January 6, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



17 



Is laid out in straight walks and rec- 

 tangular beds filled with flowers. Here 

 the old-fashioned hollyhocks, digitalis, 

 delphiniums, tiger lilies, iris, roses, 

 paeonies and phloxes reign supreme, as 

 they have for centuries in such gardens 

 before us. The new and improved 

 forms of each let us have by all means, 

 especially in the phloxes, where the 

 stride both in purity of tone and size 

 of flower is amazing. Let us also have 

 roses in abundance, hybrid perpetuals, 

 hardy teas and hybrid ramblers, the 

 latter best grown with some support. 

 Harrison's yellow is an especial favor- 

 ite of all rose lovers. The spaces left 

 we can fill with such plants as the 

 poppies of many sorts, perennial and 

 annual. For blues we will have 

 Baptisia australis, distressingly short- 

 lived though its lilac flowers be, Iris 

 germanica and siberica, the latter 

 most decorative of irises when well- 

 grown, though Iris Kaempferi flowers 

 excel it in size and depth of coloring; 

 Campanula grandiflora, rotundifolia 

 and persicifolia, Aquilegia coerulea, 

 Veronica longifolia subsessilis, hardy 

 asters and Stokesia cyanea. In pinks 

 and whites are dianthus group, D. are- 

 narius, barbatus and deltoides, Lych- 

 nis viscaria fl. pi. Pyrethrum hybrid 

 and uliginosum, Achillea ptarmica, 

 the Pearl, liatris and Sedum spectabile. 

 For yellows there is an abundance to 

 choose from in the composite family 

 alone, beginning with the early flower- 

 ing Doronicum excelsum and the core- 

 opsis, and ranging through Rudbeckias 

 hirta, laciniata fl. pi. (Golden Glow), 

 and speciosa, and ending with Haleni- 

 um pumilum and Helianthus Maximili- 

 anus and orgyalis. Aquilegia, the Cal- 

 ifornia hybrids of the yellow A. chry- 

 santha, also deserve a place, and I 

 have not even touched on the wide 

 field of annual flowers and tender 

 plants which are the life of a garden. 

 Arbors and trelises against the house 

 will give space for growing wisterias, 

 climbing roses, actinidias and other 

 vines, and if there be a board fence 

 along the back of the lot it may be 

 made beautiful with clematis in many 

 sorts, the rambling yellow Jasminum 

 nudiflorium, one of the spring's pio- 

 neers, briar roses, annual cobaea and 

 the grand old passion flower Passiflora 

 crerulea. But let us pass through to 

 the fourth or north side of the house 

 which if the building be well located 

 will be but a narrow strip of land 

 twenty-five or thirty feet wide. 

 Through it the walk to the kitchen 

 door should run the space being least 

 valuable here. That leaves room 

 enough still for two shady borders in 

 which to plant shade-loving shrubs, 

 flowers and ferns. Of bushes there are 

 the native Symphoricarpus vulgaris 

 and racemosus, of value chiefly for 

 their pink and white berries, the lat- 

 ter S. racemosus was the wax berry of 

 colonial days. For brightness of 

 flower there is nothing to equal the 

 azalea which will do nicely in such 

 location, and Azalea nudiflora, the 

 common wild pink azalea of our 

 woods, is as charming as any. These 

 azaleas may be effectively grouped and 

 grown to best advantage when planted 

 among evergreens whose foliage will 

 hide the bare shanks of the azalea 

 which, like the Sultan of Sulu whose 

 costume was limited to a stove pipe 

 hat and a red cravat, have all their 

 beauty on top. In the foreground 

 would be the low grown forms, the 

 lovely pink A. Vaseyi, just the shade 



of the old Daybreak carnation, the 

 darker Azalea nudiflora and the large 

 flowered Ghent and Mollis hybrids, 

 shades of orange and yellow chiefly. 

 Behind them the taller A. arborescens, 

 viscosum and calendulacea, the latter 

 the flame azalea of the Southern 

 mountains. Space, too, there is for the 

 pretty lavender Rhodora canadensis, a 

 close kin botanically to the azalea. 

