January, 1918 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



185 



several roots. They went into the ground in 

 April, one in a protected southwest corner and 

 the others where they are exposed to the north- 

 west wind. Not until June did any life show 

 above ground. Once up, the three in favorable 

 soil thrived mightily. Those in poorer soil never 

 reached a height of more than a foot, but the 

 three in favorable soil reached an average 

 height of fifteen feet by September, growing 

 straight up that distance without branching 

 or the slightest variance from the perpendic- 

 ular. Neighbor Lane so well described the 

 Vine last February that I will only say its 

 beauty fully justifies his enthusiasm. Next 

 June I will report whether the vines have 

 survived the winter. — Arthur McCausland, 

 New Jersey. 



The Climbing Hydrangea. — In this Jap- 

 anese climber, Hydrangea petiolaris, we have 

 one of the best vines for use on large wall 

 spaces and also on the trunks of large trees in 

 certain cases where the use of a vine would be 

 permissible. Although introduced to gardens 

 more than forty years ago, it is not so widely 

 known as it deserves to be; for certainly a 

 well established plant when in the glory of 

 full bloom is a most attractive subject and 

 compels admiration. It is perfectly hardy in 

 Massachusetts and seems to grow well in any 

 aspect, although the maximum amount of 

 flower is produced only in the full sun. The 

 main stems cling closely to the support by 

 means of Ivy-like roots, the rate of growth 

 being moderate, though eventually attaining 

 forty or fifty feet in height. In this locality 

 the plant is at its best about the end of June 

 and a fine showing is made by the large, flat 

 clusters of white flowers. These clusters 

 are eight inches or more in diameter with 

 comparatively few sterile flowers, but still 

 sufficient to make them very conspicuous. 

 The foliage is pleasing all through the season 

 and apparently free from the attacks of insect 

 pests, which is not the least of its merits. The 

 photograph shows a flourishing specimen 

 planted more than thirty years ago on the 

 south side of a church. — H. E. Downer, 

 Northampton, Mass. 



English Material for American Gardens? — 

 If I have a criticism of The Garden Maga- 

 zine it is this: that often one finds, in the 

 same or consecutive numbers articles on, say, 

 bulb growing or vegetable gardening (in- 

 tensive), advice of conflicting nature which, 

 to say the least, is somewhat confusing to the 

 amateur who is not always able to sift the 

 wheat from the chaff and consequently in 

 despair "gangs his ain gait" with indifferent 

 results. A suggestion is to obtain and pub- 

 lish accounts and pictures of well known 

 English gardens, with latest English methods 

 as adapted for use on this continent. These 

 would help to fill in during the summer when 

 apparently'it is not easy to obtain interesting 

 copy. The advertisements are good and use- 

 ful, but here again it is not always easy to 

 sift, though I believe one does not go far 

 wrong if one discards those which pretend 

 to offer bargains and relies on those whose 

 prices seem, but are not, high. — H. L. Mac- 

 Calbane, Ontario, Can. 



— Gardening is not an "exact science;" only 

 the principles are universal; practice will, 

 nay must, vary with the individual, and 

 therein lies, to a great extent, the alluring 

 charm of gardening. But what may seem to 

 be conflicting advice, may not be so at all on 

 a careful analysis of the conditions of the two 

 cases. The beginner will always find some 



problems to solve; even the most expert 

 gardener has new experiences from time to 

 time. We try our best to teach the bed rock 

 facts of gardening, applied to American con- 

 ditions by experience, and we fear that our 

 correspondent's confusion would be worse 

 confounded by filling our pages with foreign 

 articles. The disastrous history of early 

 gardening in America is largely due to the 

 effort to copy English garden material in a 

 climate where it does not fit. The effort was 



foredoomed to failure, only the early gar- 

 deners did not know it. This generation 

 does. — Ed. 



Sweet Corn, and "Sweet" Corn. — In The 

 Garden Magazine for last March you pub- 

 lished an article "Which Sweet Corn and 

 Why" which, in spite of its many excel- 

 lencies, I think is somewhat confusing, and 

 may lead many amateurs or beginners to waste 

 another whole season trying to get sweet corn 



Is there a more handsome flowering hardy woody vine than the Climbing Hydrangea? (H. petiolaris) Self-supporting 



and attains a height of nearly 50 feet 



