THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[November, 



awn ni Jiilpii|® e 



THE JAPANESE ASTILBE. 



(Astilbe Japonica.) 



A hardy, herbaceous plant, comparatively 

 but little known to amateurs, although often 

 highly recommended by professionals, is the 

 Japanese Astilbe, or Spiraea of our cata- 

 logues. One fond of flowers will seldom 

 fail at first sight to fall in love with this 

 beautiful foreigner, which apparently takes 

 so kindly to our changeful climate, and with- 

 stands the coldest winters with impunity. 

 Crowning a delicate red stem, branching 

 toward the apex, we find a crowded cluster 

 of miniature white blossoms, which in their 

 exquisite delicacy may well be compared 

 with freshly fallen snow. We may be some- 

 what enthusiastic in itspraises, but its beauty 

 must be seen to be sufficiently appreciated. 



Like all hardy herbaceous plants, it will 

 take care of itself after once being planted. 

 Procure a root in the autumn, and place it 

 in any convenient situation in the border. 

 As it grows over two feet in height, it is 

 obviously not a " bedding plant," and for 

 that matter it has not even the character- j 

 istic of being showy in the open ground. 

 The tall, leafless flower stalk, and the i 

 general airiness, of the whole, make it of 

 little value for display. Its attractiveness 

 lies wholly within the blossom itself, where 

 the chief beauty of the plant is concentrated, i 

 Therefore, plant it in some convenient situ- 

 ation, but where it will not displace plants 

 more suitable for border ornamentation. It 

 is especially well adapted for planting among 

 groups of small shrubbery in lawns. 



Any soil suits it, although a rich and dry 

 one is preferable. Spade up the earth, and j 

 plant the root, two or three inches below the I 

 surface, pressing the soil about it firmly. 

 Before the hole is entirely filled, give it a 

 good soaking with water, and finish up by 

 smoothing over with a rake. In spring, as 

 soon as the first leaves begin to appear so ] 

 as to show the location of the plant, it is a 

 good plan to stir the soil around it. This 

 admits the air and water more freely to the 

 roots, and promotes a healthy and rapid 

 growth. By and by, tho tall flower stalks 

 will appear, and, shooting upward, will be i 

 crowned in June or July with its beautiful ! 

 blossoms. After these have appeared, no 

 bouquet culled from your garden plots will 

 be complete without some sprays of Astilbe ; 

 or, in other words, they will be indispensable 

 while they last. 



The Japanese Astilbe is grown largely by 

 florists for cut flowers in winter, and its 

 forcing qualities and ease of culture make 

 it peculiarly adapted for the house and win- 

 dow garden. For this purpose, the clumps 

 of roots are planted in five or six inch pots, 

 in sandy loam and leaf-mold. After pot- 

 ting, they should be thoroughly watered and 

 buried in a bed of sand or coal ashes, and 

 treated as is customary with forcing bulbs. 

 When wanted for forcing, they are placed 

 gradually into heat, and, by bringing a few 

 pots to the house every two or three weeks, 

 a continuous succession of these pretty flow- 

 ers maybe enjoyed during the entire winter. 



There is also a variety with variegated 

 foliage, green and yellow, otherwise similar 

 to the green-leaved kind. H. Gillette. 



MAKING A HILL. 



To those born and reared in mountainous 

 regions, the monotony of the western plains 

 soon becomes wearisome, and they long for 

 the sight of the dear hills. A correspondent 

 of the Country Gentleman relates how a 

 friend of his, tired of the unbroken plain, 

 determined to make a hill of trees. This is 

 the way he made it : 



In the center of a circular land, about two 

 hundred feet in diameter, he set a Cotton- 

 wood tree, and twenty feet away a circle of 

 six others. The center tree was much larger 

 and thriftier than the circle. Twenty feet 

 distant was another circle, this one of Wil- 

 lows, set fifteen feet apart. Then followed 

 Catalpa, Ailanthus, Osage Orange, and last, 

 Holly. These outer circles were closer, and 

 the trees being of smaller growth were set 

 closer. 



By cultivation and manuring he endeav- 

 ored to incite the central trees to a more 

 luxuriant growth than the outer ones, and 

 has succeeded in a remarkable degree. The 

 result is a solid green hill of foliage that 

 soon will be a hundred feet high in the 

 center, and slopes down to about ten feet at 

 the base. 



He is now building another hill on a modi- 

 fication of this principle. This is to be an 

 evergreen hill, and for the place of honor he 

 has a White Pine, surrounded by Spruces, 

 and the varieties graded as to size to the 

 edge. To secure a greater hill appearance, 

 he allows five years to elapse between the 

 planting of the different circles, so that when 

 the last circle is set the central tree will be 

 twenty-five years old. 



