48 
The Garden Magazine, March, 1923 
some debutant in the flower world. To curb or rather to regu¬ 
late possible duplication of such honorifics is one of the funda¬ 
mental duties of the several “ special flower societies. ” Hence it 
comes about that the new domestic Rose that bows for favor 
this season is recorded as “Hill’s America,” and not merely 
America. It is imperative that such distinction be made if the 
name America be taken at all, for, so it is on the records, at 
least four prior introductions have been ushered into notice as 
America! Indeed it is testimony to the modesty of novelty 
raisers as a whole that they were thus so conservative in the use 
of so “cashable” a name. That they have not persisted in cul¬ 
tivation. and remain only as memories, has no bearing on the 
case that “America” as such was an untenable name—hence 
“ Hill’s America,” and fittingly enough, too, as coupling two en¬ 
tirely notable and associated ideas, as applied to Rose cultiva¬ 
tion for Mr. E. G. Hill is esteemed as America’s greatest Rose 
experimentalist from the commercial point of view. 
Not the least strange thing of all perhaps is that one of these 
antecedents also came from that same great Indiana new Rose 
cradle twenty years ago. But it has been unknown from the 
date of its birth—as it were, a stillborn. For the rest of the 
story let these facts be known: In 1859 a grower named Page 
introduced a Noisette variety as America; a Hybrid Rugosa 
that originated in the garden of Harvard University was named 
America in 1894; and in 1915 that sterling worker M. H. Walsh 
introduced a Multiflora Hybrid as America. 
Undoubtedly, this last, Hill’s America, is the superior of all 
others of the ilk, and perhaps as such the circumstance of its 
name may be condoned, and though time and convenience max- 
kindly let it be known in practical usage as America, it must in 
fact be legally Hill’s America. 
The index to Volume XXXVI (September 1922 to February 
1923 inclusive) is now ready and max’ be had by any subscriber 
on request. 
March 12-17> s the date set for this year’s New York Inter¬ 
national Flower Show to be staged again at the Grand Central 
Palace and, if rumor be true, the most spectacular of its career. 
THE OPE^ C 0LUM:A C 
Readers’ Interchange of Experience and Comment 
Appreciation from the Pacific Coast 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
1 ENJOY your magazine very much; the December number is par¬ 
ticularly fine, with the pictures of the Gillespie gardens at Santa 
Barbara which I have visited several times. My own garden is only a 
city lot, 75 x 175 ft., including house and garage; but I have succeeded in 
making a small irregular rock garden about 45 ft. or 50 ft. long by about 
5 ft. wide. Last spring it was a mass of bloom and gave me great plea¬ 
sure, but after June our California gardens lose most of their beauty 
because of the intense heat and dryness; only the plants that can en¬ 
dure these conditions hold on. — A. M. Morse, South Pasadena, Cal. 
—May it be proved by photographs ? And by the way, we would 
greatly appreciate the assistance of other California readers, in sending 
in photographs of moderate sized, even small, personal gardens.— Ed. 
Squills and Grape Hyacinth Now on the Immigrant List 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
N THE Open Column of the December issue 1 notice that H. E. Van 
Gelder, Hicksville (L. I.), speaks of some Eastern dealer offering 
Muscari bulbs. Would you kindly tell me who this is? 1 am very 
much interested, as I wrote to the Plant Distribution Department at 
Washington asking for the names of dealers having both Muscari and 
Scillas and was told that they knew of no one in this country and that 
I would have to import them. I suppose that meant that 1 could im¬ 
port them by securing a permit. Can you enlighten me? — Eugenie 
Ross Calhoun, Portland. Oregon. 
— As announced in the February G. M. (page 331) the modification of 
Quarantine 37 permits, for the present at least, unlimited entry of 
Grape Hyacinth (Muscari), Squills (Scilla), and a few other bulbs so 
there should now be no difficulty in obtaining them for next fall plant¬ 
ing through the usual dealers.— Ed. 
