August 1989

AHS's Rare Books on Horticulture Elegant, Cool: An August Garden by Ryan Gainey ARose Grower Speaks Out Philipsburg Manor. North Tarrytown. New York AHS STUDY TOURS Awon I way to go!

There's still time to ;oin And look what AHS has planned for you in 1990! this great trip! January 1990 July 22-31, 1990 October 12-20, 1989 Gardens of the Caribbean Natural Gardens of Alaska Hudson River Fall Foliage Windward Islands Cruise aboard the MV Sea Lion and see rare sights (Two cr!lise dates to be alUlOlIIlced) such as nesting bald eagles, mountain goats, black View spectacular scenery from a privately chartered bears. and humpback wha les, as we ll as spruce for­ rail car traveling from New York City to Alba ny. where Explo re the exotic wonders of tropical orchid col­ lections. magnificent rain forests, historical sugar ests, fields of lupines, and giant ferns. The boat will a special visit to the Governor's Mansion is sched­ pass by Admiralty Island, enter the Tracy Arm , Gla­ uled. Other visits are to Hudson River mansions. plantations. sparkling beaches. and beautiful Car­ ibbean homes. Highlights are visits to the oldest cier Bay, Elfin Cove, Le Conte Ba y, and Rudyerd nurseries. and public gardens. includi ng the New Bay, then disembark at Prince Rupert. There is a York Botanical Gardens. botanical garden in the Western Hemisphere in Kingstown, St. Vincent. (1765) and to Linda Vista. post-cruise excursion July 31 to August 2 for those Bellinger Davis Company, Inc., 150 East 58th Street. New Claude Hope 's research site. who are interested in exploring the Buschart Gar­ York, NY 10155 dens on Victoria Island. March 28-April 8, 1990 Garden Paradise of Costa Rica November 3-10, 1990 Rich in heritage and diversity, Costa Rica is known Gardens of the Colonial South for its beautiful tropical gardens. spectacular wild­ Board the Yorktown Clipper luxury yacht in Florida life. and fascinating cu lture. Stops include the Na­ and travel north to old Southern gardens on Sea tional Museum of Costa Rica ; CATIE. the largest Island ; private gardens in Savannah; a seaside Jap­ tropical research center in Latin Ame rica ; Guayabo anese garden in Hilton Head; Orange Grove Plan­ National Monument. a major archeological site dat­ tation; the significant gardens of Charleston; Dray­ ing back to 800 A.D .; Monteverde Cloud Forest Re­ ton Hall, a 1738 plantation ; and Middleton Place, serve. where you can see a volcano and rare , exotic site of the oldest landscaped gardens in America, birds; and Corcovado National Park. dating back to 1741. Leonard Ha emer Travel Co mpan y, 7922 Bonhomme Avenue, St. Loui s, MO 63105 (800)942-6666 eric an Horticulturist

Volume 68, Numb~r 8 August 1989

ARTICLES The Summer Delight of Daylilies by Avis Aronovitz ...... 17 Discover a showcase of daylilies tucked in the back yard perennial garden of two Atlanta residents. A Dream of a Garden by Ryan Gainey ...... 22 Businessman, plantsman, and designer of sophistica~ed garden spaces, Ryan Gainey shares his vision of a white garden for August. Monterey's Historic Adobe Gardens by K Mose Fadeem ...... 26 The sites of three houses of the 1830s have each developed differently, though all share Monterey's Mediterranean dimate. In Defense of Modem Roses by Rayford Reddelt ...... 32 Although he grows the old ones too, Rayford Reddell points out the pluses of growing modgrn hybrids. AUGUST'S COVER Photographed by Rick Buettner SHORT FEATURES Among the rare old volumes wi~hin Treasures ef Riv(lr Farm/Not Every Library Has a 1586 Edition ...... 6 the American Horticultural Society's Indoor Gardening/Start B"Ilbs Now for Winter Bloom ...... 11 library af(~ some with exquisite 1'ecluuq1:le/Some Cutting Remarks kbout Your Plants ...... 13 engravings that illustrate the text. Seasonals/iam(l!Im and 1.amiastrum: Each Has a PlaE:e ...... 44 "Braddick's American Peach" was a tree brought to England from the DEPARTMENTS United States in the 1800s. John Braddick described his effort to Commentary ...... 4 import peach trees in the Souc<;es ...... 35 1i'ansactions of the Horticultural Pron1:lnciati0ns ...... , 36 Society of London, Volume II, Classifieds ...... 38 published in 1822. More on the Boek Reviews ...... 40 books that constitute this River Farm Letters ...... 47 treasure begins on page 6.

PUBLICATIONS EllRECTO~ EDITOR: Virginia W. Louisell. SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kathleen Fisher. ASSISTANT EDITOR. HORTICULTURE: Peggy Lytton. ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR: Martha Palemlo. DESIGN DIRECTOR: Rebc€ca K. McClimans. MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Sharon Barnes. AElVERTISlNG: American Horticultural Society Advertising Department, 80 South Early Street, Alexandria, VA 22304, lelephone (703) 823·6966. COLOR SEPARATIONS: Chroma· Graphics, Inc. EDITORIAL ADVISOR¥ BOARD: Dr. Gerald S. Barad, FI€minglOn, NJ; Dr. Harrison Flint, Wesl Lafuyeue, IN; Peter Loewe" Cocheclon Gent€r, NY; Dr. Elizabeth McClintock, San FranCiSCO, CA; Frede,ick McGourty, Norfolk, Cf; Janet M. Poor. Winnetka, IL; Maire Simington. Phoenix, Al.; Jane Steffey, Sykesville, MD; D,. James E. Swasey, Newark, DE; Philip E. Chandler, Santa Monica, CA. Replacement issues of AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST are available at a COSI of 52.50 per copy. The opinions expressed in Ihe artides thaI appear in AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST are those of Ihe authors and are nOI necessarily Ihose of the Society. Botanical nomenclarure in AMERICAN HORTICLILTURIST is based on HOR"IUS THIRD. Manuscripts, art work, and phOlographs sent for possible publicalion will be returned if they are accompanied by a self·addressed, slamped envelope. We cannOI g\larantee the safe rerurn of unsolicited material. AMERlCAN HOR"FlCUL "TIJRIST, ISSN 0096·4417, is Ihe official publica lion of the American Horticulrural Society, 7931 Easl Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22308, (703) 768· 5700, and is issued six times a year as a magazine and six times a year as a news edilion .. The American HOrliculrural Society is a nonprofit organization dedicated 10 excellence in horticulrure. Membership in the Society includes a subscriplion 10 AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST. National membership dues are 530; two years are 555. Foreign dues are 540. S12 of dues are designated for AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST. Copyright © 1989 by the American Horticultural Society. Second·class poslage paid at Alexandria, Virginia. and al additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send Fonn 3579 10 AMERICAN HORTIOULTURlST, 7931 Easl Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308.

