October 



1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



405 



is specially memorable to me, for I then first came in touch 

 with my friend Mr. Stiles, whose quick sympathies were at 

 once enlisted in an experiment I was making in growing 

 Chrysanthemums in the open under temporary protection, 

 with entire success. This experience was put on record, to- 

 gether with an illustration of the shelter, in Garden and 

 Forest, vol. i., p. 522. It seems a fitting time to urge on 

 amateurs a more extensive cultivation of these flowers out- 

 side, for they are much neglected now iri our gardens. How- 

 ever much one may admire the cultural skill of the florists in 

 plumping up massive flowers, these immense blooms leave 

 much to be desired by one who has formed his ideals from 

 campaigning with plants in the border. The florists' chrys- 

 anthemum seems to me to bear about the same relation to the 

 naturally grown flower that the conventionally correct man 

 bears lo the virile natural being. 



There is no more enjoyable garden sight than a mass of 

 glorious Chrysanthemum-flowers swaying on long stems in 

 the crisp October breezes, and in the border under the autumn 

 skies they take on new beauties unknown to flowers on 

 potted plants under glass. The culture and protection are of 

 the simplest. A very light protection will ward off early frost, 

 and by using somewhat heavy cloth, to be rolled up during 

 the day, and a stove for slight warmth at night, the Thanks- 

 giving table may easily be brightened with the rich colors of 

 these out-of-door flowers. 



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



Dahlia Notes. 



THE Dahlia has been popular for at least a century, and 

 with good reason, for certainly no other garden plant 

 equals it in the profusion of its flowers, the variety of its 

 forms and colors and the length of its time of blooming. At 

 this time it seems to be entering upon a period of higher 

 appreciation than it has yet enjoyed, not only in the two new 

 classes, called Cactus and Decorative (ill-chosen terms), but 

 in the older forms, even the oldest of all, the "show" 

 varieties. 



The single-flowered kinds, interest in which has been de- 

 clining for a few years, are again growing in favor as new 

 combinations of colors, greater delicacy and clearness of tints 

 and fresh developments of form have appeared. Even the 

 foliage of the Dahlia is now taking on an ornamental appear- 

 ance, sometimes in color, as in the kinds whose young growth 

 is of a purple shade, sometimes in manner of growth, varieties 

 appearing from time to time whose foliage is almost as finely 

 cut as that of a fern. 



Another comparatively new point in single Dahlias is that 

 some kinds have a disk which, instead of the yellow color 

 which a few years ago was invariably present, is of a dark 

 color before the expansion of the disk florets. In the varieties 

 Mars and Sirius the disk is red before opening, while in the 

 fine maroon variety, Robin Hood, the disk is also maroon. 

 When the outer ring of the disk of this kind has unfolded its 

 anthers we have a flower all maroon except a ring of bright 

 golden-yellow, a highly-pleasing combination. There is also 

 much variety in the manner of growth of Dahlias ; the three 

 varieties just named, as well as some others, instead of branch- 

 ing widely throw all of their flowers upward above the mass 

 of foliage and present a vivid appearance. For some reason 

 all the varieties which have this habit of growth have flowers 

 of some shade of red; there are no pink, white or yellow 

 kinds which carry their blooms in this way. 



New " show " and " fancy " varieties continue to appear in 

 the catalogues of the English raisers, and half a guinea con- 

 tinues to be the ordinary price the first year. The difference 

 between these two classes is clear in definition and usually in 

 the flowers themselves. All one-colored flowers and all 

 " tipped " flowers where the tip is darker than the ground 

 color are " show ' kinds, while all striped flowers and all 

 tipped ones in which the tip is lighter than the ground are 

 " fancy " varieties. This seems plain enough, but Grand 

 Sultan has a red tip on a yellow ground, yet is classed as a 

 " fancy " because its petals are also striped. Mrs. Saunders is 

 a " fancy," though oftentimes its tips, normally white on a 

 yellow ground, are sometimes light red. 



The distinction between these two classes, as far as it de- 

 pends upon light and dark tips, will probably appear senseless 

 to many, but if it were agreed to call all tipped flowers 

 "fancies" countless disputes would arise at exhibitions, for 

 many seemingly unicolored flowers have the base of the petals 

 white, and a beaten exhibitor would often be tempted to ques- 

 tion the verdict of the judges on the ground that his com- 

 petitor had exhibited tipped flowers. Ot course, flowers air as 

 keenly enjoyed by growers who never exhibit as by those who 



do ; but it is also true that flower exhibitions are refining and 

 educational, and that competition for prizes is a cause of 

 improvement in the specimens exhibited. 



