2l6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 327. 



large vases with it during the festive season, when it is 

 in great demand. It is an erect-growing deciduous shrub, 

 and is most beautiful when it begins to bud forth in Feb- 

 ruary. The leaves are ovate-oblong, two to four inches 

 long, and crowded at the ends of the branches. When 

 they first sprout they are of a rich glossy brownish-red. The 

 flowers are half an inch long, broader at the mouth and 

 bell-shaped. The color varies from white or pink to deep 

 red. They are pedicilale, drooping, and hang several to- 

 gether round the stem. The inner scales of the imbricate 

 bud lengthen out into beautifully colored bracts, varying 

 from deep bronze to pale pink, and they retain their color 

 for some time after the flowers have faded. The Chinese 

 value the shrub for this characteristic. Cut stems from three 

 to six feet long, when kept in vases with water, will keep 

 well and look gay for two or three months. The wild 

 plant has not yet been found outside of south China. 



Rhododendron Westlandi is a new species which I found 

 at an elevation of three thousand five hundred feet on the 

 island of Lantoa, near the mouth of the Canton River. 

 It is a tree about twenty feet high and bears large clus- 

 ters of rich lilac-colored flowers, from seven to nine 

 inches in diameter. It is described by Hemsley in the 

 Index FIora : Sinensis. I believe it is fairly hardy, as I 

 found a number of trees growing on the top of the moun- 

 tain, exposed to the full fury of the typhoon and the cold 

 temperature of that elevation. I noticed that the main 

 trunks of some of the trees had been cut down, probably 

 for firewood. 



Salvia scapiformis is a pretty little plant found a few 

 years ago at the northern end of the island of For- 

 mosa. It has deep olive-green leaves and throws up a 

 thicket of scapes of lilac-colored flowers. It continues to 

 blossom for several months. The plant grows in a pecu- 

 liar way, branching from the very base and throwing out 

 leaders. This enables the grower to increase it rapidly by 

 division. It can be used as a bedding-plant, and is effec- 

 tive even when not in flower. Dr. Hance, who described 

 it, remarked that it was botanically interesting on account 

 of its nearest relative being a plant from Nepal. 



Asarum macranthum is a handsome little foliage-plant, 

 also from the northern part of Formosa. The leaves are 

 heart-shaped, acuminate, from three to five inches long and 

 three inches broad, and curiously mottled with different 

 shades of green. The peculiar dark chocolate flowers lie on 

 the top of the ground. It makes an excellent stage-plant 

 in six-inch pots. 



Aristolochia Westlandi is a strong-growing creeper, with 

 linear-lanceolate, entire leaves, eight to twelve inches 

 long, light green and leathery. The flowers are strik- 

 ing and peculiar, with the tube bent in the Dutchman's- 

 pipe shape, usual in this genus. The perianth is softly hairy 

 outside and expands into a flat shield-like flower, six inches 

 long by four inches wide, and is curiously veined with dif- 

 ferent shades of yellow on a deep purple ground. An ex- 

 cellent figure of this species appeared in the Botanical Mag- 

 azine, t. 701 1. I only found one plant on the lowlands of 

 the Kwang-tung province, but there are probably more in 

 that district. The original plant is now growing in the 

 Victoria house at Kew. . 



Manchester-by-the-Sea, Mass. A. B. Weslland. 



Cultural Department. 



Seasonable Garden Notes. 



THE Tree Pseony, Reine Elizabeth, is the most striking 

 flower of the week. It is a clear rosy pink in color and of 

 immense size, and, although very double, it does not appear 

 lumpy. The flowers are highly effective against the foil of 

 slightly glaucous foliage, and a well-grown specimen of this 

 variety is among the noblest of garden-plants. I have had 

 some disappointments with Moulan Pasonies in the way of se- 

 curing varieties with satisfactory flowers, for many of them 

 are not worth garden room. Among these I rate the ordinary 

 form having white petals, with dull red or pink bases. Some 

 of the reds are also very dull and blue-tinted, and these de- 



fects are great discouragements after growing a plant for sev- 

 eral years before flowering, as is often necessary with these 

 Pa;onies. There are said to be some beautiful single-flowered 

 Japanese kinds, about which, perhaps, some one can give his 

 experience. Tree Pasonies start rather early, and should be 

 retarded in early spring when this is necessary by placing 

 some shading to the south of the plants. 