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 3 American Horticultural Society Officers 1989·1990 Commentary Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lindsay Rochester, New York President Mrs. Harry J. Van de Kamp Paso Robles, California First Vice President hange is an interesting part of our Mrs. John M. Maury lives. We accept it-often anticipate Washington, D.C. and encourage it-in the natural Second Vice President C Mr. Richard C. Angino world of our gardens. (Think of the minor Harrisburg, Pennsylvania miracle of a dahlia from tuber to full bloom Secretary in a season). However, when it comes to Mr. Richard J. Hutton West Grove, Pennsylvania our own lives, we of the human species Treasurer often resist and fear change. Mr. Everitt L. Miller Organizations change too. The Ameri­ Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Immediate Past Pr.esident can Horticultural Society is ohanging, and as we have wrestled with this life force, I Board of Directors Mr. Richard C. Angino have been struck by its many faces-un­ Harrisburg, Pennsylvania expected change beyond our control; ev­ Mr. George Ball, Jr. ident change that should have taken place West Chicago, Illinois Dr. Sherran Blair but didn't; surprise change that should have been foreseen; natural change Columbus, Ohio reflecting the flow and transition of our lives. Some change is guided by Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole, Jr. our hands-the "pinching and pruning" of life-and we hope that ex­ Cleveland, Ohio perience and wisdom hold fast in our influence. Those changes that occur Mr. J. Judson Brooks Sewickley, P~nnsylvania beyond our control are marked by our reaction and response to them. Dr. Heury M. Cathey A major transition in the life of AHS is the departure of our talented Washington, D.C. editor, Virginia Louisell. For her personally, this is one of those good Mr. Russell B. Clark Boston, Massachusetts changes. Virginia and her husband are taking an early retirement in a Mrs. Erastus Coming U new home on the water's edge. (Is the dahlia in full bloom now?) For AJbany, New York this, we are happy (a nd hope to visit often!), but we will miss the skill Mrs. Ann Lyon Crammond and style Virginia has brought to our publications. We thank her for her Atlantl, Georgia Mr. Edward N. Dane fine work. Boston, Massachusetts Please welcome our new editor, Kathleen Fisher, whose work you have Mrs. Beverley White Dunn been enjoying as assistant editor of this magazine and editor of our News Birmingham, AJabama Mr. K. Albert Ebinger Edition. Kathy brings to this position over twenty years experience as a Ipswich, Massachusetts journalist, a love of gardening, and a refreshing wit. Mr. Richard]. Hutton Another new player is our staff horticulturist, Donna Matthews, who West Grove, Pennsylvania Mr. Stephen F. Keating joins us with a strong sense of mission, a love for plants, and a commitment Wayzata, Minnesotl to horticultural education. (Tony Halterlein has moved on to work with Mr. David Lilly the Cooperative Extension Service of Prince William County, Virginia, SI. Paul, Minnesota an allied agency we now feel we have infiltrated.) Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lindsay Rochester, New York Other change is underway at AHS . Some new ideas are growing vig­ Mrs. John M. Maury orously, some are tiny seedlings that have not yet started to thrive. Perhaps Washington, D.C. our future will be influenced by you - the opportunity is here. Let us hear Mr. Elvin McDonald Brooklyn, New York from you. Plant a seed and it often grows. Mr. Everitt L. Miller Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Mr. Frank L. Robinson Springfield, Virginia Mrs. Jane Scarff New Car,lisle, Obio Mrs. Virginia Urschel Montecito, California Mr. Andre Viette Fishersville, Virginia Frank Robinson Mrs. Helen Fulcher Walutes Executive Director Mount Vernon, Virginia Mr. John H. Whitworth,Jr. New York, New York Mrs. Jean Verity Woodhull Dayton, Ohio Executive Director Mr. Frank L. Robinson

4 AUGUST 1989 Leaves Distorted or Disfigured (continued) Shoots Eaten or With Pests Visible PLANT /)lSQR.DERS

Vulidlll...... U' o.-e. . ..bbl"",O'ldoondptn..rnl.." PIo .... .tr.d..d 'AI...... a ....dons. .adoth...... mw. chry... "dit"' .... , ., .... pb...... DJc• Pl.on .. . trOClft!,y""", ... "", ...... pdnt: ...... ~ ...... ,...,.... ~r.:::r.. ~,::; "I1~~':;~ =~Outd<>o.]y M'K~CJ ...... !WIlydy" 'SbKk. 0" ...... "pbn">lll~:m:u~iritrnld.bul ~~;.o"~'"t.~a

America's finest practical garden guide • IS now even better!

To meet the demands of the modern gar­ and their environmentally safe application dener, this hands-on classic has been thor­ as well as the newest plant varieties and oughly updated and improved. Lavishly classifications. Filled with the most compre­ illustrated with thousands of how-to draw­ hensive, yet easy-to-use information avail­ ings, diagrams, and full-color paintings, this able anywhere, ILLUSTRATED GUIDE ro authoritative reference now features com­ GARDENING continues to be the one book pletely up-to-date information on pesticides jor every task. "The list of consultants reads like a Who's Who of American horticulture." Deaders -New YOrk Times l'\:Digest "So good it defies superlatives ... the one book to have on the subject." -Bookviews 672 pages/Over 3,500 full-color photographs, line drawings and other illustrations. At all bookstores, or call 1-800-733-3000 to order by MasterCard or Visa. We make a difference in 100 million li~es worldwide. Reader's Digest , The Digest and the Pegasus logo are registered trademarks of The Reader's Digest ASSOCiation, Inc. TREASURES OF RIVER FARM/BY KATHLEEN FISHER Not Every Library Has a 1586 Edition

In 1929, Professor Charles Upson Clark, conducting an investigation for the Smithsonian Institution, came upon a tiny, oddly bound volume on the shelves of the Vatican li­ brary. Six by eight inches and only an eighth of an inch thick, its cover was crimson velvet and its edges gilded. Indentations indicated it had once borne metal clasps. Inside were 184 care­ fully wrought and brightly colored ren­ derings of plants of Central America.

The book, which would be dubbed The ~c

Badianus Manuscript, was an herbal writ­ co~ ~ ten in 1552 by Aztec physician Martinus c;" de la Cruz and translated into Latin by a <>'"

~ '"0- contemporary, Juannes Badianus. The only m documentation of the long-reputed skill of '"o the Aztec physicians, its drawings are also _iiIIII;;a. ~ the earliest of many native flora. They were ABOVE: Two elaborately tinted with dyes directly from nature: earth, illustrated French volumes, insects, clams, and, appropriately enough, Traite des Tulipes (1776), left, plants. and Les Tulipes de I'Europe A reproduction of that book is among (1884), right. LEFT: A 1940 the volumes in the American Horticultural reproduction oJThe Badianus Society's library, and something of the ex­ Manuscript, a 1552 Aztec citement that Professor Clark felt upon his herbal that contained the discovery can be imagined while browsing earliest drawings oj many native Mexicanjlora. RIGHT: through the historic treasures in the AHS Paeonia albiflora fragrans, collection. introduced Jrom China by Sir Were the books to be arranged in chron­ Joseph Banks in 1805, was ological order, their titles would mirror the described in an article by progress of horticulture itself. In the sev­ Joseph Sabine in the 1822 enteenth and eighteenth centuries, the au­ Transactions of the thors' concerns were practical ones: food HorticulturaI Society of plants for survival and herbs for health. London, Vol. II. By the nineteenth century, gardeRers - and , (lere d:fft~(lIkt: " J~"J"'1Jk. l;c 'l! 6~ "I;'~h/Ih~ ~ill,fl;.J-1tlj.'1l garden writers - had discovered exotic fruits C~ (11J/tAIi!. l~afi.tlll'f'lI l:tJf' lC.~NFdf-.. n,6JI".J'" ,.:~/C"ilf des: and ornamentals, and were adopting such (M1ff",.- l~u", lm: 7" ",I(.d"''''''1".. nll l /l; J'",Ii" fo ..,!',2m . fanciful touches as espaliering. At the turn ~1t1fu r:. /,J. ~l'r!b 4·11 "&, l /~ /1''':'»l 'l.rL& :;1IL.I i ,ufuntlj iu 4Rf. ~ of the century came reports of hundreds L.,lllt, ~("IIJ... f.u~II'" J:'lnr "h;7Nj"rf"711/rt, bahl

6 AUGUST 1989 from individual survival to protecting our planet. Two major collections within the library were both donated by fruit specialists who at one time worked at Cornell University's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. One personal collection was that of Dr. Harold B. Tukey Sr. Tukey conducted pi­ oneering work on rootstock that would produce semi-dwarf apple trees and on culturing the embryos of early-ripening peaches . . He co-authored the first pub­ lished paper on the use of 2,4-D as an herbicide, and was a co-founder of the In­ ternational Society for Horticultural Sci­ ence. In 1945, he went from Cornell to Michigan State University to head its hor­ ticulture department. Tukey's family do­ nated his extensive book collection to River Farm in 1973. Many of the rare volumes at River Farm were those of George L. Slate, who for forty-seven years was a pomologist at Cor­ nell's Geneva station. His collection was given to AHS in 1976 and 1977 by Barbara and John Abbott, his daughter and son­ in-law. The inventory of Slate books given to AHS covers fifty-eight pages-eight pages on pomology alone-and includes books published in France, Italy, India, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and the Soviet Union, as well as the United States and England. Among its treasures is the 1940 reproduction of The Badianus Manuscript that Professor Clark discovered, contain­ ing the manuscript's history and a page­ by-page translation. Some of the French volumes can be ap­ preciated even by a non-French speaker because of their exquisite typography or artwork. One lovely 1776 volume, Traite des Tulipes by Jean D' Ardene, is richly illuminated, while an 1884 book, Les Tu­ lipes de 1'Europe by Emile Levier, con­ tains hand-painted diagrams of flowers in brilliant reds and yellows. Many of the AHS library books take on additional value because of the personal

