giiiiDiiiiiDiiiiiiifliiiiinMiniiiiii 



HiiiiiHfiiiiiniiiiinniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiniiwiinimiiiiiiHyiiiiiiiiiiiiiminiii^ 



iiiiiii 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



Vol. XXVI 



NOVEMBEK, 1922 



piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiioiiiyiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy 



No. 11 



fiiiiiiiiininiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiiiiii 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



WILLIAM N. CRAIG 



^•^^«fj 



THE question of Winter protection is a most important 

 one, and many gardeners in addition to the great 

 majority of amateur growers have much to learn 

 regarding it. The general idea which seems to persist in 

 the minds of many is that W inter covering is applied to 

 exclude frost and keep plants warm. This is wrong in 

 nearly every case. In mulching rhododendrons, the idea 

 is to keep the soil about the roots open, but in the case of 

 hardy herbaceous perennials, bulbs of all kinds, straw- 

 berries, and plants which are generally treated as bien- 

 nials, such as Myosotis, Bcllis percmiis, Campanula iiie- 

 diiiin. Digitalis, bedding violas, and pansies, to mention 

 but a few, if success is to be attained, the Winter mulch 

 is not to go on until the ground is frozen quite hard. If 

 a light coating of oak, or other leaves is then given, and 

 the covering held in position with evergreen boughs or 

 light boards, or a little scattering of loam or old manure 

 over it, the plants should come through in good shape, 

 always providing that they are planted in well drained 

 land w here water cannot lav in Winter. 



Stable manure is often used as a Winter mulch ; its value 

 for such a purpose is negligent, and with frozen ground 

 the bulk of the manurial agency is washed away instead 

 of penetrating the soil. There can be no better Winter 

 covering than oak leaves, if obtainable, both for plants 

 outdoors and perennials, biennials, bulbs in ]30ts and flats, 

 and the subjects carried over in the cold frames. The 

 failure of many growers to properly winter Canterbury 

 bells, foxgloves, pansies, forget-me-nots, and daisies is 

 usually due to too early and too heavy covering. With 

 the two first named plants it materially assists successful 

 wintering if the outer leaves are cut back severely and 

 a dusting of coal ashes scattered over before the mulch is 

 applied. It is not so much the actual freezing which 

 harms plants outdoors as it is the constant freezing and 

 thawing which lifts plants out of the soil. This is the 

 main reason why mulches are necessary. It never pays to 

 remove Winter covering with the advent of a few prema- 

 ture warm days in ^larch — a suggestion of the tropics is 

 invariably followed bv a reminder of the Arctics. 



When the late Fall has been exceptionally dry and there 

 is danger of the ground freezing up before we get soaking 

 rains, it is a very good policy to soak rhododendrons, 

 kalmias, andromedas, and all small leaved evergreens 

 which have been recently planted, for if they go into 



the Winter with dry feet and the soil remains frozen 

 for a long time, a hea\7 death roll is almost certain. The 

 annual "winter killing" of such evergreens as junipers, 

 retinosporas, thujas, and rhododendrons is invariably due 

 not so much to Winter cold as dryness at the root. This 

 is particularly true of new plantings at the bases of houses 

 whose soil is quite porous. Such plantings are usually 

 made distressingly thick with the "immediate effect" in 

 mind, a plan applauded by some landscape architects and 

 nurserymen and which estate owners tolerate as necessary, 

 'but which generally gives a jumbled tangle in lieu of 

 some nice individual sp>ecimens. 



The necessity of keeping rhododendrons well watered, 

 especially just ere Winter sets in, is not sufficiently real- 

 ized. If these broad leaved evergreens go into the Winter 

 with moist roots over which a foot of leaves has been 

 spread, they need no further protection, unless it may be 

 a windbreak on the most exposed side. Xot in the last 

 twenty years have I given any over-head covering to 

 these plants in Xevv England and even with temperatures 

 as low as twenty to twenty-five degrees below zero, the 

 pmount of Winter killing has been almost negligible. On 

 the other hand, I have seen beds which have been care- 

 fully covered with evergreen boughs or burlap come 

 through in very bad shape. As soon as the covering is 

 removed, the wind and sim raise havoc with these plants, 

 and if, perchance, a real hot day comes just after uncover- 

 ing, the foliage will always burn badly. Such varieties as 

 album clcgans, roscuui clcgans, "Charles Dickens", Carac- 

 tacus, Efcrestianmn, "C. S. Sargent," and "Kettledrum," 

 to name only a few of the really reliable hybrids, have 

 lost very few buds by Winter killing within recent years. 

 The lace wing fly I consider a far greater menace to suc- 

 cessful rhododendron culture than Winter cold. This 

 insidious ])est does not trouble plants growing in the shade, 

 but on rhododendrons, kalmias, and andromedas in full 

 sun, it is ven,- destructive. A couple of thorough spray- 

 ings, one just before and the other immediately after 

 flowering will keep it in subjection; using a good nicotine 

 spray containing some soap, which makes it more ad- 

 hesive, and directing the spray below the leaves, will do 

 the trick. 



The action of the Federal Horticultural BoTrd in al- 

 lowing free entry to plants of Rhododendron ponticmn. 



307 