EPHEMERAL PLANTING. 



The tendency in all branches of ornamen- 

 tal gardening, says A. S. Fuller, in the X. Y. 

 Weekly Sun, has been for many years imme- 

 diate effect, without the least regard for 

 permanency, or how grounds may look after 

 the lapse of a few months or years. This is 

 not only seen in the gaudy display of bed- 

 ding plants in city and suburban gardens, 

 but even in our great parks, where at the 

 very outset trees were so crowded to make 

 an immediate show that in a very few years 

 the natural beauty of all were destroyed in 

 their struggle for existence. Our much 

 talked of and costly Central Park has been 

 ruined by this very common error of close 

 planting for immediate effect. Everything 

 for to-day, taking no heed for the morrow, 

 appears to have been the ruling idea in the 

 planting of our great public parks, as it is in 

 a majority of private gardens. 



This ephemeral style of gardening has no 

 doubt been greatly stimulated through the 

 introduction of the hundreds of different 

 species and varieties of ornamental foliage 

 plants which are now so popular ; and while 

 these are certainly valuable acquisitions in 

 the way of materials for making our gardens 

 look gay in summer, there is something 

 about them that looks flashy and gaudy — a 

 bright bit of coloring, and nothing more. But 

 where the hardy perennials, biennials, and 

 even annuals, are cultivated, there is a con- 

 tinuous change all through the season, every 

 day bringing out something new in the way of 

 color,— akind of natural progression from the 

 first Anemone in spring until the last one is 

 cut off by the frosts of autumn. 



I|e ^inflow 8 j^ariei 



AND GREENHOUSE. 



COOL ORCHIDS. 



The nearly general opinion that all Orchids 

 require houses built for their special culture 

 is rapidly undergoing a change, as it is well 

 known that there are a good many of the 

 finest species in cultivation which can be 

 successfully grown in a house used for a 

 general collection of greenhouse plants. 

 Even some kinds which were formerly con- 

 sidered stove Orchids, requiring a high tem- 

 perature, can be grown and brought to a 

 high state of perfection in the temperature 

 of a house used for growing Carnations, Ste- 

 vias, and similar plants. Dendrobvwm nobile, 

 Wardicmum, Pierardi, and densiflorum, a 

 large number of Cypripedhtms, Phajus, Ccel- 

 ogynes, Cattleyas, Calanthes, Lycastes, Laelias, 

 Oncidmms, Stanhopeas, Zygopetalwms, and 

 Epidendrums, — among which are some of the 

 finest genera in cultivation, — may be grown 

 in ordinary greenhouses together with a 

 general collection of plants. 



There are two classes of Orchids,— those 

 which grow in earth, and are called Terres- 

 trial Orchids, and those which grow on trees, 



| rocks, etc., known as Epiphytal Orchids. 



! Most Orchids require a long season of rest, 

 especially the epiphytal; also, such terres- 

 trial genera as Calanthe. All Orchids which 

 form pseudo-bulbs must be thoroughly ma- 

 tured before success can be attained. Ever- 

 green kinds which do not form pseudo-bulbs 

 require to be kept moist all the time, al- 



j though they need larger quantities of water 

 during their season of growth than when at 

 rest. 



The great essentials in Orchid growing 

 are fresh soil, clean pots, steady tempera- 

 ' ture, and freeness from insects. Dendrobi- 

 ums do about equally well in pots, baskets, 

 or on blocks. The erect-growing kinds, such 

 asD. densiflorum, are probably best adapted 

 for pot culture ; while those of pendulous 

 habit, such as D. Wardicmum, do best in bas- 

 kets. Good peat and sphagnum are neces- 

 sary for their growth, and, if growing in 

 pots, plenty of drainage must be given. All 

 the Dendrobiums need abundance of water 

 when growing, but sparingly when at rest. 



Cypripediums are perhaps the most use- 

 ful class of Orchids for cutting flowers. 

 Most kinds are of easy culture, and seldom 

 fail to produce plenty of blossoms, and some 

 of the species at a season when flowers gen- 

 erally are in good demand — during the holi- 

 days. They require good, open, porous soil, 

 to give their roots plenty of room. Do not 

 allow them to get too dry at any time, but 

 be careful not to let water remain at the 

 axil of the leaves, as it is apt to cause rot. 

 Look out for white scale, one of the most 

 inveterate enemies to this class of plants. 



Phajus grandifolius, one of the commonest 

 Orchids in general culture, is also very pretty. 

 To amateurs just beginning the cultivation 

 of Orchids, I would say not to try too many 

 kinds at first ; for although I consider none 

 | of those named difficult to grow in a cool 

 house, it is a better way to learn the habits 

 of a few of the genera before undertaking 

 the cultivation of a large collection^ 



M. Milton. 