The Poppies are just bursting into flower, or, rather, the 

 more showy ones are coming into bloom, the Iceland Poppy 

 having commenced to flower several weeks ago. The Tulip 

 Poppy, P. glaucum, has been the first to open its satiny petals, 

 with the Shirley Poppies close seconds. The beautiful Tulip 

 Poppies are ot a rich clear crimson-color ; the outer petals 

 spread fully six inches, and are blotched with black at the base. 

 These Poppies are annuals, and the secret of their full growth 

 and flowering in the middle of May is that the seeds were sown 

 last fall before the ground became too cool. These germi- 

 nated and made small plants before winter set in, and have 

 made progress at every favorable opportunity since. Of course, 

 there have been losses during the winter from the heaving out 

 of plants, but they are still rather crowded over the bed of 

 early bulbs which they now cover. This is a good rotation, 

 where one has early-flowering hardy bulbs which are not pro- 

 tected or mulched. The Poppies follow quickly after the 

 bulbs, and by the time the leaves of the bulbs are ripe the 

 Poppies will have about passed their usefulness. Then the 

 beds can be cleared up, ready for any further changes or 

 plantings. If the bulbs are to remain undisturbed a crop of 

 Portulacca or Dwarf Nasturtiums can be had from such a bed 

 without undue watering and stimulation of the bulbs. Fall- 

 planting of hardy annuals is familiar to every reader of garden 

 papers, yet it is seldom practiced in the ordinary garden, and 

 even those seedlings which accidentally germinate are ruth- 

 lessly dug under by the presiding genius who tidies up our 

 gardens and furnishes us blank wastes of earth for our winter 

 prospect. 



The hybrid German Irises are in mid-season now, and 

 though a much-needed storm has been raging with unseason- 

 able fury, their flowers do not seem to be more affected than 

 those of other plants now in bloom. Many of these hybrid 

 Irises are very beautiful, and as handsome as any plants of any 

 season. As a class, considering all things, a selection from 

 them would make the most satisfactory collection of garden 

 Irises, if only one section of these plants is to be grown. 

 Among them, however, there are many poor forms which 

 might well be dispensed with. In this lot I should in- 

 clude the hybrids with dull white flowers and linings of dreary 

 dull purple. The smoky kinds are odd, and many of them 

 handsome in the garden, but they are not useful for decora- 

 tion, being too dull for the dim light of the house. Some sev- 

 enty named kinds in my garden, from one dealer, might be 

 fairly noted under half this number of names. At my leisure 

 I am seeking instruction and amusement in trying to class 

 them according to types ; this in many cases is perplexing, 

 as the various types seem to have been interbred promis- 

 cuously. 



A white Iris in any section seems to me the most beautiful, 

 and those of perfect purity are infrequent. The Bride, or I. 

 Germanica alba, as it is sometimes named, is not a pure white 

 or a true I. Germanica. Mr. Whittall sent me in 1892, how- 

 ever, an Iris which, now flowering for the first time, shows 

 a flower of perfect purity of color, with only slight green 

 veins in the standards. This has a yellow beard, shading to 

 orange at the base of the claw, which is veined with brown. 

 The fall is tongue-shaped, and it thus resembles I. Germanica, 

 but the ovaries are ribbed and the spathes rather persistent. 

 So, although the plant has also the same habit of bearing two 

 flowers at the top of the stem, with single ones on the lateral, 

 and has similar foliage to that of I. Germanica, it is probably 

 another species. There is a stateliness and grace about these 

 white Irises and the light purplish blue hybrids of I. pallida 

 which is very pleasing. Among the numerous other forms I 

 enjoy most the yellow forms of various shades with combina- 

 tions of maroon. Then there are also pink and rosy forms in 

 various combinations, not to speak of the frilled petaled kinds 

 in blue and white, like the well-known Madame Chereau. 



We are also in the middle of the Columbine season. These 

 are plants which should be favorites in all gardens, for the 

 flowers are charming, mostly bright, graceful and effective. 

 One of the best garden investments I ever made was an 

 assortment of Aquilegia-seeds, such as are packed in Ger- 

 many and sold by all florists. From this collection I had a 

 host of plants and a good start for a nice collection. Many of 

 these have maintained themselves in the borders for years, 

 and new seedlings are always appearing. The long-spurred 



