■OTANICAl. 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



(OF AMERICA) 

 Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 



Vol. XXVII 



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NOVEMBER. 1923 



No. II 1 



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Things and Thoughts of the Garden 



WILLIAM N. CRAIG 



NOVEMBER t<i many is a very .sad immth as "chill 

 November's surly l)lasts have made fields and forests 

 bare," but the oaks and some other trees still have 

 high colorings and in the shrubberies there is cheer and 

 brightness in plenty on the many fruiting shrubs. In 

 looking over a large number of these berried plants 1 

 have been struck by the lavish display of brilliant fruit on 

 the common barberry, Berberis vulgaris, and if asked to 

 name the shrub which in my estimation made the finest 

 display I would unhesitatingly plump for this old, very 

 common, and in many states, tabooed plant. (3ne par- 

 ticularly brilliant effect was produced by planting quan- 

 tities of this barberry with a background of tall cedars 

 (Juniperus virginianaj. B. Sieboldii is another tall grow- 

 ing variety which to the iminitiated would be mistaken 

 easily for B, vulgaris ; its fruit is very handsome and per- 

 sists until Spring, and its foliage, when unfolding is of a 

 pur]:)lish color and assumes a brilliant red color in Fall. 

 The Japanese barberry so heavily used for hedging pur- 

 poses, when ])lanted out so that it can have ample room 

 to spread, makes a striking effect. Une of the original 

 plants of this very popular shrub grew until recently along 

 the Arborway in the Boston park system near the Forest 

 Hills entrance to Arnold Arboretum, and was the grand- 

 est specimen I have ever seen, being over 15 feet across 

 and of perfect form. It seemed something of a crime to 

 remove it, but autoists claimed that it obstructed their 

 vision, hence its removal. There are many other bar- 

 berries including handsome new varieties from China, 

 some of which are evergreen even as far north as ESoston 

 in an extraordinary Winter and others are notable for 

 their dark, glossv foliage or brilliant fruits. B. Koreana 

 has very handsome fruits ; B. verruculosa has violet black 

 fruits and has withstood a temperature of 20 below zero. 

 B. Gagnepainii also carries Iilackish colored fruits and 

 proves an evergreen in the more balmy states. The very 

 handsome B. Sargentiana carries black fruit and its fo- 

 liage is particularly handsome. It is not in trimmed 

 hedges that wc can secure the full beauty of the Berberis ; 

 in their mutilated condition they can fruit but moderately, 

 and bear mute testimony to wdiat a fine showing they 

 would make at this season if allowed to grow naturally. 

 * * * 



Speaking of dark colored fruits, there is no shrub 

 which makes a finer fruit display now than the common 

 privet, Ligustrum vulgaris, the fruits of which are pro- 

 duced in great profusion and persist right through the 



269 



Winter. A great many people plant hedges of the Jap- 

 anese privet (Ligustrum ibota ) or the California privet 

 (Ligustrum ovalifohiim) which later is a much more 

 tender variety, and ignore L. vulgare and its great value 

 as a shrubbery plant both for its bloom and its fruit. Of 

 the shrubs producing dark fruits, one of the most striking 

 is unquestionably Symplocos paniculata the bright blue 

 berries of which instantly attract attention. At this time 

 the large bunches of bright red fruits carried on the high 

 bush cranl>erry ( Viburnum opulus ) excites our admira- 

 tion, and several of the other Viburnums are heavily 

 fruited. By no means to be despised are the masses of 

 Synii)horicarpus racemosus, the common Indian currant, 

 whose purplish red berries remain fresh all Winter, while 

 the large oval pure white fruit on S. racemosus, the 

 ■'Snowberry," are already becoming discolored, although 

 many remain plump and white until Christmas. 

 * * * 



How handsome now also is the Euonymus ! E. 

 Europseus. conrmonly called the "Burning Bush," makes 

 a truly glorious showing with its wealth of brilliant frtiits 

 which are really seed pods, and almost smother the plants. 

 The "cork barked" Euonymus still retains some of its 

 brilliant leaves in early November and its richly colored 

 fruits give the shrub a firelike appearance. The ever- 

 green. E. radicans vegetus. also makes a wonderful fruit 

 display now where it has not been subjected to shearing 

 and is in a strong light. The other forms of E. radicans, 

 like Carrieri, fruit much more sparsely than vegetus. 



Some of the Cotoneasters have dropped their fruits but 

 on C. horizontalis the rich red fruit will remain all Winter. 

 Some of the Cornus family are now very attractive, and if 

 to these are added the many Cratsegus or hawthorns, the 

 ornamental crab apples, the Japanese quince, Cydonia 

 japonica, it can readily be seen what brilliant and varied 

 fruiting etTects may be had by making judicious plantings. 

 I should have included the. winterberry, Ilex verticillata, 

 whose rich orange fruit is always in great demand at the 

 holidavs. And what is more beautiful than the common 

 woodbine, Ampelopsis quinquefolia. hanging over a wall 

 loaded with its bunches of rich blue fruits? And the 

 various rose species fruit abundantly and in some cases 

 remain bright until Spring approaches. This is by no 

 means a full list of fruiting plants which give color effects, 

 when foliage is scanty, but it may encourage some who 



