for Julv, 1923 



183 



four or five plants is very attractive. — (.nirdi-iiinii illiistralfd. 



FUXKIAS FOR SHAi:)E.— One of the most cheerful-looking 

 corners of my garden during an unusually dull, cold May was that 

 where Funkias grow. They liave been located there many years, 

 and all the trouble they entail is to take them up occasionally for 

 the purpose of division. 1 do not know of any liardy plant more 

 useful for decorative purposes in a shady position tlian Ininkias. 

 Complaints are sometimes made in gardens where trees overhang 

 that nothing will grow under tliem, but an exception must be made 

 in respect of these plants, as they love both shade and moisture. 

 Funkias will grow in almost any kind of soil that retains moisture, 

 and are never better served than when planted in the shade. In 

 the open the sun soon mars the color of the yellow and whitish 

 leaves, but given a position under trees or the partial light beneath 

 a pergola their beauty will continue much longer. I regard Funkias 

 as an acquisition in a garden near to town, for they thrive where 

 some plants barely exist, and their hardiness in the most trying 

 winters is well known. — The Garden. 



SOME DWARF RHODODENDRONS.— For grouping in 

 fairly open woodland, for the margins of shrubberies, the rock 

 garden or mixed border, the Rhododendron family includes a 

 large number of dwarf species and hybrids which are among the 

 most precious shrubs we possess. The majority of them are 

 hardy, and easy to grow to perfection in any lime-free loam in 

 sun or half-shade with some shelter from wind. All that they 

 require, where peat is absent, is a little leaf-mound or really old 

 cow manure at the time of planting and later on as an occasional 

 top-dressing. A cold root-run and one that does not dry out in 

 spring or summer is highly desirable, for the fine, hair-like surface 

 roots are very susceptible "to drought. At the same time the drain- 

 age must be good, and while the soil is retentive it should be of a 

 loose and friable vegetable nature. 



Omitting, owing to the exigencies of space, the mollis, Ghent, 

 rustica and Japanese groups, usually classed as Azaleas, there still 

 remains a wide selection of dwarf species and liybrids of great 

 beauty and interest. Moreover, as such plants as these are almost 

 invariably sent out budded, and as they move better than most 

 things, a display may be confidently expected the first season and 

 this without detriment to the shrub. I need hardly add that many 

 of the Rhododendrons mentioned Ijelow are often known as Aza- 

 leas. 



Usually the earliest to bloom with us, R. prscox is also one of 

 the most charming. A hybrid between RR. ciliatum and dauricum 

 it is a neat-habited evergreen of 3 ft. to 5 ft., with deep green, 

 glossy leaves and terminal trusses of pretty rose-purple flowers. 

 An excellent variety for grouping in woodland or where it can be 

 afforded some shelter from hoar frosts and liiting winds, both of 

 which are liable to injure the blossoms. 



Another early bloomer is the beautiful Chinese R. ledifolium, 

 also an evergreen, with dense, hairy foliage and close, shrubby 

 habit. This fine species, which reminds one of the old Azalea 

 indica of greenhouses, and of which it is probably a form, is per- 

 fectly hard\- here, though a sharp March frost may prove mis- 

 chievous with the breaking buds. It is, nevertheless, one well 

 worth the risk of occasional disappointments, its milk-white trusses 

 being indescribably lovely. The wise will give R. ledifolium a 

 westerly exposure, and, if possible, the protection of some decidu- 

 ous tree. 



Perhaps the most weather-proof of all the smaller Rhododen- 

 drons is R. ("Rhndora) canadense, a deciduous little shrublet and 

 most faithful bloomer. It usually breaks its plum-colored buds in 

 March. — The Garden. 



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I Brief Horticultural Jottings 1 



George W. Pittiriger, Jr., Asbury Park's Commissioner of Parks, 

 has brought half a dozen redwood seedlings, each a few inches tall, 

 from the Pacific coast and v,'i!l plant them on the Atlantic coast. 

 The infant trees will be set out in Asbury Park, Red Bank, Free- 

 hold and Atlantic Highlands. If the seedlings stand the summer 

 the Commissioner will bring more of them Into the State next 

 autumn. 



A redwood planted in Burlington county some 25 years ago 

 is still thriving and gives promise of continued healthy growth. 



A quarter of a century means little in the life of a redwood. 

 If the tree is alive, say a hundred years from now, there will be 

 .ground for confidence that the perils incident to early tree child- 

 hood have been averted. Meantime, if this experiment is success- 

 ful, by 1975 Mr. Pittinger's redwoods ought to be about 25 feet 

 high, for the tree is reported to grow six inches a year. Five hun- 

 dred years from now they should form a grove of sizable half 

 grown trees. By the year 3000 they will have attained maturity 

 and practically have ceased growing. To reach that stage in 

 redwood development is estimated to require close to eleven cen- 

 turies which separate 1923 from the year 3000. 



