138 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 476. 



flowers harmonize perfectly with the bare earth, and whether 

 there is a lone plant or a coloring of hundreds in the border 

 there is a natural, harmonious effect very satisfying to anyone 

 sensitive to the quieter influences of the garden. Scilla bifolia 

 and S. Sibirica are the earliest to flower, and of these species 

 the Asia Minor or Taurian forms are in advance. The form 

 of S. Sibirica, known now as multiflora, is nearly over before 

 the usual type begins to expand. A very pretty white form of 

 S. Sibirica seems to be earlier than the type, as it is now in 

 flower. This is a graceful habited flower, but not quite equal 

 in purity of color to S. bifolia alba, whose star-like, upturned 

 flowers suggest Chionodoxas. There is also sometimes in the 

 garden a pleasing white Scilla with small hyacinth-like flowers, 

 received as S. amcena. But these white forms are only oddi- 

 ties ; the effective ones are the purple-flowering kinds. Those 

 already mentioned, with S. puschkinioides, make a beautiful 

 trio. As the season advances we have a succession of Scillas, 

 such as S. nutans, S. patula, S. campanulata, etc. 



The Chionodoxas have not yet a place in all gardens, though 

 they are invaluable in early spring in bare borders, where they 

 will thrive and maintain themselves under hard condiiions. 

 We have now, thanks mostly to Mr. Whittall, a rather wide 

 variety of these flowers. The best blue of these are C. Sar- 

 densis and the same species with a dark eye. C. Tmolusi 

 may be considered a dark-colored form of C. Lucilla?, which 

 species, while the commonest, is one of the most effective, 

 with large star-like flowers whose petals are more or less 

 deeply tipped with blue in various shades. There are also 

 daintily colored forms of these — very light blue, rosy and 

 white — which are exquisite, not growing in large colonies at 

 present. The large-flowering forms, C. grandiflora and C. 

 Alleni, are much alike, scarcely to be maintained separately 

 in the garden. They may be considered a distinct kind with 

 large, but not as plentiiul, flowers as other species. These 

 flowers are a slaty light blue, and C. Alleni has traces of a 

 lighter centre. Grown under glass this centre becomes so 

 pronounced that the flowers resemble those of C. Lucilhe. C. 

 Cretica is another species, but its small flowers are not pure in 

 color, and it is scarcely worth growing. Chionodoxas and 

 Scillas are so closely related that hybrids, even natural ones, 

 are not uncommon. 



Elizabeth, n.j. J.N. Gerard. 



Correspondence. 



Notes from West Virginia. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — One must live in the counlry all the year round to find 

 how interesting a garden can be made in March with the 

 earliest flowering shrubs and plants. Here at Ro-e Brake we 

 have done much to make the grove and waste places of the 

 grounds attractive by using our native wild flowers and natu- 

 ralizing such foreign plants as take kindly to our conditions. 

 Bloodroot, Twin Leaf (Jeffersonia), Dutchman's Breeches and 

 many other easily transplanted wild things have a singular 

 charm, and parts of our Oak grove are thickly carpeted with 

 these plants and Violets. Here and there among the rocks the 

 sweet-scented English Violets have formed colonies which are 

 the first to bloom, followed by Viola cucullata, V. pedata, V. 

 blanda, and here and there a clump of V. sagittata, so that we 

 have Violets from the middle of March to the end of May. 

 The Twin Leaf increases rapidly and its large white blossoms 

 are associated with the still more purely white Bloodroot, which 

 precedes it by a tew days. It can be easily transplanted in early 

 spring, and rf carefully removed without disturbing the roots 

 it will flower as abundantly in one place as another. This is 

 true of the Dicentras, D. cucularia, D. Canadensis (Squirrel 

 Corn), and many other common flowers which only require a 

 mass of earth removed with the roots when the ground is 

 softened by some spring rains. Crocuses by the hundred aie 

 naturalized in the grass on the lawn, and. although they do not 

 increase rapidly they certainly do not diminish; they are im- 

 proved, however, by rich soil and cultivation, as seen by the 

 superior size and beauty of the groups planted in garden beds. 

