^mm 





\s^-n 



LILACS IN LAWN 



AND LANDSCAPE 



"When florists try to boost their incoitus in fall and spriuff hi/ hattdliiu/ 

 hardij shruhhery, one of their prohlems is the selection of shrubs Unit fhrir> 

 in adverse conditions. In sitch endurance of hardship, f< tr f^lants r.rol tht 

 lilac, hut it deserves better treatment than it usually receives. 



Oi: KNOW the good-na- 

 tured man, don't you? He 

 is the man — surely you 

 liave met him — who is so 

 even-tempered, so accom 

 niodatinjT, so ])ea('eably in 

 clined, that inconsiderate 

 people imi»ose upon him. 

 They step on liis toes, 

 kick his shins and l»ump 

 roughly against him, literally and figu- 

 ratively, for they are sure he will not 

 retaliate. 



You know, also, the good iiaturcd 

 shrub, commonly called the lilac. It has 

 all the long-suffering patience of the 

 good-natured man. It is persistently 

 neglected and abused, just because it 

 is slow to resent such 

 treatment. It will cheer- 

 fully endure more hard- 

 ship than almost any other 

 plant. It has a wonderful 

 faculty of returning good 

 for evil. It will flourish 

 and bloom to a fairly sat- 

 isfactory degree in ex- 

 tremely' unfavorable con- 

 ditions; lienco these are 

 the conditions tliat are 

 ]irovided for it in a large 

 ](ioportion of cases. 



Give It a Chance. 



Now. the fact already 

 indicated, that the lilac 

 recompenses the gi'ower so 

 abundantly for so small iin 

 outl.My of effort or expense, 

 is a sutlieient reason foi' 

 its great jiojiularit >■ and a 

 suflicient reason for eoii- 

 tinuing to recommend it 

 t(i customers as one of the 

 most desirable of shrubs. 

 Many florists add a sub- 

 stantial sum 1(1 their fall 

 .'iiid s|)ritiL; yudtits by the 

 -;ale ot' shiubbery; prob- 

 ably othei lloristv might 

 do so if they pleased, iiiid 

 then- are few shrubs that 

 i-.'in be li:iii(lled witli more 

 s.afi'ty iitid satisfaci inn 

 than thf- lil.K , 



Hut wh\ Mill give the 

 lil;ic a fair eh;inee .' If ;i 

 tloi isl uot only sells shrub 

 bery. but iilso plants and 

 tends it, he iia^ a line o]! 

 l>ortunit\ to give a prae 

 tii-;il denionstr.'it ion of the 

 right meth<Mls. Rtit he 

 should no( neglect the lilac 

 and give all his attention. 



.'ill the gn(Ml <(l\], all the 



water and .all the 

 to the other shrul) 

 that the lilac is jh 

 care of itself. 



little special favors 

 , on the sup]>osition 

 i-fr'ctlv .-ible to take 



As Bad Habits Are Baffled. 



Undoubtedly, one of the imiiortant 

 points ill the cultivation of the common 

 lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is to keep the 

 suckers in subjeetion. These are often 

 consider<'d ;i great nuisance and a seri- 

 ous fault of the shrub, but, lik(> men's 

 bad haldts, they iire easily eoiKpiered 

 by cutting them out before they be- 

 come strong. Of course the suckers 

 sometimes sjuing up in multitudes and 

 must be controlled, for. if allowed to 

 multij)ly freely, they will so iibsorb the 



hr-^: 





•• -. Tk 



■^ ' 



-' -le> 



^ .' 



strength of the shrub or choke its growth 

 as to retard the jiroduction of blooms. 

 Hut the suckers do lud become formid- 

 able excejit when long ])ermitted to have 

 their way. It is an easy matter to cut 

 them out with a hoe when they are only 

 a few inclies high. 



In the case of the grafted varieties of 

 Syringa vulgaris, it m.-iy sometimes be 

 especially important to i)eware of suck- 

 ers, lest they insidiously usurp the place 

 of the grafts and take comjdete j)os- 

 session. But the truth is tliat the graft- 

 ed forms, when their growth is well es- 

 t.'iblished, siddom sucker badly, even 

 tluuigh S. vulgaris is used as the stock. 

 The suckers should be watched for, but 

 are not likely to be numerous. If crown 

 grafting has been used, 



the trouble with suckers 



has thus been r(>duced to a 

 mininiuni. 



If the suckers are sup- 

 pressed. ther(> is gtMierally 

 not much else that is need- 

 ed to keep the bushes in 

 sh;iiie. for lilacs ari' nat 

 II !■ a I 1 y ot' symmetrical 

 habit and need lint little 

 piiining. 



Points on Pruning. 



It i> 1 1 ue that tlun- may 



liecnine -;o (iN'ergroWU and 

 iing.iiiily as to need heroic 

 i-iittiiig li.ii-k. but such a 

 e<iiidit ion e;iii r(\sult only 

 I'loiii long <-(iMtiiiued and 

 utiri neglect. .\ll that 

 i-. iiec-essary, in most cases, 

 i^ til head back any run- 

 away shoots and reiiuive 

 .|i-;iil 111- weak wood. Such 

 ii-^ually should 

 .DOii after the 

 li;i\ 1- liiiished 

 >ii as not to de- 

 iii'Nt season 's 

 . .\t lliis time 

 trusses should 

 awav, lint onlv 



f ^ 





ii II 



lining 



In- di.llr - 

 s h I- II b s 

 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 i 11 :.; . 

 xiriiv tin 

 llnw er bllih 

 I 111' ile.'iii 

 .■lUi, Im- .-III 



tl 



^.•ik. 

 but al-ii 

 we;i keiiiii; 



lbs 



tor 

 all'- 

 (111- 

 sin 



lit' slT.js. 



A lew \Mi 

 111 \ elll II M'll 

 cnlllp.'irisiill 



\ iilii.aris am 



til. 



it appear- 

 Ill prevent 

 L of the 

 I iiiiii:it imi 



n 



I liiiiig 

 tins case 



nils it' III 



generally 



Ills may here 



li\ wav of 



between S. 



its hvbrids. 



cniMparisiiiis in 



iii;iy be i|;iiil;i'i 



it odiniis. It is 



agreed, among 



There Are Few Shrubs Equal to the Modern Lilac. 



mil 

 wh 



servineii 

 1 !ire be- 



a n d others 

 informed on 



