3-10 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
HEDGES 
Al/'HILI'^ it is ol'tin a maticr of taste as to whether a 
* ' hedge should be planted or not, it is best to con- 
sider the hedge as a utilitarian feature rather than an 
ornamental one. In other words, do not advise a hedge 
unless it has a purpose other than being ornamental. 
Hedges were originall\- planted as barriers, but their 
use has become largely a habit, or, like the mantles in 
steam-heated houses, become purely ornamental. 
There is something a little selfish about a hedge. I 
often recall as a boy in England the vain efforts to see 
the beautiful gardens either through or over them, but 
since grow ing up I have also felt the need of a wall or 
hedge to protect the garden treasures. 
If a hedge is needed either to mark a bormdary for a 
screen or lo separate one section of ground from an- 
other, select a suitable one and have it as handsome as 
possible. It is better to be without a hedge than have 
one thin at the base, gappy and uneven. 
The California Privet is perhaps the best hedge plant 
in existence, in its particular territory, and for this rea- 
son it has become so common as to be tiresome, and one 
longs for a little more variation, yet when it is well 
planted wonderful results can be obtained. 
The Jersey Coast is famous for its Privet hedges, as 
the salt air and sandy soil of the seashore seem to suit it. 
It rarely gets winter killed there, while a little further 
inland it is killed periodically even in the same latitude. 
With many hedges, killing back is often a blessing in 
disguise, if the roots are not injured it will come up 
thicker than ever and a new one is formed in one season. 
It is to be recommended when a Privet Hedge is old, 
or thin at the base, that it be cut down to about six 
inches of the ground. This should be done in early April. 
Too often when planting a new hedge, everything is 
sacrificed for immediate effect. The client is too anxious 
to get a full grown hedge right away. This is impossible. 
A hedge worth while must be grown from the bottom up. 
Hedge planters usually have their own ideas as to dis- 
tance between plants, double or single row, depth to 
which the plants should be set and cut after they are set, 
but whatever the opinion the hedge will be no better or 
more vigorous than the single plants composing it, and 
it will not be a success unless they all grow evenly and 
vigorously. To insure this the essentials are: A deep 
trench with good soil, no overhanging trees, young vig- 
orous plants that have not been dried out, sufficient room 
between the plants to allow each one to develop (about 
one to every twelve inches is about right), set the plants 
down to where they branch, and cut the plants off level, 
leaving not more than six inches above ground. If these 
are provided, a good thick hedge from the bottom up will 
be tlie result. — Xafioiial Xiirservmaii. 
GREENHOUSE, MONTH TO MONTH 
(Coiitiiuicd from page 337.) 
All bedding plants, such as Geraniums, will keeji in 
cold frames for a fairly long time if protected at night 
with mats and kept on the dry side. Alternantheras and 
Coleus require heat and less water, just sufficient to 
keep alive. Don't force any kind of bulbs until the pots 
are weW filled with healthy roots or failure will result. 
Sweet Peas for December and the succeeding months 
should be started. If a bench is ready, sow in rows, but 
if space is not at hand until the end of the 'Mums, they 
can be started in three-inch pots, three seeds in each. 
All will start well excepting the white varieties which 
will succeed better by being first sown on sand or fine 
ashes and left uncovered, and when sprouted they can 
be planted the same as the others. 
CHOICE BULBS FOR THE ROCK GARDEN 
V/f UCH of the charm of an alpine garden consists in 
the opportunities it possesses of showing to the best 
advantage the many dwarf plants with bulbous, cormoUs, 
or tuberous roots, a number of which display their 
charms much better when seen on the rockery than on 
the level ground. Then there are places in the rockery 
where the early bulbs can be carpeted with some of the 
dwarf plants, such, for example, as the mossy saxi- 
frages, arabises, arenarias. cerastiums, and other free- 
growing subjects, which, although free in their growth, 
are yet surface-rooters. These bulbs generally require 
no special cultivation, and, as a whole, do well in the 
ordinary soil provided for the alpine flowers. As a 
general rule, it may be said that they should be covered 
to at least twice their depth in earth, but from two to 
three inches is a suitable covering, except in the case of 
those specially mentioned in the notes which follow. 
Planting may begin as soon as bulbs can be procured. 
First must come the snowdrops, which from the earliest 
time give a welcome display in the ruck garden, and 
nowhere do their chaste flowers look better than against 
the stones of the rockery. 
Almost everybody knows the beautiful dwarf scillas, 
oi which probably the best-known is Scilla sibirica, with 
its flowers of intense blue. It is a gem, and so is its white 
^■ariety, S. sibirica alba. There are other dwarf scillas 
suitable for our purpose, as S. italica, but the forms of 
S. campanulata, the Spanish scilla, with some of the 
prettiest varieties of our ordinary English Blue-Bell, are 
all very fine when iirojierly placed in the rock garden in 
nice clumps. 
Grape hyacinths, or Muscaris, are beautiful on rock- 
work, and we have none jjrettier than the varieties of the 
conimon grape hyacinth, which is sold as M. betryoides. 
Without some of the exquisite Chionodoxas, or Glories 
of the Snow, the rockery is deprived of some of its 
choicest ornaments. 
We need say little about the charm of the crocus for 
the rockery. It matters little whether we choose the 
golden-yellow crocus, the lovely colored Dutch varieties 
of C. vernus, ever pojuilar ; or the many species now at 
command — all are exquisite. 
For sunny, sheltered rockeries a clump or two of one 
of the Romuleas, summer-flowering bulbs, with crocus- 
like blooms, should not be forgotten, although they are 
not showy. 
Some of the Brodiseas, bulbs of much beauty, should 
be added, and perhaps the prettiest and best for ordinary 
use is B. ixioides, with neat yellow flowers, which have 
bestowed on the flower the name of "Yellow Pretty 
Face." 
The Dog's Tooth Violets are lovely flowers, and even 
the common Erythronium Denscanis deserves our 
heartiest admiration. But there are some lovely North 
.American Dog's Tooth Violets, and these are more beau- 
tiful still. 
Daffodils, of course, must be remembered, and among 
them the lovely little miniatures. Narcissus minimus, ■ 
nanus, minor, gracilis and juncifolius, with cyclaniineus, 
should be remembered. The Winter Aconite, albeit a 
common thing, is fine in a shady nook in winter. We 
have also anenibones in endless array, none being finer for 
the lower parts of the rock garden than A. nemorosa in 
variety, with A. blaiida and A. apennina. A few of the 
tulip species, such as Tulipa Greigi. Kaufmanniana, 
-Sprengeri, australis, and linifolia, may be added; while 
there are others of much bcaut\', with several out-of-the- 
way bulbs suitable for the rockery of the keen connois- 
seur. 
