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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA 
THE 
GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 
OF AMERICA. 
Published by 
THE CHRONICLE PRESS, Inc. 
Office of Publication 
286 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK 
MARTIN C. EBEL, Editor. 
EDITORIAL OFFICES— MADISON, N. J. 
OFFICIAL ORGAN OF 
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GARDENERS 
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Entered as second class matter Nov. 3, 1914, at the Post Office at New 
York, N. Y., under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
Published on the 15th of each month. 
Advertising forms close on the 1st preceding publication. 
For advertising rates apply to 286 Fifth Ave., New York, N. Y. All 
editorial matter should be addressed to M. C. Ebel, Editor, Madison, N. J. 
Vol. XXI 
December, 1917 
No. 12 
VOLUNTEER PLANTS 
O EGARDLESS of riparian rights, volunteer plants, 
from self-sown seeds, have taken possession of the 
Gulf coast, "some in rags, some in tags, and some in 
velvet gowns," writes Mrs. G. T. Drennan in Tlie 
American BotiDiist. They have virtually established an 
experiment station. One lesson they teach is that many 
flowers considered delicate and requiring special care are 
hardy. Some of them do as well, others much better, 
than when grown from fresh, selected seeds and given 
the most approved modes of culture under the best 
environment. 
The Shasta Daisy is a shining example. This is simply 
Burbank's greatly improved form of the iron-clad type, 
Chrysanthcvium Leitcanthemnin, the common ox-eye 
daisy, one of the farmer's pests. It self-sows its seeds 
which the Gulf breezes blow hither and yon. Seedling 
plants follow. 
The Transvaal or African daisy, introduced here since 
the Boer war, has established itself in blazing orange- 
yellow with the profusion it exhibits on its native veldt. 
It has spread beyond the confines of culture everywhere, 
from the gardens of its first occupancy. For brilliant dis- 
play it exceeds any flower of equal delicacy I have ever 
known and is fine for parks. 
The Gaillardia or blanket flower, conspicuous for its 
broad rays of brownish-crimson and bright yellow, and 
its velvety-purple cushion-like disk, has spread from self- 
sown seed, naturalized itself and makes the coast gay with 
its blossoms from spring till winter. 
The Coreopsis or Calliopsis in bright yellow, copper, 
bronze, and brown, blooms incessantly, a free lance 
among grasses, reeds, ferns, and weeds. Its charming 
peculiarity is that its stems are tall, strong and wiry. 
The foliage is close to the ground, so the flowers seem to 
be floating upon the air. Its type is the despised "tick- 
weed" of the woods, a weed with nothing in its favor 
except that it is the progenitor of the six varieties of 
coreopsis, beautiful garden flowers. No matter where 
your garden stands, north or south, from one paper of 
seed, sown fall or spring, these plants bloom the first 
season, self-sow and spread in volunteer ranks, year after 
year, perpetually. No need to sow fresh seed every year ; 
they do that themselves. 
Under self propagation, however, some of our most 
beautiful flowers rapidly degenerate. They demand in- 
tensive culture. Pansies are prolific seed bearers and vol- 
unteer plants are numerous, but left to nature, without 
cultivation, they invariably revert to the type Viola 
tricolor, with both plant and flower diminutive. Portu^ 
laca, of most gorgeous oriental colors, will degenerate to 
the semblance of its type, the common purslane, with 
flowers no larger than a little pearl button and stems, 
bare of leaves, that look like earth worms ; the flowers 
pale pink and yellow exactly like those of the "pigweed" 
purslane. Phlox Driiminondi, a native of the Texas 
prairies, answers the call of the wild in prodigious num- 
bers of volunteer plants. From highly improved strains 
of all the colors of pink, rose, crimson, lavender, and pure 
white, the self-sown seedlings produce perfect flowers the 
first year. After that, every year shows degeneracy. The 
blooms get small, the foliage shabby, and the colors are 
confined to the pink and red of the type. 
The Mexican poppy self-sows its seeds, volunteers in 
hosts, and, unlike all other poppies, blooms from June to 
the close of November. Silvery white, with golden 
anthers and sinuate-lobed glaucus foliage, the flowers are 
enchanting. This Alexican species grows in pure sand 
on the beach where the sun is unobstructed. Also it 
volunteers, higher up, on land more fertile and solid; al- 
ways in the sun ; never in the shade. 
THE IRIS BORER— (MACRONOCTUA ONUSTA) 
Editor G.vRDENERs' Chronicle: 
rOR fear nobody else sends you informating regarding 
the iris pest mentioned in your November number, 
I add the following notes concerning it. The insect re- 
ferred to is the iris borer {Macronoctua onusta). It 
appears to have originally lived on wild species of iris in 
the Eastern States, but it is now found as far west as 
Chicago. The mature insect appears late in the season 
and flies at dusk. It lays its eggs at the base of the iris 
leaves and winters over in this stage. When Spring 
comes the eggs hatch and the larvae bore down through 
the young leaves to the rootstock, where the rest of their 
larval life is passed. Your correspondent is correct in 
assuming that some arsenate sprayed on the plants early 
in Spring is likely to get the insects, but the great diffi- 
culty in this is in getting the poison to stick to the wax- 
covered foliage. It usually rolls off like water from a 
duck's back. Entomologists who specialize in the borers 
have discovered that a region that has recently been 
burned over seldom harbors borers of any kind, and these 
gentlemen suggest that burning over the iris beds early 
in Spring may put an end to all the pests. Possibly a 
light covering of weeds and grass-stems over the iris 
might be fired without injuring the plants, but I have 
not tried it. The same species of borer has been found 
inhabiting the blackberry lily and since it appears to be 
a rather recent introduction, it is quite likely that it may 
find still other host plants. There is a suspicion that 
it finds a home in the tubers of the Jerusalem artichoke, 
also. Yours truly, 
WiLLARD N. ClUTE, 
Editor American Botanist. 
Joliet, III, November 24, 1917. 
