January 3, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



a good time to repot this Cypripedium, but if in a healthy con- 

 dition it does not require potting oftener than once in two or 

 three years, and I have kept plants in excellent condition in the 

 same pans for six or seven years by applying a top-dressing 

 each season. 



Holmesburg, Pa. IV. Ji. laplM. 



Hardy Plants on New Year's Day. 



A LOOK over the outdoor garden at the commencement of 

 a new year reveals much quiet activity among many 

 plants, which can scarcely be said to be in a state of sus- 

 pended animation, even during the hard weather. When out 

 of the actual embrace of frost, as they often are here early in 

 the year, every day shows some advances, and soon the an- 

 nual procession of flowers will commence, with none more 

 welcome than the cheerful heralds, the Snowdrops, the Anem- 

 ones, the Crocuses and the Irises. The autumnal Snow- 

 drops, which bridge over the winter season, have been a failure 

 with me this year, and they seem to be of a rather tender con- 

 stitution ; probably the severity of midwinter prevents their 

 ripening well as in their Grecian homes. The earlier Galan- 

 thuses arjs just commencing to peer out as the days lengthen. 

 Crocus Imperati is simply biding its time for a little more sun- 

 light in which to display its showy flowers. The Irises of the 

 reticulata section are making spasmodic growth, with the first 

 signs of bloom on some lately planted Iris Histrio. Anem- 

 one blanda, which grows strongly with me, usually awakens, 

 as if with a sudden start, about this time, and there is no 

 flower which gives us such pleasant greeting on a sunny day 

 in winter as this starry gem. Of course, the Grape Hyacinths, 

 the Spanish Irises and many other species of Iris still continue 

 their growth begun in the fall, though they are flowers of the 

 second season. 



Of the California bulbs, so far, I have only noticed Calochor- 

 tus venustus and C. zygadenus above ground. The Sedums 

 make cheerful mats of color, especially valuable at this season, 

 they being not at all affected by the cold. Some of the 

 Thymes are also grateful, while one is glad to see good patches 

 of Aubrietia and Arabis as an earnest of coming pleasure. 

 Hybrid Primroses are the only ones of the family with which I 

 have had success in the open. These are weather-proof, but 

 are better for not being subjected to too many changes of 

 freezing and thawing ; at present they are dense rosettes of 

 unharmed leaves. The best bit of color in the garden at pres- 

 ent is a bush of Berberis(Mahonia) Aquifolium, whose glisten- 

 ing leaves now have a handsome bronzy tint ; a few sprays of 

 these, with some clusters of Rosa multiflora hips, make a 

 seasonable bouquet, quiet and effective in a bright light. 

 Elizabeth, N. J. J. N. Gerard. 



Winter Care of Trees. — There is no better time than the 

 present to examine groves and groups of trees in order to de- 

 termine whether they are becoming overcrowded, and to desig- 

 nate those which should be removed to make room for the 

 rest. The axe is the only remedy for crowding among trees, 

 and when this heroic treatment is necessary, no considerations 

 of sentiment should be allowed to interfere with its use. At 

 this season, too, it is easier to find where branches are grow- 

 ing too thickly on a tree, and where they are rubbing each 

 other, than it is when they are in full foliage, and in the warm 

 days of midwinter pruning can be done to advantage. When 

 it is necessary to remove large branches they should be sawed 

 close to the trunk and the edges cut smooth with a sharp 

 knife. Coal-tar applied to the wound will keep out moisture 

 and fungi, and thus prevent decay. Any kind of ochreous 

 paint will answer almost as good a purpose, and it can be easily 

 applied with an ordinary brush. All sprouts should be cut 

 from the trunk and all suckers from its base, but the dead 

 twigs in the heads of trees can be more easily detected in the 

 summer. Of course, all diseased limbs should be amputated, 

 and so should the branches of such trees as Hawthorns or 

 Yellow-wood that are badly infested with scale. A top-dress- 

 ing of loam or fine well-rotted stable-manure spread over the 

 roots will encourage a vigorous growth next year. The dress- 

 ing should be scattered over a circle as far as the roots extend. 



