374 
The Garden Magazine, August, 1923 
one of these would be found usually at any one place along 
the shore. First, we take the case of a small brook or spring of 
fresh water that empties into the sea through a marsh that is 
covered at every tide. At high tide the fresh water becomes 
backed up and very salty, perhaps for many yards upstream; 
this fact alone rules out such aquatics as Water-lilies and 
Forget-me-nots, for the salt kills the foliage. Then though the 
soil looks like a rich black ooze it is heavily impregnated with 
salt and the roots of many shore plants cannot abide it. Yet 
from the brackish marshes along our Atlantic coast we may 
gather the following, via the cultivated rows of the nursery: 
Cattail (Typha latifolia), Swamp Rose-mallow (Hibiscus 
Moscheutos), Crimson-eye Mallow (H. oculiroseus), Marsh 
Mallow (Althaea officinalis) but the Hibiscus is much more 
showy, Yellow Flag of Europe (Iris Pseudacorus), Oriental Flag 
(I. orientalis), our native Blue Flag (I. versicolor), Slender Blue 
Flag (I. prismatica), and Sweet Flag (Acorus Calamus). All 
of these grow perfectly well in or at the edge of the fresh water 
and do not mind a brief salt-water bath twice daily by the tide. 
Just above the fresh water, but still within reach of both fresh 
and salt water at high tide, you may safely plant: Tall Meadow- 
rue (Thalictrum polygamum), Joe-pye-weed (Eupatorium 
purpureum), Boneset (E. perfoliatum), Swamp Milkweed 
(Asclepias incarnata), Swamp Loosestrife (Lysimachia terrestris), * 
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria), and others, and if high 
winds during a summer storm drench them with salt water no 
harm will be done them. As all these herbs are at their best in 
midsummer they are with us at the time of our vacation. Only 
where fresh water meets the ocean and a humus soil is found are 
these to be attempted; on the usual dry shingle of the beach no 
planting can be done. 
T HE second planting zone is along the margin of flat marshes 
somewhat above the sea itself but within reach of the tide. 
The soil is usually heavy—of clay or marsh peat—and even if 
much mixed with sand it is firm and hard. This is the region 
of salt-marsh grasses, but flowers, in the garden sense, are found 
there too. It is not a soil that can be cultivated, and highest 
high water covers it completely; yet some of the flowers of the 
fields have become at home there. 
Seaside Goldenrod (Solidago sempervirens) is sure to be pres¬ 
ent, and you should set out more of it, for it gives great drifts 
of yellow in late August and all September. Not only does it 
endure salt water, but it thrives in hard ground, outlasts the 
planter, and its thick root-leaves are always green. And in the 
garden it is particularly to be desired as it is one of the few of its 
kind that do not spread, but remain in a solid clump. Along 
with it you will find the steel blue of Marsh Rosemary (Limonium 
carolinianum). This is not offered by dealers, but you get even 
better effects from the use of the similar Sea Lavender of Europe 
(Statice Limonium) and others, as S. latifolia, S. Gmelini, S. 
tatarica, S. speciosa, etc. Put them on the little dry ridges 
in the salt marsh and forget that the high tide will cover them. 
The same steel blue in taller plants is afforded by the Sea 
Hollies, particularly Eryngium aquaticum and E. yuccaefolium 
of our country and E. maritimum of Europe. The only difficulty 
with these plants is their slow recovery after planting. The 
Silver-weed (Potentilla Anserina) gives patches of silvery 
foliage as glistening as the salt deposit about it, while Sea 
Lungwort (Mertensia maritima) gives great masses of blue-green 
leaves in spring. The little blue ilowers are rather disappoint¬ 
ing; it gives no show as a garden plant, so it is not offered by 
dealers. In the sandy areas the Beach Pea (Lathyrus mariti- 
mus) gives patches of purple blossoms all summer; Old-Woman 
(Artemisia stelleriana) can be planted for its white silvery 
foliage; many members of the Pea and composite families should 
be tried out on the salt beaches. Many native marine flowering 
herbs and grasses are there already thriving without cultivation. 
