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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



THE BUTTERFLY BUSH. 



It is doubtful whether any new shrub ever distributed 

 in this country offered so much to all classes of garden 

 makers as Buddlcia variabilis, writes E. I. Farrington, in 

 Country Gentleman. It is coming to be generally known 

 as the butterfly bush, because of the remarkable attrac- 

 tion which it has for butterflies of all kinds and colors. 

 Not only is it very hardy and extremely easy to grow, 

 but if set out the last of April or the first of ?ilay it will 

 be blooming early in August of the same year, even in 

 New England, and it will not cease to bloom until cut 

 down by the frost. 



The plant was discovered in the wilds of Western 

 China, but it thrives in the soil and climate of the United 

 States. Sometimes it is called the summer lilac, for the 

 flowers somewhat resemble those of the lilac in form. 

 They are borne closely on long spikes or stems and are 

 mostly a light heliotrope in color. Every branch bears 

 a flower spike, and if the blossoms are cut constantly with 

 as long stems as possible new branches will continue to 

 appear, with new spikes of bloom, as long as the season 

 lasts. 



Then, if the whole plant is cut down to within 8 or 10 

 inches of the ground in the spring, a host of new branches 

 will grow in a very short time and there will be a w^ealth 

 of flowers — and of butterflies. Quite apart from its own 

 merits as a flowering shrub, buddleia is worth growing 

 for the great number of these beautiful creatures that it 

 woos to the garden. Sometimes scores may be coimted 

 on a single bush at one time. 



In spite of their rather peculiar shape the flowers of 

 the butterfly bush lend themselves well to house decora- 

 tion, particularly by daylight. They keep several days 

 in water if they are put in a fairly cool place and are not 

 crowded in a vase. 



Though buddleias are an attractive addition to the bor- 

 der planting, they are most effective when massed in beds. 

 Thev grow from 4 to 6 feet high, like sun for at least 

 half the day, and need an abundance of water if they are 

 to give the best results. 



Flowering as freely as they do, too, they prefer rather 

 rich soil. In the Northern States it is a wise precaution 

 to heap up soil round the lower part of the plants in the 

 fall, in the same manner that roses are protected from 

 the severitv of winter cold. 



WINTER DAMAGE TO EVERGREENS. 



Many reports are coming to hand of considerable dam- 

 age done to evergreens, especially rhododendrons and 

 other broad-leaved varieties, during the past winter, 

 which has resulted in the killing of many of these plants. 

 E. H. Wilson, writing in Horticulture, sa}s: "'Since 

 the winter has been an extraordinary mild one. it 

 cannot reasonablv be claimed that low temperature has 

 been the cause. The bright sunshine during the closing 

 days of February and through March combined with the 

 total absence of precipitation, must, I am convinced, be 

 held responsible. . . This applies forcibly to broad- 

 leaved evergreens. The bright sunlight in ^larch causes 

 rapid transpiration (i. e., loss of water from the leaves) 

 and the ground being still frozen the roots are perforce 

 inactive and cannot make good this loss and the cells of 

 the leaves collapse. The efl^ect is the same as if the 

 plants had been submitted to a fierce scorching blast." 



In the same publication \V. N. Craig says : The sum- 

 mer and fall of 1914 were abnormally dry. The roots 

 of all plants, unless they had been watered or mulched, 

 were dry when the ground froze up. We got copious 

 rains in February, but this did not reach the roots of 

 plants which were not well mulched. The bright and 



arid conditions in March and a large part of April 

 would not have been so serious had the roots of ever- 

 greens been moist. 



While it will probably be admitted that the fore- 

 ging reasons will account for the heavy losses, why is 

 it that some half-hardy sorts are not harmed at all, 

 and that while plants of one particular sort are dead, 

 others side by side under precisely similar conditions 

 are harmed little if at all? No doubt we must look 

 back further than 1914 for "the beginning of the end." 



I have in mind at this moment a collection of splen- 

 did rhododendrons, some fifteen feet high, located at 

 I'awtucket, R. 1., which came through the winter in 

 perfect condition; also beds of these noble specimens 

 at Waltham, Mass., which never looked better. At 

 Faulkner Farm, amongst some hundreds of rhododen- 

 drons we had not a single death, and merely occa- 

 sional small branches killed. On all these estates the 

 plants were kept well mulched and were well soaked 

 last fall. 



I believe there is less in the location than in pro- 

 viding these broad-leaved evergreens plenty of mulch 

 and moisture. Windbreaks for these and the newly 

 planted evergreens are also I believe more necessary 

 and important than overhead covering. The latter is 

 more harmful than helpful. 



T. D. Hatfield expresses his views on the subject, 

 saying: The past winter has not been severe as re- 

 gards cold. We have had winters with much lower 

 temperature, with less damage to report. I have no 

 doubt, as Mr. G. H. Wilson says, that "winter damage 

 to rhododendrons" is due to excessive sunlight during 

 the late winter months. Plants in the full sun suffered 

 most, and the damage was greatest in front of wind- 

 breaks and least where the wind had full sweep — as 

 if the wind had tempered the sun's rays. 



We do not like to say we neglect any of our rhodo- 

 dendrons in the matter of water in summer and cov- 

 ering in winter, but we have to admit that our 

 ne:;lectcd beds suft'ered least. One bed, "high and 

 dry,'' on a bank, with little water and hardly any leaf 

 covering, came through in first rate condition, and it 

 has always. 



Some notable gardeners of my acciuaintance declare 

 that winter covering is a "delusion and a snare." In 

 some respects our e.xperience during this later winter 

 seems to support this contention. Certain it is that 

 oui- 3'oung stock rhododendrons and kalmias in the 

 \-egetable garden were badly hit. I can't believe they 

 could have suft'ered more if no protection at all had 

 been given. .About fifty per cent, are dead or badly 

 injured, but when one sees among these half a dozen 

 plants together as bright as if there had been no 

 winter at all and all around them plants dead, one is 

 hard put to for an explanation, or even a theory. This 

 sort of thing we find throughout all our beds — plants 

 standing, so to say, alone untouched. All these plants 

 were well watered right up to the time they were cov- 

 ered for the winter, so as to make sure they did not 

 go into the winter dr3^ 



I am convinced, however, that evergreens which go 

 into the winter dry do suffer in just such weather as 

 we had this past March. It is almost an axiom that 

 evergreens must be root acti\'e in winter. 



A gardener joining the police force, received instruc- 

 tions, on going out on his beat, to bring in any "porch 

 climbers" he may find. The following morning the sta- 

 tion presented the appearance of a nursery shed, for the 

 neighborhood had been stripped of its vines. 



