98 



GARDENING. 



Dec. is, 



good effect, but they are more often a 

 detriment. If you have anything pretty 

 to look at, have your lights so arranged 

 as to fall upon trie pretty part and at the 

 same time avoid its shining in your eyes; 

 also avoid having a light back of the 

 branches you wish to have seen. Every 

 leaf or branch which projects between 

 your eye and the light will be black. 

 Twenty-five electric lights or other lamps 

 will ruin the effect of a beautifully dec- 

 orated room unless thev are placed" very 

 carefullv. C. B. W. 



the branches in close together, then tak- 

 ing some barrels with both ends knocked 

 out, we set them one over the other over 

 the magnolia till they outreached the 

 tree, holding them in place between stakes 

 sunk in the ground and tied with rope 

 yarn, then braced with three spreading 

 strips of wood. The lower barrel was 

 filled full of leaves to save the roots and 

 stem; the upperbarrelscontained nothing 

 except the branches. Holes were cut in 

 the south-facing side of the barrels for 

 ventilation to help save the foliage from 



A WINTER DEVICE. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



PROTECTING SOMEWHAT TENDER PLANTS IN 

 WINTBR. 



Our illustrations are engraved from 

 photographs taken at Dosoris some 

 years ago and show two ways of protect- 

 ing somewhat tender trees and shrubs in 

 winter. One shows a magnificent pyra- 

 midal specimen of the English yew pro- 

 tected on three— north, east and west- 

 sides by means of a ten foot high board 

 fence. There was no protection on the 

 south side. The leaving open of the south 

 side may be contrary to orthodox faith, 

 but there's the living fact, and there it 

 stood treated in that way for ten consec- 

 utive years and without once being 

 "burned" on the south side. We used to 

 treat deodar, Cunninghamia Sinensis, and 

 some other slightly tender plants in the 

 same way. Plants of these left in open 

 places, also of Lawson's cypress, got 

 sadly seared on the northwest side, for it 

 is from there we had the prevailing winter 

 winds. 



The other illustration shows an ar- 

 rangement of barrels used to protect 

 trees and shrubs. It was in our nursery. 

 Along the outside of the nursery we had 

 a screen ot pine branches set against a 

 two-barred fence and tied there hedge- 

 fashion. This was to break the wind 

 from the northwest and check the shower 

 of light sand that olten would be driven 

 from a close-by rolling vineyard against 

 the young trees. Where the four barrels 

 are set up chimney-like we had a fine 

 plant of Magnolia grandiflora. We tied 



falling. Under this treatment that mag- 

 nolia lived and flourished and blossomed 

 beautifully every year. When well estab- 

 lished we discontinued covering it in 

 winter, and it has lived nicely ever since 

 and blossoms freely. The covering saved 

 the foliage. Under the big upturned cask 

 in front of the magnolia was a splendid 

 specimen of Herberis stenophylla. With 

 a good mulching over its roots and this 

 cask we used to have one of the greatest 

 golden glories in the way of a shrub one 

 can imagine. Someone told me this 

 berberis is hardy at Chicago, but surely 

 this is a mistake, for it isn't reliably 

 hardy on Long Island. Please send us a 

 spray of the Chicago plant. 



Now these pictures are only suggestive. 

 We used to have single barrels, old boxes 

 and improvised things set over lots of 

 our treasures, such as furze, broom, Japan 

 euonymus, evergreen viburnums, aucubas 

 and the like, and it paid us too. Any- 

 thing to keep the cold wind away. 



WISTARIAS-PRUNING. 



M. A. F., Troy, X. Y., writes as follows: 

 "I have a Wistaria Chinensis that has 

 never had a flower. Can anything be 

 done to make it bloom? It has a strong 

 healthv growth, and is twelve years old." 



No better answer can be given than to 

 quote in part from Gardening, May 15, 

 1896. "Wistarias, especially when grown 

 in deep, rich ground, and making luxuri- 

 ant growth, often make much wood, and 

 live through a good many years before 

 they begin to bloom; but after they do 

 start to flower they are likely to continue 

 to blossom year after year uninterrupt- 

 edly. If they are over luxuriant, stintthe 

 supplies, and pack the ground firm; if of 



slow growth, rather unfasten the ground 

 and keep it heavily watered in summer. 



This question is also asked, "Can you 

 suggest any book that will be a reliable 

 guide in pruning shrubs? I am aware 

 that some kinds need to be pruned in 

 spring and others in autumn, but I have 

 not the knowledge that would enable me 

 to direct the pruning of my shrubbery, 

 where there are several hundred plants." 

 I do not know of any book that would 

 give you the information in the shape 

 that 1 imagined you desire it, namely, in 

 a form where each shrub is mentioned, 

 and the suitable time to prune it given. 

 While such a list would come handy to 

 a beginner, it is not necessary if one will 

 stop and reason out the question. There 

 is a safe general rule applicable to the 

 pruning of all flowering shrubs and trees, 

 namely, prune immediately after the 

 plant is through blooming. Nearly all 

 shrubs are annual bloomers. With the 

 exception of their period of rest they are 

 occupied from the time they have ma- 

 tured their seeds until their next season 

 of bloom in forming and maturing their 

 bloom buds. There is a period (winter,) 

 during which the plants are almost dor- 

 mant; therefore it is natural to presume 

 that the new flower buds are formed and 

 may be ready to bloom during that part of 

 the year in which growth is active; that 

 is, during the summer. 



A plant is only active, roughly speak- 

 ing, during the time it is in leaf, conse- 

 quently, in our climate all deciduous 

 shrubs form their flower buds during 

 the summer. These summer-formed buds 

 flower either in the fall immediately fol- 

 lowing, or during the next spring. The 

 Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora and 

 the lilac are two good illustrations of this 

 point. The hydrangea is a fall bloomer, 

 flowering from buds formed during the 

 summer of the current year. This shiub 

 may be cut back in the fall, after bloom- 

 ing, or early in the spring before active 

 growth commences. The reason is sim- 

 ple. There are no flower buds formed to 

 cut off and destroy. How different with 

 the lilac. It was forming buds all sum- 

 mer, and as it has not yet bloomed, we 

 must presume it still has them. Go out 

 and examine one. There they are, plump 

 and juicy looking, merely waiting for the 

 warming sun of April to unfold them. If 

 we prune the lilac now, we trim off its 

 bloom buds; but, if we wait until it has 

 flowered, then, with renewed activity it 

 starts to work on a new crop for the fol- 

 lowing spring. 



The althaea is a fall bloomer, flowering 

 on the wood made during the current 

 summer. Thisshrubmay be cut backafter 

 flowering, or in early spring. Where 

 shrubs bloom in the fall, at a time when 

 their period of rest (winter) is near at 

 hand, they need not be pruned immedi- 

 ately after pruning. The operation may 

 be deferred until spring, because the 

 plant will remain inactive until that time. 

 It is often best to so defer trimming, as a 

 severe winter may injure terminal points 

 somewhat, thus necessitating a further 

 pruning in spring. 



Some plants, like the flowering cherries, 

 bloom on the old wood, two or more 

 years old. These buds are formed during 

 the summer and carried overwinter. The 

 wood of the current year's growth, that 

 is, wood less than two years old, may be 

 cut back in the spring or autumn without 

 lessening the next crop of flowers, but it 

 naturally restricts the quantity of old 

 wood for the season. Some, as in Spiriea 

 Bumaldi, bloom nearly continuously on 

 new wood. Each terminal shoot as it is 

 formed produces flowers. By removing 



