244 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 170. 



pleted. This tale suggests our fashion of constructing a new 

 garden out of the former one, and in our case the prisoners 

 showed a decided preference for the original institution, and 

 were with great difficulty persuaded to leave it. We started 

 out with no very definite plan beyond killing two birds with 

 one stone, always a desirable object when one is short-handed, 

 and the results scarcely merit a place in so eminent a horticul- 

 tural sheet as this, except to point a moral for the editor, whose 

 text we are proud to be, and to adorn his next account of how 

 well the knowing ones would have managed it. But you shall 

 hear, and we can at least serve as a warning. 



While the house at Overlea was building, the carpenters kept 

 their tools in a part of the old dwelling that was still standing, 

 and their constant journeys to and fro, between the knoll and 

 the workshop, wore a narrow winding path, along which we 

 had a flower-bed dug, to put such roots in as we wished to 

 bring with us from the rented place that we were occupying, 

 and also to serve as a home for such plants as we might dig 

 up about the farm. Some sprigs of Box, broken from the 

 arbor, and set in the soil at the edge of the bed, took root and 

 made a rough border, and here, in August, I transplanted Lily- 

 bulbs, and a little later put in such perennials as needed to be 

 set out in the fall. 



Between this flower-bed and the street were three rows of 

 straggling old Pear-trees that gave some suggestion of possible 

 fruitfulness, though it seemed likely that they were too old to 

 profit by pruning. They had been famous in their day, and 

 still preserved the remnants of a reputation, though more 

 modern varieties have borne away the palm in newer gardens. 

 But Bartletts and Sheldons and Seckels will never be out of 

 date, and there are others, the very names of which the old 

 settlers have forgotten, which still yield sweet and luscious 

 fruit, when the weather and the insects permit. Half-dead 

 they seemed when we first went to work at them, cutting away 

 the dead branches and scraping their mossy trunks, to the 

 infinite disturbance of the insects that had clustered there for 

 warmth, and we recognized that only strong methods would 

 revive them. 



We needed sods for the terraces we were making, and so 

 began by removing the turf around the trees, leaving narrow 

 strips of grass to walk upon. This furnished us with three 

 wide beds, which we fertilized heavily with rich compost and 

 wood-ashes, the surface being tilled with great care, keeping 

 the edge of the spade turned toward the trunk to avoid cutting 

 off the rootlets of the trees. A memory of an old garden 

 in which I had played when a child, where Pear-trees grew 

 among the flowers, induced me to think of utilizing these 

 broad fertile spaces for perennials. The Pear-trees were at 

 that time doubtful as fruit-producers, but they would afford a 

 grateful shelter from the hot sun when we were working 

 among the plants, and their sparse foliage would hardly inter- 

 fere greatly with the flowers. 



In the spring a. generous friend sent me a box of hardy 

 plants, which were set out at random, as they came without 

 labels, and many of them were unfamiliar to me. I do not 

 find that they interfere much with the Pear-trees, which, under 

 this steady cultivation, yield more of their fine old-fashioned 

 fruit than we know what to do with, for pears are a drug in 

 •this market and can hardly be given away. The Pear-trees 

 certainly do not hinder the growth of the sturdy perennials, 

 which multiply enormously, so that every spring and fall there 

 are boxes full of them to be given away. A nurseryman, who 

 came last year to set some Strawberry-plants, declared that, if 

 properly divided, there were roots enough there to stock an 

 acre. 



Such strong, showy plants as the Iris, the Foxglove and the 

 Giant Evening Primrose flourish admirably, while Phlox and 

 Hollyhocks and Columbines and Spiraeas encumber the ground. 



There is a huge Oriental Poppy that is a gorgeous spec- 

 tacle, with its rich blue-green velvet robes and its silken 

 headgear of scarlet and black, producing all alone the effect 

 of a procession, as Brett Harte once said of Roscoe Conkling. 



Smaller Poppies come up of their own accord, some single, 

 some double, as the fancy takes them, and there is a wild 

 array of Larkspurs and Coreopsis and Sweet Williams all sum- 

 mer. In the spring the variegated Thyme comes up promptly, 

 followed closely by English Daisies and Moss Pinks, and Pan- 

 sies and Violets, white, blue and yellow. The Giant Solomon's 

 Seal rings its green bells over the heads of the tiny Bellwort ; 

 and all summer the Lilies and Paeonies and Spiderworts fight 

 for possession of the ground, while the perennial Peas and 

 Calendulas and Marigolds linger there till the last frost-horn 

 blows. 