The Cactus and Decorative classes are confounded by most 

 dealers as well as by most cultivators. The Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society made an effort this year to give the prize 

 offered for Cactus Dahlias to true Cactus kinds only. The 

 effort was not fully successful, for the collection which 

 received the first prize had only four Cactus Dahlias out of 

 twelve, the others being of the Decorative class. The Ameri- 

 can Dahlia Society gave its prizes for Cactus kinds last year 

 entirely to Decorative kinds. If this course continues the true 

 Cactus kinds will be buried under a mass of the other class, 

 some of which, it is true, are exceedingly beautiful, though 

 many are not. 



In England the National Dahlia Society has adopted a list of 

 recognized Cactus kinds, to which additions can be made of 

 such kinds as have been judged worthy by a special com- 

 mittee. It would be an excellent plan if the same course were 

 adopted in this country. I should be in favor of adopting the 

 English list and such additions as may be made to it from 

 time to time, providing that American-raised seedlings should 

 also be recognized if they had been certificated as such. 

 When the Cactus class came into existence, in the beautiful 

 representative, Dahlia Juarezi, it became popular, and English 

 growers, in order to share in the profit to be had from them, 

 called all Dahlias Cactus that were not fit for the other classes ; 

 the natural result is now seen. I believe that any person who 

 should see that unequaled flower, Gloriosa, would realize the 

 undesirability of including such kinds as Robert Maher, Can- 

 nell's Favorite and the like in the same class. 



Canton, Mass. W. E. Endicott. 



Plants of Doubtful Hardiness. 



A COLLECTION of plants in a well-ordered garden includes 

 ■**- many exotics from temperate climates, whose constitu- 

 tion is not sufficiently hardy to withstand our rigorous winters. 

 It is not always the degree of cold from which such plants 

 suffer. The rarity of the atmosphere, especially in the United 

 States, is such that the frequent alternations of freezing and 

 thawing are most trying. The heavy snowfall in New England 

 is favorable rather than otherwise, and the injurious effects 

 of sharp changes of temperature are even more severely felt in 

 localities farther south. As an illustration, Anemone Japonica 

 suffers more in Virginia than it does at Rochester, New York. 

 The hardiness of a plant cannot always be inferred from the 

 latitude in which it is native or from the fact that it comes 

 from a district from which hardy plants come. There is no 

 rule that all plants of a region are hardy or tender, as the case 

 may be. Our gardens are full of foreign plants which have 

 been introduced from countries where the climate is much 

 milder than ours, and in many other respects different. The 

 common European Box, Buxus sempervirens, is quite hardy 

 about Boston, and it is not uncommon to see it used as an 

 edging in old-fashioned gardens. Yet its congeners, the Yew 

 and the Holly, are tender. A knowledge of the natural condi- 

 tions under which particular plants grow is necessary to their 

 successful cultivation, especially as to their hardiness. Ma- 

 honia Aquifolium is apt to burn and would be classed as 

 tender, but it is not tender under proper conditions. With a 

 fair amount of moisture and shade, it stands well enough. 

 Seedlings of Azalea Indica, from the mountains of Japan, have 

 been brought into the Arnold Arboretum. Taxus cuspidata 

 and T. adpressa, from Japan, are both perfectly hardy when 

 on their own roots, though doubtfully so when grafted upon 

 the stock of the European T. baccata. Curiously, though, the 

 variegated form of T. baccata is hardy where the green type 

 perishes. We should be particular when importing these 

 plants, especially standards, as they may be grafted on 

 T. baccata stock. The same condition exists with many 

 beautiful Rhododendrons, especially in those hybrids where 

 the blood of R. arboreum prevails. In this connection it should 

 be noted that all Rhododendrons grafted on the R. Ponticum 

 stock are doubtfully hardy, and it is seldom that such as have 

 the stock exposed will endure our winters. This is especially 

 the trouble with imported standards. 



For the cultivation of Hollies, evergreen Euonymus from 

 Japan, Aucubas, Pittosporums, Yews of the Taxus baccata type, 

 some Cupressus, Osmanthus, Rhapiolepis Indica, and all other 

 half-hardy plants of a shrubby character, good cellar or pit 

 room is necessary. A part of a bam cellar will answer, if 

 this is properly set off so that the drainage and gas from 

 manure will not reach the plants. This should be well lighted 

 and thoroughly aired, and it their is a dry subsoil it must be 



