Choice There is a remarkable flat-topped variety of hardy blue 
Blue Hydrangea \\-hich flourishes here in our sour Long Island .^oil. 
Htdeangea I sent a sample of it to Processor Sargent fo'* identification and 
he writes me: "the name of your Hydrangea i,? H. Optiloides, 
var. Coeruleo, Opuloides" being now the accepted nyme for the 
plant which used to be called E. Horfensia. This variety is a 
native of Japan and has been in cultivation for many years in 
Euiope. It is only fairly hardy in the Arboreti:im and the 
branches are often killed back in severe winters. This variety 
has a halo of sterile flowers circling a darker blue center of 
fertile flowers. Plant it on the sheltered side of the house. Our 
local florist. Louis Vetault, has a good supply for sale, and they 
can also be procured at the Cottage Gardens, Hewlett, L. I. 
Why Some We solved the question of the blue in Hydrangeas to our own 
Hydrangea satisfaction by ordering a dozen ordinary piok Hydrangea 
Turn Blue Hortensia (Opuloides) from Dreer. Half of them I planted 
in the lime stone soil of the Hudson Valley and the other half 
I brought here to Long Island. Those on the Hudson are bright 
pink, those in this sour soil are a heavenly blue, and one I kept 
in a tub and watered copiously with soot and liquid manure- 
water is a huge mass of mauve bloom turning gradually blue ! 
Anna Gilman Hill 
Eastliampton, L. I. 
Plant Material 
On a grey day near old Salem I came on an opening in the 
woods. Beyond was a field of yellow broom. I thought the sun 
was shining. 
In places fog shuts out the sun for days, even weeks at a 
time. In some such place I should like to see all the condemned 
summer yellows. Fog, sea and sand are found together. It 
would be sandy, barren soil. We would see much broom — detested 
weed now given a home — the Golden IMargaierite, Anthemis 
Kelwayi; Yellow Vetch, Astragalus in variety; Wild Senna, 
Cassia Marylandica; Knapweed, Centaurea Macroc&phala; many 
of the tickseeds. Coreopsis, Sneezewood, Helenium in var. ; the 
perennial Sunflower, Heliantlius in var. ; False Sunflowers, 
Heliopsis; the Yellow Day Lily, HemerocalUs Thunhergii would 
be best; the variegated White Day Lily, Funkia Suhcordata 
Variegata, and every other flower that was coarse, yellow and 
despised. To shut off the other respectible world would be the 
golden Privet, the Golden variegated Thorn, Crataegus Pruni- 
folia Variegata; the variegated Adam's Needle, Yucca 
filimentosa variegata and all the other "Golden" shrubs and 
trees, Alder, Ash, Spirea, Maple, Elder, Oak, etc. Here, too the 
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