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 7 NAKED BOYS Colchicums for autumn beauty TREASURES COlchicums are most valuable autumn-flowering bulbs, not planted nearly as widely as their merits would indicate, very tolerant of a wide range of conditions, in most cases increasing rapidly and flowering very freely. Like giant crocuses in size and shape Colchicums bloom from September into d€dications and signatures within them. A November. White through rosy-lilac to violet flowers rise on naked white stems 8 to 10 copy of A Study of the Genus Paeonia, inches long They bear their flowers long before the leaves appear in spring and the written by F.e. Stern and published by the denuded appearance of the flowers has given rise to the name of " Naked Boys" by Royal Horticultural Society, was dedi­ country folk. cated by the English society in 1946 to B.Y. Plant them under trees, in borders and forgotten nooks and corners, they grow al most anywhere. Light shade fosters best year to year bloom but you wi II get flowers Morrison, former chief of the Plant Intro­ from bulbs planted in full sun to fairly heavy shade. Our bulbs, grown at our Holland duction Section of the U.S. Departm€nt of farm are the very largest - many times up to 20 flowers from a single bulb. Agriculture and first director of the Na­ In Holland it is customary to place some bulbs in a bowl indoors, on the windowsill, tional Arboretum. Morrison, who intro­ with no soil or water, where they will flower within a few weeks. After flowering, the bulbs duced the hardy Glenn Dale azalea hybrids may be planted in the garden where they will flower again next fall. in the late forties and early fifties, dedi­ autumnale album. Middle-sized, pure cated the peony book to AHS in 1960. white flowers. byzantinum. One ofthe finest, prodwc­ ing 12 to 18 globular flowers of lilac-pink. A number of the AHS books Best for the windowsill. Violet Queen. A breathtaking variety of have been signed by violet-purple, revealing a white center upon opening. EH Wilson) possibly the The Ciant. The largest of all. It bears long, elegant lilac flowers, much like magnolia greatest plant hunter blossoms. Late flowering. 600d for the VIolet oueen windowsill. of all time. Naturalizing Mixture waterlily. Exclusive variety with full, The pastel shades of Colchicums make a double flowers of brightest lilac resembl­ Although AHS does not yet possess a very pleasing show planted in a mixture of ing water lilies. different varieties. Hundreds of flowers copy of all sixty-seven titles authored by Any of the above can be expected from only a handful Liberty Hyde Bailey, the famous Cornell of bulbs. Planted in a site to their liking 5 for $18.00; 10 for $34.00 botanist-horticulturist after whom th€ So­ (well-drained soil, rich in humus) they Special Collection Colchicums seem to live indefinitely. Pink, rose, violet, ciety named its most prestigious award, a purple and white - all these colors mixed. 2 bulbs ea. of the 5 varieties listed number of those it does own are auto­ 5 for $16.00; 10 for $30.00 $33.00 graphed by Bailey, who died in 1954. With the Slate collection came a number AUTUMN FLOWERING of books signed by E.H. Wilson, whom some have called the greatest plant hunter CROCUSES of all time. Barbara Abbott, in addition to To many, the flowers ofthe autumn Crocus goulimyi. A recently discovered species being Slate's daughter, is Wilson's may recall the Swiss Alps From these of soft-lilac flowers, having a long elegant granddaughter. Wilson spent his career ex­ mountains come the species which are so tube. hardy and adapted to our gardens The ploring the Orient, much of the time on sativus. The source of saffron, which is flowers of these gems are the same size as behalf of the Arnold Arboretllm, and in­ made from the orange stigmas, gathered the regular Crocus. The great pleasure of and dried. Deep purple-red flowers. Plant troduced hundreds of plants widely used having quantities of these lovely flowers in full sun. Shy bloomer. in American gardens today. in our gardens, flowering there from Oct­ The importance of the plant hunters­ ober into December, fearless of the on­ salzmannii. Tough native of Gibralter. A coming winter, is easily within our grasp. strong grower with pale-blue flowers. both professional and amateur-is under­ speciosus Aitchisonii. Long, hand­ scored by many of the books. In A Mon­ some lavender flowers with sharp taper­ ograph of the Genus Crocus, British hor­ ing petals, feathered a darker shade. ticulturist George Maw describes his Fragrant dependence on friends living in Asia Minor Any of the above to obtain samples of species for him to 50 for $17.00; 100 for $32.00 examine. Plant parts for many of these species are illustrated, with the flower, fruit, Autumn Crocus Mixture pollen, seed, leaf sections, corm, stigma, 50 for $15.00; 1(i)0 for $29.00; stamens, and pistils all delicately tinted. 250 for $70.00 The collection's oldest book is A New speciousus Aitchlsoni Herball, or Historie of Plants by D. Rem­ All prices are postpaid bert Dodoens, translated from French to Aug/Sept. delivery, full JOHN SCHEEPERS, INC. English in 1586. The book was written planting instructions in­ Flower Bulb Specialists even earli€r, being " first set forth in the cluded. NYS residents add sales tax. Please RD 6, Phillipsburg Road Douch or Almaigne toong" by the author, charge order to Visa, Middletown, New York 10940 who was physician to the emperor of the MasterCard Amex or en­ Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. close check/money order (914) 342-3727 More gorgeously tinted etchings, as well

8 AUGUST 1989 Is your garden missing jewel-like flowers floating on a one of the most satisfying forms of. gardening. If you shimmering water surface and the darting brilliance of haven't one, you are missing a great deal of satisfaction goldfish? Are you missing the melodic sounds of water from your garden. spilling from a fountain, vessel or waterfall? Let Lilypons and TETRA POND help you to get started What you need in your garden is a water lily pool. A water today by ordering one of our durable TETRA POND 32 mil, lily pool is a garden whose plants like damp to very wet flexible 2 ply PVC pool liners. So easy to install and main­ feet. Fish and frogs like to live there and butterflies will tam you will ask yourself why you Waited so long to begin like your garden better than ever. A water garden is simply this adventure. \' Choose from the seven sizes listed (sizes are approximate, for depth 11/2' to 2' in your own design.): o Lilypons water gardening catalogue subscription ...... $ 5 0 8' x 12' lineF makes 4 ' x 8' pool ...... $110 o 10' x 16' liner makes 6' x 12' pool...... $165 0 13' x 13' liner makes 9 ' x 9' pool ...... $185 o 13' x 20' liner makes 9 ' x 16' pool...... $225 0 16' x 23' liner makes 13' x 19' pooL ...... $335 o 20' x 26' liner makes 16' x 22' pool...... $455 0 23' x 30' liner makes 19' x 26' pooL ...... $555 Use your personal check or circle credit card: AE CB CH DC MC VS. Card Number: Exp. Date ______~------Namne Address ______City State Zip Phone ( Catalogue free with liner order. California (6%), Maryland (5%) and Texas (7%) residents please add sales tax. Lilypons Water Gardens 1526 Amhort Road Suite 1526 1526 LUypons Road P.O. Box 10 P.O. Box 1130 P.O. Box 188 LUypons, Maryland 21717·0010 Thermal, California 92274·1130 Brookshire, Texas 77423-0188 (301) 874-5133 Washington Local 428·0686 (713) 934-8525 Houston Local 391·0076 FROM 15" LEYLAND CYPRESS TREASURES TO OVER A fast-growing evergreen (3 to 5 ft . per yr.) 7 FEET Long-living IN JUST as fascinating reading, can be found among 2 YEARS' Leyland Cypress was discovered in 1952 the library'S five volumes containing by Mr. Leyland in Wales. Since then it has Transactions of the Horticultural Society 7' been widely grown in England and Ireland. of London, which was founded in 1804 It is only now becoming available in this and chartered in 1809. The society con­ country. The trees, grown on the Eastern sidered itself of a more practical bent than Shore,. are in pots. England's Royal Horticultural Society, which the London group's members saw Trees can be planted NOW as "principally devoted to abstruse and Rated for Zone 7 sciemific labors." • Will grew in marshy or dry soil The botanist, uhe florist, and the artist • Not affected by salt sprays were not unwelcome among them, they made clear, but their major concern was Prices from $5.00 with fruits and vegetables. One article, "An Account of a new Peach from North Amer­ (Lots of 100 or more $4.00 ea.) ica called Braddick's American Peach," de­ (Larger sizes available) scribes how, because peach trees in Amer­ ica were raised exclusively from seed, fruit MAIL ORDERS: Six (15") Trees NURSERY Delivered $51.00 (UPS) growers produced a widely varied crop C~~a generally suitable only for peach brandy whol~sale Catalpa Point Oxford Road Gift Certificates Available and feeding hogs. Braddick reported to fel­ PO. BOX 1599 EASTON, MD. 21601 Leyland Cypress Trees make low members that of a doz€n trees deemed (301) 822·0242 thoughtful gifts for holidays, to have above-average fruit and sent across homes and other special events. the Atlantic to him, he succeeded in grow­ u.s. Rt. 50 to Easton By-Pass (~t. 322) ing one reliably outstanding bearer. to Oxford Rd. (Rt. 333). Turn right at the OPEN 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Other article titles include "On some Catalpa Point Sign (3 mi. from By-Pass) SUNDAYS By AppOintment vulgar Errors among Gardeners, respect­ ing Insects being destroyed by Cold." De­ spite rumors to the contrary, reports the author, grubs are not killed by a hard frost, but can revive even after being frozen "so cold as to chink like little stones when dropped into a glass." (Gardeners, it seems, have been making "vulgar errors" for some time.) For many years, these delightful vol­ umes were stored in separate buildings on the River Farm property, so that access was difficult and their great significance was not readily apparent. They have now been officially rediscovered, and have been 'housed in their own separate building. A fund-raising campaign recently launched by AHS is intended, among other things, to help underwrite a part-time li­ brarian (all of the cataloging has been done since 1982 by a dedicated volunteer, Alice Bagwill, formerly chief librarian for the SUNDIALS U.S. Comptroller of the Currency), I to ex­ WEATHER VANES pand the collection beyond its current 4,000 volumes, and improve access to members. WEATHER INSTRUMENTS Those who choose to do so may make FREE CATALOG o Bronze aluminum 0 Shatter-resistant 1" thick donations specifically to support restora­ double-wall glazing 0 Do-it-~urself assembly tion of some of the historical volumes that o Ideal greenhouse, spa/hot tub room, entry way. have become worn or damaged. Their con­ Wind & Weather Send $2 for Color Catalogues, Prices, tributions will be recognized with me­ PO Box 2320-AH SENT FIRST CLASS MAIL. morial plates in all restored books. Dealer Inquiries Welcome Mendocino, CA 95460 VEGETABLE FACTORY INC. (707) 937 -0323 PO. Box 2235, Dept AHO Kathleen Fisher is senior assistant editor of New York, NY 10163 American Horticulturist.

