242 



GARDENING. 



May 1 , 



and more lofty than they would bul for such a 

 foreground. 



Second, to establish a considerable extent of 

 broad and apparently natural scenery, in contem- 

 plation of which a degree of quieting influence 

 will be had, counteractive to the effeel of the arti- 

 ficial grandeur and the crowds, pomp, splendor 

 and bustle of the rest of the exposition. 



Third, without losing a general unity and con- 

 tinuity of character in the shores, to secure whal 

 ever time, with all possible exercise of skill for 

 the purpose, will allow, of mysterious poel ic 'Deri 

 through the mingling intricately together of 

 many forms of foliage, the alternation and com- 

 plicated crossing of salient leaves and stalks of 

 varying green tints in high lights with other 

 leaves and stalks behind and under them, and 

 therefore less defined and more shaded, yet partly 

 illumined by light reflected from the water. So 

 far as consistent with this last purpose of obscure 

 and subdued poetic beauty through the intricate 

 conjunction of various forms of vegetation and 

 complex dispositions of light a nd shade, it is 

 intended thai the shores should have a somewhat 



gay and festive aspect through a profusion of foli- 



of plants of small cost, sure to succeed, must !»■ 



prepared for re-planting any ground where better 

 sorts shall either be drowned or dried out, so that 

 in no case will the shores at anypoinl appear 

 sparsely furnished, much less unfurnished or 

 barren. 



Another difficulty is that of guarding against 

 the danger thai plants thai will have been estab- 

 lished on the shore in the summer of 1892, will be 

 lifted or bruised destructively by the ice of the 

 following winter This ran be provided against. 

 in some degree, bj cuttingthe plants closely and 

 by laving loose litter over and aboul them late in 

 the fall, by cutting the shore ice free from the 

 central body of ice in the lagoon and by stakes or 

 otherwise preventing it from floating off until it 

 gradually melts in place. 



Another difficulty is that as there will he sev- 

 eral miles in length of the shore planting to be 

 done, and as the planting season win be short, and 

 the men employed working at disadvantage in the 

 ic Id water, a satisfactory dii tion and over- 

 sight of the large aumber of unskilled laborers 

 required can only be had through an extensive 

 and elaborate system of management, carefully 



THE WORLD'S FAIR WOODED ISLAND. 



age. Bu1 it is uot desired thai there should any- 

 w here appear to be a display of Mowers demanding 

 attention as such. Rather the (lowers to be used 

 for the purpose should have the effect of flecks 

 and glimmers of bright color imperfectly breaking 

 through the general greenery. Anything ap- 

 proaching a gorgeous, garish or gaudy display of 

 flowers is to be avoided. It will be easier to 

 accomplish what is thus to be aimed at, even if 

 flowers are used profusely, because, to the great 

 body of visitors the lagoon plantations will only 

 be seen from a distance and Erom nearly a hori- 

 zontal point of view on the shore opposite thai on 

 which they stand. Boats will be prevented from 



eloseh a |>proachine the plaiital ions. 



While the greater number of plants to be used 

 will be such as are indigenous to the river banks 



and swamps of Northern Illinois, and. therefore, 

 hardy, in order to increase intricacy and richness 

 of general effeel many are to be scattered among 

 them thai a botanist, looking closely, would know 

 would not have grown in tie- locality naturally. 

 The work is thus to be in some degree of the char- 

 acter of a theatrical scene, to occupy tin' exposi- 

 tion stage for a single summer, limit is not in- 

 tended that tin- slightly exotic form Of verdure to 

 lie thus used shall call." any more than the flowers, 

 tor individual notice. Rather, seen as they will 

 generally be, al some distance, they will merge 

 indistinguishably with other forms of verdure. 

 and not suggest a question as to whal they are, or 

 how they have come to be where they are. The 

 line at which the water meets tin- shore is intended 

 hardly ever to lie seen, being screened bv aquatic, 

 plants growing above and below it. 



