5o6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 513. 



to cover the fence ; but as one was desired which could be 

 pruned closely into a formal compact hedge, none appeared to 

 meet the requirements, at least among those whose hardiness 

 in this climate was not more or less doubtful.* A careful 

 examination of the woody growth upon my lot revealed the 

 presence of a very respectable nucleus for the collection which 

 I proposed to make, the specimens marked for preservation 

 numbering nearly two dozen species. Most of the trees were 

 seedlings or of but a few years' growth, while none were more 

 than thirty years old, the largest — the tall Scrub Pines before 

 mentioned — having grown from a road constructed and used 

 during the war. Adjacent unimproved grounds yielded about 

 fifteen additional species, so that I had already at hand sixteen 

 species of trees, eleven of shrubs and nine of woody climbers 

 before recourse was had to the nurseryman. 



With the exception of one Gordonia Altamaha and one 

 Catalpa speciosa, nothing was purchased for the collection 

 until the autumn of 1891, when a considerable number of spe- 

 cies not obtainable in the neighborhood were planted ; addi- 

 tions have been made each year, until there are now 

 established on the place more than 130 woody plants which 

 are native to the country east of the Mississippi River and 

 south of the latitude of New York. Of these forty-eight are 

 trees, fifty-seven shrubs and twenty-seven woody climbers. 

 The number of herbaceous species is unknown to me, but 

 these embrace many of the more interesting or beautiful kinds, 

 as Lilium superbum- and L. Grayi, Trillium grandiflorum and 

 T. sessile, several Irises and Orchids, including Goodyera 

 pubescens and the rare Tipulana discolor, here locally com- 

 mon ; Lilies of-the-valley, from the mountains of North Caro- 

 lina ; Anemones, Buttercups, Violets, including the beautiful 

 Viola pedata ; several Erythroniums, Aquilegia Canadensis, 

 Dodecatheon Meadia, Dicentra eximia, and many Ferns. 

 Among the larger species the scarlet Hibiscus (H. coccineus), 

 perfectly hardy here, is most conspicuous. 



The number of species of trees may seem entirely dispro- 

 portioned to the area over which they are distributed, but with 

 very few exceptions the kinds selected do not attain a large 

 size, trees of small growth, as Hawthorns (four species), flow- 

 ering Crab, Flowering Dogwood, Hercules Club, etc., prevail- 

 ing ; hence it will be many years, if ever, before serious 

 overcrowding becomes evident ; and by judicious arrange- 

 ment ample space for lawn and continuous vistas are not 

 lacking. The shrubs are, of course, grouped or massed, and, 

 therefore, do not take up nearly the amount of room that 

 might be supposed. The vines, being supported by the trees, 

 do not require extra space, all the larger trees being utilized 

 for this purpose. The naturally bare trunks of the tall Pines 

 are densely covered with the evergreen foliage of the Cross- 

 vine (Bignonia capreolata), whose profusion of yellow and dark 

 crimson flowers, hanging in wreaths and festoons, in early 

 May glow brightly against their dark background. The same 

 elegant climber clothes two good-sized Catalpas (C. speciosa) 

 with its golden blossoms before the leaves of the trees are large 

 enough to hide them, the great white panicles of the Catalpa 

 appearing ten days to two weeks after the Bignonia has done 

 blooming. Two rather short and wide-spread Pine-trees grow- 

 ing close together support not only the Bignonia, but also a 

 Clematis Virginiana, which reaches to the topmost twigs. Other 

 trees, chiefly Pines, are decorated with vines of the Trumpet- 

 flower (two species or varieties), Wistaria frutescens, Celastrus 

 scandens, Supple-jack (Berchemia volubilis), climbing Hy- 

 drangea (Decumarea barbara), Ampelopsis cordata and Vir- 

 ginia Creeper. In fact, climbers, both woody and herbaceous, 

 have been used as freely as possible, not only on trees, but also 

 on the veranda and on fences, and my chief regret is that suit- 

 able supports cannot be found for more of them. 



Among the shrubs all the native wild Roses are repre- 

 sented, including the Cherokee Rose (here quite hardy and 

 evergreen), trained over a rustic gateway, and several scandent 

 clumps of the beautiful Prairie Rose, to my tasle the most ex- 

 quisite of all single Roses. All the Azaleas are likewise estab- 

 lished, as well as Rhododendron Catawbiense and theRhodora ; 

 but among them all there is no more charming shrub than 

 Chionanthus Virginica, with its fragrant, lace-like flowers, or 

 the graceful, wand-like Neviusia Alabamensis. 



Unquestionably the finest trees in my collection are the 

 even dozen Flowering Dogwoods (Cornus florida), all of which, 

 with one exception, grew naturally from seed on the premises. 



* Possibly the Carolina Jessamin (Gelsemium sempervirens), which has thus far 

 proved hardy on my place, might answer, although its sin til narrow leaves are 

 against the probability that it would prove satisfactory even it it would stand severe 

 pruning. To those who prefer a vine-covered fence to a hedge of the usual kind 

 the matter is well worth experiment, and 1 would suggest not only the above- 

 named climber, but also several of the Green-briers, especially the evergreen and 

 lower-growing species. Bignonia capreolata will not answer, its growth being too 

 rampant, the same being true of the Virginia Creeper. 



