212 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



planting. Schwedler's maple, with its purple foliage, is a valuable addi- 

 tion to the maple family. Acer geinnala tartarica, a dwarf variety, is 

 splendid for its fall colors. Special mention should be made of the oaks. 

 Of course, they are slow growing, but they are worth waiting for. The 

 pin oak has a very beautiful habit of growth, and should be planted more 

 freely as a street tree. Red oak is very robust, and the scarlet oak 

 (Quercus coccinea) is the very best of them all for its handsome foliage 

 in autumn, the leaves staying on the tree till late spring. 



A landscape without evergreens is the most dreary thing on earth in 

 winter. Aside from their beauty, evergreens are the most useful of all 

 trees to the home planter. Where windbreaks are required for shelter 

 evergreens should predominate, because they give protection from the 

 winds in winter. People seem to think that windbreaks are only for pro- 

 fessional fruit growers' orchards, whereas almost every home needs some- 

 thing of the kind. Plant evergreens in groups. We can not grow as 

 great a variety in the West as in the eastern states, but what varieties we 

 do grow thrive much better here than there. The Austrian and bull pine 

 grow fast when once established, and have longer lives than the Scotch 

 pine and Norway spruce. Among the evergreens none equals the Colorado 

 blue spruce (Picea pungens, var. glauca). The color of the foliage is a 

 steel blue; this makes a beautiful specimen somewhat isolated and to the 

 foreground of a group of conifers. It is very high priced, a small speci- 

 men three feet high costing five dollars. For an ornamental hedge, 

 screen, or windbreak, the common American arborvitae (Thuya occiden- 

 talis) is recommended. 



For harmonizing the house with its surroundings, vines are as neces- 

 sary as the trees and shrubs. For the shading and adornment of porches 

 and to soften the bare surfaces and stiff angles, they play no insignificant 

 part. For covering a trellis or porch nothing is so dainty as Clematis 

 paniculata with its thousands of white flowers in August and September. 

 A vine that will stand more neglect than any other is the trumpet creeper 

 (Tecoma radicans), with its large clarion-like flowers. The scarlet trum- 

 pet honeysuckle is another hardy vine. The native climbing bittersweet 

 (Celastrus scandenis) is very beautiful with its clusters of orange colored 

 fruit. Ampelopsis quinquefolia, the common Virginia creeper, is probably 

 the most hardy and planted more than any other vine. It is unfortunate 

 that the Boston ivy (Ampelopsis veitchii), with its various shades of scar- 

 let and gold, is injured by our winters. A worthy substitute is Ampelop- 

 sis quinquefolia, var. Englemanni, clinging to brick and stone walls equally 

 as well as the Boston iv.v. Several climbing roses are hardy, as the 

 Prairie Queen, Lady Gay, the new single cherry pink, Dorothy Perkins, 

 and Crimson Rambler. The color of the flowers will not allow the last 

 two named to be planted close to each other. 



If we leave out the native roses and the Japanese variety (Rosa 

 rugosa) roses are not very desirable plants for landscape work. They 

 should be planted in a secluded, protected part of the grounds. The 

 hybrid perpetual kinds are a disappointment to most persons, oftentimes 



