90 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1917 



The Sundew (Drosera intermedia) an insectivorous plant 

 which traps flies, etc., with its glandular hairs 



Making a Bogplant Soil 



' I *HE mixture to go in the bog garden is 

 •*■ preferably one that has come out of a 

 Cranberry or natural bog — muck, twigs, 

 water, slime and all. From such a mixture a 

 host of very interesting bog plants will spring 

 up the first year and these may be isolated in 

 clumps after the first season. A good plan 

 when following this procedure is to let the 

 inner part of the bog "run wild," clearing a 

 strip of a foot or two all round the edges, for 

 the cultivation of species needing, for exhi- 

 bition purposes, more open spaces. Provision 

 should be made, either in this strip or in any 

 other open place in the bog for two things, (i) 

 A place where only sand and peat soil, mixed 

 about half and half, is found, to be used for 

 certain plants that are described in the lists 

 following: and, (2) some small space of 

 practically open water where the very interest- 

 ing Bladder-worts may be grown. The latter 

 situation can be made by scooping out the 

 muck for a few inches, filling in with sand and 

 peat soil, leaving about five to six inches 

 depth of water. 



For those who cannot get muck from natural 



The Pitcher plant catches insects in the leaf-like pitchers 

 and feeds on them. Plant shown in bluom 



bogs a soil can be mixed of leafmold, sand, and 

 twigs and leaves of the Oaks or of Mountain 

 Laurel or Rhododendron refuse. Guard against 

 getting the mixture too heavy and clayey. 

 Sand and plenty of twigs and leaves of the 

 species mentioned will lighten up the mixture 

 — leafmold makes it more heavy. 



Plants For the Bog Garden 



TV/I ANY bog plants are very showy and 

 ■*• worth cultivation because of this. 

 Others, such as the insectivorous kinds, are 

 among the most wonderful plants in nature, 

 for they have the unique distinction of being 

 able to digest animal matter directly, a habit 

 otherwise unknown in all the realm of vege- 

 table life. The devices for catching and keep- 

 ing unwary insects are ingenious beyond the 

 imagination of most of us. Darwin's "In- 

 sectivorous Plants" is more fascinating than 

 any fairy tale. 



Many bog plants are necessarily omitted 

 from the following list, and it should be re- 

 membered that a number of purely swamp 

 species, not mentioned here, can also be grown 

 in bogs. The delight of a bog garden lies in 

 the fact that many, very many, of the bog 

 plants may be collected in the wild and trans- 

 planted. For those who cannot collect there 

 are dealers who specialize in water plants. 



SHRUBS FOR BACKGROUND EFFECTS 



Rhodora {Rhododendron canadense), purple 

 flowers before the leaves in April and May, 

 3 to 5 ft- 



Swamp Azalea (Azalea viscosa) white or pink 

 flowers after the leaves in May or June, 

 5 to 8 ft. 



Sheep Laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), purplish- 

 pink flowers, summer, 1 to 2 ft. Also 

 Kalmia glauca in northern regions. 



Leather Leaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), 

 small whitish flowers along one side of the 

 branches, May, 1 to 2 ft. 



Labrador Tea {Ledum . latifolium), white 

 flowers in terminal clusters; leaves russet- 

 brown below, 2 to 5 ft. 



Wild Rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), droop- 

 ing white flowers, early spring, leaves 

 silvery below. Under 2\ ft. 



Creeping Snowberry (Chiogenes hispidula), 

 prostrate, with tiny white flowers and snow 

 berries. Leaves dark, evergreen. 



There are many others but those named are 

 the best for the temperate regions of the 

 United States. In the South many others are 

 to be found. 



PERENNIALS, GROWN CHIEFLY FOR THEIR 

 FLOWERS IN ANY OPEN PART OF THE BOG 



Water Arum (Calla palustris), a greenish- 

 flowered plant, having a conspicuous white 

 spathe. Showy and hardy. 



Calamus (Acorns calamus) sword-shaped 

 leaves and a fingerlike flower cluster; the 

 root is the medicinal calamus. 



Violet (Viola lanceolata), a delicate, very free 

 flowering violet with lance shaped leaves. 



Milkweed (Asclepias lancelota), a deep red 

 milkweed, very showy, and with smooth, 

 narrow leaves. 



Purple Marshlocks (Potentilla palustris), a 

 sprawling, rather rank bog plant with 

 purple flowers. 



Ditch Stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides), green- 

 ish-yellow flowers in curved spikes, summer. 



Golden Club (Orontium aquaticum), very early 

 flowering, and making a patch of gold in 

 March, or April. 



Several species of Closed Gentian can be grown only in 

 the bog garden 



Buckbean (Menyanthes trifoliata) , with three- 

 divided leaves and many conspicuous white 

 flowers is a valuable addition. 



Swamp Pink (Helonias bullata), flowering in 

 April to May, is our most conspicuous spring 

 bog flower. 



There are many Asters, Goldenrods, and 

 Eupatoriums that grow in bogs, as well as 

 some Gentians, but the bog species must be 

 collected from the wild. 



IN WET, SANDY PLACES 



Here must be grown all the species of Yellow- 

 eyed grass (Xyris), curious plants with long, 

 delicate, grasslike leaves and tiny heads of 

 yellow flowers. 

 Also species of Bunch-flowers (Eriocaulon) 



should be 

 grown here. 

 They are not 

 large, have 

 sword-shaped 

 leaves and 

 white, erect 

 heads not un- 

 like the ever- 

 lastings. 

 With these too, 

 must go the 

 M e a d o w 

 Beauty (dif- 

 ferent species 

 of Rhexia). 

 Beautiful 

 purplish- red 

 flowers. 

 All the plants in 

 this class and 

 the following 

 are to be had 

 from dealers 

 in bog plants 

 or collected 

 in the wild. 

 There are 

 others such 

 as Lophiola, 

 Abama, and 

 Zyadenus. 



IN OPEN WATER 



The Bladder- 

 worts are dif- 

 ferent species of Utricularia, some with purple 

 and some with yellow flowers, some floating on 

 the surface and supported by air-bladders, 

 others rooting near the edges of the pool. 





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Ladies' Tresses, a bog Orchid of slender 

 habit, flowers white 



