66 
GARDENING IN THE SOUTHWEST 
Source of 
Many 
Varieties 
Tor 
Detailed 
List 
Refer to 
Other Books 
Compara¬ 
tively Few 
on the 
Market 
Harvard, Dr. George Engelmann of St. Louis, Prof. Louis Agassiz, 
Prof. William J. Hooker of Glasgow (later Sir William Hooker of 
Kew) and other great European collectors and experimentalists. 
Today, more than most people realize, many of those flowers 
most treasured by gardeners in every land have been developed from 
the wild denizens of our prairie country. A few varieties remain 
just as they were first seen in Nature’s Garden, while others have 
been superseded by more attractive hybrids, whose colors and man¬ 
ner of growth are often quite different from the parent stock. 
Probably our best known, most appreciated flower is the Phlox 
Drummondii, the seeds of which were introduced by Drummond 
into Europe in 183 5. The flowers of one of the two distinct groups 
of these annuals are more rounded, while those of the others form 
tiny stars. The several plants vary also in height (being dwarf, in¬ 
termediate, and tall), and in the range of their colors. In popu¬ 
larity, the Gaillardia is second only to the Phlox. Marked effects of 
cultivation, however, are seen in its size and form, although noth¬ 
ing of its brilliant coloring has been lost. 
Because of the fact that plants indigenous to a country will 
thrive better there than will any importations, an effort has been 
made to secure a comprehensive list of those that are offered in the 
catalogues of commercial growers. The more detailed descriptions 
of all the numerous native plants and shrubs may be found in 
several excellent books that have recently been published; others 
are in the process of compilation; while some deal only with those 
plants which grow within a radius of two hundred miles, due to 
the fact that there is such a wealth of material within any specified 
locality. 
Yet, with all this wealth to draw from, it is amazing how few 
of the native plants are on the market. The potential value to the 
gardener of these sturdy bushes and flowers that are so peculiarly 
adapted to climate and soil conditions is only beginning to be 
appreciated. 
W. A. Bridewell of Forestburg, Texas, who has spent thirty years 
studying native Southwestern plants, says: 
"A fact now known to many gardeners is that our natives are 
