256 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 4SS. 



its exceptional size, but it is remarkable from the fact that 

 there is no other species of the genus in the Australian 

 continent nor anywhere nearer than China. The Kew 

 plant was figured in this journal (vol. iv., p. 355), and we 

 now give a picture of another plant (see p. 255), which is 

 interesting because it is probably the first individual of the 

 species which has bloomed in America. It is in the garden 

 of Mr. G. P. Rixford, Secretary of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences in California, and is said to be sixteen years old 

 from seed. 



Iris Robinsoniana is a stately plant with leaves from six to 

 eight feet long and from three to four inches wide, curving 

 gracefully near the ends and of a healthy glaucous color. It 

 is worth growing alone for the beauty of its foliage, which 

 is more attractive even than that of the New Zealand Flax. 

 The flower-scapes are six feet high to the first branches, 

 and the individual flowers open in the morning and close 

 permanently before night. These are four inches across 

 when expanded and pure white, except at the base of the 

 larger segments, where there are lines of golden yellow. 

 Although individual flowers are so short-lived, they appear 

 in succession for a long time, so that a single plant will 

 bear two or three hundred flowers and continue to display 

 them for a month. 



For the photograph from which our illustration has been 

 made we are indebted to Miss Alice Eastwood, the Botani- 

 cal Curator of the California Academy of Sciences. 



Cultural Department. 



Seasonable Notes. 



THE height of the flowering season is now here with plants 

 in the hardy flower border, and the unusually wet weather 

 has induced an abnormal growth, with the result that many 

 plants are unduly crowded. I never remember to have 

 seen so luxuriant development of Larkspurs, Poppies, 

 Pasonies, Thalictrums, and, indeed, all such as love moist- 

 ure, and this includes about all the plants in the borders. We 

 have found it necessary this year to go about and pull out 

 a great number of the Columbines at the close of the flower- 

 ing time, or as late as it was possible to tell their colors. The 

 tendency in all cultivated plants is toward reversion if left to 

 themselves, and this is soon seen in a mixed border where self- 

 sown seedlings are allowed to grow. Those thus produced 

 are generally inferior to the parents that are the result of much 

 careful cultivation and selection. Especially is this true of 

 Phloxes, Larkspurs and Columbines. The remedy for this is 

 the rigid weeding out of all that do not come up to the de- 

 sired standard of excellence. If this is not done our gardens 

 soon present the appearance of those that have been left to 

 their own devices for years and are dominated by the old pur- 

 ple Phlox and a few other plants that are equally hard to kill or 

 eradi ate. 



The Rhododendrons have been specially good this vear, 

 better than ever before, and the growth is now in full progress. 

 It is a great deal of labor to go over the plants and pick off the 

 old flower-stems, but, like many other tiresome operations, it 

 pays well and prevents the plants from wasting their energies 

 in seed-production. After such a heavy strain on their re- 

 sources in flower-production the growths will not be so strong 

 as in other years, and it is, therefore, especially necessary this 

 season to take off the seed-vessels as soon as possible. 



Of Tulips grown in the border, and even those that are 

 massed for spring effects, we do not consider it at all neces- 

 sary to take up the bulbs after flowering ; let them remain in 

 the ground and plant some quick-growing annual over them. 

 It will be found that next year the results will be even better 

 than before, and this is especially true of hardy species, though 

 most bulb treatises recommend annual lifting. We find that 

 the dry period we get in fall ripens up with good results — 

 better than if lifting is practiced. If Narcissus have been 

 planted for a number of years, and do not flower successfully, 

 it is because of starvation from crowding, and as soon as the 

 foliage has dried up the bulbs should be lifted carefully, 

 placed separately in boxes, labeled correctly, set in the shade 

 to become moderately dry, and then stored away to be cleaned 

 on some wet days and made ready for replanting in Sep- 

 tember. It will be found that all the varieties of N. poeticus 

 will have live roots attached to the bulbs. This species seems 

 never to be actually at rest, but there is less root-action at the 



time the others are dying down than at any other, so that it is 

 safe to lift them with the others, even if there are live roots to 

 be seen. It may seem trivial to tell about careful labeling of 

 bulbs when lifting them, but we have found that with a mod- 

 erately large collection, or even a small one, it is about impos- 

 sible, in the first place, to lift every bulb in the ground, and, in 

 consequence, it is better to plant in a different position next 

 time, or mixing will be sure to follow. It also seems about 

 impossible to label all so that they may be rightly distinguished 

 at replanting time. This seems a matter to be easily accom- 

 plished, but let him who is sure of it try, and see how his bulbs 

 look at flowering time next year, and the advice will probably 

 not seem so unnecessary. 



