November ii, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



537 



variety Brownii, with perhaps L. Leichtlinii, constitute the 

 majority of Lilies that can be grown outdoors here, and all are 

 of Japanese origin. It is not generally known that the well- 

 known Easter Lily can be grown and flowered in the open 

 border equally as well as in the greenhouse if the bulbs are 

 wintered in a cool cellar and planted out in spring. I refer to 

 L. longiflorum and its variety Harrisii. L. candidum, the Ma- 

 donna Lily, is perfectly hardy and needs no commendation. 

 There are still three native Lilies that are worth growing in the 

 garden as they improve so rapidly when given a moist soil 

 and are very ornamental — L. superbum, L. Canadense, and L. 

 pardalinum, the latter a western Lily but perfectly hardy here. 

 As to planting, one cannot do wrong with those noted since 

 they grow well here if they are planted eight or ten inches deep 

 even where the soil is heavy, for this will save the young 

 shoots from injury from frost in the spring ; but with those 

 that do not succeed well in all places it is best to try them in all 

 positions available, being assured that when success is attained 

 it will be worth recording. 



South Lancaster, Mass. -&■ U. Urpet. 



Andromeda speciosa for Forcing. 



THE singular beauty of Andromeda speciosa as a dwarf 

 dowering shrub has often been spoken of in Garden 

 and Forest, but it ought to be said in addition that this prom- 

 ises to be one of the very best of shrubs for forcing. It is an 

 Ericaceous plant, a native of our southern states from North 

 Carolina to Florida, where, in the Pine-barrens, it reaches a 

 height of two to four feet. Although not as hardy as many 

 other North Carolina plants, it does fairly well in any sheltered 

 position here. At the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge it has 

 flourished in the same place for twenty years, and probably 

 longer, without any protection ; and it will certainly do well in 

 more exposed places if pegged down to the ground and lightly 

 covered with soil. To all lovers of beautiful plants it will 

 repay this slight trouble. 



When used for forcing it rivals many of the Heaths with its 

 large white bell-shaped flowers, which are often half an inch 

 across. For forcing purposes the plants do best when lifted 

 early in September, potted firmly and kept in a close frame or 

 greenhouse, and well syringed until established in the flower- 

 ing pots, which will be in a fortnight or three weeks. They 

 should then be put out-of-doors to harden up until heavy 

 frosts are expected, when they can be placed in a frame or pit 

 until wanted for use. The first lot may be brought into heat 

 about the first of December, and afterward as they are needed. 

 With a temperature of fifty degrees Fahrenheit at night and 

 from ten to fifteen degrees higher during the day they will 

 begin to flower in a month or six weeks. As soon as the 

 flower-buds begin to show, several good waterings of liquid 

 manure should be given, which will make the flowers much 

 more substantial. When the plants have been once forced and 

 are kept in pots during the summer, they will flower much more 

 freely than they do the first season after they are taken from 

 the open ground. This Andromeda is slow to propagate from 

 cuttings. ' For this purpose forced wood, kept under double 

 glass, is the best. From seed it is as easily raised as Rhododen- 

 drons. It grows slowly the first year and begins to flower the 

 third year. The buds are formed in the fall on the terminal 

 shoots in the axils of the leaves. As the plant grows late in 

 moist seasons, this growth is not always well ripened ; hence 

 the necessity of covering the plant in exposed places. 



Arnold Arboretum. JacksOfl Dawson. 



Limnanthemum Indicum. — A charming little aquatic under 

 this name was introduced into this country last year by Mr. E. 

 D. Sturtevant, of Bordentown, New Jersey. The leaves are 

 roundish, heart-shaped, bright green, about three inches 

 across, and float upon the surface of the water. The pure 

 white flowers, with a faint tinge of yellow in the centre, ascend 

 in clusters of several from the petiole, at the point where it 

 joins the blade of the leaf, each borne erect on a slender 

 stalk some two or three inches high. They are rather more 

 than an inch in diameter, and the five radiating petals, of ob- 

 long outline, are so densely covered with hair-like material as 

 to present a curious and pleasing woolly appearance on the 

 upper surface. Mr. Sturtevant gives it the common name of 

 Water Snowflake — a name as appropriate as pretty — and 

 speaks of the flowers, from their hirsute decorations, as rivals 

 in miniature of Mrs. Alpheus Hardy Chrysanthemums. I saw 

 several plants of this novelty last September in the gardens of 

 Mrs. H. M. Brooks, at Newport, Rhode Island. They had been 

 planted in four-inch pots and then placed in a tub, a few inches 

 below the surface of the water. The plants were full of flow- 



ers, and thriving with great luxuriance in the shade afforded 

 by the vines in a grapery. The gardener, Mr. James Hill, 

 assured me that they had flowered very freely all through the 

 summer. He seemed to be much pleased with the tiny 

 stranger, and said it required little care beyond good soil and 

 an occasional change of' water. A rich sandy loam, with a 

 little old manure, is perhaps the best compost that can be * 

 devised for this and all similarly delicate water-plants. L. 

