June 13, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



237 



tinue to give us flowers until autumn, and so will Campanula 

 Carpathica in many forms and varieties of color. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



A Few Neglected Hardy Plants. 



TRIS PSEUDACORUS is an Iris which I am most often 

 -*• asked to name. It always makes an impression, more 

 especially when grown by the margins of water, where it is 

 perfectly at home and in entire harmony with its surround- 

 ings. It, however, grows freely in drier situations, and is a 

 good garden Iris. The leaves are dark green, sword-shaped, 

 about two feet long, and the flowers are borne above these. 

 The flowers are a rich, deep, but bright yellow, and the signal 

 is a darker yellow, with brown linings. The falls are spoon- 

 shaped and suddenly narrowed to the claw. The standards 

 are small. The plant is free-flowering and very effective. 

 The variety with variegated leaves, striped white, is also in 

 flower. It is an ornamental plant, but I prefer the green- 

 leaved form. 



Iris Boissieri is a bulbous species found in Spain intheGerez 

 Mountains, and differs entirely from the so-called Spanish 

 Irises of gardens. The leaves are linear, much channeled, 

 and ribbed on the outside; they show above ground in the 

 early year. I. Boissieri flowers at the height of twelve inches. 

 The flower is very handsome, with reddish purple styles of a 

 metallic shade and rich violet-purple rounded oval falls. The 

 claw is marked with a brilliant yellow keel quite to the base, 

 on which are many hairs, which, however, do not form a 

 beard. I am in some doubt as to the reliability of this Iris, 

 as my first stock disappeared after two years. The present 

 plants seem sturdy enough, but are in a less exposed situa- 

 tion. 



Garden notes would be much more effective if one were 

 handy with the pencil and could sketch some of the charm- 

 ing plants to which neither the camera nor words can do 

 justice. A photo-print is usually a mere parody to a plant 

 fancier who has the feeling to discern the differing phases of 

 beauty of each plant as it progresses in its life. Only a deft 

 human hand could translate these phases for others in a 

 picture. This is especially true of many dainty little plants 

 which are often neglected for the more showy ones ; for 

 instance, the California Dog-tooth Violets. These Erythroni- 

 ums are all most charming plants, most difficult to describe 

 with less than a color-sketch. The half-dozen or more varie- 

 ties are distinct with variations very marked to the eye, yet 

 elusive to the pen. They have been noted often in Garden 

 and Forest, and should be found in all gardens. The little 

 Mouse Ear Ceraslium Biebersteinii is now a dense mat of 

 silvery foliage, above which are numerous little white bell- 

 shaped flowers about half an inch wide on delicate stems. 



Quite different in effect is another mat of dark green leaves 

 close to the ground, and covered with dark blue minute flow- 

 ers, Veronica cercasoides ; this is earlier than V. rupestris, 

 which has a similar habit, but is later in flowering. The Sand- 

 worts also make pretty mats, with narrow grass-like foliage 

 and small white flowers. Arenaria aculeata and A. verna, var. 

 casspitosa, are good varieties of these. Thymus montanus, 

 again, is different in effect, with grayish woolly leaves. The 

 small Saxifrages are a host of which I have noted a few earlier 

 in the season. The Sempervivums also make mats of rosettes 

 of more or less beauty, but do not compare in effectiveness 

 with the small Sedums, of which there are many that are 

 effective in themselves and useful over some bulbs in hiding 

 the bare earth. They do especially well in dry places. Some 

 good species are S. dasyphyllum, with fine glaucous blue 

 foliage ; S. Meehani has fine dark green foliage, and is much 

 superior to S. acre ; S. Nevii has rosette-like leaves of a dull 

 green. The southern S. ternatum is now covered with white 

 flowers. S. Middendorffianum has narrow leaves, usually dark 

 red. The more showy prostrate plants, as the hardy Candy- 

 tufts, the Aubrietias, the hardy Alyssums, the Phloxes and the 

 Thymes, are most interesting plants, useful in many places in 

 the garden, and are very attractive. 



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



Carnation Notes. 



/""ARNATION-PLANTS still flowering on the benches will 

 * — be benefited by a mulching of fine well-decayed manure. 

 Before putting it on, the surface-soil should be slightly 

 loosened, and the plants which have fallen over tied up. A 

 thorough soaking of water should be given alter applying the 

 top-dressing, and good effects will soon be observed. The 

 plants need abundant watering from this time, and some 

 stimulant may be given once a week. A sharp watch must be 



kept for red spider, which is the most destructive foe during 

 the summer months, and the plants should be well syringed at 

 least once on every bright day. Some Carnations, such as 

 Grace Wilder, Daybreak and Edna Craig, are more suscepti- 

 ble to the attacks of spider than others, and if the pest once 

 gets a good foot-hold the plants may as well lie pulled out. 

