For February, 1923 



39 



keep the bog just full enough not to overflow, so as to 

 enable the whole material, which if properly constituted 

 will be like a sponge, to remain thoroughly saturated, 

 but at the same time no water should run out, otherwise 

 the essential acids which are the life of purely bog plants 

 will be lost. 



Small pools of open water should be provided for in a 

 bog garden for the purpose of growing the very interest- 

 ing little plants known as Bladder- worts. These are dif- 

 ferent species of Utricularia, they have small purple and 

 yellow flowers, some float on the surface and are sup- 

 ported by air-bladders, others root near the edge of the 

 pool. They are the most delicate of all bog species. These 

 bladders are also traps for supplying the plant with animal 

 food; they have a valve-like door through which insects 

 enter but cannot get out, and their substance is used as 

 food by the plant. These bladders are most numerous 

 and effective in connection with species living or floating 

 in stagnant water. 



With the exception of these open pools, the first step 

 after getting the soil into position is to cover the whole 

 with live sphagnum moss, this will soon take root and 

 when once established will make a delightful carpet in 

 which many of the plants will grow without being planted 

 in the soil ; other plantings may be made by pushing the 

 moss aside and replacing it around the plants. This 

 covering of moss also prevents evaporation and keeps 

 roots cool. 



As before >tated, the reason for having a bog garden 

 is that in it many very interesting and beautiful plants 

 can be .grown which would not thrive or even live in any 

 other situation. Those who have seen an_v real natural 

 bogs and who have studied the plants inhabiting them 

 must realize the wealth of material that is worth while 

 bringing into our gardens. 



A bo,g garden is desirable even for the Insectivorous 

 Plants alone, especially for those examples of the exist- 

 ence of brain-power in plants, the Sun Dew, Drosera 

 rotundifolia, found in bogs all over the world, and the 

 Venus Flv Trap, Dionasa muscipula, wdiich Linnasus 

 called the "IMiracle of Nature." Then there is the queen 

 of the peat bog, the Snowy Lady's Slipper, Cypripedium 

 spectabile, the grandest of all our many beautiful native 

 orchids. If this plant were native of a foreign country 

 and could only be obtained at considerable expense, special 

 conditions suitable for it would be created in many 

 gardens for the sake of having it. ( )ur native family 

 of orchids contains many other charming plants and they 

 ate all for one reason or another worth growing, and, 

 with only one or two possible exceptions, they will all 

 thrive in bogs. 



Curiosities like the Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia, and the 

 lovely ]Menyanthes trifoliata, with is exquisite, wax-lake 

 pale ]nnk flowers, have both their homes in bogs. Alto- 

 gether as William Robinson wrote "Conservatories of 

 Beauty'" are to be found, sometimes covering hundreds 

 of acre;, in natural bogs. 



The following is a list of some of the choicer bog 

 plants, some of which have already been mentioned: 

 Arethusa, Calopo,gon, Calla palustris. Calypso, Cypre- 

 pedium, Dionjea, Drosera. Habenaria, Lewisa, Lilium 

 parviflorum, Lophiola, Menyanthes, Narthecium, Ophi- 

 oglossum. Primula parryi, Pyrola, Pogonia, Plelonias, 

 Sabbat ia. 



When the area of a hog to be dealt with is extensive, 

 or if outside the artificial bog garden the ground is more 

 or less swampy and perennially moist, there are many 

 worth while plants too coarse and rampant for the bog 

 garden proper, which will revel in those conditions, and 

 which will beautify such situations to a greater extent 

 than the natural growth alreadv existing, although some 



of the latter will invariably be found to be worth retain- 

 mg. In any case, and when the bog garden is con- 

 structed with dry ground surroundin,g it, it should be 

 tied to landscape 'oy suitable plantings. Also some tall 

 growing subjects should be used on the outside of the 

 bog garden to afl^ord shade which some bog plants desire. 



.\mong the shrubs suitable for swampy places may 

 be mentioned, Rhodora canadensis, Rhododendron vico- 

 siun, Kalmia angustifolia, Chamasdaphne calyculata, 

 Ledum groenlandiciun, Andromeda polifolia. Cornns 

 sanguinea. Magnolia glauca, Clethra alnifolia, \'accinum 

 corymbosum, Vaccinum macrocarpus. Ilex verticillata. 

 and Neopanthes canadensis. 



C)f herbaceous perennials liking wet ground the follow- 

 ing are among the most showy : Acorus calumus, Calla 

 palustris. Iris pseudoacorus, Asclepias lanceolata, Osmun- 

 da regalis, the herliaceous Spirreas, Trillium, Hemerocallis, 

 Lobelia. Alyosotis palustris. Lilium. Parnassia. Symplo- 

 carpus Veratrum. 



W hen the soil conditions outside a bog garden are of 

 the ordinary dry character any of the usual shrubs and 

 perennial plants may he used to create conditions which 

 harmonize and connect with the laiid scape. 



JAPANESE BARBERRY 



IN any list of the most popular shrubs, the Japanese 

 Barberry ( Berberis Thunbergii) would undoubtedly 

 appear near the top. It's not a one-merit shrub but. on the 

 contrary, possesses so many desiraible features, is appro- 

 priate in so many different positions, that it well deserves 

 the popularity evidenced by the demand for it. 



First of all. the foliage and its arrangement, or' habit 

 of growth, is attractive. This attractiveness is not con- 

 fined to a week or two, as is the case with so matiy flower- 

 ing shrubs that win us with their bloom, but is present 

 from early Spring until Autumn. In the latter season its 

 crimson foliage holds us and this is followed by the 

 scarlet berries so striking that even the printers of Yule- 

 tide cards now reproduce them, perhaps as an innovation 

 over the timeworn Holly. Nor are these berries of the 

 sort whose fleshiness soon succumb to frosts and are 

 discolored. 



With massing in the foreground with taller shrubs, 

 the Japanese Barberry fills the bill. Its low spreading 

 growth is desirable for use in this position and its siuall 

 foliage ties in with the turf where a large leaved plant 

 would appear bold or too much of a contrast. Its value 

 as a foreground plant for evergreens should not be over- 

 looked, not so much as a permanent plant — for it often 

 becomes too large and will encroach upon the slower 

 growing e\ ergreens — but the protection its spiny branches 

 afford in turning away canines ; also children who might 

 otherwise brush against the evergreens. For use in this 

 manner it is well to keep the Barberry cut away from 

 the evergreens lest the lower branches of the latter die off 

 from crowding. If cutting back the Barberry is not 

 favored another method is to transplant the plants away ' 

 from the evergreens or replace with smaller specimens, 

 the latter really making the best proportioned grouping 

 as seen in newly planted masses. 



For foundation planting the Japanese Barberry is one 

 of the best plants to use' on account of its low growth, 

 well furnished base and all season attractiveness. The 

 latter is especially desirable where the planting is close 

 to the house and always conspicuous. Japanese Barberry, 

 in cennection with brick work, whether it be as base 

 ijlanting of a house or along a wall, forms a harmonious 

 Winter combination, the red bricks, scarlet berries and 

 brown iaranches blending most effectively. 



— Florist's Erchan^e. 



