AuGusT, 1906 
being quite open and the whole is looked into 
directly instead of losing itself back of any 
trickily planted trees or shrubs; and the 
planting is different in both style and color 
scheme. The white variety of the Rugosa 
rose (No. tra), and the glowing carmine 
Eva Rathke weigela (No. 23) which blossoms 
in May and June, and occasionally during 
the summer, are massed against the silvery 
foliage of the blue cedar (Juniperus Vir- 
gimiana, var. glauca) (No. 22) an evergreen 
whose color keeps it from appearing as near 
to as it actually is. 
This, by-the-way, is a point about color in 
trees, shrubs, and perennials, which it is well 
to remember. Those of a silvery blue, 
purple, or bluish purple tone will always 
give an effect of apparent distance. To go 
to the artist once more for the reason, we find 
him using blues and purples freely when he 
wants ‘“‘atmosphere,”’ or distance; likewise 
we speak of the “purple haze” on distant 
hills or scenes. The color of the illimitable 
distance overhead is blue, and the depths of 
the sea are blue. Blue flowers, therefore, 
and bluish evergreens, where the space is 
small, will give a sense of largeness. 
For the contrary effect, that is to fore- 
shorten, use yellow flowers and golden 
foliaged shrubs and trees. This is not often 
necessary or desirable, but is a device to 
give cosiness to a place that has a lonely, 
bleak air about it. Yellow will shorten 
distance even more than blue will increase it, 
and the larger the mass of the color, the 
greater the intensity of the effect. Beware 
of its use, therefore, in small areas. 
The colony of assorted foxgloves (No. 24) 
in this second recess extends all the way 
around it, with a group of rose pink deut- 
zias (No. 21), a pair of feathery Japanese 
cypress (No. 25), a group of Adam’s needle, 
(No. 26) and a mass of the lovely showy 
azalea (Azalea Indica, var. amena) (No. 12) 
forming the background for their soft colors: 
At this point the evergreens at the outside 
margin are discontinued for an interval, and 
a clump of golden elder (No. 16) introduced 
The Ten Best Hardy Conifers—By J. W. Duncan 
9) 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
An important detail in planting a border. 
with the evergreen thorn (No. 4) again, this 
time in a group. A great bank of the large 
panicled hydrangea (No. 27) forms the 
division between this and the last pocket, 
which is not so deep as its neighbor. 
Here, once more, the style of planting 
changes. Its nearness to the house makes 
blue the desirable color for the colony which 
is to dwell here, therefore larkspurs (No. 29) 
have been chosen, with a mass of forget-me- 
nots (No. 30) at their feet. When the honey- 
suckle (No. 28) beyond these is covered with 
its jewel-like, ruby berries, the color effect 
will be superb. It is designed to have some- 
thing in blossom during the entire summer 
in this part of the border. The beginning is 
with the fragrant little barberry bells (No. 8) 
in May, and not ending until frost cuts 
down the cheery chrysanthemum (No. 36). 
An exception is made to the previously 
stated rule about yellow, by planting a 
flower of this color so near to the house. 
But it is done with the definite purpose of 
giving light and warm glow near at hand 
through the drear autumn days. The group 
is half hidden from the house, too, by the 
mass of Van Houtte’s spirea (No. 34). 
The border ends with a heavy planting 
of various deciduous shrubs—mock orange 
(No. 33), rose of Sharon (No. 20), spindle tree 
No. 14)—and a group of three Irish junipers 
(No. 35), opposite the house. All these 
shrubs, or nearly all, are ornamental in fruit, 
as well as in blossom, so that the interest in 
the border does not flag with the end of the 
blooming period. 
A general border of bulbs may be planted 
in front of the whole for early spring effect; 
Note how the plants of No. 13 and No. 18 are blended 
or a pocket may be quite filled with the 
poet’s narcissus, or any other suitable flower, 
naturalized in the grass. 
Never make the mistake, so common to 
many otherwise good pieces of planting, of 
cutting the turf away in a smooth line in 
front of the group or border. It has a hard, 
unnatural effect, and it is a very mistaken 
sense of neatness which prompts the garden 
maker to do it. Keep the grass away from 
the roots, of course, but let the turf extend 
up as far as it will, under the overhanging 
branches of shrubs, and you will have an 
easy flowing line, instead of the cut and 
dried look so fatal to informal planting. 
There is another point in the planting of 
perennials which the plan cannot show 
adequately, but which the detail sketch 
illustrates. Always remember that in nat- 
ural growth plants do not stop at a hard and 
fast line, but instead they dwindle off, scatter- 
ing themselves in a straggling way, and 
finally disappearing. Follow this rule, and 
where two varieties join, blend them off 
gradually, scattering them into each other. 
August is the month in which to plant the 
evergreens that are always indispensable to a 
perfect screen, and which in this case also 
form the background for the deciduous 
shrubs, while these in turn are the mass 
against which the herbaceous plants are 
placed in the “‘ pockets” of the border. 
The general outline of a border planting 
such as is here devised having been decided, 
arrangements can be made at once to put out 
the evergreens, and the finishing work with 
deciduous shrubs, perennials or bulbs is to be 
done in September, October, or November 
Boston, 
Mass. 
A BUYER’S PRACTICAL GUIDE, TELLING JUST WHAT THE TREES WILL DO, WHERE TO PLANT, AND HOW 
TO REALIZE THEIR BEST QUALITIES—THE SPECIAL VALUES OF EACH IN THE GARDEN AND LANDSCAPE 
A LANDSCAPE without evergreens is 
the most dreary thing on earth in the 
winter; and equally our gardens need the 
same sort of relief. Of the hundreds of 
coniferous evergreens a few, which may be 
‘counted on one’s hands, stand out pre-emi- 
nently as the best for general planting. 
August is the month in which the trees 
should be moved and planted. 
THE TALLEST HARDY CONIFER 
The white pine (Pinus Strobus), is the most 
useful conifer for general planting. It is the 
tallest growing evergreen tree east of the 
Mississippi river, and is a comparatively 
quick grower. It will thrive on very poor 
soil, but will hardly grow at all in a clayey, 
moist subsoil. When small it is rather easily 
damaged by bleak winds, but after it has 
attained a height of ten or twelve feet, there 
is little danger from injury from that source. 
The trees may be planted in groups, belts, 
or singly to form specimens, if given 
sufficient room for development. It is a 
most noble tree, attaining a height of 150 
feet. The leaves, or needles as they are 
commonly called, are long, and of a pleasing 
shade of green, not as sombre as many other 
conifers. 
The white pine is easily raised from seed, 
but for the first few years does not make much 
growth. After it has attained a height of two 
feet, it will make an annual growth of one or 
two feet. When small it is subject to attacks 
of several insect pests, the most common be- 
ing mealy-bug and woolly aphis, both of 
which are easily destroyed by kerosene 
emulsion, or if the latter attacks the roots 
(and it frequently does) the best remedy is a 
mulching of tobacco stems, or a thorough 
watering with tobacco water. 
THE FASTEST-GROWING CONIFER 
The Norway spruce (Picea excelsa), is 
the fastest growing coniferous evergreen, and 
I may invite severe criticism when I accord 
it second place on my list because it is 
sombre and as ordinarily grown it does not 