Way below the high-water mark stands the Marsh Elder 
(Iva frutescens) in long lines along the beach. It is both shrub 
and herb, some three feet high, and looks like a young Hydrangea 
in its summer leaves, but in early fall it blossoms out like the 
Wormwood, whose cousin it is. Its great value is the green 
foliage, green until late autumn, that carries the shrub line far¬ 
thest toward the ocean. Right back of it, well in reach of high 
tides, is the place for the related Groundsel-tree (Baccharis 
halimifolia), a stout erect shrub often ten feet high. The small 
green leaves give it a distant effect of a Willow, and the foliage 
is good even after hard frosts. The whitish flowers are never 
noticed, but when the female plant goes to seed in September 
a fleecy white veil is laid over the whole bush. No salt water 
planting is complete without this shrub, and it is easily bought 
for it has its uses also in upland fields. 
T HE third planting zone offers the greatest possibilities for 
massed garden effects; this is above the normal high water 
but often washed and splashed by the waves in storm. Here 
the soil is rather light—it is not stretching the truth to call it 
mostly sand—and the waves and wind carry it about in storm. 
This is the critical zone—between wind and water—and stout 
shrubs are needed to hold the soil and shelter the lawn and 
garden beyond; few herbs can stand the strain, but had better 
be planted on the land side of this shrub belt. Right down on 
the firing line will go our Beach Plum (Prunus maritima) and 
the Sand Cherry (P. pumila) embedded in the drifting sands 
while Beach Grass (Ammophila arenaria) grows among them. 
These can be backed by Salt-tree (Halimodendron haloden- 
dron) from central Asia, and Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae 
rhamnoides) from Europe. These are decorative in leaf and 
flower or fruit, but their great service is their ability to withstand 
the salt of the soil and air. For a show of flowers we can depend 
upon an array of Tamarisk from May to September, beginning 
with Tamarix parviflora, followed by T. gallica, T. odessana, 
T. chinensis, and T. hispida, the main differences (from our present 
point of view) being in the season of bloom, though some of them 
are tender in the north. Willows will help in many places, and 
for the narrow silvery leaf effect and many slender erect supple 
stems that bend but do not break in the wind use the Osier 
Willow (Salix viminalis). And to make an impenetrable thorny 
thicket use plenty of Matrimony-vine (Lycium halimifolium) 
or the larger-leaved Chinese Matrimony-vine (L. chinense) 
if you can buy it. The tiny scarlet tomato-like fruits are as 
ornamental in winter as any Barberry. 
Behind this defense we may grow Roses, some of the native 
species, as Shining Rose (Rosa virginiana), Smooth Wild Rose 
(R. blanda), Bristly Rose (R. nitida), all very alike, then 
Sweet Brier Rose (R. rubuginosa), and plenty of Ramanas Rose 
(R. rugosa) in red and white. These won’t be as tall as in the 
rich soil of a lawn, but the flowers will be as profuse. 
Now we are really away from the tide but not the salt spray in 
high wind and tide, and we build our summer barrier of shrubs 
with broader leaves, such as Alder Buckthorn (Rhamnus 
Frangula), Gray Dogwood (Cornus racemosa), Silverberry 
(Elaeagnus argentea), Hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata), Sumacs (Rhus 
typhina, R. glabra, R. copallina), Arrow-wood (Viburnum 
dentatum), Withe-rod (V. cassinoides), and other relatives of 
these shrubs adapted to these conditions. 
The advance guard of evergreen conifers is the Red Cedar 
(Juniperus virginiana), and Arborvitae (Thuya occidentalis) 
is close behind. Among the large trees the first is White Spruce 
(Picea alba) and then the sparse-leaved Pines, as Pitch Pine 
(Pinus rigida), Scrub Pine (P. virginiana), and Gray Pine (P. 
Banksiana); these must not be reached by the tide for long at a 
time, but they endure all the salt the wind throws upon them. 
Behind such a screen as this any plants may be grown, re¬ 
gardless of the nearness of salt water, that the soil will allow. 
Once out of reach of the salt spray the sea is no longer a factor, 
but soil and wind are the elements to be overcome. The sea is 
even a friend to the garden, for milder and more even winters 
are the rule near the sea as compared to the same latitude inland; 
so plants of supposed doubtful hardiness in your latitude will 
often endure your winters and its winds. 
