908 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



May 22. 1902. 



mount imijortance, as I imagine their 

 season is none too long), cleaner fruit, 

 more easily gathered and certainly in a 

 wet season if not in a dry one, more 

 fruit to gather. 



I have seen plants swept off by disease 

 when left l.ving on the damp soil, while 

 plants tied up in the same garden were 

 practically clean and furnished a fine 

 crop of fruit. C. H. T. 



A WILD GARDEN, AND WHAT IT 

 MEANS. 



[Read before the Gerniantowu Horticultural 

 Society, April 14. r.H)2, by EUwln C. Jellett, Ger- 

 mantown. Pa.] 



Wild flowers, we are aware, do not ap- 

 peal with the same intensity to all, and 

 it follows that a wild garden may prove 

 of little interest to many who love 

 flowers, but thinking the subject a 

 worthy one, I have selected it for con- 

 sideration this evening. 



A wild garden is not, as many assume, 

 a garden wild, but it is a collection of 

 plants native to a district, planted, ar- 

 ranged and taken care of just as other 

 garden plants are cared for. And a wild 

 garden wild is even more sloven and 

 deplorable than an ordinary garden wild. 

 I remember an account Prof. Mcehan 

 told me some years ago of a visit he 

 made to Mr. Wm. Robinson's place near 

 London. Mr. Robinson was the author 

 of a celebrated book, called the "Wild 

 Garden," and the possessor of what was 

 considered an e.xceedingly fine wild 

 flower garden. After lunch Prof. Mee- 

 han was invited to inspect this garden, 

 and his humorous account of it I shall 

 not soon forget. He fold me he did nol 

 doubt the plants were there, and that 

 they were all that was claimed for them, 

 but he could not see the flowers for 

 weeds. It is needless to say that this is 

 not the kind of garden we have in mind. 

 * * * 



In the selection of plants for the wild 

 garden it is necessary to use discretion. 

 One needs not to bo told that a heavy 

 clayey soil will not do for ferns, though 

 a few ferns may survive in a soil of this 

 nature. Neither will aquatic plants flour- 

 ish in peat. Both in the selection and 

 in the placing of plants, endeavors should 

 be made to as closely as possible imitate 

 nature, and if the planting be properly 

 done there need be no fear of the result. 

 Tor ferns it will be best to select a par- 

 tially shaded position, or at least a place 

 which is shielded from the direct rays of 

 the midday sun. Many ferns require a 

 good loose loam. Other ferns require a 

 peaty soil, with a good proportion of 

 sand. All ferns require good drainage. 

 In fact, all plants, no matter where 

 placed, require thorough drainage. 



The proper time to transplant native 

 plants varies. The latitude is wide, and 

 success is sure to the observing and the 

 industrious. As with trees and shrubs, 

 many prefer to plant in the fall, while 

 others maintain the superiority of spring 

 planting, so it is largely a matter of 

 opinion, or condition, when hardy plants 

 may be moved. For myself, I prefer the 

 fall for hard wooded plants, and the 

 spring for plants of tender structure. 



Hard wooded plants, if moved after 

 the leaves have dropped, remain dormant 

 during the winter and will push without 

 loss in the spring. Ferns if moved in 

 the late fall, if not carefully planted, 

 may dry out, or for other causes may 

 show no life in the spring. I have never 

 had special diflaculty in growing any of 



A Cottage Garden. 



our native plants. If the laurel or wild 

 honeysuckle be moved during a resting 

 period, and the root fiber be carefully 

 preserved, and when transplanted the soil 

 be pressed firmly about the roots and 

 afterward properly watered, there will 

 be no halt in the growth, and at the 

 proper season the plants will start as 

 though they were in their original posi- 

 tion. The trailing arbutus treated in 

 the same way will respond the same as 

 the laurel and the wild azalea. In a wild 

 garden near Chew street and Washington 

 I^ane I had both laurel and arbutus grow- 

 ing, which flourished for several years, 

 and may .vet do so. for I left them there 

 when I left the place. 



