32 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



soil preparation, nuilching, propagation, seed sowing, etc. 

 The course will run from April 3 to May 17, and should 

 appeal to man)* amateurs. The Lowthorpe School de- 

 serves commendation for this earnest effort to interest the 

 intreasing army of amateurs, and I trust that it will meet 

 with ever}- success. 



It is not usually the large, expensively constructed 

 flower g'ardens which appeal to us the most. Too often 

 these are correctly stigmatized by the famous art critic, 

 John Ruskin, as "ugly things.'' How many of these gar- 

 dens are really interesting and satisfying? Those which 

 have given me the deepest pleasure, and would have satis- 

 fied Shakespeare himself, had no landscape architect to 

 design them, but are the work of the owner assisted and 

 encouraged by his or her gardner. In some cases, no gar- 

 dener was even employed, but the results were simply 

 delightful. In the last ten years I have visited a consid- 

 erable number of notable private estates, but the fingers 

 on one liand would more than count all that were appeal- 

 ing and pleasurable, and which made me feel that 1 would 



love to linger there. 



* * * 



Of course, our tastes are quite dissimilar, else we would 

 not have so many varied tyj^es of gardening, all of which 

 undoubtedly give pleasiux to some. Blue gardens, pink 

 gardens, yellow gardens, annual gardens, bulb gardens, 

 hardy perennial gardens, Italian gardens (Americanized), 

 French gardens, English gardens, all have their adherents. 

 Most of them are formal, usually because they fit with a 

 certain scheme which necessitates their being so. The 

 informal or natural garden does not apjjeal to everyone, 

 but after gazing at a wide assortment of formal plantings 

 whose dead flowers are removed, plants neatly staked, bad 

 colors religiously culled, and weeds allowed no foothold, 

 what an infinite relief it is to see something informal, 

 where there are no large masses of color, where one 

 sweeping glance can not take in the wdiole garden, and 

 where new objects of interest and beauty present them- 

 selves at every turn ! Yet everyone does not see things 

 in this light, and what we revolt at will please others ; 

 perhaps it is best that this is so. Our ideas are probably 

 circumscribed, and as we advance in years, we may be 

 over critical and more difficult to please. We cannot 

 agree with Loui.se Shelton, who in the preface to her 

 book, remarks that the person who has read the book has 

 little more to learn. When we reach that stage, it is time 

 we quit this mortal sphere. 



The debarring of new, rare, and desirable plant ma- 

 terial from al)road makes it necessary for us to utilize 

 more of the material we have on hand. The Mains, or 

 ornamental crab apple family, is one not sufficiently planted 

 and appreciated. Due to the use of improper stocks, 

 some varieties of these beautiful flowering trees are not 

 lasting as they should. The beautiful ISechtel's double 

 flowering crab apple is a notable example of how a hand- 

 some free can be killed in a few years l)y using a too vig- 

 orous or too feeble stock. The lovelv mains, .\rnoldiana. 

 is another example. Of the better known crab a])i)lcs, 

 M. floribunda is probably the most universally ])oi)ular; 

 like many of the varieties it is also very attractive when 

 in fruit. A few other very beautiful ornamental Maluses 

 are Parkmanii. synonymous with Ilalleana, and a form 

 of floribunda with large semi-double rose colorerl flowers. 

 It is commonly called the Parkman crab, in linnor of 

 Francis Parkman of P)Oston. Another floribunda form is 

 atro-sanguinea with very dark flowers. The Chinese 

 spectabilis with lovely semi-double, pink flowers makes a 

 hanrisonie tree as does Scheideckeri. There are quite a 



number of excellent ornamental cral) apples, and it is 

 ])leasing to know that wide-awake nurserymen are taking 

 these up more. They are not adapted for a mixed shrub- 

 bery, but make beautiful lawn specimens and should al- 

 \vays be planted where they can show their full individu- 

 ality. For anyone desirous of planting but one or two 

 sorts, I would reciimmend M. loensis Bechteli, the double 

 form of our prairie crab apple; its large double, pink 

 flowers are as sweet as any tea rose, and it is the latest of 

 the forms to flower. M. floribunda, a wide spreading, 

 rather low growing variety ; M. Scheideckeri of pyra- 

 midal habit with large semi-double flowers ; M. Arnol- 

 diana. a form of Scheideckeri originated at the Arnold 

 Arboretum, of bushy habit and carrving much larger 

 flowers, and M. Parkmanii. 



* * * 



I have read with interest the report of the trials of new 

 dahlias at Storrs, Conn., for the last season. Forty-eight 

 growers sent in one hundred thirty-six new varieties 

 against one hundred twenty- four in 1921, one hundred- 

 sixty in 1920, and forty-five in 1919. This makes a total 

 of four hundred si.xty-five dahlias in four years and does 

 not by any means cover the entire country. Dahlias are 

 very popular flowers with a large and constantlv increas- 

 ing number of growers, but the sending out of such a host 

 of novelties is utterly bewildering and senseless. What 

 amateurs want is a "boiled down'' list of good varieties, 

 say ten peony-flowered, ten decorative, ten cactus, five 

 singles, five shows, five |X)mpons, and so on. Those issu- 

 ing catalogues, who will send out such a list deserve sup- 

 port and commendation. There is today too much aping 

 after size, the manuuoth flowers of today are not decora- 

 tive and cannot hold a candle with singles and cactus when 

 it comes to real artistic arrangement. We want very 

 nuich a race of dahlias of moderate height which will 

 throw flowers well above the folia'ge and prove free 

 blooming. Why not offer inducements to those who can 

 give us fragrant dahlias? The American Rose Society 

 allows but five points out of one hundred for fragrance, 

 the -American Carnation Society the same. Is it not time 

 we took forethought and encouraged more the addition of 

 fragrance? Even the American Peony Society allows ten 

 points for fragrance, and the time is not far distant when 

 we shall have scented gladioli. 



* * * 



Free seeds have been killed, at least tem]>oraril\. The 

 cutting off of this Congressional graft has greatly agitated 

 some of our national legislators and the)- will no doubt 

 make earnest efforts to try to bring back the nhl order of 

 things another year. We are threatened with the exclu- 

 sion of all bulbs at no distant date, jirobabh- we can pro- 

 duce some varieties here, others we cannot. In this con- 

 nection it is interesting to note that the Department of 

 Agriculture has for some years had a bulb farm in Bol- 

 lingham, Washington, and has been experimenting with 

 tulip production on a moderately large scale. Thev have 

 recently issued a most interesting and valuable ]->ami)lilet 

 on tulip biflb ])roduction in .\merica, and it would well 

 repay all bulb growers to secure and study this bulletin. 

 The ;uUlior, David Criflilhs, has done some excellent work 

 with lilies and other bulbs at Arlington, Desiring to try 

 out soiue of the ,gf)vcrnment produced bulbs in com]>ari- 

 son with impx^irted Dutch stock, a letter was sent to the 

 Department of .Agriculture, asking if it would sell some 

 for this i)nri)ose. The reply was most interesting and 

 illunu'nating. "Boiled down." it simi>ly staled that all 

 suiplus bulbs with two small exceptions had gone out in 

 the regular Congressional distributions! I'.ut, that per- 

 haps, at some future time, some might l)e for dis|X)sal. 

 (Continued on /^a}:;c 52") 



