The Ornamental Evergreens 



By Warren H. Miher 



MAXY years ago, Prof. Josiah Hoopes, member 

 of the Academy of Sciences, Philadelphia, 

 wrote a whole book on the evergreens. It is 

 cut of print now, but should be revived for the benefit 

 of the tree lovers of this country, for it is a fascinating 

 volume, and it covers the evergreen families and species 

 of the known world. It is written from the viewpoint 

 of the arboretum owner, the gentleman with a large 

 estate, part of which has been devoted to a more or less 

 complete collection of the evergreens of the world that 

 are hardy in temperate climates. There were many such 

 in 1868 when the book was written, and are yet for that 

 matter, for there will always be wealthy men who love 

 to collect beautiful trees and watch them grow and 

 develop. 



But. for the most of us, these things are not to be; 

 we lack the land, for the duties of life require a habita- 

 tion so near great cities that land is sold by the lot rather 

 than the acre. But even for us there is no reason why 

 even a small plot should preclude planting our surround- 

 ings with our more common ornamental evergreens, and 

 if the matter is not overdone, quite a variety may be as- 

 sembled without the place taking on the appearance of 

 a museum. 



On the writer's comparatively small home grounds in 

 the forest of Interlaken there are sixteen different 

 species of evergreens, many of them represented by half 

 a dozen individuals and the writer's own criticism of 

 his place is simply that there are not enough of them 

 as it is ! Let us get acquainted with some of the more 



familiar ornamental evergreens used in house planting. 

 I'eginning with the Colorado Blue Spruce, easily the 

 most ornamental of the spruces, the variety most often 

 encountered is that known to nurserymen as Roster's 

 Blue spruce. It is developed from the Parry spruce, 

 the Picea Parryana of science, growing wild only in the 

 canyons of southern Nevada, Utah and Colorado where 

 it is known as the blue or silver spruce. As a rule it is 

 a dull blue-green in its natural state, of little ornamental 

 value, but occasional "sports" show a vivid light silver 

 blue and shoots from these are grafted on seedling roots 

 of the ordinary wild blue spruce, whereupon the result- 

 ing tree has the vivid light blue of the original shoot all 

 over it and is known as Koster's Blue Spruce, being 

 named after the nurseryman who first experimented with 

 it. All the nurserymen keep it and a small specimen 

 2 feet high will cost you about $1.50, the plain blue spruce 

 of the same size costing $1. It grows some 9 inches ad- 

 ditional height and 18 inches spread each year, so give it 

 at least 5 feet of distance to its nearest neighbor when 

 planting. It seems to thrive equally well in heavy clay 

 soil and sandy loam, provided only that the soil is well 

 drained and not soggy and swampy. 



Another standard ornamental evergreen is the Retin- 

 ospora Plumosa, that silver-blue, fuzzy tree with dense, 

 fronded foliage, usually trimmed close as a rounded 

 cone or oblong ball. It is a good tree to fill in a corner 

 in either house or hedge, and is always noticeable in any 

 shrubbery in which it may be placed. A specimen three 

 feet in diameter by 3 feet 6 inches high will cost $1.25 



KVKRGRKICN PLANTING SUITED FOR CORNER OF A PRIVET HEIJGE 



Left to right Hemlock: retinospora pUimosa, one species of the popular Japanese cedar or cypress: Norway spruce: Japanese retinospora, which 

 term apphes to all forms of Japanese cedar or cypress; Koster's Ijlue spruce, and American arborvitae. 



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