November, 1920 ob<2- ^flower (Brower 
Plants That Will Do Well in the Shade. 
W HAT shall I plant in the shade that 
will do well? is a pertinent but vexed 
question not so easily and readily an- 
swered because so much depends on what 
causes the shade — whether it be buildings or 
trees and, if trees, kind of trees. 
If it were but mere shade to be contended 
with there would not be so great a trouble 
to establish plants, but unfortunately shade 
is more often than not accompanied by an 
extremely impoverished condition of the soil 
as well as an insufficiency of moisture. This 
condition is usually created by the presence 
of many hungry roots of adjacent and over- 
hanging trees. 
’Neath such trees as Beech, Elm, Maple 
and other surface-rooting ones, it is difficult 
indeed to get any form of plant life to grow, 
except Moss, unless special measures are 
taken before planting and extra treatment 
afforded the plants afterward. The soil in 
every case should be cultivated and relieved 
of much of the surface roots. Additional top 
dressing of rich soil is also necessary, while 
a yearly mulching with manure will tend to 
give the plants the necessary chance to com- 
pete favorably for position and to make 
good. 
Under trees, the roots of which penetrate 
deeply, like the Oaks and Hickories, condi- 
tions are more favorable and there is conse- 
quently less difficulty in getting plants to 
thrive. Such trees, when used on lawns, 
rarely kill the grass beneath them — a point 
worth remembering — especially when the 
choice of a tree for a small lawn is to be 
decided upon. 
Trees like Silver Maple and Norway Maple 
have become the bane of the small lawn, the 
combination of dense shade and surface 
roots having transformed what was once a 
pleasing greensward into a barren brown 
waste which in winter may aptly be termed 
a mud yard. To remove the tree after it 
has reached large proportions is a step which 
the owner hesitates to take and yet a good 
lawn under such trees rarely exists. 
Another position that is perplexing to the 
planter is one surrounding the base of a 
dwelling of the Dutch-Colonial and Old Amer- 
ican farmhouse style of architecture on ac- 
count of the usual overhanging eaves. Here 
insufficient moisture is the chief drawback, 
and whether the position be on the shady 
side of the house or not it is a case of sup- 
plying the plants with moisture the first year 
—and plenty of it — with the garden hose. 
Of course, by using the right plants in such a 
position much after-care is eliminated. 
It rests largely, then, on the choice of 
plants for all of these difficult situations as 
to what success is attained. It must be said 
that for plants which best stand shaded 
conditions our widest field to draw from is 
among evergreens, the ones which come 
under the broad-leaved class being the best. 
We make no mistake when we head the 
list with the Rhododendrons, domestic and 
exotic. How often have we recourse to them 
to mass in portions of a woodland or to sur- 
face some bare tract under shade trees ! For 
this purpose they have proven especially 
adapted. As is well known, they are essen- 
tially surface- rooting plants and, for this rea- 
son, have a better chance to secure suste- 
nance from the fallen leaves of the trees that 
overhang them and any additional mulching 
given them. 
Companion to the above is the common 
“Mountain Laurel,” Kalmia latifolia, and very 
often it is used in conjunction with them. 
The hardy Azaleas, both evergreen and 
deciduous, are largely drawn on too, the best 
for shade being Azalea undiflora, calendula- 
cea, Vaseyi and Amoena. The three former 
ones are deciduous native kinds often col- 
lected from their native haunts to fill similar 
positions under cultivation. Azalea amoena 
is the hardiest of the evergreen kinds and, 
though an exotic, is raised in this country by 
the thousands from cuttings. Other mem- 
bers of the Azalea family which do well in 
partial shade are Azalea pontica, mollis, vis- 
cosa, indica alba, and Kaempferi. 
Still other plants of the same natural bor- 
der that fit in with shaded conditions are the 
Andromedas, beautiful low-growing plants of 
good foliage and with pure white flowers in 
the early spring. The three most commonly 
used are Andromeda japonica, floribunda and 
Catesbaei. 
All the plants in this ericaceous group, to 
be most effective, should be used in quantity, 
for they are really social plants and love to 
be massed together. A position shaded from 
early morning sun is best for them because 
in winter the leaves, after being frozen hard, 
become browned if thawed out too quickly 
by the action of the sun. 
The two forms of evergreen Barberry, 
Mahonia aquifolia and japonica, are admira- 
ble plants for that shady spot, as is also the 
Japanese Holly, Ilex Crenata. It is true we 
will get the Mahonias to flower or fruit quite 
so well as in sunlight, but the foliage will be 
better looking, the leaves of Mahonia aqui- 
folia turning a bronzy red color in the 
winter. 
For that position on the shaded side of the 
residence where formal plants are in keeping, 
use the Box Bush and the Yews in variety. 
Especially hardy and fitting for extreme 
shade is the native Yew, Taxus canadensis, 
its spreading habit forming a splendid ground 
cover. 