 Nearly all kinds of Carnations are now showing a heavy crop 

 of bloom, and it will pay to give them careful treatment until 

 the beginning of July, when early propagated plants will be 

 flowering outdoors ; if necessary, however, Carnations grown 

 under glass can be carried along until the end of August. 



Plants for summer blooming and for housing next winter 

 should all be planted out by this time. Those intended for 

 early flowers ought notto bestoppedaftertheendof May. Some 

 cultivators do not know how to stop the plants, and I have seen 

 men who grow Carnations in large quantities go over the plants 

 and snip the ends of the shoots with a pair of scissors. It is 

 needless to say that this sort of stopping is worthless, as in 

 nine cases out of ten the tops are not removed at all. The 

 proper way is to hold the shoot which requires stopping with 

 one hand, and draw out the top with the other. It is well to 

 look over the plants once a week, as runaway shoots have a 

 weakening effect on them. If any particular kind shows rust 

 badly it should be pulled up and burned, for no remedy will 

 cure the disease without killing the plants, and it is not wise to 

 endanger the health of the whole stock for the sake of one 

 kind, however good it may be. 



The two new pink Carnations, Ada Byron and Nicholson, 

 promise to be good summer bloomers here. I recently saw 

 a magnificent lot of these two varieties at their home in Fram- 

 ingham. The plants were a perfect thicket of flower-spikes 

 and the flowers of excellent quality. Mr. Nicholson informed 

 me that he could not grow enough of the flowers to supply the 

 demand. Ferdinand Mangold, in another house at Framing- 

 ham, had stems two to three feet long. This is still the best 

 crimson variety, although the new variety, Jacqueminot, sent 

 out by Peter Fisher & Co., Ellis, Massachusetts, will, no doubt, 

 win favor. A reliable white Carnation is still wanted. Mrs. 

 Fisher is a fine summer bloomer, and an equally good one 

 in winter in some places, but it has a weak stem, comes col- 

 ored in winter, bursts the calyx and dies out badly. Silver 

 Spray has a fine stiff stem, but is so badly diseased as to be 

 worthless. Puritan does not bloom freely enough, and the 

 flowers are not of sufficient size and texture. Lizzie McGowan 

 is a very free bloomer, has a fairly good stem, and does not 

 burst very much, but it is not by any means rust-proof, and 

 the flowers, while pure white, reflex too much. Some of the 

 newer introductions, such as Storm King, may have the 

 necessary qualifications for an ideal white. At Framingham 

 there was a batch of a promising white seedling of Mr. Nichol- 

 son's raising. The flowers were similar to those of Storm 

 King, now being introduced by Mr. Ward, of East Moriches, 

 New York ; they were borne on stiff stems, did not burst the 

 calyx and were of large size. Some of the last year's Carnation 

 novelties have turned out utterly worthless, and such varie- 

 ties as Edna Craig and Grace Battles are likely to be little 

 heard of after the present season. William Scott proved the 

 best novelty among pink colors. 



It seems difficult to get any yellow Carnation to bloom profit- 

 ably. Golden Triumph, when well grown, is splendid, but it 

 rusts worse than any other kind I know of. Golden Gate is of 

 poor color, rusts badly, and nearly every flower bursts. But- 

 tercup does well only in the hands of a few. Bouton d'Or, 

 sent out by Dailledouze Brothers, New York, and Goldfinch, 

 one of Mr. F. Dorner's introductions from Lafayette, Indiana, 

 are both promising novelties which were distributed this 

 spring. Helen Keller, the new striped Carnation, which has 

 commanded an extraordinary price in Philadelphia during the 

 past winter, appears to have a good constitution, and is said 

 to be free from disease so far. Striped Carnations are never 

 so popular as self-colored ones, but in Helen Keller, at least 

 a temporary success has been made. 



Taunton, Mass. II'. X. Craig: 



Adiantum Farleyense.— This is one of the few varieties of 

 Ferns that do not produce spores and have to be propagated 

 by division of the old plants ; early spring is, perhaps, the best 

 time in which to propagate, before active growth has com- 

 menced. The fronds should be cut closely from the old 

 plants and all soil shaken from the roots. These should then 

 lie divided into as many parts as there are single crowns, and 

 the smallest crown will grow. They should be placed in a 

 bed of cocoa-nut fibre refuse, (he crowns being- barely cov- 

 ered with the fibre. They require gentle bottom-heat in a 

 stove temperature, and to be kept moist. The crowns will 



