March, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



117 



Individual Trees Are Often Ahead of Their Fellows ; This One 

 Is Three Weeks in Advance of Its Neighbor 



out. One might assume that the trees and plants would con- 

 tinue to grow with small check beyond that occasioned by the 

 casting of foliage — but this is very far from being the case. 

 However inviting the season may be, there is no attempt to 

 start into growth until the arrival of the springtime. Of 

 course, it is obvious that cold has a strong controlling influ- 

 ence upon all vegetation, but it is submitted that there must 

 be something more than this to be considered. 



It is an undoubted fact that many plants continuing for 

 more than a year require a period of rest at regular intervals. 

 An experiment with two hyacinth bulbs was interesting in 

 this respect. An endeavor was made to induce one to start 

 into growth in the late summer, but no amount of encourage- 

 ment would make the bulb send up more than a few inches of 

 shoot. Four months later the other bulb, which had com- 

 pleted its resting period, was planted and allowed similar con- 

 ditions, when it soon burst into a wealth of floral loveliness. 

 It is clear that the first bulb had not been able to come to a 

 proper maturity, while the latter, after a long period of qui- 

 escence, was able to come to a perfect development. As 

 opposed to these instances, however, there are many plants 

 in favored districts which are in an active state of growth 

 from one year's end to the other. Witness the extraordinary 

 vigor of the orange tree, whose whole life history is one tale 

 of activity. 



It is contended that plants know the seasons from force of 

 habit — that the entire business of casting foliage and fresh 

 growth is part of a routine which becomes woven into the very 

 existence of the individual. There is a good deal of truth in 

 the assertion; species transported from one part of the world 

 to another will often continue for some long time to carry out 

 the old seasonal changes, quite oblivious to the fact that these 

 are incongruous to their new conditions. All gardeners are 



only too well aware of this, for many species coming from 

 countries where the spring is ahead of ours continue their 

 habit of starting into growth at a certain time, with disastrous 

 results if no protection be provided. 



But that, after all, there is some secret among the plants 

 which can not be explained on any of the grounds, that have 

 been dealt with — that the members of the vegetable king- 

 dom have some definite means of finding out the changes of 

 the seasons — is almost certain. How do all the aquatic plants 

 know when they may start into growth? Certainly not en- 

 tirely by the rise in the temperature of the water, for exotic 

 species kept in tanks under glass, where there is always plenty 

 of warmth, recognize the coming of spring and the approach 

 of winter infallibly as do their fellows out of doors. Still 

 more marvelous are the Alpine soldanellas. These little 

 plants actually appreciate the influence of the spring under a 

 thick coating of ice and snow, and, by means of the heat 

 which they are able to generate in their developing flowers, 

 bore their way upward toward the light and air. One is 

 totally at a loss to explain such marvels as the result of any 

 kind of cause and effect. Again, consider the plants which 

 flower in total defiance of the weather conditions altogether. 

 Take the white hellebore of Austria as an instance. For 

 some reason which it is not easy to penetrate it appears to 

 suit the convenience of this species to come to its maturity 

 in the dead of the winter. One may find the lovely white 

 blossoms pushing their way up through the crust of snow 

 quite fearless of the keen winds which rush through the 

 forests. As well the little winter aconite recks nothing of 

 the cold; and the list of these hardy plants might be en- 

 larged almost indefinitely to show that in many species at 

 any rate the weather has but small controlling influence. 



The Hyacinth in Its Own Season Yields a Wealth of 

 Flower and Perfume 