There are several serious difficulties to be over- 

 come in realizing this design thus set forth and 

 they must be met by original expedients. 'The 

 chief of these difficulties is that of the uncer- 

 t a mm y of the normal elevation which the water 

 will have during the penod of the exposition, and 

 i he certain! \ that whatever this normal elevation 

 shall be, it will fluctuate irregularly from day to 

 day, so that whal is dry ground at one time win 

 be flooded al and her. The only means of dealing 

 with this difficulty thus far proposed to be used 

 is that of providing plants verj liberally which 



will stand a - i chance to flourish, although 



their roots are sometimes high above water and 

 sometimes submerged. Trialsof numerous plants 

 must be made in the summer ol 1891 with refer- 

 ence to this purpose, and large reserves of :> clas 



organized in advance, with a view tothisdiffl- 

 culty. At best, the work id' planting must be ex- 

 pected tobe done in a comparatively rude way 

 which it will be dlfficull to gel gardening foremen 

 to efficiently direct. Plants, therefore, that re- 

 quire delicate treatment, or that do nol take root. 

 readily in wet, sandy ground, can be little de- 

 pended on. The plants must fie sei thickly and 

 there will be little or no opportunity to cultivate 

 them after thej a re Be1 , 



Another restriction on the class of plants to be 

 extensively used is that owinu to the packing of 

 ice along the .shore in the southern part of Lake 

 Michigan, the water often remains at a wintry 

 temperature until after the time set in the spring 

 for the opening of the exposition, nor does it be- 

 come as warm during the entire summer as the 

 water in many streams, ponds and swamps in the 

 same latitude. Hence, many water plants natural 

 to such localities are likely' to grow but slowly, 

 if at all in the lagoon. It is hoped that this ditli 

 cujty may be, in some degree, provided against by 

 making many shallow ba\ s a nd pools alon<„ r the 

 shores, especially onthewesl side of the island. 

 Bui the main planting must everywhere be done 

 with thoroughly hardy and tough aquatic plants, 

 common further north. 



Letters on the preliminary planting plan of the 

 lagoon are intended to indicate a little more fully 

 and definitely the charaeterof planting desired in 

 differenl localities, by reference to corresponding 

 letters in the schedule below. Hui while the 

 plants named are to predominate it is not in- 

 tended to closely restrid the planting to them at. 

 any point, Certain plants, such as bulrushes. 

 sedges and ferns, are intended to be placed wher- 

 ever they are likely to nourish among others, in 

 order to give increased density, intricacy and 

 naturalness of effect, and to slightly screen, with- 

 out hiding Mowers otherwise likely to be i h- 



fcrusive. The various so-called pond lilies are 

 also to be scattered somewhat freely along the 



edges of all waterside plantations, and on tic 

 low er parts of si. .pes. 



Except against the terraces, as to be later ex 

 plained, and at a few other points where they 

 would rise too high for the streets desired, cat- 

 tails (typha) are to predominate in the planting, 

 large patches of them being formed; these are to 

 he broken ami diversified chiefly with lla^s 

 (acorus) and bulrushes (iuncus) and irises, and 

 among them there should be numerous bitle 



patches and recesses, if necessary, on slightly 

 raised ground, where blooming plants can be seen 

 such as tie- smaller irises. Lobelia eardiualis. 

 Ranunculus repens and Viola cucullata. Watches, 

 also, of ferns suitable to the situation. Farther 

 from the water, ami to be seen through openings 

 of the typhas and acorns, taller flowering plants 

 in:i\ be seen, such as Baccharis halimifolia and 

 Nicotiana affinis. 



For young trees to be planted with a view to fill 

 out vacancies in the edge of the woods on the 

 island, it is important to use such as are most 

 sure to be in rapid growth, with abundant and 

 vigorous leafage, in ground well above water in 

 1893. It has been ascertained that for this purpose 

 trees of the following .sorts can lie obtained in 

 western nurseries, in fair condition, from 10 to 15 

 feet high; white maple, Catalpa speciosa, box 

 elder (negundo). Russian mulberry, American lin- 

 den. To these, certain poplars and willows of 

 natural growth can probably be added. Forcrowd- 

 ing under and facing the steins of these, good 

 plants are to be had of the European alder, larch. 

