Volume XXIV 
Number 5 
Lfc4iffiiw 
The Garden Magazine 
T he GARDENER’S thoughts in December very naturally 
turn In the direction of the possibilities of plants for indoor 
decoration. With the season’s festivals in view it is well to 
look around the garden and see to what extent the available material 
will serve the purpose at hand. One’s first impulse is to inquire for 
evergreens, but on second thought, it is quickly realized that ever- 
greens offer but few opportunities in the average garden. Evergreens 
are notoriously slow growers. A great many of them assume a sym- 
metrical habit of growth and on the whole do not lend themselves 
readily to cutting for decorative purposes. Those of our readers, who 
are located in a neighborhood of native woodland growth, may prob- 
ably satisfy their desires in the way of evergreen decorations by raids 
into the surrounding country — an easy way out of the difficulty. But, 
after all, that is a phase of the subject that is quite apart from the con- 
sideration of the gardener, and it is to the gardener, who is perforce 
confined to his own source of supply, that the problem presents the 
greatest difficulty- 
^ NOW IT is not true that evergreen trees and shrubs cannot be 
handled in such a way as to supply a reasonable amount of decor- 
ative material; but it is true that they take longer to recover than 
deciduous trees or shrubs, and for our own part, there is a feeling 
(which is probably shared by most other gardeners) that the ever- 
green gems of our gardens and shrubberies are not to be ruthlessly 
sacrificed for a passing occasion however laudable that may be. We 
prefer our evergreen plants for their garden quality, and prefer to have 
them in the garden. And it is this feeling that prompts the thorough- 
going gardener to fall in line with the “living Christmas tree” scheme. 
This, as we had an occasion to remark on before, is the use of a living 
evergreen in a tub for the Christmas festival, either in the house or out- 
doors, but the tree, after having served its immediate purpose, is per- 
manently planted out to form part of the garden collection. It is a 
pretty and appropriate application of the Christmas sentiment and is 
far more reafin its appeal than the sacrificial destruction of young trees 
that might otherwise live to serve a useful purpose for timber. 
4 a planting that has been well considered to supply interest 
throughout the year will not by any means be devoid of decora- 
tive material at this time. Although there is a pretty general 
understanding that certain trees and shrubs carry conspicuously decor- 
ative fruits into the winter, yet it has not yet become a general thing 
for the home gardener to deliberately plan ahead and plant his shrub- 
beries so as to supply any demands that may be made for decorative 
material. Yet it is quite easy so to do. Even the native Callicarpa, 
with its violet berries — the Japanese species is still better — makes a 
valuable subject at this season, and although it should be on that 
account comparatively common in gardens yet, as a matter of fact, it is 
one of the least known and least appreciated of the winter fruit sub- 
jects. A great many of the Thorns will carry fruits late into the season; 
also certain Viburnums and Crabapples are particularly attractive 
in their red-colored fruits. Not the least attractive In our garden at 
this season are the wreaths of brilliant berries of Evergreen Thorn. 
The red berries of the Berberis are so well known as to merely need 
assing mention. The Deciduous Holly — the branches studded with 
rilliant red berries, though [denuded of all foliage — has long been 
appreciated in many an old garden; being a native, the buried branches 
are easily collected along the woodsides wherever a plant finds a home. 
NOT THE FRUITS alone are attractive, but in many cases the 
barks assume glorious colors with the approach of cold weather, 
and very noticeably so, the Siberian Dogwood, normally blood- 
red, but in one variety a golden yellow; some of the Willows give yellow 
colors too; a green is to be found all the year round, persisting in the 
entangling branches of the Kerria. This catalog could be lengthened 
but what has been said will suffice to call attention to the possibilities 
of planting for winter decoration. In both Indoors and out; but it would 
not be right to leave the subject without a passing reference to the 
garden values of the fruits of many of the Roses, especially rugosa and 
the multiflora-Wichuraiana hybrids. In some of the latter, especially 
where the influence of the last named parent is the more pronounced, 
we have long persistent almost evergreen foliage. 
THE EVERGREENS form a sufficiently large and interesting 
subject of themselves and will be referred to in due season more in 
detail in an article that has been especially prepared for The Gar- 
den Magazine by Mr. E. H. Wilson. The readers of The Garden 
Magazine will surely welcome this addition to the series of contribu- 
tions that touched on so many other phases of plant material, but which 
have not discussed the possibilities of broadleaved evergreens. This 
contribution will appear in one of the early Spring issues. We are also 
glad to be able to announce that during the coming year we shall pub- 
lish several critical reports of personal experiences with these newer and 
rarer plants from China that are so eminently adapted to the climate 
and conditions of the Eastern United States. The discussions on these 
topics will be contributed by such well-informed authorities as Mr. 
John Dunbar, Mr. J. Horace McFarland, Mr. A. E. Thatcher, etc. 
^ THE NEXT ISSUE of The Garden Magazine (January, 
1917), will be offered to the readers as a seasonable compendium 
^ of facts, a “Manual of Gardening for 1917.” Among the more 
helpful features will be a guide to vegetable varieties, how to buy 
them and what to buy for gardens of varying requirements, both 
according to the amount of money to be spent and according to the 
space available, and the needs of the persons concerned. This will 
present in concise and summarized form the vast amount of practical 
information on up-to-date varieties of vegetables that has been scat- 
tered through recent volumes of the magazine. In order to put this 
matter into an easily accessible form, we have asked Mr. Kruhm to 
re-present all the data in the form suggested so as to make his valuable 
advice quickly available to everybody. Similarly, Mr. G. W. Kerr, 
whose name is by no means unfamiliar to our readers, will present the 
essential data on varieties of flower seeds. 
Another article in that number will be a decided effort to “ put the 
beginner next” to use a colloquial, but expressive, phrase. Mr. F. F. 
Rockwell goes into minute details concerning the methods of garden 
craft. He explains what a seed bed is, and how to make it, and all the 
little preliminary technicalities which are the foundation of ultimate 
success, and the whole article is abundantly illustrated. 
The desires of the individual who dwells in the average suburban 
plot, and who wishes to begin planning and planting his garden with a 
definite idea of proportion and fitness, are not forgotten. 
The proper use of shrubbery in connection with the home plan is 
touched upon in several ways, especially emphasizing the thought that 
there is a great difference between a home and garden, and a house and 
lot ! The thought here suggested is conveyed through several articles. 
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