CHRYSANTHEMUM DISAPPOINT.\TEXTS. 



97 



bulbs which are found in somewhat damp and shaded 

 places. Under favorable circumstances, when cul- 

 tivated, these leaves will grow to a length of seven 

 or eight inches ; their shape is ovate acuminate, 

 with a shining green surface, marbled and mottled 

 with white and dark brown. The little nodding 

 Hly of pure lemon yellow, with center of dark 

 brown stamens, is also very beautiful. Its petals 

 are about four inches long, recurved, and the flower 

 remains perfect for a long while. It can be forced 

 into bloom very early, treated in the same way 

 that Bermuda lilies are, with only half the heat 

 which they require. 



A writer in the London Garden recently called 

 attention to another of our own native plants, which 

 deserves more consideration and cultivation than it 

 is at all likely to receive. The Gardtii's description is 

 quite true and appreciative. "It is a strange fact 

 that while many flowers of doubtful value are 

 widely distributed in gardens, some real treasures, 

 for no apparent reason, are overlooked. Such has 

 been the fate of the lovely little foam flower, and 

 though it is a perfectly hardy plant of rapid in- 

 crease, flourishing in almost any soil and position. 



and has been in our botanic gardens for one hun- 

 dred and fifty years, it is only now that it is becom- 

 ing known. It is a plant of great beauty, both of 

 leaf and flower ; the little starry flowers are 

 creamy white, the buds delicately tinged with pink, 

 a good mass of them seen a few yards off having a 

 close likeness to a wreath of foam. The young 

 leaves are a tender green, daintily spotted and 

 veined with deep red, while the older ones at the 

 base of the plant are of a rich red bronze. Whether 

 planted in a rock-garden or border, it is a beautiful 

 and delightful plant. It is a valuable plant to pot 

 in autumn, and force from a cold-frame in early 

 spring." This "foam flower "is o\xx Fiarella cord- 

 ifolia or false initrewort, a hardy perennial, very 

 noticeable in winter on rocky hillsides by reason of 

 its tufts of crimson leaves, and in spring by its 

 masses of flufty fringed white flowers. Planted in 

 any garden soil, with the weeds kept down about it, 

 it thrives and blooms finely. These native beauties 

 have been selected from a long list, as being a 

 few of the most neglected and most deserving. 



Lennie Greenlee. 



Nortli Carolina. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM DISAPPOINTMENTS. 



ROMISE of a better display of chrys- 

 anthemums than had been seen in 

 any previous year, opened the last 

 season's shows. This expectation 

 sprang from the fact that many new- 

 varieties had been put upon the mar- 

 ket with such unstinted praise of their merits that 

 many were induced to believe a new era was about 

 to dawn, in which this fine flower would be seen in 

 absolute perfection. This hope has been only 

 partially realized, which might have been owing in 

 some measure to the fact that last season was less 

 favorable for the chrysanthemum than usual. At 

 the same time it must be confessed that not a few 

 of those well spoken of proved anything but satis- 

 factory. Mrs. Andrew Carnegie has been fairly 

 well tested in this neighborhood without, in a single 

 instance, producing a good flower. In many cases 

 the tips of the petals crumpled up before the flow- 

 ers were fully expanded, and when at their best, 

 these organs incurved so as to conceal the only at- 

 tractive color in the flower. But, notwithstanding 

 the numerous failures to grow this variet}' satisfac- 

 torily, it rests upon undisputed evidence that it has 

 been seen in a high state of perfection. But from 

 the experience gained last season it might well be 



doubtetl if ever it becomes a general favorite. The 

 form of the flower is good, but there are other ele- 

 ments of beauty than form in the makeup of a per- 

 fect flower, and in some of these it is sadly want- 

 ing. Those who have the means and the patience 

 to wait upon this capricious individual by sedulously 

 attending to shading her from intense sunlight, and 

 sheltering from rain and dew, might be able to ob- 

 tain flowers of considerable beauty. But this looks 

 like waste of time, especially when there are so 

 many varieties of rare merit which can be' brought 

 to a high state of perfection with little more than 

 ordinary care. 



Mrs. Alpheus Hardy has also disappointed many 

 by the way she has acted. Growers were early 

 made aware that she was constitutionally delicate, 

 and required the utmost kindness to bring her up to 

 the best possible conditions. But even by the 

 strict observance of the laws of health she refused 

 to grow with sufficient vigor to produce flowers in a 

 remote degree like unto the fine illustrations shown 

 in catalogues. Other varieties which created great 

 expectations have also fallen short of the high 

 standard they were said to reach. But it is hoped 

 some of them will do better when good plants can 

 be had to begin with instead of the small and 



