Fepruary. 1908 
Three Rare Barberries for 
Connoisseurs 
ERHAPS the best collection of bar- 
berries in this country is that at High- 
land Park, Rochester, N. Y., which is in 
charge of Mr. John Dunbar. This famous 
park is really a fruticetum, or shrubbery 
collection, combined with a pinetum, or 
collection of conifers, both of which are 
arranged in botanical sequence and are as 
nearly as possible complete for that climate. 
A great number of barberries have recently 
been sent out by German and other nursery- 
men, andaboutthirty have been raised to fruit- 
ing size at Highland Park. They all belong 
to the deciduous section and are mostly red- 
berried. Nothing of a sensational character 
has developed. It is not likely that any of 
these will displace the common and Jap- 
anese barberries (Berberis vulgaris and 
Thunbergi) as popular favorites, but a num- 
ber of these are of interest to lovers of rare 
plants, as each one of them possesses some 
beautiful feature that is not present in the 
barberries that are to be seen everywhere. 
Unfortunately, this group is badly in need 
of revision by some such student as Mr. 
Alfred Rehder, and the names are much 
confused. For instance, there are two 
different plants in the botanical gardens of 
this country labelled Berberis Cretica, both 
of which have come from a famous nursery- 
man near Berlin and neither of which answers 
to the description. . However, the plant cul- 
tivated at Rochester is interesting as fruiting 
even more freely than the common barberry. 
It is also evident that the plant sent to 
Highland Park under the name of Berberis 
E 
Berberts Cretica is well worth growing because it produces more berries than the 
common barberry does 
THE GARDEN 
Asiatica is not true 
to name, but it is a 
noble bush attaining 
a height of ten feet, 
and though it fruits 
less freely than the 
common barberry, 
the bush is of such 
stately proportions 
that it deserves to be 
known by discrim- 
inating amateurs. 
So far as we know 
these plants can be 
secured only by 
importation. Any 
American nursery- 
man who has them 
will confer a favor 
by informing THE 
GARDEN MAGAZINE. 
The yellow-fruited 
barberry is proba- 
bly now available in 
the form of plants grown by the Ameri- 
can nurserymen. Although the berries 
are fewer and smaller than those of the 
common barberry and do not retain their 
color until the end of winter, they are 
nevertheless of great interest, and lovers of 
rare plants would do well to have a few 
specimens of this variety (Berberis vulgaris, 
var. Jutea) in order to give a spice of the 
unexpected to the shrubbery border. 
Conn. W. E. PENDLETON. 
How to Keep Cut Flowers 
pA THOUGH the methods for keeping 
cut flowers tested and selected by 
the Garden Club of Philadelphia in its 
recent competition (see THE GARDEN MaGa- 
ZINE for September, 1906) are without 
doubt the best general rules than can be 
given, yet experience has proved that some 
flowers require different treatment from 
others. Violets which fade quickly with the 
usual care will keep fresh several days if 
they are excluded from the air and kept in a 
cool place at night. They should be put 
loosely into a bowl of fresh water, then 
covered with another bow] large enough to fit 
tight to the rim, or to the table on which the 
MAGAZINE 
i) 
nN 
Berberis Astatica as grown in Highland Park, Rochester, attains a height of ten feet: 
and makes a well-proportioned shrub, but has less fruit than the common barberry 
receptacle stands, and left in a cool or even 
coldroom. During the daytime they should 
stand in the coolest part of the room and not 
in a draft. 
When flowers are to be in a warm room, 
it is a good plan to put a pinch of salt into 
the water. One lover of cacti whom I know 
gives away quantities of the cut blossoms, but 
always with the injunction to put a pinch of 
salt into the water that they are to be placed in. 
Galax leaves may be kept an indefinite 
length of time if they are occasionally 
immersed in cold water. Just as soon as a 
leaf seems to be fading, put the whole leaf 
and stem into cold water and let it remain 
four or five hours. Then take out and it 
will not only look as fresh as if just picked, 
but will last some time without having the 
stem in water before it is immersed again. 
This characteristic makes galax leaves espe- 
cially suitable for wreaths or ropes for decora- 
tion, for the entire wreath or rope may be 
freshened at any time by simply immersing 
it in cold water... 
Holly berries turn black quickly when used 
in the usual way for decorating but will con- 
tinue bright and fresh several weeks if the 
bark is peeled from the lower stem and the 
peeled part put into water. Doubtless other 
Berberis vulgaris var. lutea is a yellow fruited form of the common barberry. 
It has less fruit than the type but is worth growing for variety 
