38 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



IN MY GARDEN, 



Rose blooms by the garden wall 

 ear crimson Asters for the fall, 

 n<l, clust'ring close, a creeper hidi 

 11 of the cottage but the sides. 



Is guarded by a Hollyhock. 



A bed of Lilies next 1 tell— 

 A Valley-Lily's drooping bell— 

 A Tiger, with its gorgeous spots. 

 Shadowing sweet Forget-me-nots. 



A Tulip on its slender shin, 



Like to a glowing warm-lined gem, 



In varied colors gay arrayed. 



Here by the breeze is gently swayed. 



A stretch of grass that waves along 

 With murmured rustlings, as in song; 

 It falls and rises, like the sea, 

 In billows even, smooth, and free. 



A branching, fr; 



A spreading Li 

 And 'neath this 

 A hundred litt 

 To flower and 



Apple- 



aile 



•ews the lea 

 r 'round 

 sound. 



bloomed, leafy 



oms start 



ith golden hea 



And then, alas! to droop and fade ; 

 Else, by the sickle or the spade. 

 Unthought of. be cut down and die, 

 Breathing their perfume like a sigh. 



And think how strange the sim tianght an 

 Has every moment brighter grown. 



These silent flowers have taughl to me 



A blessed lesson of content, 

 And to the darkest horns that he 



A little grateful pleasure lent. 



ROBIN Hdlili 



SEASONABLE HINTS, 



Gladiolus bulbs are not injured by light 

 frosts, and need not be taken up before frosts 

 have killed their flower-stalks and leaves. 

 In lifting them, it is best not to cut off the 

 leaves, but to tie, with the bulbs attached, in 

 small bundles, and hang them up in a shel- 

 tered place for (hying. After they are 

 thoroughly dried, the stalks should be cut 

 off to within about one inch of the bulb, the 

 roots and bulblets removed, the bulbs put 

 in paper bags and preserved in a closet or 

 cellar where there is no danger of freezing. 

 Large quantities keep well in barrels with 

 dry sawdust or sand sprinkled between them. 



Tuberoses, Tigridias, Colocasias, and other 

 tender bulbs require thorough drying before 

 storing, and must be kept in a dry place 

 where the temperature never falls below 

 forty degrees. A much higher temperature, 

 even, docs not injure them, but there are 

 few cellars dry enough to keep this class of 

 bulbs in good condition. 



Perennials. — The various beautiful lands 

 of Iris, Pceowies, Phlox, Potentillas, Spirteas, 

 Delphiniums, Aquilegias, Violets, etc., may all 

 be divided and replanted now while the 

 ground is in good order, and more leisure 

 can be devoted to the work than in spring. 



Seeds of many Annuals may be saved, so 

 that you may be sure to have fresh seed next 

 spring. 



HYACTNTHUS CANDIOANS. 



This beautiful plant is a native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, the home of so many 

 fine bulbs. It was originally known as 

 Galtonia, but as it properly belongs to the 

 genus Hyacinth its, it has lately been re- 

 christened. It became first known here 

 during the Centennial Exhibition, through 

 Messrs. Krelage, of Holland, who planted 

 a bed of them in the Horticultural Grounds. 



The plant has proved to be perfectly 

 hardy, having lived safely in the open 

 ground through our last severe winter. Its 

 growth is robust, with fine symmetrical 

 leaves, much like those of some Yuccas ; in 

 fact, the plant appears very much like Yucca 

 baccata before blooming. The flowers are 

 white, in handsome pendulous bells, arranged 

 on graceful pyramidal spikes, reaching the 

 height of five feet and more on strong plants. 

 The number of flowers has been stated to be 

 from twenty-five to forty, but we saw a plant 

 this year that had sixty-two flowers on one 

 spike, and two smaller spikes on the same 

 plant, with upward of thirty flowers. The 

 bulb in appearance is something like the 



HYACINTHUS CAN D I C AN S. 



Polyanthus Narcissus, and nearly of the same 

 size. Whether planted in groups of from 

 three to seven, or singly, the effect is very 

 graceful and imposing. The spikes, when 

 cut and placed in water, continue to bloom 

 for some time, equal to Gladiolus, and with 

 the addition of a few Fern fronds, we know 

 of nothing more effective. 



The cultivation is of the easiest descrip- 

 tion ; with plenty of room for development, 

 it will thrive in any good, rich garden soil, 

 requiring no more care than Tulips. 