Where Some Flowering Bulbs are Grown 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
READ with interest in your December issue Mr. H. E. Van Gelder’s 
letter relative to the “innocuous bits of dried punk” or St. Brigid 
Anemones, and the claws of Ranunculus which he received from Cal¬ 
ifornia. And he asks “Where are they grown?” As 1 happen to be 
the grower who shipped the bulbs or roots to Mr. Van Gelder I thought 
possibly your readers would be interested in knowing just what we are 
doing here in California in the propagation of scarce, flowering, bulbous 
stocks. 
I know personally a score of growers devoting their time, labor, 
and capital in the successful propagation of bulbous stocks listed 
under Quarantine 37. At the present time we ourselves are grow¬ 
ing: Anemones (St. Brigid and Single French); Ranunculus (French); 
Scillas; Dutch and Spanish Iris; Ixias; Sparaxis; Ornithogalum (Star- 
of-Bethlehem); Oxalis; Calla Lilies (white and yellow); Bermuda Easter 
Lily; Tigridias; Muscari (Grape Hyacinth); Nerine; Zepheranthes 
(Fairy Lilv); Freesias (Purity and Rainbow); Watsonias; Tritonias; 
Babiana; Leucojium vcrnum (Snowflake); Amaryllis (Belladonna, vit- 
tata hybrids, Johnsoni, formbsissima); Paper-white Narcissus; Ana- 
tholza; Habranthus; Eritillaria, etc. These stocks can be grown to 
perfection in California, and Quarantine 37 will operate to the benefit 
of the growers in this country who have had the grit to invest their 
lands and capital in the production of the stocks under quarantine.— 
Theodore Payne, Cal. 
Hardiness Often Dependent Upon Soil 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
R. SHERMAN R. DUFFY’S experience with the blooming of 
Hardy Chrysanthemums emphasizes the fact that plants may vary 
a good deal in their behavior in different localities, not necessarily as far 
apart as Illinois and New York. With me last season Normandie was 
in bloom August 25th and A. Barham October 1st. Another especially 
pleasing variety was Autumn Beauty, which also unfolded its loveliness 
on October 1st. These plants were from April struck cuttings and 
planted in the herbaceous border about the middle of May. They were 
a little slow in getting started owing to dry weather and cold nights, 
but with abundance of rain throughout the summer, and two or three 
pinchings of the growing tips, ultimately made good bushy plants 
bearing a profusion of clean, well finished flowers. The question of 
hardiness in any locality is often determined by the water-holding 
capacity of the soil. So many plants object to standing with wet feet, 
when though cold but dry they would be quite happy.—H. E. Downer, 
Poughkeepsie, New York. 
Flowering Dates of Chrysanthemums 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
UR good friend Mr. Sherman Duffy has an interesting note on 
this topic in the January G. M. and he wonders whether the 
blooming dates, as given in my catalogue, are recorded from plants 
grown under glass, or in the open. 
While it is true that plants can be brought into flower earlier under 
glass than outdoors, as the moisture is absolutely under control, the 
dates given in my catalogue, October 1st, and later, refer to plants 
grown outdoors! The blooming period is principally governed by 
climatic conditions, and I have no doubt that flowers will develop 
earlier along the Eastern seaboard, than in the drier, warmer atmos¬ 
phere of the Middle West; because, as a matter of fact, Normandie, for 
instance, was being sold in New York on the wholesale market by the 
dozen bunches from September 1st to 20th, last year. 
Two years ago in Paris I saw beautiful clumps of Normandie, Jack 
Bannister, Perle Chatillionaise, etc., etc., in full bloom on July 15th. 
in the garden—a condition due to the general temperature and moist 
atmosphere of Northern France. 
These differences in climate are responsible for many of our troubles, 
and many varieties that are lovely in Europe are useless under Ameii- 
can conditions; for instance, the Masse family simply harden their 
growth and lose all the foliage in one of our hot, dry spells in the month 
of August. The Chrysanthemum is a “cold blooded” plant, and does 
best when we have a cool, wet summer. 
As to which sorts are hardy, and which are not; it is true that the 
