IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 



iiiiiiniiiiiiii>iiiiiiiiiiiiii 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 . Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



I Vol. XXV 



liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 



JUNE, 1921 



No. 6 ■ 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden n'b' 



MONTAGUE FREE 



LIBRART 



VV YORK 

 BOTANICAL 

 (lAKUfiM 



IT was our intention in last month's article to write in 

 general of the lesser known rock garden plants, but 

 the claims of the Saxifrages proved so important that 

 other subjects received but scant attention. This result 

 is not surprising when one considers the high position the 

 genus Sa.vifraga occupies in the rock gardener's esteem 

 and that its importance is so great as to cause it to be 

 honored by the production of at least one book, "Saxi- 

 frages or Rockfoils," Irving and Malby, that is devoted 

 entirely to this fascinating group. 



With the rapidly growing appreciation of the value of 

 the rock garden as an element in the garden landscape, it 

 seems to be worth while to stop and consider whether the 

 plant material generally used in its embellishment is en- 

 tirely appropriate and whether it is not possible, now that 

 we are feeling our feet so to speak, to utilize to a greater 

 extent that class of plants, the alpines, in whose behalf 

 the rock garden first came into existence. 



There is often a tendency, when planting a newly con- 

 structed rock garden, to use quick growing material that 

 will serve to take away the awful barrenness, partially 

 cover the rocks, and give an immediate effect. Thus we 

 find the rock garden occupied to a large extent with 

 Alyssiini saxatilc, Arabis albida, easily grown Campanu- 

 las, strong growing Dianthiis, hardy ferns, perennial Can- 

 dytuft, Forget-me-nots, Phlox subiilata varieties, House- 

 leeks, and such — all of which are good so far as they go, 

 and indispensable in a large rock garden. But we should 

 not lose sight of the fact that the rock garden is intended 

 as the abode of choicer material, and these strong growers 

 should be definitely kept within bounds and not allowed 

 to usurp positions that should be occupied bj' more ap- 

 propriate plants. Which brings us to a consideration of 

 what should be aimed at as the ideal in material for rock 

 garden planting. 



* * * 



Farrar discusses the subject rather fully in his book 

 "My Rock Garden'' and seems to come to the conclusion, 

 mentioned in last month's article, that anything may be 

 planted in a rock garden that looks well there. This is 

 a wide definition in all conscience and lays the whole 

 problem on the taste of the planter. But it seems impos- 

 sible, in a few words, to give a more satisfactory defini- 

 tion of what is, and what is not, admissable. The matter 

 »r-is altogether too complicated, for there are alpines that 

 ^are not rock plants, there are rock plants that arc not al- 

 ■> — pines, and lowland plants, neither ali)ine or saxatile, but 

 eowhich are eminently adajjted to rock garden planting for 

 c^cultural reasons, and because they look appropriate. 



^ 599 



Some alpines are unattractive and for garden purposes 

 are merely "weeds" and some rock plants do not at all 

 fit in with the general conception of what is considered 

 appropriate in the rock garden. Therefore, we would 

 say that in coming to a decision on a plant's admissability, 

 use Farrar's definition, but have in mind that preference 

 should always be given to all alpines that have pretensions 

 to beauty : to beautiful dwarf or prostrate plants from 

 arctic regions, which, in many cases, because of growing 

 under similar conditions, are identical with or possess 

 the characteristics of the plants above timberline. Fur- 

 thermore, admit hardy dwarf plants that in Nature are 

 found growing in rocky situations, giving preference to 

 those that cannot be grown easih- in the perennial border, 

 and any other hardy plants that in their general appear- 

 ance are similar to the two preceding classes and which 

 demand the special conditions for their culture that it is 



possible to provide with ease in the rock garden. 

 * ^ =(^ 



If the rock garden is planted having in mind the above 

 conditions and reservations it will involve growing many 

 plants whose character is adequately expressed in the 

 word, that conveys so much to the gardener's ears, 

 "niitTy.'' But should we be deterred from attempting their 

 cultivation merely because they will not succeed when 

 subjected to slap-dash, hit-or-miss methods? Surely not, 

 for "fine" gardening in its larger meaning can never be 

 accomplished if we restrict ourselves to easy doers as rep- 

 resented by such types as scarlet sage and Zinnia. We 

 do not ask anyone to waste their time on such hopeless 

 "mififs" as Eritrkhium nanuin, the name of which is cor- 

 rupted by those who have attempted to humor its cranki- 

 ness to "very tricky 'un,'' or on SoldancUa alpiiia, which, 

 although it thrives can never be induced to bloom, or on 

 the Aretia group of Androsaces which even such a race 

 of rock gardeners as the British, with a more favorable 

 climate than ours, have difficulties with. But we do make 

 a plea for the exercise of more discrimination in rock 

 garden [ilantings and for the use of real alpine and rock 

 ])lants in preference to those, which, though they may be 

 of easier culture, are of coarser habit and unfitted to asso- 

 ciate with the aristocrats of the mountains. It has been 

 abundantly proven that alpines, many of them, will suc- 

 ceed under our conditions — meaning those found in 

 Eastern North America. I-'ven here in Brooklyn, in the 

 center of a dusty city, heat and wind alternating with 

 heat and humidity in Summer, there are many that thrive, 

 and I have before me a list of some of the choice rock 

 plants grown by Clarence Lown at Poughkeepsie which 



