NEW SERIES VOL. I 
NO. 1 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
LIBRARY 
YORK 
bo I NjCaL 
OaRDEN 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. APRIL 28, 1915 
Effects of the winter in the Arboretum. The long and unusual 
drought of the autumn of 1914 thoroughly ripened the wood of the 
young branches of deciduous-leaved trees and shrubs, and those plants 
which produce their flowers on the branches of the previous year prom- 
ise an unusual crop of flowers. The winter has not been a severe one 
and there are no losses to report among deciduous-leaved plants, which 
suffered so severely here during the winter of 1913-14. The dry 
autumn followed by the unusual drought of March has injured, how- 
ever, many broad-leaved evergreens, especially Rhododendrons, which 
have never before suffered so severely in the Arboretum, large plants 
of the hardiest varieties, which have been growing here for at least 
twenty-five years, having been killed. The Rhododendron collection is 
in an exceptionally sheltered and favorable position, and is planted in 
soil perfectly suited to these plants. They have never suffered from 
the greater cold of other winters, and the condition of the collection 
at this time shows that what injures Rhododendrons is want of moist- 
ure during the summer and autumn rather than excessive cold, and 
that only a small number of species and varieties can be successfully 
cultivated in New England. The list of the varieties which have been 
killed or seriously injured will appear in a later bulletin. 
Native and exotic early spring flowering trees and shrubs. It is in- 
teresting to note that our gardens depend almost entirely on foreign 
trees and shrubs for their greatest beauty in early spring. To this 
general statement, however, there are a few exceptions. The ground 
under the Red Maples, Acer rubrum, is now red with their fallen 
flowers, while the Norway Maple ( Acer platanoides ) is just opening its 