 For evergreen plants to associate with 

 them there are our native Rhododen- 

 dron maximum and Catawbiense, quite 

 cheaply obtained and both very beau- 

 tiful. So, too, of the native Kalmia 

 latifolia. For variety a few plants 

 of the dearer hybrids are worth trying 

 if your purse can afford it, though 

 they are thankless fellows, apt to re- 

 pay your greatest pains by succumbing 

 to the first cold winter. More satis- 

 factory are the Andromedas japonica 

 and floribunda, especially the former 

 which is far too seldom grown. Leu- 

 cothoe Catesbcei, a low spreading bush 

 with leathery leaves and racemes of 

 white flowers, is charming and easily 

 handled as is also Ilex crenata, the 

 Japanese holly. Conifers we do not 

 need as the space is insufficient for 

 their proper development and they suc- 

 cumb so often to the dust and soot of 

 the suburbs. Here and there we would 

 tuck in clumps of ferns, tall Osmun- 

 das cinnamomia, Claytonia and re- 

 galis in the dampest places, the hay- 

 scented Dicksonia and graceful 

 bracken (Pteris aquilina) where the 

 sunshine enters most often, and under 

 the cover of some bushes the evergreen 

 Christmas fern (Aspidium acrosti- 

 choides), the fragile botrychium and 

 the beech fern (Fnegopteris hexago- 

 noptera). No bare ground should be 

 seen but in its place mats of English 

 ivy, ground gill (Nepeta glechoma), 

 Rosa Wichuraiana, and vincas, their 

 flatness broken by taller clumps of 

 Solomon seal (Polygonatum biflorum), 

 trilliums, Scilla bifolia, primulas, 

 uvularias (the wood lily), the wood- 

 land golden rod and aster (Solidago 

 caesium and Aster multiflorus), lilies 

 of the valley and other flowers of our 

 own or European forests. Such an 

 half acre is by no means an impossible 

 dream, nor is there fear that it will 

 look cramped and crowded for we have 

 carried the division of the house into 

 rooms out into the garden. And it 

 need not cost a fortune in the making 

 If the owner will go systematically 

 about it. and use his opportunities. 

 The soil, of course, must be well pre- 

 pared by deep digging and be well en- 

 riched. Many hours must be spent in 

 gathering and establishing the plants, 

 whether they be bought in nurseries 

 or collected in the woods and fields. 

 But after all, many a man spends al- 

 most as much money on a useless 

 stone wall along his property front, a 

 wall too low to screen either from 

 within or without. And will it not 

 be worth while? Not a moment of the 

 year will be without its interest in 

 such a garden home from the first 

 breaking of spring when the buldoco- 

 dium is pushing its green nose watch- 

 ing for a warm day to open its pink 

 flowers with their odd strap-like petals, 

 every day in haste to profit by the 

 opening of the season, and not long 

 after the white and lovely violet col- 

 ored form named after Sir Walter 

 Scott. Meanwhile by the pool our oid 

 friend, the skunk-cabbage (Symplocar- 

 pus foetidus), a sort of stout matron- 

 ly old party, as it were, who rises be- 



times, has been up for some time and 

 no doubt may be in full bloom already, 

 though this is a matter of interest 

 more particularly to the symplocarpus 

 itself, as the blossom is quite hidden 

 in the purple green sheath. Then 

 comes a long array of tender little 

 things, bulbous for the most part, 

 headed by the cold blue squill and its 

 companions, the warmer colored Chi- 

 onodoxas Lucilliae and gigantea, the 

 "glories of the snow" of our fathers, 

 almost as early are the woodland flow- 

 ers, the wind and rue anemones (Ane- 

 mones nemorosa and Thalictrum ane- 

 monoides), together with the bloodroot 

 (Sanguinaria canadensis) and the dog- 

 tooth violet (Erythronium American- 

 um). Snowdrops in a bold group in 

 one corner follow, and behind them 

 would be rising the stout stems of the 

 Old Crown Imperial (Fritiilaria im- 

 perialis). This plant is one of the 

 marvels among spring flowers. Like a 

 giant among pygmies, it shoots up in 

 a few weeks and then bursts out into 

 a great head of orange lily-like flow- 

 ers. No, there is one spring bloomer 

 that is yet more remarkable for its 

 length of stem — the eremurus — think 

 of finding in May a newly risen stem 

 five feet high, supporting a spike of 

 snowy flowers nearly a yard stick long. 

 One thinks at once of the magician 

 and his marvelous seed. I always feel 

 like taking off my hat to the eremurus. 

 The shrubby things in the door yard 

 begin to be heard from, spiraea, cy- 

 donia, barberry vieing with the nar- 

 cissus and tulip in the wild garden for 

 our interest and presently the place is 

 a veritable fairy land of life and color 

 from the unfolding leaves of the tiny 

 Nymphaea pygmaea in the pool to the 

 nodding trumpets of the tecoma mount- 

 ing skyward on the walls. And so it 

 goes until frost cuts off the lingering 

 flowers of chrysanthemum, geranium, 

 dahlia and aster. Remember, too, I 

 have not exhausted, but just touched 

 upon the field open to him who cares 

 to try my receipt for a garden home. 



CINCINNATI HOLIDAY REPORT. 



The demand has been quite brisk 

 during the past week, but prices 

 are slowly tending downward. Roses 

 and carnations continue to show an 

 improvement and are well worth the 

 price asked. Green goods are plenti- 

 ful with the exception of asparagus, 

 especially the Sprengeri. Business for 

 New Year's was fully up to expecta- 

 licms, and all are well pleased with 

 the holiday trade, and the growers 

 have already begun Easter prepara- 

 tions. 



That the holiday business this sea- 

 son has surpassed all previous records 

 there can be no doubt. I find that 

 about 10 per cent, increase over last 

 year is a fair estimate. Some report 

 more, some less, but al! join in saying 

 that they could have done more had 

 they been able to get the stuck wanted. 

 It lias been charged that the dealers 

 shipped the bulk of the good stock 

 and that the local buyers were obliged 

 to take what was left or depend on 

 other markets for their supply. To 

 supply the demand for the holidays 

 has long been an unsolved problem, 

 but the solution is apparently easy, 

 for a good salesman has but little dif- 

 ficulty to induce his customers to buy 

 a nicely filled pan or basket of plants 

 instead of a dozen Beauties or a box 

 of cut flowers if the latter are not 

 fresh and good. 



