3i4 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 337.. 



We are glad of this opportunity to call attention again to 

 the importance of introducing this noble tree into the 

 gardens of southern California and the countries bor- 

 dering the Mediterranean, where its beauty and rapid 

 growth will make it valuable as an ornamental and as a 

 timber tree. 



Plant Notes. 



Victoria regia — We noted several weeks ago some of 

 the peculiarities of a new variety of Victoria regia at Wil- 

 liam Tricker's, Clifton, New Jersey. Since then it has 

 made rapid progress, and is now in flower. The blooms 

 prove to be distinct from any others which have been 

 grown here, being not only larger, but of a really hand- 

 some shade of rosy pink. The color of the flowers of this 

 giant Water-lily is often not very satisfactory, as it soon 

 degenerates into a dull purple. The sepals of these flowers 

 are smooth, not covered with spines, as usual. The newest 

 leaf of the plant is now six feet four inches in diame- 

 ter, measuring the five-inch rim, and as the plant gains in 

 strength this size will probably be exceeded. The leaves 

 have very little of the reddish tinge usual in the outside of 

 the turned-up edges. A plant each of the ordinary V. regia 

 and variety Randii in the same tank make a trio of the 

 noblest of hardy aquatics and a most noteworthy sight. 



Verbena Aubletia. — This Rose Vervain, from Missouri, 

 is a hardy species, very vigorous in growth, forming 

 broad mats of many branching stems furnished with nu- 

 merous flattened, terminal clusters of deep reddish purple 

 flowers. Verbenas of recent years, probably from over- 

 forcing and propagation, have been so much diseased that 

 the florists have largely discarded them, and the florists' 

 varieties are seldom seen in gardens. When well grown 

 they are so useful and effective that their loss is much felt. 

 It would seem that an infusion of the blood of such a vigor- 

 ous species as V. Aubletia might be helpful in restoring the 

 more showy varieties to health. Here is a suggestion for 

 experimenters in hybridizing. 



Plumbago Capensis — This is one of the best known of 

 the woody plants irom the Cape, and it is adapted to a 

 great many uses. In our southern states it is almost 

 hardy, and makes a beautiful low hedge or screen. There 

 are few better plants for training to the rafters of a green- 

 house in summer, and, when grown in pots which can be 

 plunged at the base of low walls out-of-doors, they pro- 

 duce a mass of bloom all summer long, while small plants 

 set closely make an admirable edging for the border, and 

 this is especially true of the white-flowered form of this 

 plant. Not long ago we saw a large specimen plant 

 trained to a slender lattice on the porch of a cottage ; its 

 rich foliage and dense masses of pale blue flowers in ter- 

 minal clusters were particularly beautiful. This Plumbago 

 is easy to propagate, and can be wintered under a green- 

 house bench or in light airy cellar. 



Clethra alnifolia. — It is only within recent years that 

 the familiar Sweet Pepper Bush of our swamps has been 

 propagated in our commercial nurseries, and yet it is one 

 of our handsomest native shrubs, one which requires no 

 special cultivation, and it will thrive in any fairly good 

 garden-soil. The pure white and fragrant flowers of this 

 plant, in upright racemes above its glossy leaves, began to 

 open in this latitude more than a week ago, and they will 

 continue well into September. The plant is smaller than 

 the southern species, C acuminata, which has nodding ra- 

 cemes of yellowish white flowers. In vol. iv., page 65, we 

 published a portrait of the variety tomentosa of C alnifolia, 

 which differs from the species in having its leaves covered 

 below with hoar)' tomentum, in its longer racemes and 

 larger individual flowers. It has the advantage of bloom- 

 ing still later than the northern Clethra, and continues in 

 flower until frost. It is also entirely hardy in northern 

 gardens. In England C. alnifolia is often forced, and as 

 the plants bloom under these conditions when quite small, 

 the compact little bushes, not more than two feet high, and 



carrying numerous spikes of fragrant flowers, are very 

 pretty. 



