719 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
The parks have been improved 
with permanent construction. They 
have been thoroughly sodded, planted 
in trees and shrubs and driveways, 
and walks, pergolas, rest houses and 
comfort stations have been built. 
In the two miles of central park- 
ings on the streets I have planted 
sycamore trees, and we get magnifi- 
cent results from these trees in this 
climate. In the parks elms, maples, 
sycamores, poplars, locust, Catalpa 
Bungei, Paulownia imperialis, Chinese 
umbrella, and the different species of 
willows will be found. 
The shrubs that I have used in 
planting in our parks embrace a wide 
variety,- and this improvement is 
what has caused so much favorable 
comment. 
A few of the shrubs that do well 
here are as follows: Barberry, 
cydonia, desmodium, deutzias, eunny- 
mus, forsythia, altheas, hydrangeas, 
all kinds of privet, loniceria, Rhus 
glabra, Rhus typhinia, laciniata, sam- 
bucus, spireas, symphoricarpos, sy- 
ringas, tamarack, viburnum, flower- 
ing willow and Japanese roses. 
■A great many hardy perennials do 
well, particularly the hollyhocks, 
double and single, hibiscus. Iris and 
phlox. 
I have used an abundance of an- 
nuals each year to lend variety and 
color to the shrubbery beds and bor- 
ders, planting largely of petunias, 
zenia and marigolds. 
Muskogee, like most towns of the 
Southwest, is built on a prairie. It 
was thought that trees, shrubbery 
and flowering plants would not thrive. 
This conception has been thoroughly 
reversed in Muskogee. The evidences 
of it are not only apparent in the 
parks, but in the large number of 
private grounds that are being im- 
proved. 
I have never known a place where 
so great thrift is shown by so large 
a variety of plants as in this soil. 
OUR NATIVE HERBACEOUS PLANTS FOR PARKS 
It is a lamentable fact that our na- 
tive flora is vanishing as surely as 
the fauna, and many most beautiful 
flowers once common in the fields and 
woodlands are seen no more. Con- 
servation may well be practiced in 
every community containing a park 
so that a bit of the pristine beauty 
will be assured, though the axe and 
plow are fast eliminating it in the 
surrounding country. Most plants 
•indigenous to any community will 
find a congenial spot in its parks, 
and the pleasing effect thus obtained 
will many times repay the labor, 
while the advantages of thus preserv- 
ing the local flora from extermina- 
tion should be sufficient motive for 
careful effort. In the Arnold Ar- 
boretum at Cambridge, Mass., there 
is an attempt to gather together ev- 
ery plant and tree hardy enough to 
endure the latitude of Boston. The 
more modest collection of indigen- 
ous plants should prove in some 
ways as satisfying, though less pre- 
tentious. 
The mountain town of Kane, Pa., 
is the proud possessor of a large 
tract of virgin forest set aside for 
park purposes; and one of the first 
improvements was the transplanting 
of hundreds of rhododendron from 
the Allegheny slopes not many miles 
away. While the rhododendron, and 
its near kin, the laurel and trailing 
arbutus, will not thrive in every lo- 
cality, there are many substitutes 
adapted to any location, some of 
them equally beautiful. 
Many spring flowering bulbs may 
be safely transplanted when in full 
bloom, though just after blooming 
is the preferable season for this work. 
Notable among them is the Spring 
Beauty, one of the earliest and most 
dainty of vernal blossoms, the car- 
mine-striped flowers being always ad- 
mired. 
The yellow adder’s-tongue, with its 
beautifully mottled leaves and grace- 
ful lily-like blossoms, will soon take 
possession of any shaded knoll, ren- 
dering it a thing of beauty during 
the spring months. Only bulbs large 
enough to send forth two leaves are 
of flowering size, yet blossoms are 
produced in cultivation as freely as 
in nature, popular opinion to the 
contrary. The pied leaves fade soon 
after the blossoms wither, the entire 
plant disappearing as the sun heat 
becomes more intense, leaving the 
ground to the summer bloomers. 
A rocky bank is an ideal spot for 
the wild columbine or aquilegia. The 
single native species of the east, a 
combination of coral and pale yellow, 
is extremely graceful in outline. The 
large yellow species of the Rockies 
may be introduced with excellent ef- 
fect. The plant is perennial, and 
when once started it spreads rapidly, 
seed being freely formed. 
The mandrake, Peodophyllum pel- 
tatum, is of such peculiar form as to 
attract wide notice, the umbrella-like 
leaves being no less interesting than 
the waxy blossoms. Its stout root- 
stock is easily acclimated to any rich 
self. 
Violets thrive in almost every lo- 
cation. The great stemless blue ones 
delight in a grassy plot, while the 
large white V. Canadense frequents 
moist woodlands. Some of the 
species grow so rank that they will 
soon crowd out other plants, — but, 
one can scarcely have too many vio- 
lets. Give each species a plot by it- 
self. 
Some plants thrive more vigorously 
in a richer soil than in their native 
habitat, notable among these being 
the meadow or Canada lily, the red 
and yellow spotted spikes of which 
are extremely graceful in outline. 
While most frequently found in 
meadows, it is readily adapted among 
the shrubbery. 
The False Foxglove, with its clear 
yellow petals of waxy consistency 
may lure the lover of the beautiful. 
But the landscape gardener will do 
well to strive by every possible 
means to preserve it in its native 
haunts; for being partially parasitic 
in habits, it cannot be successfully 
transplanted. 
The intense red of the cardinal 
flower is a pleasing addition to the 
landscape of late summer, but un- 
less moist ground is available there 
is little use. in attempting to grow it. 
But less exacting is its close compan- 
ion, the spotted touch-me-not, which 
thrives equally well on dry land. The 
flowers are interesting in form and 
color, while the curious contortions 
of the ripened seed-pods when 
touched suggest the name and show 
vividly at least one device of nature 
for scattering her treasures. 
Some of the golden-rods are so ag- 
gressive in habits than they can 
scarcely be recommended, no matter 
how much we may admire their mag- 
nificent plumes. Notable among 
these is Solidago Canadensis, the 
suckers of which rapidly crowd out 
all other vegetation. But S. caesia 
more slender in growth, is never a 
weed. 
Every locality has its own possibil- 
ities; its distinctive flora; and this, 
first of all, should be regarded. Study 
plant ways in your own woods and 
fields, and you will find many deserv- 
ing a permanent place in your parks. 
Bessie L. Putnam. 
