THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
467 
TIARELLA CORDIFOLIA. 
A LTHOUGH the Foam Flower, as the subject of 
■**■ this note is popularly called, is one of our "oldest 
inhabitants," it is but rarely that we come across it in 
modern gardens. 
Its primary charm, as its English name suggests, is 
its multitude of tiny flowers, which cover the plant with 
a milky whiteness from April to June. When growing 
in its native soil — the glens of the Canadian Rockies — 
its large, heart-shaped leaves often carpet wide areas 
with a dense growth of dappled green. But when the 
flowers appear, as they do quickly, they look at a little 
distance as if a drift of snow had been forgotten by 
the returning sun. T. cordifolia is a good rockwork 
subject, as it does not grow more than 6 inches to 8 
inches high. Though not at all fastidious, it should be 
given a soil of sandy peat, well drained, and an aspect 
in which it will be screened from the midday sun. In 
a word, if you remember that it is a Saxifrage and treat 
it as you would one of its Mossy relations, it will not 
complain. 
The Foam Flower (Tiarrcla Cordifolia) 
The Foam Flower is also an admirable edging plant 
and one that may be used with very pleasing results in 
carpeting the later bull is and other spring bedders. In 
this sphere it affords a delightful change from the 
eternal Arabis and Forget-me-not. As a pot plant in 
the greenhouse it is said to force and do well either by 
itself or in company with bulbs and other early bloom- 
ers. I-Yopatjation is easily effected either by division 
or by the little summer runners, which are sometimes 
produced rather too abundantly in favorable weather 
and soil. Spring planting (March to April) is usually 
recommended, but this is not at all an essential to success. 
— The Garden. (English.) 
PILLARS VERSUS PERGOLAS FOR 
RAMBLING ROSES. 
XTOW that rambling roses play such an important part 
in garden decoration, and varieties increase an- 
nually, with some improvement in certain respects upon 
older varieties, it is well to consider carefully which is 
the best method of displaying their various qualities. 
A few years ago, covering pergolas with rambling 
roses was considered the best method of display. From 
observation and experience, I have come to the conclu- 
sion that this system of training the plants is not abso- 
lutely the best, writes E. Molyneux in Gardeners' Maga- 
zine (English). The chief objection is that the principal 
flowering portion of the plants is on the top of the per- 
gola, where, in the majority of instances, it cannot be 
seen to advantage. Pergolas, as a rule, are not less than 
8 feet high, and usually as much in width, so, excepting 
the end plants and the portions which hang downwards, 
the remainder of the roses cannot be seen, and thus the 
major portion of the display is lost to view. 
I know one garden owner who has a handsome pergola 
covered with roses, and he felt this loss of beauty so 
much that he built a high platform at one end, with a 
staircase, so that he and his friends could admire the 
whole from above. 
Rambling roses lend themselves so well to an all-round 
training of their shoots that, in my opinion, the pillar 
method is the most advantageous. There are so many 
sites in a garden, too, where pillars can be placed to ad- 
vantage ; a favorite place is at the back of a herbaceous 
border, where the latter is arranged on each side of a 
path. Pillars from 12 feet to 14 feet high, when per- 
fectly covered, provide a brilliant display. In the shrub- 
beries they are also appreciated, especially when the lat- 
ter are mainly composed of evergreens. The deep green 
of Thuia Lobbi, or the various Cupressus, Pines, etc., 
make a splendid foil to the brilliantly-colored roses, of 
which there are so many now in cultivation. Judiciously 
placed among dwarf-growing roses in beds or borders, 
pillars are an advantage, breaking up the stiff, flat ap- 
pearance of the whole. 
A favorable place for pillar roses is on grass, in re- 
cesses, about the lawn, where they form surprise objects, 
and nowhere do they display their qualities better than 
here. There are two methods of training pillar roses. 
There is the use of single poles and of tripods, the latter 
necessitating the employment of three plants, as against 
one for a single pole. The tripod method affords an op- 
portunity to provide a bold display of any special variety 
in a suitable site. But all these sugestions as to site and 
method of training are of no consequence if the cultural 
conditions, especially as to pruning, are not correct. 
EPIGAEA REPENS. 
'TPHE trailing arbutus ( Epigrea repens), although a 
common native plant in cool woods throughot the 
north and northeastern States, usually does not do well 
when attempts are made to take it from its natural con- 
ditions and place it under garden conditions. Unlike 
most ericaceous plants, it grows in areas where lime is 
present in the soil, for the writer has seen it thriving 
over large areas of limestone regions. It is also com- 
mon in regions where there is no lime in the soil. 
Usually it is found at its best in sandy loam, on a gravel- 
ly, well-drained subsoil, under partial shade, with its 
roots penetrating a cover of leaf soil or humus. The 
only thing to do is to try and imitate these conditions. 
In removing it from its native haunts, dense tufts of 
low growing, and apparently your plants should be 
selected. These should be lifted intact and to such a 
depth that the roots are not in the least disturbed and 
placed in conditions in the home grounds or garden, 
exactly similar to those from which they were taken. 
To place the plants in ordinary herbaceous borders and 
cultivate them in the same way as columbines, campa- 
nulas, irises, etc., certainly means failure. If there is 
not a cool "woodsy" corner on the grounds, select some 
sloping corner as near as possible to these conditions, 
well drained, cool and partially shaded ; place the tufts 
in holes that equally fit them and leave them undis- 
turbed. Of course, they must not be choked out with 
grass or coarse weeds. If these appear they should be 
hand-weeded. In dry weather water the plants occa- 
sionally. In Winter give a little mulching of leaves. — 
American Florist. 
