THE MISSION OF THE CONIFERS. 9 



lions, when the very character of our somber landscapes might 

 be changed, giving waves of health and healing to the air 

 and perennial freshness all around us, we pay so little heed to 

 them. 



A Winter Foliage Garden. 



A Winter Foliage Garden. — We lore to have a. rich variety 

 in summer. Each tree has an individuality. The effect of the 

 various shadings of color is always pleasing. Some have bril- 

 liant leaves of varnished green, others have a. softer tone. 

 Some have large leaves, and others very small ones. Among the 

 elms many of our natives show a. very rank and vigorous 

 growth, while the Japanese, the English, and the Scotch vari- 

 ■eties will have extremely delicate foliage. Some are of yel- 

 lowish green, others have so deep a color as to be almost blue. 

 The effect is enhanced it we have now and then a Silver Pop- 

 lar or a Russian Olive with its various shadings. 



In autumn our mountains and forests are gorgeous in their 

 brilliant robes, when all Nature goes into a carnival of display 

 before the sober Lent of winter. In planning our landscapes we 

 should always study autumn effect, so that, when our choice 

 summer flowers succumb to the frosts for a brief season, all 

 the trees around us should break forth in a wondrous profusion 

 of beauty. 



But who ever plans for a Winter Foliage Garden, thus mak- 

 ing beauty perennial, with charms that encircle the year? 

 When we study the individuality of our evergreens we are im- 

 pressed with the fact that there is a vast empire of attractive- 

 ness which is as yet hardly touched. J-<ive among these trees, 

 study them closely, and you will be delighted with their variety. 

 The rich and various colorings of our Rocky mountain trees 

 give effects unknown before, as though the great Horticulturist 

 had held in reserve the very choicest things with which to en- 

 rich our landscapes. Here we have a marvelous diversity in 

 form, in growth and foliage, which makes a. collection of Coni- 

 fers a perpetual joy. In the trying climate of the West we can- 

 not have so wide a range of variety as in the moister air of 

 the East. Trees from the northeastern states and the charm- 

 ing evergreens of Japan cannot endure our winter drouths, and 

 yet we do have n rich variety which will add much to our com- 

 fort and pleasure. 



Tastes differ: In the East I have seen men at great expense 

 move the Rocky mountain trees away from the native Ever- 

 e:reen, as though their presence was a contamination. You 

 can plant these choice trees together or you can have them in 

 groups. As, for instance, you can have a Rocky Mountain sec- 

 tion, a space devoted to our northern trees, and one to the tree.s 

 of Europe and Asia. In your winter garden what- an amazing 

 and rich diversity you will have! There are a dozen forms 

 and shades of foliage in the Douglas Spruce alone. This Is 

 true also of the Picea Pungens and Picea Engelmani. The Aus- 



