July, 1920 
| Odds and Ends 
From the Garden, j 
There is a little Birch-fringed swale, 
that last year, but one, was a riot of 
Goldenrod and Marsh Asters, Thorough- 
wort and Joe-Pye-Weed with here and 
there thrifty clumps of water-loving 
Irises. It lies between the garden and 
a bit of pond and has long seemed to 
call for a little more finished treatment. 
Now it is at least half tamed. There 
are a few meandering paths, a succes- 
sion of bloom, a new spot for garden- 
ing adventures. 
I have left the thrifty Irises, the six 
by six foot yellow pseudacorus, the blue 
and white Sibericas, and our native 
versicolor, but to these have been added 
plants from the garden that need con- 
tinuous moisture and a careful selection 
of the less rampant wildlings. I have 
sort a happy balance of growth between 
such plants as will require little care 
and yet have a flavour of the near-by 
garden. 
A shapely young tree of Tupelo (Nyssa 
| sylvaiica) is full of character, astray El- 
derberry bush, even a common Alder has 
its place and each in its season gives an 
added bit of interest to be reflected in 
the still waters. A few plants of the 
native Azaleas are lovely ; Vaseyi for 
its soft pink masses in May, the flaming 
calendulaceam, Rosy Arboreseens and 
the white swamp Honeysuckle ( viscosa ) 
the last two more for their charm of leaf 
and branching than for the flowers 
; which come, half-hidden in the foliage, 
in July. I like the winter green of the 
Inkberry {Ilex glabra) and the bright red 
berries of its bigger brother vcrlicillata. 
It is a small place so that each is but a 
sample and each has a spot value in the 
composition. There is an undergrowth 
of swamp Violets in white and blue, and 
blue Forget-me-nots, and where the 
j water is very near the surface yellow 
I Cow-slips ( Caltha palustris) and the real- 
' ly charming double form. The Butter- 
cups also feel at home both the double 
Fair Maids of France and a single 
creamy white. 
With June come Spireas and Astilbes 
with their feathery plumes and neat 
tufts of foliage. I am always cutting 
back the runners of S. sorbifolia but 
value its fresh green in earliest spring. 
Aruncus has a more airy touch and 
keeps well within bounds and the same 
might be said of palma/a with its wooly 
clusters, and the fern leaved Evergreen 
filipendula. For rosy tints I prefer the 
new Astilbes, the Arendsi varieties, 
Ceres, Brunhilde, or Pink Pearl, which 
are fine in contrast with certain of the 
big Jap Irises. 
August brings a rift of Cardinal flow- 
ers and the maiden-hair like foliage of 
Meadow Rue behind, with even taller 
Turk’s Cap Lilies. Perhaps it is a group- 
ing of loose-panicled white Phlox and 
tawny Lilies (Hemerocallis fulva, the 
double form is very stiff) or yet again 
the bold leaves of the Compass Plant 
(i Silphium ) that may catch the eye, and 
after the September frosts, late Asters 
linger, masses of lavender lit by the 
Olje Slower (Brower 
deep red autumn tints of the Tupelo or 
the yellowed Iris leaf-blades. 
Few of these colors are used in great 
quantity, they form a series of pictures, 
the whole bound together by masses of 
Irises, their vertical lines of growth in 
contrast to the lower, flatter clumps of 
the Astilbes. Even without color there 
is a pleasing variety of interest of foli- 
age masses and hues, now bold, now 
delicate, deep green or light. 
Where the open gives way to the 
flickering shadows of the Birch copse, 
there are Primroses, Violets, and great 
drifts of Ferns. Here there is drainage 
as well as moisture and in early spring 
there are Primulas of every hue, little 
single flowered double white ones, like 
miniature Camellias, clustered Mun- 
stead hybrids from palest yellow to 
chrome, a few of the rich garnet and 
yellow forms, some with gold laced 
edges, and, to me the most fascinating 
of all, denticulata varieties whose flow- 
ers make little globes of cream, pale yel- 
low or lavender. But little later to 
bloom are a few clumps of Rose and 
Magenta Japonicas with whorls of flow- 
ers on stout two foot stalks, but mostly 
I have the lighter colors that blend with 
fresh green of the Birch buds and the 
uncurling Fern fronds. 
Such is the basis of my garden and it 
gives an object to many a woodland 
walk or country trip for who can resist 
adding to a garden, collecting and wel- 
coming thereto some unfamiliar plant. 
