for October, 1920 



343. 



conventional design, and the garden robbed of all true grace and 

 artistic beauty by the bedding-out system of setting out ephem- 

 eral tropical and subtropical plants in geometrical ways. The 

 most ugly features of the suburban place are the middle walk 

 with a round or other shaped bed of geraniums or other plants 

 of similar nature in the center of the lawn on each side, and 

 when what is known as "carpet-bedding" is used, it is simply a 

 further remove in ugliness. 



To obtain the maximum amount of room for lawn and flowers 

 the entrance walk should be upon one side combined with the 

 drive to the garage, if there is one. This gives the largest sized 

 open lawn the ground in front of the house will accommodate; 

 around this lawn should be placed the flowering shrubs, which 

 will form a background for the dwarfer hardy perennial flowering 

 plants. It is better to have no flowers at all than that a lawn 

 should be cut up into formal beds for their accommodation. 



To many people the great advantages of gardening with hardy 

 plants are so apparent as compared with tender bedding plants, 

 that it would appear almost a waste of words to make any argu- 

 ment in favor of the former; but the argument is needed as 

 much as ever, in spite of the tendency in recent years to a more 

 rational system of flower gardening, for it is an undeniable fact 

 that more than half of the flower gardening is still done with a 

 few species of commonplace, uninteresting and ephemeral bed- 

 ding plants. AH the annual expenditure for this is practically 

 wasted as in the norlhcrn half of the country it only occupies 

 the ground for a few weeks, leaving nothing but bare ground 

 for the remaining nine or ten months. My own experience tells 

 me that it is possible in the vicinity of New York to have flowers 

 blooming in a border of hardy plants for ten months in the year. 

 It is true that this is not probable every year, but upon the aver- 

 age, flowers from a planting of hardy plants can be had for 

 as many months as weeks from tender bedding plants. 



I do not think the majority of people prefer tender bedding 

 plants to hardy ones, but too often they have little choice in the 

 matter in connection with small places, as they buy what the 

 Iccal florist recommends. Unfortunately, with few exceptions, 

 superintendents of city parks who should be educators of the 

 people in the highest and in the most artistic form of gardening, 

 are content — sometimes they have the job only as a reward for 

 political services and know nothing better — with what may be 

 termed an annual pyrotechnical display of bedding plants, as it is 

 of such short duration and of no artistic value. 



Obviously there are numerous other matters connected with 

 our subject which have been omitted from consideration, but we 

 have endeavored to mention the more important ones relating 

 to what to do and what to avoid in ornamental gardening. In 

 conclusion a paragraph from Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer's de- 

 lightful book, "Art Out of Uoors," is worth quoting : 



"If now we ask when and where we need the Fine Art of Gar- 

 dening, must not the answer be, whenever and wherever we touch 

 the surface of the ground and the plants it bears with the wish to 

 produce an organized result that shall please the eye? The name 

 we usually apply to it must not mislead us into thinking that 

 this art is needed only for the creation of broad 'landscape' ef- 

 fects. It is needed wherever we do more than grow plants for 

 the money we may save or gain by them. It does not matter 

 whether we have in mind a great park or small city square, a 

 largQ estate or a modest dooryard, we must go about our work 

 in an artistic spirit if we want a good result. Two trees and six 

 shrubs, a scrap of lawn and a dozen flowering plants, may form 

 either a beautiful little picture or a huddled disarray of forms 

 and colors." 



dener it affords a desirable means of improving his edu- 

 cation. 



THINGS AND THOUGHTS OF THE GARDEN 



( L ontimtcd fium pai^^c 332 ) 



science. Then too, new information and theories, are 

 continually coming to light, and, in spile of the antiq- 

 uity of our craft, there are many problems connected 

 with it that still remain to be solved. Which reminds 

 me of a remark by one of our foremost horticulttirists, 

 in a discussion of the etherization of plants, to the effect 

 that our horticultural knowledge is as yet in its infancy. 

 This is prohably trtie and many of us no doubt will see 

 great changes in gardening jiractice as time goes on. Of 

 course in garden writings there has been, and must con- 

 tinue to be, a great deal of overlapping and repetition 

 that is sometimes wearisome to the seasoned gardener, 

 but, we sometimes need to be reminded, and, to avoid 

 getting into a rut, it is necessary to be familiar with cur- 

 rent horticultural literature; while for the young gar- 



VIBURNUMS 



{Continued from pai^c 333) 

 The Uses of Viburnums 

 Of the several species of I'iburnuui which we have 

 mentioned, accrifulinni and cassinuidcs are excellent for 

 the borders of shrubberies; dcnfatuni is a good hedge 

 shrub, preferring a rich upland soil or a moist location ; 

 lanhina will thrive in a dry situation and in a limestone 

 soil; opiiliis nanum is suitable for borders and edgings; 

 hyitanoidcs thrives in moist, and accrifoliuin in dry loca- 

 tions, under trees ; dilatatiim. Icntago, lantana, opulus and 

 optdus sterile in tree-like form make handsome single 

 specimens. 



Pl«II'.\G.\TI0X AND PkuXIXC, 



\'iburnums are propagated by layering, by half- 

 rii)ened or green wood cuttings taken oft in "wet weather 

 in Sununer and placed in sand under glass, the latter 

 method being used for the evergreen species and for 

 inaerocephahiin. inolle. tomentosnin and cassinoides and 

 by seeds sown in Auttiiiin. 



Pruning should be done directly after the flowering 

 season, and should be confined to removing dead branches 

 and such green branches as are necessary to preserve 

 svnimetrv. 



.\ touch of frank friendliness, a fleeting revelation of 

 kindly human nature, in correspondence or personal inter- 

 views, in any sphere of life, on any occasion — these 

 things mean so much to the people witli whom one comes 

 in_ contact, and they make life so much more interesting. 

 We're all human beings, living in the same old world — 

 we're all most desperately human at heart — we may do 

 different work, read different books, have different reli- 

 gious and political opinions, utterly difl'erent interests in 

 Hfe — but we can't get away from the fact that we've got 

 that one supreme thing in common — our humanity, and 

 we don't diff'er so very greatly in our emotions. So why 

 stand on ceremony? Every man is your friend until he 

 proves himself otherwise. — Higliham's Magazine. 



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I WILL YOU HELP SUPPRESS I 



I THE SIGN BOARD VANDALISM | 

 I ALONG OUR HIGHWAYS? | 



I At the convention of the National Association of | 



I Gardeners, held in St. Louis in September, a resolu- | 



J tion was adopted condemning the despoliation of the | 



i beauties of the natural scenery along our highways | 



I by unsightly sign boards. It was decided to begin j 



I a country-wide propaganda to arouse an indignant | 



I public sentiment against this nuisance. I 



I We invite every individual and organization inter- | 



I ested in seeing the scenic beauties along our highways | 



I protected and conserved to co-operate with us in sup- j 



E pressing this sign board vandalism. | 



V If interested, address I 



I SIGN BOARD COMMITTEE | 



I National Association of Gardeners | 



I 286 Fifth Ave., New ^'ork. N. Y. I 



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