April, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



161 



beech? Even when a tree is about to die 

 this is a bad practice, for the close-climbing 

 ivy and ampelopsis outline and emphasize 

 death, while the loose Virginia creeper 

 transmutes and glorifies it. Ivy will climb 

 to the top of a tall castle in England, but 

 in the latitude of New York it attains only 

 ten feet or so. 



The best evergreen climber for the North 

 is the climbing euonymus, and we ought 

 to plant it by the million. Eventually its 

 leaf may be as dear to us as ivy is to Europe. 

 For the euonymus is hardier than English 

 ivy and has the immense advantage of 

 red berries that glow all winter. It is a 

 Japanese plant which I predict will become 

 thoroughly Americanized. 



THE CARPETING EFFECT 



There are four ways of carpeting the 

 ground in England with evergreen creepers 

 that thrive under 

 trees and shrubs. 

 The classical effect 

 is that of ivy, which 

 we can reproduce 

 even in New Eng- 

 land, where ivy can- 

 not be grown as a 

 climber. 



The second best 

 effect is that of trail- 

 ing myrtle (Vinca 

 minor) , which has 

 blue, five-lobed, 

 waxy flowers, a speci- 

 men of which can be 

 picked almost any 

 day in the year. Do 

 not associate this 

 with cemeteries. It 

 is used by the thou- 

 sand on great estates 

 in New England, is 

 quicker - growing 

 than ivy, and better BH 

 adapted to our _,. „ , . , _ 4 _„ . 



r The classical effect of 



Climate. not reside in 



Third, the London 

 Pride (Saxifraga umbrosa) makes charm- 

 ing rosettes and will grow in cold, wet 

 clay in dark, narrow passages between 

 London houses. It may be unsuited to 

 our climate, but I want a lot of our readers 

 to try it on a small scale in various 

 situations, and I hereby ask some wealthy 

 American to try to carpet a forest floor 

 with it, as the English do. 



Fourth, the Aaron's beard or the rose of 

 Sharon often covers banks ten feet high 

 and a hundred yards long. It makes a 

 great sight in summer when thousands of 

 its big yellow flowers are open. The name 

 of this plant is Hypericum calycinum. 

 In England it flourishes in full sunlight, 

 but this is too much to expect from any 

 broad-leaved evergreens in America, 

 save yucca and a few things of minor 

 importance. 



We can beat England on evergreen 

 creepers with red berries that are attractive 

 all winter, except, of course, when covered 

 with snow. Tb/; best for woods are our 



native wintergreen {Gaultheria procumbens) 

 and partridge berry (Mitcliella repens). 

 An Englishman will sometimes spend a 

 hundred dollars to carpet a little patch of 

 woods with these lovely plants which grow 

 by the million in America on land worth $5 

 or $10 an acre. 



For the seaside the best red-berried ever- 

 green creeper is the bearberry {Arctosta- 

 phylos Uva-ursi), which thrives in full 

 sun on sand or rock. 



The climbing euonymus also has red 

 berries, but as a creeper it is not so valuable, 

 because it humps up every little while, in 

 an abortive effort to climb. 



There is an exquisite white-fruited creeper 

 that is buried in catalogues under the name 

 of Pachysandra terminalis , as an offset to 

 which I propose "Japanese mountain 

 spurge." It has highly characteristic leaves, 

 dainty little spikes of whitish flowers, and 



broad-leaved evergreens, showing that the secret 

 mere leaf forms (such as laurel, myrtle, olive) but 



quaint clusters of fat, waxy berries, which 

 are attractive in summer. 



THE FOLIAGE EFFECT 



Of all the broad-leaved evergreens that 

 are cultivated for foliage alone, box is 

 undoubtedly the most important for 

 northern countries. True, holly has a 

 deeper religious significance, and when it 

 is grown by the mile for hedges, little or 

 no fruit is expected. But holly is identi- 

 fied with the pleasure grounds, while box 

 is the most characteristic plant of the 

 garden proper. Indeed, the only plant 

 which lives for a century or more in 

 old gardens is box. That is why the 

 sight and smell of box stir old family 

 memories more than any other plant in 

 cultivation. I do not see how any garden 

 can have charm without it. In formal 

 gardens, at least, we should always use some 

 dwarf box for edging flower beds and in 

 every garden there should be some tree 

 box to symbolize the beauty of a green old 



age, and also to serve as a connecting link 

 between the generations. 



The losses which Americans suffer from 

 box are often very heavy and peculiarly 

 distressing. I confess that I have occa- 

 sionally joined in the cry for a hardy equiva- 

 lent of box, but after visiting England I 

 believe that we shall never get it. The 

 most promising substitute for box is Ilex 

 crenata, of which there are three forms of 

 varying merit. One of them is said to be 

 even glossier than box in winter, as well 

 as hardier and possibly of quicker growth. 

 But while this "Japanese box" mimics 

 the box leaf fairly well, I doubt whether it 

 will exhibit in age that "embossed" effect 

 which, as Henry Hicks observes, is a crown- 

 ing beauty in old boxwood. And I am 

 sure it lacks the pungent odor of box, which 

 is so potent in restoring precious memories. 

 Someone has said that box is "redolent of 

 eternity." 



How to prevent 

 losses with box is a 

 long story. Every- 

 one who wishes to. 

 dwell with the best 

 that the past has to 

 give us, and to profit 

 by the experience of 

 Americans who have 

 spent thousands of 

 dollars in moving 

 century-old box to 

 new gardens, should 

 read the articles on 

 box that are referred 

 to at the end of this 

 article. 



Ivy is, of course, 

 the most precious 

 climber or creeper 

 grown solely for foli- 

 age effect. It is 

 common enough to 

 see trained pyramids 

 of it in formal gar- 

 dens, but I believe we 

 shall never achieve 

 "garden magic" in that way, or by growing 

 bay trees in tubs. The bay tree is the 

 laurel of the ancient poets, yet the sight of 

 it does not thrill our hearts. Only free, 

 luxuriant growth, I believe, has sufficient 

 power of suggestion. 



Unexpected aid may come from the 

 /'hardy evergreen bamboo," for we should 

 not think of all bamboos as "tropical." 

 Bamboos are merely tall grasses, and they 

 fit our woods to perfection. Of the seven 

 kinds that are hardy in the North, most 

 belong to the slender type of beauty, but 

 there is one which has as much body as a 

 rhododendron. It may not be evergreen 

 north of Philadelphia, where I once saw a 

 superb specimen that was eight feet high. 

 Nurserymen call it Bambusa Metake, but its 

 correct name is Arundinaria Japonica. As 

 both names are formidable, I once proposed 

 that we call it the "broad-leaved bamboo," 

 for the leaf attains 2 x 12 inches. "Hardy 

 evergreen bamboo" is, however, quite as 

 designative, and reveals its greatest value. 



of " garden magic 

 in luxuriance 