 We have tried all the species and varieties, except the costly 

 rarities, so that we have the early sorts in bloom here 

 by February, while the later ones make a good show until 

 the middle of April. Of course, there are colonies of 

 Snowdrops, Snowflakes, Chionodoxas, Scillas, Daffodils 

 and Irises naturalized here and there in secluded spots 

 under trees and in rocky soil in the grove, garden and 

 orchard, where they charm us by their unexpectedness as 

 we chance to come upon them in full bloom bending before 

 the rough breezes of March. The evergreen plants have a 

 cheerful look in the rock-garden, and we now have a few flow- 



ers from the Hepaticas, Hellebores, Rock Foils, Saponarias 

 and Thymes, while here and there the Saxifragas, Spring 

 Adonis and Eranthis hyemalis are flowering, and, of course, 

 the hardy Candytufts and Creeping Phloxes are a mass of flow- 

 ers and verdure. Our common wild Saxifraga Virginica is 

 often found blooming early in the spring about moss-covered 

 rocks among Ferns and Rue Anemones, but there is a great 

 number of species and varieties to be had from European 

 plantsmen. I now have a variety of S. cordifolia in bloom, 

 which is labeled Smithii, with handsome foliage, dark green 

 leaves, somewhat liable to decay under the winter protection 

 of forest leaves, and clusters of bright pink flowers. Not to 

 be despised is the common Periwinkle, Vinca minor, for the 

 cheerful green of its new leaves and the bright blue of its 

 flowers as they twinkle in the sun after a shower. The plant, 

 however, is such an aggressive grower that it must be used 

 with discrimination. It can be effectively employed on rough 

 banks and in shady places where grass does not flourish, and 

 here it will quickly kill out less sturdy plants and give a carpet 

 of dark verdure all summer long when out of bloom. 

 Rose Brake, w. Va. Danske Dandridge. 



Nursery Notes from Flatbush, Long Island. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — The quaint old Dutch town of Flatbush, until last year 

 a suburb, but now a part of the city of Brooklyn, contains 

 more than thirty nurseries. Some of these are in groups, and 

 thus conveniently accessible, but only a few can be visited in 

 a day, since they are scattered over the township, which, even 

 in the less remote parts, is but sparsely built up in detached 

 dwellings, with stretches of newly plowed fields and here and 

 there a low, old-time farm-house. At the beginning of Flat- 

 bush, near Prospect Park, is the establishment of Charles 

 Zeller's Sons, containing five acres in trees, shrubs, glass 

 houses, frames and beds. For ten years this firm has experi- 

 mented with Pansies, and they have a choice strain of the very 

 largest sizes and most beautiful colors. Nine frames, five by 

 thirty-five feet, made a showy effect last week, and they sell 

 10,000 of these plants during spring at an advance of $1.00 to 

 51.50 a hundred above the market price for ordinary sorts. 

 Hyacinths are being brought on for Easter from bulbs of extra 

 quality ordered direct from Holland. Most of these are still 

 in frames, where they have wintered since October, and are 

 gradually coming into flower. Many are in twelve-inch pans 

 holding a dozen bulbs. In their selected list Gertrude and 

 Charles Dickens were the best deep pink, and Gigantea a beau- 

 tiful light pink. The best yellow was Ida; La Grandesse was the 

 choice among white ones, with the old Baroness VanThuill also 

 superior. Czar Peter was the best light blue, and beds of King 

 ot the Blue and Leonidas were showy masses of an intensely 

 deep shade of the same color. These are all single-flowering. 

 All this stock is already sold, with only the responsibility to the 

 grower of having it at the best flowering stage for Easter. 

 Altogether, 4.000 square feet of glass are used here for hot- 

 beds, and seven houses 100 feet long. Some large plants 

 of Acacia paradoxa, eightyearsold, werecominginto flower for 

 Easter, valued at $15.00 each, wholesale. Lilies werealso being 

 brought on, and a large stock of medium size and standard 

 Azaleas, besides Cytisus Canadensis and small bushy plants of 

 Deutzia gracilis. In a house of foliage plants young specimens 

 of Livistonia rotundifolia looked well, as did Phyllanthus roseo- 

 pictua, with variegated bright pink foliage ; the latter is said 

 to thrive well outside and is especially useful for summer 

 planting. Tall plants of the New Zealand Flax Phormium 

 tenax, the comparatively new Dracaena Sanderanae, and Bego- 

 nia corallina, probably the best of the older Begonias, and 

 almost continuously in bloom, were also noted. Several old 

 standard plants of the Niphetos Rose which bloom when other 

 white roses are scarce, afforded flowers which have a demand 

 for funeral work. But the specialty here is the Otaheite 

 Orange. One of the houses was filled with plants, now a mass 

 ot fragrant bloom, the busy hum of bees adding to the 

 summery effect. On some plants the tiny oranges were just 

 formed, and all will be brought into ripened fruit tor Christmas. 

 The plants were grown from cuttings made in February two 

 years ago, and a few specimens left over from last year's stock 

 still show large handsome fruit. Standards are grown a year 

 longer than the specimen plants. During the two years of 

 growth the fruit is cut off each season as soon as it is formed 

 and the plants are trimmed into shape. They are planted out 

 in summer in partial shade. The fruit persists for eighteen 

 months under ordinary conditions with proper watering. The 

 plants seen here were compact and shapely and in perfect 

 health, 