Tuberoses. — Through one of the many er- 

 roneous items which make the rounds of a 

 certain class of horticultural publications, we 

 are informed that " the Tuberose bulbs are 

 imported from Italy, where they are better 

 ripened and more generally healthy than 

 those raised in this country." The fact is 

 quite the reverse. The Tuberose bulbs 

 grown in our Southern States, and even as 

 far north as Philadelphia and New York, are 

 far superior to those from Italy, and many 

 hundreds of thousands of American bulbs 

 are annually exported to all parts of Europe. 



Winter Protection. — Most hardy bulbs 

 and herbaceous plants, although they may 

 survive the severest winters, are benefited by 

 a light covering of leaves or straw. The 

 roots, if so protected, start earlier in spring, 

 and make more vigorous growth. 



HARDY LILIES. 



Tiger Lilies are common all over the coun- 

 try. Speciosums, too, are popular ; in the 

 East, the common white and trumpet Lilies 

 occur quite frequently, and occasionally we 

 find some other sorts in suburban and coun- 

 try gardens, and now and then creditable col- 

 lections of many sorts. But, notwithstanding 

 what favorites Lilies are with all who know 

 them, it is astonishing how little they are 

 known and grown, more especially in the 

 Western States. And, to a great extent, this 

 is inexcusable. Our woods and meadows 

 teem with Lilies ; yet, because they are not 

 lauded exotics, or for laziness' sake, or some 

 other to me unknown cause, they are care- 

 lessly passed by, and heaps of money paid 

 for plants by far less decorative. What Lily 

 on earth can supersede in handsome show 

 superbum, our common swamp Lily ? A 

 month ago, in Prof. Sargent's garden at 

 Brookline, planted in a hardy Azalea bed by 

 a pond-side, these Lilies by the hundred 

 soared aloft nine to ten feet high, with thir- 

 ty-five to fifty blossoms on a stem, and whose 

 roots, but two or three years ago, were gath- 

 ered from the neighboring swamps. Nor is 

 this the strained effort of a single year, for it 

 is with them as it is with most other Lilies ; 

 they should permanently remain unmoved — 

 it is their nature to — and whatever stimu- 

 lants they need be given from above. 



But there seems to be a prejudice against 

 red or orange-colored Lilies, perhaps because 

 of our wild species and the commonness of 

 the Tiger Lilies, and a popular taste for white 

 Lilies. But those who would debar the reds 

 surely know nothing of the fiery brilliance of 

 j the Siberian tenuifoliuni or the Chinese coll- 

 ator. ' .«•• 



CLASSIFICATION. 



The following are good, serviceable Lilies, 

 I showy, pretty, not over-expensive, easy to 

 | grow, and hardy. I have avoided the un- 

 certain Californians and some new and 

 j exceedingly handsome ones from India and 

 China, because old and tried sorts are, to 

 beginners at least, the most to be recom- 

 mended. 



WhiteLilies. — Candklum (our common white 

 Lily), and its varieties ; speciosum album and 

 prmcox; longiftorum, and its varieties eximium, 

 Takesimm and Wilsoni (I would like to add 

 Harrisi for trial's sake, as I have heard it 

 well spoken of, and it is of American rais- 

 ing) ; all the white varieties of speciosum ; 

 the white martagon and auratum, the golden- 

 banded Lily, though fickle and short-lived 

 in some soils, is too peerless a gem to be 

 left out of any collection. 



Yellow Lilies. — Canadense (common wild 

 meadow Lily), albanium, parvum (the most 

 reliable of the Californians), Parryi, pyren- 

 aicum major, monodelphum, m. Szovitzianum, 

 Hansoni (rather dear yet), and testaceum (the 

 Nankeen Lily). 



Orange Lilies. — Croceum, elegans Wilsoni 

 (all of the elegans group are very fine), Can- 

 adense rubrum (red variety of our wild Lily), 

 and superbum (our common swamp Lily). 



Orange Scarlet. — Carniolicum and tigrinum 

 splendens. 



lied Lilies. — The many forms of speciosum, 

 as rubrum and roseuni, and their varieties. 



Crimson Lilies. — Daruricum incomjxtrabile, 

 martagon, dalmaticum, bidbiferum, and its va- 

 riety umbellatum. 



Fiery Scarlet Lilies. — Concolor, chalcedoni- 

 cum, pulcheUwm, and tenuifoliuni. 