Any seedling plants that have been raised to add to the bor- 

 ders should be planted without further delay, and it is good 

 practice to have such each year, either for the reserve border 

 or for setting directly where they are to remain. It is also a 

 good time to sow seeds of such as ripen early in the garden, 

 for, it sown now, the plants will be large enough to set out in 

 fall and save a lot of storage-room in the frames during 

 winter and spring. There is no necessity for treating hardy 

 plants under glass at all at this season, or, indeed, at any other, 

 if sowings are made in early summer in carefully prepared 

 seed-beds and transplanting is carried on during showery 

 weather, remembering always the fact that the smaller a plant 

 is, within reasonable limits, when set in its permanent posi- 

 tion, the more certain it is tn be long an occupant of the garden. 

 Large plants rarely recover from the shift unless they have 

 tuberous roots or some other reservoir to draw upon. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



Plants in Flower at Wellesley, Massachusetts. 



THERE is a fine specimen of Hydrangea petiolaris now 

 in bloom on the estate belonging to Mrs. Durant, of 

 Wellesley, clinging, Ivy-like, to the trunk of a large Elm-tree. 

 It grows rapidly. From a small plant seven years ago it now 

 reaches fifteen feet and covers all but the north side of the 

 trunk. The flowers are produced in short-stemmed cymose 

 corymbs, with a multitude of white-stamened fertile flowers 

 encircled with white, large-petaled sterile florets, resembling 

 closely the flower-heads of the other so-called single Hydran- 

 geas. It is increased easily from cuttings and layers. 



Rhaphiolepis Indica, a charming little bush, is now blooming 

 profusely in the flower garden at Wellesley. It is known as 

 the East Indian Hawthorn, and belongs to the same family. 

 The form and shape of its short corymbs of bloom would 

 suggest the Mountain Laurel, and it is almost as showy. It is 

 a native of eastern Asia, not hardy here, and must be wintered 

 in the same way as tender Rhododendrons and evergreens. 

 It is propagated from cuttings of half-ripened shoots. 



Styrax Obassia is now flowering finely in the grounds belong- 

 ing to Mr. H. S. Hunnewell. It is one of the most attractive 

 of the many hardy shrubs introduced within late years 

 from Japan, where it is a native of Hondo and Yezzo. The 

 specimen here assumes the aspect of a small tree, in its foliage 

 resembling the Linden. Its attractive snowflake-like blossoms 

 suggest the Halesias, and we find that the Styrax typifies the 

 family to which both belong. The blooms hang on short 

 stems from the under side of the branches, and are almost com- 

 pletely hidden by dense foliage, but one would almost recog- 

 nize the plant by its strong Hyacinth-like perfume. It is said 

 to be difficult to establish, and probably on account of this its 

 hardiness has been in doubt. With a suitable location in par- 

 tial shade and the protection of taller trees, it is here a thrifty 

 and robust-looking plant. It can be multiplied freely from 

 cuttings. 



Benthamia Japonica (Cornus Kousa) is here a small upright- 

 growing tree. One would recognize it at a glance as an ally 

 of our Cornus florida, though, coming into bloom later when 

 vegetation is in full leaf, it is not so conspicuous an object. 

 The bracts differ from those of the American species in being 

 ovate-acuminate instead of obovate and emarginate. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Rock Garden Notes. 



UNDER the influence of our hot summers Thymus ser- 

 pyllum is scarcely recognizable from its appearance in its 

 native habitats. The stems grow from one to two feet long in 

 a season. It flowers freely enough, both flowers and foliage 

 being much lighter in color than in its native haunts. Gera- 

 nium sanguineum, a European species which grows naturally 

 on rocky cliffs, is one of the most reliable plants we have for 

 the embellishment of the rock garden during the entire spring 

 and summer. Seldom do we see it without dozens of its large 



