482 



HORTICULTURE 



April 3, 1909 



THE BOSTON VIOLET 



The people today are looking for New Violets just as much as they are for new roses 



or carnations. 



THE BOSTON VIOLET 



For the past three years has been placed 

 before the most skeptical buyer in Ameri- 

 ca and they prefer it to any other. 



THERE'S A REASON 



The Boston Violet is the largest, the most 

 fragrant, it has a very pleasant color, and 

 ■ t is a great keeper. 



PRICES -$2 per 12 $120 



THE BOSTON VIOLET 



Is a variety that is early grown, it is the 

 strongest grower and is in crop from Sep- 

 tember to May. 



THE BOSTON VIOLET 



Was awarded a First Class Certificate of 

 Merit by the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society and a Report of Superior Merit by 

 the Gardeners' and Florists' Club of Bos- 

 ton. 



per 100, SIOO per 1000 



PRINCESS OF WALES VIOLET- 315 per 1000 



WILLIAM SIM, 



CLIFTONDALE, IVIASS. 



in the winter gardens of the north. 

 If the planting beds are thoroughly 

 prepared and epsom salts judiciously 

 used they will be a success. Very ef- 

 fective grouping can be obtained by 

 using the great laurel (R. maximum), 

 R. Catawbienss, and the numerous 

 hardy hybrids. 



What is true of the rhododendrons 

 Is also true of the mountain laurel 

 (Kalmla latifolia) and Andromeda 

 floribunda. The boxwood (Buxus 

 Bempervirens) cannot be called a 

 northern plant, but the more uncom- 

 mon Buxus arborescens will stand a 

 temperature below zero without cov- 

 ering if well established. Excellent 

 examples of it are to be seen in Gene- 

 va. N. Y., which are over four feet in 

 height. Its foliage is coarser but it ia 

 an excellent substitute for the Euro- 

 pean species. Its usefulness as a win- 

 ter plant cannot be overestimated, es- 

 pecially in formal work. I have the 

 temerity to mention this species of 

 box only after having seen it with- 

 stand severe winters. 



The best evergreen ground cover is 

 undoubtedly the periwinkle (Vinca 

 minor). Its ability to thrive under 

 adverse conditions of light render it 

 useful for other things besides winter 

 effect. It is an excellent ground cover 

 between evergreens and rhoaoden- 

 drons; its cheerful green is not only 

 beautiful to the eye, but the plant acts 

 as a protection from deep freezing of 

 the soil. When it is planted in mass 

 In the open, or on the edge of shrub 

 border, in company with Rosa blanda, 

 tt 'makes a unique combination, as the 

 brilliant large fruits of the rose are 

 borne near the ground and just over 



the gioundwork of green vinca, the 

 effect is suggestive of the Christmas 

 season. 



Another broad leaved evergreen 

 which is useful in the northern lati- 

 tudes is Euonymus radicans, which as 

 a low climber takes the place of the 

 English Ivy. As a creeper it is seen at 

 its best. The sun of February and 

 March often burns some of the upper 

 leaves, but whenever it produces its 

 red berries it is a thing to be desired. 



The Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera 

 Halliana), while not considered an 

 evergreen, yet retains its green leaves 

 until long after Christmas in sheltered 

 situations, when used as a trailer, but 

 not when used as a climber as the 

 leaves are more exposed to frost and 

 wind and are not as persistent. As 

 this plant is used for covering banks 

 in open ravines, and around rocks and 

 boulders, it has a cheery effect on a 

 winter day. 



Berried Shrubs and Trees. 



One of the chief delights of a winter 

 garden is the effect of the berried 

 shrubs and trees, and of course we al- 

 ways think of berried plants in rela- 

 tion to Christmas, and very naturally 

 to the holly that is so extensively used 

 at that time. The northerner is denied 

 the use of this most regal plant, but 

 whenever evergreen leaves and red 

 berries can be combined, it is regarded 

 as the highest perfection of winter ef- 

 fect. 



A few years ago I conceived the idea 

 of using the winter berry, or leafless 

 holly (Ilex vertlcillata), which is more 

 profuse with its berries than the 

 southern holly, along with the Eng- 



lish privet (Ligustrum vulgare), mix- 

 ing the two kinds and planting in 

 masses. The privet retains part of Its 

 green leaves until January and has 

 splendid trusses of brilliant black ber- 

 ries, and the effect of these black ber- 

 ries and green leaves, with the dense 

 masses of red berries of the leafless 

 holly, give the effect that is obtained 

 in English gardens by the famous holly 

 plant. The Ilex is vigorous as also is 

 the privet, and the whole in time be- 

 comes a tangled mass and the effect 

 glorious. Sometimes the leafless holly 

 is planted along with the mountain 

 laurel, but as the laurel is low and tne 

 Ilex high, the green leaves and berries 

 are not together and the effect not a3 

 good. Even though It is not always 

 possible to secure a background of 

 green for berried plants in the winter, 

 it Is not always desirable as the snow 

 Itself is a sufficient background for 

 many berried plants. Among the most 

 common and best of our berried plants 

 are the common barberry (B. vulgaris) 

 with its racemes of brilliant berries 

 which remain well into the winter, 

 the Japanese barberry (B. Thunbergii) 

 with its single yet thickly borne 

 berries of as brilliant a hue, and 

 the high bush cranberry (Viburnum 

 opulus), whose bright and large truss- 

 es of berries last until the new leaves 

 are formed in the spring, and are very 

 striking. Many of the endless number 

 of forms of Crataegus are useful for 

 winter effect, and although their fruits 

 are not persistent during the entire 

 winter season, yet many are glorious 

 in the early winter. Euonymus Bun- 

 geanus holds its fruits very long: in 

 fact it is better than the "Wahoo," or 



