J32 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



and a resident keeps his grounds neat 

 and trim and beautiful because oth- 

 ers shall admire them, the knowledge 

 of which gratifies the owner. It re- 

 solves itself, like many other good 

 deeds, into a species of selfishness; by 

 doing good to others you have tickled 

 and pleased your own self. 



But let us get back to the hedge. 

 There are mighty few hedges seen in 

 our cities that are properly kept, eith- 

 er of the evergreen or deciduous kind. 

 The best specimens of hedges I have 

 seen in this country were at Newport, 

 mostly privet. And the finest ever- 

 green hedges I have seen are in To- 

 ronto, 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 

 terrible specimens of privet hedges 

 scattered over our city and others. Be- 

 fore they are three feet high a west- 

 ern hog could run through them with- 

 out disturbing many of their twigs. 

 When like this they are simply an 

 abomination. The fault is mostly with 

 the proprietor, who insists on imme- 

 diate 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." 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 see is that they are seldom 

 trimmed properly. Let it be an ever- 

 green or a deciduous 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 18 inches through, and the hedge 

 not over 4 1-2 or 5 feet 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 bot- 

 tom. Midsummer is the best time to 

 prune evergreen hedges and they look 

 much better cut with a knife than the 

 shears. Hedges of deciduous shrubs 

 like privet are best and quickest 

 sheared, which can be done in early 

 spring before growth and again in 

 midsummer. , 



In planting evergreen hedges you 

 must begin with small, compact, per- 

 fect 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 ever- 

 green hedge has. Next the Norway 

 spruce, and then the American and 

 Chinese arbor-vitae. 



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 

 Californian and English privet (Ligus- 

 trum ovalifolium and L. vulgaris). The 

 Californian was considerably killed 

 this past winter. If a fine, dense hedge 

 is wanted, a double row of the privet 

 should be always 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 previous sea- 

 son's growth, then you will have a 

 solid hedge that a cat would have 

 difficulty in squeezing through. 



Berberis Thunbergii makes a mag- 

 nificent hedge. Its habit is spreading 

 and the worst treatment will not pre- 

 vent 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, col- 

 oring to beautiful tints in ths 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 retaining wall near the home of 

 the late Mr. Parkman, the Indian his- 

 torian, 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, catn 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 

 selection 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. peru- 

 vianum. 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 y.ou 

 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 increased 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 hot- 

 bed after 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 green- 

 house covering a large space. Such a 

 one I have. It gets cut back to the 

 main shoots every September, and dur- 

 ing winter yields bushels of flowers, 

 which are occasionally 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 

 standards and are used as conserva- 

 tory plants or plunged out in the 

 flower garden. They certainly make a 

 fine appearance. Say a bed of 'helio- 

 trope of the ordinary sized plants, into 

 which plunge a dozen of the 3-foot 

 standards; or any other dwarf flower- 

 ing plant could be the groundwork. 

 They are easily grown. 



Choose a strong, healthy young 

 plant, and without any pinching en- 

 courage it to run up 3 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 little water during winter 

 and start growing 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 allows they 

 are a great ornament to our flower 

 gardens. 



Heliotrope is popularly supposed to 

 be easily injured by tobacco smoke. If 

 a strong dose is first given it-does in- 

 jure it, but after a few fumigations it 

 does not notice it more than a gera- 

 nium. Why should it not get inured to 

 it? I have noticed frequently that it 

 does, although it does not need any 

 smoke. 



A rust is its worst enemy, which 

 will not attack it unless it gets root 

 bound and stunted. The heliotrope 

 grows finely in a temperature of 50 

 degrees, but will not endure the slight- 

 est frost. There are constantly new 

 varieties being sent out, a few good 

 ones are: 



LE CID: Semi-dwarf, robust, large 

 panicles, mauve, with clear white eye. 



LE POITEVINE: Great size, mauve, 

 violet and azure; very free and con- 

 tinuous in bloom. 



THE GIANT: Enormous panicle of 

 bloom, color a rosy violet, white eye. 



CAMELEON: Bright blue, large 

 panicles and florets. 



ALBERT DELAUX: Pretty varie- 

 gated foliage, purple flowers. 



WHITE LADY: The best of the 

 white or light varieties. 



HIBISCUS. 



The species we see in the green- 

 houses is H. rosa-sinensis and its vari- 

 eties. They are hardly a florist's 

 plant, yet their bright, shining leaves 

 and showy, brilliant flowers make 

 them desirable for the private conserv- 

 atory. 



They thrive in any good, coarse 

 loam, with some well rotted manur? 



