702 



H ORTI CULTURE, 



May 15, 1909 



HARDY PERENNIALS AND THEIR i 

 VARIOUS USES. 



TJajier read on Tttesday, March IG. te- 

 fnre tbe Giirdcners' and Florists' Club ot 

 Boston. h.T Robert Cameron, superintend- 

 ent Harvard University Botanic Garden. 

 Cambridge, Mass. 



Our beloved brother, Mr. Hallock 

 (who was going to speak to you this 

 evening), was called from among us so 

 suddenly that it is with heartfelt sor- 

 row I stand before you. with anoiher 

 subject, but one very closely related to 

 the one he was to talk to you about. 

 Only a few months ago we had to 

 mourn the loss of a brothf r in our club 

 and indeed we sincerely sympathize 

 with our sister club, in this, their 

 great bereavement, for it is not only 

 their loss but ours as well and, in tact, 

 a loss to the entire horticultural world. 



These sudden calls come so unex- 

 pectedly, but I get comfort from the 

 words of one of our greatest American 

 orators, who said : "Yet, after all, it 

 may be best, .iust at the happiest, sun- 

 niest hour of all the voyage, while 

 eager winds are kissing every sail, to 

 dash against the unseen rock and in an 

 instant hear the billows roar above a 

 sunken ship. For. whether in mid- 

 sea or 'mong the breakers of the far- 

 ther shore, a wreck at last must mark 

 the end of each and all. And every 

 life, no matter if its every hour is rich 

 ■with love and every moment jewelled 

 •with a joy, will at its close become a 

 tragedy as sad and deep and dark as 

 can" be woven of the warp and woof ot 

 mystery and death." 



A Plea for More Hardy Perennials in 



Parks, Cemeteries and Large 



Grounds. 



You will all admit that herbaceous 

 perennials are important in garden 

 ■work. Well, the question may be 

 asked, if they are so important, why 

 don't we find them used more liberally 

 in such places as parks, large rural 

 cemeteries and other large grounds? 

 To answer this question satisfactorily 

 it would take a very long iwper indeed. 

 However, it may not be amiss to give 

 a few of the reasons why they are not 

 oftener seen in such places. 

 Reasons Why Hardy Perennials Ar« 

 Not Used More Abundantly. 



You are all well aware that when 

 any large piece of work such as a park 

 or "large cemetery is contemplated, the 

 first thought that comes to the coin- 

 missioners or trustees of such places is, 

 who is the best landscape gardener (or 

 the more highly sounding name land- 

 scape architect) to take ciarge of this 

 important work? The landscape archi- 

 tect of today has some training in how 

 to make plantations of trees and 

 shrubs and the right proportions to 

 give them. In his plantations of trees 

 and shrubs he plants acres, but when 

 he comes to hardy perennials he meas- 

 ures his masses by feet or yards. In 

 his meager information of hardy per- 

 ennials he has not been able to grasp 

 the many ways in which these hardy 

 subjects can be used. Another reason 

 is that it takes many years to tell 

 whether his plantations of trees are 

 correct; it takes a few years to know 

 whether shrubbery is grouped correct- 

 Iv or not, but the first year shows the 

 ■svork of planting and growing hardy 

 perennials satisfactorily: hence the 

 landscape architect avoids criticism by 



Primulas for Christmas 



sow SEED NOW 



B's Matchless Giant, pure while; B's Matchless Giant, blusli white: B's Matchless 

 Giant, rose; B's Matchless Giant, scarlet ; B's Matchless Giant, roval blue: B's Match- 

 less Giant, mixed. Each IJ trade packet. 60c; trade picket. Sl.OO. 



Primula obconica gigantea Kermesina deep crimson Prlmnla obconica gigan- 

 tea alha. pare w if". Primula obconica gigantea lilacina, beautiful lilac. Primnla 

 obconica gigantea rosea, lovely pink Primnla obconica gigantea granditlora, mixed, 

 containii g pure wltite to deep crimsc-n. 



Each of above 1-2 trade packet, 30c : trade packet, 60c. 



Primnla floribnnda erandiHora (buttercup) 1-2 trade pack. t. 30c : trade packet. 50c. 

 , "fp.., ) 1.„, OS- i>.i 1. c^.,.-„„gi5 (Giant Buttercup) 12 



Forbesi ( Kabv Primrose) 

 trade packet. 60c: trad 



ARTHUR T. bODDINGTON, 



Primnla 



Seedsman 

 342 W. 14th Street, 



New York 



using these plants as little as possible. 

