300 



The Garden Magazine, July, 1922 



ROCKSPRAY (Cotoneaster). These brilliant-hued Chi- 

 nese shrubs are becoming more valuable for us every year. 

 The one that stands out best in the landscape or woodland is 

 the tall Indian Mountain Rockspray (C. alpina). It gives 

 brilliant color of the fruit in the fall; but for ground effect the 

 best is the Horizontal Rockspray (C. horizontalis), and in this 

 large group there are others of prime value too numerous to 

 identify here. 



Spindle-tree (Evonymus). Though we are mainly con- 

 cerned with tree color we cannot forget the beauty of the 

 common Evonymus or Spindle-tree which is seen at its best 

 in calcareous soils. Almost as valuable as our native wild 

 variety is latifolia, a very handsome broad-leafed, low-growing 

 tree; this seems to thrive as well as the native. The Winged 

 Spindle-tree (E. alata) is fine in color; its rich rosy red in autumn 

 is seen to advantage in the sun. 



Sumach (Rhus). The Sumachs, a poisonous family if bril- 

 liant in color, are often best avoided — especially a common Amer- 

 ican variety. The Sumach one sees most frequently is the Vene- 

 tian which is effective in all ways, thriving in the Thames and 

 other valleys. In planting these and like shrubs, manure may 

 well be left out as it induces too vigorous growth; whereas we 

 seek brilliant autumn effects. R. crotonoides is one of the finest 

 in color with its various shades of scarlet and orange before the 

 leaves fall, but it is not easy to get a stock in nurseries. The 

 smooth Sumach (Rhus glabra) of the eastern United States is a 

 very good color in autumn and there is a handsome cut-leafed 

 form. Other kinds of Sumach little known are coming from 

 parts of the northern world, and the common Staghorn is also 

 very effective in the fall. 



Guelder Rose (Viburnum). Among these beautiful shrubs 

 coming to us from the northern world there is no better than our 

 native kind, called in Surrey, where it loves the waterside, the 

 " Water Elder." It is in flower and fruit beautiful, but is seldom 

 grown in gardens. It is best for the waterside or marshy 

 woodland. 



Pennsylvanian Blueberry (Vaccinum pennsylvanicum). 

 In the fall, a bold group of this comes to outshine the Heath and 

 all else on the banks. No words can tell what a fine effect these 

 groups make. It is quite hardy and of easy division and growth 

 in ordinary soil. Of the many shrubs from North America, 

 none are more attractive. 



Solomon's-seal (Convallaria). Though this article tells 

 of trees and shrubs it is but fair to this plant to say that it turns a 

 fine color in the fall, and is easy to naturalize in the wild gar- 

 den, copse, or ditch. It is very graceful in form as well as in 

 flower. 



Wild Rose (Rosa). The wild Roses of our land tell their 

 own story in fence, hedgerow, and coppice; and beautiful they 

 are in flower and fruit. The American and Japanese kinds are 

 a gain inasmuch as they flower later and give us fine color in the 

 autumn. Of these the best are the Japanese rugosa, the Caro- 

 lina Rose, and the Virginian Marsh Rose, a free and handsome 

 plant for wet places in ordinary soil. 



Yezzo Vine (Vitis Coignetiae). Vines form a great nat- 

 ural family of climbers which garland much of the wood of the 

 northern world, and among them botanists of recent years 

 have included the plants called Virginia Creepers. For thou- 

 sands of years the wine-giving vines have been known, but few 

 of the wild kinds; and it is only recently that some Chinese and 

 Japanese vines have come into garden use. The king of all for 

 effect is the Yezzo Vine, which climbs the forest trees of the 

 woods of Yezzo and is the finest hardy vine for effective color. 

 It has long been known in one nursery here under another name. 

 The plants were the joint gift to me of two friends — the late Lord 

 Currie and the late Sir Henry York — and seedlingsfrom it I put in 

 all sorts of positions (over Apple trees, pergolas, and hedgerows, 

 on Hollies) and they have never failed to give a superb effect. 



To be followed in an early' issue by further notes by Mr. Robinson on 

 Evergreens for Winter Effect; The Spring Garden and False Color, etc. 



PLANTING STRAWBERRIES NEXT MONTH? 



A. RUTLEDGE 



IOR a good many years I have been potting Strawberries 

 for summer planting of new beds to yield the first sea- 

 son as full a crop as is ordinarily had the second season. 

 Those who, like me, are fond of raising fine fruits in 

 their own gardens may be glad to know the exact process. The 

 "pot-grown" idea for all plants that have to be transplanted is 

 now so generally understood that I shall lay emphasis only on 

 those points wherein I believe my method differs from the 

 ordinary one. 



In the first place, I always use 4- or 5-inch pots. The ad- 

 vantage of this size is twofold; drying-out is not so likely, and 

 the root-systems have ample room for growth. At the bottom 

 of each pot I put a little manure; then the pot is almost filled 

 with a carefully composed soil. Sand and light loam are 

 avoided. I sift together rich loam and medium clay, doing the 

 work when both are comparatively dry. This makes a suffi- 

 ciently strong soil which will hold moisture for a long time. As 

 fast as the pots are filled they are set in shallow water (in old 

 pans and like receptacles) until thoroughly saturated. Then — 

 at the end of June or in early July — I begin the potting. 



Taking the pots to the Strawberry bed, I use a trowel to scoop 

 out holes sufficiently deep to accommodate them so that their 

 tops are as nearly flush with the surface of the ground as possi- 

 ble, the purpose in sinking the pot being, of course, to conserve 

 moisture. The most stalwart runners are selected (I am rather 

 fastidious about this choice) and each one is pressed gently down 



into the soil of its pot, a small stone being put on the end of the 

 runner next the plant itself in order to hold it in place. A little 

 earth is carefully packed about the roots; sometimes a runner 

 can be lifted with a small ball of roots; its growth will continue 

 rapidly in the pot. It is astonishing how many runners can 

 thus be caught on a small bed. 



After potting, the runners must occasionally be watered, espe- 

 cially if drought sets in. Let them grow attached to the parent 

 plants for about a month; then clip off and remove to a situation 

 partly shaded and near water. I use a fence edge near a garden 

 spigot. Here I bury the pots close to one another, packing soft 

 soil against them — being all together they are watered readily. 

 I use a sprinkling can from this time forward, and find that a 

 good sprinkling every third or fourth day in midsummer is 

 sufficient. At this time I may feed each plant a pinch of nitrate 

 of soda to stimulate growth. 



The setting in the open garden is done before the middle of 

 August; and, of course, no special directions need be given for 

 that. However, this method works well: dig a narrow trench 

 the length of each proposed row and slightly deeper than the 

 height of the pot, almost fill with water. As soon as this 

 subsides, turn out the plants and set, carefully firming the 

 dry soil, not the wet, about the roots of the young plant 

 and letting the crowns stand above the surface of the ground. 

 Keep the pot soil on a level with the garden soil and 

 you will be safe. 



