GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



>- 



Vol. XXV 



ailllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!lllllllllllllllllllllll!lllllllllllllllilllllU^ 



MAY, 1921 



No. 5 I 



IIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIl 



UmARY 



Things and Thoughts ot the Garden^Jf;^^^^'^ 



MONTAGUE FREE 



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[AY, the merry month, the month of months for 

 those who find their greatest pleasure in the 

 enjoyment of the beauties of living plants, is the 

 month when the well-planned and planted rock garden 

 is at its zenith. Although at this season there is no lack 

 of inviting loveliness in other parts of the garden with 

 Iris and Tulip, Azalea and Lilac, displaying their opulent 

 charms, the denizens of the rock garden have no difftculty 

 in compelling attention to their manifold attractions. This 

 month sees many of the Saxifrages at their best; the 

 alpine Forget-me-nots, when massed, display themselves 

 as a fairy sea of pale blue ; and Daphne cncormn, the 

 specific name of which is a pitfall for novices whose pro- 

 nouncement of it is usually a cross between a sneeze and 

 an ass's bray, shows its umbels or ro.sy pink blooms. 

 Many lovely Veronicas charm with their daintiness; the 

 Aubrietias still continue in bloom, whilst Primroses and 

 their relatives the Rock Jasmines with many of the stitch- 

 wort family, Diaiitliuscs (or Dianthi, if you so prefer) ; 

 Cerastiuns, Gypsophilas and Arenarias, with innumerable 

 others, combine to make a magnificent display. 



^ ^ =;• 



Speaking offhand one would say that the genus Saxi- 

 fraga contains more species suited to rock planting than 

 any other. On looking up Robinson on this subject the 

 above statement receives some confirmation from the 

 opening sentence of the article, in the English Flower 

 Garden, on Saxifraga. "This genus includes perhaps 

 more true alpine flowers than any other." Mr. Lown in 

 his wonderful gardet; at Poughkeepsie, which in all prob- 

 ability contains the best collection of alpine plants in this 

 country, and is the Mecca of all alpine enthusiasts, has 

 many species of Saxifraga, even of those kinds thought to 

 be difficult, which he considers thoroughly established. 



Great variation is to be seen in the many sections of 

 Saxifraga- — in the time of blooming, habit of growth, and 

 color of flowers. S. Dnrscriana unfolds its glistening 

 white flowers and defies the vagaries of weather in mid- 

 iMarch ; and the airy panicles of S. Fortunei are to be 

 seen gailv dancing in autumnal gales. The lowly S. 

 opposilifolia. found on high mountains all over the North 

 Temperate zone, and in the Arctic Circle, whose prostrate 

 stems, clothed with tiny leaves, closely hug the ground, 

 and the still more diminutive 5". cccsia are in great con- 

 trast to the rank lush growth of the 5. pcnnsylvanica, 

 which attains a height of three or four feet, and the im- 

 posing umbrella-like leaves a yard high and a foot or 

 more across of the Californian .S". pcltata. 



The colors range through pure white of such species as 

 Burseriana and longifolia, shades of yellow in Boydii and 

 apiculata, the pinks and reds that have been developed in 

 many uf the "mossies," to the purple of 3". opposilifolia 

 and 6". lilacina. Alany of the Cotyledon section have white 

 flowers beautifully spotted with carmine and these are 

 among the easily grown members of the genus. 



For some reason or other the impression seems to be 

 abroad among American gardeners that the Saxifragas 

 are niilty and ilifhcuh to grow in our climate, and it has 

 been said that it was impossible to get the "mossies" to 

 do well under cultivation here. Such is not the case. 

 Given suitable conditions, deep, well-drained soil mixed 

 with broken rocks, with a good supply of humus, plenty 

 of water during the growing season, a few flat stones on 

 the surface to keep their roots cool, many of the mossy 

 Saxifragas, including the latest products of the hybridist, 

 will grow like weeds. So far as nomenclature is con- 

 cerned this section — which, by the way, is vdivided into 

 many subsections — is often a source of considerable per- 

 plexity to the gardener when a large collection of them is 

 maintained. The differences that distinguish some of 

 the species are somewhat obscure, and environmental 

 factors will often cause a great change in their general 

 appearance. In addition they hybridize freely with each 

 other, the seeds germinate readily wherever they happen 

 to fall and the result is sometimes provocative of pro- 

 fanity in the gardener who wishes to keep his collection 

 correctly named. The only way to be sure of keeping 

 them true to name is to prevent seeding and to propagate 

 entirely b\- cuttings. This, fortunately, is an ea.sy matter 

 as the individual rosettes root freely if taken in July or 

 August and wil! provide flowering plants for the follow- 

 ing Spring. This was the method followed at Kew to 

 produce blossoming material in pans for the embellish- 

 ment of the Alpine House — a purpose for which these 

 jilants are well adapted. 



No one should be deterred from growing "mossies" 

 because of difficulties with nomenclature. After all, the 

 jjlants are more imjiortant than the name, although many 

 iwtanists seem to think otherw-ise, and we can exclaim 

 with Shakespeare, "What's in a name?" so long as the 

 plaints fulfil our requirements of providing beauty and 

 interest. 



It miist not be inferred from the foregoing that none 

 of the species in this group possess distinctive characters: 

 many of them stand out boldly from among their fellows 

 and 'there is no difficultv in determining such species as 



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