Some Hardy Ornamental Grasses Worth Growing 



Roderick Cameron, Superintendent of Parks, Toronto 



(( x-^vRNAMENTAL grasses" is a 



I t subject not much thought of 



^■^^ or understood in this country, 

 not half as much as it should be. For 

 niy own fancy, I would sooner plant 

 them on my lawn than geraniums. The 

 time is at hand when they will l)e more 

 in demand for decorating our lawns than 

 in the past. .\ bed of grasses and their 

 allies to my mind are more beautiful and 

 interesting than a bed of geranium or 

 tulips, and in saying this, I have in my 

 mind's eye the bed of them that was at 

 the Pan-American Exhibition in 1901. 

 It was a broken, irregular shaped bed 

 and looked fully better than any other 

 bed there. The varieties it contained as 

 far as I can remember were as follows : 



Eulalia Japonica {Miscanthus Sineuais) 

 five feet, six inches high, green ; in flow- 

 er September 27. 



E. Japonica variegatus, fo'ir feet high, 

 variegated ; in flower September 25. 



E. Japonica gracillimus, three and a 

 half feet high, n;irrow, mid-rib white; 

 in flower September 20. 



E. Japonica Zebrinus, bars of yellow 

 across the leaves, zebra-like, and grows 

 to from four to five feet high, a grand 

 species ; in flower September 20. 



These composed the centre of the bed, 

 and here and there were several vari- 

 eties of bamboo, Bamhtisa Metake, and 

 several others that I cannot now remem- 

 ber. Plume grass {Erianthus Ravenna) 

 and ribbon grass (Phalaris arundinacea 

 variegata) filled up towards the edge of 

 the bed and to break the level sky line 

 there was a plant here and there of the 

 giant reed of Southern Europe, Arundo' 

 Donax. The edge or border of the bed 

 was planted with fountain grass {Pen- 

 nisetuni lotigistyluni). 



All of these, pr any one of them would 



Poa TriTiali* Variegata (Fonr to Six Inches High) Used for Edging 



be a welcome ornament in groups upon 

 the lawn, up next to the verandah, or 

 in a border next to the line fence, or 

 to hide any unsightly object, such as 

 outhouses. Any of them look v/ell 

 around a fountain or lake, or small 

 stream of water, and all of them are 



hardy at Niagara Falls, but the Pennise- 

 tum. I find that if these plants are 

 taken up and potted in the fall, or placed 

 in boxes and put into a cool greenhouse 

 until coming spring, they may then be 

 divided, potted into small pots and plac- 

 ed in the heat, when they will make good 

 plants for the following season. 



They can also be grown from seeds 

 very readily. By sowing the seeds in 

 F'ebruary, they will be ready to plant out 

 in May. There are two more varieties of 

 this Pennisetum that should be grown 

 along with the above, P. Ruppellii and P. 

 niacrophylluni xaugninium. All three may 

 be treated the same way. 



There could be many others added to 

 the above, such as Poa trivialis varie- 

 gata, a very dwarf plant, and beauti- 

 fully variegated, four inches, grand for 

 edging a bed, very hardy, in flower Sep- 

 tember I. 



Blue fescue [Festuca glauca), would 

 make a grand second line along the 

 edge, six inches high and hardy, from 

 Britain, in flower June 13; usmgMolinia 

 ccBtulea from Central Europe, one toot 

 high, as a third. 



The variegated oat grass of garden 

 origin, Arrenathenini hulhosum variegat- 

 Jim, grows fifteen to thirty inches high. 

 This would make a very bright fourth 

 line, in bloom September i. The Elymus 

 glaucus from Turkestan, growing to 

 three to four feet and giant rye grass 

 (Elymus condensatus) could be made 

 use of among those already mentioned. 

 I must not forget to mention Arundo 

 Donax glauca four to five feet high, and 

 Arundo Donax variegata, four to six feet 

 high, and one of the most beautiful varie- 

 gated grasses or reeds I know of. The 

 type Arundo Donax grows fourteen feet 

 high. These three reeds are hardy at 

 Niagara Falls, but they 

 would have to be pro- 

 tected farther north, or 

 grown in tubs and kept 

 in cold storage during 

 winter. I found also 

 that Bamhusa atirea 

 was hardy at the Falls ; 

 farther north it would 

 have to be tubbed. 



There are many 

 other varieties of grass- 

 es that could be u.sed to 

 good advantage in 

 many ways as follows : 

 Melica grass (Melica 

 altissima atropurpurea) 

 and Melica ciliata, beautiful and grace- 

 ful. Gymnothrix latifolia, Gymnothrix 

 Japonicum and beard grass, (Andropogon 

 Sorghum), seven feet high, of North Am- 

 erica, should be in this collection. Pam- 

 pas grass (Gynerium Cortaderia argen- 

 tea) also should find a place in the col- 



140 



lection but must be grown in tubs and 

 wintered in cold storage. 



I hope this li.st will be the means of 

 introducing some of these beautiful 



Arnndo Donax Variegata 



grasses, if not all of them, to be grown 

 upon lawns. They are well worth a 

 trial. 



The Forgct-mc-not 



This flower succeds best in cold, damp 

 ground, and in partial shade, but care 

 must be taken that the soil is not sour. 

 It frequently happens that low, damp 

 soil in shady locations becomes sour, and 

 unfit for growing flowers. Sow the seeds 

 in rows covering to a depth of one-eighth 

 of an inch and when the plants are large 

 enough thin out or transplant to stand 

 six inches apart. 



Forget-me-nots grow and spread very 

 rapidly and will soon cover the whole 

 space. They are fine for edging beds of 

 other flowers or for bordering the shady 

 walk or drive. Seed sown in the spring 

 will bloom in the fall and if given the pro- 

 tection of coarse strawy manure during 

 the severe winter weather, will bloom 

 much more freely during the cool moist 

 weather of the following spring. For 

 spring flowering, seed may be sown any 

 time up to the middle of August, and pro- 

 tected, as mentioned, during the winter. 



Myosofis palustris is the true forget- 

 me-not, but some of the newer varieties 

 such as M. P. var. semperflnrcns and 

 M. sylvatica var. aJpestris, are stronger 

 growing and, while equally pretty, have 

 larger sprays of bloom. Keep the ground 

 constantly moist. 



Even on the barest of prairie farms, 

 hardy flowers of many sorts grow with 

 but little care. No home in the west 

 need be without their bright faces. 



