For !\oveinber, 1921 



/il2 



liciously fragrant. Though it will cover a considerable space if 

 trained to a wall, this Honeysuckle is, strictly speaking, simply 

 a shrub, while, on the other hand, Lonicera fragrantissima is 

 more or less of a climbing habit. Besides this it differs from 

 the first-named in the leaves being broadly ovate, quite smooth 

 on both surfaces, and retained on the plants to a greater or less 

 extent throughout the Winter, so much so that unless in the case 

 of very severe weather it can be regarded as an evergreen. This 

 is also very fragrant. The specific name is derived from that 

 circumstance, and it commences to flower soon after Christmas. — 

 Gardening Illustrated. 



DEPARTMENT OF BOOK REVIEWS 



Pages from a G.^rdex Notebook, by Mrs. Francis King. 

 Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 



Very entertaining, instructive and quickening are these care- 

 fully "elaborated jottings from the notebook of one of the most 

 cosmopolitan of gardeners. Suggestive though it may be of life 

 in cities, this term, more fittingly perhaps than any other, char- 

 acterizes the person who writes so understand iiigly of small back- 

 yard gardens, of gardens in England and in Spanish America, of 

 arboretums, as subjects by themselves and as the means of intro- 

 ducing desirable exotics, and of her sex in its relation to practical 

 agriculture. This last-mentioned topic, adequately handled, with 

 official authority, has now fortunately been put into readily ac- 

 cessible form as a chapter of this book. Another chapter of pre- 

 eminence is entitled Bright-berried Growth for the Winter Garden. 

 Still anotlier especially commendable chapter is headed Summer 

 Thou.ghts in Winter. In it particularly, as on various pages, is 

 shown enthusiastic but at the same time judicious appreciation of 

 many of the desirable improvements in varieties of newer trees 

 and shrubs prized for their ornamental forms, flowers and fruits. 

 That so many of these are enjoyed upon the author's own premises, 

 in a northerly town of Michigan, is indication of the fact that it 

 is ignorance or lack of a little study that deprives the most of the 

 rest of us of the pleasant widening of our horticultural world. 



With her exquisite color-sense, and with her happy faculty for 

 thinking out effective combinations, Mrs. King has already been 

 able to advise concerning the most artistic placing of not a few 

 of these novelties in the plant realm of north-central America. 

 Herein, as in her former books, lies the distinctive worth of this. 

 It is not a handbook for the beginner. For him it may provide 

 the zest for pursuing an ideal in that field so fruitful of human 

 improvement, the field of "gardening finely." 



A LESSON ON WINTER PROTECTION FOR 

 HARDY PLANTS 



(Continued from page /So) 

 for a few days, turning it over once or twice which will cause 

 fermentation and kill many of the weed seeds the manure may 

 contain. Never use stable manure containing wood shavings for 

 any garden purpose. Another mulch which is by many thought- 

 well of is to spread the coarse stock-yard cattle manure between 

 the plants and cover with .salt hay or straw. 



In certain cases special treatment is advisable with regard to 

 covering up. Plants such as Sweet Williams, Pinks, Foxgloves, 

 Hollyhocks and all others having evergreen foliage should never 

 be covered with anything heavy that will hold moisture. In 

 these ca.scs it is better to cover the ground between the plants 

 and leave their tops uncovered ; or at the most use a light cover 

 of straw or salt hay ; pine boughs are also good for covering 

 such hke plants. 



The comparatively little known but very desirable Eremuriis 

 should also have special treatment, which, having regard to the 

 high merits of the plant is certainly worth while. Its characters 

 may be described as magnificent and distinctive, but even where 

 it is planted it is rare to see it well grown. It may have stalks 

 eight feet tall with a flower spike four feet long which remains 

 in flower for about a month. Want of success with it is doubtless 

 sometimes caused by its being destroyed or weakened by the 

 ignorant laborer. Its foliage dies away early, very soon after 

 flowering, after the dead debris is cleared away the underground 

 portion of the plant is liable to receive harm by cultivating the 

 ground unless its position is permanently marked. In the Autumn 

 it should be covered with a mound of coal ashes, and later on. 

 after some frost, a box or barrel should he placed over it and 

 filled with dry leaves, which receptacle should afterward have a 

 water-proof cover. In its native home in the elevated and very 

 dry region of Western .\sia Spring starts in February and has 

 no set-back. The plant here therefore starts at more or less 

 the same period, and unless it is protected along the lim-s above 

 su.ggested the early growth is invariably damaged or killed. This 

 plant is one worth exercising patience and care over, as, unless 



one is fortunate enough to obtain well-established clumps it may 

 be several years before it blooms, and, when the conditions are 

 right, the longer it stays in one place the greater the grandeur 

 of its flowers. 



