DESTROYING OUR WILD FLOWERS 



SLOWLY, but surely, the widespread appreciation of the 

 natural beauties of the countryside and the pictures 

 made by the blossoming of the various wild flowers are 

 ( acting as a stimulus to many people who see something 

 more than the mere utilities of the land. Although an 

 organization for the protection and preservation of wild flowers 

 has been at work for a good many years past, the present wid- 

 ened appreciation of its efforts is only just now beginning to filter 

 through and influence other groups of people and particularly 

 those whose chief interests have centred in the finer arts of 

 gardening and cultivated flowers. Many Garden Clubs, for 

 instance, direct special efforts toward the preservation of the 

 wild flowers of their community. 



In the past this well-intentioned interest has really worked 

 destructively, in that the study of wild flowers or any fondness 

 for them usually took the form of making excursions into the 

 countryside when the specimens were in their perfection, 

 gathering whole armfuls to be discarded as soon as wilted, 

 which is similar to expressing one's affection for song birds by 

 going out with a gun to slaughter them. This persistent 

 gathering of the blooms and roots inevitably worked as a 

 limiting factor in the natural seed production and, worse still, 

 it was too frequently the case that the persons responsible for 

 this devastation were really of a type from which better things 

 might reasonably be expected. They were more or less of com- 

 fortable circumstances, could afford their pleasure excursions, and 

 had, in fact, a certain responsibility to the community. It was 

 the short-sighted selfishness of thoughtlessness, and as soon as 

 the light was turned on a reaction followed. 



Nor is it sufficient justification that whole plants were dug up 

 and transported to the garden; although the specimen might be 

 saved for the individual, the wide-spread beauty of the country- 

 side was just as thoroughly destroyed for the multitude, and 

 beauty begets beauty. Gardeners may sometimes be forgiven for 

 reasonable gathering of material and their efforts in establishing 

 the more desirable plants, but, even so, anything of the kind should 

 be undertaken with a careful, studied attention to the facts and all 

 the conditions. The end must be sufficient to justify the means. 

 Many of the native plants have appealing qualities to the gar- 

 dener, and we appreciate their desirability for the purposes of the 

 most exacting planter. It is unfortunate that to a large degree 

 the growers have not considered it practical to grow stock to 

 meet such a demand. Of course, there can be no arbitrary 

 decision; what may be devastation in a built-up section of the 

 Atlantic Seaboard is trivial and utterly negligible in the open 

 plains and prairies of the middle states. 



Fortunately there are dealers who specialize in providing 

 wild flowers in nursery grown stock. Many of these are con- 

 sidered difficult to grow — "miffy, " as the gardener would call it. 

 Usually this is but another way of saying that these plants have 



certain soil preferences and it has taken the gardener a long time 

 to realize their fondness for acid conditions; that requisite 

 being provided, the majority of these considered difficult plants 

 can usually be handled. 



aUITE a novelty in the way of horticultural exhibitions was 

 that held early in May by the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 " Society when Boston's Horticultural Hall was turned into 

 a fairyland of early springtime bedecked with native flowers. It 

 was an effort to bring home to the membership of the Society the 

 actual possibilities of the country glade and wood and, by pok- 

 ing the concrete specimen right under his eyes, to give the in- 

 dividual member an object lesson that he might remember 

 during the unfolding months of the year. The credit for this 

 effort goes directly to the President, Mr. Albert C. Burrage, 

 who conceived the idea and — delegating the details to his su- 

 perintendent, Mr. Eccleston — saw the scheme carried through. 



THE impossible was accomplished! The flowers seen in 

 early spring were shown right alongside those that ordinar- 

 ily blossom only in midsummer and autumn, and all in full 

 bloom the first week of May! Trilliums, White Violets, and 

 Mayflowers there were; and close beside them Lady-slippers, 

 Pitcher-plants, and Yellow Lilies mingled with New England 

 Asters, Gentians, and Cardinal Flowers; while everywhere were 

 Ferns and Ferns and more Ferns — nearly fifty varieties — in all 

 the dainty drapery of their midsummer glory. To the herbaceous 

 plants were added several flowering shrubs — Mountain Laurel, 

 Dogwood, Rhodora, etc. Over eighty species simultaneously in 

 blossom were set in such surroundings and with such artistic 

 skill that the artifice was not apparent — they had the united 

 appearance of a natural group growing happily in their native 

 woodland. 



"The setting deserves more than a mere passing word of 

 praise," says one visitor. "When I entered the main hall of the 

 Horticultural Building I found myself transported to a beautiful 

 glade in the wild woods. The illusion was perfect — looking up 

 this pretty little valley, the end of the vista seemed quite a dis- 

 tance beyond me. On the left rose a steep hill, covered with 

 evergreens and seemingly quite high; a stream followed the cen- 

 tre of the valley, on the far side rose a second hill covered with 

 trees and dotted with bits of rocky boulder. At the end of the 

 valley was a rocky bank, and from out of the woods behind it 

 came the little stream, splashing over the rocks and purling 

 along to their edge over which it plunged to the pool below. Here 

 it rested a moment and then sauntered on under a rustic bridge 

 and on again to a large pool at my feet. Along the margin of 

 the stream grew the plants that revel in moist places." 



Mr. Burrage unites in his person just the combination that is 

 required to insure the success of such an enterprise. He has a 

 real love for flowers and a real pride in the wild beauty of the 

 New England woodland; and besides these he has a generous 



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