In the Shrubberies. — Shrubs, too, must be well fed if they are 

 expected to make luxuriant growth and show their highest 

 beauty. No cultivator thinks of obtaining a fair crop in gar- 

 den or field without fertilizing his land, and yet too many 

 persons starve their shrubberies and then wonder why they 

 are thin and unattractive. Of course, the shrubs like Cory- 

 lopsis, Forsythia, Van Houtte's or Thunberg's Spiriea, Cercis, 

 the bush Honeysuckles and other shrubs which flower early, 



should not now be cut in severely, since the buds for spring 

 flowers are already formed, and if we cut away the branches 

 we destroy the possibility of flowers next season. If late-flow- 

 ering shrubs have not yet been pruned, the work can still be 

 done, and this will encourage the growth of wood which will 

 bear flowers laterin the season. In this class are the Althaeas, 

 Hydrangea paniculata, Indian Tamarisk and others. The 

 pruning of Roses which are liable to be killed back to some 

 extent had better be postponed until spring, so that we can be 

 sure to cut below the dead wood. 



New Brunswick, N.J. A. A.. 



Correspondence. 

 Winter -Notes from Missouri. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Nature, when left to herself, has beauty to show at 

 every season. Autumn and winter have the sombre color of 

 evergreens, the gleam of bright berries, and the soft gray tints 

 of frost-touched seed-pods, which are as interesting in their 

 way as the rich displays of flowers and foliage in spring and 

 summer, and yet it is too much our custom to crowd ourgar- 

 dens with everything that can make the summer bright and leave 

 the six months between the first and last frosts of the cold sea- 

 son void of every attraction. A winter garden need not be 

 less pleasing than a garden in summer, although it may lack 

 brilliancy of color and the beauties it presents are less evanes- 

 cent and require less care to produce them. 



With a milder climate than that of the northern states, the 

 interval between the first frost of autumn and the last frost of 

 spring extends here over fully five and a half months, while 

 the violent fluctuations of temperature when the coldest 

 months have warm September-like days, followed within 

 thirty-six hours by a drop of the thermometer to zero or below, 

 make the conditions almost as trying to vegetable life as those 

 of much colder regions. Our winter gardening, therefore, has 

 been confined to a display of evergreen foliage and of shrubs 

 bearing bright fruit, together with an attempt to continue sum- 

 mer bloom into late autumn, and the use of as many hardy 

 plants as possible with bright foliage and flowers in very earlv 

 spring. We have found no difficulty in keeping up a show of 

 Chrysanthemums, Tritomas, Verbenas, Dianthus, Sweet Alys- 

 sum and Calendulas until the last days of November, while 

 Antirrhinum, Mexican Primrose, Cosmos, Feverfew and a 

 dozen other well-known garden plants last until the beginning 

 of November, and Pansies and Violets bloom in the open air 

 until nearly Christmas. About the last of January or some- 

 times early in February, Pansies and Violets begin again with 

 the Single Snowdrops and the earliest Crocuses. We have 

 made no trial of the early Irises over which Mr. Gerard is so en- 

 thusiastic, but such commoner plants as t he Scillas, Chionodoxas 

 and Winter Aconite introduce the long train of beautiful and fra- 

 grant flowers of bulbous plants from Holland. Besides this, 

 each year we add early-flowering herbaceous plants from the 

 nurseries, and seek out our hardy native wildings and transfer 

 them to our own grounds, so that the last six weeks which we 

 win from the frost may be called the gala season of our 

 garden. 



We have not done much planting of evergreens for the dull- 

 est season, and yet we could hardly spare the traces of refresh- 

 ing green which we already possess in our rockery fringed 

 with evergreen Ferns, in the mound covered with the dark 

 foliage of Vinca minor, the Myrtle of our grandmothers, 

 and in the foliage of Junipers, Spruces, Arbor-vitajs and 

 other conifers which add some warmth to the dull color of the 

 landscape. In late autumn we have the purple and bronze 

 leaves of the Barberries and Forsythias, while vines of Physi- 

 anthus, Honeysuckle and Clematis retain their colors into late 

 November, with the Passion-vine (Constance Elliott) and Sola- 

 num jasminoides richly green well into December, and often 

 into January. The leaves of some species of our native Smilax 

 turn to a beautiful bronzy red, and persist until midwinter, so 

 that we can, if we will, have late autumn foliage here from de- 

 ciduous shrubs and vines alone. Garden and Forest has so 

 often spoken of shrubs with showy fruit that there is no need 

 of enlargement upon that point further than to say that no 

 shrubbery where the berries of Ilex and Evonymus, of Alder, 

 Celastrus and Berberis have a home can be chilled into com- 

 mon-place by frost and cold. 



It should be remembered that while certain evergreens and 

 plants with ornamental fruit will show their best qualities 

 wherever they maybe situated, it is a different matter with the 

 plants which flower late or those with late-persisting leaves. 

 They must be planted where they will be sheltered from the 



