Making the Best of It—srepuen F. ame 
II. 
Massa- 
9 chusetts 
Plants that will Grow in Heavy Clay 
[ EDITOR’S NoTtE.—This series of articles, each one dealing with the possibilities of decided soil types, and the plants that 
will thrive there, is full of encouragement. By giving a little thought and selecting the plants that are adapted to conditions, 
a really presentable garden is possible almost anywhere. | 
O PLACE can more tax one’s 
ingenuity as a gardener than a 
site of heavy clay loam. Always 
there is something the matter, 
and nine tenths of the usual hardy per- 
ennials will refuse to thrive in it. First 
of all there is poor drainage, winter and 
spring the soil is saturated and the 
plants that survive the winter are 
sturdy indeed. Then the soil can’t be 
worked until late in the season, it is cold 
and sticky, and as soon as it begins to 
dry out it gets full of lumps. You can’t 
manage it by the accepted ways of gar- 
den treatment, and by the time it is 
worked into shape it is as dry as dust 
on top and solid underneath as a brick. 
And summer rains and water from the 
hose soak down about an inch and that 
is all. Drowned in winter and over- 
baked in summer, how can a plant get 
energy for growth and flowers? 
DRAINAGE ESSENTIAL 
First of all, remove all surplus winter 
moisture by tile drains below and a 
slight slope to the soil surface; get rid 
of standing winter water in any way 
that you can. Then plow and cultivate 
the area in vegetables at least two 
years, add humus, sand, cinders, any- 
thing to help keep the surface layer of 
soil open; but after all you have done 
the clay is still there, wet and cold in 
winter, and dry and hard in summer. 
But not a few plants rather like such 
obstacles as these and surprise you by 
crowding out their neighbors. So if you 
choose carefully you may plan even a 
successful formal garden on soil too 
heavy for a farmer to attempt veg- 
etables, even cabbages. 
Most of our effort will be for flower- 
ing herbs, for shrubs and trees have a 
better chance to get their roots below 
surface conditions of soil. But in an 
Of all the conspicuously flowered perennials, the old 
German Iris leads in general adaptability to poor 
soils : 
extreme case of “heavy” soil even these 
must be chosen carefully. So for ever- 
green trees the limit of last endurance 
is withstood by Arborvitae (Thuya oc- 
cidentalis) either in the wild form or in 
its many garden varieties. Large decid- 
uous trees that tolerate a clay bed are 
the Hickories, especially the Pignut 
(Carya glabra), Bitternut (C. cordi- 
Rugosa Rose has many claims to popularity, not the 
least being its brilliant fruit effects in winter. Grows 
anywhere 
formis), and Shagbark (C. ovata) ; sev- 
eral oaks, notably the Swamp White Oak 
(Quercus bicolor), and Bur Oak (Q. 
macrocarpa) ; and for temporary effects 
several Poplars and Willows, as Cotton- 
wood (Populus deltoides) and White 
Willow (Salix alba). 
POSSIBILITIES IN SHRUBS 
There are many shrubs that have 
roots which can bore through heavy 
clay, as many of the Honeysuckles 
(Lonicera), Viburnums, Dogwoods 
(Cornus), the species usually carried 
in nurseries, the native wild Roses, and 
some of the Spireas, particularly the 
native Spiraea tomentosa and S. lati- 
folia; but you will have little success 
with the more refined garden shrubs as 
Weigela, Deutzia, Hypericum, Phila- 
delphus, and the Heath Family. Even 
Ramanas Rose (Rosa rugosa) does well 
in a compact soil, it’s only a wild rose 
and will grow anywhere, for no soil in 
America is more discouraging than that 
of its native home. Try its many hy- 
brids if you wish garden roses in sum- 
mer, and forget your desire for Hybrid 
Tea Roses. The Memorial Rose (R. 
Wichuraiana) can penetrate any soil, 
and so can the Ramblers that have 
sprung from it (Dorothy Perkins, Lady 
Gay, Farquhar, Hiawatha, etc.), but 
Crimson Rambler will quit the job, for 
its little black roots soon get discour- 
aged. 
No evergreen shrubs or perennials 
164 
can be expected to stand the strain. 
Oh, yes, Thread Lily (Yucca filamen- 
tosa) will stay if you don’t ask it to 
swim every winter. Its roots can bur- 
row through any soil, and though it may 
not flower as well as in a more open soil 
it will be a landmark among the sleep- 
ing perennials in winter. 
YOU CAN HAVE IRIS 
In heavy garden soil that is in none 
too good condition many species of Iris 
grow remarkably well and hold their 
foliage all summer after blooming. The 
‘Siberian Iris (Iris sibirica) and its 
white form, and its later sister (I. san- 
guinea), usually called Iris sibirica var. 
orientalis, and the white Snow Queen, 
and the other garden forms of the two 
species are perfectly contented in soil 
as hard and dry as a road. These are 
the most patient plants in the border; 
nothing ever discourages them; even 
when mice eat away their crowns in 
winter they come forth with plenty of 
new leaves and even a few flowers that 
season. Some of the other beardless 
Irises may agree to stay in hard soil, 
but the lordly Japanese Iris (1. laevi- 
gata) simply will not! 
The German Iris will grow very well, 
notably the old sorts, as the “old pur- 
ple” (1. Kochii), the “old blue Flag” 
(I. germanica), and the “old yellow” 
(I. flavescens), though many of the 
named kinds will stay also. Particular 
mention must be made of the merits of 
the Great Turkey Flag (1. pallida) and 
its fine varieties dalmatica and speciosa. 
These are the giants among Iris, and the 
stout leaves are as good as Yucca 
foliage all summer. The little cousins 
of the German Iris, the dwarf Iris 
pumila and the new interregna hybrids, 
all have the same stout rootstock on top 
of the ground, and seem to care little as 
Among evergreens the Arborvitae is the limit of 
endurance under adverse conditions, and it comes in 
many garden forms 
