The Garden Magazine, October, 1919 



105 



Choice Summer f~\^ ACCOUNT of having plenty 

 Phloxes \_J of rain, I suppose, the summer 



Phloxes have been handsomer than 

 ever, — the great wedges of bloom un- 

 usually full and the individual blossoms unusually large. 

 Three varieties have given me particular pleasure here: 

 Wanadis, white with a lavender eye that flushes out over the 

 petals a little; America, a pure salmon-pink with a crimson 

 eye, the flower heads and flowers very large; and Peachblow, 

 a lovely soft pink very near the tint of a peach blossom. All 

 these are lovely kinds for anyone who is going to add to his 

 collection this season. Where the older Von Hochberg does 

 not grow it should certainly be added. It is one of the long- 

 est blooming varieties that I know and of a dark rich wine 

 color that makes itself agreeably felt among the Michaelmas 

 Daisies, Heleniums, and Boltonias of the fall garden. 



Most of us grow our Phloxes with too many stems. Four 

 or five should be the limit, if we desire to have the flower 

 heads in perfection. If it is not possible to divide the plants 

 every two or three years, thus keeping down the number 

 of stems, one may still remove some of the superfluous ones 

 in the spring as is done with Michaelmas Daisies. The 

 small shoots taken from the sides may be grown on in nursery 

 rows for later filling in. Phlox seedlings, which spring up 

 plentifully wherever the plants are allowed to go to seed, 

 are seldom worth keeping as they seldom reproduce the color 

 of the parent plant and are a real nuisance once they get 

 firmly rooted. It is best to pull them out as soon as they 

 appear, so that later when blooming time comes 'round the 

 fine masses of pure color will not be spoiled by the poor 

 colors of these gypsies that like nothing better than to come 

 up right in the midst of a fine clump. Every year it is neces- 

 sary to watch for and eradicate these undesirables or Phlox 

 time in the garden will be far from happy. 



Introductions 

 Some Beautiful 

 Native Brambles 



to npHi 



1 1 as 



[IS summer I have wondered — 

 as I have every summer since I 

 came to know the so-called Purple 

 Flowering-raspberry (Rubus odoratus) 

 — why so little use is made of this fine native shrub by land- 

 scape gardeners and gardeners in general, for covering rough 

 banks in sun or shade, or growing over rocky areas. It is 

 one of the handsomest of the Brambles and, having a natural 

 range from Maine to Georgia and west through Michigan, 

 is proof against most climatic excesses. The wand-like 

 stems, three to five feet long, are covered with reddish-brown 

 bristly hairs; the leaves, like large Maple leaves are slightly 

 downy beneath and the blossoms, in shape like a wild Rose, 

 but soft magenta in color, are borne for many weeks through 

 the summer. Both the leaves and the flowers are fragrant. 

 About here it covers many a rocky bank with soft green un- 

 dulations, which when decorated with the clusters of soft 

 magenta flowers give more than common pleasure to the 

 sight. It adds to the beauty of the roadside hedge-rows 

 and, where we are not too scrupulous as farmers, this flower- 

 ing-bramble mingles charmingly with the burden of wild 

 Clematis and grape that buries the stone line fences between 

 the fields. It is offered by a number of our nurserymen and 

 if rough banks are to be covered this fall few more suitable 

 subjects could be found. Also it grows well under trees 

 where the growth of roots is not too heavy. 



There flowered this year in my garden on the first day of 

 June, a small specimen of the Rocky Mountain Bramble 

 (Rubus deliciosus), that I obtained two years ago from a 

 Western. collector. The little plant has weathered two win- 

 ters, one bitter cold, the other of the trying freezing-thawing 

 type and is apparently equal to either. The flowers were 

 lovely, like large wild Roses, pure white, and even upon 

 this small specimen continued to open for several weeks. 

 Authorities say that this white-flowered Bramble grows to a 

 height of five feet and is hardy in Massachusetts. 



Lately I have been interested in reading of a tiny Bramble 

 that would, if one could get hold of it, probably be a fine 

 little shrub for the rock garden. It is Rubus arcticus, 

 whose range extends across the continent in high northern 

 and arctic regions, a wee little Bramble growing only five 

 inches in height and bearing bright carmine blossoms. This 

 Bramble is allied to the Cloudberry, a low creeping species 

 found in the most northerly mountain regions as a rule but 

 also in parts of the White Mountains. This plant (Rubus 

 chamaemorus), would also be a fine addition to the rock 

 garden could we but get at it, but though both of these are 

 offered commonly in English catalogues, this at present is 

 small consolation to us (because of Quarantine No. 37). Let 

 us hope they will soon be collected by our own people. 



Are Ants Injur- 

 ious Insects In 

 The Garden? 



1WISH someone would set my mind 

 finally at rest about ants. I am 

 told that they do no harm in the garden, 

 moreover that they destroy certain in- 

 jurious insects and are altogether the friend of man and I 

 try to believe it, but doubt keeps sifting in. This summer 

 parts of my garden are infested with them and the roots of 

 several plants that have been dug up have been found to be 

 literally alive with them. This happened with some rare 

 dwarf Irises that were taken up because they appeared to be 

 ailing, and with some mats of Sedum album. The latter was 

 not apparently affected by the crawling hordes, but then it 

 would take more than a few thousand ants, whatever their 

 powers and intentions to daunt that sturdy succulent. The 

 Irises replanted in an ant-free neighborhood appear to have 

 recovered their tone. The ants found among the roots of 

 these plants are of a curious rusty color and not very large. 

 Again, in a cold frame where I planted numerous small seeds, 

 not one came up though they were attended with the usual 

 care. Each time I hopefully opened the frames to look for 

 little humped green backs or pairs of leaves all that met my 

 anxious gaze was troops of busy ants evidently with some 

 important matter in hand. Were they carrying off my seeds? 

 After reading a very interesting article in the "Standard 

 Cyclopedia of Horticulture" about ants and their tender 

 care of plant-lice, tree-hoppers, and certain scale insects, 

 particularly the first named on account of the sweetish liquid 

 secreted by them and relished by the ants, also their life his- 

 tory and economic importance and how to control them, I 

 am still stupidly in the dark as to whether hordes of ants at 

 the roots of my plants are doing them harm and if that pre- 

 occupied cold frame procession was bent solely upon its own 

 affairs or was engaged in laying up its winter stores from 

 what I had hoped and intended should be my summer 

 harvest. Can any one tell me the whole truth about ants 

 in the garden? 



