August, 191: 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 





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Crisp-as-Ice lettuce which has been' proved to stand hot 

 weather well 



want Crisp-as-Ice. Its compact growth and 

 frost resistance make it doubly desirable. 

 Set six inches apart in the row, the plants 

 develop campact, hard heads io° below frost 

 without serious injury except to the outside 

 leaves, and the only covering they had was 

 some dry leaves. — C. B. Cranston, Columbus, 

 Ohio. 



Evonymus Radicans var. Vegetus. — This 

 handsome, hardy evergreen shrub and climber 

 comes into greater favor each year; this is not 

 surprising when its marked hardiness, rapid 

 growth, easy propagation, freedom from in- 

 sect pests and other good features are consid- 

 ered. Probably some of the readers of The 

 Garden Magazine may have noticed that 

 when the ordinary radicans is planted against 

 a moderately high wall that the foliage, as the 

 plants ascend, becomes much larger, and no 

 doubt some close observers may have noted 

 the upper growth is very often the true vege- 

 tus with broadly oval leaves. Cuttings taken 

 from these upper portions of the plants will 

 prove to be the true vegetus which does not 

 cling closely to walls as readily as radicans 

 itself and is of somewhat slow growth but has 

 a shrubby habit quite unlike the plant from 

 which it emanated. The evergreen Evonymus 

 are not of such slow growth as some people 

 may imagine. I have had them cover a wall 

 15 feet in height in four years by using well 

 rotted cow manure freely as a mulch each 

 fall.— /F. N. C, Brookline, Mass. 



The Tricolor Ivy. — I wonder if the vine 

 concerning which Mr. Chamberlain inquires 

 in the March Garden Magazine is not the 

 Tricolor Ivy, called by nurserymen Vitis 

 heterophylla variegata, or Ampelopsis tri- 

 color. Though not a native, this vine is 

 well worth growing in American gardens. 

 The term "tricolor" refers to the variegated 

 foliage which, especially in the young stage, 

 is mottled, veined, or splotched with pink 

 and white. The young stems are also pink- 

 ish. Like other species of Vitis, the Tricolor 

 Ivy has tiny flowers, but they are more abund- 

 ant than those of the Pepper Vine (Ampelopsis 

 arborea) and grow in clusters of greenish- 

 white dots that seem to possess great attrac- 

 tion for bees. In the blooming season the 

 vine is a perfect music box of bee songs on a 

 summer day. The berries are of a peculiar 

 lustrous steel-blue color that is as unusual as 

 the variegation of the leaves. This vine 

 seems to be well adapted to training over a 

 pergola or an entrance porch, for, though not 

 having a tendency to become entirely bare 

 at the bottom, like some climbing Roses, it 

 makes its densest and most active growth at 

 the top. I have found it a fairly rapid grower. 



The vine shown in the photograph, planted 

 four years ago at the corner between the win- 

 dow and the porch and at that time cut back 

 to a stem about a foot high, has climbed and 

 spread in both directions and now measures 

 fully 35 feet from tip to tip. It makes a cool 

 green shade for the window in summer and 

 does not obstruct the sunshine in winter. 

 This vine has a more open habit of growth 

 than the familiar Clematis paniculata and 

 needs little pruning. It does well in a sunny 

 location but should be well watered in a dry 

 summer. The seeds take root readily, and 

 last spring I could have set out a hunderd or 

 more thrifty volunteer plants that came up 

 under this one vine. — Bernard H. Lane, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Viburnum Carlesii is Really Hardy. — Some- 

 how I never could resist the attractive 

 description which usually accompanies the 

 introduction of some new novelty in the way 

 of flower or shrub. The longer I live, how- 

 ever, the more fearful I become, as many are 

 the times in early spring I have watched vainly 

 for sighs of life in some plant purchased the 

 season before. I have come to the conclusion 

 that this section of the Middle West has one 

 of the most trying winter climates for plants 

 in the temperate zone. Not that the temper- 

 ature is the coldest, but it is very changeable. 

 It may be fifty to sixty degrees above zero one 

 week and twenty-five degrees below zero the 

 next. Well, last year I tried Viburnum 

 Carlesii and I fell in love with it. It has one 

 of the prettiest and most delightfully fragrant 

 flowers of any shrub I have ever seen. As the 

 catalogue stated, "Of questionable hardiness 

 as yet, north of Long Island," I was sure it 

 would go when I saw it exposed to the blasts 

 of fourteen to twenty-three degrees below zero. 

