728 



THE PROPER USE OF EVERGREENS. 



same bed I was glad to find numerous seedlings of the 

 large oriental poppy which bears immense single blos- 

 soms of a crimson-scarlet color with a dark purple, 

 nearly black blotch in the center. Can it be that the 

 seeds sown in June did not come up till this spring ? I 

 did not see any signs from them last year, and con- 

 cluded none germinated. 



Among the annuals, Snowdrift poppy has become 

 popular wherever known. It was introdued two years 

 ago. It has round balls of purest white. The new Japan- 

 ese pompons have double flowers in colors of scarlet, 

 crimson, pink, blush, lilac, white, some mottled and fim- 



briated. This year we have four ' ' angel " poppies intro- 

 duced, though this name seems to us a misnomer ; Angel 

 of Morn, pure white ; Angel of Noonday, cherry red ; 

 Angel of Evening, bright rose ; Angel of Midnight, 

 "black, a novel and beautiful color." Novel indeed! 

 More rare, if possible, than the orange-scarlet ! We 

 opine that the names are the invention of the florist in 

 whose catalogue alone we find them specified. Whether 

 they are new varieties, or old varieties re-christened, 

 remains to be seen. The devices of florists are many, 

 and not always exactly straight ! 



Mrs. M. D. Wellcome. 



THE PROPER USE OF EVERGREENS. 



ARCH^-EOLOGY OF HORTICULTURE A MODERN RENAISSANCE. 



IN CONSIDERING the value of evergreens for 

 general planting, it is the wise generation that 

 profits by the experience of the past. I 

 would call attention to certain matters which 

 in past years attained more or less prominence, 

 and even now we see attempts at imitating these 

 features that are so weak as to be nothing less 

 than ridiculous in the majority of cases. I refer to 

 the practice of shearing and forcing conifers into 

 various artificial shapes, known as topiary "art ;'' 

 art it is, and that alone, and should have no more 

 toleration than any "art" which has no counter- 



as I have no desire to condemn the practice unuer 

 every and all circumstances. 



With the extensive employment of this art in Eng- 

 land, under conditions of unlimited time, cheap labor 

 and unstinted means, and under the artificial influence 

 then prevailing, gardens of great extent were created 

 that possess a rare interest to the admirer of human in- 

 genuity and as examples of man's control of natural 

 forces. Ability to surpass others in producing extrava- 

 gant and grotesque forms was the highest recommen- 

 dation of a gardener, not only with trees, but through- 

 out the entire garden, where formality and affectation 

 gained the highest appreciation. Some examples are 

 still to be met with which 

 are splendid monuments 

 of patience and skill. Fig. 

 I (page 727) will give some 

 idea of the length t o 

 which this art was carried, 

 being a portion of an 

 illustration in Veitch's 

 Manual of Coniferas. Con- 

 cerning the few remaining 

 instances of the perfection 

 of this work, Shirley Hib- 

 berd, I believe, in the fol- 

 lowing extract voices the 

 sentiment o f nearly all 

 true garden lovers : 



" I have a most respect- 

 ful regard for the exam- 

 ples that remain to us, as 

 representing the archae- 

 ology of horticulture. It 

 may be no difficult matter 

 for the disciples of the lit- 

 tle school of garden da- 

 doists, who in most of their 

 utterances combine variety 



In speaking of this matter, I do so with ignorance, to sneer at this sort of thing. But 



Fig. 



Fkee Grouping of Conifers. 



part in nature 

 with reference to existing modern conditions only. 



they never say anything really smart or witty that will 



