1886 .] 
_^£^^^eamerican garden. 
PENTSXEMONS. 
Tho genus Pontstomon is a largo ono in¬ 
cluding-about sovonty-live spocios whicli ■i.ro 
all exclusively North American with tho ox 
coption of ono Northoastorn Asian spocios 
Nearly all .are showy, and many of thorn 
h.avo boon largely grown both horo .and in 
Europe. Throo species and a woll-markod 
variety occur in tho Northern United States 
east of tho Mississippi. Those arc P. pu- 
bescens, P. Icevigatiiit and its v.arioty iruiuaUii 
and P. fjraniUnorus. Tho llowors of tlio 
Pentstemons are long, tubular, often boll¬ 
shaped, and commonly borne in lorn- 
racemes. In color they arc various shades 
of purple and red, occasionally varyino- to 
nearly white .and of considerable brilliancy. 
Unlike most of our western herb.accoiis 
perenni.als tho Pentstemons thrive well in 
cultivation in tho East. Jiany 
of tho species h.ave been grown 
in botanic gardens and on the 
grounds of amateurs, but w-itli 
the exception of two or three, 
they have not become generally 
popular. The reason for this 
lack of favor m.ay lie in the fact 
that many of the species are 
half-hardy and require cold- 
frame protection during winter, 
and perhaps also in the fact th.at 
most of them require a yearly 
renewal to insure a satisfactory 
bloom from season to season. 
The perfectly hardy showy 
species with which I am ac¬ 
quainted are P. ktivir/atiis, var. 
Digitalis, P. barbalus and its 
variety Torreyi (P. Torreiji), P. 
diffusus, P. ovatiis and P. pubes- 
cens. Mr. C. M. Hovey finds P. 
Palmeri and P. heterophyllus 
hardy at Boston. 
The var. Digitalis has been 
growing in the Cambridge Bo¬ 
tanic Gardens for forty years. 
It is one of the finest of showy 
perennials and its white and 
red-striped large flowers which 
are over an inch long, entitle 
it to a place in every garden in 
the land. This fine plant occurs 
wild frequently in Illinois. 
The longest cultivated of the 
Pentstemons is barbatus. The 
flowers are borne in profusion; 
they are an inch long and con¬ 
spicuously two-lipped, varying 
in color from light pink-red to 
crimson. This species was grown in Engl.and 
seventy years ago. The first of the garden 
forms were obtained from Northern Mexico, 
hut of late years it has come to our gardens 
from Colorado and New Mexico. It is a 
variable species, one of its most ornamental 
forms being the var. Torreyi which was long 
held to be a distinct species. This variety 
differs from the species proper in its greater 
size and deep red flowers. It is a showy anc 
desirable plant. 
P. diffusus was early found on the Co uni 
bia River by the adventurous Douglas an 
it has flowered in England as early as ^ ' 
The flowers are comparatively sma , u 
are borne in such a thick cluster and ® 
decided in their colors as to 
fiffect. The species is easily propaga e 
rooting .its decumbent stems. 
lini. *^'^**^**'^ "'-'■s .also first discovered by 
ocean, ami by him it w.as introduced into 
nfr..rT ''‘-'‘t‘'^"«Pocic»produc- 
wlLT of ratlmr small flowers 
"111011 are deep, purplisli-bluo in color. On 
account of this deep color of the flowers it 
IS one of tho most desir.ablo of the species. 
. puhesceoN is the common eastern species 
occurring on dry banks from Canada and 
Connecticut to fowa and south to Florida. 
Although less showy .as individual speci¬ 
mens than the preceding species it has many 
.advantages. Being a native of the Eastern 
States it endures our climate, .and it readily 
becomes natur.alized on dry and rocky banks. 
One of the jircttiest sights 1 ever saw was a 
neglected cl,ay clilT colonized with this plant 
transferring them to the house in February. 
During the following summer they may give 
a few flowers, but tho second summer they 
will bloom profusely. Many growers sow 
the seed under glass in March, but the 
plants do not become so strong as when 
started earlier. Seeds may be started in 
.January or February and excellent results 
obtained. After the first full flowering the 
bloom will dwindle and it will probably not 
prove satisfactory. It is therefore advisable 
to start new plants evoy year to keep up the 
succession. They may also be propagated 
by layej-ing. 
All the Pentstemons are woi-thy of culti¬ 
vation and more general attention. As a 
specialty for the amateur floricultuiist there 
is hardly another genus of plants more in¬ 
viting, and the beauty and profusion of their 
flowers will prove ample re¬ 
ward for the care given. 
L. H. Batley, ,Jb. 
A FLOBIBUirD DAHLIA. 
Noting in my garden last 
autumn a Lihputian Dahlia ex¬ 
ceedingly full of flowers aud 
buds, writes .John A. Lord, of 
New .Jersey, I took the trouble 
of counting them, when I found 
two hundred and twelve flowers 
aud well formed buds. The 
flowers were very double and 
perfect, and the plant I had 
raised from seed sown in gentle 
heat on April 8th. It had been 
in continuous bloom since the 
last of July and formed one 
of the most attractive objects 
in my garden full of favorites. 
THE PENTSTEMON. 
Several square rods where scarcely .anything 
else would grow well were made showy by 
this common Pentstemon. Tho flowers are a 
delicate violet-purple. 
The desirable Pentstemons which are to 
be-treated as h.alf-hardy perennials .are nu¬ 
merous, and among them .are to be found 
our most showy species. I 
of the Mexican species are grown, 
have met with less favor here where less at¬ 
tention is paid to floriil gardening. The 
species which are commonly grown in this 
country are P. ^Pe<=^osus), P. 
grandijlorus, P. secxmdijlorns, 
P venuskis, P. gentianoides, 
p. centranthi/olias. _ 
Sterne S llttl. I- 
themums in 
OEE HUKDBED THOHSAITD OBET- 
SANTHEMHMS. 
To what extent the so-called 
“ Chrysanthemum craze ” has 
reached will bo better under¬ 
stood by figures than anything 
else. A single firm near New 
York has sold during last year 
one hundred thousand Chry¬ 
santhemum plants of various 
sizes, .and this is probably not 
one half of all that were sold 
here, the aggregate of which 
amounts no doubt to not less 
than a quarter of a million of 
plants. A few years ago, it 
would have been difficult to dis¬ 
pose of ten thousand Chrysan- 
the whole United States. 
In England many 
but they 
P. eonfertus, 
P. Cobma and 
THE PEAEL TUBEEOSE. 
For greenhouse culture this v.udety, or 
sport is far superior to tho common Double 
Tuberose, in out-door culture however ithas 
been observed that it does not always perfect 
its flowers as well as the older kind; the ex¬ 
perience of our correspondent Wm. M. Bow- 
ron of Tennessee, which seems to indicate a 
remedy for this defect, is therefore worthy 
of consideration. 
I find, ho says, that Pearl Tuberoses will 
open fully and be a perfect success when 
grown in partial shade. In the hot sun 
they becorhe shabby before all the flowrets 
open, while in partial ■ shade every bud on 
the spike opens—at least in our climate. 
