For July, 1921 



635 



The Effects of the Freaky Winter and Spring Upon 



Certain Perennials 



FRANK B. MEYER 



IT is easy to remember how severe was the Winter of 

 1917-1918. At the Ohio Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, near which the writer was then living, 

 nearly all rose plants, including the most resistant of the 

 hybrid perpetuals, were killed back almost to the ground, 

 while very few of the hybrid teas survived at all, even 

 though they were well covered with earth. It was then 

 that Leonard Barron wrote : "Last Winter was the 

 greatest vindication of hardy plants and shrubs, particu- 

 larly peonies. Their profusion of bloom last month was 

 unquestionably due to the thorough rest of the roots last 

 Winter and perfect maturity of plants last Fall." 



Perhaps it was the complete rest, so long uninterrupted, 

 that caused the peony to bloom so well that season. The 

 fact that certain plants of the temperate zone regularly 

 pass a period of rest, preparation for which is begun, in 

 most cases, even long before Winter is near, has recently 

 been expatiated upon by Frederick V. Coville, in the 

 Journal of Agricultural Research, XXII, Washington, 

 D. C. The Blueberry, made the particular subject of the 

 study, does not, however, as the editor of The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle (British) points out, require the warning touch 

 of frost in order to get itself into a leafless condition. 

 It is true that plants kept continuously warm during the 

 Winter start into growth later in the Spring than those 

 that have been subjected to a period of chilling. Every 

 gardener who forces rhubarb, for example, knows that 

 previous exposure of the roots to hard Winter weather 

 makes them more amenable to forcing. 



These observations are not in contradiction to the pre- 

 cocity of blooming in the case of practically all outdoor 

 flowering plants during the extraordinarily open Spring 

 just passed. That the blossoms of all flowering plants, 

 particularly those that bear blooms large in proportion 

 to the size of the plant, like the peony and the bulbous 

 plants in general, would have been better in every respect 

 if the wonted Winter rest had been as sound as it ordi- 

 narily is, may be admitted. The observation is of interest ; 

 but it is of no great practical value, for the intensity of 

 the Winter cold is obviously beyond human control. 



There are certain points of more utility suggested by 

 the behavior of certain flowering plants during the 

 strange Spring. Some of these suggestions find their 

 origin in the observations made by Europeans, for in 

 England also the same kind of Winter and Spring was 

 experienced. In Gardening Illustrated is found the fol- 

 lowing : 



"The mild and sunny weather experienced during . February 

 and March rcsuhed in many hardy trce.s and shrubs bursting 

 into growth and flower before their normal time. During the 

 early half of .'\pril many plants that really should be dormant 

 until May oiK'ncd their flowers, and blossoms were to be seen 

 on every hand. Rhododendrons being especially prominent. Then, 

 between the 1-tth and 24th, came bitterly cold winds, sunny days 

 and frosty nights, with the result that not only were blossoms 

 killed wholesale, but young shoots and leaves were shriveled 

 up as if burnt. Great masses of Rhodo<lcndrons had not a 

 single perfect flower left, the only existin,g blossoms being those 

 on plants well sheltered and shaded from wind and bright 

 sun. * * * Common trees, like Cherries. Crab .\pplcs. and 

 Plums, had their flowers injured both by wind and hail, whilst 

 Lilac blossoms looked puny and pinched, the white-flowered 

 varieties being browned. On many Magnolias _ every flower 

 was killed, whilst leaves and young wood were crippled." 



Immediately after this item occurs this note on Iris 

 Tolmieana: 



"This charming Iris is showing very well for bloom this year, 

 the flowering stems being well advanced, though much before 

 their usual time. In a family noted for the beauty of its flowers 

 it is difficult to say which is the most beautiful; but this 

 species can lay claim to being as beautiful as any, the soft 

 hlac-grey color being very attractive. I find other early-flowering 

 Irises very free-blooming this year, some of the clumps simply 

 crowded with flowering stems." 



The foregoing confirms what has been one most grati- 

 fying condition this year the country over. It is that 

 the last Winter was the greatest vindication of the Iris. 

 This is particularly gratifying on account of the amazing 

 increase in popularity of this plant, so wonderfully im- 

 proved in the last few years. Never before, seemingly, 

 has there been, except, possibly, the fibrous-rooted kinds 

 like the Japanese, greater profusion of bloom or longer 

 continuance of it. Not only did they begin to blossom 

 early ; they delighted the rapidly swelling ranks of the 

 enthusiasts a very long time also. Aurea was in flower, 

 in the latitude of Philadelphia, till June 20, and it was 

 even surpassed by the new yellow Virginia Moore, which, 

 if it shows improvement in no other respect over the 

 other yellows with which it is practically identical in 

 appearance, may prove permanently to have the merit 

 here accredited to it. Nor did the quality of the flowers 

 seem to be impaired by the trying weather, with its queer 

 extremes of unseasonable heat and cold. Finer flowers 

 than those of Ambassadeur this year, or of Halo, Lady 

 Foster. Lent A. Williamson, Neptune, Pallida delmatica, 

 Queen Caterina, Souvenir de Madame Gaudichau, or, 

 according to reports, of Dominion, could not be imagined. 



In the matter of tendency toward root-rot alone did 

 the tall bearded irises seems to suflfer from the sudden 

 changes of temperature and the persistency of cold rains 

 rather late in the Spring. But this one serious failing 

 of the plant students are learning to combat and a friend 

 of the writer seems at least almost to have won the battle 

 in ways that he expects soon to publish. 



Another lesson derived from experience with weather 

 so extraordinary is suggested b\^ words in The Garden 

 for Ma\- 7 : 



"I have been greatly puzzled during this Springtide to account 

 for the quantity of rock plants that have been wiped out. Not 

 only plants that one looks upon as true alpines, but the ordinary 

 hardy subjects that generally prosper under all conditions, such 

 as Hcuchcras, Saponarias, Thyiiius, Snxifraaa hostii, Duinlhus, 

 Gciim iiwntanum and Corydalis. Recently I received a copy of 

 the Eniilisli Herald Abroad (a paper printed in Montreaux"). and 

 here I think my difllculty is solved. The name of Mr. Henri 

 Correvoii of Geneva will he known to readers of Tlit" Garden 

 as one of the greatest living authorities on alpine plants and 

 gardening, and in an article in this paper. 'The Plants of the 

 Alps in Our Gardens ' Mr. Correvon says, and to me it came 

 somewhat as a surprise : '.^nd yet, notwithstanding the sur- 

 prising nature of the affirmation, it is certain that the moist 

 and maritime climate of England offers advanta.ges over our 

 own lowland climate' (i. c, Geneva) 'which is drier and too 

 Continental.' The article, the second of this series, is full of 

 valuable information. But is not this the cause of all my present 

 trouble ^ During the Spring and early Winter we have had 

 very little rain, and strong drying winds, and I feel convinced 

 that this unusual loss of hardy plants has been caused by the 

 extremely mild Winter, aided by 'drying, withering atmosphere 

 of the plains.' 



"Further, turning up an old book of notes upon the alpine 

 flora of the Himalayan district. I ruul this extract from Hooker's 

 Himalayan journals: 'On the boundary of Sikkim and Tibet 

 l.S,74.S feet above sea-level. Here the slopes exposed to the 

 south winds are bare, while toward the north, the yellow Cow- 