 Sometimes it is the fault of the .super- 

 intendent or the pel son in charge. He 

 may have been trained in early years 

 as an engineer, a cleik in an office, cr 

 as we have had them in Cambridge, in 

 charge of our parks, newspaper report- 

 ers. Men like these lack the right 

 training and are not in sympathy with 

 this work; indeed do not know how to 

 plant correctly. These are a few of 

 the reasons, but no doubt some of you 

 can think of many more. 

 Good Knowledge Required to Do This 

 Work Correctly. 

 A person who is going to use hardy 

 perennials ought to know his plants, 

 not only their names, but the height, 

 habit and color of the flowers and fo- 

 liage and the most likely places they 

 will grow in. He also ought to have 

 good taste to arrange the various 

 plants so that the flowers that are in 

 bloom at any given time shall group 

 well in form and color. It also re- 

 quires study and forethought to get the 

 best and most suitable plants for the 

 different seasons. 



Planting in the Parks on Too Small 

 a Scale. 



The planting that has been done in 

 parks of perennials has been so insig- 

 nificant and out of proportion with 

 other things, that we are in sympathy 

 with those who have said they were 

 out ot place. Instead of using a dozen 

 plants, hundreds or even thousands of 

 one kind of plant ought to have been 

 used to bring about striking effects 

 that would make impressions never to 

 be forgotten. In nature, we find the 

 plants liberally not in little patches 

 but by the acre. You all remember, 

 no doiibt, the fields of golden rod, of 

 asters, and many other plants which 

 can easily be recalled to your memo- 

 ries. Why not create such planting in 

 our parks? Not in borders but natu- 

 ralize them in suitable places and 

 make large, impressive pictures. If 

 one objects to foreign plants, there is 

 no country in the world that has m-.>re 

 beautiful plants than we have and 

 there are any quantity that can easily 

 be naturalized. 



Parks as a Means to Draw the People 

 Out of the Slums. 



The common people do not see our 

 parks early enough in the year; I 

 mean the masses of the people, those 

 who can only afford a five-cent ride or 

 those ■who five and grow up among 

 bricks. The rich, or those who have 

 carriages and automobiles, enjoy our 

 parks all the lime. I love the har- 

 bingers of spring, whether birds, bees 



or flowers and would suggest that mil- 

 lions of early spring bulbs be natural- 

 ized in our parks, so that the people 

 will come and see them in March and 

 April. Why not naturalize one millica 

 of the common snowdrop, which comes 

 into flower at this time? Do the same 

 tsith crocuses, squills, grape hyacinths, 

 glories of the snow, species of tulips, 

 dog-tooth violets, sanguinarias, tril- 

 liums. Anemone Canadensis, cardinal 

 flowers and many others, in the front 

 rows between the herbaceous plants we 

 use scillas. chionodoxas. ci-ocuses, 

 snowdrops and grape hyacinths. In 

 early spring before the herbaceous 

 plants have much more than made 

 their appearance above the ground, the 

 tulips, narcissi, scillas, chionodoxas 

 and grape hyacinths are in full bloom 

 tnd make a most pleasing effect. 



iTir bt ccntintird) 



SEED TRADE NOTES. 



On May 11. W. P. Stokes of Phila- 

 delphia, lectured before the employees 

 of The McFarland Organizations. Har- 

 risburg. Pa., on "How Seeds are 

 Grown and How they are Sold." 



Seed stores in the middle west re- 

 port counter trade as very good during 

 the past week. Stocks are pretty well 

 cleaned up and now that weather has 

 become settled the outlook for the 

 balance of the season is bright. Mar- 

 ket gardeners are feeling better 

 although they will be at considerable 

 loss on account of injury to crops oc- 

 casioned by unseasonable frosts and 

 unusually wet weather. Seeding for 

 onion sets is practically completed. 



PRIMULA SEED 



PRIMULA CHIKENSISFIMBRUTA 



a Tr. Pkt. Tr. PVt. 



Alba Magnifica S0.60 SI 00 



Chis-nrick Red 69 1.00 



Holborn Bine 60 1.00 



Hermesina Splendens 60 106 



Kosy Morn 60 1.00 



Michell's Prize Mixtnre, 



beautifully rringed varinies. . . 60 l.CO 



PRIMULA OBCONICA GRANDIFLORA 



Tr. Ptt. 



Compacts S0.60 



Fimbriata (ii6oz , 9\.tO 50 



Gigantea ;.\rendsi) SO 



Kermesina (i i6 oz.. $1.50) 40 



Rosea (i-i6 01., Si.oo) 30 



■White (1-16 oz.. $1.^5) .10 



Mixed (i-Soz..$t.ooi 30 



Write for our Whjlesale Catalogue 



HENRY F. MICHELL CO. 



1018 Market St.. PBILA. 



