November, 1920 Slower (Brower 
Hydrangea Paniculata Grandiflora. 
By Bertha Berbert- Hammond. 
[ Written expressly for The Flower Grower. ] 
W ITHOUT QUESTION, the Hy- 
drangea Paniculata Grandiflora 
introduced from Japan in 1874, 
has proved to be one of the finest 
(if not the most desirable) of hardy 
flowering shrubs. It is invaluable 
either as a single lawn specimen or for 
massing in the shrubbery border, and 
is often most effectively employed as 
an ornamental hedge plant, for it can 
easily be kept within any allotted 
bounds by severe pruning. It has 
such vigorous roots that the shrub can 
be cut down almost to the ground 
without harmful effects. 
fectly for months their beauty of color- 
ing and form. 
An unusually fine specimen of Hy- 
drangea growing near the northeast 
corner of my summer home displaying 
by actual count more than three hun- 
dred and fifty panicles of bloom, many 
of them of immense size, has been com- 
manding much admiration and favora- 
ble comment. Aside from slight trim- 
ming and thinning out of weak branches 
each spring, this superb shrub is per- 
mitted to grow in a natural manner. If 
one desires fewer and muchjarger 
blooms they may be obtained by a se- 
m 
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^ £22 
A specimen Hydrangea Paniculata-Grandiflora growing on Mrs. Hammond's grounds at her summer 
home “ The Castle.” The size of this plant may be gauged by comparing it with ten-year-old 
Melvina Hammond who appears in the photograph. 
In training this shrub to be grown as 
a standard it is the customary pro- 
ceeding to cut down nearly to the 
ground, a vigorous young plant, allow- 
ing only one shoot to develop. The 
next spring the top is again cut off and 
only those branches that will give the 
plant good form are permitted to grow. 
When grown in natural form in rich, 
moist soil in a partially shaded loca- 
tion the shrub will rapidly develop into 
a sturdy bush of considerable size and 
from August until heavy frost bear a 
mass of conspicuous bloom so dense 
as to nearly conceal the handsome fo- 
liage. The flower-clusters often meas- 
uring as much as a foot across, borne 
at the tip of the numerous branches 
are at first white in color, turning later 
to a pinkish tint and as the season ad- 
vances, assuming greenish and bronzy 
pink hues. These bronzed flower-heads 
are highly prized by some persons, for 
use with dried ornamental grasses and 
bright autumnal berries for permanent 
winter bouquets, as when gathered be- 
fore they fade the panicles retain per- 
vere pruning of the shrub in the spring 
before the buds have formed. Many of 
the branches thus trimmed off, if 
plunged into moist, sandy soil, in a 
shaded place will soon produce new 
plants of blooming size. Plants bloom 
profusely when so small that young 
shrubs of this hardy variety are often 
used as ornamental tub-plants in hall or 
on the veranda in place of the tender 
varieties of H. Otaksa which have long 
enjoyed popularity for summer porch 
decoration. 
The hardy Hydrangea delights in a 
rich, rather moist, shaded situation. 
If planted in a dry place fully exposed 
to the hot glare of sunlight, its growth 
may be stunted and the bloom be in- 
ferior in size and quality. 
|j fcThis handsome shrub is perfectly 
hardy in the north, vigorous in growth 
and extremely floriferous. It is of 
very rapid growth, blooms when flow- 
ers are usually scarce and thrives in any 
kind of garden soil in an almost sun- 
less location. Possessing all these and 
other desirable qualities, the hardy 
183 
Hydrangea easily ranks first among the 
most satisfactory of our ornamental, 
flowering shrubs, and richly deserves 
its wide spread popularity. 
Were I limited by size of grounds or 
purse to but one shrub, without hesita- 
tion my choice would fall on Hydran- 
gea paniculata grandiflora, the grandest 
of autumnal blooming shrubs. 
In Autumn. 
The Milkweed spreads its silky down, 
The Golden Rod glows all in yellow, 
The faded leaves come tumbling down, 
The russet fruit hangs ripe and mellow. 
— Melvina Berbert Hammond, aged 10 yrs. 
A Flower Lover’s Basement in 
Winter. 
My curiosity took me over to my neighbors 
one evening, and instead of calling him from 
his work 1 went down to his work room. 
Here I found in a cool, unheated basement 
room lighted only by a couple of win- 
dows, quite a few growing things and quite 
a few things simply sleeping'. Here were 
tender Hydrangeas not quite dried up but 
kept just moist enough so that the buds 
should not shrivel, veranda pots of Geran- 
iums, Wandering Jew and Periwinkle, not 
growing, but with just enough light and 
water to keep most of their leaves ; pots of 
Parsley looking fine and green, as well as 
dishes of paper-white Narcissus making roots 
and waiting their turn to be brought up- 
stairs. In dark, cool corners the cut stems of 
Cannas and “Red Hot Pokers” projected 
from heaps of sand. Other boxes and bar- 
rels held Dahlias and Caladiums, and in a 
cool, dark closet adjoining he showed me 
paper bags of Gladiolus bulbs and on a high 
shelf a row of Hyacinth glasses in which the 
long, white roots had reached the bottom of 
the glasses and the greenish yellow sheaths 
of the flower stalks were showing well above 
the bulbs. In a couple of weeks they will be 
ready to be brought into the light. Here also 
he had his pans of Dutch-Roman Hyacinths 
making root-growth, but beginning to show 
flower- spikes. The temperature was between 
40 and 50. — Wisconsin Horticulture. 
Effect of Low Tem- 
peratures on Plants. 
We understand that the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant 
Industry, has been or is making a rather 
elaborate series of studies or tests in 
connection with the process known to 
gardeners as the “hardening off” of 
plants. The tests are made by expos- 
ing the plants to artificial low tem- 
peratures, (but not such temperatures 
as will destroy them) to increase 
their hardiness or resistance to cold. 
A plant becomes more resistant as the 
sap becomes more concentrated. If a 
change in reaction does not go too far, 
the cell structure of the plant recovers. 
The chemistry of the freezing of plants 
by damaging low temperature is rather 
obscure, but the physical changes are 
well understood. Sudden thawing after 
freezing is most destructive. The cell 
structure of organic matter (plant and 
animal substances) will withstand con- 
siderable freezing or low temperature 
if it is not exposed to sudden changes 
to a higher temperature or the heat of 
direct sunshine immediately there- 
after. 
