American Gardening 



f/ol. XIII 



Zhc amcrican Garden— ipopular GarDemng 



SEPTEMBER, 1892 



No. g 



SOME ATTRACTIVE NATIVE PLANTS. 



ALL WORTH A PLACE IN THE GARDEN. 



that wild plants grov 



EOPLE usually make too 

 hard work of cultivating 

 wild plants. They are apt 

 to attempt to imitate the 

 natural conditions under 

 which they find the plants. 

 This, to a certain extent, is 

 wise, but in most cases it is 

 easily carried too far. The 

 problem is simplified when 

 we once come to understand 

 ,'here they are obliged to grow, 

 rather than where they desire to grow. Because a plant 

 grows in the woods is little reason to expect that it may 

 not grow equally well in the sun. And then, it is not 

 necessary to wait until fall or spring to take up the wild 

 plants. At every outing, whatever the time of year — if 

 the ground is not frozen — I mean to go prepared to b: 

 home roots. In these sultry July days I am bringing 

 home wild herbs, and next year I expect to see most of 

 them bloom. I dig them up with a comfortable ball of 

 earth, cut the tops off nearly to the ground, and keep 

 them moist until I get them home ; then they are set in 

 the border, and if dry weather follows, a little water 

 given occasionally at sundown helps them to grow. I do 

 not pretend to say that July is as good a time as April or 

 October to remove plants, but one must capture the good 

 things as he finds them. 



Most people have a great admiration for orchids, but 

 they usually go to the greenhouse to see them, and they 

 are surprised if told that some of the handsomest species 

 grow in our own woods and bogs. About 60 species grow 

 in the northern states east of the Mississippi, and fully 

 half of them are worthy of cultivation as ornamental 

 plants. The native orchids, however, usually require 

 careful management, being among the most difficult of 

 native plants to colonize. Most of them require complete 

 or partial shade and a moist subsoil. If a water supply 

 is at hand, a moist plat under trees or about buildings, 

 where there is some protection from wind, can be made. 



and clumps of many species can be removed with safety. 

 It is best to remove them in summer, as soon as the flow- 

 ering season is past. In most 

 cases, however, the plantation will 

 prove to be short-lived, and fresh 

 recruits will be needed from time 

 to time ; but the hunts for these 



Large Yellow Lady's-Slipper^ 



(Cypripedium pubescent.) 



and the other wildings which one now and then brings 

 home to the moist orchid-beds are themselves sufficient 

 pay for the effort. 



