November 28, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



475 



the southern peninsula of Delaware, and possibly southern 

 New Jersey, is still much needed, and these notes are 

 written in the hope that botanists will communicate with 

 me the results of their observations upon them, especially 

 in regard to their distribution. 



More information on the distribution of Myrica inodora, 

 too, is needed. This is a beautiful little tree with pale bark, 

 thick obovate entire dark green and very lustrous per- 

 sistent leaves, and fruit sometimes nearly a quarter of an 

 inch in diameter. It was discovered by William Bartram 

 in a swamp near Mobile, where it still grows, as well as in 

 one or two others in the same region ; it has been found 

 near Apalachicola, and is comparatively common on the 

 Indian River, in Florida, but, although first described more 

 than a century ago, it is still one of the least-known of 

 American trees. Information about its range northward in 

 Florida and westward from Mobile Bay, as well as better 

 specimens of the flowers than can now be found in her- 

 baria, are needed. C. S. S. 



Acer palmatum. — This is one of the most common of the 

 Maples cultivated in Japan, and it was introduced into this 

 country something like thirty years ago by Mr. Thomas 

 Hogg. It is an exceedingly variable species, ranging in 

 habit from a low, trailing shrub to a tree of something like 

 fifty feet tall in its native country. The shape of the leaves 

 shows quite as wide variation, and their peculiarities of cut- 

 ting and color have been preserved by nurserymen, so 

 that a great number of forms with Latin names are to be 

 found in commerce. Of all these forms the normal type is 

 much the best, and it makes a neat round-headed tree of 

 the second size. The best specimens we know, and, per- 

 haps, the earliest ones sent to this country, are to be found 

 in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. There are three trees there 

 which are probably thirty feet in height, and although 

 two of them have been badly crowded, they are still 

 fairly well-formed and beautiful specimens. One of their 

 peculiar merits is exhibited at this season of the year, since, 

 like many other Japanese plants, they retain their leaves in 

 autumn long after our native species of the same genus are 

 entirely bare of foliage. No doubt, this is due to the fact 

 that the autumn in eastern Asia is fully a month later than 

 it is in this country. The leaves of these Japanese Maples 

 turn to a very brilliant color before they fall, and it is 

 always a surprise to come upon this intensely scarlet 

 foliage in late November. This peculiarity alone makes 

 them valuable for ornamental planting. They are particu- 

 larly useful on the edges of a wood border, where, of 

 course, they cannot make perfect trees, but their foliage 

 forms a fine forest-edging all the season through, and just 

 now in such places it is exceptionally beautiful. These 

 trees have shown a disagreeable habit in this country of 

 dying back in the summer without any apparent reason, 

 but this may be due to the fact that the plants brought 

 here have been propagated from worn-out nursery-stock, 

 and, perhaps, trees from seed gathered in Japanese forests 

 would be more thrifty and long-lived. 



Rosa Sinica (laevigata). — The Cherokee Rose is getting 

 better known, now that so many people make the south 

 a winter resort, and travelers bring back pleasant remi- 

 niscences of its great prodigality of growth and bloom. 

 Although a native of China, it is so well established 

 in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, it is hard to be- 

 lieve that it is an introduced species. It is not hardy 

 at the north, nor is it easy to grow in pols, but if given 

 a good border, or even a bench, in a cool greenhouse, 

 it will thrive without much care and give an abun- 

 dance of its beautiful single white flowers from January 

 to March. It should be planted in full sunlight and 

 trained to the rafters or wall, in good, rich and well- 

 drained soil, and, most important of all, it should have a 

 close cutting back, much, the same pruning one would 

 give a Grape-vine, in September or early in October. A 

 young plant from a six-inch pot set in the border in June 

 will make sufficient growth to flower the following January ; 



the first season the severe pruning should be omitted, but 

 never afterward. When the plants have been established 

 for several years some old wood should be cut out annually 

 in March or April to encourage the growth of new shools. 

 Plenty of food should be given when it is growing best. 

 The propagation is by hard-wood cuttings in October. We 

 have often commended this Rose, but it is a plant which it 

 is difficult to overpraise. 



Polygonatum multiflorum. — The common Solomon's Seal 

 is a native of northern Europe, perfectly hardy here and 

 well adapted to any soil and situation. It is difficult to 

 explain why such a good plant, and one of such easy cul- 

 tivation, is so rarely found in our gardens or offered in cat- 

 alogues of commercial plants. When seen it is generally 

 in old gardens, where it seems almost a relic of the past. 

 The stems grow two or three feet high, making a graceful 

 curve ; they are clothed with leaves of good size and color, 

 in the axils of which the white flowers are borne in June, 

 in clusters of from two to five, each blossom being about 

 three-quarters or an inch in length. It is good for mass- 

 ing with other strong-growing herbaceous plants and 

 makes an excellent background for the smaller kinds. The 

 plant is not only valuable for garden use, but is very deco- 

 rative when cut and brought into the house, two or three 

 sprays making a beautiful bouquet. It forces easily. A 

 number of plants exhibited at the spring show of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society, two years ago, attracted 

 much attention. The propagation is by division, good 

 plants being obtainable in a short time. 



Lilium bulbiferum, var. umbellatum. — The type is a 

 native of the Tyrol and mountains of central Europe, 

 having a rather limited range ; as the name implies, bulb- 

 lets appear in the axils of the leaves. In this plant, the L. 

 umbellatum of the nurserymen's lists, these bulblets are 

 wanting, hence this variety is often referred to L. Dau- 

 ricum or some other Asiatic species. This plant is a strong 

 grower, perfectly hardy, and thrives in any deep rich soil 

 where the drainage is fairly good. Although it does much 

 better in the sun, it will succeed in shade, even on the 

 north side of a house or high fence ; its time of blooming, 

 however, is thereby much retarded. It is as easily grown 

 as the Tiger Lily, a somewhat unusual merit in this family; 

 and when once established, the growth and increase is so 

 rapid that replanting is required at frequent intervals. The 

 stems are from two to three feet high, crowned in June 

 with an umbel of from four to six bright orange-red flowers 

 of good size and texture ; the foliage is a good deep green, 

 retained well into the summer. Altogether it is a good 

 plant, particularly where opportunity is given for large 

 masses. Many varieties are offered very cheaply by the 

 Dutch growers, but they are all much alike. 



Cultural Department. 



Lily-of-the-valley for Outdoor Planting. 



A WELL-GROWN lot of Lily-of-the-valley is seldom seen 

 out-of-doors, and when these plants have any place at all 

 in the garden they are usually relegated to some out-of-the- 

 way corner, where the roots of shrubs and trees appropriate 

 the nutrition they need, so that there is only a meagre exhibit 

 of flowers in May, when there ought to be an abundance of 

 strong spikes. For some reason there seems to be a preva- 

 lent idea that imported German forcing-crowns are not hardy 

 in the open border in this section of the eastern states. Tin's 

 mistaken notion is due to the fact that they are generally used 

 in greenhouses, but no more suitable crowns could be obtained 

 for outdoor planting than these specially prepared German 

 crowns if they can be had early enough in the fall to be planted 

 in the beds prepared for them. The situation of the bed is, 

 perhaps, the most important point for insuring success ; fully 

 exposed, hot, dry situations are to be avoided, or failure issure 

 to follow. The beds should have a position where they are 

 shaded through the heat of the day by overhanging trees or a 

 building, or even a fence is sufficient to break the force of the 

 midday sun in the heat of midsummer. There are few gar- 

 dens that do not afford such positions, and the difficulty ottcn 

 is to know what to plant in just such places where iM'ass re) uses 