The collection is not very choice, and, beyond a periodical 

 struggle with the weeds, which try to grow as rampantly as the 



flowers, it gets not very much attention ; but it makes a fine 

 show from the street, and from the veranda which looks 

 down upon it. Any minute effects would be wasted here, and 

 we do not extend its area, which we might readily do, because 

 it already requires more attention than we are willing to spare 

 from the shrubs and trees that we are hurrying along upon the 

 lawn, and which, consequently, take all our best energies, as 

 well as the lion's share of food. In short, the flower-garden 

 takes what it can get — copes more or less successfully with 

 its own weeds, and possibly is more satisfactory than if we 

 took more pains with it, and so were liable to disappoint- 

 ments. It is not at all well adapted to annuals, even Mignon- 

 ettes and Asters, which are sown every year, for the stronger 

 plants rob them of their proper nutriment ; but I have future 

 plans for a parterre in that neighborhood which shall have 

 fitting accommodation for all the sweet old-fashioned kinds of 

 yearly flowers. 



Supplemented by the old garden, the new will even now at 

 any season afford a fragrant and showy nosegay, such as our 

 grandmothers liked for a beaupot, and there is always a mass 

 of color under the Pear-trees until late in November, when the 

 cold pinches the very last Calendula. The neighborhood of 

 the salt-water makes this garden cold, and slow to awake in 

 spring ; but, on the other hand, it modifies the temperature 

 in the autumn, so that it escapes the early frosts, and, under 

 the shelter of the trees, the flowers last long after those upon 

 the high ground about the house have withered and fallen. 



There is a sheltered corner, backed by a mass of Lilacs 

 and Mock Oranges, where I dream of seeing some day a fine 

 clump of Rhododendrons and hardy Azaleas, though I have 

 some doubts about a southern exposure being the very best 

 thing for them ; but the decorative effect from the house will 

 be so good that we are disposed to make the attempt. 



Hingham, Mass. M. C. Robbins. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



New Orchids. 



Mormodes Lawrenceanum, Rolfe.— A fine species of this 

 interesting genus, which was. imported from New Granada by 

 Messrs. Linden, L'Horticulture Internationale, Pare Leopold, 

 Brussels, and flowered in that establishment during January 

 last. It is allied to M. Cartoni, Hook., but has more acute 

 segments and a markedly pubescent lip. The erect racemes 

 bear numerous flowers, which have the sepals and petals lined 

 with brown, on a paler ground, and the lip light ochre-yellow, 

 with a few light brown spots. It is dedicated to Sir Trevor 

 Lawrence, of Dorking, the possessor of one of the finest col- 

 lections of Orchids in existence. — Lindenia, t. 273. 



Zygopetalum Lindeni^e, Rolfe, is a very pretty Zygopetalum, 

 much resembling Z. rotratnm in habit, but belonging to a dif- 

 ferent section of the genus. It has large flowers, borne in 

 twos and threes, on an erect raceme, the sepals and petals 

 light rose color, the lip, with many radiating rose-purple lines, 

 on a white ground. The large fleshy crest, which is purple in 

 color, shows that it belongs to the section Enzygopetalum. It 

 was discovered by Monsieur Bungeroth in Venezuela, and 

 imported by Messrs. Linden, L'Horticulture Internationale, 

 Brussels. — Lindenia, t. 275. 



Cattleya X Parthenia, A. Bleu, is a very handsome 

 secondary hybrid, raised from C. x fimbriata, crossed with 

 the pollen of C. Mossice, by Monsieur Alfred Bleu, of Paris. 

 The flowers are white, the disc of the lip bright yellow, and the 

 front lobe light rose-purple, both disc and front lobe being 

 veined with deeper purple. Different plants have flowered at 

 various seasons of the year, from April to November. The 

 mother-plant, C. X fimbriata, was raised from C. inter?nedia, 

 crossed with the pollen of C. Aclandia, so that three species 

 are involved in the parentage of the present hybrid. — Lindenia, 

 t. 276. 



Lmlia anceps, var. holochila, Rolfe, is a distinct and very 

 remarkable variety, with an entire lip ; evidently a peloriate 

 condition of the species. The sepals and petals are lilac, the 

 lip light purple, with a white disc and some yellow at the base. 

 The petals are rather narrow, and the lip elliptical-lanceolate, 

 over two inches long by three-fourths of an inch wide. It was 

 imported by the Liverpool Horticultural Company with Lalia 

 anceps morada. There are several plants in existence, all 

 showing the same character, and may all be subdivisions of 

 one original clump. — Gardeners' Chronicle, April 4th, p. 426; 

 Garden and Forest, April 15th, pp. 172, 173, fig. 31. 



Cattleya x Vedasti, Perrenoud, is a hybrid raised in the 

 collection of M. Perrenoud, of Paris, between Cattleya Lod- 

 digesii and a form of Lcelia piunila (to which the name 



