24 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[February, 



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NOOKERIES. 



How shall we treat our garden or lawn nook- 

 eries? to coin a phrase which means, I take 

 it, an aggregation or congeries of nooks and 

 corners combined into a single isolated picture. 

 On general principles nooks of the garden attain 

 a value not only because in them, as Lord Ba- 

 con quaintly puts it, "when the wind blows 

 sharp, you may walk as in a gallery," but be- 

 cause these nooks afford the attraction of a sur- 

 prise, that may be in the truest sense, when 

 properly taken advantage of, a pleasurable sur- 

 prise. In a word there must be a succession of 

 nooks, surprises in numbers, all within the lim- 

 its of one small spot, to make your true nookery, 

 for a bare corner is in no sense a nookery. 

 Memory must surely recall to all of us such 

 spots down in the orchard or behind the barn, 

 and especially in some remote corner of the old- 

 fashioned garden and in the edge of the woods 

 at the back of the house. The old Apple-tree 

 with the Grape-vine trailing over it, down by 

 the drinking-hole for cattle in the corner of the 

 orchard, was a delightful nookery in its way, 

 with its rich turf and charming wild flowers, or 

 weeds, as some would' call them. Abounding, 

 too, in nookeries of the pleasantest sort was the 

 old flower garden, with its Box-lined borders 

 and Lark-spur and Hollyhocks where, for in- 

 stance, in a far corner, we come suddenly on an 

 old arbor festooned with Grape-vine, Honey- 

 suckle and Trumpet Creeper. I think, though, 

 according to my remembrance, the best nook- 

 ery was to be found down on the edge of the 

 grove, with its pool of water on one side and 

 its bays of shrubby growth and aisles of tree 

 trunks on the other. The Rushes and Lilies of 

 those remote, still waters, and the wild flowers 

 and climbing vines, Virginia Creepers and Bit- 

 ter Sweets in the recesses of the woods, even 

 now linger with me as types of what garden 

 nookeries should be. 



After recalling the constituent parts of such 

 scenes, it ought not to be hard to adorn, and, if 

 necessary, create these pleasant nookeries in our 

 gardens. It is not a question of extensive or 

 even exquisite culture, but only a few well- 

 directed efforts from year to year and the place 

 takes care of itself. Every one surely can find 

 a secluded nook in the garden or lawn, and 

 there are many things we can do of the easiest 

 nature that will tend greatly to perfect these de- 

 lightful surprises. Wild flowers can be fostered 

 and even planted in such a way as to preclude 

 all idea whatever of the working of the hand. 

 Hardy shrubs, too, may be used in the most 

 effective manner for this purpose, by planting 

 them singly or in colonies in a thoroughly wild- 

 wood manner. But, I believe, nothing will 

 create such pleasant, artistic surprises in these 

 nooks, and illustrate the proper way to treat 

 them better than the intelligent employment of 

 climbers and creepers. With them alone we 

 can do wonders. Take that old stump before 

 you and wreathe it with festoons of the long, 

 crimson flowers of the Trumpet Creeper — Te- 

 coma radicans. Nothing in its way oan be 

 finer except the employment of Tecoma grandi- 

 flora. Don't confuse, however, these trum- 

 pet flowers with those of the Scarlet Trum- 

 pet vine or Honeysuckle — Lonicera sempervi- 

 rens — with the bright, glossy, green leaves that 

 often last nearly all winter. Every one thinks 

 of Honeysuckle flowers as sweet-scented and 



yellow, white or red ; but how many stop to ex- 

 amine the rich, glossy shades of Honeysuckle 

 leaves, so admirably adapted for carpeting bare 

 spots or draping heaps of stone and stumps and 

 tree trunks? There are scores of varieties of 

 Honeysuckles which are, every one of them, 

 worthy of employment. 



In some of these sheltered nooks we might 

 even use the unequaled English Ivy, particu- 

 larly if we use it as a carpet ; but we certainly 

 can have the so-called Japan Ivy. Ampelopsis 

 Veitchii, or tricuspidata, in this country the 

 most perfect of hardy creepers for clinging by 

 rootlets to stone or wooden surfaces. Few plant 

 effects can surpass .in summer the glossy color 

 and artistic forms of the leaves and tendrils of 

 the Japan Ivy. or the crimson and gold of its 

 autumn tints. But we must not forget the 

 other varieties of Ampelopsis in contemplating 

 the charms of the Japan Ivy, for few things are 

 more effective in our tangled wild-wood corners 

 than great masses of the common Virginia 

 I Creepers — A. bipinnata. How its piled-up 

 leaves festoon the tree trunks with overlying 

 masses of shining green in summer and of scar- 

 let and blood-red in autumn every one familiar 

 with fall effects must remember. Of an en- 

 tirely different, but none the less very effective, 

 nature is the Virginia Silk— Periploca Gra>ca— 

 with long, pointed, shining leaves, small flow- 

 ers and brownish-red stems, reaching out with 

 almost unrivaled speed away up the stem of the 

 tree, illustrating in a temperate zone and harm- 

 less manner something of the tree-murdering 

 propensities of certain vines of the tropics. For 

 the adornment of the upper part of the trees 

 and rock masses we must not forget the rich 

 clusters of foliage and charming garlands of 

 flowers of the purple and white Wistarias. Wis- 

 tarias, allowed to reach out, flower and leaf 

 most abundantly in their upper parts, and are, 

 therefore, specially adapted for garlanding a 

 tree or roof far up in the air without reference 

 to covering its lower part. Then there is the 

 neat-leaved Akebia; the bold and picturesque, 

 large, light-colored-leaved Dutchman's Pipe; 

 the autumn-crimsoned purple-berried Bitter 

 Sweet, all lovely climbers for our purpose. But 

 of all charming climbers, I verfly believe the 

 Clematis must bear the palm. The variety of 

 color and form of its flowers seems endless, ex- 

 tending from the noble, dark-purple Clematis 

 Jaekmanii to the delicate, small, white and 

 yellow flowers of C. flammula and C. apiifolia. 

