris family and 

 produces a spike of flowers with foliage like that of Gladiolus. 

 It is a native of south Africa, and is commonly known in gar- 

 dens, I am told, by the name Watsonia, a nearly related genus. 

 The spike of flowers is generally over four feet tall, with as 

 many as thirty flowers on one of its two branches, the flowers 

 of a dull brick color or Chinese red, the prominent anthers and 

 markings in the divisions of the corolla of a deep maroon. 

 The flower is more than two inches long and nearly an inch 

 across. 



Scilla hyacinthoides. — This Scilla, a native of southern 

 Europe and Palestine, is rare in our gardens, but thrives well. 

 Its spike of blue flowers is sent up to a height of about three 



feet from a mass of luxuriant foliage, and bears from 100 to 

 150 or more light lavender-colored flowers, each nearly three- 

 quarters of an inch across. The long spike of flowers opens 

 in succession, and thus remains in bloom for a long period of 

 time. 



Leptosyne maritima. — This is one of the showiest of the flow- 

 ers that bloom with us in March. The luxuriant mass of 

 succulent foliage is surmounted by a wealth of its rich yellow 

 flowers, which measure fully four inches across and possess 

 a delicacy of texture rare in a composite. Its flowers should 

 be popular for cutting, but it still seems not to have found a 

 place in many American catalogues. Its tuberous roots may 

 be easily handled, or it may readily be grown from seed. 



Freesia refracta alba. — This Freesia has been a disappoint- 

 ment to some of its eastern friends who have tried to grow it 

 from seed, expecting it to blossom the first season, as some 

 catalogues have claimed it will do. In my own experience the 

 character of the soil seems to make all the difference in the 

 results obtained. In some of our mesa soils it makes a better 

 bulb and produces finer flowers in one season from seed than 

 it will in several seasons in our rich valley soils, and only 

 experience can determine its needs in this respect. 



San Diego, Calif. C. R. Orcittt. 



American Shrubs for Ornamental Planting. 



TWO weeks ago Garden and Forest published an article 

 *■ entitled "American Trees for Ornamental Planting," 

 which was a summary of part of a lecture delivered by Mr. 

 B. M. Watson, of the Bussey Institute, before the Lenox Horti- 

 cultural Society. I now send a condensation of what Mr. 

 Watson said of certain native shrubs, repeating what was 

 stated in relation to the trees that this does not pretend to 

 include all the American shrubs which are worth planting. 

 Nor must it be inferred that imported shrubs should be ex- 

 cluded from American gardens, for many of them are very' 

 desirable. The aim was to call attention to several of our 

 neglected shrubs, with a brief statement of some of their lead- 

 ing characteristics. 



Azalea still remains the popular name for the deciduous 

 section of the Rhododendrons. The hardy kinds most gen- 

 erally planted are known as the Ghent Azaleas, which are 

 hybrids of our native Rhododendron (Azalea) calendulaceum, 

 a plant of the southern Alleghanies, rather larger than its 

 hybrids and quite as well worth growing for its brilliant flame- 

 colored flowers. When propagated from seed its flowers show 

 a variety of colors. It needs a rich soil and a deep one, with 

 water in summer and some protection in winter until it is 

 established, and then it is perfectly hardy. Our Pinxter-flower, 

 R. nudiflorum, is rarely planted, but it is well worthy a place 

 in the shrubbery, for its bright pink flowers, which also vary, 

 widely among many seedlings, are most attractive in the early 

 seasons. R. arborescens, also from the southern Alleghanies, 

 has white fragrant flowers slightly tinged with rose, and bril- 

 liant scarlet stamens, which appear in early summer. R. 

 Vaseyi is a comparatively new plant, but it is rapidly gaining 

 favor, and it is probably the best of all our native Azaleas be- 

 cause it flowers so early and is less liable to be cut back in the 

 winter. In growih it is regular and bears an abundance of 

 beautiful pink flowers before the leaves expand. This ought 

 to Lie a capital subject for the hybridizers. AH these plants are 

 now to be procured in abundance at reasonable prices since 

 they can be collected easily in the Carolina mountains. R. 

 viscosum flowers in July ; that is later than the other species. 

 It is our common Swamp Azalea with white flowers and 

 exquisite fragrance. It naturally grows in wet land, but when 

 lifted from the woods it succeeds admirably in the garden. 



Bacchans halimifolia sometimes assumes the form of a 

 small tree, and it is one ot the few shrubby plants which 

 belong to the great composite family. It is naturally a beach 

 plant, but it grows well anywhere, and is most interesting on 

 account of its good foliage and its numerous cottony fruits in 

 late autumn. Mr. Olmsted has used it largely in planting the 

 Back Bay fens in Boston, where it is sometimes badly cut back 

 in winter, but the annual growth is rapid and sufficient ; 

 indeed, close pruning seems to give the best development of 

 its foliage and fruit. Cephalantbus occidentalis, the Button- 

 bush, is especially desirable because it blooms late in the 

 summer. Usually found in moist places, it is always thrifty 

 in or near the water, but it grows also in well-drained soils. 

 Clethra alnifolia, the Sweet Pepper-bush, is another late-flow- 

 ering shrub and a charming one, bearing an abundance of 

 snow-white flowers in spikes. It will grow anywhere, even in 

 shade or in poor soil, and is an excellent undershrub. The 

 southern species, C. acuminata, makes a pleasing variety. 