 American mountain ash. For the lower parts of 

 the mass, cornels and most of the common nursery 

 shrubs can be had. 3 to 4 feet high, and various 

 willows can be grown. Aralia spinoss may be 



used freely: also, paulownia cu1 short to force 



large leaves near the ground and water. Cat- 

 tails, flags, etc., can be scattered at intervals in 

 the water outside of these ami occasionally still 

 further out. water-lilies, etc 



Looking at the map, if will be seen that for 



long distances the shore of the lagoon is intended 

 to be near, and with a general trend parallel lo 



the straight walls sustaining terraces at the base 

 nt several of tic exposition buildings. The sirip 

 of ground between these retaining walls and the 



water is to be com 1 1 j from 25 to ;.u feel broad, 



and to have a sloping lace towards 1 he water. 



Nearlj all of tic lagoon margin of this charac- 

 ter is expected to be submerged for a few hours at 

 uncertain intervals, but ordinarily the upper part 

 will be dry and the lower part, or waterside, 

 water-soaked. Plants upon the upper part will be 

 nearer io the greater body of \ isitors, a ml will be 

 mote closely observed than any others on tin' 

 lagoon shores. They will be looked down upon 

 from tlie terrace, the roots of the nearest being < 



to 'J let; ol the furthest 9 to 13 feet, below the 



eye. Seen from boats or from the opposite shore, 

 the plants should appear a low thicket, or bank, 

 or verdure, more or less broken, irregular and 

 tufty mi its profile, the upper pari of the wall and 

 the parapet or balustrade of the terrace being 

 generally seen rising a little above it . To this end 

 low plants can be grown on ibis strip that, during 

 the summer of 1893, will come to have a height of 

 more than 3 or 4 feet. 



More flowers can be shown with advantage on 

 the upper part of the strip than anywhere else on 

 the lagoon shore, precaution being taken, where 

 they would otherwise be too showy, to slightly 

 veil" them from the opposite shore by a few bul- 

 rushes, eulalia, or other thin plants, to grow on 

 the waterside of them. With a little care in this 

 respect, irises, especially versicolor, prisroatica 

 a nd i iqrmanica, set from -Z to 15 feet from the wall. 



will be exactly suitable to the sit nation, tale 

 must be taken to avoid anything like a continuous 

 bed of such flowering plants, or any monotony of 

 arrangement, by constantly grouping them with 

 funkias. fern sand other plants. Large bodies of 

 low ami spreading pla nts of ( 'let bra alnifolia and 

 Cephalanthus occidental is will be desirable all 

 along the strip, these being valued because of the 

 t ra -ra nee of their bloom. Besides these there are 

 to he set profusely, adjoining the wall, on whal 

 will he the driest part of tin' strip, other plants 

 from which pleasing scents will rise to visitors on 

 the terrace. Viola cucullata, Hemerocallis flava, 

 Lonicera brachypoda . Rosa rubiginosa, lucida, 

 Carolina and niultiflora will, for example, serve 

 i he purpose. 

 To make sure that a dense growth of foliage 



will be everywhere interposed at some point be- 

 tween the wall and the water, straggling thickets 

 may be formed of young plants of varied willows, 

 so shortened in. or pinned down, that they will 

 seldom rise more than two or three feet from the 

 ground. Among and around these should be 

 nags, acorus. calamus a nd bulrushes (. iuncus) 

 various sedges (carex) and other waterside gras> 

 and reed -like plants. Small channels ma \ be 

 made to let tin- water flow into these wherever 

 desirable, such channels being easily made incon- 

 spicuous. 



The same class of plants, together with sagit- 

 tarias and a variety of broad-leaved water plants 

 such as saxifraga, callas, sy mplocarpus, nuphars 

 and nyraphseas should be planted above and below 

 t he water's side. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



NOTES ON FLOWERING SHRUBS. 



Al this season of the year when shrubs 

 are blooming everywhere, we are apt to 

 overlook some of the best of the early 

 ones, and as it is I think from these we 



