THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



189 



do better than those transplanted from the 

 woods and swamps. 



Clumps of bloodroot cheered us early in 

 the spring with their pure-white, delicate- 

 petaled blossoms. Where a little sunshine 

 visited them they came out early, and other 

 bunches, more shaded, bloomed a week or 

 so later, thus giving us a longer opportunity 

 for enjoying this lovely flower, whose only 

 fault is its transitoriness. It is easy to 

 grow. It has even been seen growing on 

 rubbish heaps in cities. 



The delicate little spring beauty grew 

 close beside some of the clumps of bloodroot 

 in a very shaded, unfavorable location, but 

 the dainty plants were forgiving and every 

 year put forth a few blossoms, as if hoping for 

 better days. Label the plants you find this 

 spring and in midsummer you may gather 

 the little round brown bulbs about the size 

 ot a pea, which lie on the ground. 



Hepaticas, white, pink, and blue, grew 

 here, there, and everywhere, delighting us 

 with their delicate coloring and downy new 

 leaves, so carefully folded. No other wild 

 plant better repaid transplanting and culti- 

 vation. Some amateur Burbank ought to 

 improve the hepatica. 



Early visits to the woods before any 

 flowers were in blossom, were often rewarded 

 by finding specimens of the brilliant scarlet 

 cups of the fungus called Peziza coccinea. A 

 partially decayed branch covered with these 

 was carried home, laid in a shady place and 

 carefully covered with leaves. It was by 

 no means expected that these gay fungi 

 would reproduce themselves under such dif- 

 ferent conditions, but they did, and year 

 after year they appeared, making an interest- 

 ing and attractive feature in our little wild- 

 wood garden. 



Though the cardinal flower (Lobelia car- 

 dinalis), naturally grows in wet places, 

 usually along streams, it accommodated 

 itself very graciously to our drier ground, 

 perhaps because it was planted near a door 

 where water was frequently dashed over 

 the plant. Beginning to bloom in July, the 

 long spikes of blossoms continued opening 

 to the very tip, and numerous side shoots 

 would spring out from the main stalk, thus 

 prolonging the flowering until the latter part 

 of August. The brilliant blossoms shone 

 like a flame. It does well in ordinary garden 

 soil, but its weak point as a garden plant is 

 that its spike gets ragged, the lower flowers 

 going to seed before the uppermost open. 

 Some nurserymen have plants in which this 

 defect is overcome. Some people complain 

 that they cannot make the seeds grow. If 

 sown as soon as ripe in a prepared bed of 

 finely pulverized soil without covering, they 

 germinate in seven days. In the spring they 

 should be sown in flats indoors. 



A single plant of jewel weed was once 

 carried home. From it sprang a host every 

 year. They tried their best to monopolize the 

 garden, but did not quite succeed. I think 

 the plant was Impatiens fulva, but instead 

 of being yellow the flowers were always a 

 beautiful shade of rose color, never varying 

 and never going back to what was probablv 

 the original hue. The flowers were spotted 



with brown like I. fidva, and in all but color 

 they perfectly resembled that species. 



A number of species of ferns was scat- 

 tered among the other plants. A symmetri- 

 cal clump of royal fern was always thrifty, 

 and also one of cinnamon fern. The sensi- 

 tive fern and Pteris aquilina grew rampantly; 

 and the little polypody and the Christmas fern 

 led a tranquil existence. 



Flowers in the Tulip-bed Before 

 the Tulips Bloom 



Photograph by the author 



HP HE pictures of the "sudden transforma- 

 *■ tion" in the Boston Public Gardens on 

 pages 62 and 63 of The Garden Magazine 

 remind me of the rock cress (Arabis alpina) 

 I used to grow in my tulip bed. The illus- 

 tration shows that it blossoms before the 

 tulips have produced their flowering stems, 

 and how it covers the ground without inter- 

 fering with the tulips. The abundant snow- 

 white flowers, about three-quarters of an 

 inch in diameter, against the foil of tulip 

 leaves make a very striking effect, usually 

 after the middle of April. The plants are 

 of short-creeping habit, perfectly hardy, and 

 are adapted to any but a wet situation. 



It would seem more satisfactory to have 

 a display of flowers over a tulip bed before 

 they flower rather than after, for usually if 

 the beds are in a prominent position and the 

 tulips are of the ordinary kinds, one prefers 

 to dig them up, after the new bulbs commence 

 to form, and let them ripen in some obscure 

 corner where the browning leaves will not be 

 in evidence. This of course for the tidy 

 gardener — the beginner does not mind ripen- 

 ing leaves which are signals that all is pro- 

 ceeding well for another season. Arabis 

 alpina and Arabis albida are perfectly hardy 

 perennials and may be raised from seed, 

 division of the roots or from cuttings. 



Another good covering for bulb beds if 

 kept in subjection, is our old friend money- 

 wort or creeping Charley (Lysiniachia num- 

 mitlaria). The cheerful yellow flowers of 

 this little vine distract one's attention from 

 ripening leaves, and when bulbs are ripened 

 the plants may be allowed to grow or may be 

 ruthlessly thinned down to give place to some 

 suitable annual. 



The most satisfactory bulb bed for the 

 amateur is one that contains plants which 

 bloom in as long a succession as possible. 

 For instance, there is six weeks difference in 

 blooming time between the earliest and 

 latest tulips and a great variety in habit and 

 coloring, so for a small garden why purchase 

 by the hundred those matching exactly in 

 form and coloring ? Better by far buy a few 

 of every section — early, midseason, late — Von 

 Thols, bybloems, bizarres, parrots, breeders, 

 mix them up indiscriminately, and plant as 

 happens, here a dense clump, and there 

 sparsely. Toward the front of the beds 

 plant some snowdrops, scillas, hyacinths, etc., 

 and in the spring there will be new combina- 

 tions and effects every day. 



New Jersey. J. N. Gerard. 



267. Two crops of flowers in (he same bed. The rocK cress {Arabis alpina) carpets the ground all summer. 

 It blooms before the tulips. Flowers while about three-quarters of an inch across. Can be raised from seed 

 sown in the bed if the tulips are to remain for years. A hardy perennial.'.blooming (he second year from seed 



