74 



HORTICULTURE 



January 24, 1920 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



1 have been very much interested in 

 a circular sent out by the Aurora Nur- 

 series, Aurora, 111., featuring Coton- 

 easter acutifolia as a hedse plant for 

 the Northwestern country and other 

 ■cold sections of the United States. 



Holm & Olson, of Minneapolis, have 

 been booming this plant for some 

 years and apparently results have 

 justified their faith in it. .Most of the 

 Cotoneasters have great possibilities, 

 but this one seems especially valuable 

 for climates where ordinary hedge 

 plants are not satisfactory. In its cir- 

 cular, the Aurora Nurseries have the 

 following to say: 



Cotoneaster Acutifolia belong to a 

 group of shrubs or rarely small trees 

 of the Rose family, related to the 

 Apples. Pears and Hawthorns. The 

 genus has long been known in Europe 

 and eastern Siberia, but it is only In 

 recent years that it has been discov- 

 ered that the largest number of species 

 of these plants grow in China. The 

 first Chinese species was known to 

 botanists as early as 1832; forty-five 

 years passed before another of these 

 Chinese plants was recognized and it 

 was not until Henry and Wilson began 

 the systematic exploration of the flora 

 of central and western China that any 

 one suspected its richness in these 

 plants. Now forty-eight or fifty 

 Chinese species and well marked 

 varieties are recognized. Among them 

 are some of the handsomest shrubs in 

 cultivation, and for this climate at 

 least some of the species are perhaps 

 the most valuable shrubs introduced 

 by Wilson. For the embellishment of 

 northern gardens the introduction and 

 successful cultivation of the Chinese 

 Cotoneasters rank in importance with 

 the improvements made in Europe in 

 recent years in the garden Lilacs, 

 with the forms of hybrid Philadelphus 

 made by Lemoine, and with the collec- 

 tion of American Hawthorns discov- 

 ered and raised in the last sixteen 

 years through the activities of the Ar- 

 nold Arboretum. 



Cotoneaster Acutifolia is without 

 doubt one of the most valuable mem- 

 bers of the family for ornamental and 

 hedge planting. Its growing range for 

 hardiness extends well north into 

 Canada, east of the Atlantic Coast and 

 west of the Pacific. It is one of the 

 few shrubs that can be gro\sTi success- 

 fully as a hedge plant throughout the 

 cold windswept regions of Minnesota. 

 It will stand any amount of shearing 



and its appearances are equally as at- 

 tractive clipped either in formal out- 

 line or permitted to take a more 

 natural growth. It is an individual 

 shrub and assumes a slender, grace- 

 fully arching growth with leaves of 

 shiny green. 



The flowers are white, borne the en- 

 tire length of the stems. Each flower 

 is followed in the autumn by a black 

 berry. This fruit remains on the 

 shrub until late in the autumn. After 

 the first frost in the fall, the foliage 

 assumes an attractive scarlet color im- 

 mensely attractive. It is an excellent 

 plant for large groups on account of 

 the splendid fall color of its foliage. In 

 summing up the merits of this plant, 

 it is certainly a most valuable acquisi- 

 tion to our list of shrubs that have 

 been offered to the trade in recent 

 years. 



I have been growing a few plants of 

 Cotoneaster acutifolia in my own 

 garden and find it very satisfactory. 



Cotoneaster Acutifolia probably 

 came originally from the Orient by 

 the way of the Kew Gardens of Eng- 

 land and into this country probably 

 through the experiment Station at 

 Ottawa, Canada. It is one of the most 

 attractive shrubs for hedge purposes, 

 especially clipped hedges. The plant 

 is one of the earliest to leave out in 

 the spring and one of the last to lose 

 its foliage in the autumn. The foliage 

 is dark green, glossy or shiny, and in 

 the autumn on some soils takes on the 

 autumn colors very nicely. 



In the article on water gardening 

 by the English authority, Mr. R. W. 

 Wallace, reproduced in Horticulture 

 a few weeks ago, nothing was said 

 about water lilies themselves. I find 

 that in the course of his talk before 

 the Royal Horticultural Society, Mr. 

 Wallace made mention especially of 

 the new hybrid water lilies, pointing 

 out that no water picture is complete 

 without them. He went on to say that 

 the majority are of easy growth and 

 increase quickly when once estab- 

 lished. "There are," he said, "many 

 varieties, but a few will be enough to 

 speak of," He then continued: 



So far mention has not been made 

 of the beautiful new hybrid water 

 lilies. No water picture is complete 

 without them. The majority are of 

 easy growth, and quickly Increase 

 when once established. There are 

 many varieties, but a few will suffice. 

 The white Gladstoniana is a noble 



flower quite unsurpassed, and of pale 

 pinks Marliacea rosea and Colossea 

 are Indispensable. In deeper shades 

 of pink we have W. B. Shaw, very free 

 and sweet scented; Masaniello and 

 Formosa, and the glorious pink of Mrs. 

 Richmond, quite unique in size and 

 color; the rose-pink James Brydoa; 

 Marliac's masterpiece, the glorious 

 ruby-red Escarboucle, and Wm. Fal- 

 coner, of deeper coloring. James Hud- 

 son Is very free and of a rosy crim- 

 son; the pale yellow chromatella and 

 Moorei, of a deeper shade, a better 

 plant. This short list I have given 

 contains all the best growers and fin- 

 est colors. Any pool, stream, or lake 

 without their glorious flowers floating 

 on the surface is incomplete. 



HOW ABOUT THIS, BOYS? 

 Here is something that one of our 

 subscribers sends us in high glee, hav- 

 ing clipped it from B. L. T.'s Tower 

 of Titters in the Chicago Tribune: 



My Love Works in a Greenhouse. 

 In a quaint New England village. 



On a drear October night, 

 A livery stable keeper met 



A maid whose troth he'd plight. 

 Now he was tall and handsome 



In a Denman Thompson way. 

 And she, O, my! was quite a queen. 



She was so tall, yet gay! 

 The livery stable keeper 



When he asked her for her hand. 

 Attempted to embrace her. 



But for this she would not stand. 

 Why, O why, upon this manly breast 



Will you not lay your head? 

 She looked into his whiskered face. 



And this is what she said: 



Chorus 



My love works in a greenhouse. 



And there always is a smell 

 Of violets and geraniums 



Upon his coat lapel. 

 Now, mind, I do not blame you, 



Nor do I make complaint. 

 But a greenhouse has a fragrance 



That a livery stable ain't. 



Apropos of the shortage of labor, it 

 might be suggested to young men of 

 promising talent that there are special 

 advantages in greenhouse work, as re- 

 vealed by these lines. 



Fire believed to have been of incen- 

 diary origin destroyed the extensive 

 greenhouses at Winchester Hall, the 

 country home at Port Chester, N. Y., 

 of Frank W. Savin, banker at No. 66 

 Broadway. Many valuable plants were 

 lost, many of which never can be re- 

 placed, and the damage is estimated 

 at $125,000. 