10 AUGUST 1989 INDOOR GARDENING/BY RUTH PARDUE Start BulbsNow far Winter Bloom

t may be only August, but Christ­ mas is coming. Gifts will have to be planned and shopped for; dec­ orations will need to be considered for the festivities. All this activity Iin the spirit of the season elevates our mood as fall and winter days grow shorter; then suddenly it's January, and the day comes when the house must be " un-decorated" and gifts put away. But if you have been given a bowl of blossoming paper-whites (Narcissus tazetta), or if you replace hol­ iday decorations with pots of spring-flow­ ering bulbs that burst forth with bright blossoms on a window ledge, you have tokens of the new season to come. Not only is the sight of these flowering bulbs a joy to behold, but their fragrance per­ fumes a room with the scents of spring. Plans for spring in January must be made in September, however. Weeks of prepa­ ration are necessary for the cheerful bloom that will thrill someone at Christmas or will brighten your own house on dark win­ ter days. Paper-whites are the easiest of these spring bulbs to bring into bloom. Bulbs half bur­ ied in a bowl of pebbles with water to a level just below the base of the bulbs should be placed in a dark, cool (55 0 F) location for about ten days. During this time roots form, and the water level should be kept constant. Soon leaves will sprout and the pot can be moved to bright indirect light for four or five days. The leaves and buds will grow rapidly during this period. Then the pot should be placed in a sunny win­ dow until the buds open. The blossoms will last longer, however, if the flowering bulbs are returned to indirect light. Many other bulbs such as tulips, hy­ acinths, muscari, and Iris reticulata are suitable for winter enjoyment but require special handling called indoor forcing. Bulbs can be brought into bloom by manipulat­ ing their growing conditions. By potting the bulbs early in the fall, giving a period of cool temperature, and then slowly in­ troducing light and warmer temperatures, INDOOR GARDENING the bulbs undergo a total five-month win­ entine's Day, I have used the cherry red, paper-whites. One can purchase some hy­ ter-to-spring development in a period of white-edged 'Elmus'. In order to have blos­ acinths that already have received four twelve to fifteen weeks. soms for February 14, the bulbs must be weeks of cool treatment and, conse­ The recommended soil for these bulbs potted between September 18 and 22, cool­ quently, will bloom in a shorter period of is a light, well-drained mixture of equal treated until January 10, and then brought time. The best of the blue hyacinths is the parts potting soil, peat, and sand. The pots into a 60° F environment. One of the dou­ popular 'Delft Blue'. 'Anne Marie', a clear should have drainage holes and be three ble late tulips, 'Angelique', has been a good pink; 'L' Innocence', a pure white; and 'Jan times as deep as the height of the bulb. Fill plant for Easter bloom. About sixteen inches Bos', carmine red, give a variety of colors the pot half full and insert bulbs so that tall, it has ruffled, peonylike blooms in a to mix and match or grow individually. their tips are just below the rim of the pot. pale pink with a lighter pink edge. Small bulbs can be treated in the same Keep the tips exposed. Water the pot well Many of the long-stemmed tulip culti- manner. Crocuses that have been used suc­ cessfully are 'Striped Beauty' (violet-white), 'Yellow Mammoth' (golden yellow), 'Peter Pan' (white), and 'Remembrance' (blue­ Plans for spring in January must be made in September. ... violet). These must be watered when Weeks of preparation are necessary for the cheerful bloom brought out of cool treatment and kept moist, for once the roots dry out they wither that will thrill someone at Christmas or will brighten quickly. Early blooming winter aconite (Eranthis your own house on dark winter days. hyemalis), glory of the snow (Chionodoxa luciliae), grape hyacinth (Muscari armen­ iacum), snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis), so that the soil is evenly moist. The bulbs vars are harder to handle for they tend to Endymion hispanicus, Iris reticulata, and are now ready for the winter of their life, flop over, although thin support dowels Iris danfordiae can all be enjoyed in the a twelve- to fifteen-week storage at 40° to can be used with a ribbon loosely tied winter months. Pots of these small bulbs 50° F. This is their rooting time. I find my around the stems. Even the Darwin hybrid are good for clustering in a centerpiece north- and east-facing window wells are 'Jewel of Spring' with its twenty-four-inch combined with larger bulbs. perfect for this storage. The pots are placed stem can be handled with supports. Most Amaryllis bulbs do not need a cold treat­ in the well, it is filled with leaves, and a of the parrot, kaufmanniana, fosterana, ment, but are important to remember when large board is placed over the well. and greigii tulips are not recommended for selecting beautiful flowering bulbs for the A cold frame is the ideal location for forcing. winter months. The amaryllis is a large outdoor rooting, but indoor rooting can Of the many daffodils that are forced bulb that will bloom in four to eight weeks be achieved in a cool (50° F) cellar, an old today by the industry, the miniature 'Tete­ after planting. The bulb should be placed refrigerator, or an outdoor garage or shed. a-Tete' has enjoyed the greatest popular­ in a light soil mixture in a six-inch pot The bulbs must never freeze, must be kept in ity. This delightful yellow, six-inch, multi­ with one third of the bulb exposed. Place darkness, and must be watered regularly. headed blossom is perfect for small baskets the pot in a 68° to 72° F environment. After a minimum of twelve weeks (some and decorative planters. The other mini­ Moisten the soil after planting, water once rulips require up to fifteen weeks), the bulbs ature daffodils that force well are 'Little a week until the bud appears, then water will have roots and will be sprouting. The Gem', 'Little Beauty', 'April Tears', 'Baby twice weekly. There are many colors avail­ pots are ready for their early spring treat­ Moon', and Narcissus bulbocodium. able. My choice for the most delicate is ment and can be placed in a 60° F, semi­ These daffodils and other spring-flow­ the pink- and white-striped 'Apple Blos­ dark area for ten to fourteen days. The ering potted bulbs can be further enhanced som'. An excellent choice for Valentine's sprouts will grow rapidly and are now ready by planting a quick-growing rye grass seed Day is the huge ten-inch diameter, red to be moved to a well-lighted an~ a that has on the soil surface of the pot when it is 'Ludwig's Goliath' or the slightly smaller a 65° to 70° F temperature. With regular moved to the final 60° F location. The grass red- and white-striped 'Fantastica'. For watering, within ten to fourteen days will germinate quickly and might require guaranteed performance, select an amar­ blooms will open. The blooms will last a careful cutting with scissors, but this light yllis bulb four or more years old. The added longer if the temperature is held at 65° F. gre€m underplanting adds a real touch of cost for an older bulb is worth the increase These little winter miracles benefit from spring to a basket of blooming bulbs. in size of blooms and the number of stalks. full sunlight but should be moved to a cool Two reliable, readily available white Some five-year-old bulbs will produce three location at night. daffodils are 'Mt. Hood' and 'Thalia', the stalks with four blooms each. Many tulips that have been tested for former being a tall trumpet while the lat:ter Soon the glories of your August garden forcing are on the market. There are quite is a triandrus with demure multi-headed will be over, but with a bit of planning in a few of the single early tl!!lips, such as florets. The tazettas are easy to force and the next few weeks you can be certain that 'Apricot Beauty' and 'Princess Irene', that have the added bonus of fragrance. The you are not without blooms to cure your do well. My favorite is 'General de Wit', large-flowered 'Louis de Coligny' is also winter blahs. a beautiful soft orange with a delightful fragrant and has a pink cup. fragrance. The triumph tulips, which are Hyacinths can be given a cold treatment Ruth Pardue, Columbus, Ohio, is an about eighteen to twenty-four inches tall, in a refrigerator for ten weeks, then grown accredited judge and instructor of the are particularly good for forcing. For Val- in the winter in the same manner as the American Daffodil Society.

