The Sargent Cherry, now known as Prunus serrulata sachalinensis, 

 considered the best of all the single-flowered Cherries 



Double-flowering Cherry James H. Veitch, 

 with rose-pink flowers. Very ornamental 



Japanese spring Cherry, Prunus subhirtella, 

 the most floriferous of the Japs 



Early Spring in the Arnold Arboretum t. a. havemeyer 



People of Japan Make Long Pilgrimages to Enjoy the Cherry Blossoms in Their. Spring Landscape. The American Gardener Mak- 

 ing His Pilgrimages to the Arnold Arboretum Will Find, Not Only the Cherries of Japan, But Other 

 Woody Plants That Unfold Their Blossoms With Equal Glory for Us 



Editor's Note. — This is the second article in a series of intimate comments upon the spectacles of the Arnold Arboretum that Mr. Havemeyer has 

 undertaken to write for The Garden Magazine. That gentleman is familiar with the plants, not only as he sees them in the Arboretum, but also in the 

 rich collections in his own gardens on Long Island. 





A MONG the first shrubs to thrust forth 

 /\ their blossoms- are the Forsythias. 

 J \ Apart from the value of all the species 

 as garden plants Forsythia is of special 

 interest to gardeners for, like Syringa and Phil- 

 adelphus, it is a genus whose species hybridize 

 freely and produce new seedling forms which 

 are often superior to the parents. The hybrid 

 Forsythias are probably all natural, that is, they 

 have probably appeared without man's assis- 

 tance, and those which are now known seems 

 to have been produced by the crossing of F. 

 viridissima with F. suspensa, or its variety 

 Fortunei. The general name of these plants is 

 Forsythia intermedia and there are several forms. 

 Those in the Arboretum collection are planted 

 at the rear of the large mass of Forsythias on the 

 bank at the base of Bussey Hill Road, below the 

 Lilac collection. The handsomest of them is F. 

 intermedia spectabilis, and of all the Forsythias 

 which have been grown in the Arboretum this is 

 the most beautiful. The flowers are larger than 

 those of its parents, and deep bright yellow. 

 This plant was sent to the Arboretum from Ger- 

 many several years ago. Other distinct and 

 handsome forms of the hybrid are the varieties 

 primulina and pallida; the former has pale prim- 

 rose-colored flowers and appeared as a seedling in 

 the Arboretum a few years ago; pallida has pale 

 straw-colored flowers which are paler than those 

 of other Forsythias. The flower buds of these 

 hybrids appear to suffer less from extreme cold 

 than those of either of their parents, at least in 

 the Arboretum, and the buds of the different 

 forms of F. intermedia have never been injured 

 by cold. 



"\X 7"ITHOLTany doubt, I think the loveliest of 

 * * flowering plants are the Crab-apples and 

 Flowering Cherries and the Arboretum is most 

 fortunate to possess a wonderful collection of 

 these trees, probably the best collection in 

 existence. 



During the last few years it has been engaged 

 in studying the Cherry-trees of eastern Asia, 

 and has assembled a large collection of these 

 plants, including most of the species and all the 

 forms with double and otherwise abnormal 

 flowers which are popular garden plants in Japan 



where the flowering of these trees is celebrated 

 by national rejoicings. All the world has heard 

 of the Japanese Cherry-blossoms, and travelers 

 in the East usually so arrange their journeys that 

 they can be in Tokio when the white flowers of 

 fifty thousand trees of the Yoshino-Zakura 

 (Prunus yedoensis) make a day of Thanksgiving, 

 and the great trees in the long Avenue of Cherry- 

 trees (P. serrulata) at Koganei are covered with 

 their rose-colored flowers. 



Well known to travelers, too, are the avenues 

 of Cherry-trees at Arashi-yama near Kyoto and 

 at Yoshino near Nara. The Cherry-trees which 

 mean so much to the Japanese and delight all 

 foreigners who visit Japan in early spring are 

 perfectly hardy, and easy to grow; and it is unfor- 

 tunate that there is no hillside in the Arboretum 

 which can be covered with the trees or no space 

 where a long avenue of them can be planted, for the 

 flowering of a great number of these trees might 

 become as great a joy for us as they are in Japan. 



Such a collection of Cherry-trees might well 

 form a part of the equipment for pleasure and 

 instruction in all northern cities of the country, 

 but up to this time only Rochester, New York, 

 is arranging to make a plantation of these trees 

 to cover many acres of rolling hills in its great 

 park on the shores of Lake Ontario. 



In the Arboretum room for only a few isolated 

 individuals has been found, but most of the 

 species are now established there and some of 

 them have bloomed for several years. 



A LITTLE Cherry, Prunus concinna, dis- 

 ^*- covered by E. H. Wilson on the mountains of 

 Central China at an altitude above the sea of 

 from twelve to fifteen hundred feet, is one of the 

 first Cherries to bloom in the Arboretum (about 

 May io). In its home it is a shrub five or six feet 

 tall, but here it is treelike in habit, although only 

 three or four feet high with a straight stem. When 

 in bloom it is as thickly covered with flowers as it 

 is possible for a plant to be. The flowers, which 

 appear before the leaves, are in few-flowered clust- 

 ers, and are white with a wine-colored calyx. The 

 red, lustrous, loose bark of the stem of this Cherry- 

 tree is attractive but as a flowering plant it is less 

 valuable than the Japanese Prunus subhirtella, 

 under which name it was once distributed by a 



114 



London nurseryman. Prunus concinna can be 

 seen in the collection of Chinese shrubs on the 

 southern slope of Bussey Hill. 



Blooming simultaneously with Prunus concinna 

 is Prunus tomentosa; it is a native of China and 

 a shrub only five or six feet high, and when fully 

 grown in abundant space for the spread of its 

 branches is often broader than tall. The flowers 



Double-flowering Japanese Cherry is most ornamental. Photo- 

 graph of the garden of Mrs. J. M. Amory, Larchmont, N. Y. 



open from pink buds as the leaves begin to unfold, 

 and the bright red stalks and calyx make a hand- 

 some contrast with the white petals. The small 

 fruit ripens in June and is scarlet, covered with 

 short hairs, and is sweet and of good flavor. This 

 shrub is very hardy and flourishes and produces 

 its fruit in dry cold regions like Alberta and in 

 the Dakotas, and in such regions it is possible 

 it may develop into an important fruit-producing 

 plant. Prunus tomentosa is a native of northern 

 China and was raised in the Arboretum twenty- 

 five years ago from seed sent from Peking. A 



