382 



HORTICULTURE 



March 12, 1910 



the unreserved admiration of the mul- 

 titude of our flower-loving visitors. 

 This marvelous color phenomenon 

 manifested equally strong in the 

 flowrers of all our summer annuals, is 

 variously attributed to the moderate 

 average summer temperature, the al- 

 ways cool nights and, along the sea- 

 coast line, the beneficent influence of 

 the sea atmosphere. In the interest of 

 all future progress I cannot emphasize 

 too strongly that a liberal amount of 

 care in the preparation and fertiliza- 

 tion of the soil, timely irrigation, 

 weeding and cultivating, are not less 

 important, whenever first class results 

 are desired. 



Sometime ago I read an article on 

 new Amaryllis hybrids and their mag- 

 nificent outdoor effect in Florida gar- 

 dens. I can easily imagine a mass of 

 them in full bloom must be a floral 

 revelation to the eye, still I cannot be- 

 lieve that they ever can vie with the 

 splendor of hue, say, for instance, of 

 a well assorted bed of .Japanese iris. 

 It Is not necessary to go into any fur- 

 ther details on color questions, for 

 Bar Harbor, for years past, has wit- 

 nessed veritable floral color carnivals 

 in peonies, phloxes, irises and, in tact, 

 in all hardy flowering plants, both 

 perennial and annual. This remark- 

 able clarity in tints and shades has 

 hereabout elevated many varieties to 

 the rank of salable cut flowers, which 

 ordinarily, as such, find no market. 



The Right Viewpoint. 



I fear this brief recapitulation of 

 facts to those of you who have been 

 for years familiar with them, may 

 seem a mere waste of time. Still just 

 this familiarity is apt to make us near- 

 sighted and by giving up our thoughts 

 entirely to cultural and other particu- 

 lars we lose the right view point to the 

 matter as a whole. We may as pro- 

 fessional floriculturists comprehend 

 and talie careful advantage of our op- 

 portunities as gi-owers, but we should, 

 at present, under no circumstances, 

 misundei stand the hitherto mainly 

 evolutionary character of the situation. 

 Northern outdoor floriculture, in spite 

 of its great productiveness, would have 

 no future without a mission. Last 

 fall, one of my customers when leav- 

 ing orders for spring planting, summed 

 up by saying: "Now please be sure 

 and see that my little garden and my 

 piazza boxes are again well attended 

 to, tor, you know, they help to rent 

 my cottage." — A brief, clear-sighted 

 statement, touching the matter from 

 a sober, businesslike point of view. 

 It pays a city, by the agency of flori- 

 culture, to beautify her squares and 

 boulevards, for it helps to bring up 

 the value of adjacent property and in 

 turn increases her tax receipts. It 

 pays house owners along residential 

 city and suburban streets and avenues 

 to call on the floriculturist and bright- 

 en up the summer aspect of their small 

 front lawns, for concerted efforts in 

 that direction will aid in giving the 

 locality that air of refinement which 

 attracts cultured people of means. It 

 is a wise policy for the intelligent na- 

 tive population of northern seacoast 

 districts to study and to avail them- 

 selves of ornamental shrubs, perennial 

 and annual flowers, because the sum- 

 mer resort calls especially for neatness 

 and beauty of home grounds. 



There is, however, another mission 



of northern floriculture which seems 

 to me is of a higher order than the 

 one just mentioned. That host of 

 flower lovers who, as a health-preserv- 

 ing outdoor exercise, take delight in 

 doing things themselves, can find no 

 better opportunity than the invigorat- 

 ing summer climate of the north offers. 

 To our cottage inhabitants there seems 

 hardly a more enjoyable pastime than 

 that of outdoor floriculture. After the 

 large city market has regaled them 

 during the winter with the floral out- 

 put of acres under glass, they find in 

 their summer homes amid the pines 

 and spruces of Maine conditions alto- 

 gether reversed. Here the northern 

 grown perennial and annual is supreme 

 and Iceland poppies, foxgloves and 

 Canterbury bells have their Innings. 

