108 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1915 



ground to prevent heaving and thawing, and the leaves themselves 

 are not injured by the cold, yet in mid-April the stem is found to 

 be decayed and the crown no longer alive. On a dry sandy north 

 slope, or one that has little direct winter sun, they need no covering, 

 and are sure to pull through the winter safely, whether it be "open" 

 or "hard." Inverted soap boxes are a great help over Hollyhocks 

 and Foxgloves, but too often they are light-proof and blanch the 

 leaves; these need to be made more tough rather than tender like 

 celery. 



wL A very light covering of very coarse hay or boughs of ever- 

 ^^ green trees will keep off the winter sun and allow a free circula- 

 tion of air to keep the foliage dry. You will be surprised to find how 

 little covering is needed for safety, provided that drainage, at the 

 surface and below, is what it should be. Winter sun and drying 

 winds are hard upon the leaves when the ground below is frozen 

 and the sap in the roots is not running. Then they need shade 

 rather than protection from the cold; in fact, cold would save them, 

 for it is the heat of winter that they cannot endure. 



Some plants, as Madonna Lily, Oriental Poppy, Eremurus, 

 Spanish Iris, and spring bulbs, grow at the top during mild spells 

 in winter; while as for others like Sweet Violets (Viola odorata) — 

 the less covering you can give them the better they will be in the 

 spring. Keep boards and heavy things off such plants as these, 

 for a loose light garment may be as warm as a close heavy one, 

 and far safer and more comfortable to wear. 



» Do not be in too great a hurry to cover up the hardy border! 

 ^^ Wait at least till after the ground has begun to freeze in Decem- 

 ber and let the plants remain frozen all winter under their cover- 

 ings; it is soon enough to uncover them in late March, but you must 

 know your own local climate variations. Cover lightly, with straw, 

 leaves, or evergreen boughs, and remember that unless the plants 

 are absolutely hidden below ground that heavy coats of manure or 

 boards will cause fermentation which is a worse evil for the herbs 

 than frost or sun. Do not cover where a covering is not needed, 

 for all such spoil the garden effect, and we wish to walk in the garden 

 even in winter. So, too, we will not remove the stalks and seed 

 pods, for even these are of interest, and remind us of past glories. 

 They help to shelter from sun and frost and need not be cleared 

 away until spring. A garden all tidied up in autumn and smothered 

 with manure and hay is entirely devoid of all interest until wakened 

 by spring. Nor is this labor at all necessary; there are plenty of 

 plants that never think of succumbing to winter hardships, and 

 with a little forethought a border can be planned that will be prac- 

 tically indestructible. 



Only those herbs grown in beds and borders ever need any winter 

 care at all; and the really doubtful ones should have a corner by 

 themselves for special treatment. The herbs of the marsh garden, 

 the rock garden, and in the general wild planting in the grass and 

 among the shrubs may be safely left to Nature. If any succumb, 

 take the hint and plant elsewhere, if at all. The garden herbs that 

 fail are for the most part forced into that behavior by unsuitable 

 site or soil, rather than by the cold of winter. Build your garden 

 well at start, and fear not the rigors of winter. 



Stephen F. Hamblin. 



£ IS IT A fact that the dahlia has a firmer hold on its devotees 

 ^^ than most other popular garden flowers? The interested ama- 

 teur was very much in evidence at the recent New York exhibition 

 of the American Dahlia Society. In contrasting the amateur in- 

 terest in America and Europe, England particularly, it has become 

 an almost stereotyped form for us to say that in visiting an English 

 flower show it is quite an ordinary thing to see the visitors busy 

 with their pencils and note books, taking down both names and 

 varieties and placing orders. In this country it is generally sup- 

 posed that people do not do these things; yet there, at the Dahlia 

 Show, we saw hundreds of people busy with their note books, more 

 busy indeed than at any other flower show that has been hejd in the 

 metropolis. 



Why has th: dahlia this remarkable and exceptional fascination? 

 The people who came to see were not mere curiosity hunters; many 



of them were experts in a greater or less degree. They knew the 

 varieties, they knew what to look for; and yet the dahlia is not 

 supposed to be nearly so popular as the rose or chrysanthemum. 



JE SPECIAL flower societies, as they have been called — organiza- 

 ^^~ tions devoted to the development of one particular flower — 

 offer a great field for increasing the general interest of the amateur, 

 provided that that class is given inducements to take part in the 

 activities of the organizations. Perhaps that is the secret of the 

 Dahlia Society. A similar keen interest and insight into varieties 

 was also noticed among the amateurs who attended the exhibition 

 of the Gladiolus Society at Newport a month before. It is note- 

 worthy that both these flowers are outdoor garden flowers, although 

 neither of them is actually hardy. Other special flower societies 

 have taken under their aegis flowers that have become more or 

 less commercialized as florists' products under glass — the rose, 

 the chrysanthemum, the carnation, the sweet pea. Pity 'tis, in- 

 deed, that the development of the larger interest should have seem- 

 ingly swamped the more popular possibilities and which perhaps, 

 in the long run, are much better calculated to broaden the general 

 appeal of the plant or flower. 



£ THE phenomenal development of the garden club movement 

 ^^ is, in itself, suggestive of the importance of the horticultural 

 attitude. If we look back four or five years and mark how new 

 clubs have been organized in all parts of the country within that 

 time, we can appreciate something of the potent influence at work 

 which will surely have a very great effect upon the progress of 

 American horticulture. The members of the garden clubs are 

 wonderfully earnest in their search for actual facts. They demand 

 the best information that is available, and their influence is being 

 held in no small way in bringing up with a very sharp turn the self- 

 satisfied florists and nurserymen, and seedsmen for that matter, 

 who may have taken the attitude that anything was good enough 

 for the uninformed public. They now find that their public is no 

 longer uninformed, and the reaction is showing itself very strikingly 

 in the manner in which the modern catalogues are prepared. 



^k AT THIS season there is indeed a plethora of one flower exhib- 

 ^^ its. The ubiquitous chrysanthemum is everywhere. Nothing 

 can take its place at this time of the year. Coming to us from 

 Japan, it has been so improved by the Western cultivators that the 

 little, white, daisy-like flower of China (from which country Japan 

 merely adopted it) has passed into such a high state of perfection 

 that we no longer have to go to its adopted country to see its best 

 development. Indeed, the American, European and Australian 

 breeders, especially the last named, have so far outstripped the 

 Japanese in the improvement of this little flower that it is now our 

 fortune to see outside of Japan better chrysanthemums by far than 

 those that can be seen in Japan. Indeed, the Japanese gardeners 

 are now importing their improved varieties! 



The chrysanthemum as we know it and use it to-day is, however, 

 a hybrid — the product of the white-flowered Chinese for m and the 

 yellow-flowered Indian species. It is from the white-flowered 

 species that we get the hardiness; but the wonderful range of color 

 and brilliancy, for which we so much admire this queen of the 

 autumn, is introduced through the influence of the tender Indian 

 flower — the counterbalancing influence. The addition of variety 

 and intensity of color is bought at the expense of absolute hardiness. 



4 THERE will be no quarantine on chestnut nursery stock, the 

 Federal Horticultural Board having determined that it seems 

 better to let chestnut planting proceed without regard to the 

 chestnut bark disease. The disease spreads slowly and oppor- 

 tunity has already existed for several years for the distribution of 

 this disease in small quantities to areas where extensive new plant- 

 ings of chestnut are being inaugurated. 