12 AUGUST 1989 TECHNIQUE / BY GEORGE HARMON SCOTT Some CuttingRemarks Abaut Yaur Plants

rom Maine to California, taking softwood cuttings to propagate plants is easy to do. The plants are a joy to watch as they de­ velop - and don't forget the Pcomfortable economy of producing your own plants. My first experience with cuttings, though I hardly knew what I was doing, came as a boy of fourteen. The daughter of family friends asked if she could use Mother's garden in the hills above UCLA for her wedding. Naturally, Mother was de­ lighted. The day before the wedding, my younger brother Clinton and I were sent out to gather blooming branches of pink and white geraniums. Some of the pots we used had been filled with loose soil to hold the stems in place, and these ersatz pots of growing geraniums were used to dec­ orate the terrace. After the wedding, they still looked so nice that they were left there. They received no care, but the gardener must have watered them occasionally and my mother snapped off the dead flowers. They continued to bloom. The next spring another display appeared, but then they started to look twiggy, with smaller leaves. When the pots were dumped, each gera­ nium branch had become established, and the soil was an overgrown mass of tangled, probably starving, roots. My next experience came when my wife and I were visiting in Carmel. As we walked down a sidewalk, we admired a beautiful salmon geranium and saw a broken branch lying on the sidewalk. I then remembered from my previous experience that gera­ niums should not be planted and watered right away, but should be allowed to form a callus over the cut so rot does not set in. Thus I knew it would easily last until we got home to plant it. Not knowing its name, we called it 'Carmel'. Then came 'San Diego', 'B.H.' (Beverly Hills), 'Back Alley', 'Rancho Santa Fe', and 'Santa Barbara', c~ until we had a collection of twenty-six pots. o Everyone we asked was more than de­ e lighted to give us a cutting. ~ ~------~----~------~

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 13 TECHNIQUE

In the meantime, I had caught the cut­ ground, and kept them watered. Today, it as giving an added boost, and it ce rtainly ting bug and was experimenting. The Jap­ many years later, it is impossible to tell doesn't do any harm. It's possible, though, anese boxwood (Buxus microphylla var. which is the old and which is the newer. to raise some cuttings without giving any japonica) hedge that was in front of our By this time, I was using a rooting com­ ca re at all. I remember my grandfather rose garden extended on both sides. When pound on the cut tips and watering them telling about putting up a wire fence in the hedge was cut back, I took the three­ at the start with vitamin B. I've heard it Missouri in the spring and using fr es h-cut to-four-inch cut pieces, stuck them in the debated if this is necessary, but I look upon willow branches for posts. The posts rooted, and that was the explanation fo r the trees that surrounded the field years later. When it comes to taking rose cuttings, Steps for Herbaceous and Softwood Cuttings I can highly recommend it. I have found A stem cutting is a simple, that roses grown on their own roots have easy method of obtaining a outlived the usual grafted ones and are fa r new plant or creating an exact superior and healthier. My 'Chrysler Im­ duplicate. The most important perial' and 'Pink Radiance' are well over thing to remember is that thirty- fi ve years old and going strong while once the stem is cut from the so many others have gone by the wayside. plant, it has no roots for Although growers say that within a year obtaining water; therefore, it one will see a tremendous di fference be­ must not be allowed to dry tween roses grown on their own roots and out. By keeping the medium grafted roses, because grafted roses have moist and the air humid , the advantage of a much larger root system you can effectively minimize to begin with, for myself, I have decided water loss through the leaves that if a rose is too weak to grow on its until the stem produces new own roots I don't want it. roots. For herbaceous and An ideal time to take rose cuttings is softwood cuttings, follow when the bushes are pruned back in early these easy steps. spring. Often cuttings can be obtained at 1. Fill a container with sand or 5. Place the pot in a well-lit area public rose gardens when the plants are vermiculite, or use a commercial but not in direct sun . Bottom heat pruned. The cutting should be four or five propagating medium. Moisten and and cool aerial temperatures are re­ inches long, and the lower leaves should tamp the medium. quired . It is important to minimize be removed before inserting in the soil. 2. Take a four-to-six-inch stem evapotranspiration by maintaining a Unlike geraniums, they should not be al­ cutting from the new growth of the humid, cool atmosphere. A mist lowed to dry out. I usually leave the upper plant in the spring or early summer. bench is ideal , but a plastic tent or leaves on unti l they turn yellow, at which Young, immature stems have a greater a glass dome can be used . time the new growth buds can be seen. I ability to develop roots than old stems. 6. Check the medium regularly; have also had good luck in cutting the Cut right below the node (leaf joint) it must not be allowed to dry out. stems after the hips have fo rmed, then cut­ with a sharp knife or clean pruning To tell if the cuttings have rooted , ti ng off the hip and removing the lower shears . Remove the leaves from the pu ll the cutting out sl ightly. If there leaves. I have had only mediocre luck with bottom third of the stem . is resistance and more than a gentle cut roses that have been weakened by being 3. If it is a thick-stemmed , suc­ pull is required , they have rooted and indoors until after the fl ower has fa ded. culent plant like a geranium or jade are ready to transplant. The next venture was with chrysanthe­ plant, place the cuttings on a news­ 7. Transplant the rooted cuttings mums. To decorate our terrace, we bought paper inside your home for several into small pots. If the new plant is potted chrysanthemums in bloom from a days . After callouses have formed to be planted outside, it must grad­ nursery. It is a big advantage to b uy on the ends of the cuttings, plant ually harden off before it can be blooming chrysanthemums that are nurs­ them in the rooting medium. transplanted . This is done by slowly ery-gr:own outdoors; they will bloom nat­ 4. If they are not succulent plants, increasing the light and temperature urally at approximately the same time next make a hole in the medium and insert to that of the outside environment. year. Those bought in the fl oris t or grocery the stem immediately after you have After it has hardened off in the small store are usua ll y grown under artificial cut it. Insert it deep enough so that pot, transplant it into the garden . conditions, and are forced into bloom any the bottom set of leaves are just above If the plant is to be kept inside as ti me of the year. soil level. Tamp the soil around the a house plant, pot it into a small After the plants finish blooming, cut off cutting. Do not let the leaves of each pot first, then transplant into a the old growth. In the spring it is easy to cutting touch each other as this in­ larger one . take many cuttings from the great number creases the po ssibility of disease . - Peggy Lytton of shoots that come up. After they are cut, Label each cutting . Assistant Editor, Horticulture new shoots will appear and more cuttings ca n be made if des ired. These cuttings can be started in a fl at of sand, vermiculite, or