Another plant which is not generally as permanently successful 

 as it might be is the Montbretia, (to give its trade name but it is 

 botanicafly Tritonia) and its dying out is often complained of. 

 Sometimes the unskilled or jobbing gardener is to blame for it. 

 If the dead stems and foliage of this bulbous plant are cleared 

 away in the Fall there is nothing in the Spring to show that 

 anything is planted at the spot unless it is securely marked, and 

 if the ground is forked over in the Spring the small bulbs are 

 turned out and unrecognized by the above individual. In many 

 cases the treatment given this plant is to take up the bulbs in the 

 Fall as is done with gladioli ; but while the latter do not receive 

 any harm from being dried, the Montbretia does, and it is gen- 

 erally best to keep the latter in boxes of moist, not wet, earth in 

 a cool frost-proof place. W'e believe, however, that the Montbretia 

 may be successfully wintered in the ground much farther north 

 than is generally supposed, and the results would be found to be 

 greatly superior to those of taking them up and replanting each 

 year. Success in wintering Montbretia out of doors is more 

 certain if we copy Nature by allowing all flower stems and foliage 

 to remain until Spring. Cutting the latter off, and what is very 

 much worse, pulling it off, causes rain to descend into the center 

 of the bulbs and the result is that they are burst by frost and rot; 

 the latter may also take place even without freezing. The bend- 

 ing over of the stems by the mulch does no harm. In this case 

 as in that of all bulbs, the mulch should be thick enough to prevent 

 frost from reaching them. 



As roses are generally grown in a border by themselves they 

 may have special treatment. Too often they are not in the first 

 place planted deep enough, as if the junction of the rose proper 

 with its stock is three inches below the surface of the ground it 

 will have that much more additional protection from severe frost 

 over and above those planted with the junction above the surface. 

 In this connection it is better to have roses on their own roots 

 rather than budded, and the combination of being deeply planted 

 and upon their own roots renders the more tender hybrid teas 

 capable of being safely planted much farther north than is usually 

 considered advisable. For roses the manure used for mulching 

 may be heavier and more rotted than that used for herbaceous 

 perennials and it should be placed all over the ground around 

 the roses not less than a foot thick, after allowing a few inches 

 for settling. A mixture of leaves and manure may be used, or 

 leaves entirely. When the latter are applied alone, wire netting a 

 couple of feet high should be placed all around the roses not 

 less than a foot or more from the outside plants and the space 

 enclosed entirely filled with leaves. 



Obviously gardens differ in their relation to the prevailing 

 Winter winds. Some may have the protection of a wooded hill 

 or windbreak of trees : part of a garden may be protected by the 

 residence or other residences and buildings, and so on. Those 

 who have been handling a particular garden for a number of 

 years will be familiar with the necessity or otherwise of giving 

 protection to the above ground portion of plants. Sometimes an 

 evergreen growing in a wind-swept position will receive more or 

 less damage when another of the same species growing a few 

 yards away in a sheltered position will never be injured. 



Along the sea coast protecting evergreens with boards is very 

 necessary in positions facing the sea. There are many plants 

 which will go through the severest Winters on the north side of 

 a building that will be more or less damaged on the south side; 

 this is due to the effect of the sun upon the frozen leaves. 



The strawberry patch requires mulching, but while for Winter 

 protection it is not necessary in warm localities, mulching between 

 the plants always does good. When applying stable manure in 

 the colder districts where the plants themselves are the better for 

 being covered, it is well to shake out the heavier portion from the 

 manure for use between the plants and use the strawy part over 

 them. Where salt, or marsh-hay can be obtained it answers the 

 purpose very well, as also do pine needles. The latter have the 

 advanta.ge of not holding much moisture, and are very clean and 

 free from weed seeds. By leaving the mulcli over the plants 

 until somewhat late in the Spring, flowering is delayed and by 

 this means damage to the blossoms by late Spring frosts may 

 be sometimes avoided. 



.■Xll other berries and hush fruits should have their roots mulched 

 with mamire. In the more northern districts red and white rasp- 

 Ix'rries are more fruitful if their canes are protected with corn 

 stalks or anything answering the purpose : some people bend the 

 canes over and cover them with earth first, and straw, leaves, etc.. 

 on top. 



Quite apart from the question of giving protection from actual 



cold, mulched plants will always give better results the following 



year in growth, flowers and fruit, all other things being equal, 



than will those to which if has not been applied. In many cases 



(Continued from /■a/rr 7^4^ 



