48 
The Garden Magazine, September, 1923 
“A Bid to the Intelligence” 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
Y “trace of the Jackdaw” communication seems to have 
aroused comment. I believe 1 was lamenting (not very seri¬ 
ously) the lot of an inquisitive rather than an acquisitive temperament, 
and the trials of non-conformity to other standards than my own. To 
me a flower, like a face, is more beautiful for being interesting; and a 
garden that makes no bid to the intelligence is as ugly as stupidity. 
But, in honesty, 1 was allowing a certain lack of intelligence in collecting 
rare plants; comparing the propensity to count so many blooms of this 
or that in one’s garden with an analogous propensity to count so many 
different labels. As for my Petunias (they are a white bedding sort) 
and Marigolds (the dwarf French fellows) I am far from growing them 
on a rockery! But they contribute to it—they contribute a lazy man’s 
leisure, enabling me by their grateful self-sufficiency to devote my in¬ 
terest to more interesting and somewhat rarer things.— Julian 
Hinckley, Cedarhurst, L. I. 
A Really Hardy Chrysanthemum 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
HAVE just read over the January number again, and found Mr. 
Sherman R. Duffy’s letter about hardy Chrysanthemums. 
1 have a hardy Chrysanthemum in my garden that seems to me to 
answer some, at least, of his requirements; and if he has not already 
tried it or already found others that are better, I should be glad to send 
him some of mine. 
It is a variety no longer listed, but as for that the fashion of names for 
hardy Chrysanthemums changes like the fashion in dresses; no two 
dealers have the same names for most of the varieties, and no one 
name survives more than a year or two. I think the variety that I 
have is listed with one nurseryman under some other name. It was 
called Mrs. Charles Jencks when I had it some eight or ten years ago. 
It was transplanted in mid-October in full flower and until two years 
ago has never had any winter protection, nor does it ever have any 
special care or treatment. This is not to say that it grows in a ne¬ 
glected sand-pile—but that the bed where it grows is rather protected 
and not in full sun all day, and is given over mostly to the very earliest 
and very latest things with some Phlox, or Annuals, to fill in'the gap, 
and as I do not wish the chrysanthemums to bloom until the other 
things have gone by and to flower until the very last moment 1 do noth¬ 
ing to stimulate growth or early blooming. I divide it every year to 
increase my stock, and from a few small plants I now have quite a 
number and have given some away. This bed was made some years 
ago of leaf-mold and loam without the use of any other fertilizer, and 
until the fall of 1922 had only received a little fresh leaf-mold and loam 
to fill up gaps etc., and a little cultivating. In the fall of 1922 it was 
entirely re-made, however, with fresh loam and leaf-mold and all the 
bulbs and plants divided and reset and then covered with leaves and a 
few boughs to keep the leaves in place, and the chrysanthemums grew 
splendidly last year in spite of our very bad season. They grew much 
taller and more thrifty and the blossoms, instead of being about an inch 
in diameter as before, and as I supposed was normal, were about two 
inches in diameter. The flower is white and as it grows old turns a 
deep pink, not an objectionable color, I think, and as they last some 
time before beginning to turn, the flowers can be picked earlier if pink 
color is not wanted. 
This Chrysanthemum has outlived several other varieties that I have 
tried. In my garden it blooms about the last week in August, but in a 
very bad season sometimes not till early September. It lasts until 
November usually, and occasionally in a mild autumn there will be a 
blossom or two as late as December. In a neighbor’s garden it grows in 
a more open position in full sun, and the bed is a well-fertilized one. 
These plants are larger, increase much more rapidly, and I think bloom 
earlier. This bed also has winter protection. 