 And they are equally fine in the nookery wheth- 

 er carpeting hare spaces of ground or garland- 

 ing and draping rocks and trees. 



Before leaving a subject thus closely allied to 

 the very heart of nature, I would note again, 

 with increased emphasis, that one of the pecu- 

 liarities of the proper treatment of these pleas- 

 ant corners, whether in garden or woodland, is 

 that it may be said, almost, that the more you 

 plant and the less you cultivate and cut with 

 the sickle, scythe and pruning knife, the more 

 surely you attain the end desired. Conventional 

 methods are all out of place in the true garden 

 or lawn nookery. Grasses, mosses, tree trunks, 

 fantastic, "lovely climbers, and wild flowers, 

 weeds even, and manie a plant that the fastid- 

 ious woulde cast forthe," tall, purple Thistles 

 and Asters and great Docks and Sorrels, all 

 make up a picture in such nooks, that, irradi- 

 ated, perchance, by the level beams of the set- 

 ting sun, surpasses "beyond compare" any 

 number of cart-loads of scentless bedding plants, 

 mechanically arranged and ribbon-bordered. 

 S. Parsons, Jr., in Rural New Yorker, 



NATIVE FLOWERING SHRUBS, 



There is perhaps no more simple and effective 

 way of beautifying a lawn than by the tasteful 

 planting of flowering shrubs ; and with proper 

 application of the resources which nature has 

 placed at every one's disposal there is no reason 

 why more rural homes should not be surrounded 

 by handsome native shrubs, and present during 

 spring and summer a cheerful and pleasant ap- 

 pearance, instead of seeming the bleakest ob- 

 jects in a barren landscape. 



Our woods and hillsides offer a large and va- 

 ried field for selection, where with proper care 

 in the choice of good, thrifty young plants, the 

 material for a very pretty shrubbery can be ob- 

 tained, which, after being once established, re- 

 quires but little care to become a permanent 

 ornament. 



The four native species of Azalea are alike 

 showy, beautiful 'shrubs, and their tendency to 

 sport freely heightens to a considerable extent 

 our interest in them. 



Closely allied to the Azalea is the Rhododen- 

 dron, of which the species Catawbiense, bearing 

 beautiful lilac-purple flowers, is readily trans- 

 planted, but the magnificent R. Maximum, which 

 grows in wet places throughout the mountains 

 of Pennsylvania and southwards, is not as easily 

 coaxed from its natural habitat. 



To assure success in the transplanting of 

 these shrubs, young plants Only should be taken, 

 and carefully set out. Those that are natives 

 of swamps and wet places should be planted in 

 somewhat shaded situations, while natives of 

 hillsides will thrive in any location where cul- 

 tivated shrubs will grow. 



Our Mountain Laurel, Kalmia latifolia, is 

 well worthy of cultivation, but needs great care 

 in transplanting to insure success. The plant 

 should be removed with as much earth as can 

 readily be carried, and planted in as much of 

 its native soil as can conveniently be obtained 

 from the woods. This shrub seldom does well 

 in common garden soil, but the extra labor of 

 providing for its necessary elements is amply 

 repaid by the exceeding beauty and profusion 

 of its large clusters of handsome, showy flowers, 

 varying from a deep rose color to pinkish white. 



Andromeda Mariana, the Stagger Bush, is 

 quite abundant throughout the Eastern States, 

 blooms in May or June, producing handsome, 

 drooping clusters of pure white flowers, and 

 will readily grow in any good garden soil, as 

 will also the handsome species of the Southern 

 States, A. floribunda. 



One of our earliest bloomers, and an exceed- 

 ingly pretty shrub or small tree, found nearly 

 everywhere, is Amelanehier Canadensis, known 

 by a variety of names, as June-berry, Shad- 

 bush and Service-berry ; the variety oblongifo- 

 lia, the showiest of our eastern kinds, is readily 

 transplanted and much improved by the opera- 

 tion. 



The Flowering Raspberry, Rubus odoratus, 

 if well pruned and kept in a bushy, compact 

 form, makes a fine display. Among the Dog- 

 woods, the Spiraeas and the Viburnums, are sev- 

 eral beautiful species. 



There are many other equally handsome na- 

 tive shrubs which may easily be taken up in 

 the fall or early spring, and improved by culti- 

 vation. Indeed, almost every nook and corner 

 of our land abounds with handsome flowering 

 shrubs, which with even less care than we be- 

 stow upon foreign varieties of far less beauty, 

 would be more satisfactory and aid much in 

 promoting the cheerful appearance of our home- 

 steads. C. R. Hexamer. 



