234 



GARDF.^•ERS^ CHROMCLE 



it you sav : "Ah I hut not elsewhere!" 1 must ask; 

 "is it absuhitely essential that we actuallx do grow 

 them elsewhere.''" 1 do not contend that we can long- 

 be satisfied by merely picturing these things in our 

 gardens, but 1 do feel that the spirit of the real gar- 

 dener should admit occasitmally reading of these 

 things, and playing with them in his mind, and not 

 actually growing them. By all means let him try. 

 But is it so serious if he fail ? There is pleasure in 

 the defeated attempt, especialh- if one is gardener 

 enough to try again. 



1 have tried hundreds of things under atl\erse con- 

 ditions, and failed many times. But that does not 

 daunt me. For such efforts are the essence of the 

 art. The gardener often gets a greater thrill from a 

 single success with a rare or difficult plant, which 

 may only have produced a single bloom, than from 

 all the rest of the garden. This appears to be the true 

 spirit of gardening. And if we go on simply planting 

 ])hlox, verbena, pansies, etc., no matter how fine indi- 

 vidually the}- may be, are we not missing a great deal 

 of the real joy that the garden offers ? We need not 

 forego our successes "en masse" to have these single 

 triumphs, but it often seems it would be worth while 

 to do so, if it were necessary. 



Such eft'orts, repeated again and again if need be, 

 despite mishaps or errors, are but too few among our 

 American gardeners. We are all apt to confine our- 

 selves to the easiest and most commonplace in our 

 desire to succeed and create display. I grant that in 

 our gardens and exhibitions we must have bloorn, in 

 quantity and quality, l^ut must our trial beds and 

 nurseries be so completely ignored? The creation of 

 a novelty that is worth while is, and should be, the 

 height of achievement in gardening. It is a rare art 

 and a difficult thing to do. But we should find some 

 place to record at least elTorts that do not so signally 

 succeed. 



It is of great value to keep on trying the new, the 

 difficult, even the apparently impossilile. But it is 

 discouraging so to do, if we have no opportunities to 

 exchange and bring to notice the disappointments as 

 well as the achievements, whether these be in the 

 direction of the creation of new varieties, or the at- 

 tempt to grow varieties not previously established in 

 our native gardens. 



We need more "Fireside Gardens" if we would im- 

 prove our outdoor gardens, in diversity or form. It 

 is comparatively easy to build a garden, rich and full, 

 colorful and luxuriant, if we use the tried materials 

 that we know will be effective. But we are not really 

 gardening, in the finer sense. 



We have onh- to compare any American gardening 

 book with an English to see how liniitefl is our sccii)e. 

 If we exclude two or three, we find every nursery 

 and seed house in the Eastern part of the United 

 States offer the same species and varieties, within a 

 variation of about 10 per cent. If we compare these 

 with foreign catalogs, we realize what novices we. 

 after all, really are. Here and there one finds a large 

 estate, superintended by an unusually exjierienced 

 man, who may specialize more extensively in one 

 thing or another, lint to the general run of garden- 

 ers, professional r)r amateur, there are ten things 

 that are a sealed book to one that is knf)wn. 



The usual reply to this thought is that the things 

 known are those that have been tried and found 

 adaptable to our soils and climate. But there are 

 things not known that should be tried, and with which 

 we have a fair chance of success, and if we have an 

 equal chance of failure need we be deterred? 



ll we pick u|) any garden paper we find its colunms 

 filled with accounts of successes. The only records 

 of failure are those of readers who, in a hesitant, de- 

 spondent way, write to the editor for advice, or else 

 they will fling their failure forth, in a tone of aban- 

 donment, as if to say: "So there! You see it cannot 

 be done." We need these thwarted efforts and should 

 encourage them. They are the very life of progres- 

 sive gardening, the hope of future development, the 

 [iroduct of research and imagination, the labor 

 of adventurous spirits. The desire to make these 

 attempts does not so much arise in the Summer 

 when we are busily tending our growing gardens, 

 nor in the Spring when we are equally occu])ied in 

 preparing for that season. Tlu-y are the outcome of 

 long hours spent indoors, when we have the time to 

 sit by our hearths and study our books and dream of 

 our next year's gardens. The seed of the growth of 

 American gardening should be planted by the fireside. 



NOTES FROM AN OLD COUNTRY GARDEN 



{Coiitiiiiicd from /•((,;;(■ -52) 



corned by all the butterflies in the neighborhood, and 

 for that alone they are worth growing. Another late 

 sedum which is less commonh- seen and very n-iuch 

 niore attractive is S. pulchellum. This hails from the 

 States of Missouri, Virginia, and others, and it is not 

 only one of the most beautiful of hardy sedums in 

 cultivation in this C(.)untrv but it is in one respect 

 unique among its kind, that is, it prefers a dan-ip and 

 cool rather than a dry soil. S. pulchellum grows here 

 with the greatest ease (provided its peculiar taste for 

 dampness is recognized) and its large, claw-like heads 

 of rosy-carmine flowers which crown the sea-green, 

 leafy stems may be counted upon to afford a bright 

 displav throughout the Fall. 



Though we have comparatively few Anu-rican 

 sedums in cultivation, one or two an-iong them might 

 be singled out as of outstanding merit. The above- 

 mentioned is one, S. spathulifolium (Hooker) is an- 

 other, and if I may add a third I should mention the 

 lilood-red, golden-flowered S. oreganum (Gray). It 

 would he difficult to nan-ie a trio of higher i-nerit for 

 ont-diKir cidture here than these, and some of the 

 newer forms of S. spathulifolium. whose large, fleshy, 

 plum-colored rosettes are powdered over with a sil- 

 \ery-grey meal, arc in the very front rank. S. ter- 

 natum, another American species (from the eastern 

 side of the Mississippi, I believe) can doubtless claim 

 no less merit than the above in so far as its flowers 

 are concerned, but it fails in foliage, whereas those 

 mentioned excel in both. 



Xow that I am on the subject of American iilants 1 

 am reminded that one of the most fascinating and 

 lovel\- exhibits shown at the Royal Ilorticidtural So- 

 ciety's fortnightly shows for a long- whiU' was a 

 specimen of Chima])hila maculata, the Spotted Winter- 

 green, whicli well deserved the first-class certificates it 

 won last nionth. T!io>ig1i this little North .American 

 was introduced as a pyrnl;i ncrirh- two hundred years 

 ago it is still rare, but its beauty is beyond c|ucstion. It 

 is a wee evergreen shrublet of a few inches with crisp, 

 dark-green leaves, distinctlv veined with white. Just 

 above these are raised the flow-er stems, each of 

 which bear Iwn i>i (hree jiendulous blossoms, sjiot- 

 lessly white and looking as if they had been modelled 

 in wax. These are scented like our English "May" 

 (llawthorn) an<l a jilant in full bloom is irresistibly 

 enchanting. 



