WYMAN’S GARDEN BOOK 
117 
On Selecting Plants 
The experienced gardener will notice the absence from this catalog of 
many plants formerly in fair demand and use. This omission is not by 
accident but by design. Many varieties have become outmoded, like “Model 
T” automobiles. Other old timers are still of high relative merit and we con¬ 
tinue to grow them. Not all old varieties are obsolete; on the other hand 
not all new kinds are good. 
We do not attempt to promote novelties unless they have been proved 
in our rigorous climate. When proved superior we adopt and produce 
them, at the same time discontinuing the inferior older varieties which they 
supersede. 
Other and very practical considerations alter relative merit in plants. 
The economic upheaval of the past several years has caused great changes in 
this respect. Many of the plants formerly held in high esteem are suitable 
almost entirely to the larger estate, ovv^ing to their fast rate of growth and 
large ultimate size. 
The trend is toward medium to small homes; the larger varieties are 
obviously unsuited except for a few occasional plants. Small and medium 
types are much more in keeping and definitely superior. To meet this situa¬ 
tion we have increased our production, both in variety and in quantity, of 
dwarf and semi-dwarf plants. 
Few persons today buy plants as museum pieces. Rather they demand 
varieties that will give their homes the most beautiful landscape effects, and 
that will flourish under normal, or even abnormally trying, conditions. To 
this end we are continually seeking and testing plants from the odd corners 
of the earth, as well as new developments at home. For this reason this 
Garden Book will slowly but constantly change in the list of plants it con¬ 
tains, as well as in our estimate of those plants for contemporary and future 
use. 
The plant descriptions in this Garden Book, while brief, are concise 
and fairly adequate. By watching for ultimate heights, rates of growth, and 
cultural preferences, as well as shapes, colors and flowering seasons, even 
the novice is enabled to select the best plants for his use with ease and cer¬ 
tainty of good results. 
