HORTICULTURE 



July 17, 1920 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



The unusual season has been as 

 troublesome to the rose gi-ower as to 

 the peony grower, and has Interfered 

 greatly with the success of both the 

 shows and the rose field days. It seems 

 especially unfortunate that the flowers 

 were not further along when the rose 

 growers gathered at Hartford for the 

 feast of bloom always to be found 

 there. Still there is one consolation. 

 The display at the rose gardens is not 

 confined to one or two days, as is that 

 of the shows, so that rosariaus who are 

 sufliciently enthusiastic to make a sec- 

 ond pilgrimage can enjoy the exhibit. 

 And certainly the Hartford garden is 

 well worth seeing, not only because of 

 the innumerable varieties shown, but 

 also for the excellent arrangement. It 

 is not surprising, in view of the suc- 

 cess achieved by the garden at Hart- 

 ford, that other nearby cities should 

 become imbued with the hope of secur- 

 ing a similar show place for them- 

 selves. 



The New Haven Horticultural So- 

 ciety is actively putting forth a prop- 

 osition looking to the establishment of 

 a rose garden in that city, both as a 

 business advantage and a contribution 

 to the city's attractive appearance. The 

 society has some figures which per- 

 haps will be interesting to other cities 

 where similar projects are being con- 

 templated. It is found, for example, 

 that only $2,000 was spent in^ starting 

 the garden at Elizabeth Park, in Hart- 

 ford, which was the first public rose 

 garden in the country. The date was 

 1904. Account was kept of the visitors 

 to this garden, and it appears that 

 over 800,000 people have entered its 

 gates since they first opened. In one 

 year 116,000 visitors were registered. 

 On two so-called Rose Sundays one- 

 tenth of the automobiles bore other 

 than Connecticut markers, and 10,000 

 people from out of the state were at- 

 tracted to Hartford. 



It is considered that $3,000 would be 

 enough to begin a rose garden of fair 

 proportion in New Haven, and that 

 this money would soon come back to 

 the city as a result of the visits from 

 out-of-town people. Certainly a mun- 

 icipal rose garden properly cared for 

 is an excellent piece of advertising for 

 any city. The very fact that roses are 

 associated with a town does much to 

 give it standing in the public estima- 

 tion. The city of Portland, Oregon, is 

 a good example of this truth. Port- 

 land has won for itself the name of 



the C'i;y cif Roses and such a name in- 

 evitably tanies a pleasing impression. 



It seems to me that the Foxgloves 

 have bloomed unusually well this sea- 

 ton. In some of the gardens arouna 

 Boston they are now a source of great 

 'Jelight. I sometimes think that the 

 average amateur does not make suffi- 

 cient use cpf the Digitalis, for one rea- 

 son or another. It is a vei-y stately 

 plant and with the exception of Lark- 

 spur no'hing makes a finer show in 



the peveunial border. Although called 

 old fashioned, they fit in with almost 

 any landscape scheme, and their 

 whole^ome, clean appearance recom- 

 mends them. 



It is difiicult to explain why the 

 name Foxglove was ever given to this 

 plant, for it takes a very long stretch 

 of the imagination to conceive of 

 fox's wearing gloves, in any case, and 

 even if they did, of utilizing anything 

 so small. Rome people, in fact, think 

 that the name has no reference to the 

 fox in trutli. but is really a corruption 

 of folk, having in mind the fairies or 

 "Little Folk." as they are often called. 



In case you have a shady comer in 

 your garden where it is difficult to get 

 most plants to grow, try planting a 

 clump of Foxgloves there. 



The Impre«sive Foxglove 



