May 19, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



197 



species and are of a delightful sky-blue color. Self-sown 

 plants of the Iceland Poppy, Papaver nudicaule, are giving a 

 plentiful crop of yellow cup-shaped flowers now. The flowers 

 of the white variety harmonize well with the yellow ones when 

 they are grown together. 



Harvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. Robert Cameron. 



Seasonable Flower Notes. 



MARGUERITES are indispensable among the flowers 

 grown for cutting. Their cultivation is easy, constitu- 

 tion robust, and they are almost free from disease and insect 

 pests. With proper treatment Marguerites may be kept in 

 bloom the year round. Old plants which flowered during 

 winter before last when turned into the garden furnished 

 flowers all summer long, though they were rather small. 

 Finer flowers are obtained from young plants, and for winter 

 blooming a fresh lot is raised in the spring and grown on 

 during summer in the garden. Growers of plants for market 

 usually keep them in pots, as they do not lift well, and, besides, 

 with unrestricted root-room they become too large. Mar- 

 guerites form a conspicuous feature of the display with Azaleas 

 under canvas at Mr. H. H. Hunnewell's place during late May 

 and early June. The kind best suited for growing into bushes 

 such as are used here is the glaucous-leaved type, with finely 

 cut foliage and small flowers. In two or three years they make 

 very large bushes. They are carefully trimmed alter the dis- 

 play is over, plunged in pots in the garden and kept from 

 blooming for the remainder of the season. They are gross 

 feeders and respond to liberal treatment. Specimens grown 

 solely for a spring display are kept in cool houses during 

 winter until a few weeks before they are wanted in bloom. 



For winter cutting we have found Halleri major the best 

 white ; it has large flowers with long stems. Usually we have 

 cut the flowers off singly, but last winter we commenced cut- 

 ting them in sprays, giving a foot or so of stem. When a 

 plant had been cut over it seemed as if all the flowering 

 shoots had been taken. We obtained just as many flowers in 

 the long run, and could begin to cut again from where we 

 started to cut in about ten days. Sprays with foliage can be 

 used with better effect and last much longer. The unopened 

 buds develop in water, and with a little trimming over we 

 have kept flowers for two weeks. 



We have a yellow variety known as Halleri, though it cannot 

 be correctly named so, as it differs but slightly from Etoiled'Or. 

 It is free, however, and that is a quality rare in yellow varie- 

 ties, so far as my experience goes. During a recent visit to 

 Denys Zirngiebel's establishment at Needham, Massachusetts, 

 I saw a large number of Etoile d'Or blooming splendidly. 

 This stock was imported from France recently, and it is 

 claimed to be an improved type and superior to the variety 

 generally grown in this country under that name. We shall 

 be fortunate if we find it a free-blooming variety and of good 

 constitution, as a yellow Marguerite is badly needed, f found 

 the new giant Californian also in bloom. That the plant, at 

 least, will be a giant, there is not much doubt. The flowers 

 are larger, but the increase in size is rather in the disk than in 

 the length of the ray-florets. It is just about the size and has 

 the general appearance of our common field Daisy. 



The double form of the annual Chrysanthemum coronarium 

 has come to be known as the double Marguerite. But com- 

 mon names which carry a wrong impression should be 

 avoided. 



The popularity of the modern French Pansies, distinguished 

 for their large size and gorgeous coloring, is due to the efforts 

 of Mr. Zirngiebel, who is a specialist in these as well as Chi- 

 nese Asters. His intimate acquaintance with Bugnot, the 

 famous French raiser of the type which is known by his name, 

 has enabled him to procure seeds of the very finest strains. 

 He is always careful to tell the visitor that he paid $80.00 for 

 the first ounce of seed he bought of the popular Trimardeau. 

 Finding it moderately hardy, he improved the opportunity to 

 select the hardiest and best colors for perpetuating, and it is 

 probable that Zirngiebel's Trimardeau is the type of all the 

 "own" and "selected" stock now offered throughout the 

 country. It was hardly to be expected that the tender and 

 highly bred browns and reds so common in the genuine 

 Bugnot strain could be merged with the Trimardeau. It has 

 been done, and this season, to purple, white and yellow, will 

 be added brown colors. The Pansy is now a profitable flower 

 for florists. 



The two new Hybrid Sweetbriers, named Lord and Lady 

 Penzance, have stood well at Mr. H. S. Hunnewell's place 

 in Natick. They are as hardy as our Prairie Rose. Syringa Ja- 



ponicaisshowing well for bloom and promisesto beearlierthan 

 last season. The specimen here has reached the dimensions 

 of a small tree, and evidently a mature specimen will grow to 

 be forty feet in height. Flowering Thorns, Plums, Apples, 

 Quinces and Cherries are represented here in k,irge numbers. 

