1874 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
61 
The Garden Verbena. 
The genus Verbena is a large one, and we 
have in almost all parts of the country one or 
more species which as a general thing are not 
showy. The first garden Verbenas seen in this 
country were brought here from Buenos Ayres 
in 1835 by Mr. Amory 
Edwards, of Elizabeth, 
N. J., whose account 
of the matter will be 
found in the Agricul¬ 
turist for August, 1866, 
page 287. Mr. Edwards 
gave his plants to his 
brother Scotchman, Mr. 
Thos. Hogg, the pio¬ 
neer of horticulture in 
New York. These Ver¬ 
benas were the crim¬ 
son, V. phlogiflora, also 
called Tweediana, and 
a white one, name now 
unknown. About this 
time the Verbena be¬ 
came popular in Eng¬ 
land, and other florists 
imported them, but to 
Mr. Hogg belongs the 
credit of having raised 
the first in America. At 
the present time the 
Verbena is one of the 
most popular of our 
garden flowers, each 
florist raising large 
numbers annually. Mr. 
Peter Henderson alone 
has sent out over a 
quarter of a million 
in one season. Those 
now in cultivation are 
by no means the orig¬ 
inal species, but others 
have since been intro¬ 
duced, and so crossed 
and mixed that it is dif¬ 
ficult to trace the origin 
of our numerous varie¬ 
ties. The Verbena owes 
its popularity to the 
brilliant colors of and 
long continuance of its 
bloom, the readiness 
with which it may be 
cultivated, it adapting 
itself to almost any soil, the ease with which it 
may be propagated from cuttings, and the facil¬ 
ity with which it forms new varieties from 
seed. There is probably no one plant that equals 
it in the range and brilliancy of its colors, from 
pure white through the various shades of rose 
and scarlet to dark maroon purple. A yellow 
and a black variety have not yet been pro¬ 
duced, but they will probably come in with the 
blue Dahlia. Each year brings numerous new 
varieties of the Verbena, and the catalogues 
annually give us a list of new names, whether 
the plants are improvements upon the old ones 
or not. For bedding out purposes and pro¬ 
ducing striking masses of color there is no 
plant equal to it. The plants when established 
grow with great rapidity, usually attaching 
themselves to the soil by the roots thrown out 
at each joint; when a variety is not disposed 
to do this it may be kept low by fixing the 
branches to the earth by means of hooked 
wooden pegs or wires bent like a hair-pin. In 
places exposed to strong win.ls it is a safe pre¬ 
those of our garden varieties. The engraving 
of a bouquet of Verbenas is from the collection 
of Peter Henderson, and exhibits at about half 
their true size the leading varieties that are 
now popular. We can, of course, only show 
the form, and the brilliant coloring must be 
left to the imagination. The one at the very 
top is “ Giant,” a dark 
crimson; at the right of 
it is “ Sable Queen,” of 
the richest dark maroon 
color; opposite to this 
“Marmorata” is readily 
distinguished by its 
markings; just below 
and to the right of this 
is a fine white, called 
“ White Beauty ”; only 
a portion of a cluster of 
“ Rosy Morn ” is shown 
at the left of this; im¬ 
mediately below “White 
Beauty” is ‘Monstro- 
sa,” which has large, 
rich, velvety, dark 
purple flowers; to the 
left of this is “Belle 
Davis,” scarlet; while 
the one at the bottom 
of the picture is “ Mrs. 
Wilson,” the petals beau¬ 
tifully marked with 
dark rose and white. 
Horticultural 
Stealing. —One of our 
neighbors after various 
attempts, succeeded in 
procuring a plant from 
Europe which, on ac¬ 
count of its very tender 
and succulent nature, 
had baffled all previous 
attempts at importation. 
With great care he 
nursed the plant and 
grew it into a shapely 
specimen for the pur¬ 
pose of exhibiting it at 
the Pennsylvania Hor¬ 
ticultural Society’s Sep¬ 
tember show. Our 
friend took pride in pre¬ 
senting a plant never 
before exhibited in Am¬ 
erica, but his pride was 
changed to chagrin at finding when he came to 
remove his plant that it was despoiled of sev¬ 
eral of its branches. Some rascal could not 
resist the temptation to secure cuttings. It is 
mean enough to steal plants from one’s grounds, 
where the grower takes it upon himself to guard 
them, but one who places a rare plant in an 
exhibition relies upon the honor of the com¬ 
munity, and he who would mutilate a plant 
so shown is guilty of the meanest kind of steal¬ 
ing. We have no doubt the officers of the 
Pennsylvania Society would be very glad to 
make an example of this horticultural thief. The 
plant is of that delicate habit that he will prob¬ 
ably not succeed in raising it; but we hope 
that he may in order that it may daily remind 
him of what a sneak thief he is. How a man 
must enjoy a plant obtained in such a manner 1 
Horticulture in New Zealand is making 
rapid progress, but it sounds very odd to hear 
of a Chrysanthemum show being held in May. 
caution to keep them well pegged. Cuttings 
of the Verbena root with the greatest ease. 
We have known some varieties strike roots 
when the bouquet which contained them was 
placed in water. In early summer they can be 
propagated to any extent from cuttings an inch 
long placed in saucers of sand that is kept 
GROUP op verbenas. 
constantly wet and exposed to the light; but 
for propagation in cool weather bottom heat is 
needed. Verbenas seed freely, and the raising 
of seedlings is not only an easy matter, but a 
very fascinating occupation, as it is likely that 
a packet of seeds will give a number of differ¬ 
ent forms and colors. Fair success attends the 
sowing of the seed in the open ground, but 
plants so raised are much later in coming into 
bloom than when the seed is started in a hot¬ 
bed. A box two or three inches deep filled 
with light earth forms a convenient seed-pan, 
and if this be placed upon the heated manure 
of a hot-bed the seeds germinate freely and the 
young plants can be set out as soon as they are 
large enough to handle and the danger of frost 
is over. In the Western and Southern States 
there grows a hardy perennial species of Ver¬ 
bena, V. Aubletia , which has within a few years 
been sent out under the incorrect name of 
Verbena montana. It makes a handsome 
rounded clump, and produces an abundance of 
flower clusters which are more elongated than 
