THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
193 
stood, the gardener must then extricate and successfully 
adjust piece by piece the various features sought. In so 
doing he will not adapt either extreme, formal or inform- 
al, but aim to exemplify a happy coalition of the best 
elements in each. His guiding principle is that formality 
should obtain within the precincts of the dwelling which 
it is intended to embellish, and should melt away into 
the natural. The eye loves to rest on a combination of 
trees, flowers, water, etc., all beautifully interspersed 
and arranged, and the blending of the two systems and 
the allotting of space to each within a limited area dif- 
fers in every case. The striking of a harmonious and 
judicious balance is the test of the most skillful hand and 
trained eye. 
Armed with a forceful ambition and a reasonable 
executive ability the gardener's education would be even 
then lacking one important element. The essential and 
almost invaluable asset of a pleasing personality cannot 
well be over-rated. Gardeners must necessarily meet the 
demands of employers with sincerely tactful impartiality ; 
and the establishment of an evenly balanced tempera- 
ment is not always of easy attainment. Yet it is safe to 
assume that the shrewd aspirant bestows equanimity on 
the ethical and practical alike. As an expedient in these 
requirements the writer would suggest a more wide- 
spread expression of individual effort along original 
lines. We have no more apprehensible means or better 
facility of doing this than the press affords ; and nothing 
could be more inimitably expressive of the intellectual 
status of the present day professional gardener. Horti- 
culturalists are undoubtedly doing great work but there 
still is ample scope for co-operative development. 
*Essay that won ex-President Everitt's (National Association of Garden- 
ers) gold price, class 1, under nom de plume "Spero meliora." 
I 
A PLEA FOR ROSE HEDGES 
N many places some kind of hedge is necessary to 
divide the flower garden from the vegetable gar- 
den, and some shrub, such as Privet, Hawthorn or 
Holly, is frequently planted. But why not Roses? Is 
not a hedge of Roses ten times more beautiful than 
one made of shrubs? Those who have seen large Rose 
hedges covered with bloom in June and July should 
not need much persuasion to attempt something simi- 
lar in their own gardens, instead of planting shrubs; 
but they do. Very often these people only murmur, 
"How beautiful !" or something to that effect, and re- 
gard these lovely Rose hedges an impossible attain- 
ment in their own gardens; so they plant Privet or 
other shrubs. But, really, there is nothing impossible 
about it. So long as the reader has an open, sunny 
spot and fairly good soil for his Rose hedge there is 
no reason why he should not attain quite as excellent 
results as those he has seen. It may be said that time 
and expense are to be considered, and that Privet or 
shrubs make the cheapest hedge in the shortest time. 
So they do, but the hedge produced is an extraordi- 
narily ugly object. People seem to exaggerate consid- 
erably the idea that Rose hedges take time to form. 
One amateur spoke to me of "ten years" and another 
of "five years" having to elapse before a tolerable 
hedge could be produced ! But these people are under 
a very great delusion. I have seen Rose hedges of 
quite passable quality which have only been planted 
two years, and these hedges were all that could be de- 
sired in the third summer. As regards the expense, 
one must confess that Rose hedges cost a little more 
in the first instance, but they are quite worth it, for, 
when once planted, each one of them is "a thing of 
beauty and a joy forever." 
It has been said that "a garden is a place for flowers. 
a place where one may foster a passion for loveliness, 
may learn the magic of color, and the glory of 
form. . . ." And if this is true, then ugly features 
of the garden, such as shrub hedges, should not be 
permitted. Of course, there are certain positions where 
Rose hedges could not be formed, but by far the ma- 
jority of positions now occupied by Privet and other 
like hedges could be occupied by Rose hedges. 
Some kind of screen or support must be arranged 
after the soil has been trenched two feet and well 
manured. This can be made by nailing poles of Span- 
ish Chestnut, Larch, Ash or Pine into a kind of rustic 
trellis. The ends of the poles should be let into the 
ground one and a half feet to two feet, not less, or they 
will be blown over in strong winds. Plant the Roses 
four feet to five feet apart, and tie the growths on to 
the trellis-work in as artistic a manner as you can. In 
the summer tie in all strong new growths, cutting out 
only weak shoots and dead wood. The trellis-work 
will soon be hidden completely, and some old wood 
should be cut out every summer after the plants have 
flowered. Give them plenty of water and mulch with 
manure each spring. Good Roses for hedges include 
American Pillar, Dorothy Perkins, Blush Rambler, 
Crimson Rambler, Hiawatha, Alberic Barbier, Gloire 
de Dijon and Minnehaha. — E. T. Ellis, in The Garden. 
COLOR IN THE ROCK GARDEN 
IT is sometimes stated that Nature never associates 
discordant colors, but unprejudiced observers will 
allow that discords do exist. One of the objects of the 
cultivation of alpine plants is to keep up a succession 
of flowers as long as possible, and to place the plants 
so as to insure success in their culture. In so doing, 
the proper disposal of the subjects, from the point of 
view of appearance is necessary, for a rock garden 
without color reminds one of an orchard without fruit. 
But it is necessary when arranging the subjects that 
due regard be paid to the color of the flowers, other- 
wise dire combinations may result. 
In practice, nine-tenths of the troublesome discords 
are produced in the rock garden by the magenta groups 
of colors, including the strongest purples, crimson, 
lilac, and crimson-purple. The artistic way to handle 
these colors is to isolate them in nooks, surrounded by 
the green of a mossy saxifrage or other green-leaved 
subject, or place them in the shade, where they are 
purified and softened, instead of allowing them a place 
in an open situation where full sunshine makes them 
too strong, or where they conflict with all other colors 
except white. 
It is quite possible, with the material at disposal, to 
make a rock garden that changes its color every three 
or four weeks, based on the idea that a garden may 
well reflect the dominant color found in the pastures 
of the Alps, and produced by the plants each season. 
The pictorial effect is improved by a definite color 
scheme, and by planting the subjects in drifts. 
In the modest rock garden, where it is the aim of 
the cultivator to grow as many different plants as the 
limited space will allow, color arrangements must be 
of secondary consideration, but where the rock garden 
is of considerable extent it is necessary, if effect is to 
be obtained, to plant each subject in masses, or allow 
it to intermingle with other plants in order to obtain 
a harmonious blending. 
Plants which are suitable for planting in masses, and 
which will afford color in the rock garden, are Arabis 
albida. Phlox canadensis, P. subulata, and its many 
varieties. Viola gracilis, Lithospermum prostratum 
(Continued on pai^e 203.) 
