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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



I Vol. XXIV 



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OCTOBER, 1920 



No. 10 I 



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Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



MONTAGUE FREE 



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SDMETIAIE ago Air. H. E. Downer, writing on 

 this page under the nom de plume "The Onlooker," 

 cited Xyinpluca "Airs. Woodrow Wilson" as being 

 somewhat of a record breaker as a continuous bloomer. 

 The exuberant growth of other tropical water lilies under 

 observation raises the question if the palm for rapidity 

 of growth must not also be awarded to some of the 

 aquatic plants. The ability of the Royal Water Lily Vic- 

 toria rcgia along these lines is prodigious, but it is ca- 

 pricious when grown outdoors in our New York climate, 

 and conditions have to be just right in order to produce 

 the phenomenal growth of which it is capable. Uuoting 

 from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture we learn 

 that — "Xot the least remarkable feature of these leaves 

 (referring to J'ictoria rcgia) is their rate of growth, 

 Caspary found the ma.ximum growth in length to be 

 about 1 inch an hour when the leaf is just expanding; 

 the surface increases 4 or 5 square feet in twenty-four 

 hours and a plant will produce in twenty-one to twenty- 

 five weeks 6C0 or 700 square feet of leaf surface." It 

 must be admitted that is growing some ! The season 

 this year of cloudy skies, copious rain, and low temi>era- 

 tures has been unfavorable to the / 'ictoria and miserable 

 growlh has been made. Some of the hybrid tropical 

 water lilies, however, have done fairly well. The strong- 

 est grower in our collection is one received as "Wm. 

 Becker" ( which, however, according to Air. Becker, is 

 wrongly named). This was planted on June 18th, hav- 

 ing at that time two or three leaves about 3 inches in 

 diameter. By the end of .\ugust it had spread over an 

 area of water surface about 30 feet in circumference 

 and its leaves were two feet in diameter. Another 

 variety, "Airs. C. W. Ward," is a clo.se second. 



In ])assing it may not be out of i)Iace to remark that, 

 although not so strong a grower, one of the best of the 

 tropical night-bloomng Nympha:as is .V. Sturtevantii 

 which has beautiful coppery leaves and red flowers 

 which may attain a diameter of 12 inches. Tricker states 

 that it requires liberal treatment and a hot Summer to 

 bring it to perfection. The new, tender, dav-blooming 

 Xywpha-a "Airs. Edwards Whittakcr," raised by G. 11. 

 Pring of the Alissouri Botanical Garden and awarded the 

 gold medal of the X. .\. G., is one destined to take a 

 foremost place in the ranks of the water lilies. It is a 

 truly wondertuly lily, which i)roduces quantities of fra- 

 grant blue flowers twelve to fourteen inches across. In 

 .spite of the large size of plant and bloom of the tropical 

 water lilies there are many people who prefer the hardy 

 kinds. There is a charm about the latter which seems 



to be absent from their giant relatives. They have a 

 greater jjurity of color in the flowers, a more pleasing 

 form and are, in general, more graceful in appearance. 

 For small ponds or tubs they are much to be preferred. 



Reverting ag'ain to rapidity of growth amongst aquatic 

 plants, the "Floating Heart" Limnanthcmum nyni^ 

 plioidcs. although individual plants are small, spreads so 

 rapidly by means of runners and seeds that it is inad- 

 visable to plant it in a pond with other plants unless 

 one has facilities for keeping it under control. A still 

 smaller plant, the diminutive "Floating Fern," AzoUa 

 caroliniana, continually e.xcites wonder by its power of 

 multiplication ; a few pieces introduced into a small pond 

 early in the year will usually manage to grow at such 

 a rate that the pond is covered bv the end of the season. 



* * * s? 



Amongst land plants some of the gigantic Bamboos 

 are probably paramount as rapid growers. The young 

 growths, looking like enormous asparagus tips, shoot up 

 at an almost incredible rate" once they appear above 

 ground. It used to be said, with how much truth I am 

 not prepared to say. that the Chinese made use of this 

 rapid growth as a means of torturing their prisoners by 

 tying the victim over one of these shoots and allowing 

 it to grow through him ! There is less reprehensible use 

 for young bamboo sprouts as they provide an important 

 comestible and are a prominent ingredient in the de- 

 lectable "Chop Suey" and other similar messes. 



Para rubber trees, Hcvca brasiliciisis, are said to 

 make a growth of thirty feet in a season and I have had 

 mider obsei"vation a ])lant of the Ceara Rubber, Manihot 

 Clhiciovii, that, under greenhouse conditions, made a 

 growth of 20 feet in about six months. Both of these 

 plants belong to the family Eiiplwrbiacccc. A species re- 

 lated to the Ceara Rubber provides the tapioca of com- 

 merce — which may e.xplain the rubbery nature of some 

 tapioca puddings I 



It is oftentimes im])ortant that we should be familiar 

 with some of these ra])id growing plants when immedi- 

 ate temporary effects are desired in the garden. Then 

 our thoughts turn, not so much to those that have just 

 been mentioned, but to Castor L'eans, Hemp, and other 

 rampant annuals : such trees as the gawky Carolina pop- 

 lar and its spirelike relative the Lombardy Poplar; and 

 to the Kudzu vine, the ornamental gourds and others »f 

 a similar nature. 



When visiting nurseries and i)rivate gardens this year 

 1 have been imiJressed with the fact that many of them 

 have degenerated from the former high standards main- 



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