148 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[August, 



MIDSUMMER FLOWERING SHRUBS. 



Lilacs, Mock Oranges, "Weigelas, double- 

 flowering Almonds, Fringe-tree, and the host 

 of early blooming shrubs, have done bloom- 

 ing for a season. The full heat of summer is 

 upon us, and flowers are becoming fewer in 

 our gardens ; nevertheless, we have many 

 plants, in several classes, still to draw upon 

 for summer flowers. Ghent and Mollis Aza- 

 leas are past, but our native clammy Azalea, 

 so white and fragrant, is at its best ; and in 

 shady places so is Rhododendron maximum. 



Neither the common nor Alleghany White 

 Alders (Clethra) have yet opened, nor has 

 the Sorrel Tree ( Oxydendron arhorenm ) ; but 

 the beautiful Andromeda speciosa and its glau- 

 cous-leaved variety are going out of bloom. 

 The American Catalpa (bignonioides) is in 

 perfection and very showy; the Japanese 

 one (Kwmpferi), a few days earlier, is not 

 nearly so ornamental. Kcelreuteria panicu- 

 lata, from China, has ample terminal panicles 

 of small yellow flowers, and Cladrastis Amii- 

 rensis, dull purplish-white ones. The Smoke 

 Tree (Rhus Cotinus) is still a misty mass; 

 the cone-like fruit masses of the Staghorn 

 Sumach are assuming a crimson hue ; Os- 

 beck's Sumach will not blossom for a month 

 to come ; the Ailanthus flowers are dropping. 

 The common Privet (IAgustrum) has done 

 blooming, the Ibota species are ladeu with 

 little clusters of white flowers, lucidulum has 

 larger panicles, but they shall not be open for 

 another week. The common Elder ( Sam- 

 bums Canadensis), by fields and waste places, 

 is a mass of white flowers, and the red- 

 berried one (pubens) displays its cymes of 

 glowing red berries among vines and bushes 

 in the thickets. Bladder Sennas (Coin tea ), 

 yellow and saffron-colored, are in full bloom, 

 and, like Rhodotypes Jcerrioides, Kerria, Chi- 

 nese Wistaria, and Rose-acacias will con- 

 tinue to yield a few flowers during the rest 

 of the summer. Galophceca Wolgarica, not 

 unlike the Siberian Pea trees (Caragana), 

 has many yellow blossoms. Cytisus nigricans, 

 from southern Europe, has terminal spikes 

 of very bright yellow broom flowers. C. 

 eapitatus, also a yellow but a less showy 

 species, is at its best. The Wood-waxen 

 ( Genista tinetoria ) is a yellow mass on dry 

 and sandy soils, and Sibvrica, larger and 

 brighter, is its seasonable companion. 



The Lead-plant (Amorpha canescens), with 

 woolly leaves and purple flowers, is hardly 

 out yet ; but fruticosa, a larger shrub, with 

 dark, violet-purple spikes, is nearly past. 

 The Tartarian and Japanese Bush Honey- 

 suckles have done blooming, but the Ameri- 

 can species ( DiereiUa trifida and sessilifolia ) 

 continue to yield an ample share of modest 

 yellowish flowers. But as vines, Hall's Japan- 

 ese Honeysuckle and the scarlet Trumpet 

 Honeysuckle are copious and showy. Al- 

 though the Indian Currant and Snowberry 

 bushes ( Symphoricarpus) are in full bloom, 

 they are less showy now than they will be 

 later on, when they are in fruit. The Vir- 

 ginian Itea is laden with fragrant white 

 racemes ; wild Boses abound in meadows 

 and swamps, the Prairie Rose is unfolding 

 the many clusters on its arching shoots, and 

 the red and white Rugosa Roses from Japan 

 are dotted over with their lovely buds. 



Hydrangeas that were wintered indoors are 

 in bloom, but those that are out of doors are 

 not in blossom yet, but radiata will soon be. 

 Spiraia callosa, red and white, are in full 

 bloom, so is Douglass's Spiraea, pink, and 

 our common Meadow-sweet, whitish. The 

 Siberian Spircea sorbifolia still retains many 

 of its white fleecy panicles; and aricefolia. 

 from Oregon, has airy, decompound panicles 

 of whitish flowers. S. BiUardieri and Linne- 

 ana will not be in bloom for some time yet. 

 The Burning Bush ( Euonymns atropurpureus) 

 is laden with small, dark, purple flowers, 

 which, in fall, shall be succeeded by orna- 

 mental red fruit. The purple flowering 

 Raspberry is blooming freely in rough and 

 half-wild places, and the Carolina Allspice 

 bushes continue to yield their dark purple, 

 fragrant flowers. The Chaste Tree (Yitex) 

 is opening its lavender-colored flowers, but 

 the CalHcarjaa shall not display its little 

 clusters of bluish flowers for a month or 

 more. The shrubby Hypericums shall not 

 show their golden, starry flowers for a week 

 or two yet, but the shrubby Potentilla is in 

 bloom. The sweet Bay Magnolia (glauca) 

 has whitish fragrant blossoms, and the beau- 

 tiful white-flowering Stuartias are passing 

 out of bloom. The Button-bush has many 

 heads of flower-buds, but none are open yet. 



