October 



1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



37 



o 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



rU ItLISHEO WKKKLX liV 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Triijune Building, New York. 



Conducted I'- 



Professor C. "A. Sakgeni-. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS ftLA.TrER AT THE l*OSr OFKICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, if 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



EuiroKiAi. Akmci-es; — The Artistic Aspect ii£ I'rc-es. IV.— Lait^e i'alms and 



other Tropical Plants ^7:; 



A View in Central Park, Minneapolis (with illustration) 374 



(.)n a Sand Ridge in California C L. Anda'son. Al.D. 374 



FoKEiGN CoKRESPONDENCE : — London Letter Win. Goldriiig. 375 



New ok Little Known Plants : — Rhododendron (Azalea) Vascyi (with illus- 

 tration) C. 5. i". 376 



CuLruKAL Departiment : — The Vegetable Garden /Fw. Falconer. 377 



Autumn A])ples '. E. iVMiams. 377 



Cannas 37S 



Chrysantheinnnis Arthur II. Fciokes. 378 



Gleichenias ]]'. H. Taplin yjq 



Orchid Notes — Kniphophia Coraltina — Oiina Asters 179 



The Fokest: — Forests in California. II 380 



CoRREsroNDENCE :— Ulllius effusa — Onteora Club— lUlrr Oaks 381 



Recent Publications 3S2 



Pkkiodical Literature 383 



ExiiiiiiTioNS : — Window Gardening- in lloston L. M. C. 3S3 



No lES 384 



Illustrations :— Rhododendron (Azalea) Vaseyi 377 



A View in Central Park, Minneapolis 379 



Tlic Artistic Aspects of Trees. — IV-". 



FORM, texture and color — these we have noted as the 

 three (]ualities to be considered when trees are studied 

 for their artistic vakie. 



If, ill ()rnaniental phuUino-, wc u.sed only the materials 

 which nature supplies in the neig'hbtirhood of our homes, 

 no one of these (jualities would seem of more intei-est in 

 the planter's eye than the others, or would offer him more 

 chances of making mistakes. But, as a result of the efforts 

 of tjenerations in introducing exotic species of trees and 

 in perpetuating casual natural eccentricities as well estab- 

 lished varieties, color has been brought into greater rela- 

 tive prominence in the nursery than it assumes in nature's 

 workshop. The planter is therefore more apt to be struck 

 by varieties of color than by those of form and te.xture ; 

 and as a rule thinks more of the effects which he can pro- 

 duce with them, and commits with them his most frequent 

 and conspicuous mistakes. If a true artist could always be 

 employed when a work of landscape gardening is in (ques- 

 tion, then the development of our numerous and striking 

 nursery varieties of color — which include tones of purpk, 

 red, blue, white, and especially yellow in a score of dif- 

 ferent degrees, and many striped and mottled effects as 

 well — might be counted wholly fortunate ; for, of course, 

 the wider the range of an artist's palette, the more numer- 

 ous will be the kinds of beauty he can produce. But 

 color is the most difficult of qualities to manage, the most 

 revengeful when managed wrongly ; and, in the hand of 

 the ordinary jdanters'the varied material of to-day means 

 merely a greater confusion of tints, a more painful degree 

 of unrest, spottiness and ugliness, than would have been 

 achieved had the materials from the neighboring woods 

 been adhered to. Too often, in small grounds especially, 

 it seems as though the aim had been to do away as far as 

 possible with medium green tones and to set upon a carpet 

 iif vivid emerald turf as many trees of strong eccentric 

 hue as could be collected. Even when the general tone of 

 the landscape is pretty well preserved and bright or \-arie- 

 gated trees and shrubs are used simply as accents here 

 and there, too little thought is given to placing them where 

 they will be emphatic yet not disturbing, too little to the 



question of their beauty as distinct from their mere novelty 

 or eccentricity. As a rule it is better to avoid striking 

 colors altogether and keep to the quiet medium tones of 

 green. These offer variety enough to satisfy a cultivated 

 eye in the majority of cases ; and if an emphatic note is 

 really needed, it can be supplied, where the general effect 

 is softly harmonious, by means of something less brilliant 

 than a Golden Poplar or a Purple Beech. Such trees as 

 these have their place in gardening art ; but an amateur's 

 eye is hardly the one which can be trusted to find it. For 

 the amateur, in short, the safest course is the best one to 

 follow, although it may not be the one which an artist will 

 always follow in his search for the highest an.d most indi- 

 vidual kinds of beauty. If a dull tree stands where a 

 bright one would have produced a better effect, we may 

 feel that a chance has been missed. But if a bright one 

 stands where harmony required a dull one, then we feel 

 that an actual sin against good taste has been committed. 

 The art of the gardener has likewise greatly increased 

 variety in the forms and in the te.xtures of trees, giving us 

 pyramidal and weeping shapes, and finely cut or fringed 

 foliage, in a perpetually increasing flood of "novelties." 

 Here again the amateur is apt to be seduced into thinking 

 that novelty means e.xcellence, that eccentricity means 

 charm ; is apt to plant what he selects without regard to 

 harmony of general effect, and to select in the interests of 

 curiosity rather than of a love for genuine beauty. And 

 here again it may be said that the safest course is the 

 wisest one to follow. Normal shapes can hardly be so 

 distressing, however they may be combined, as abnormal 

 ones are sure to be if there is the slightest error in their 

 combination. 



Of form it may, furthemiore, be said that a tree is not 

 well understood until it is understood in all the stages of 

 its growth. The typical shape of a young tree often dif- 

 fers very greatly from the typical shape of the same tree at 

 maturity, and this again from its typical shape in old age : 

 and, in planting, regard must be jiaid to the c|uestion 

 whether an immediate effect or a long-postponed effect 

 ought to be most considered. For example, a tree set in 

 isolation on a lawn in full view from the house ought to 

 be beautiful in youth and at the same time give promise til 

 beauty (perhaps of a different kind but still appropriate) in 

 later years ; whereas in planting a belt or wood in the dis- 

 tance, the principal trees should be so chosen that the\' 

 will look better and better the older they grow, while pre- 

 sent effect may be chiefly considered in others which are 

 destined to be cut as development progresses. 



Texture varies less with the passage of years than form. 

 Color is practically persistent year after year, but varies 

 from month to month ; and this fact should also be borne 

 in mind. There are some trees, like the Yellow-wood, for 

 instance, \yhich are of a medium tint in the middle of sum- 

 mer, but of a yellowish green in spring, and it is unwise to 

 place them where during a few weeks they will not look 

 well, even if later on they assume a harmonious hue. 

 Autumn effects should also be more carefully considereil 

 than they are : but to speak of the possibilities which are 

 open to an intelligent planter in this direction would re- 

 quire a long chapter instead of an incidental paragrai")h. 



Large Palms and other tropical plants grown in tubs or 

 huge pots are now often used in this country for the decora- 

 tion of the lawns of country places or of some of the 

 fashionable cemeteries, where costly glass-houses are 

 maintained on purpose to store these plants in winter. Xo 

 s)rstem of garden-decoration is more CKjiensive, while few 

 of the devices of motlern gardening are more dis]ileasing 

 or unsatisfactor)' in their results. Palms, with very few 

 exceptions, when placed out-of-doors in this climate soon 

 become shabby ; the foliage is torn and injured by the 

 slightest storm, and ha^■ing been produced in a damp aiul 

 shaded atmosphere, soon turns yellow when exposed to 

 the full blaze of the sun. But the most perfect specimen 

 looks out of place on one of our northern lawns. It injures 



