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BOTANICAL 



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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



I Vol. XXVll 



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June, 1923 



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No. 6 1 



CO 



Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



WILLIAM N. CRAIG 



H( i\\' Itivel}' is early June in the garden! I'lants of 

 :ill kinds have a freshness and lieauty which is in 

 a large measure lacking a month later, when the 

 blistering rays of the sun have seared vegetation in spite 

 of all artificial efforts to prevent it. There is a peculiar 

 charm to be found in taking note day by day of the un- 

 folding leaves on trees and shrubs. Many of these have 

 now reached almost their full development, but for tlie 

 past fortnight it has been a perfect delight to note the 

 springtime beauty of delicate colorings in the unfolding" 

 of the leaves. There are not the same rich hues as in the 

 .Autumn when scarlets, crimsons, and golden yellows 

 jjredominate, but the faint browns of the beaches, the 

 delicate greens of the willows, the rich emerald of the 

 horse chestnuts, the ruddy downy leaves of the oal<s, the 

 tender greens of the maples, the soft and graceful hues 

 of the larches should appeal to everyone who is at all 

 sensitive to the late springtime beauty of perfection in 

 delicate colorings. One would fain wish for a prolonga- 

 tion of the season when so much is tender, beautiful and 

 good but perhaps this is selfish, for all life must run its 

 course and be finally gathered to its rest. This is, how- 

 ever, no season for narrowing thoughts, far too many 

 garden enthusiasts keep their machinery of dislikes con- 

 stantly oiled, while "tw ould be vastly better if they utilized 

 their powers of praise and appreciation more. 



* ;■! * 



We have now a fine variety of hardy azaleas adaptable 

 for garden uses, and the newer introductions from China 

 and Japan with one or two home raised hybrids give us a 

 wide range of forms and colorations. I am aware that 

 Ixitanically speaking there are really no azaleas at all, but 

 while botanists may decree one thing the great army of 

 garden lovers are unlikely to change over to rhododen- 

 drons, and will continue to think of the latter as broad 

 leaved evergreens, and azaleas in the main as deciduous 

 shrubs. In our colder states none of the evergreen aza- 

 leas are reliably hardy and but few of the rhododendrons. 

 Our native azaleas contain some beautiful varieties such 

 as arborescens, canescens, calendulacea, viscosa, nudiflora, 

 and \'aseyii. I think \'aseyii is the queen of our native 

 varieties if not of the entire hardy azalea family. It 

 makes a most graceful shrub and the lovely shell pink 

 flowers are of a color which the most fastidious cannot 

 possibly object to. 



A number of years ago I had occasion to make a good 

 sized planting of \^aseyii on the shores of a large pond; 

 amongst the azaleas, and running down to the water's 

 edge, bulbs of narcissus poeticus were planted ; also scat- 



tered amongst them were clumps of that charming pure 

 white Iris, sometimes called .Sibirica Snow Queen, but 

 more frequently and more correctly as Orientalis Snow 

 Queen ; dotted here and there were also some clumps of 

 ( )sniunda cinnamomea. The azaleas and narcissi flower 

 together and the charming soft pink flowers of the azal- 

 eas rising above the groundwork of white narcissi forms 

 as lovely a combination as can be obtained. The white 

 iris rather closely follows the narcissi, and the ferns and 

 iris foliage makes a refreshing green right throu,gh the 

 hot months. While all of our native azaleas are really 

 woodland plants, they can be successfully cultivated in 

 the open ; but at least partial shade will prolong their 

 blooming' season and in such a location the flowers will 

 show up much better. 



* :■: * 



( )f the evergreen azaleas the Japanese Krempferi is un- 

 doubtedly the best ; in the latitude of Boston this is really 

 deciduous but proves very hardy and never fails to give 

 an abundant display of flowers each year. It succeeds 

 quite well in full sunshine, but shows up to the best ad- 

 vantage with a background of hemlocks or other tall 

 growing evergreens. While this azalea will withstand 

 temperatures as low as 15 to 20 degrees below zero without 

 anv injupi', the flower buds when expanding are very 

 easilv injured, and this season several growers lost all 

 their upper buds when the thermometer dropped just a 

 shade below the freezing point. The old A. amoena in 

 favorable locations will winter a little north of Boston 

 and maintain its foliage, as will its varieties, Hinomanyo, 

 Fujimanyo and Hinodigiri. A. ledifolia and its pretty 

 lavender colored form, Yodogawa, and A. indica alba are 

 seen in quite good condition occasionally. The last named 

 cannot be classed as dependable although succeeding very 



well two hundred miles to the south of us. 



* * * 



Too many people are still obsessed with the idea that 

 azaleas can only be successfully planted in Spring when, 

 as a matter of fact, they do much better planted in Fall. 

 The Arnold Arboretum ■ which grows azaleas very ex- 

 tensively and plants them with the best possible taste, has 

 made quite extended experiments to ascertain which is 

 reallv the best planting season for the.se popular flowering 

 shrubs. Last year thousands were planted out in Fall, 

 many of them just before the ground froze and they came 

 through in splendid condition, even Professor C. S. Sar- 

 gent, "the venerable and esteemed director of that institu- 

 tion, who has always been more or less prejudiced against 

 the Fall planting of trees and shrubs, has seen enough to 



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