If hard wooded plants are moved after 

 they have started,, the chances are that 

 they Avill fail. ]f on lifting a plant it is 

 found that the root buds as well as the 

 leaf buds have started, strip the plant of 

 all leaves and buds, aud give the roots a 

 chance. Some plants start first at the 

 roots; other plants leaf first. Usually 

 plants bud first, and when the leaves 

 have developed then the root buds start 

 to push. Ferns usually develop in this 

 way. This kept in mind will save many 

 a plant, and much time and labor which 

 might be lost. 



Soil, it should be remembered, is little 

 more than a material stibstance which a 

 plant uses; that light, air, heat, moisture 

 and subservient chemical properties which 

 a plant has the power of appropriating 

 and assimilating are always necessary 

 and ofttimes independent of the soil. 

 Keeping this in mind, we may under- 

 stand more readily the value of drainage 

 for the admission of needed properties 

 and the necessity of a porous soil which 

 will servo the peculiar needs of a plant. 

 It may then be seen that all wild plants 

 will not do equally well together, and 

 that for the greatest measure of success 

 both skill and judgment are required. 



# * *r 



We shall now present a few plants as 

 an introduction to the wild garden. One 

 of our earliest native plants, and one of 

 the most eagerly sought for, is the trail- 

 ing arbutus. It usually will be found in 

 flower about the 15th of March, though 

 its period of bloom depends entirely upon 

 the season. I have found it in flower be- 

 fore the date given, but sometimes it is 

 not in bloom until April, The buds be- 



ing formed the autumn previous, open at 

 the first appearance of fair weather. The 

 pale pink, refreshing flower may then be 

 found peeping from a mossy bank, or, 

 inconspicuous as they often are, in hid- 

 ing near surface, filling the air with 

 fragrance. 



It is a prevalent belief that it is next 

 to impossible to transplant arbutus, and 

 numerous cases of failure I have knowl- 

 edge of. The failure, I think, is due to 

 a lack of attention, or is a fault in the 

 observance of conditions. The arbutus 

 will be found growing on high banks 

 where moisture is abundant and where 

 the drainage is perfect. In transplant- 

 ing, the greatest dLfficulty is to find a 

 place where the roots may be kept moder- 

 ately dry. The great secret in transplant- 

 ing anything is to press the soil about 

 the roots as firmly as possible, and after- 

 ward to thoroughly soak with water. 

 After this the plant should be watered 

 only when necessary. It is, of course, 

 useless to attempt to move arbutus after 

 it has started to grow, but by observing 

 the simple rules given I several times 

 transplanted arbutus and in each in- 

 stance was entirely successful. Once, 

 however, I destroyed a plant which had 

 been growing eight months, by giving it 

 too much water. 



From the middle of March until April 

 the hepatica may be expected, though in 

 favorable seasons it may be found ear- 

 lier. The delicate, beautiful, lilac-tinted 

 flowers first appear, and are followed 

 later by a most interesting growth of 

 leaves. For either flowers or foliage the 

 plant is most worthy of cultivation. The 

 hepatica is one of the easiest plants to 

 move, and when transplanted will thrive 

 from the start. 



The common practice of planting bulbs 

 in the autumn is good, but it may be 

 questioned, for the reason that it almost 

 wholly ignores our native bulbs, many o'f 

 which are worthy of cultivation. It has 

 been urged that the flowers of our native 

 bulbs are too transitory in their charac- 

 ter. While without question this is true, 

 yet the same may be said of the crocus, 

 tulip, and of other bulbs commonly plant- 

 ed. Again it has been urged that the 

 flowers of our native bulbs are too incon- 

 spicuous, which is also, so far as the crit- 

 icism goes, true. It, however, is not pro- 

 posed to plant one kind of plants to the 



