56 



WINDFALLS. 



plants, either hardy or tender. It comes into bloom 

 and leaf among the earliest shrubs in spring, and it 

 bears an enormous crop of scarlet berries that begin 

 to ripen in August. These berries not only hang on 

 to the plants all winter, but actually till the following 

 May, when the plants again are in full flower and 

 foliage ; indeed, for this reason I think this barberry is 

 prettier in May than at any other time. And the bush 

 is very hardy, of the neatest and prettiest form, thrifty, 

 and it can be multiplied in any quantity from seed. — 

 William Falconer. 



Black Snakeroot. — The December cover, concern- 

 ing which our friends ask, represents the common black 

 snakeroot or black cohosh, Cimicifiiga ract'iiiosa. This is 

 an interesting herb, rising from four to six, or even eight 

 feet high, and inhabiting rich woods throughout the 

 northern states. 



Crape Myrtles. — Every sweet, old stately southern 

 garden of a sweeter long ago was sure to hold, some- 

 where in its midst, as quite a feather in its cap, the 

 plumy branches of a crape myrtle, fairly smothered with 

 bloom. 



The purple species, Lagersira-iina Indica, was most 

 common, but shades of crimson, scarlet, rose-pink and 

 pure white were often seen growing into tree-like pro- 

 portions, and quite disdaining the name of shrub. But 

 alas, for this pride of southern gardens ! Frost is no 

 respecter of plants nor persons, and the cold winter of 

 1878 remorselessly mowed down many proud and tropi- 

 cal foreigners that had wandered away from home, to 

 thrust aside or encroach upon our beautiful natives, and 

 among them, the crape myrtle from the East Indies was 

 obliged to fall. Spring found its branches bare and 

 leafless in every garden, and onlv clumos of scions 

 springing up about the root, showed that the plants were 

 not all quite dead. 



But those scions ! how they did grow, forming dense, 

 miniature jungles about the stump, and burstmg when 

 about two feet high into great panicles of bloom. One 

 of the prettiest flower-beds I ever saw was upon the 

 grave of an old myrtle tree. 



The trees grow best in a sheltered, somewhat damn 

 situation, and in strong rich soil ; but they were often 

 grown as screens and hedges in divers situations. 



To get fine panicles of bloom from pot plants or small 

 shrubs, cut the branches back closely in spring, much 

 as you do a rose bush, and give liquid stimulants once 

 or twice a week. Their best blooming time is in early 

 summer, but sometimes they produce an after-glow in 

 autumn. The plants may be wintered in a cold cellar at 

 the north. The white variety is sometimes forced suc- 

 cessfully for winter bloom. — Lennie Greenlee, Green- 

 lee N. C. 



Cultivation of Lilium auratum. — Mr. Bam, ama- 

 teur florist, of Reading, Pa., has a fine auratum lily in 

 bloom (June 26, 1890). It is a vigorous, healthy plant, 

 with several offsetts about it. Mr. Bam said there is no 

 difficulty in keeping it, but he thought it was more easily 

 •cultivated in pots than in the ground. When first plant- 



ing a bulb, he places it in the bottom of a good-sized 

 pot, in a mixture of sand and wood earth. The pot is 

 then set in the cellar, to remain during cold weather. In 

 the spring the pot is taken out and filled up with a com- 

 post of sand and old cow manure. In this mixture he 

 has grown the bulb for years. It is top-dressed every 

 year, and the offsets removed. He says it is in this kind 

 of soil that the Japanese cultivate the auratum lily. 



Travelers say that much of the soil of Japan is sandy 

 and that in the vicinity of cities it is black with manure, 

 or poudrette. A lady of this city is successful with the 

 auratum lily. She cultivates it in pots, and gives it a 

 top-dressing once a year. — A. G. 



Hedges for the South. — (See American Garden, 

 Nov., 668). There was never a hedge so good for the 

 south as osage orange. It is perfection in every respect. 

 If properly kept, it constantly improves. A fence is 

 dead, mechanical, and stiff. A good hedge is always 

 bright and interesting. Osage orange hedges will last 

 a hundred years, and they are stock proof if properly 

 made. — James W. Townsend, A!?inston, Ala. 



The Blue Chrysanthemum. — There is no blue- 

 flowered chrysanthemum outside the gardens of China 

 or Japan, and that any exist there is an exceedingly 

 doubtful matter., A blue variety has occasionally ap- 

 peared in the artistic productions of the Japanese, and 

 from this fact enthusiasts suppose that some such a 

 flower must bloom in security in some secret garden of 

 the Mikado or his trusted subjects. All attempts to 

 unearth this treasure have so far proved futile. This 

 blue chrysanthemum is the great Eldorado so eagerly 

 sought by most raisers of new varieties. It is reasoned, 

 with some show of sound judgment, that if such a 

 flower ever did exist, or is in existence, it was probably 

 some variation of a commoner and less carefully guard- 

 ed type. It remains then to go on with the work and 

 try every art known to the skilful cross-breeder. But 

 the blue variety supposed to exist may have been a 

 sport, i. e., a fixed natural variation of a bud, whereby 

 a branch may be developed which in some particular 

 differs distinctly from all others of the same plants. Thus 

 the common scarlet salvia of the gardens frequently 

 produces branches that bear only white flowers. In- 

 stances of this kind are common to the experiences of 

 all practical horticulturists. But with our present 

 knowledge of plant growth such a change cannot be 

 brought about at will, and therefore, in the event of 

 the blue chrysanthemum having been the result of 

 sporting, nothing can be done but attend to the plants 

 in the ordinary way and watch and wait for the devel- 

 opment of conditions favorable to the production of 

 the desired variation. — Michael Barker, in Boston 

 Transcript. 



For Spring Bedding. — Plans should now be made for 

 the spring bedding. Coleuses, iresines, etc., will need 

 to be rooted in February in the north, and the stock 

 plants should be got ready by putting them into a vigor- 

 ous condition for producing cuttings. 



