June 16, 1S97.] 



Garden and Forest. 



237 



of brick or concrete, about three by two feet and eighteen 

 inches deep. The drainage should be thorough and the soil 

 rich and rather coarse — that is, only broken up with a spade in 

 mixing. For a fertilizer I prefer bone-dust in moderate quan- 

 tity, with a good proportion of barnyard manure. 



If a house sufficiently cool is available, Lapageria rosea and 

 L. alba should not be "omitted, but unless the necessary con- 

 ditions of coolness and abundant ventilation can be given 

 these beautiful plants will not thrive, and insect attacks are 

 likely to follow. 



Stephanotis floribunda and one or two of the Tecomas are 

 useful, and do not require great heat, but Stephanotis is 

 another favorite of mealy bug, and strong syringing with a 

 good pressure of water is necessary to keep down this pest. 



Of the Tecomas, T. jasminoides and T. Smithii can be safely 

 recommended. The first is a strong grower, and does not 

 bloom freely until it has grown to considerable size, while T. 

 Smithii flowers while quite small, and is satisfactory either as 

 a pot-plant or when planted out. Trachelosperma jasminoides 

 is well adapted for growing on a trellis in a pot or tub, and 

 gives an abundant crop of white Jasmine-like flowers. A rather 

 peaty soil is preferable, and a temperature no higher than 

 forty-five to fifty degrees. 



For warm-house treatment few, if any, climbers surpass 

 some of the Dipladenias. These can be handled to better ad- 

 vantage in pots than when planted out in a house, and expe- 

 rience has shown that it is not necessary to coddle these 

 plants, as was once the practice. 



Holmesbur K , Pa. " • H. lapllll. 



Hardy Rhododendrons. 



RHODODENDRONS at Wellesley are exceptionally fine this 

 season, owing to the mildness of the past winter and a 

 favorable spring. The list of varieties once considered tender, 

 and now regarded as hardy, is being gradually extended. New 

 plantations not infrequently lose their first season's setting of 

 buds, consequent upon insufficient root development. Even 

 though all the conditions for successful cultivation are favora- 

 ble, we should not decide as to hardiness after one, or even 

 two years' testing. There has never been any doubt of the 

 hardiness of hybrids in which the blood of our native R. 

 Catawbiense prevails. 



One must become interested enough in these plants to study 

 somewhat the history of hybrid Rhododendrons in order to 

 give them intelligent cultivation. We depend almost entirely 

 upon European raisers, mostly English nurserymen, for our 

 supply, and the consequence is many beautiful varieties, 

 hardy enough in England, and recommended in good faith, 

 have been imported, and proved altogether unsuitable to our 

 climate. We find many of them injured beyond recovery 

 after the first winter, while some linger on for a season or two. 

 Loss of vitality, resulting from an ocean voyage and change of 

 soil and climate must, of course, be allowed for. R. Ponticum 

 is quite hardy in England, and is there considered the best 

 parent for hybridizing and also as stock for grafting. While 

 the good qualities of R. Catawbiense are recognized, and a 

 plentiful infusion exists among standard sorts, it is, neverthe- 

 less, difficult to tell to what extent this is so. R. arboreum, the 

 Himalayan species, and the tenderest of this type, is also used 

 as a parent. It is from this species that we get the finely 

 tinted rose, crimson and ruby-red shades so much desired. 

 But in proportion as R. arboreum and R. Ponticum enter into 

 the parentage of a hybrid, the less reliable is it for American 

 cultivators, especially in this latitude. 



When it is not possible to know the history of the varieties 

 we wish to grow, we must trust to the recommendations of 

 raisers and dealers who use our native species as a parent or 

 stock. The Messrs. Waterer, of England, have made a 

 specialty for many years of raising varieties for the American 

 trade, and nearly all the finest varieties in our gardens have 

 come from them. Many of the so-called tender varieties are 

 conspicuous for the size of their individual flowers, the form 

 and size of the truss, distinct colors and splendid markings. 

 To establish, to acclimatize these has been slow work. The 

 material at first was not the best. Large old plants which have 

 been moved in and out of cover for a number of years, and 

 which are likely to be out of health, are not the most favorable 

 subjects to experiment with. As a rule, they take hold slowly, 

 but the expected loss from winter cold has not proved serious. 

 It does not appear so much a question of constitutional weak- 

 ness as to get the flower-buds thoroughly matured and to find 

 proper protection for them. There is generally a good setting 

 of buds, but without flowers the most ardent enthusiast is apt 

 to lose courage. The plants screened from the irritating 

 effects of bright sunshine during winter suffer least, and on this 



suggestion most experiments have been carried out with satis- 

 factory results, and so every year varieties are taken from the 

 doubtful list and counted as hardy. Frequent examinations 

 throughout the winter show that during the severest weather 

 the buds kept sound, and not until the sharp changes from low 

 night temperature to bright, often warm, days in March and 

 early April does the real injury occur. Plants sheltered from 

 the north and exposed to the full sun suffer most. 



