190 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 165 



these prove very satisfactory garden plants in our climate. 

 Among a number of strains Dean's seem quite the best, and 

 leave little to be desired. The plants are vigorous and free- 

 flovvering, the flowers are large and well colored, without ob- 

 jectionable tints. Seeds (which may be had of leading dealers) 

 sown now will produce blooming plants next spring. My 

 plants of these are best in a raised border some six feet from 

 the south wall of the dwelling. They receive the full rays of 

 the sun all day, without the slightest shade at any time, and ap- 

 parently never suffer from the heat. In the winter they remain 

 without any covering, as this is apt to rot the crowns. During 

 the winter many of the leaves are usually scorched by the 

 frost, but new ones are quickly put out, and now, as they are 

 coming into bloom, the plants look very fresh, vigorous and 

 much more stocky and in character than any plants coddled 

 in a frame. In three other borders facing south and west, but 

 more exposed, and not so well drained, the lines of Primroses 

 do not grow nearly so vigorously or bloom as early. If any of 

 your readers have had only moderate success with these plants 

 the location may have been at fault. With these hybrids and 

 a good strain of P. elatior (Polyanthus) a long succession of 

 beautiful flowers may be had with little care, and soon a su- 

 perabundance of plants, as they increase rapidly when divided. 



A Taurian Muscari, received from Asia Minor, proves on a 

 second year's trial a valuable addition to the early spring bor- 

 der. This Grape Hyacinth starts into growth in early winter, 

 putting forth leaves which are long, narrow and prostrate. 

 The bloom slowly appears as soon as the ground loosens, and 

 this year from early February till now a colony of a hundred 

 or more plants has been a cheerful spot in the border. The 

 flowers are light purple (florist's blue) on the apex of the clus- 

 ter, and shade to deepest purple at the base on stems about six 

 inches high. Each small bell-like flower is constricted at the 

 mouth, where it is furnished with a fringe of white. The 

 blooms are not injured by hard weather. The list of available 

 very early blooming plants is lengthening rather rapidly, and 

 this may be considered a desirable addition to the earliest class. 



Arabis alpina. — This Rock Cress is one of the best of the 

 hardy low-growing early-blooming plants where white flowers 

 are desired. Its simple pure white blooms are about three- 

 fourths of an inch in diameter, and very freely produced. In 

 broad masses it is especially attractive. It precedes Phlox 

 subulata in blooming, and like this is fond of a location not 

 too wet. Plants of this may be had of most hardy plantsmen 

 or it may be secured readily from seed. 



Elizabeth, N.J. J. N. G. 



Correspondence. 



Colorado Conifers for Eastern Planting. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Allow me to endorse your remarks, in connection with 

 Mr. Moon's letter, on page 153 of Garden and Forest for 

 April 1st, 1891. An attempt to grow California trees north 

 of the latitude of Philadelphia will be almost sure to result in 

 disappointment. But in making this statement we must use 

 the words " California trees " only in a geographical sense, 

 and not forget the great difference in hardiness that exists 

 between the same species on the Pacific slope of the Rocky 

 Mountain range and those on the eastern slope. This differ- 

 ence is so great as to form separate varieties of the same 

 species, as far as the manner of growth is concerned. 



In Colorado we have Pinus ponderosa, Psendotsuga taxi- 

 folia,, Abies concolor and Picea pungens, all growing in thick 

 forests on the mountain-sides, and enduring a climate far more 

 severe in every way than around New York City. In winter 

 there are sudden storms of snow and sleet, with the ther- 

 mometer falling as low as thirty degrees below zero, followed 

 by days of almost summer heat, with scorching sun and drying 

 winds. In summer there are long seasons when no rain falls 

 to provide their needed moisture. And these trees are no 

 stunted, twisted trunks with a few branches, struggling for a 

 bare existence, but grand and noble specimens of tree- 

 life, towering in lofty grandeur to a height of nearly 200 feet. 

 I have seen single isolated specimens of Abies concolor, rising 

 like towers, full of light and shade and beautiful color, which 

 could not be excelled anywhere as types of vegetable life. 

 There, too, the rich deep green of the Douglas Spruce, with 

 its soft foliage, and the bright, warm tints of the Engelmann's 

 Spruce, give a wonderful attraction to the Colorado forests. 

