January, 1908 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



293 



A Hedge Plant for Dry South- 

 western Gardens 



A PRIVET hedge in good condition is a 

 source of constant satisfaction to its 

 owner, but woe to the Texan who hies himself 

 away to the seashore or the mountains and 

 returns home with the autumnal equinox! 

 He is likely to find that his "yard man" has 

 departed to the cotton fields; his lawn, which 

 he had foolishly kept sprinkled throughout 

 the spring and thus brought the grass roots 

 to the surface, parched and brqwn; his rose- 

 bushes drying up; and his beloved hedge 

 scraggly and leafless from the summer 

 drought. The roses will be all the better for 

 their rest, the lawn will come out again after 

 the first rain, but the hedge will likely remain 

 unsightly all during the winter. The same 

 thing is true in even greater degree of a hedge 

 of Euonymus Japonica, while arborvitae 

 and honeysuckle are both too rampant to use 

 about small town lots. So we have been 

 searching florists' catalogues and garden 

 magazines most industriously for an ever- 

 green hedge plant that will stand a Texas 

 summer without irrigation — very much 

 after the manner of those good people in the 

 Middle Ages who refused to look through 

 Galileo's telescope, because, forsooth, truth 

 was only to be ascertained by the comparison 

 of manuscripts. 



One day a college professor from the East 

 told us that when he built a Texas home he 

 was going to surround his garden with a 

 hedge of chaparral or Algerita berry 

 (Berberis trijoliata). This sounded very nice, 

 but college professors are apt to dream 



dreams. How did he know that it would 

 transplant easily ? We ourselves have trans- 

 planted forty-four plants of our native moun- 

 tain laurel {Sophora secundiflora) and they 

 are all dead; and we have had the same 

 experience with the common mountain cedar. 

 And would it bear pruning ? So we waited for 

 the college professor to build his home and 

 plant his hedge and in the meantime amused 

 ourselves reading beautifully written and 

 gorgeously illustrated articles in Country Life 

 in America on how to grow rhododendrons 

 and peonies and asters, because we knew that 

 no one could grow these things in this climate 

 and we loved to look for " blue roses." 



But one day we were motoring along the 

 Shell Road that follows the curves of the 

 bluff overlooking beautiful Corpus Christi 

 Bay. Our California friend was saying, 

 " Yes sir, in all my travels I have never seen 

 a land for which the Almighty had done so 

 much and man so little. What do you want 

 to give these people irrigation for? They 

 won't plant the things they can grow without 

 water." We interrupted him with a little 

 cry of delight and ordered the chauffeur to 

 slow up, for there before our very eyes, every 

 leaf unmistakably distinct in the brilliant 

 August sunshine, was a chaparral hedge. 



We were gratified to learn, after the Cali- 

 fornian's rebuke, that this hedge had been 

 planted by a Texas lady, and that the idea 

 came to her spontaneously. "It is six or 

 seven years old," she told us, "and we 

 planted it in the month of January, 1900 or 

 1 90 1. I took my Mexican yard man out 

 into the chaparral on the rise of the Nueces 

 Bay, and directed him what plants to dig up, 

 choosing those of uniform medium size. He 

 chopped the tops back to a height of about 

 eighteen inches. He had a trench dug ready 

 to receive the plants, and we placed them 

 a little deeper than they stood formerly, and 

 about eighteen inches apart. We watered 

 it well when planting and afterward until it 

 was established, and all the plants came out 

 beautifully in the spring, not one dying. The 

 hedge can be trimmed in any shape desired, 

 and is useful in more ways than one. From 

 the berries that we gather from it each year 

 we make a delicious jelly, of pretty color." 



The Algerita berry is a dwarfish evergreen 



In the arid portions of the Southwest chaparral (Berberis trifoliata.) maKes a hedge which looKs well all the time 



The dense foliage, stiff branches and tough spiny 

 leaves combine to make a good defensive hedge 



shrub of remarkable hardiness. It thrives 

 in the most sun-baked, rocky soil, in shade 

 or full sunshine, but responds also to good 

 treatment and less strenuous conditions. 

 The small yellowish blossoms which cover the 

 bush in early spring are of a delicious fra- 

 grance. The berries are of a beautiful bright 

 red color and are borne in great profusion. 

 The fruiting branch of the bush bears a 

 close resemblance to holly. The tough 

 spininess of the leaves makes the plant 

 especially useful as a defensive hedge. 

 Texas. Anita M. Miller. 



The Southerner's Reminder 



JANUARY is the best month of the year 

 J for making plans and ordering garden 

 and farm seed which is needed for spring 

 and summer sowing, for during this month 

 the seedsmen are not so busy and therefore 

 your order will be filled with just exactly 

 what you want without delay. And when 

 planting-time comes, you will be ready. 



Pay a fair price for your seed, so as to get 

 the best quality. Cheap seed is dear at any 

 price. Do not depend on the free Govern- 

 ment seed sent out by your representatives 

 to make your vegetable and flower gardens, 

 for second or third class seed will not grow 

 good vegetables or fine flowers. 



The new improved varieties of flowers and 

 vegetables are the best to plant, even if they 

 do cost a little more. You will find them to 

 be worth very much more than the old un- 

 improved varieties. 



Sow seed of pansy, daisy, verbena, petunia, 

 carnation and forget-me-not now in boxes 

 of rich soil in the house or in hotbeds. These 

 will be in flower about the last of March if 

 properly cared for. Sow sweet-pea seed in 

 the open ground early in January for flowers 

 in March. 



Seeds of turnip, beet, carrot, parsnip, 

 mustard, kale and spinach, if sown early 

 this month, will be ready for use in February 

 and March. 



