December 30, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



619 



The Hellebores. 



THESE plants are the best of their season, and they are not 

 much inferior to the choicest afforded by the garden at 

 any time of the year. Helleborus is a genus of perfectly 

 hardy, herbaceous perennials, with or without stems, vary- 

 ing in height from six to twenty-four inches, with deciduous 

 or persistent palmate or pedate leaves, and inhabiting Europe 

 and Asia. The common names, Christmas and Lenten Roses, 

 are given on account of the season when the flowers of the 

 two sections appear ; but, of course, they are not Roses, but 

 members of the Buttercup family. The popular name, Christ- 

 mas Rose, Christmas Herb, or Christ's Herb, originated with 

 the Dutch, Rose having probably been substituted for Herb 

 ■from the resemblance of the flowers to those of a wild Rose. 



According to the "Genera Plantarum " of Hooker and Ben- 

 tham, there are ten or twelve species. Mr. J. G. Baker, how- 

 ever, in the monograph of the genus which appears in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle for 1877, recognizes only six species, and 

 classes other forms as variations of two of these distinct types, 

 or species closely allied to them. 



H. lividus is a pretty Corsican species, with flowers of a 

 bright greenish color, known in gardens since 1710. A variety, 

 Integrilobus, differs slightly from the type in the foliage. Both 

 flower in spring. H.foetidus is a large species with decorative, 

 persistent foliage, producing large panicles of greenish flowers, 

 margined with dull purple, during the early months of the year. 



The Black Hellebore {H. niger) is the best of all the species, 

 and a first-rate garden-plant. This is the true Christmas Rose, 

 a very variable plant common to central and southern Europe, 

 and first introduced into England by Gerard in 1596. The 

 typical form is from six inches to a foot high, the pedate, 

 coriaceous leaves on stout petioles, which proceed from a 

 spreading underground stem, as do the erect scapes, which, 

 during the autumn and winter months, bear from one to three 

 cup-shaped, pinkish white flowers about three inches in diame- 

 ter. The variety Altifolius, or Maximus, is the largest and 

 most handsome, the pure white flowers, suffused with pink 

 externally, from four to five inches across, and at their best in 

 November and early December. H. niger angustifolius is an- 

 extremely floriferous sort, a trifle smaller than the type, flow- 

 ering in October and November, and of pure white color. This 

 variety is the best for forcing and pot-culture generally. 

 Madame Fourcade is an excellent pure white form of H. niger, 

 blooming in November and December. In the variety Major 

 the blossoms are like those of Altifolius, but somewhat smaller, 

 and developed in December and January. Riverston's variety 

 has large pure white flowers, which are borne in great abun- 

 dance during November and December. Only a few days ago 

 I picked a large cluster of flowers from a plant of this variety 

 in a Massachusetts garden. The leaves were a trifle ragged, 

 but the large pure white flowers were in excellent condition. 

 The blooms of the variety Rubrus are of a charming pale red- 

 dish tint, large, and expand in January. This is a free-flower- 

 ing variety, very distinct and useful, being the only Christmas 

 Rose with red flowers. H. niger vernalis [Caucasicus) is 

 another handsome kind which blooms in January, the flowers 

 being large, pure white, tinged with rose externally, and de- 

 lightfully fragrant. Several other varietal names are given to 

 alleged forms of H. niger, but the characters of the plants thus 

 distinguished, excepting one known as Variegatus, which has 

 leaves of green and white, coincide so markedly with those of 

 the kinds already mentioned that it is sheer folly to perpetuate 

 them. 



H.viridis has ornamental foliage, and is sometimes grown 

 on that account. The flowers are bright green, from two to 

 three inches in diameter, and produced in spring. It is a na- 

 tive of Western Europe, and is said to have escaped from cul- 

 tivation in some parts of our eastern states. The following 

 are ranked as sub-species of H. viridis : H. Bocconi, a form 

 from the mountains of Etruria, in cultivation ten or fifteen 

 years, flowers green and agreeably odorous. H. cyclophyllus, 

 a green-flowered, Grecian plant, unknown in gardens ; H. 

