244 
day of the year, it is pleasant to know that 
its berries are reddest at Christmas time 
and the leaves are also darker and _glossier 
then, so that our Japanese friend actually 
enters into the gala spirit of our holidays. 
I am indebted to Mr. W. A. Manda for 
pointing out the peculiar merits of the Ar- 
disia. 
Some Other Red-berried Plants 
for Christmas 
P. T. Barnes, New York 
The costliest and the best of the red-berried 
plants is English holly (see page 234). Next 
comes the Ardisia, above described. ‘The 
cheapest is the Jerusalem cherry (Sol- 
anum Pseudo-capsicum), which makes a 
compact plant usually about nine inches to 
a foot high, covered with red berries, each 
one-half to three-quarters of an inch in 
diameter. The berries are green at first and 
change to scarlet. These little plants are 
usually grown from seeds which are sown in 
oe 
Grow 
both staminate and pistillate plants and shake the 
pollen over the latter or you will not get fruits 
Fruiting form of Aucuba Japonica (not hardy). 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
February or March indoors, and grown 
during the summer in the open ground. 
They are lifted and potted in August and 
then grown in a cool house, lest they color 
too soon. A good specimen costs about 
seventy-five cents. 
If you get a Jerusalem cherry this Christ- 
mas, you can keep it several years by with- 
holding enough water after the holidays to 
rest it, but next spring you must cut it back 
to mere stubs, to prevent it from getting 
straggly, and the best place to start new 
growth is a hotbed. You can get a lot of 
these cherries without expense by making 
cuttings in February or March. ‘The best 
plants, though, are raised from seeds every 
year, and you may pinch back the shoots in 
order to get more compact specimens. 
GAY LITTLE PEPPERS 
Of late the florists have been growing some 
of the small red peppers in pots for Christmas. 
The varieties usually grown (Celestial and 
Kaleidoscope) bear a profusion of small 
fruits an inch to an inch and a half 
long. ‘They change from green to cream 
color, then yellow, and finally bright red, 
making a happy combination with the 
lively green leaves. After they have. lost 
their beauty throw them away, for it is 
no use to carry them over to another 
year as they are easily grown from seed, 
but if you take good care of them, the 
berries will last until February. 
An interesting pepper is the Tabasco 
from which the famous 
name is made. It grows about three 
feet high. There is also a form of this 
called Coral Gem, that grows only about 
one foot high, and makes a handsome 
pot plant. The fruits of both are ex- 
ceedingly hot. 
ASPARAGUS IN BASKETS 
Asparagus Sprengeri is one of the 
very best plants for hanging pot or 
baskets. 
It has woody stems two feet or more 
long which bear many small flat “leaves” 
which are usually yellowish-green. As it 
weakens the plant to produce seeds it is 
seldom allowed to fruit, but a well-fruited 
specimen is certainly a beautiful sight. 
I know one florist who had a pair of 
1906 
DECEMBER, 
sauce of that. 
| 
I 
t 
wie 
The cheapest Christmas berry—Jerusalem cherry. 
Will drop its leaves in one night if coal gas is present 
plants, each of which was about one and 
one-half to two feet in diameter, which he 
sold for $25.00 apiece. 
TWO BROAD-LEAVED EVERGREENS 
Skimmia Japonica is a_ broad-leaved 
evergreen which is not hardy north of 
Washington, D. C., but, although rather 
a slow grower, it is one of the handsomest of 
the red-berried plants which may be had for 
Christmas decoration. If seeds are sown 
in the fall and the young plants carried over 
winter in a cool house, and planted out in 
the garden in good soil, beautiful little 
plants will be had for potting in October, 
which will bear a good crop of berries that 
will last on the plants all winter. These 
berries are bright scarlet or coral red, slightly 
angled and about one-quarter of an inch 
across. 
With the best of care and cultivation 
these plants will probably never exceed a 
height of two or three feet when grown in 
pots. One drawback to their cultivation is 
that only one kind of a flower is borne on 
a plant so that if one wishes berries he must 
see to it that he has both staminate and 
pistillate flowers. 
In addition to the winter decorative qual- 
ities of this plant, it is a beautiful plant in 
the spring, when in flower. It has many 
small yellowish white flowers one-quarter 
of an inch across, which are borne in the 
axils of the leaves in clusters two inches in 
diameter. 
Another broad-leaved evergreen which 
is not hardy here but can be successfully 
grown in a cool room is Aucuba Japonica. 
It is hardy in the South. It is a shrub four 
to fifteen feet high with beautiful dark green 
leaves. Like the Skimmia, the flowers are 
not perfect so if fruit is wanted care must be 
taken to grow both sexes and when in flower 
shake the staminate ones over the pistillate 
ones that they may be fertilized. To carry 
this plant over winter keep it in a deep cold- 
frame or cool room which do not freeze and 
keep the soil somewhat dry. 