 No one need doubt the perfect hardiness of any tree that 

 grows in Colorado, Wyoming or Montana. This has been 

 generally recognized by nurserymen who grow forest-trees in 



quantity, and they will advertise the trees above named as 

 grown from Colorado seed. Let any planter be sure his trees 

 are derived from seed gathered in the states named, and he 

 need have no fear of the result, but rest sure that, accidents 

 barred, they will live to reach a magnificent maturity. 



Colorado Springs, Col. Geo. H. ParsOHS.^ 



[The conifers of Colorado, so far as it is possible to judge 

 of them from an experience which does not extend beyond 

 twenty-five or thirty years, are well suited to withstand 

 the climate of the northern Atlantic states, although, as 

 we have insisted again and again, it is not safe to pro- 

 nounce upon the capacity of any tree to nourish in any 

 locality until it has been grown in that locality in con- 

 siderable numbers during a period equal to the life of an 

 individual of the species. Of the trees mentioned by our 

 correspondent, plants of Pseudotsuga iaxifolia, Abies con- 

 color and Pinus ponderosa, raised from Colorado seed, are 

 absolutely hardy in the most exposed situations in New 

 England, while plants of the same species raised from seed 

 gathered on the Pacific side of the continent either fail 

 entirely in this part of the country or are very unreliable. 

 Judging by what we now know of these trees, the Pseudotsuga 

 from Colorado is the most valuable exotic conifer which 

 can be planted in the northern states ; while Abies concolor 

 is the hardiest and most beautiful of all the Silver Firs here. 

 Picea pungens and P. Engehnanni are both peculiar to 

 the dry interior part of the continent, and do not reach the 

 humid coast-region. They are both hardy in the east. 

 Picea pungens, the so-called Blue Spruce of nurseries, is 

 already planted in large numbers, and in its young state 

 is very beautiful. The largest plants in the east begin, 

 however, to show indications of failure in their lower 

 branches, and those persons who have watched these trees 

 most closely in cultivation feel that they may not maintain 

 their early promise — a view which is strengthened by the 

 fact that in Colorado this tree loses its lower branches 

 early, and is much more beautiful in its young state than 

 it is later in life. 



Picea Engelmanni, as it appears in the elevated forests 

 of Colorado, is probably the most beautiful of all the 

 Spruces. Transported, however, to the sea-level, it grows 

 very slowly, like all alpine trees, and it is not probable that 

 it will be very much esteemed as an ornamental tree in the 

 eastern states, but as it is very promising in the extreme 

 northern part of Europe, it will doubtless prove a valuable 

 tree for the cold regions of Canada. It is one of the first 

 conifers to start into growth in the spring, and for this 

 reason is worthless in countries like England, where spring 

 frosts prevail. — Ed.] 



The Home of Certain Syringas. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Not long ago an article in Garden and Forest dis- 

 cussed the different species of Syringa cultivated in gardens, 

 and in this article it was stated that the native country of 

 Syringa Josikaa, Jacq., was unknown, and that all the plants 

 in cultivation have been derived from a single specimen found 

 in a garden in Hungary. 



The statement is inexact, and the country where this species 

 grows naturally is well known. It was discovered in 1830 by 

 the Baroness Josika (nee Craki) in Transylvania, not in a gar- 

 den, but on the rocky banks of the river Sebes, in Clausenberg, 

 and the younger Jacquin, who named the plant in honor of the 

 discoverer, showed specimens of it at the Congress of Natural- 

 ists, held that year at Hamburg, inserting the first diagnosis of 

 his species in the account of this meeting published in the 

 Bot. Zeit. (1831, p. 67). Reichenbach, in his "Flora Germanica 

 Excursoria," published in 1830-32, gave characters of Syringa 

 Josikaa, with an indication of the region where it had been 

 found, and the same author in his admirable " Iconographiaof 

 the German Flora " publishes a figure of it. In more recent 

 years various Hungarian collectors have found the plant in its 

 native country and have distributed specimens. 



In order to remove any doubts which may still exist upon 

 the occurrence of Syringa Josikcea growing spontaneously in 

 north-eastern Hungary, I have written to some of my Hunga- 

 rian correspondents, Professor Borbas, at Buda Pesth, and 

 others. They give me exact and complete information with 



