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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 
OF AMERICA 
Devoted to the Science of Floriculture and Horticulture 
Vol. XXI 
nniiiiiiiii 
IIIMIIIItlllllllllMIMIIIIIItllKIIII 
OCTOBER, 1917 
illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllilllllilllllllllllllllUlllllllllllllllllllllll^^ 
No. 10 1 
Things and Thoughts of the Garden 
By the Onlooker 
WE sometimes forget how rich we are in good 
native plants that are hardy and which can be 
grown in the borders out of doors, or at least 
in some part of the ornamental garden. Looking over 
a set of old lantern slides that I used to illustrate a talk 
on "Plant Geography," I came upon one that had the 
following list of showy and ornamental North American 
plants. The list is merely indicative of the type of vege- 
tation we have. Some trees and shrubs are among them : 
Aster (Michaelmes Daisy) 
Acer (Maple) 
Abies 
Amelanchier 
Carpentaria 
Calycanthus 
Clarkia 
Cornus floridus 
Darlingtonia 
Eschscholtzia 
Dodecatheon 
Erigeron 
Juniperus virginiana 
Helianthus 
Liatris 
Liliums (numerous) 
Liquidamber 
Liriodendron tulpifera 
Lupinus 
It is remarkable how notable Mexico is in plants that 
are well known among us. The list includes the follow- 
ing: Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa), Argemone, Cal- 
ceolaria Mexicana, Begonia Alanicata, Centradenia, 
Choisya temata (Mexican Orange Blossom), Cuphea 
ignea (Cigar Plant), Dasylirion, numerous cacti, Na- 
gelia. Dahlias, Sprekelia, Tigridia, Poinsettias and 
Euphorbia jacquiniae-flora. None of these, even where 
they come from higher altitudes, like the Dahlias, is 
hearty in the North. A very characteristic flora is found 
through the dry region of New Mexico, Arizona and 
Southern California, where cactaceous plants, Salt Bush 
occur. Chili, Australia and South Africa are in many 
respects similar ; indeed, wherever the climate of one 
part of the world approximates to the conditions found 
in another sphere, there you can get a type of vegetation 
that is similar in each case. Take Palestine, a hot, dry 
country, with a cooler, rainy winter season. Here we 
have Ranunculuses, Tulips, Crocuses, Poppies, Tamarisk, 
dwarf scrub or heat-like plants. In South Africa and 
Mertensia 
Monarda 
Nemophila 
CEnothera 
Phlox 
Penstemon 
Quercus (Oak) 
Gaillardia 
Heuchera 
Opuntia 
Physalis 
Sarracenia 
Solidago 
Sidalcea 
Sequoia 
Taxodium 
Zinnia 
Symphoricarpos 
Magnolia 
Australia, the same. We all know what is meant by New 
Holland (the old name for Australia) plants: Ericas, 
Chorizemas, Hardenbergias, Metrosideros, Aotus, etc. 
But who can distinguish between the Ericas of Australia 
and the Epacrises of Southern Africa? Like conditions 
develop like results. South Africa is richer in ornamental 
bulbs than the Island Continent, as the following list 
demonstrates : Agapanthus, ESrunsvigia, Crinum, Gladi- 
olus, Haemanthus, Imantophyllum (syn. Clivia), Ixia, 
Tritoma (syn. Kniphofia), Lachenalia, Ornithogallum, 
Richardia Africana (syn. Calla aethiopica), Schizostylis 
Sparaxis, Tritonia (not to be confused with Tritoma), 
Vallota purpurea and Watsonia. There they are all nicely 
arranged in alphabetical and apple-pie order. Here is 
the home of several of our most highly prized garden and 
greenhouse plants, the Gladioli, the Calla "Lily," the 
Lachenalia, Red Hot Poker, the Agapanthus — we would 
be poor indeed without our South African bulbs. South 
Africa is largely a dry, parched land, supporting a great 
variety of coarse grasses. As with other dry-land floras, 
there are succulent plants, among them the Stapelias, 
Rochea coccinea, Mesembryanthemum ; also vegetation 
like the Silver Leaf (Leucadendron argenteum), on 
which inscriptions are printed and the dried leaves sold 
as mementoes ; and the Proteas. The handsome Pelican 
Flower (Strelitzia reginae), hails from South African 
territory, and tliis is the home, likewise, of the blue Water 
Lily, Nymphae shellata, found wild nowhere else in the 
world ; and the gorgeous red orchid, Disa grandiflora, 
grows on Table Mountain at the Cape. 
* * * 
It might be thought that this goodly list of famous 
plants would serve for the fame of South Africa, but 
there are still more of our garden treasures found native. 
Chief are the so-called Geraniums, which are properly 
called Pelargoniums, as the real Geraniums find their 
home in North America and Europe, the latter mostly. 
Think of the little Herb Robert, however, of Europe, and 
compare it with some of the scented-leaved Pelargoniums 
and one can well understand how confusion as to names 
arose. Our bedding zonal Geraniums were bred up from 
Pelargonium zonale, P. inquinans and others. The great 
period of the bedding Geranium was in the sixties, sev- 
enties and early eighties of last century, when the "scarlet 
Geranium," the gold and silver tricolors and variegated 
varieties, and famed named nosegay forms were the 
craze. A Pelargonium Society existed for a short while 
in London. Columns of descriptions of new varieties filled 
the old Cottage Gardener and the other periodicals of 
359 