 A set, at least, is kept in one quarter of thegardt'-n for conven- 

 ient study as well as effect. Berberis AquifoliurrNpn a north- 

 east slope is full of bloom, and with foliage of cla*\ sic cut >' 

 makes an elegant bush. It will not stand bright suhiU^ine > n 

 winter, as might be seen by one bush farther to thes. south 

 being somewhat burned. A splendid patch of Daphne Cr.-V-'°- 

 rum is evidently suited on this north-east slope. It is seldom 

 we find this handsome trailer free from winter-killed branches. 

 The delicious odor from its lovely pink blossoms tilled the air 

 in its locality. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Flower Garden Notes. 



\X7TTH a garden of flowers judiciously planted, there is no 

 * * period more interesting than the present when all plants 

 are coming on rapidly and many are at their best bloom. The 

 mixed border of bulbs, perennials and annuals makes up the 

 ideal combination that will give flowers from April until Octo- 

 ber, a result not to be gained in any other way, and at the same 

 time it is the most economical way of filling a border, for few 

 plants need replacing each year except the annuals, and the 

 most of the labor lies in weeding out such as are encroaching 

 on their near neighbors ; there are always many of these, and 

 a good time to see to it is the present. Seedlings are the most 

 troublesome, perhaps, and these can easily be detected now 

 before they gain vigor. Larkspurs and Phlox are particularly- 

 prone to reproduce themselves, and they are almost invariably 

 inferior, and, unless they are really needed in the border, 

 should be pulled up without hesitation. The newer race of 

 singletree Paaonies have wintered well and seem reliably 

 hardy. There were some that never took kindly to the new 

 conditions last year, and these have died during the winter, but 

 the remainder are well set with flower-buds which will in a 

 few days open about the same time as Pasonia tenuifolia, 

 P. Wiltmanniana and P. corallina, all of which are early-flow- 

 ering species and valuable at this time of year. 



It is a matter of surprise to me each season that there are 

 not more of the species of Tulip planted in gardens for per- 

 manent effect. Their beauty, hardiness and longevity are all 

 beyond question and look well mixed. The Parrot varieties, 

 the forms of T. Gesneriana, T. elegans, T. corn.uta, T. sylves- 

 trisand many more, are all thriving better after a five years' 

 residence than if they had been newly imported from Holland. 

 It is true they have all been lifted twice and replanted, but this 

 was necessary owing to the way the bulbs had increased ; but, 

 apart from this, no other attention has been given. Oriental 

 Poppies are also planted through the Tulip bed, a large one, 

 and these will flower in June. All are seedlings from the true 

 blood-red form known as Papaver bracteatum, and we find it 

 comes true from seeds when taken from isolated plants. The 

 Poppies in their turn will die down soon after the Zinnias are 

 set out between the Tulips, and we shall have good effects 

 from these in late summer until frosts arrive. There are no 

 annuals that are so satisfactory as the Zinnias taken in all re- 

 spects. No insect pests devour them, the flowers are admi- 

 rably adapted for house decoration when cut, and they are 

 easily raised from seeds. To get the young plants started 

 well, however, they should be planted out on a mild hot-bed 

 from the seed boxes, such as are used for growing on early 

 vegetables. It is difficult to get good strong plants by June if 

 they are set out on a cold bottom. 



The Narcissus season is about past now; only a few of the 

 Poet's varieties remain to open, and these are naturalized 

 in the orchard under Apple-trees, where the white starry 

 flowers seem peculiarly suited. They thrive well here, too ; 

 better, indeed, than in the border under richer soil and culti- 

 vation. The more robust Trumpet varieties do not do as well 

 in the grass ; they enjoy more nourishment, and will give cor- 

 respondingly better returns. It the crop of flowers has been 

 poor this spring, it is a sure sign of deterioration, and will 

 probably be caused by overcrowding of the bulbs; ours all 

 Had to be transplanted last fall, and had been let t a year too 

 long. We did notget the amount of flowers this spring that the 

 bulbs ought to have produced, and those that were potted up 

 for forcing did not flower well. Next fall, however, they will 

 be in fine condition to lift for winter blooming, and ordinarily 

 home-grown bulbs give much better returns than those grown 

 in Holland, and they can be had in bloom earlier. 



We have been much pleased with the BurbankCanna. His 



