November, 1917 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



119 



One of the plants of Meconopsis integrifolia flowered by Mr. 

 Thatcher. "Possibly the most gorgeous alpine extant." 



some, and the results may interest Garden 

 Magazine readers. 



The seeds were fortunately fresh, which is 

 important in cultivating Meconopsis, and 

 sown in shallow pans with ample drainage and 

 light sandy soil; quickly germinated in a cool 

 house and as soon as large enough to handle 

 were potted off singly into small pots in a 

 mixture of loam, decayed leaf mold and sand. 

 When well established after the move they 

 were transferred to a coldframe and kept well 

 shaded from the sun. In this situation they 

 made healthy looking plants, and by the mid- 

 dle of summer were ready for larger pots or 

 planting out. Having only nine or ten plants 

 I decided to put them in eight-inch pots with 

 plenty of drainage and in a mixture of loam 

 and well decayed cow manure, an ingredient to 

 which this plant is extremely partial. By fall 

 strong plants had resulted, and when the 

 leaves died ofF, a healthy looking crown was 

 left for the next year. The pots were win- 

 tered in a coldframe with sufficient protection 

 of leaves to prevent their breaking. About 

 the beginning of May, I was glad to see the 

 new growth starting up, and then removed the 

 plants to an open but shaded position, keeping 

 them well supplied with water when necessary. 

 This treatment apparently agreed well with 

 them, for by the end of July strong stems 

 were being sent up from the centre of half a 

 dozen plants, and during the third week in 

 August Meconopsis integrifolia flowered for 

 the first time in America. (As noted in the 

 September issue, page 39.) 



Mr. Wilson, in his most interesting book, 

 "A Naturalist in Western China," writing of 

 the Meconopsis says: ". . . and M. 

 integrifolia, with yellow flowers eight inches 

 or more across — possibly the most gorgeous 

 alpine plant extant." This description is well 

 deserved, and after seeing a few plants in 

 flower in this country one can well under- 

 stand what a wonderful sight it must be to see 

 many thousands of these great blossoms 

 thickly huddled together on the mountain 



slopes of Western China, in its home among 

 the snows. The leaves of M. integrifolia are 

 eight or nine inches in length by two in 

 breadth, silvery green in color and densely 

 covered with strong hairs, as indeed is the 

 whole plant. The flower stem, about one 

 and a half inches through at the base, rises 

 some twenty inches above the foliage, and 

 carries from five to seven cup-shaped flowers. 

 The first flower to open on each plant is some- 

 what larger than the others. The terminal 

 blossoms on the plants flowered here were 

 seven inches across, and the subsequent ones 

 six inches. The color is a most beautiful 

 pale yellow, and the beauty of the flowers is 

 much enhanced by the conspicuous yellow 

 stamens clustered around the base of the cor- 

 olla. 



During the past spring I obtained more seeds 

 which germinated well and have made a 

 splendid growth planted out in heavily 

 manured ground on the north side of a hedge. 

 As this Meconopsis grows at an elevation of 

 from 15,000 to 16,000 feet amid almost per- 

 petual snow there can be no question of its 

 perfect hardiness, and its successful cultiva- 

 tion is not difficult. It is essential that one 

 obtain fresh seed, and from the time that this 

 is sown until the plants flower there must be 

 no attempt at coddling. A cool, shady 

 position, and a soil well enriched with cow- 

 manure are the most important cultural 

 points to observe. — A. E. Thatcher, Bar 

 Harbor, Maine. 



Why Buddleias Die. — The Buddleias, 

 or Summer Lilacs, are so persistent flow- 

 ering that every garden should contain -. 

 one or two of them. Having grown a 

 number of varieties I have decided that 

 variabilis magnifica is decidedly the 

 best, its racemes are long and full and 

 carried in wonderful profusion. I find 

 that these Buddleias need no winter protection, 

 provided they are not cut back in the fall. 

 [This is our experience, too. — Ed.] Leave all 

 the growth on until spring, then cut back close 

 to the ground for the best results. A good 

 many have made the mistake in doing this 

 cutting back in late fall and in nearly every 

 case plants have then died. As we occasion- 

 ally get temperatures here of 10 to 15 below 

 zero, Buddleias may be classed as reliably 

 hardy. A very pretty border just now has a 

 background of Buddleia magnifica, in front of 

 this a broad band of Anemone japonica alba 

 with a bordering of Heliotrope. — W. N. C, 

 Mass. 



[In a garden at Woodmere, L. I., we saw 

 lately, a large number of self sown plants of 

 the Buddleia. They had sprung up all over the 

 garden. — Ed.] 



Wintering Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves. — 

 I have tried for several years to raise Can- 

 terbury Bells and Foxgloves, but with very 

 poor success because I cannot hit upon a 

 scheme for wintering them. I have no green- 

 house nor coldframe even, my garden being 

 only a 200x12 ft. border. Has any one 

 else in the latitude of Chicago had success 

 in wintering these plants under these cir- 

 cumstances? I understand that it is not 

 the cold but rather the rotting of the 

 crowns caused by standing water. Would 

 overturned boxes make a suitable covering? 

 I am trying this year, too, to raise some of the 

 rarer perennial Bellflowers besides the lovely 

 biennials. Are they also hard to winter? I 

 take a wealth of magazines but can truly say 

 that The Garden Magazine gives me a 



pleasure that none of the others furnish. — 

 "Flower Lover" Illinois. 



— Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves cannot be 

 wintered with any assurance of substantial 

 success in the latitude of the northern half of 

 Illinois without a coldframe. In fact, I have 

 given up raising them after some years of 

 struggle because I prefer to devote the frames 

 to other subjects such as a crop of St. Brigid 

 Anemones and Ranunculus for spring cutting 

 and to winter Chrysanthemums of doubtful 

 hardiness, Wallflowers, Tufted Pansies, parsley, 

 November and early December head lettuce, 

 and for an early start for some vegetables in 

 the spring. 



While Canterbury Bells and Foxgloves are 

 showy and altogether desirable, I think it is 

 necessary to have a good sized planting, one 

 hundred plants, say, to develop their full 

 gardening value. If the plants are grown to 

 proper development in the fall to produce their 

 best crop of flowers, they are bulky and take up 

 a lot of room in the limited quarters of a cold- 

 frame. The best success I have had with them 

 outside a frame consisted in raising the seed- 

 lings in a row, thinning them enough to allow 

 full development, and then in the fall covering 

 them with planks, supported on bricks suffi- 

 cient to clear the foliage without pressing upon 

 it. I should say that the row was hilled up. 

 In this way the Foxgloves 

 came through nicely and a 

 large percentage of the Can- 

 terbury Bells. The latter I 

 find more susceptible to 



Well grown example of the rare Meconopsis integrifolia. 

 Leaves 8-9 inches long, silvery green; flowers yellow, 8 or 

 more inches across. (Photograph made in England.) 