Rhus semialata. — A variety of this tree, known as Os- 

 beckii, has become quite common in plantations of orna- 

 mental trees in this country, and it succeeds as well in our 

 climate as almost any Asiatic tree. In this latitude it be- 

 gins to flower about the first of August, a season when few 

 other trees are in bloom, and its large upright panicles of 

 white flowers, standing well above the dark green long 

 compound leaves, give it a striking appearance. The 

 flowers are more handsome than those of our own Sumachs, 

 the petals being pure white, although the light yellow 

 color of the projecting anthers gives a cream-colored tint to 

 the panicle. This tree soon reaches a height of twenty-five 

 feet in good soil ; its foliage is usually free from insects 

 and fungi, and it has a round, pleasing outline, although 

 the absence of foliage, except at the extremities of the 

 branches, gives the tree a somewhat open and unpleasing 

 appearance. The fruit is not so ornamental as that of our 

 own Sumachs, nor do the leaves turn to such bright colors 

 in autumn, although the species is one of the most brill- 

 iantly colored plants in the Japanese forests in autumn. 



Cultural Department. 



Collecting Kalmias. 



SINCE we suggested the feasibility of getting a stock of 

 Kalmias for cultivation by transplanting wild plants 

 from their native haunts, we have received many letters of 

 inquiry as to the proper methods of collecting and caring 

 for such plants. Mr. Jackson Dawson, of the Arnold 

 Arboretum, has probably had as large an experience in 

 this matter as any one, and he has been very successful in 

 growing the plants. We asked him, therefore, to reply to 

 the questions most frequently asked— such as these : At 

 what time is it best to lift wild Kalmias from the woods? 

 What sized plants are the safest and best? How should 

 they be treated after they have been collected? The arti- 

 cle which follows is Mr. Dawson's instructive reply to 

 these inquiries : 



I would never take Kalmias from the woods when they can 

 be found in an open pasture. The plants are more stocky 

 when grown in the open, and have better roots than those 

 from woodlands. I have lifted them at all times, from August 

 to November, with general success, although I think the plants 

 transplanted early stand the best chance. 



As to size, I prefer plants not more than twelve to eighteen 

 inches high, but the size is immaterial. If a good clump of 

 earth is taken up with them, well-rooted and stocky plants 

 three to four feet high may be transplanted successfully. 



How ought the plants to be treated ? First of all, the roots 

 should never be allowed to become dry. When collecting the 

 plants I always take with me a watering-can, so that I can keep 

 the roots moist. If it is proposed to mass the plants in a large 

 bed the soil should be well prepared beforehand. If peat can 

 be had it is well to use a good portion of this as well as some 

 sand with the loam. They like a sandy, peaty soil, though 

 they will thrive in any good soil not too rich with stable- 

 manure ; when the soil is too rich the foliage will turn yellow. 



As soon as the plants are received the larger ones should be 

 set where they are to remain, made firm in the ground and 

 thoroughly soaked. One watering should be sufficient, unless 

 the weather is very dry, when an occasional syringing may 

 prove helpful. As soon as the ground begins to freeze, a good 

 mulch of leaves should be applied, and in an exposed place a 

 few Pine or Spruce branches stuck in the ground among them 

 will protect the foliage from burning. The poorly rooted and 

 small plants I put in flats in sandy loam and keep them in a 

 close frame or greenhouse fora month or two, syringing them 

 often, but not too abundantly. At the approach of winter I 

 place them in a deep pit or frame and plant them out in nur- 

 sery-beds the following spring. In the beds they should have 

 plenty of water until they are established. After the first year 

 in the nursery-beds the plants can be lifted readily at any time 

 during the season, even when they are in bloom. Last fall I 

 helped load a car with large plants, two, three and four feet 

 high. These, when taken from the car, were planted firmly 

 where they were to remain, on a sandy hillside which had had 



