October, 1909 
varieties, are lovely in color and should be’ 
freely though carefully used. 
A collection of Japanese maples is always 
effective. They grow slowly and count as 
small shrubs, although some of them reach a 
height of fifteen to twenty feet, perhaps more, 
when they are charming small trees. 
Deutzia Gracilis is a well-known low shrub, 
good in mass but not at all showy. 
Daphne Mezereon and D. Cneorum are 
both good shrubs, the former deciduous and 
two to three feet high, and the latter evergreen 
and low. 
Low trees to be in scale with the shrubs 
should be used, and these would include the 
dogwood, sophora, hawthorns, laburnum, 
white fringe, mountain ash, sour wood, silver 
bell tree, shad bush, several magnolias and 
flowering apples. 
CHANGE OF COLOR IN HYDRANGEAS 
The pink hydrangea (H. hortensis), which 
is commonly grown in tubs, sometimes turns 
blue and H. J. asks what the reason is. It is 
not well understood, except that it is due to 
some of the chemical constituents of the soil. 
A pink hydrangea can be turned blue by mix- 
ing half a pound of alum crystals with each 
oushel of soil, but there is no way of getting a 
hydrangea which is blue back to the pink color. 
COLD PITS 
The small greenhouse which Mrs. C. R. 
purposes to build will be very good fun, but I 
think she could have more pleasure for the , 
same outlay and reduced running-cost by build- 
ing a cold pit. | 
The cold pit is not only for the storage of 
such tender things as bay trees, hydrangeas, 
etc., but it can be used to keep pans of bulbs 
in until they are ready to bring forward in 
the house or greenhouse, and azaleas, rhodo- 
dendrons and other potted things can be 
brought into flowering condition in such a'| 
house. 
It requires no heat except that of the sun. 
(and a lamp on very cold nights), since it is 
not a hothouse and the plants in it will not be 
flowered there early in the year. 
A small cold pit is almost indispensable on 
any place, and one really needs it more if one , 
has a hothouse. 
THE BEST SEASON FOR PLANTING 
TREES AND SHRUBS 
Which is the best time for planting trees 
and shrubs, asks Mr. M., and his question, 
which is asked oftener than any other perhaps, 
deserves some discussion, because it is im- 
portant, though unanswerable. 
The fall planting season is better than that of 
spring in that it lasts near New York from 
the first of October until the time the ground 
freezes, which may be late in December, giv- 
ing plenty of time to do work which in the 
spring may have to be hurried in four or five 
weeks. 
If storms delay the spring planting and if 
warm weather begins early, the trees and 
shrubs may be so far advanced when one gets 
them from the nursery or when one is able to 
plant them, that they will not bear trans. 
planting without a check and may be a total 
loss, whereas in fall planting any stuff which 
is left over when the ground freezes can be 
heeled in and will go through the winter un- 
harmed and can be planted at the beginning 
of the spring season. 
There is no doubt that plants which can be 
successfully planted in the fall are better 
planted at that time under ordinary conditions 
because the ground becomes well settled about 
their roots which have time to grow before : 
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) shrub, 
XV 
there is any strain put on them to supply the 
leaves of the tree with sap. 
Most of the trees except oak, magnolias, 
birches and tulips, can be planted in the fall 
as well as in the spring. Oaks may live with 
fall planting, but magnolias are almost sure 
to die. 
All shrubs do well with fall planting except 
Hypericum and one or two others. 
Larches should always be planted in the fall, 
because their leaves start very early in the 
spring. 
PLANTING SCHOOL GROUNDS 
The trees and shrubs which are planted on 
school-grounds should be of the hardiest and 
most rugged kind, and if they have a few 
thorns, so much th better. Flowers, of 
course, are desirable in the spring, but the 
chief thing is to have the grounds look well 
dressed and orderly. Evergreens may be used, 
but in most cases I think they are quite out of 
the question, not only because of their cost 
but because they need more care and are less 
likely to endure the hard conditions of a school- 
yard. 
Aralia pentaphylla is an excellent shrub for 
such a place. It is a strong grower, reaching 
ten feet in height, the foliage is a dark shining 
green, and there are small thorns on the stiff 
stems. 
The privets are all good and have the ad- 
vantage of bearing pretty white flowers in 
June. 
Barberries, of course, must be included and 
will prove satisfactory in any good soil where 
they are not too shaded. ‘Their winter beauty 
is only one of their charms. 
The Caragana arborescens, or Siberian pea 
is another hardy strong grower. It 
has yellow flowers in June. 
Deutzias, Forsythias and Weigelas are quite 
possible, and so is the Syringa (Philadelphus), 
but lilacs, honeysuckles, hibiscus and spiraeas 
had better not be planted except in the deep 
country where flowers are common; in other 
places the temptation to pick them will be too 
great. 
Oaks and maples are undoubtedly the best 
trees and should be planted in rather a formal 
way, in order to shade the whole playground. 
Evergreens like the pines, and hemlocks 
would be grateful at the north side as a wind- 
break in winter, but they are too easy to climb 
to be planted in the schoolyard. 
Shrubs with conspicuous fruit like the 
viburnum, are scarcely advisable, as it is 
doubtful if a stomach full of viburnum ber- 
ries would be any help to the youngest scholar. 
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