It is the only tree that has been duplicated except Catalpa 

 speciosa and Aralia spinosa (of which three and two, respec- 

 tively, have been allowed), and I would far rather materially 

 reduce the number of species than sacrifice one of my Dog- 

 woods. Having plenty of room, they have grown into wide- 

 spreading symmetrical trees, and in earlyspring are masses of 

 white bloom, one tree having flowers averaging nearly four 

 inches across. The only Dogwood-tree not grown on the place 

 is one of the pink-flowered variety, obtained from Meehan. This 

 has proved to be all that has been claimed for this variety. 

 Among other trees for which space has been found is the 

 American Smoke-tree (Cotinus Americanus), much inferior in 

 bloom to the European species, but equaled by no other tree 

 of my acquaintance in the brilliancy ot its autumnal coloring, 

 its large oval leaves turning bright scarlet and orange. The 

 Hercules Club (Aralia spinosa) is one of the prizes of my 

 collection ; it is decidedly more beautiful, both in habit, foliage 

 and flower, than the Chinese form, yet not a single specimen 

 can be found in the parks of Washington, where its' foreign 

 relative has been considered worthy of a place. Our Aralia is, 

 with the exception of Catalpa speciosa and perhaps two or 

 three of the Magnolias, the most tropical-looking of all our 

 trees, and is of exceedingly rapid growth. 



Among the discouraging disappointments and various back- 

 sets which have attended my horticultural efforts maybe men- 

 tioned the loss by drought of all my Andromedas, Kalmias, 

 Rhododendrons, Stuanias, Gordonia Altamaha, Hydrangea 

 quercifolia and many other of my choicest shrubs and young 

 trees ; the yearly blighting and disfigurement of the coral 

 Honeysuckles by aphides and defoliation of wild Clematis by 

 bugs ; the ruin of the Robinias, especially the two arborescent 

 species, by borers, while borers of another kind have de- 

 stroyed, one by one, about half of the large Pine-trees ; the 

 stems of Euonymuses and Celastrus are encrusted with bark 

 lice, just as they have attained a luxuriant growih, and they 

 probably will have to be cut down and burnt ; the larvae of 

 June-bugs have made havoc with the lawn, while the beetles 

 themselves have mutilated the foliage of the young Oaks ; 

 rose-beetles last May utterly destroyed the unusually abundant 

 blossoms of several large shrubs and of a Washington Thorn 

 before they could make any show ; all my Hawthorns and flow- 

 ering Crab are infested with the Cedar fungus ; Cypripedium 

 spectabile will not bloom for me — the roots live and the leaves 

 appear each spring, but before any flowers appear the stem 

 rots off close to the ground ; and the seeds of many herba- 

 ceous plants (Lobelia cardinalis among the number), repeat- 

 edly sown, refuse to germinate. Again, dealers persist in 

 sending me what I do not order, so that my Sweet-shrub turns 

 out to be another species with ill smelling flowers, though 

 finer foliage (Calycanthus laevigatus), Lonicera flava becomes 

 the yellow-flowered variety of L. sempervirens or else L. 

 glauca, Cocculus Carolinus invariably puts out leaves of 

 Menispermum Canadensis, and even Trillium grandiflorum 

 comes up an unattractive Siberian plant for which I have 

 no use. 



Some things, however, have grown with a rapidity that is sur- 

 prising, a Catalpa speciosa being the most remarkable example. 

 This was discovered by accident in the fall of 1890, a natural seed- 

 ling of that year, quite hidden by weeds and coarse grass of 

 the then uncleared ground. In 1892 it bore two large panicles 

 of flowers, and each succeeding year an increased number, the 

 last two or three years producing a full crop of its showy 

 and individually beautiful blossoms. It is now a sturdy tree 

 twenty-two feet high, with a spread of twenty feet and a trunk 

 girth of two feet. 



Transplanting has been done both spring and fall, but the 

 latter is beyond question the best season in this climate for 

 most trees and shrubs. Such work has, however, frequently 

 been carried on nearly throughout the winter, whenever the 

 weather and condition of the ground were suitable ; and one 

 of the largest deciduous trees on the place, a Black Locust 

 (Robinia Pseudacacia), was taken up from the woods and 

 replanted January 16th, 1891. The great benefit of cultivating, 

 manuring and (in summer) mulching around trees and shrubs 

 has been very evident, specimens thus treated having in the 

 same time grown far more rapidly than olhers of the same 

 kind around which the grass was allowed to grow. Each 

 spring, in March, a circle nearly equal to the ambitus in the 

 case of the smaller trees, but of less extent for the larger ones, 

 is carefully dug up round the base, and given a covering sev- 

 eral inches deep of well-rotted cow-manure. In watering dur- 

 ing verv dry seasons a basin is made around each tree and 

 filled from the hose, allowing the water to sink in and then 

 refilling, until the earth about the roots is well saturated. The 

 soil is then drawn back and covered with a light mulching of 



