32 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
A JUNE ELOWER SHOW IN THE PINETUM. 
In man}’ sub-tropical and temperate regions various 
seasons are marked by extraordinary local developments , 
of color. The Scotch Highlands are purple with Heather 
in autumn ; the meadows of Eastern England are purple 
with countless thousands of purple Orchis in spring. 
Eater on the woods are sheeted with the blue of the 
Wild Hyacinth and the commons are golden with Furze. 
Australia is golden with the Wattle Acacias, the moun¬ 
tains of India are scarlet with whole forests of Rhododen¬ 
dron Arboreum, or golden with Hypericum, and the for¬ 
ests in the wet season purple with millions of the tall 
spikes of Calanthe Masuca, reminding one of the English 
Foxglove in size and coloring. Our own country has 
its seasonable displays of Viola, Phlox, Golden-rod, Gay- 
feather, Dogwood, Rhododendron and perhaps more 
beautiful and impressive, some of its immense Western 
New York apple orchards seen in full bloom from the 
opposite sides of the valleys. It is only rarely that nature 
mixes more than two or three primary colors, but the 
variations of tint are far greater than is often supposed, 
especially in the tropics where in some species it is diffi¬ 
cult to find two individuals alike. 
In the selection of trees and shrubs given below the 
prevailing tints are very decidedly purple and white with 
a light blue, clear pink, bright yellow or scarlet occasion¬ 
ally. Artists hold, I believe, that yellow and pink are 
antagonistic, but let me assure them that the single pink 
Hawthorn and the yellow Laburnum make a charming 
group, and I have seen a bright pink Ophrys growing 
beneath and among bright yellow Hypericums in large 
quantity, which I would well like to see again. Yet 
yellows should be used with discrimination, and usually 
deep in the bays rather than in the foreground. With 
this care it is not easy to err in the disposition of the 
following material so far as its color enters into the 
scheme. It is in the combination and intersection of the 
herbaceous plants in the round beds that the experi¬ 
menter will find his greatest interest. In such combina¬ 
tions as Trollius Europeus and Viola cucculata, V. 
cucculata alba and Silene Pennsylvanica, Polemoniums 
and Sedum acre, Lilium tenuifolium and Lysimachia, 
the disposition of Tradescantias, Iris, Spireas, Silenes, 
Phlox, Papavers, Pseonias, Funkias, Hemerocallis, 
Campanulas, Armerias, and the host of other June 
bloomers among herbaceous plants the planter will 
find much to tax his taste, ingenuity and knowledge. 
Generally the arrangement should be of two kinds to a 
bed, either intersected or with a tall kind in the center, 
and a lower one for the edge. 
The flowering trees and shrubs employed are as fol- 
l(jws : Aesculus hippocastanum, fl. pi. rubicunda. Azalea 
Ghent, mollis, vars, nudiflora, Chionanthus retusus, 
virginicus, Coronilla emerus, Cornus alternifolia, florida. 
fl. rosea, Cytisus laburnum, Calycanthus, Deutzia gra¬ 
cilis, Daphne, Fraxinus ornus. Genista scoparia, Hal- 
esia diptera, Meehanii, Leucothoss Catesleyii, Ligustrum 
ovalifolia, Lonicera Albertii and others. Magnolia Len- 
nei, Soulangeana rnacrophylla, hypoleuca. See ., Paulownia 
Imperialis, Paeonia, moutan vars. Philadelphus coronarius, 
grandiflorus, &c., Pyrus coronaria, aucuparia. Primus 
serotina, padus, Virginiana, demissa. Rhododendron 
vars, of Catawbiense. Of these there are fifty, perhaps 
sixty, well tried varieties which are hardy to the limits of 
the species, or even it would seem beyond those limits, 
Styrax Japonica, Obassia, Spirea corymbosa, trilobata. 
Van Houttei, Reevesiana, Thunbergii, &c. Sambucus 
aurea, Syringa Persica vars, vulgaris vars, Tamarix Afri- 
cana. Viburnum plicatum, macrocephalum and others, 
Wiegelias and Xanthoceras sorbifolia. Beside these which 
occur alphabetically in the lists of most good nurseries 
there are the variegated Tulip tree and the Pink-flowered 
Locust Decaisneana. By the bye, I once saw three young 
trees of a Pink-flowered Locust in a hedge-row between 
Geneva and Canandaigua, N. Y., which did not seem to 
be R. Decaisneana. Do the Geneva nurserymen know 
them ? 
Then among shrubs and climbers are the roses—bet¬ 
ter perhaps in a garden by themselves. There are Rhus, 
Cytisus, Ceanothus, Symphoricarpus, Berberis, Coto- 
neaster, Kalmia, some of the Wistarias and probably 
some others which I do not think of. Enough are men¬ 
tioned however to show how fine a flower show may be 
arranged with hardy trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants. 
Trenton, N. J, James MacPherson. 
COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSES. 
In an interesting article on the construction of com¬ 
mercial greenhouses, in American Gardening, Professor 
S. L. Maynard, of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col¬ 
lege, says: “The cost of constructing a house is' very 
little, if any, more than the cost of the sashes, mats, 
shutters and frames for the sanae area of hotbeds. The 
first cost of heating apparatus will be more but in the 
end it is far more economical, and the comfort and econ¬ 
omy of doing the work, together with the perfect control 
which the heater gives over all conditions for the growth 
of crops forced in winter, render these forcing-houses 
much more satisfactory and profitable than hotbeds. 
The prevailing idea in building forcing-houses has been 
to obtain the greate.st amount of light possible by cheap 
and durable construction. The typical New England 
forcing-house is generally built with a low, flat roof, 30 
feet wide, the front wall being from three to four feet 
high and the back wall 12 to 15 feet. The roof consists 
of sash-bars supported by purlins resting on common gas- 
pipes from I to 2\ inches in diameter. The foundation 
is often made of concrete or even of chestnut posts set in 