 Indicum is very variable, and it has several synonyms. Vil- 

 larsia Indica, Nymphaa cer arnica and Menyanthes Indica, all 

 doubtless refer to the same plant. Mr. Sturtevant's plant is 

 most probably a variety of that figured in the Botanical Mag- 

 azine under the latter name. The deep yellow color and 

 somewhat smaller size of the flowers there illustrated are the 

 only perceptible differences in the two plants. L. Indicum, in 

 one or more of its numerous forms, occurs in Australia, Asia,, 

 and south Africa. A white-flowered variety appears to have 

 been the first cultivated in English gardens ; it was introduced 

 from the Cape of Good Hope in 1792. M. Barker. 



Cambridge, Mass. 



Plumbago Larpentae. — This little plant must be ranked 

 among the best of those that flower late in autumn. It is quite 

 distinct from anything in bloom at that time, and perfectly hardy. 

 The slender stems are from nine to twelve inches in length, 

 and furnished with numerous, rather pale-green, alternate, 

 obovate leaves, which are sessile and taper to the base. The 

 plant soon becomes a dense cluster of stems and leaves, spread- 

 ing with great rapidity, and is completely covered with a sheet of 

 intense blue during August, September and the greater part of 

 October, lasting, indeed, until frozen. The spreading flowers, 

 three-fourths of an inch in diameter, are borne in compact 

 terminal clusters. P. Larpenta is a charming plant for the 

 rock-garden, and thrives even more satisfactorily in the her- 

 baceous border. The rockery affords the nearest approach to 

 its natural, habitation, generally old walls or similarly exposed 

 situations. It is much more vigorous with full exposure to 

 the sun, and appears to better enjoy a deep, rich loam. The 

 roots under such conditions descend to a considerable depth, 

 and are got at with some difficulty when required in early 

 spring for propagation by division, that method being the best. 

 P. Larpenta is somewhat rare in China, of which country it is 

 native. It was first discovered by Mr. Fortune in the vicinity 

 of Shanghai. He failed, however, in his effort to introduce it 

 on behalf of the Horticultural Society of England ; but a plant 

 which survived was dispatched soon after, in 1846, by a Mr. 

 Smith to Sir George Larpent. This specimen flowered a year 

 later, and was awarded a prize at a meeting of the Horticul- 

 tural Society. The plant was afterward described by Dr. 

 Lindley, and named in compliment to Lady Larpent. It was 

 thought, a year or two after its introduction, that P. Larpenta 

 would prove valuable for bedding purposes and speedily be- 

 come popular, but after more than forty years' acquaintance 

 with its highly meritorious qualities, the plant is still compara- 

 tively uncommon. Many of these long-neglected plants are 

 now rapidly coming into favor, and there seems to be no 

 reason why P. Larpenta should not at last receive the atten- 

 tion it so well deserves. Plumbago Larpenta is the name that 

 was first given to the plant, and the one under which it is most 

 generally known. The correct name is Cer ato stigma plumb a- 

 ginoides, however, and Valoradia plumbaginoides is another 

 synonym. 



Montclair, N. J. *->• 



Good Dessert Apples. — Two of our best winter dessert apples 

 are Snow, or Fameuse, and Jonathan, both small in size. There 

 are peculiar advantages in small apples for table use if they 

 are handsome and high-flavored as these are. Few people, 

 either before or after a hearty meal, want large apples, and 

 as a rule do not eat more than half of a Spy or a Baldwin. For 

 cooking the case is different ; yet even there it is a mistake to 

 choose very large fruit. The loss from decay of a single Jon- 

 athan is very small. Both the fruits named are excellent 

 keepers. The Fameuse is good for October, November and 

 December ; the Jonathan will serve finely through January, 

 February and March. 



The Wagner is comparatively little known, but it is a remark- 

 able apple both for beauty and quality. The flavor is wild but 

 clear and distinct, and the juice is very refreshing. The Rhode 

 Island Greening is a first-class apple, that is, those specimens 

 are which have a bright golden nut-tint. This color comes in 

 fruit in open lots where the tree gets abundant sunshine. 

 Any apple grown in a close orchard is inferior to those pro- 

 duced in open ground, but this is peculiarly true of the Green- 

 ing — the contrast is often striking. The Northern Spy is 