Where a real low ground cover is needed, 
as in the case of bare areas under lawn 
trees, pergolas, porte cocheres, etc., there is 
nothing better than the Japanese Spurge, 
Pachysandra terminalis. In this little herba- 
ceous evergreen plant there is a certain 
charm and neatness of foliage rarely found 
in ground cover plants. Being very hardy 
and having a stoloniferous root growth, it 
soon takes possession of the situation and 
forms a complete and lasting green carpet. 
The number of deciduous shrubs that 
thrive well in shade are comparatively few in 
contrast to those that require good sunlight. 
— Edwin Matthews in Florists' Exchange. 
Begonias and Their Culture. 
Wm. Hartry, Seaforth. 
(In Report of Canadian Horticultural Societies.) 
Begonias may be divided into three classes, 
namely: Rex, Fibrous, and Tuberous rooted. 
The Rex give but little bloom, but their 
foliage is most beautiful, ranging in color 
from light green to a variegated bronze, and 
with proper pruning may be kept beautifully 
shaped plants, for house decoration, especially 
in winter when plants are scarce. They do 
well where there is but little or no direct light; 
hence they are valuable where there are no 
sunny windows, but they want heat and fresh 
air. 
They start from a leaf readily. Take a 
fresh leaf with stem about three to four 
inches long, bury in sandy soil until the leaf 
rests on the soil, then cover all the leaf ex- 
cept a small portion just above the stem 
with same soil. Keep moist and warm and 
they will soon shoot new leaves from the 
centre of the stem. 
The soil should be rich leaf mould, with 
some sand and good garden soil. Use liquid 
manure during growing season once a week. 
Fibrous Rooted.— This class is now a large 
one and may be obtained at most green- 
houses. They are grand for winter bloom, 
many of them fairly smothered with blooms. 
Soil same as for Rex, but use slips or cut- 
tings to start plants. 
185 
Tuberous Begonias. — It is of this class I 
wish to speak more particularly to-day. 
Unlike the Rex or Fibrous rooted they are 
a summer-flowering plant, and may be grown 
either in pots or in a bed in the garden. 
There is no plant that will supply so gor- 
geous a bed as these Begonias from June 15th 
until frost sets in. They vary in color from 
pure white to a deep dark red, both single 
and double flowers from two to six inches in 
diameter. They are splendid as a cut flower. 
The flower with a portion of the stem and 
leaves placed in a shallow dish with moss 
and water will last g»od for three or four 
days. 
Perhaps the greatest difficulty with this 
class is the starting of the bulbs, to grow 
which, however, is easy when understood. 
Bulbs may be secured from almost any good 
seed house. 
The bulbs may best be started in March or 
April by securing a water tight box, big 
enough to hold the required number. Place 
about three or four inches of moss in the bot- 
tom of the box, then place the bulbs on this 
moss and again cover the bulbs about \ l / 2 
inches with moss. Put in a warm place, keep 
moist, and see that they are right side up. 
They will soon send roots into the moss and 
shoot up through the top layer of moss. 
When bulbs have well started, say about 
two or three inches high, transfer into boxes 
of loose, fine, rich, bush soil. Keep well 
watered and in a warm place where the sun 
does not shine on them directly. Now get 
your bed ready, and plant about June I5th. 
An ideal situation is the north or west side 
of a house or closed fence, where they will 
get the morning or evening sun. Make the 
bed one foot deep, of good sandy leaf mould, 
well rotted manure, and good garden soil 
—equal parts— and work up the bed several 
times before setting out your started bulbs. 
Place about 16 inches apart each way, water 
with rain water if possible. When plants be- 
gin to bloom, give, once a week, a good wa- 
tering of manure water, about as strong as 
ordinary tea in color. 
As soon as frost appears take up the bulbs 
with adhering soil, put into boxes of sand 
and keep in a warm cellar free from all frost. 
Follow these directions and you are sure to 
succeed. 
Berberis Thunbergii. 
As a hedge plant Berberis Thunbergii is so 
universally known and advertised that its 
merits as a shrub are almost altogether over- 
looked. In this respect it is one of much 
beauty and grows to a handsome outline 
with no aid from man. This shape is of a 
rounded outline, and it becomes of a dense 
nature when left quite alone. This is not 
saying the pruning knife never comes near 
it, for the plant is often set out to fill a cer- 
tain space and then it is that it may be cut 
back and it will show no resentment. 
The small, neat foliage of this Berberis ap- 
pears early in Spring and is held until late in 
Fall. Its small, white flowers appear early in 
Spring as well, and then its display is fully the 
equal of many other shrubs set out for their 
flowers alone, although this Berberis has not 
finished its display at that time, by any 
means. There is its berry display to follow, 
these berries ripening in Summer. They are 
red and persist on the bush until the next 
Spring, at least in great numbers. As may 
be imagined when the berries ripen, the bush 
is a beautiful sight. 
With Autumn the leaves change to crim- 
son, which, with the foliage, gives a mass of 
lovely Autumn color. Later in the Fall, 
though the foliage disappears, the berries do 
not altogether, as aforesaid, and often after 
the new leaves of Spring have formed one 
may see here and there the red of the ber- 
ries. Until one gets accustomed to it the red 
color is often taken to be from some flower. 
— Florists’ Exchange. 