Althaeas and Hydrangeas will be the pride 

 of the autumn. But some shrubs are as 

 handsome in fruit as in flower. Eleagnus 

 longipes, from Japan, has a heavy crop of 

 oval, ornamental, red fruits, that hang upon 

 the bushes for several weeks after they 

 begin to color. The Tartarian Bush Honey- 

 suckles are handsomely furnished with ber- 

 ries, but not so brightly as is Morrow's Bush 

 Honeysuckle. The Mezereon bushes, . so 

 sweet and gay with blossoms in earliest 

 spring, is now decorated with bright red 

 berries. Wm. Falconer. 



THE LILIES OF THE FIELD. 



Those who travel through the country at 

 lightning speed, in railroad cars with closed 

 shutters, or reading the latest paper or novel, 

 can hardly be aware of the dazzling beauty 

 of our ' ' Lilies of the field " and of the impor- 

 tant part they act in the coloring and bright- 

 ening of lowland landscapes. Our native 

 Lilies are now in their glory, and among 

 them are found some of the most brilliant 

 colors and most graceful forms of the floral 

 kingdom. 



The Orange-red Lily, Lilium Philadelphi- 

 cum, is the earliest to flower ; it is the upright 

 red Lily of pastures and open wood-lands, 

 and produces one, rarely two or three hand- 

 some red flowers, spotted with black. 



The Yellow Lily, L. Canadensc, flowers but 

 little later. This is the species so common 

 in most meadows and bogs, producing grace- 

 fully drooping yellow flowers spotted with 

 purple, on stems two to three feet high. 



The Turk's-cap Lily, L. supcrhum, ■ comes 

 still later, and is a truly superb plant, the 

 tallest of our native species. The stem 

 reaches a height of six to seven feet, and 

 bears from thirty to fifty flowers in graceful, 

 pyramidal racemes. The sepals are strongly 

 revolute, bright orange, with numerous dai-k 

 spots inside. 



All these species grow well in gardens, 

 and become greatly improved by proper cul- 

 tivation, the plants increasing in size and 

 number of their flowers. 



|fe !pil§# (|ifI 



AND GREENHOUSE. 



CARE OF HOUSE PLANTS IN AUGUST. 



At this season of the year house plants re- 

 quire careful attendance to keep them in lux- 

 uriance for the window garden or conserva- 

 tory, as they can never take care of themselves 

 like their more hardy sisters of the outdoor 

 garden. 



The hard-wooded plants, such as Camellias, 

 Azaleas, Myrtles, Correas, Daphnes, Heaths, 

 etc., will be in a better condition by autumn 

 if they can stand under glass which is shaded 

 with whiting and water, mixed together like 

 lime whitewash ; but in small collections of 

 house plants, where no glass is available, it 

 is better to plunge the pots into the borders, 

 selecting a partially shaded position pro- 

 tected from the hottest sunshine, as this is 

 apt to injure the foliage, especially of Ca- 

 mellias, which grow in shady locations in 

 their native habitat. 



KEEPING WORMS OUT OF POTS. 



Put a handful of coal ashes upon the earth 

 in which the pots are plunged, to prevent the 

 roots from striking into the soil, or a piece 

 of brick may be placed under the hole at the 

 bottom of the pot. This also serves to 

 keep earth-worms out of the pots, which, 

 however conducive they may be in fertiliz- 

 ing the fields and gardens, are decidedly in- 

 jurious to potted plants. Therefore, it is 

 never a good plan to plunge pots into the 

 borders without taking these precautions to 

 exclude worms. And even then they may 

 enter the soil over the rim of the pot. But 

 as soon as you perceive their presence, by 

 the peculiar look of the apparently che wed- 

 up soil, water freely with a solution of lime 

 water, and it will both kill the worms and 

 increase the luxuriance of the foliage of the 

 plants. 



It is not well to put stands of plants 

 directly under the shade of trees, because 

 insects are more plentiful there, and spiders, 

 both white and red, will injure them sadly, 

 and ants will ruin Abutilons and Fuchsias. 

 Water them daily, but never let the water 

 remain in the saucers of any plants. 



These, being semi-aquatics, form an ex- 

 ception, and like to have their roots wet or 

 damp all the time. It is better, however, to 

 turn the kegs or pots containing Callas upon 

 their sides, under the shade of a shrub, and 

 let the earth dry up until early in Septem- 

 ber ; then shake the roots out from the soil, 

 turn out all the earth, and supply its place 

 with the richest, thoroughly composted pot- 

 ting soil that can be procured. The bottom 

 soil of an old hot-bed, mixed with an equal 

 quantity of sandy loam, will not be too heat- 

 ing for their tastes, as their fibrous roots 

 revel in a sandy, moist, rich compost. When 

 the leaves are growing well a dessert-spoonful 

 of soluble Pacific guano, stirred into the 

 soil once a month, increases the flower-buds 

 greatly. 



POTTING SOIL. 



An excellent compost for potting window 

 plants can be made out of one part of poul- 

 try droppings, four of garden soil, and one 

 of gritty sand. Mix the whole in a barrel, 

 and stir it up every week, until in September 