Already I have started a number of 
little colonies. Uvullaria with its straw- 
toned bells is well established, Jack-in- 
the-Pulpits seem at home, there are big 
Solomon’s Seals and Trilliums in white 
and deep dull-red. Some day I shall 
have a mat of the little Dutchman’s 
Breeches (Dicenlra cucularia) and per- 
haps in a sunny spot I can grow some of 
the swamp Orchids {Calopogon, Pogonia 
and Areihusa,) perhaps even the lovely 
Fringed Gentian. Apparently thislastis 
a biennial, at least it defies attempts at 
cultivation and although some chance 
sown seed at a cross-roads has grown, in 
the garden there has been nothing but 
failure. Its slender stems and smooth 
leaves, the satiny texture of its flowers 
and above all its color have a refinement 
beyond compare. The Closed Gentian 
is more casual in its friendships and its 
dull purple flowers take on a nice red- 
dened hue after the first frosts. That 
I can grow. 
There is wealth of association behind 
these wildlings, one may carry you back 
to a pleasant picnic in a cool glen, 
another to a mountain scramble, or a 
hot hike across a sandy plain. Person- 
ally I do not associate remembrance of 
my human companions with such a find 
as much as I do the spirit of the day, 
the call of the environment, and just as 
the wildlings in my garden have such 
a background so I like to develop some 
history for my purchased plants. Does 
it come from Siberia or Thibet, Crete 
or Oregon? When was it first discov- 
ered and under what conditions? There 
is a certain joy in growing as neighbors, 
plants from so many climes and I shall 
never forget the feeling of home that I 
derived from knowing and recognizing 
trees, and shrubs, and flowers by the 
105 
roadsides of France and England as I 
marched by. There 'can be little feel- 
ing of homesickness among familiar 
faces, in familiar scenes and the lover 
of flowers, will find much that is famil- 
iar in any country of the temperate 
zone. 
R. S. Barre. 
The Western New York 
Floricultural Society. 
Under the above title a society has 
been organized to stimulate an interest 
in floriculture. Its objects as set forth 
in a preamble are as follows : 
The Special Object of this Society shall be to 
foster, stimulate, increase in every possible way 
the general interest in the cultivation of flow- 
ers and plants in Western New York. 
1st. To encourage and promote the beauti- 
fication of the city by means of its home, 
school and playgrounds, etc. 
2nd. To disseminate a knowledge of the best 
varieties of flowers and plants, and to the best 
methods of growing same through our official 
organ, The Flower Grower. 
3rd. To hold meetings during winter months, 
reading of essays at said meetings and the 
general diffusion of knowledge amongst its 
members. 
4th. To hold exhibitions and to encourage 
the exhibition of flowers and plants at the 
leading Western New York Fairs. 
5th. To make observation trips to all places, 
far and near, that show beauty and advance- 
ment in the Horticultural Art. 
6th. To encourage and promote school gar- 
dening and the study of flowers in the schools 
of Western New York. 
7th. To co-ordinate garden work with Social 
Service and other organizations. 
8th. The advancement of horticulture in all 
its branches, and to that end we cordially in- 
vite all who are, or may become interested 
in the same to unite with us. 
Patrons of the society include L. H. 
Bailey, of Ithaca, F. R. Pierson, of 
Tarrytown, John L. Childs, Floral Park, 
T. A. Havemeyer, Glen Head, and others 
well known in horticulture. 
Henry W. Martens is President, R. E. 
Davey, Treasurer and Schuyler Arnold, 
Secretary. 
All communications should be ad- 
dressed to the Secretary, Schuyler Ar- 
nold, Coldwater, N. Y. 
Insects and Fungus Diseases. 
Thoroughly successful gardening cannot be 
practiced without due regard for the injury 
caused by insects and fungi and the scientific 
effort to control them. The domesticity of 
plants bringing them into conditions often 
foreign to their natural environment, seems 
to court the attacks of diseases and pests, 
which are so common and insistent as to con- 
stitute a menace at all times, even to uncul- 
tivated species. To form an idea of how 
plants will thrive when deprived of these 
enemies we can but do all in our power to 
effect it by every known and suitable means 
and note the result. The struggle for exist- 
ence is going on about us, seen and unseen 
by human eyes ; it is not alone the leaf beetles 
and their larvae, the defoliating lepidopterous 
caterpillars and the sucking bugs that play 
havoc if unchecked. At the roots, in the 
stems, within the blossoms and the fruit, 
others are at work that cannot so easily be 
reached. — American Suburbs. 