From my own experience I should say that this variety needed about 
the same treatment as ordinary hardy Phlox. Some of my original 
plants were set in an open bed in the main garden where the conditions 
are more trying for hardy plants. These plants were winter-killed in a 
very severe winter which also killed some Phlox that was part of a 
very old stock, Hollyhocks, and even the very resistant Achillea. In 
an open bed, well fertilized, and protected in winter with a light cover¬ 
ing, and perhaps giving the plants extra feeding when the buds are 
forming, it should bloom and increase rapidly. This, I think, is the 
prescribed treatment for hardy Chrysanthemums, and judging from 
Mr. Duffy’s most interesting letters to The Garden Magazine, he 
knows how to grow flowers splendidly; so I have mentioned “prescribed 
treatment” merely to show that I think there might be a way to hasten 
or retard the bloom to fill different situations and prolong the season— 
all of which he probably knows better than I do. But as it has outlived 
so many other varieties in the same bed and increases well, and does 
not suffer appreciably from severe winters, I think it is really hardy.— 
R. F. Howard, South Lincoln, Mass. 
A Generous Offer of Oldentime Herbs 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
N THE March number I noticed Mrs. Cliff Sterrett’s inquiry about 
some oldentime herbs. 1 can furnish a few of the following 
plants, though I doubt that Mrs. Sterrett would wish to cultivate some 
of them on account of their disagreeable qualities—the names sound 
alluring, but are very deceiving: 
Agrimony (Agrimonia gryposepala) belongs to the Rose family; is a 
common weed with a small bright yellow flower which forms a 
somewhat troublesome burr. Doubtless there are cultivated 
species of Agrimony that are more pleasing. 
Ambrosia (Ambrosia artemisifolia) and the Giant Ragweed (A. 
trifida)—this “food of the gods” is nothing more or less than 
Ragweed, the chief cause of hay fever. I am doing my best to 
exterminate this pest. As these two Ragweeds are annuals, you 
would have to wait until the seed ripens in late summer. 
Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea) is a huge umbellifer that grows in 
wet ground. The flowers are small and greenish, but borne in 
large flat-topped clusters. The plants spread very rapidly and 
must be kept in check. Angelica villosa, a smaller species, has 
been listed by Harlan P. Kelsey, Salem, Mass. 
Wood Betony (Pedicularis canadensis and P. lanceolata), low plants 
with short, dense spikes of pale yellow flowers. The former is a 
prairie spring flower, and the latter, a late summer bog plant. 
Betony proper is possibly a horticultural plant that I am unac¬ 
quainted with. 
Liverwort (Hepatica acutiloba and H. triloba) is among the love¬ 
liest flowers of early spring, of varying shades of blue and purple, 
springing from a mat of three-lobed evergreen leaves. Any flor¬ 
ist who deals in native plants, can supply you with them. Liver¬ 
wort is also a common name for a class of simpler, flowerless plants 
that are allied to Mosses. There are several species. They fre¬ 
quent bogs, and usually cover the gound with flat, green leaf-like 
branches. 
Pepperwort or Toothwort (Dentaria diphylla and D. laciniata) are 
both good ground-covers and very pretty members of the cress 
family. Flowers white. Leaves deeply cut. They prefer low 
ground. Most florists list D. diphylla. 
Sweet Cicely (Osmorhiza Claytoni and O. longistylis)—very pretty 
umbellifers with small white flowers and finely dissected leaves. 
Very similar in appearance, except that the leaves of O. Claytoni 
are hairy, and the leaves of O. longistylis are smooth. The only 
“out” about them is that they form sharp barbs when they go to 
seed. They also spread rapidly. The roots are aromatic and are 
eaten by children. They are called Washingtonia in Britton & 
Brown. 
Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris), a rather attractive plant with short 
spikes of blue flowers. A good ground cover, but spreads so 
rapidly that it must be held in check. It is found all over the 
country, and is said to be adventive from Europe. 
Vervain (Verbena hastata and V. stricta), plants with longish spikes 
of small blue or lilac flowers. The former prefers low land. 
Woundwort (Stachys palustris), a pleasing plant with pink-purplish 
flowers. There are many species of Stachys, but I am naming 
only those plants that 1 can easily furnish. Eloise Butler, 
Curator Native Plant Reserve, Minneapolis, Minn. 
Propagating the Tulip Tree from Cuttings 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
N THE June Magazine Mr. S. C. Taylor asks if the Tulip tree can be 
propagated by cuttings. It can. Recently I ran short of bamboo 
stakes to carry the labels of some newly set plants, and to take their 
place temporarily I cut some 2-foot lengths of pencil-size branches of a 
Tulip tree 1 had just cut down. One of these makeshift stakes, simply 
pushed in the ground in April, had by the middle of May put out 
several leaves, so I think I am safe in inferring that there are roots at 
the other end of it. It is in the shade most of the day and has had no 
attention other than being incidentally kept moist by the watering of 
the new plant it marked.— Bernard H. Lane, IVashington, D. C. 
