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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



■ Vol. XXIV 



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NOVEMBER, 1920 



No. 11 ■ 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



MONTAGUE FREE 



IT is pleasurable to notice towards the close of the grow- 

 ing season that many plants revive their energies and 

 commence to bloom again. This is probably due, in 

 part, to better moisture conditions at the roots and to the 

 congeniality of cool nights. Walking around the garden 

 in mid-October many plants, which normally bloom in 

 Spring or early Summer, were noticed having quite a 

 respectable crop of flowers. Amongst them were 

 Helianthemums and several species of Dianthus, Cam- 

 panula and Armeria. It is a fairly common occurrence 

 for fruit trees such as apples and pears to bloom again 

 in the Fall as is evidenced by the almost annual crop of 

 letters to the press from excited amateurs telling of their 

 trees bearing fruit and blossoms at the same time. 



\\"e have quite a number of plants whose natural time 

 of blooming is in the Fall and one of the best of these, 

 although it is all too seldom seen in gardens, is Sedniii 

 Sicbohlii. Its gracefully arching stems arise thickly from 

 a central tuft to a height of about nine inches, many of 

 them bending over so as to touch the ground. They are 

 clothed with thick, succulent, glaucous leaves arranged 

 in whorls of threes. This is a plant worth growing for 

 the beauty of form and coloring of its foliage alone, 

 without taking into consideration the bright pink flowers 

 that are freely produced on the tips of the shoots in early 

 October. It is so distinctive a plant that it is well worth 

 while to take measures to protect its blooms from the 

 frosts that are sometimes experienced in October. This 

 can be easily done by throwing some light covering over 

 it. such as heavy wrapping paper, on nights when frost 

 is anticipated, or it may be dug up. potted and brought 

 into a cool greeifliouse. Like the rest of the Sedums it 

 is (|uite tolerant of being disturbed at the root, and ac- 

 cepts moderate mutilation with perfect equanimity. 



The well-known Plumbago Larpentce, or, to give it 

 its latest title. Ccratostigiua plumbaghwides. is another 

 fall bloomer whose bright blue flowers are welcomed dur- 

 ing September and October. There are many others 

 that we are grateful to for assisting in brightening the 

 closing of the season, notably the hardv 'Mums and the 

 fall Crocuses. 



:!< * % 



I he annually recurring glory of the hardwof>ds in tin- 

 Fall is a reminder that the suggestions made by "On- 

 looker." about ;i year ago. relative to the greater use of 

 trees and shrul)s prominent for their fall coloring, should 

 be pondered over by those res|)onsible for garden mak- 

 iiig. It is noteworthy that although nuich attention is 

 given to the ])lacing i>f trees and slirubs with reference 



to the color of their flowers, the question of eli'ectively 

 grouping them with reference to their leaf coloration in 

 the Fall is often overlooked. 



Bright svmshiny weather and cool nights, in other 

 words sharp fluctuations of temperature, seem to be 

 factors which have much to do with increasing the in- 

 tensity and brilliance of the fall coloring. An instance 

 of low temperatures influencing the production of red 

 coloring in the leaves of plants was noticed during the 

 coal shortage three years ago. The temperature of a 

 greenhouse, containing a collection of succulent plants, 

 which was normally maintained around 50° in the 

 W inter, on a few occasions fell several degrees below 

 freezing point .owing to the absence of sufficient fuel for 

 proper heating. Many of the plants thereupon exhibitefl 

 the characteristic leaf coloring that we associate with the 

 Fall. The jilants most afl:'ected were Scdum and 

 Ilchn-cria. 



The red color that appears in the leaves of lettuce 

 when newly transplanted outdoors in the Spring has 

 frequently been commented upon. The explanation 

 given of the fall coloring of the leaves of our trees and 

 shrubs is that chlorophyll, the green coloring matter of 

 leaves, is disintegrated by cold and bright sunshine, cor- 

 related with the waning vitality of the leaves. This un- 

 masks the yellow pigment that is present in all normal 

 leaves. The presence of sugar and probably tannin in the 

 leaves seems to be a factor in the production of red 

 coloration — the disappearance of the chlorophyll ad- 

 mitting a sufficient intensity of light to produce the 

 proper chemical reaction. Probably a similar exjilana- 

 tion may fit the case of transi^lanted lettuce with the 

 afliled factor of the shock to the root system which pos- 

 silily assists in lowering the vitality of the chlorophyll. 



The fall coloring of trees in smoky cities is not by 

 any means as brilliant as that to be seen in the country. 

 The presence of a layer of soot and du.st on the leaf 

 sm-face accounts in a large measure for this, and, in ad- 

 dition, injurious gases may so hasten the dying of the 

 leaves once their vitality begins to wane, that they fade 

 away into a series of dingy browns befv)re the true colors 

 hri\e an opportunilv to show. 



* * * 



ll seems to be fashionable in ultra-aesthetic circles to 

 decry the use of shrubs having variegated leaves, or foli- 

 age of a dift'erent hue to the norma! green, but most 

 gardeners will, when the surroundings warrant it, 

 sponsor the use of shrub> of this type in gardens. Even 

 the golden leaved privet, which to some people seems 



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