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SUMMER BEDDING IN A BROOKLYN GARDEN. 



cents, has lately won the prize from many high-priced 

 competitors at our Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 shows. 



These facts should not discourage us in our attempts 

 to improve this noble flower ; they only show that, rapid 

 as improvement once was, advance must now be slow. 

 Yet there is an advance from year to year which those 

 who are particularly interested in gladioli are able to see. 

 Five years ago a spike with twelve flowers open at once 

 was considered wonderful — and the average to-day is 

 considerably less than that — but spikes were shown in 

 Boston last year with seventeen perfect flowers, and I do 

 not doubt that we shall soon see them with twenty. 

 Length of spike is one thing to strive for. Another is 

 to get a good yellow. A first-rate kind of this color does 

 not now exist, but until we have a series ranging from 

 straw to orange we still have something to work for. 



We have varieties with black edges, such as Victory, 

 Jupiter and others, but after a hot day the black parts 

 appear to be withered and scorched ; it will be an at- 

 tempt worth making to produce black-marked kinds 

 which can stand the sun. We are not making much 

 progress toward a blue gladiolus. Lemoine's much- 

 talked-of " blue " variety is of an unusual color, truly, 

 but it is far from what it professes to be. There is a 

 truly blue species, C. gracilis, which may possibly help 

 us to what we want, but no hybridizer has used it as yet. 

 As for the double gladioli offered from time to time, 

 they are scarce only because most growers discard them 

 promptly when they show themselves among the seed- 

 lings, as they frequently do. I have seldom seen less at- 

 tractive flowers. 



There have undoubtedly been many attempts made to 

 improve the gandavensis strain by hybridizing them with 



other species, though few of these crosses have been re- 

 corded. In 1871, John Standish, of Ascot, at that time 

 an extensive grower, exhibited a large number of hybrids 

 which he had raised between gandavensis and cruentus ; 

 one of these, named Alice Wilson, was figured in the 

 Florist and Pomologist in 1873. The spike was ill- 

 shaped, the few flowers were set loosely along it and 

 were of small size and not in any way attractive. Mr. 

 Standish appears to have let the matter drop, and no one, 

 so far as I know, has succeeded with the cross since. The 

 Lemoine hybrids were put into commerce in 1879. 

 The infusion of purpureo-auratus blood has produced 

 many striking flowers as well as many which have noth- 

 ing to recommend them. They are not hardy, in spite of 

 all that has been claimed for them. If left in the ground 

 over winter they almost invariably die, though the small 

 bulblets come up frequently and give a false impression 

 as to the hardiness of the large bulbs. M. Lemoine has 

 the field virtually to himself, for, though many persons 

 raise these hybrids for pleasure, commercial lists include 

 few, if any, hybrids that are not his. The latter strain, 

 called Nanceianus, which combines the Lemoine strain 

 with the blood of G. Satoidcrsi, originated, as is well 

 known, by Lemoine, and has given us some varieties with 

 enormous flowers, but neither of these strains is worthy 

 of comparison for a moment with the gandavensis series. 

 M. Souchet and his successors have sent out the greater 

 part of the varieties we now grow, and in my opinion 

 the best ones for our climate ; for Kelway's varieties, 

 beautiful as they are when well grown, seem not to en- 

 dure the brightness and heat of our summers very well, 

 though in a wet season such as we sometimes have, they 

 are very fine. 



Massachusctls. W. E. Endicott. 



SUMMER BEDDING IN A BROOKLYN GARDEN. 



FINE EFFECTS PRODUCED WITH FOLIAGE OF PLANTS. 



MONG the many handsome private 

 grounds in Brooklyn, New York, 

 none last summer attracted more 

 attention than that of James W. 

 Elwell, on Grand avenue. One 

 \ lew of this garden, taken from a 

 photograph in August last, has 

 been engraved for illustration. 



One ornamental bed, prominent by its graceful curves 

 and points, was filled with Echeveria secunda glauca 

 in the central parts, Altcrnantiiera versicolor for dark 

 foliage, and A. aurca )ianct, the well-known variety of 

 golden hue. A large four-pointed bed just out from the 

 dining-room windows was filled with the two brilliant 

 coleuses, Golden Bedder and Verschaffeltii. The other 

 plants toward the edges were Altcranthcra negro, 

 A. Parychoidcs and Santolinct argyrcca. The center 

 plant was a good-sized specimen of Dracccna Brasili- 

 eusis. The same classes of plants, in very different va- 

 rieties and colors, were used for the other foliage beds. 



For centerpieces cactuses, agaves, etc., were used. In 

 other parts of the grounds there were also beds of hardy 

 roses — a source of much enjoyment. 



From an intimate acquaintance with these and other 

 instances of fine but unpretentious carpet-bedding, I am 

 satisfied that this style of garden adornment should be 

 more practiced in city lawns and plats. The neatness of 

 the design and the brightness of the colors used in such 

 work remain with us at the height of beauty longer, and 

 in my estimation give more pleasure for the outlay than 

 the same amount spent for coarse-growing annuals and 

 other plants that lack neatness of appearance. 



Geraniums, coleuses, etc., look well planted around 

 the piazza and fences. For the small plat especially I 

 would recommend boxes filled with vines and flowering 

 plants displayed to suit the individual taste. Rustic tubs 

 or vases filled in like manner add charms to the place. 

 Wistarias, honeysuckles and clematises should be more 

 used in beautifying the home. 



John A. Boyle, Gardener. 



