172 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
April. 19 17 
place in this country where data on the com- 
parative hardiness of woody plants, covering 
a long period of years, is to be found. For 
this reason, this article is based on the ex- 
periences of that institution. Here and there 
in gardens, even in the neighborhood of 
Boston, Mass., a plant thrives which is not 
hardy in the Arnold Arboretum. Neverthe- 
less, this Arboretum is the safest guide for all 
desirous of growing hardy woody plants in 
the colder parts of the United States of Amer- 
ica. Very probably some reader has in his (or 
her) garden some broad-Leaved Evergreen not 
mentioned here and this should be a source of 
joy, for the list in its extreme limits is all too 
scant. 
THE GLORY OF THE KALMIA 
We who garden in the cooler parts of east- 
ern North America may envy those of warmer 
climes their variety of broad-leaved Ever- 
greens, yet in the native Mountain Laurel 
( Kalmia latijolia) we possess one plant that 
has no superior. The foliage is good at all 
seasons and in mid-June the broad, dome-like 
clusters of bowl-shaped flowers, either pure 
white, or silvery to deepest pink, make a 
wondrous picture. Truly the Mountain Lau- 
rel is in early summer the glory of woodland 
and i hill slope, and is the most beautiful of 
evergreen shrubs native of eastern North 
America. Many Asiatic Rhododendrons have 
larger leaves and larger and more brilliantly 
colored flowers, but of all the broad-leaved 
evergreen plants which can be grown success- 
fully in this climate, Kalmia latifolia is the 
handsomest and most satisfactory. There is a 
variety (alba) with pure white flow T ers and 
another (rubra) with deep pink, nearly red 
flowers and rather dark leaves. Between 
these extremes there are forms with flowers 
of all shades of pink and there is one (fuscata) 
with flowers conspicuously marked by a 
chocolate band. Another variety (polypetala) 
has the flowers segmented into narrow lobes, 
but this plant is not very ornamental. 1 he 
variety obtusata, which rarely flowers, has 
broad, handsome, Rhododendron-like leaves. 
Lastly, there is a dwarf variety (myrtifolia) 
with small leaves and small clusters of minute 
flowers. All these varieties are sports from 
the wild type and have all been found on wild 
plants. By hybridization and selection it is 
highly probable that new and improved forms 
could be evolved. In the matter of soil and 
situation, the Mountain Laurel is not exacting, 
but it is fond of leaf mould and an autumnal 
mulch of leaves is beneficial. Like other mem- 
bers of the great Heather family, it detests 
limestone. This Kalmia is essentially a social 
plant and when massed together is most ef- 
fective. 
The two other Kalmias (K. angustifolia and 
Pieris flnibunda which opens its flowers at the first burst 
of spring. The buds are showy all winter 
K. glauca ) hardy in this climate are much less 
ornamental but are likewise evergreen. The 
former, familiarly known as the Sheep Laurel, 
is common in swampy places from Maine to 
Georgia and westward to Wisconsin. It is a 
The Japanese Box, is hardier than the Common Box. Dwarf 
in habit with narrow wedge shaped leaves 
branching shrub growing from a foot to a yard 
tall, and has dull olive-green leaves and clus- 
ters of crimson-pink flowers. It is popularly 
believed to be poisonous to sheep. The other 
species, known as the Pale Laurel has much 
the same distribution. It is a twiggy and 
smaller plant with flattened stems, narrow- 
leaves with recurved edges and white on the 
under side and has terminal clusters of pale 
lilac to crimson-pink flowers. It is essentially 
a moisture-loving plant. 
THE ANDROMEDAS 
Closely related to the Pale Laurel and very 
similar in habit, foliage, and general appear- 
ance is Andromeda polifolia. I his is a low' 
shrub from one to two feet tall, w-ith slender 
stems and small clusters of pinkish urn-shaped 
flowers and is distributed through the cold, 
temperate, and subarctic regions of the North- 
ern Hemisphere. 
Another very hardy member of the Heath 
family is Pieris floribunda (better known as 
Andromeda jloribunda), w-hich opens its small, 
white, Heather-like flowers at the first burst 
of spring. I his plant is native of the higher 
slopes of the southern Appalachian Moun- 
tains and is a low, broad, round-topped bush 
with dark green shining leaves and short, 
erect clusters of flowers which are fully grown 
in the autumn and the flower buds are white 
and conspicuous through the winter. Its 
Japanese relative (P. japonica) grows taller 
and has larger flowers but, unfortunately, is 
much less hardy. 
FOR SHADE OF TREES 
For planting in the shade of trees and more 
especially by the side of woodland streams 
Leucothoe Catesbaei, with yard-long, arching 
stems, glossy green, broad, pointed leaves, and 
axillary racemes of small, pure white flowers, 
is a charming plant. It is native of the moun- 
tains of Virginia and Georgia, but is very' 
hardy. By the side of a babhling brook in the 
Hemlock grove of the Arnold Arboretum it is 
perfectly happy and a joy to behold at all sea- 
sons of the year. 
NATIVE AND JAPAN HOLLIES 
The American Holly (Ilex opaca), with its 
dull green leaves, is much inferior to the 
English Holly (/. Aquifolium), which has lus- 
trous foliage, but it has the merit of being 
fairly hardy in northern Massachusetts, 
whereas its European relative is not. The 
American Holly is a large bush or small tree 
and has red fruit. It delights in a cool soil 
and a position sheltered from cutting winds 
and the morning sun in wfinter. 
A broad-leaved Evergreen which should be 
planted in every garden is the Inkberry 
( Ilex glabra), one of the most attractive of 
native shrubs. It is densely branched and 
compact in habit and grows from five to eight 
feet high and as much in diameter, and has 
dark, glossy green, smooth, rounded leaves 
and black fruit on inch-long stalks. It forms 
a neat and shapely specimen in the open, is 
excellent for massing, and is a good hedge 
plant. The leaves do not burn and the plant 
grows well in ordinary' garden soil and is beau- 
tiful at all seasons, be it midwinter or mid- 
summer. One would reasonably suppose that 
so useful a shrub would be grown in quantity 
by the nursery-men of eastern North America, 
but, alas! this class from earliest generations 
has derived its inspiration entirely from Eu- 
rope and apparently despises American plants 
as too common for attention. 
1 he Japanese Ilex crenata is another valu- 
able evergreen Holly and being an exotic is 
fairly easy- to obtain from nurserymen. It 
Inkberry (Ilex glabra) one of the most attractive of all 
evergreen shrubs, growing well in ordinary soils 