Several attempts have been made to cultivate the redwood tree 

 in the Eastern States without establishing conclusively that they 

 can withstand the climate. Sequoias have not been able to stand 

 the winters or the minute fungi, called mildew, which attacked 

 them in Atlantic City regions. — A''. )'. Herald. 



That North Dakota was at one time abundantly covered with 

 a tropical flora is evidenced by the fossils found in rock beds in 

 what is now a treeless plain. That country was once covered 

 with magnificent forests of hardwood timber, with also more or 

 less coniferous growth. Thick beds of lignite (a very soft grade 

 of bituminous coal), indicate that great swamps were once located 

 where now are great plains. Fossils of Fig trees and a Fan 

 Palm with leaves si.x feet across go to prove that the climate of 

 North Dakota was once as warm as it is now in the south-eastern 

 states along the Atlantic Coast. — Flower Grotver. 



According to reports, the Indian scientist, Sir J. Chandra Bose 

 has demonstrated that plants have, to all intents, hearts which pul- 

 sate regularly. Bv means of a crescograph, which enlarges up 

 to 100 million times, he was able to observe the actual movement 

 of the cells. The problem of how sap rises in plant stems has 

 never before been satisfactorily explained. Capillarity and osmotic 

 pressure is too slow to account for the fact that sap rises in a 

 tree stem more than 100 feet an hour. The Indian wizard has 

 now shown that the cells e.xpand and contract regularly, lifting the 

 water and passing it upward in much the same w'ay as the heart 

 pumps the blood through the arteries of the Ixxly. Now is it 

 palpitation that causes some plants to bleed so freely after prun- 

 ing? — Exchange. 



The Moss Rose differs from the Cabbage Rose only in the 

 much greater development and branching character of the glands 

 on petioles and sepals and the branching of the latter. The Cab- 

 bage Rose has been in cultivation for more than 2,000 years, and 

 the earliest record of the Moss Rose is from Carcassonne, in 

 southern France, where it probably originated as a bud-mutation 

 from the Cabbage Rose at least as early as 1696. The mossy 

 character has since arisen independently from two other varieties 

 of the Cabbage Rose. 



Thus in 1775 the Unique Rose appeared in a garden in the 

 eastern counties as a tinged-white variety, and in turn gave rise 

 to the "Unique Moss" through a bud-mutation in France about 

 1843. The Rose de Meaux is a miniature variety of the Cabbage 

 Rose which may date from about 1637. \ moss-mutation appeared 

 from this in the west of England in 1801. Both the Moss and Cab- 

 bage Rose are sterile, and there is little doubt that all these 

 derivatives arose from the old Cabbage Rose as bud-mutations. 

 The records show that at least seven bud-reversions from the Moss 

 Rose to the Cabbage Rose occurred in the period between 1805 

 and 1873. In the half-century following 1788 seventeen varieties 

 of the Moss Rose appeared, one of which was single and fertile and 

 extensively used in crossing. Twelve of these bud-mutations are 

 parallel to corresponding earlier variations in the old Cabbage 

 Rose. Bud-mutation is therefore a frequent phenomenon in Rosa 

 Centifolia under cultivation, and there is, as the authors suggest, 

 a direct connection between this condition and the sterility. The 

 evidence indicates that the mossy character is in all probability a 

 simple Mendelian dominant. — Journal of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society. 



The United States is one of the very few flower loving nations 

 which does not have a national flower. En.gland has the rose, 

 Scotland the thistle, Holland the tulip, Spain the oran.ge blossoms, 

 Italy the daisv, Greece the olive, Wales the leek, Ireland the sham- 

 rock, ,\ustralia the wattle-flower, Germany the batchelor's button, 

 India the poppy, Peru the sunfiow'er. and Egypt the lotus. The 

 United States has several candidates for the honor, none of which 

 have at any time been definitely chosen. Japan, another nation of 

 flower lovers, divides the honors lietween tv/o favorites, the 

 chrysanthemum and the cherry. 



Comments from Our Readers 



The articles from the foreign magazines which you reprint in 

 the Chronicle are interesting to us "old timers" who got our early 

 training abroad and who see English magazines only occasionally. 

 There can be no doubt but these notes are helpful to the gardeners 

 in this country, but just as helpful would be notes from these 

 gardeners, passing their experience along from one to another. 

 Some years ago we had good articles by gardeners which brought 

 up arguments that sometimes became pretty heated. This made 

 them all the more interesting. But the men who wrote these 

 articles belong to the class of the "old timers" and what is the 

 matter with the voung gardeners of today? When we old fellows 

 were young, we liked to send along notes, if for no other reason but 

 to see our names in print. Wake up, you young fellows, and show 

 us what you can do. 

 Massachusetts A Vcte-an Gardener 