 But to my joy it came through without a 

 trace of injury. The buds which are formed 

 in the autumn are glowing with red and the 

 leaves are well advanced, all this in spite of the 

 fact that three or four days ago the ther- 

 mometer went to twenty-five above zero. 

 Not ten feet away Forsythia Fortunei lost all 

 its bloom buds, Kerria was killed to the 

 ground and peaches were badly frozen back. 

 From my experience I am satisfied that 

 Viburnum Carlesii is absolutely hardy. I 

 would like some 'one to tell me from whence 

 it was introduced and by whom. One cata- 

 logue says it came from China, another says 

 Korea, while still a third states that it was in- 

 troduced from Japan. — 5. D. C, La Fayette, Ind. 



A Glorified New Jersey Tea. — It is a pity 

 that the beautiful varieties of Ceanothus, 

 which are found on the Pacific coast, cannot 

 live in the Eastern climate. Yet, it is cause 

 for congratulation that a thoroughly hardy 

 hybrid, made by crossing one of the California 

 species and the common New Jersey Tea, 

 has been found perfectly hardy. This beau- 

 tiful little hybrid might well be called a glori- 





Tie Tricolor 

 blue 



Ivy is a rapid growing vine with lustrous steel- 

 berries and prettily variegated leaves 



Here is an unnamed unknown hybrid New Jersey Tea 

 growing in the Arnold Arboretum. It makes a very 

 decorative shrub 



fied New Jersey Tea, for while it has much 

 the same habit of growth as the eastern 

 plant, its flowers are very much handsomer 

 and are grown in such profusion that the foli- 

 age is almost hidden. The blossoms are pale 

 rose color, and are borne on rather short 

 stems. When in full bloom the shrub looks 

 like a floral pin cushion. After a test of sev- 

 eral years made in the Arnold Arboretum at 

 Jamaica Plain, Mass., this hybrid has proved 

 perfectly hardy and well worth a place in 

 American gardens everywhere. Curiously 

 enough, there is no really accurate knowledge 

 as to the original name or the exact origin of 

 this plant. Probably, however, it came from 

 France, and is the result of Lemoine's handi- 

 work. It is well known that Lemoine ob- 

 tained several beautiful hybrids from the Cali- 

 fornia plants, but none of them with this 

 exception is hardy in the East. The two 

 common eastern species of the Ceanothus, 

 C. americanus and C. ovatus, are valuable 

 for naturalizing in wood borders and even for 

 growing in the shrubbery border; but this 

 nameless hybrid is good enough to use as a 

 specimen. — E. I. Farrington, Mass. 



Blackheart in Potatoes. — Recent observa- 

 tions on potatoes in storage, conducted 

 by the New York Experiment Station, Geneva, 

 show that poor ventilation in storage is re- 

 sponsible for what is known as "Blackheart" 

 — the centres of the potatoes becoming deep 

 brown or black. The result of the inquiry 

 would seem to show that it is not safe to 

 pile potatoes more than six feet deep if they 

 are to be held for some considerable time, 

 even though the temperature is kept quite 

 low — below 40 degrees. If the temperatures 

 rise above 50 degrees and the potatoes are to 

 be kept stored more than three or four weeks, 

 they should not be more than three feet deep. 

 Tubers stored in regulation pits in the earth 

 are not so likely to suffer. It would seem 

 that ventilation is better in these natural 

 conditions. Blackheart may be due to lack 

 of air or oxygen or to over-heating. In the 

 former case the skin shows no sign of injury. — 

 L. B. 



Little Things for the Gardener. — A five-inch 

 mason's pointing trowel is one of the handiest 

 tools for a gardener that can be obtained. 

 I carry one stuck in my hip pocket from 

 Washington's Birthday to Thanksgiving Day, 

 these holidays generally marking the limits 

 of my gardening year. With it one can re- 

 move one or twenty-five seedlings from a bed. 

 It makes just the right hole for setting the 

 plant in new ground. It serves as an ad- 

 mirable weeder, as one can get under and 

 around the plants with it easily and well. 

 By keeping it sharp, and by a quick stroke 

 with it, squashes, cabbages, lettuce, etc., 

 can be cut and with its point a fugitive cabbage 