A list of choice varieties not generally found to be hardy in 

 this neighborhood, and which have been out several winters 

 and are now in fine condition, includes Duchess of Suther- 

 land, rosy lilac, deeper margin ; Princess Mary of Cambridge, 

 blush, edged with carmine ; F. D. Godman, crimson, large 

 dark standard petal, fine foliage ; James Mackintosh, rosy 

 scarlet, fine truss ; Marshall Brooks, rich scarlet, with bronze 

 spots, distinct and beautiful ; John Walter, rich crimson, fine 

 form, very effective ; Charles Thorold, purple, bronze stand- 

 ard, fine habit and good foliage ; Mrs. C. Thorold, bright pink, 

 yellow centre, distinct and beautiful ; Mrs. Shuttleworth, scar- 

 let, lighter centre, spotted, very attractive ; Lady Rolle, white, 

 spotted; Mrs. Hey wood, bright rose, free; Countess of Nor- 

 manton, blush-white, dark spotted, showy ; Mrs. J. P. Lade, 

 French gray, deeper centre, fine truss. 



Among a large number of varieties reliable as to hardi- 

 ness the following are noteworthy tor fine colors, large flowers 

 and handsome trusses : Lady Armstrong, rosy spotted, early ; 

 Caractacus, deep crimson, one of the best for all purposes; 

 Mrs. John Clutton, splendid white, standard petal spotted yel- 

 low ; Mrs. C. S. Sargent, rosy, marked with yellow, handsome 

 foliage ; E. S. Rand, rich scarlet ; Selton, purple, large flow- 

 ers, late ; Lady Crossley, deep rose, distinct, early ; Queen, 

 blush, nicely marked, with yellow spots, requires shade; Lady 

 Grey Egerton, silvery rose, large truss, handsome ; Mr. H. H. 

 Hunnewell, deep rose, bold truss ; Charles Bagley, cherry red ; 

 Mrs. Henry S. Hunnewell, very fine white, will prove our best 

 white ; King of the Purples, striking color ; Album elegans, 

 blush, changing to white ; Album grandiflorum, white ; Deli- 

 catissimum, valuable on account of being late and associated 

 with a mass of Kalmia latifolia, conies into bloom at the 

 same time ; Ralph Sanders, rich purplish crimson ; F. L. 

 Ames, probably the most striking of any of the rosy-flowered 

 varieties, the flowers very large, truss well built, color blush, 

 with deeper edge. Mum would be my choice among nearly 

 two hundred varieties. It is white, with creamy spots on the 

 standard petal, the flowers are extra large and the truss 

 superbly formed, but it is doubtfully hardy. Plants which 

 have been out for two years are blooming sparsely this spring, 

 and it is hoped when better established it may prove entirely 

 hardy. 

 Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



The Cultivation of Dionasa. 



J T is seldom this wonderful little plant is seen in a good state 

 *■ of cultivation any length of time after removal from its 

 native haunts. Its cultivation in a greenhouse is usually 

 attended with more or less difficulty, owing to unsuitable con- 

 ditions, such as too much dry air, shade or unfriendly soil. It 

 delights in full sunshine with a very humid atmosphere. 

 When the plants can be secured and transplanted with con- 

 siderable of the soil in which thev grow attached to the bulb- 

 like root-stock they are quite easily dealt with, and may be 

 kept in a healthy growing state for years. I lind a round, 

 hanging earthenware receptacle most useful to grow them in ; 

 the bottom is carefully drained, first with large pieces of 

 broken pots, then smaller pieces, and the upper layer is quite 

 fine. Some chopped fibrous peat is placed above this, when 

 the plants are built in, with live sphagnum moss used to fill 

 the spaces between the clumps. Arranged in this way, it is 

 hardly possible to give them too much water, and they revel 

 in abundant supplies. If kept in the sun the leaves take on a 

 reddish tinge, but when grown in the shade they are always 

 green. Flowers will develop about this time, but thev should 

 be nipped off as they make their appearance, for thev are apt 

 to weaken the plant. 



The Dionaea has been grown successfully in a dwelling- 

 house by quite a different method. The plants were in a wide 

 shallow dish without any drainage, ami simply placed, not too 

 firmly, in loose live sphagnum moss, with a glass covering. 

 Water was given every other day by filling the space above 

 the plants until the dish was filled, and then it was poured off. 

 In this way the potting material never became sour. From 

 the luxuriant condition in which these plants remained for 

 years, I am inclined to think this to have been a close imita- 

 tion of the conditions under which they thrive in a wild state. 

 Some years ago, owing to Professor Asa Gray's endeavor to 