 The change is as radical as it proves 

 agreeable, and amateur flower growing 



.John < ook 



A I'inrR't'r American Kosarian. 



has become a strong feature of north- 

 ern summer resort life. 



Avenues for Future Advancement. 



As gratifying, however, as the ready 

 popular response is, and as much as 

 the present activity along this line 

 may encourage us, we should not 

 overlook our next task which is, as 

 much as possible, to educate our pat- 

 rons on the ways and modes to use 

 our plants to their best effect. Since 

 Bar Harbor from the very start has 

 taken a leading part in the develop- 

 ment of outdoor floriculture and her 

 floral garden effects are known to rep- 

 resent the best artistic examples, it is 

 natural that the North will more and 

 more look to her and this society for 

 competent counsel. In my opinion the 

 time is at hand to give this problem a 

 more careful thought as we have done 

 so far. As a northeastern outpost. 



situated far away from most of the 

 nation's business centers it Is not 

 likely that we will see great exploits 

 in elaborate landscape architecture 

 in the near future. Summer resi- 

 dences on Mount Desert, the opposite 

 mainland, shorelines and adjacent 

 islands, as dwellings, are all of a more 

 or less temporary character. The 

 native vegetation and sceneries them- 

 selves are extremely attractive and 

 beautiful. These conditions naturally 

 limit extension and outlay on private 

 grounds. The future will see a steady 

 increase of all sorts of flower grow- 

 ing and attempts at gardening on a 

 small scale, with the local professional 

 in demand for intelligent advice. The 

 excellence of the home grown hardy 

 plant material alone should prompt us 

 to direct the present private activity, 

 by degrees, into those channels which 

 lead to a higher standard of effect in 

 outdoor arrangements. We are also 

 face to face with the necessity of 

 giving careful study to color harmony. 

 Furthermore, the infinite variation of 

 ground surface and the everchanging 

 character of our native vegetation will 

 demand thorough familiarity with the 

 material, and here especially with the 

 habit of growth and with singular as 

 well as mass effects of hardy peren- 

 nials. During my whole thirty years' 

 practical career I have not found a 

 single locality offering by nature so 

 many rare and unique propositions for 

 high-class miniature work in land- 

 scaping as does the North, and above 

 all. Mount Desert Island; problems 

 which would inflame ingenuity to en- 

 thusiasm and put mediocrity at once 

 out of commission. To the trained 

 eye a mere glance at some of our 

 rugged granite ledges and their 

 picturesque wild vegetation discloses 

 ideal natural conditions for the rock 

 garden, and yet. the flower-loving 

 lady is very apt to turn a deaf ear to 

 all our suggestions an.d decide on 

 heliotropes and poppies; or a nastur- 

 tium bed may be the final outcome. 

 Occasional disappointments on ac- 

 count of lack of understanding should, 

 however, not in the least discourage 

 us in the patient, tactful pursuit of 

 our aims for the best effects. 



Hardy Perennials Rank First. 



To sum up: A careful study of the 

 situation soon convinces us that the 

 homegrown hardy perennials rank 

 first in resistance. They should, in a 

 general way, form the nucleus of 

 Northern outdoor planting, with the 

 more tender flowering bulbs, bedding 

 plants and annuals as seconds. Many 

 of the hardy perennials appear in no 

 way out of place when in a natural, 

 informal style mixed in among our 

 wooded landscape. They are equally 

 effective in the formal gardens and 

 they give our plantings from the start 

 a much desired stability, which, at no 

 time, should be underestimated. 



We find ourselves near the thres- 

 hold of a new growing season. Soon 

 a large • contingent of the wealthy 

 metropolitan population will return to 

 their cottages amid our eververdant 

 spruce and pine woods to enjoy the 

 invigorating Northern summer. Let 

 us not forget that the last and highest 

 mission of Northern outdoor floricul- 

 ture is to aid in strengthening the ties 

 of attachment and in binding the bands 

 of love for our home country and her 

 beautiful North. 



