44 
March, 1890 
/orchard 
ORRDE NX 
The Flowering; Cornel. 
The Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) 
was formerly described in Orchard and 
Garden, but not illustrated. It is such a 
beautiful little tree, however, that it will 
bear to be alluded to again, if only to intro- 
duce the accompanying artistic design on 
the preceding page. Though the form of the 
tree is not attempted to be shown, each flow- 
er is an excellent portrait, and the arrange- 
ment and expression of the design do much 
credit to the artist's good taste, and can not 
help being admired. 
The large flowers, so called, are life size, 
and the details are faithfully given. The 
flowers proper of this Dogwood (or Cornel) 
are very small or inconspicuous, and are 
surounded by a large, four-leaved, abcordate 
involucre. The true flowers and the invol- 
ucre are plainly shown in the illustration. 
The involucre consists of four colored bracts, 
the small dotted cluster in the center being 
the true flowers, which are greenish yellow, 
and appear in the form of a flattened umbel. 
It will be noticed that the bracts at the top 
of the picture are while, while those below 
are dark. The white-colored bracts repre- 
sent Cornus florida, the type, and the dark- 
colored bracts its varietal form, C. florida v. 
rubro. The flowers or involucres are alike 
in form, but different in color. The variety 
is a handsome variation or sport, and will 
become popular when it is better known. 
The Flowering Dogwood is a small native 
tree, growing about twenty feet high, of 
symmetrical form when standing alone, and 
is more or less common in the older States, 
being chiefly found in woods and their sur- 
roundings, the finest specimens, however, 
being quite outside of ihe woods and fully 
exposed. The most perfect and one of the 
largest specimens we have ever seen is grow- 
ing, solitary and alone, in the middle of a 
ten-acre lot on Long Island, and is worth a 
long walk to see when in bloom. The next 
best is on the handsome lawn of Mr. William 
Barr in Llewellen Park, Orange, N. J. This 
one is also growing alone; but a hundred 
yards or so away are growing a number of 
Chinese Magnolias, and one thus has an ex- 
cellent opportunity of comparing our native 
Dogwood with the Chinese Magnolia. While 
all admit both trees to be handsome, the 
Dogwood almost invariably receives the 
greater praise, and, as we think, deserves it. 
It is noteworthy that neither of the above 
Dogwoods has ever been desecrated by the 
gardener’s pruning shears. They have the 
form that Nature gave them, and nothing 
could be more beautiful. 
The Flowering Dogwood is an admirable 
lawn tree, especially for small places. Se- 
lect a small, well-shaped plant, and give it 
a conspicuous place, where it can be seen 
from the house, and also, if possible, from 
the roadside, that the passer by may like- 
wise enjoy its beauty. It will grow in al- 
most any soil, but does best in a sandy loam 
containing more or less leaf' mould. Its 
growth is slow, and the wood is remarkably 
hard and heavy, and the last characteristics 
have been (and still are sometimes) used in 
trade in ways that are not honest, strictly 
or otherwise. The tree is thoroughly hardy, 
and needs no coddling, which often kills in- 
stead of saving it. The flowers appear in 
May or June, according to locality, and 
completely envelop the tree, giving it the 
The Weeping Cornel. 
appearance of an immense snowball. The 
flowers are succeeded by clusters of bright 
scarlet berries, which remain on the tree for 
some time after the leaves have fallen. It 
is a clean, handsome tree at all times and 
worthy of extensive planting, though it be 
a native. 
Finally, the reader’s attention is directed 
to Miss Goodale’s pretty and well-deserved 
tribute of praise to this lovely “Cornel,” 
which was specially written for the place it 
occupies. — P. B. Mead. 
The Weeping Cornel. 
This, as illustrated above, is the pendulous 
variety of Cornus florida. Though of an 
exceedingly graceful, drooping habit, it 
retains its upright leading stem and is one 
of the handsomest of our weeping trees. It 
has the large white bloom, brilliant red ber- 
ries and rich crimson autumn foliage of the 
species and is perfecly hardy. 
Floral Notea for march. , 
This month is a busy one for all who have 
green-houses or grow plants. More or less 
propagating is done at all times; but there 
is no better time than the present for put- 
ting in cuttings generally, especially of bed- 
ding plants. There are few things that will 
not now root readily. The florist who 
grows plants by the thousand has to keep 
at it pretty nearly all the time; but the pri- 
vate gardener sometimes makes for himself 
a good deal of needless labor by trying to 
get ahead of his neighbor, The simple am- 
ateur, on the contrary, is too often behind- 
hand; but it may be said for him that often 
he cannot help it, and he is apt to think 
it is “better late than never.” The am- 
ateur, however, who grows his plants at a 
window, often has a hard time of propagat- 
ing by cuttings, and will be wise in being 
late. If, however, he has a window with 
an eastern or a western exposure, and a 
room kept only moderately warm, he may 
begin now; or he may be so fortunate as to 
have a cellar that meets these requirements, 
and in that case his success will be greater 
with less trouble. The temperature of the 
cellar should be about 50 degrees, a little 
more or less. In the absence of these con- 
ditions the window gardener may begin 
later, and ventilate from the top sash to 
keep the temperature down. The best thing 
for the amateur, however, is a small propa- 
gating box. There is nothing better for 
striking cuttings in than clean, sharp sand. 
The color is a matter of no moment. 
The sowing of half-bardy and other seeds 
may be begun now under glass, either in 
the green-house or outside in a moderately 
warm frame. Seed sown early under glass 
furnish plants that bloom early in the bor- 
der, and in some cases a whole year is gain- 
ed in the time of blooming. Under glass 
no special difficulties are to be met, except 
it may be too much moisture and too much 
heat in some cases. In rooms a window 
with a southern exposure is best, and shal- 
low boxes may be used instead of pots. The 
soil should be fine and light. Very small 
seeds should be sown on the surface. A bet- 
ter way with these small seeds is to give the 
soil a good watering, then sow the seed, 
press them in gently, and cover the box 
with a pane of glass. A little sand may be 
sifted over the seed very thinly. When 
watered in the usual way (after being sown,) 
the tiny little seed get knocked about in 
such a way that they get no chance to take 
hold on the soil. The glass covering will pre- 
vent much evaporation till the seeds have 
begun to germinate, when it may be gradu- 
ally removed. It will be necessary to tilt 
the glass a little when the sun is out. This 
involves some trouble, but it is the best way 
to start small seeds. 
