224 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 168. 



Among the many pink Roses John Hopper retains a place 

 in the foremost rank for outside use ; its firm, large flowers 

 being of excellent color, while for free-blooming it has few 

 equals. 



It has been suggested that the white La France, so-called, 

 Augustine Guinnoiseau, one of the much-praised novelties of 

 the present season, may prove a valuable white variety for 

 summer cut flowers, but this, of course, has not yet been 

 tested. If it should prove as free in blooming as La France, 

 and have the same charming form, it would certainly be a 

 particularly beautiful white Rose. For bedding purposes the 

 Polyantha Roses are gaining in favor each season. Clothilde 

 Soupert, especially, has the good opinion of many last year, 

 while the sales of the older sorts of this class do not fall off 

 much, if at all. 



One of the very best Teas for out-door planting is Marie 

 Van Houtte, a strong grower and free-bloomer, with flowers 

 of good size and very firm and double. The outer petals of 

 this Rose being tinted with pink does not seem to be an objec- 

 tion to it when planted outside ; in fact, the contrast with the 

 pale yellow of the interior is quite pleasing. 



Andre" Schwartz also produces some fine buds at times out- 

 doors, and of deep red color, but this is not a satisfactory 

 Rose in all localities, and therefore should not have a general 

 recommendation. 



As a forcing Rose the lamentable failure of this variety is 

 fresh in the minds of many cultivators, some of whom, doubt- 

 less, found their experience rather costly. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. H. Taplin. 



Tulips. 



THE skill of the cultivator with one division of this family, 

 ■*■ that is, the Garden Tulip, is well known. At this season 

 these plants are in bloom in the open ground, and we shall 

 see them in flower again in the stores of florists, painfully out 

 of season, in November, with short stems and scant foliage. 

 When Garden Tulips are properly planted in the fall, with a 

 sprinkling of clean, sharp sand around the bulbs, there is no 

 reason why these should be renewed annually, if one does not 

 object to seeing the foliage ripen off naturally in the beds. 

 The summer occupants should be planted without disturbing 

 the bulbs of the Tulips. When frost kills the tender sum- 

 mer plants, such as Coleus, Geraniums or China Asters, these 

 should be cleared off and a good top-dressing given to the 

 bed, and the second year's flowers, from the same bulbs, will 

 be better than the first. The only objection to this system is, 

 that Tulips are usually planted in the most conspicuous place 

 in the garden, and the foliage, when ripening off, would look 

 somewhat out of keeping with its surroundings. 



And now, a few words in favor of some of the natural forms 

 of the Tulip which are, to many, even more interesting than 

 the highly developed products of garden art. T. Greigi has 

 bright, flaming-red 'flowers , with a yellow bordered black 

 centre and leaves with distinct brown blotches, not unlike 

 those of a Dog's-tooth Violet in the markings. This plant is 

 hardy, easy to grow, and, with proper care, will flower every 

 year. 



For several years past I have had a great deal of satisfaction 

 from the cultivation of that charming species, T. Turkestanica. 

 The pretty, though not showy, flowers of this little Tulip may 

 be found on the first bright day after the frost is out of the soil. 

 It is peculiar in bearing several flowers on a branched stem — 

 I have seen as many as five. The leaves of this species ai;e 

 developed above ground in fall and are never injured by cold. 

 It deserves to be more widely known. Another attractive 

 species is T. cornnta, the horned Tulip. This is a robust spe- 

 cies which flowers every year without assistance. The petals, 

 instead of overlapping each other and forming a cup-shaped 

 flower, are narrow and taper to a point ; they are about four 

 inches long and usually yellow, striped with red. This Tulip 

 is seldom grown, though cheap and easily obtained, and is 

 worthy a place in every garden. The bulb of T. Oculus-solis, 

 the Sun's Eye Tulip, is of itself remarkable. Between the bulb 

 and its outer covering is a beautiful lining of cotton-like hairs, 

 so interwoven as to be a complete protection. The flower is 

 bright red, with a red and yellow centre, and, although very 

 beautiful and perfectly hardy, it is too rarely met with in cul- 

 tivation. 



T. Gesjieriana is interesting as one of the recognized parents 

 of the Garden Tulip. This species has a very good flower, 

 though not as showy as its progeny. T. Gesneriana Dracontia 

 is the parent of the varieties known as Parrott Tulips, which 

 are difficult to succeed with in pots, although their flowers 

 are pretty, curious, and in some varieties, as Monstre Rouge, 



really showy. They should be staked, as they are weak- 

 stemmed, and fall down on the ground unless supported. 