 graveolens, a Hungarian form, with greenish flowers, tinged 

 with purple ; H. intermedins, a native of Austria, flowers green 

 and purple ; H. luxus, also from Austria, with pale green 

 flowers ; H. purpurescens, the last and by far the best of the 

 group, which, with H. Bocconi, are the only forms really de- 

 serving general attention. The former bears large, deep, pur- 

 plish flowers of large size, and has been admired in gardens 

 for seventy years; H. orientalis is a Grecian species, introduced 

 about 1839. I* ' s about eighteen inches high, and produces 

 white flowers, with purple margins in late spring. A compar- 

 atively large number of sub-species are built on this plant as 

 the type. Among these are H. abchasicus, with greenish 



purple flowers, and cultivated in European gardens for a quar- 

 ter of a century ; H. Antiquorum, a beautiful form, with pale 

 purple flowers ; H. atrornbens, a very desirable kind, with 

 large flowers of deep purple color ; H. Caucasicus, with pale 

 green flowers, and wholly distinct from the H. Caucasicus 

 (vema/is) of the niger group ; H. Colchicus is from Asia Mi- 

 nor, and one of the best of the entire genus, with large and 

 abundant rich purple flowers ; H. guttatus, an attractive plant 

 from the Caucasus, having flowers pure white, spotted with 

 purple ; H. odorus, a native of Austria, bearing numerous 

 green and fragrant flowers ; H. Olympicus, bearing in winter 

 white flowers tinged with green, and H. pallidas, a similar 

 plant. 



The Orientalis group contains, in addition to the above, nu- 

 merous varieties, and some plants which are presumably 

 hybrids of the Viridis and Orientalis sections. The finest of 

 these are, Apotheker Bogren, large, rich reddish purple ; Frau 

 Irene Heinmann, bright purple, with reddish spots ; Gertrude 

 Jekyll, very fine pure white ; Leichtlini, white, spotted crim- 

 son, and Punctatissimus, pale purple, freely marked with spots 

 of a much darker shade. It is evident that H. niger and H. 

 orientalis yield nearly all the plants of the genus which are of 

 value in gardens. These, at any rate, will be found satisfac- 

 tory to ordinary growers, and the others can be added for in- 

 vestigation and experiment. The student and hybridizer will 

 find in the Hellebores a wide field for interesting work, and all 

 who cultivate plants for their beauty alone will be agreeably 

 surprised with the results of any extra attention given to them. 



Cambridge, Mass. . M. Barker. 



The Cranesbills. 



THESE plants have always been of peculiar interest to me, 

 the rarer forms always possessing great charms ; few 

 hardy perennials combine more handsome foliage, with showy 

 flowers borne in profusion, or are more easily grown. They 

 are in no sense weedy, and do well in almost any soil and in 

 all exposures. They must not be confounded with the tender 

 Geraniums, which properly belong to the genus Pelargonium. 



Geraniutn sanguineum is one of the oldest cultivated 

 species ; its dark red flowers are borne continuously through 

 the summer and into late autumn, and show to advantage 

 against the dark green, handsomely cut foliage. The variety 

 Lancastrsensis has light pink flowers veined with deeper color. 

 G. Endressii has light green, nicely cut foliage and clear pink 

 flowers, but unfortunately it is a little tender here. The double 

 form of G. pratense — one of the oldest of old-fashioned flow- 

 ers—is really a showy plant, and gives an abundance of bloom 

 up to the late summer months. The flowers are very double 

 and deep purple in color. 



G. peltatum is especially noteworthy in its foliage, for, 

 though the flowers are freely borne, they are of secondary 

 consideration. G. Ibericum is very choice, with deeply cut 

 and fringed foliage and showy open panicles of deep violet 

 flowers, an inch or more across and veined with purple. It 

 makes a bush one and one-half to two feet high, producing an 

 abundance of flowers throughout July and August, and the 

 variety Platypetalum is richer in the color of its flowers than 

 the type, and the whole plant is not quite as large in growth. 

 With us it is a freer bloomer. Some time since I imported a 

 plant as G. Londesii, and it has proved the best in my collec- 

 tion, forming a large, self-supporting broad bush, three feet 

 high, and heavily enveloped in late July with open, flat pani- 

 cles of light blue flowers, fully an inch and a quarter in diam- 

 eter and handsomely veined with purplish violet. It is very 

 distinct from any other species that I have, both in foliage, 

 flower and habit. I have doubts, however, as to the correct- 

 ness of its name. 



G. Wallichiana is of prostrate, trailing habit, with light 

 green, palmate foliage and deep red flowers, borne sparingly 

 all summer. It is a desirable plant, used as a trailer, and its 

 Himalayan habit lends peculiar interest to it. 

 Reading, Mass. J, Wood-ward Manning. 



Fertilizers for Tomatoes. 



"V/OUR remarks on Fertilizers for Tomatoes interest me. I 

 * have become satisfied that the difficulty with Tomatoes 

 in this latitude, where they are, as a rule, very unsatisfactory 

 in midsummer, is very largely due to the general impression 

 that heavy manuring is not good for them, especially the 

 heavy use of stable-manure. A large part of the benefit of 

 well-rotted stable-manure in a hot climate comes from the 

 abundant carbonaceous matter mixed with it, which tends to 

 keep the soil from baking hard in the summer heat, and pre- 



