30 
AMERICAN AORTCURTURIST. 
[Jancabt, 
mixed with sand, aud placed them iu the shade. 
When well established. I planted them in beds, 
and nearly every cutting lived and formed a vine.” 
- 
deservedly popular plants, but for s<mie reason 
the Exochorda, which is in its w.ay equally beau¬ 
tiful, seems to have been very sparingly distrib¬ 
uted. ]\Ir. F. at first supposed it to be a sitecies 
of Amelanchier, and sent it as a A. racemona. Sir 
Wm. Hooker, considered it as a remarkai)le 
Spiroea, and described and figured it as S. gra.ndi- 
flora, but this was before the fruit was known. 
Later, the name Exochorda was given it (by Dr. 
Lindley, we think), as its fruit is very different 
from that of Spiraea, and has, when ripe, a pe¬ 
culiar cord-like attachment, which suggested 
the new generic name. Though related to the 
Spiraeas, which furnish us so many ornamental 
shrubby and herbaceous species, this plant has 
not only a different habit, but presents botani¬ 
cal characters which separate it from them. 
While this plant was formerly called Spircea 
grandiflora, it must not be confounded with one 
commonly bearing that name in the c.atalogues, 
which is only a large flowered variety of the 
common iSl. salicifolia. The Exochorda seems 
disposed to f row tree-like, and does not, like the 
shrubby Sfirteas, throw up suckers from the 
base. The engraving was made by our artist 
from a specimen in the grounds of A. S. Fuller, of 
Brooklyn. It shows a small branch in flower 
with the parts of the natural size. The leaves 
are of a veiy tender green, and the flowers of a 
pure white. When in flower the bush appears 
as if covered w'ith snow' flakes. When first in¬ 
troduced, it w'as culti¬ 
vated as a green-house 
plant, but it has been 
found to be perfectly 
hardy around New- 
York and Boston. Thus 
far the plant has been 
found rather difflcult to 
propagate, but w'e be¬ 
lieve that it may be had 
of almost all of the 
principal nurserymen. 
-o- 
Gannas in Groups. 
The common Indi.an 
Shot, Ganna Indica, has 
long been grown in gar¬ 
dens, and of late years 
many others have been 
introduced, until our 
seed catalogues enum¬ 
erate some two dozen 
varieties and species. 
These vary in height 
from tw'o to six feet, and 
have different sliaped 
leaves, which in some 
are tinged and striped 
with red and other col¬ 
ors. A slightly elevated 
mound in a lawn plant¬ 
ed with cannas, the tall 
kinds in the centre, and 
the lower growing ones 
ne.ar the circumference, 
produces a fine effect. 
The foliage has a de¬ 
cidedly tropical char.ac- 
ter, and the flowers, 
ranging in color from 
yellow' to bright scarlet, 
are very showy. In 
order to get the plants 
well advanced, the seed 
should be started in a 
hot-bed, after soaking 
in warm water for 12 hours. Transplant in 
May, or when the soil is well warmed. The 
roots may bo preserved overwinter in a dry cel¬ 
lar, if lifted and stored before they are injured 
by frost, and again planted the following spring. 
Ornaments for the Garden and Lawn. 
It is rare that wm see in gardens vases, stat¬ 
ues, seats, etc., in good taste, and unless they 
are introduced in keeping with the surround¬ 
ings, they are better omitted altogether. Stat¬ 
ues and artistic vases are only tolerable where 
the house is a fine specimen of architecture, and 
the grounds highly kept. On the other hand 
rustic vases and seats may be judiciously intro¬ 
duced into the most unpretending grounds ivith 
good effect. As the leisure and stormy days of 
winter afford abundant opportunities for those 
who are handy with tools to contrive such arti¬ 
cles for use next spring, wm give a few sugges¬ 
tions regarding them. If the grounds are small, 
we must be very sparing with ornaments, or 
they will look over-embellished, like a parlor we 
once saw in Mexico, which contained half a 
dozen Connecticut clocks and more than twice 
Notes on the Exochorda Grandiflora. 
This plant was sent from China 
to England, about ten years ago, 
by Mr. Fortune, the traveller, to 
whom we are indebted for so 
many floral contributions. The 
Weigelas, Dicentr.a, and others 
of his introductions, are now 
among our most common and 
that number of cheap looking glasses. The 
more rustic such ornaments are, the better; we 
have seen an old and rough hollow' stump 
made to serve as a vase and clothed with vines, 
which was a much more pleasing object than 
many that are very costly. In the present 
article w'e notice vases only, as these seem to be 
just now very popular. One general fault with 
the attempt at building rustic vases is, that 
the workman does not consider the great weight 
Fig. l.~ KCSTIC VASE. 
they must sustain when filled w'ith earth 
and plants, and in a short time they become 
rickety, out of the perpendicular, .and unsightly. 
Strong w'orkmanship should be a prime consid¬ 
eration. A rustic vase should be eilber circular 
or octagonal; a square one looks too angular and 
box-like. Tw'o feet in diameter, wuth the sides 
six inches higii, is a good size; or if warned 
larger, three feet across and eight inches deep 
To make a circular vase, cut out a circular hot 
tom board, and as it will be in at least tw'C- 
pieces, batten it firmly togelli(!r, and make the 
sides of narrow stuff, with the edges bevelled 
inward to make a better joint. The top is to 
be strengthened by nailing on a split sapling, 
and one of the same kind at the bottom to make 
a finish. The sides are then ceverad with long¬ 
itudinal strips of rough bark neatly nailed on 
For an octagonal vase, an eight-sided hottom ii" 
made, and the sides w’ith the coiuiguotts edgcir 
planed to fit neatly. This may be covered with 
Fig. a.' Fig. 3. 
bark as before mentioned, or be nuule rathei 
more elaboriitc by covering the sides with split 
twigs so iis to make a sort of inlaid w'ork. Fig¬ 
ures 2, 3 and 4, w’ill suggest some styles foi 
