146 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



December, 1915 



Abies concolor, the best Fir for general ornamental plant- 

 ing, is one of the most beautiful of all Conifers 



and shrubs, coniferous or otherwise, will 

 thrive here we owe a lasting debt to the 

 arboreta, to the owners of estates, and to the 

 nurserymen who have labored in this field. 

 Much remains to be done; but enough has 

 been accomplished to enable us at least to 

 avoid some of the mistakes of the past. 



In the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Mass., 

 there is growing the largest collection of 

 species and varieties of Conifers to be 

 found anywhere on this continent, and for 

 more than forty years the work of getting 

 this collection together and developing it 

 has been continuously maintained. In 

 general it has been found that the Conifers 

 of northeastern North America, the Rocky 

 Mountains, northern, central and south- 

 eastern Europe, Siberia, northern China 

 and northern Japan, are hardy; that only 

 a few of the species of western North 





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Abies homolepis, in its native habitat (Japan) . attains a height of 100 feet and resembles 

 old specimens of the Cedar of Lebanon 



Pinus Thunbergii, the Japanese Black Pine; in habit it 

 differs from any other Pine 



America can be safely planted here; and 

 that those of the southern United States, 

 Mexico, Central America, southern China, 

 Formosa, the Himalayas, southeastern 

 Asia and the southern Hemisphere in total 

 are not hardy in New England. Further- 

 more, not all the varieties that are hardy 

 thrive equally well and many cannot with 

 confidence be recommended for purposes of 

 general landscape planting. The more 

 ornamental of those which the experience 

 of the Arnold Arboretum has proven to be 

 adapted to this climate I now propose to 

 cursorily mention. 



The Firs 



As a lawn tree and for ornamental planting gener- 

 ally, the best Fir and one of the most beautiful of 

 all Conifers is Abies concolor, native of the southern 

 Rockies from Pike's Peak in Colorado to the Shasta 

 Mountains in California 

 where it grows 250 feet 

 tall. The Colorado form 

 in particular is very 

 hardy, though rarely 

 found exceeding 100 feet 

 in height. It is a tree 

 of moderately rapid 

 growth, with leaves pale 

 gray-green on both sur- 

 faces and flat spreading 

 branches in tabuliform 

 tiers close set one above 

 the other, gradually di- 

 minishing in length from 

 the base to the summit. 

 The outline is conical 

 and the branches are 

 long retained, and on 

 trees forty years of age 

 sweep the ground and 

 promise to do so for 

 many years to come. 



A worthy companion 

 to A . concolor is the Jap- 

 anese A . homolepis, or A. 

 brachyphylla as it is more 

 usually called. In Japan 

 this tree grows 100 feet 

 tall and has massive 

 branches which form a 



Abies cilicica, with rigid, horizontally spreading, pointed 

 branches, is a native of the mountains of Asia Minor 



Chamaecyparis obtusa nana, dark green, of a decidedly 

 graceful outline, is perfectly hardy 



broad flattened or rounded head, and such trees in as- 

 pect resemble old specimens of the Cedar of Lebanon. 

 Young trees in habit resemble those of A. concolor, 

 but the branches are more narrow and tapering and 

 rather less densely arranged. The leaves are grass- 

 green above and silvery white below. These two 

 Firs are excellent companions, forming a striking 

 contrast in foliage, and to admit of their full de- 

 velopment they should be allowed a radius of not 

 less than twenty-five feet. 



In New England Abies cilicica from the moun- 

 tains of Asia Minor, A. Nordmanniana from the 

 Crimea and the Caucasus, and A. cephalonica from 

 Mount Enos in the Greece Archipelago are of about 

 equal value. Seldom do they thrive equally well 

 in the same locality, one or other usually having the 

 advantage. In Great Britain the Cilician Fir does 

 not thrive whereas the Nordmann Fir is one of the 

 most satisfactory. In appearance these handsome 



