TI-IE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



137 



try were at Newport, mostly privet. And 

 the finest evergreen hedges I have seen 

 are in Toronto, of Norway spruce. But 

 the perfection of a hedge in every feature 

 was a hemlock hedge (Abies Canaden- 

 sis) in the nurseries of George Leslie 

 & Son. Hemlock is without doubt the 

 finest and most perfect in form of all 

 evergreen hedges. There are some ter 

 rible specimens of privet hedges scattered 

 over our city and others. Before they are 

 three feet high a western hog could run 

 through them without disturbing many 

 of their twigs. When like this they are 

 simply an abomination. The fault is 

 mostly with the proprietor, who insists 

 on immediate effect and says, No, no, 

 don t cut it down ; I want some show 

 for my money; leave it alone, we will 

 trust to its filling out.&quot; Which it never 

 does. And a privet hedge is allowed to 

 run up two feet the first season and then 

 be just topped an inch or so. 



Another reason for the poor hedges you 



spring before growth and again in mid 

 summer. 



In planting evergreen hedges you must 

 begin with small, compact, perfect trees; 

 if you don t start right you never will 

 have a hedge. The best evergreen for 

 the purpose is first of all the hemlock 

 spruce; it has a grace and droop to it 

 that no other evergreen hedge has. Next 

 the Norway spruce, and then the Ameri 

 can and Chinese arbor-vitas. 



The deciduous hedges will always be 

 more planted in city lots, and for this 

 purpose are certainly to be preferred. 

 The finest for most purposes is the Cali 

 fornia and English privet (Ligustrum 

 ovalifolium and L. vulgaris). The Cali 

 fornia was considerably killed this past 

 winter. If a fine, dense hedge is wanted, 

 a double row of the privet should be al 

 ways planted, the rows one foot apart 

 and the plants nine or ten inches in the 

 row. For several seasons they should be 

 cut back to within six inches of the previ- 



Hcdge of Spiraea Van Houttei Four Years After Planting. 



see is that they are seldom trimmed prop 

 erly. Let it be an evergreen or a decidu 

 ous hedge, it should not be cut up square, 

 and sometimes you see them worse than 

 that, even broader at the top than the 

 bottom. If they run up square, how are 

 the lower branches going to get equal 

 light or rains? They soon begin to lose 

 their lower branches and then they are 

 ruined. I would call a fine privet hedge 

 one that was three feet at the base with 

 the sides sloping in till the rounded top 

 was not more than eighteen inches 

 through, and the hedge not over four and 

 a half or five fet high. The same with 

 the evergreen hedges; when broad at the 

 base and narrowing to the top they can 

 be kept for years in perfect health and 

 green to the bottom. Midsummer is the 

 best time to prune evergreen hedges and 

 they look much better cut with a knife 

 than with the shears. Hedges of decidu 

 ous shrubs like privet are best and quick 

 est sheared, which can be done in early 



ous season s growth, then you will have 

 a solid hedge that a cat would have dif 

 ficulty in squeezing through. 



I am sorry to say that in our locality, 

 and even in New England, the California 

 privet has suffered severely during the 

 past two winters, so, although not so 

 pretty in foliage, the English or L. vul 

 garis is the one to depend on. 



Berberis Thunbergii makes a magnifi 

 cent hedge. Its habit is spreading and 

 the worst treatment will not prevent it 

 becoming dense and bushy. It can be 

 either trimmed in formal shape or left 

 to grow naturally, when it is one of the 

 handsomest of shrubs. Its small leaves 

 are always handsome, coloring to beauti 

 ful tints in the autumn, and covered with 

 its fruit. It is a most hardy, easily 

 transplanted shrub. 



There is a hedge of Pyrus (Cydonia) 

 Japonica here and there throughout the 

 country. One I have in mind is on a re 

 taining wall near the home of the late 



Mr. Parkman, the Indian historian, in the 

 suburbs of Boston. It was in flower 

 when I was escorted that way, and it 

 was gorgeous. It is an admirable hedge 

 shrub, can be cut after blooming to any 

 dimensions, and is simply gorgeous in 

 the early spring, and very hardy. 



Other trees and shrubs can be used for 

 the purpose. I have only made a selec 

 tion and my chief object was to tell you 

 that a hedge cannot be made in one 

 year, and will not do unless all parts of 

 the hedge get a share of sun and rain. 



HELIOTROPE. 



This old favorite has possibly been 

 grown as long as there has been any 

 greenhouse to protect it in winter. All 

 we grow are varieties of H. Peruvianum. 

 It always was a favorite for our summer 

 flower garden, either in beds or in the 

 mixed border. As a cut flower it has 

 its delicious fragrance to commend it, but 

 it wilts rather quickly when cut. 



You can neither lift old plants with 

 success nor root the cuttings that you 

 take from the plants grown outside, so 

 you should always grow a few plants over 

 summer in pots, and move them to the 

 greenhouse before frost, when if the 

 shoots are shortened back you will get 

 young, tender cuttings that root quickly 

 where there is some bottom heat. No 

 cuttings root more quickly or surely than 

 heliotrope in January, February and 

 March, and your stock can be then in 

 creased to any extent. Young plants 

 soon spoil if stunted in small pots, and 

 to keep them thrifty they must be shifted 

 on and occasionally pinched. For this 

 reason you don t want a large stock too 

 early in the winter. This is a plant that 

 does finely in a mild hotbed after the 

 middle of April. Thousands are sold in 

 our markets every spring. 



You often see a plant of heliotrope 

 planted out at the end of a greenhouse 

 covering a large space. Such a one I 

 have. It gets cut back to the main shoots 

 every September, and during winter 

 yields bushels of flowers, which are occa 

 sionally asked for. It also provides me 

 with an abundance of cuttings at any 

 time during winter that I may need 

 them. 



Heliotropes are often grown as stand 

 ards and are used as conservatory plants 

 or plunged out in the flower garden. They 

 certainly make a fine appearance. Have 

 a bed of heliotrope of the ordinary size 

 of plants, into which plunge a dozen of 

 the 3-foot standards; or any other dwarf 

 flowering plant could be the groundwork. 

 They are easily grown. 



Choose a strong, healthy, young plant, 

 and without any pinching encourage it 

 to run up three feet, and then stop it, 

 keeping all lateral growths pinched off 

 except a few near the top. You can let 

 these plants rest in a cool house with lit 

 tle water during winter and start grow 

 ing again in March. The head can be 

 left to grow naturally as you would a 

 standard rose, but they look much better 

 tied to a wire frame as we do standard 

 chrysanthemums. I can t say that the 

 standard heliotrope is a good investment 

 for the florist, but when time and space 