 They will not force at any season ; as I write, pans that have 

 been brought on slowly in cold frames have a number of 

 flowerless bulbs. We shall try them in the open ground next 

 season in poor soil. 



There should be no difficulty with the culture of the species 

 of Tulips any more than with the garden varieties. They are 

 natives of Algeria, central Asia and the south of France, and 

 this suggests the need of a somewhat dry soil. This is espe- 

 cially true during their resting season — our summer months. 

 Very seldom does a summer pass when there is not enough 

 dry weather to ripen them thoroughly and enable them to 

 make a vigorous start again in the fall. If the species now in 

 commerce were more generally grown, many others now 

 known in European gardens would soon be obtainable here, 

 and our Tulip-beds in spring would not all be of one invariable 

 pattern in regulation bedding colors or made up of the still 

 worse " mixed Tulips in fine variety." 



South Lancaster, Mass. 



E. O. 0. 



The Hardy Flower Garden. 



HPHE blooming of the Narcissi, Hyacinths and Tulips marks 

 -*■ the second phase of the spring-garden. The small bulb- 

 ous plants are generally past, and the garden, with the advanc- 

 ing season, the more showy flowers, and the rapidly increasing 

 foliage of hardy plants, is showing new, but not greater, 

 attractions. "When you wish to drive a nail home keep 

 hitting it" is a good homely adage which will explain my 

 insistence on the charm of the spring-garden. The flowers 

 of spring seem of such special beauty, and so enjoyable, that 

 it is difficult to refrain from advocating their culture. The 

 constantly increasing nomadic habits of our people, who now 

 almost invariably spend their summers away from home, is 

 having a serious result on many gardens, as in such cases, of 

 course, little attention is given to flowers. In such cases the 

 spring-garden is the only one to be enjoyed. Of course, those 

 who will not give the matter forethought can never have a 

 spring-garden, for this, unlike summer bedding effects, can 

 never be ordered ready-made of the florist. But with notes 

 taken now, as the plants are inbloom, and a little forethought 

 in the fall, a spring-garden is quite within the management 

 and means of any one. This first week in May the majority 

 of the Narcissi are past, though there will be a succession for 

 several weeks still. There were so many varieties of these it 

 seems the part of prudence to refrain from commending 

 particular kinds, for they all have some merits, and certainly 

 most remarkable contrasts ; from the mammoth Sir Watkin 

 to the minute Triandeus Albus is a long range of size and 

 form, while between the white Cernuus and the deep yellow 

 of Obvallaris may be found all shades of those colors. The 

 Polyanthus Narcissus are usually recommended for in-door 

 planting, for which their penetrating odor quite unfits them. 

 With a good covering they can be grown out-doors in this lati- 

 tude, and looking them over the other day, it seemed to me 

 that a good bed of these would be very effective, as they 

 bloom profusely, and their flowers are small and borne grace- 

 fully. Spring Snowflakes (Leucoium), now at, their best, are 

 worthy successors of Snowdrops. Triteleias are useful front- 

 border bulbs with pretty but malodorous flowers — flowers 

 which will not be plucked are not without their uses. 

 Hyacinths are waning, their lumpiness always making one 

 long for a hardy strain with the habit of the Roman varieties. 

 Tulips, if properly selected, should be in good form till the 

 end of the month. A bed of Tulips all blooming on the same 

 day, of the same height and the same color, does not seem 

 worth planting. 



Of the small hardy plants, Papaver niidicaule is the showiest 

 thing in the garden ; strong plants are exhausting themselves 

 in bloom, and will last till the great Oriental Poppies flaunt 

 their banners of orange and scarlet. Seeds of the Iceland 

 Poppy sown now will give a few blooms in early fall, and make 

 strong plants for another season, and are perfectly hardy with- 

 out protection. The alpine Forget-me-nots make neat mats of 

 blue ; while stray blooms of Aquilegias are heralds of a new 

 season of these ever-charming flowers. Androsace sarmentosa 

 proves hardy in my garden,. and from each rosette is now dis- 

 played a cluster of the dainty pink flowers. Anemones follow 

 Anemones, A. sulphnrea being one of the most charming at 

 this season. The Irises are gradually unfolding their beauties, 

 /. Sibirica, I. Cham/ziris and I. pumila, with its variety, Alba, 

 being the Irises of the week. 



Trouble, of course, it is to arrange for all such flowers, and 

 perhaps many of them do not impress a casual observer — the 