14 AUGUS T 1989 a commercial propagating medium. Since of the rose family, I had decided to give it more than one cutting can be started in a a try. When I wanted another 'Lavender pot (three in a gallon container and five Lady' lilac, a Syringa cultivar that does in a ten-inch pot), keep the cuttings se'p­ well in warmer climates, I made several arated and be sure to label. After growing cuttings. They grew so well that I had so me the bush types, it is a simple step to grow­ to give away. ing the exhibition ones and the spider va- Many natives can be propagated by cut­ tings, and I assume this is true in other areas. Here in Southern California, when Among the many plants that I have hiked in the mountains, I have taken slips of buff-orange monkey flower (Mi­ can be grown from cuttings mulus aurantiacus). I made slips from dif­ are fuchsias and azaleas. ferent plants, some almost yellow and others close to orange. Since taking cuttings is like cloning, the offspring will be the same rieties. It is simply a matter of pinching at as the parent. Once, on a hike, I obtained first, then dis budding so that there is only slips of Penstemon spectabilis which has one flower to a long stem. four-foot spikes of small, electric-blue Among the many other plants that can flowers. All are growing and blooming well, be grown from cuttings are fuchsias and except one. These particular natives grow azaleas. If grown this way they will be true in scree, which is a mixture of rock and to their hybrid parents, but if grown from gravel on the slopes of mountains. I had seed there would be great variation. It is planted one of the penstemon where it very easy to do this when pruning them would be surrounded by beautiful gray fo­ Most container failure - back; just stick the cut piece in damp sand liage and pink flowers, but during winter and death - comes from and see what happens. it was much too wet and soggy, and it died. over-watering. The drowning Fev(lrfew is such a great seeder that it is Moral: Try to recreate the situation where roots can't absorb water not usually necessary to grow cuttings. the native grows naturally. or the nutrients they need. However, when I wanted a sweep of A great many house plants increase eas­ The plant suffocates. 'Golden Feather', which has chartreuse fo­ ily from cuttings. It is not unusual to see But when you use Oxy­ liage, I made cuttings, and everyone took. ivy, philodendron, pothos or nephthytis gen Plus, you deliver vital Sucmlents are also easy. Jade plant (Cras­ root when left in a container of water. Leaf oxygen and essential nutri­ sula argentea) will easily start a new plant. cuttings that form new plants of African ents right to the roots. No Being thick-stemmed like a geranium, the violets are an old standby. It can also be other plant food, no emulsion, cut end should have a chance to dry before done with members of the same family that putting it in soil. This plant thrives outside I find even more interesting-streptocar­ no spike, no ordinary fer­ only in mild climates, but is grown all over pus and gloxinia. Dracaena, cordy line, and tilizer can match the perfor­ as an indoor plant. Another succulent nearly dieffenbachia, when too tall and gangly, mance of Oxygen Plus. always grown from cuttings is the epi­ can have the top cut off and started in new Proven in university phyllum. It is a member of the cactus fam­ soil. The old stub will usually send out tests, and praised by profes­ ily, with the same spectacular flowers that many new shoots too. sional horticulturists and have readapted to the rain forest. A small Not all my cuttings have been successful. happy gardeners all over the piece stuck in a soil mix with fast drainage I have tried over and over again to get a country; Oxygen Plus helps will root in a short time. new plant from a Japanese maple (Acer your plants look better, grow My daughter wanted a lemon tree like palmatum) with no luck. It is a fiery orange­ better and thrive. the one I had in the back garden. Not red around Thanksgiving when fall color Oxygen Plus. It's the knowing for sure which one it was, I made is nice to have in Southern California. The breath of life for your plants. a cutting. It was kept in controlled hu­ color is increased by keeping the soil acid. midity under a plastic dome for a year. For Another failure has been the large and Look for Oxygen Plus at your awhile I thought it was a goner, but finally, beautiful pink-flowered 'Alma Stultz' nec­ quality lawn and garden in the spring, a new set of leaves appeared. tarine. (It bore no fruit, so Luther Burbank retailer, wherever garden prod­ It is now in a large pot espaliered on a threw it on his trash pile where it was ucts are sold - or send for trellis. She also had a pair of pyracanthus fortunately rescued by Alma Stultz.) plants in a difficult location-one was All in all, taking cuttings is a fun thing your FREE brochure: The Truth wounded by a weed eater and finished by to do that requires little skill and yields About "ant foods. a lawn mower. Having forgotten the name great results. Why don't you try it? PLANT RESEARCH LABORATORIES and wanting a duplicate, she asked me to p.o. Box 3976 Laguna Hills, CA 92654 take a cutting from the remaining pyra­ George Harmon Scott, Arcadia, California, is on the garden panel of Sunset magazine, 1-800-221-2589 canthus. It is now small but growing. Be­ and for many years wrote the "Garden In California: (714) 721-0153 cause I knew pyracanth us was a member Jobs" column for the Los Angeles Times.

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 15 16 AUGUST 1989 The Summer Delight of

Handsome hybrids star in this Atlanta display

Text by Avis Aronovitz Photography by Barry Williams

ot too many years ago it was cultivars of the newest and best hybrid undesirable property- a city daylilies, all labeled. lot, wedged between a church There are no clashes of color here, and and a fire station, with a all blooms can be seen perfectly from three derelict, eighty-five-year-old directions. Programmed with data about Nstructure. Unquestionably it was the least each daylily's flower size, scape height, and attractive real estate in that fashionable color, psychometrist Owen Shore's com­ Atlanta neighborhood. Today, it is the site puter provided printouts that made pos­ of a spectacular private garden that some sible two beds that are perfectly balanced say sets the standard for all other Hem­ and pleasing from all sides. Color distri­ erocallis collections in the region. bution was the challenge. George believes Such a compliment makes the owners women have a better sense of color co­ grin with pride. Bob George is a psychol­ ordination than most men, so he asked a ogist and Owen Shores is a psychometrist, friend, Nell Jessup from Grayson, Georgia, but both are also artists; instead of paint­ to help with the color allocation. Jessup ing on canvas, they chose to plant an in­ agreed but insisted that "unless it turned viting and colorful perennial garden. out well they were sworn to secrecy." The first clue to what is to be found is It obviously "turned out well," because a receiving line of Hemerocallis 'Cora Paul' visitors are always delighted with the beauty in gold, 'Elizabeth Yancey' in peach, and of the impressionistic scene before them. 'Joan Senior' in off-white that greets vis­ Each day during the blooming season dif­ itors at the street and directs them across ferent star performers emerge. the shallow front yard to the garden gate. Even from the distance of the deck, Nell Inside, visitors pause on the side deck of Jessup can identify 'Cool and Crepey' by the house to peer over the railing at a sec­ its large, creamy-yellow blooms with waf­ tion of the garden where the perennial bor­ fled texture and exceptional substance. This der dips deeply into a broad sweep of green popular cultivar was hybridized by her zoysia. No one ever appears quite prepared friend Van Sellers in Kings Mountain, North for this first glimpse of the flower beds Carolina. The six-inch flowers have wide, below. Shaped like huge butterfly wings rounded, and rolled-back petals and se­ and extending on either side of a classical pals, and even in the heat and high hu­ Greek statue, they display the colors of 450 midity of an Atlanta summer day, this day-

OPPOSITE: Edged with variegated liriope, the layout of these cheerful daylily beds was programmed on a computer to provide a perfect balance of size and height.

AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 17 ABOVE: Bob George (left) and Owen Shores carefully groom the da ylilies to perfection. LEFT: 'Daveo Holman' produces huge pink blossoms over nine inches wide . RIGHT: 'Cool and Crepey' is popular for holding up well in Georgia's hot, humid summers. OPPOSITE: Visitors also can en;oy the extensive hosta collection and other shade-loving plants such as these colorful caladiums lining the steps .

lily bloom holds up well. Canaveral hybridizer John Kinnebrew. When at their peak, two of local hy­ Perhaps on the same day, those who prefer bridizer Trudy Petree's products - 'At­ small-flowered day lilies will be drawn im­ lanta Full House', a yellow with a green mediately to a David Kirchoff hybrid 'After throat, ruffled, and with heavy substance, the Fall'. The plant's scapes are covered and 'Atlanta Simplicity', whose color re­ with blooms nearly three inches across, sembles lemon juice whipped with cream­ tinted a tangerine-copper blend with a yel­ draw the most attention. Both were 1984 low halo, rust eye, and a gold throat. At­ introductions, and both consistently pro­ lanta daylily breeder Lilian Grovenstein duce six-and-a-half-inch flowers. prefers to seek out 'Spanish Fandago', a On another day, a daylily enthusiast may rosy cream with an orange eye and green hover over the tricolor flowers of 'Unique throat. Says Grovenstein: "Trends are for Style', which have a brown edge, gold ceo­ full, rounded petals, but cultivars like nar­ ter, and chartreuse throat. This unusl!1al row-petaled 'Spanish Fandango' are also color combination by Kate Carpenter of seeing a resurgence of popularity." But big Davidson, North Carolina, made its debut blooms are always a show stopper. When in this garden and is to be released to the a sudden gasp interrupts conversation, the general public this year. Bob George says garden's proprieters know someone has that there is usually a four-inch-deep in­ discovered the nine-and-a-half-inch pink dentation in the soil alongside this plant, flowers of 'Daveo Holman'. indicating that many admirers put one foot It is in June, jl!1st before blooming, that into the bed attempting to take a good look daylilies need water most. After the cu­ or a good photo of the bloom. mulative effects of several years of low In another area of the bed, even ac­ rainfall, it becomes a challenge for any credited Hemerocallis judges succumb to gardener to keep his plants looking their the spell of a dramatic, black-red velvet best. Although nothing can replace rain, tetraploid, 'Midnight Magic', with a five­ Owen Shores says," We have an overhead and-a-half-inch bloom, developed by Cape watering system. But the soaker hoses we

18 AUGUST 1989 AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 19 TOP, LEFf: 'After tl1e Fall' is a small­ flowered l1ybrid by David Kircl1off. TOP, RIGHT: 'Spanisl1 Fandago' represents a narrow-petaled spider type. LEFf: Tl1e unusual color combination of 'Unique Style' led to its debut in tl1is garden . RIGHT: 'Midnigl1t Magic' is a dramatic sensation witl1 its dark red velvet blossoms . OPPOSITE: A lusl1 green lawn and a serene waterlily pool provide a cool retreat from August's l1eat.

also use are more efficient, particularly un­ coincided with professional burnout. They der drought conditions." elected to abandon their careers for more To achieve good Hemerocallis flower­ than a year to do the work almost entirely ing, George and Shores fertilize their plants by themselves. The first task -scraping out with a 20-20-20 combination every ten and disposing of the driveway gravel, six days from the first of April throughout the inches deep-would for most people have blooming season. Before blooming, Sea­ stopped the project before it began. The born (seaweed) is added to the diet. Mal­ stones were replaced by six inches of river­ athion is applied once and resprayed ten bottom topsoil hauled in by the truckload. days later to control aphids and spider mites, To this, dried chicken manure, finely the annoying enemies of daylilies. chipped pine bark, and sand were blended "The backyard didn't always look this to keep the mixture loose and well-drained. way," says Jessup. "First time I saw it, it Next came trailerloads of pine bark mulch was scrub grass. Some of us said to Bob, to top off the areas reserved for plantings. 'Why don't you do something with your George and Shores say the emphasis they yard?' I thought he'd never speak to us placed on the preparation of their beds again. The idea was planted, though. 'Cool made possible the success of their garden. and Crepey' reminds me also that the first George urges guests to walk through his daylily Bob planted was popular old garden with him and imagine it as a series 'Homeward Bound', one of its parents. It's of outdoor rooms constructed one after the daylily that started it all." another. The development of the outdoor Bob George musingly recalls the history spaces began with a sunken vestibule that of his garden. Both he and Owen Shores is reached by descending the stairs from he says, were first attracted to this half­ the deck to a shaded area on the eastern acre parcel because of its bargain price tag. side of the house. At the end of a plush They ignored the standing water and the "rug" of grass, dark green hollies bend to rundown condition of the property, ringed form a grotto from which water cascades by a gravel parking lot and a few beautiful against jagged rock down to a lily pond. old oak trees. The two set about renovat­ It was when Bob George and Owen Shores ing the dilapidated edifice and regrading began to shape the cement and sculpture the grounds with future landscaping vaguely the stone outline of the fountain, tuck white in mind. Then about eight years ago, urged impatiens between rock layers of the bas­ on by friends such as Jessup, both men in's splash board, and surround it all with developed a serious gardening interest that Continued on page 34

20 AUGUST 1989 AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 2 1

~ ~ faking a garden is like creating a painting, and with a skillfully applied brush stroke ~L here and a combination of colors there, the essence of a single moment in nature is captured. But only in a dream. For a garden is constantly evolving and developing into a spirit of its own. In the words of Rosemary Verey, one must "seize the moment." A season in a garden's life brings together hues and contrasts, not only in the form of bright flowers but also in the subtle blending of greens, grays, golds, and their tonal variations. The architecture of topiary and the juxtaposition of form and texture create a pattern of the garden path. The moment arrives when one can walk in the garden and the garden will walk with you­ an inspired thought from my dear teacher, F.W. Thode. On entering the garden, one must let go of the adversities of nature. Accept wind, water, and light like the muses of the night. Step into the dream, and release the ecstasy that come.s from creating a "tableau vivant."

• • • • • • • ••••••

DESIGNED BY RYAN GAINEY

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 23 ..•

..• -e i ' .. 1 /m n a warm August night, just after the last ray of the summer sun has gone, a quiet breeze \.::./ awakens the fragrance that awaits in the blossom of a moon flower as I walk through the garden gate. Down the stone steps, golden, variegated lemon thyme rises upward, bringing an inhalation of aromatic air. The night comes, brought to the earth by the flicker of fireflies, and as I linger by the pool, the nocturnal nymphs bring light to the thoughts that lie deep within. My soul is lifted above me, and like a golden beam, leads me further into the garden's heart, which is filled with the white flowers of roses, lilies, and fuchsia, with silver and gold illuminating the pattern. The surround is a great mass of white crape myrtle that sways so gently in the evening breeze. In and out, over and under the arches I dance. A short reprieve in the laurel settee, and once again my mind is inundated with the scent of datura. My soul and I unite, and the dream becomes a reality. Together we take flight as the morning light begins, and follow the luna to the

moon. Ryan Gainey is a sought-after garden designer in Atlanta, Georgia. • • • • • • • ••••••

Enter this imaginary garden through the C. Helianthus annuus 'Italian White' 6. Rosa 'Seafoam' gate (lower center). Ahead are four rec­ D. Mirabilis jalapa 'Alba' 7. Rosa 'Iceberg' tangular beds, the plantings of each mir­ E. Artemisia absinthium 'Huntington 8. Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' rored by its counterpart diagonally across Garden' 9. Ko elreuteria bipinnata 10. Hydrangea paniculata the circular pool. Pure whites, silvery tones, F. Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea' G. Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan' 11. Lagerstroemia indica 'Natchez' and subtle colors cool the summer days. H. Boltonia incisa 12. Rosa 'Iceberg' Borders lower left and upper right: 1. Gomphrena globosa 'Alba' 13. Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' A. Verbena tenuisecta 'Alba' J. Verbena tenuisecta 'Alba' 14. Hosta plantaginea 'Royal Standard' B. Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light' K. Euphorbia marginata 15. Catharanthus roseus 'Little Blanche' C. Chrysanthemum maximum 'Ryan's L. Lilium philippinense 16. Taxus cuspidata 'Capitata' Daisy' M. Phalaris arundinacea 'Picta' 17. Rosa 'Iceberg' D. Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' N. Cleome spinosa 'Alba' 18. Laurel Settee E. Buddleia davidii 'White Profusion' O. Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank' 19. Hibiscus syriacus 'Jeanne d'Arc' F. Kerria japonica 'Argenteo-variegata' P. Comus alba 'Argenteo-marginata' 20. Iris pseudacorus 'Variegata' G. Phlox paniculata 'Mt. Fuji' Q. Chrysanthemum maximum 21. Thymus aureus H. Lilium philippinense R. Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' 22. Nymphaea lotus var. dentata 1. Boltonia asteroides 'Snowbank' 23. Nelumbo lutea J. Cynara cardunculus Topiary for height, and borders planted 24. The Crane Fountain by L. Jonas, K. Rosa 'Summer Snow' geometrically play against the curves of the property of Brookgreen Gardens L. Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea' arbors and the round pool, garden archi­ 25. Datura inoxia M. Chrysanthemum nipponicum tecture that gives the flowers' full-blown 26. Clematis paniculata 27. Rosa 'Iceberg' N. Artemisia absinthium 'Huntington beaury a satisfying sense of order. Garden' 28. Rosa 'Sea foam' o. Gomphrena globosa 'Alba' 1. Hydrangea paniculata 'Grandiflora' 29. Trachycarpus fortunei 2. Gomphrena globosa 'Alba' 30. Thuja occidentalis 'Fastigiata' Borders lower right and upper left: 3. Buxus microphylla var. koreana 'Winter 31. Pyrus pendula A. Gomphrena globosa 'Alba' Gem' 32. Sophora japonica B. Chrysanthemum maximum 'Ryan's 4. Ipomoea alba 33. A marble statue, 'Sonata' by Mario Daisy' 5. Prunus caroliniana Korbel, property of Brookgreen Gardens

AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST 25 MONTEREY'S Historic Adobe Gardens

istory is not fully writ in stone; gardens, too, may reflect the whims of time. Three adobe gardens in Monterey on Califor­ nia's central coast offer such mirrors to the past. While the adobe dwellings themselves were all built around the 1830s, fate and circumstance led each of their gardens to evolve in unique ways. The only thing they have in common today is the local Mediterranean climate: a humid atmosphere with moder­ ate temperatures (generally 40° to 80° F), but little rainfall (eighteen inches in a good year). Though this sliver of coast lacks the intense heat required by some plants, the environment generously provides for a broad range of horticultural possibilities. That variety, when added to the influences of his­ tory, gives us the riches of Monterey's adobe gardens.

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY K. MOSE FADEEM

26 AUGUST 1989 The Cooper-Molera Garden

n 1829, Yankee sea captain John Rog­ ers Cooper began building a one-story Spanish-Mexican-style home in the middle of Monterey. Surrounded by seven-foot walls, it was at the time one of the largest homes in California, and certainly the finest in Monterey. When the captain retired in 1849, he and his wife devoted their time to remodeling the property inside and out in contemporaty mid-Victorian decor. For the next sixteen years the garden was to flour­ ish with the newest hybrids and most fash­ ionable plants of that period. But after 1865, when the Coopers joined other members of California's high society in following the gold rush to San Francisco, little of any significance occurred at the adobe. In 1968 Frances Molera, a descendant of one of Cooper's daughters, willed the badly deteriorated property to the Na­ tional Trust for Historic Preservation. The trust in turn leased it to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, which undertook restoration of the buildings through the early 1980s. In 1985 Frances Grate, an avid horti­ culturist, rosarian, and seventeen-year park department employee intimate with the central coast terrain, volunteered to re­ store the Cooper-Molera gardens. Grate set out to recreate the mid-nineteenth cen­ tury garden in a manner as true as possible to the era's plants and fashions. She en­ visioned a garden that would not only re­ flect the Cooper period but give a sense of horticultural continuity. Restoration of Cooper-Molera offered unique opportunities and challenges. The heavy adobe soil had not been tilled in fifty years. Little was growing there, with the exception of a few trees. Almost nothing of a modern influence had been introduced or was worth keeping. But the period to be emulated held an excitement of its own, for not everyone followed the gold rush north. Some realized that the [('l al gold of California was its land. Commerce along the coast was already well-established by the 18305, and by 1850 a horticultural boom was apparent. A flood of nursery­ men and allied businesses had come west, primarily from New England and Phila­ delphia. Other dealers sent agents. Thus a wide selection of plants had been available to the Coopers. Their expansive growing area consisted

OPPOSITE: The 1897 cook's house, with its rose arbor, is surrounded by a well­ maintained Victorian garden. LEFT: The old orchard still has fruit trees planted in the early part of the century.

AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 27 primarily of a vegetable plot, an orchard, sadly neglected, so with gentle pruning, The larkin House Garden and a Victorian ornamental garden, all moderate fertilizing, and proper watering safely contained within the heavy stone through typically dry summers, they are n contrast with Cooper-Molera, the walls. Judging from old etchings and pho­ being nurtured back to fruitful days. Larkin House garden was totally re­ tographs, there was little inclination in those Grate and her volunteers have planted done in the 1920s and '30s, and re­ days to ornament the outside of a house; nine young trees of old cultivars along with mains a period piece from that era. gardens were reserved for the private life 'Italian Muscat' grapes. Among them are Thomas Oliver Larkin, U.S. consul to of family and friends, concealed from the 'Bartlett' and 'Secel' pears (1853), 'Black Alta California, built this lovely house outside world. Mission' fig, and 'Yellow Bellflower' apple with a walled garden in the 1830s. A The vegetable garden probably differed (1800). However, they have had disastrous granddaughter, Alice Larkin Toul­ little from those of today, except that com­ results with citruses, which are marginal min, acquired the house almost a cen­ panion plants may have been more im­ in this climate and in this heavy soil. Cre­ tury later and created the present garden. portant in a pre-chemical age, and herbs ative horticulture is seldom without its Whatever vestiges of an earlier garden may have assumed a more pronounced role. failures. that may have existed in 1922 were buried Those used for medicinal purposes were In seeking optimal growing conditions under the English influence of that time. most likely grown on one side of the bed for the Victorian garden, the caretakers But an English look may not have been for quick and easy access. Beans were a have spread its boundaries over the com­ inappropriate to the 1830s Larkin home, staple, along with artichokes, which thrive pound; it now comprises a half dozen sep­ according to Frances Grate, who notes that in this coastal climate. Corn and peppers arate beds. Old varieties of camellia (1821 Larkin furnished his home in the Anglo need more heat and may have been grown to 1853), species of fuchsia (1802 to 1855), manner and built his home with numerous by Cooper on his property in Salinas, thirty and early scented geraniums abound, but Anglo features. There is reason to believe miles inland. Some of the old varieties car­ the heart of the show lies in old roses: that Mrs. Toulmin had a strong sense of ried on in the plot today include 'Black hybrid perpetual 'Yoland D' Aragon' her heritage-which is why she bought the Turtle' beans (introduced in 1853), 'Early (1842), bourbon 'Louise Odier' (1851), Blood Turnip' beet (1850), 'Danvers Yel­ hybrid China 'Ispahan' (1840), damask low' onions (1850), 'Pearson' tomato perpetual 'Marquise Bocella' (1842), R. (1850), 'Tall Pole' peas (1861), 'White Bush' gallica var. versicolor 'Rosa Mundi' (1550), scallop squash (1722), 'Scarlet Runner' R. centifolia 'Pomponia' (1664), noisette beans (1700), 'Long Orange' carrot (1840), 'Jeanne d'Arc' (1848 ), and many more. 'Early Flat Dutch' cabbage (1700), and As one enters the wide open space of 'Large Red Wethersfield' onion (1830). this complex today there is still a feeling Two English walnut trees Uuglans re­ of sparsity. The restoration has moved for­ gia), introduced into California in 1860 ward at a steady but undramatic pace, and and possibly planted by Cooper, stand near most of the plants are still young. In the the wall in a corner of the orchard. In the next five years, shrubs and perennials will center remains an original 'White Astra­ fill out to soften the coarse texture of the chan' apple introduced here from Russia stone walls; in ten to twenty, the orchard before 1820 and, incredibly, still produc­ will assume a mature character. ing fruit. A young 'Red Astrachan' recently Grate continues to study colonial Cal­ has been planted as has a 'Gravenstein', ifornia horticulture and the Victorian in­ and there are plans to propagate the old fluence on the society-conscious Coopers. white. She sees her role as an interpreter, and her Two almonds (Prunus dulcis), two plums goal to create an historic experience that (P. cerasifera) , and two prunes (P . do ­ reflects life's continuum. "The plants we mestica 'Agen') still remain from 1910. grow in our gardens today," she notes, Like the rest of the estate, they had been "were not born in a vacuum."

LEFT: Huge artichoke plants thrive in the Mediterranean climate. RIGHT: The enclosed Larkin garden depicts an English style in a warm, tropical climate.

28 AUGUST 1989 LEFT: A view of the Larkin house showing the old rose arbor, stately yews, and unusual, tropical trees. ABOVE: Rosa 'Cecile Brunner' arches over the arbor. house-and her designs show considera­ tion of its past. It's a quaint garden, compact with a feel­ ing of intimacy and with a quality of fil­ tered light that distinguishes it from other adobe gardens. Mrs. Toulmin used pri­ marily soft and rich colors: mauve, pink, lavender, white, and blue. The arbor sup­ ports four roses: the noisette tea 'Mme. Alfred Carrier' (1879); hybrid musk 'Pax' (about 1920); climbing polyantha 'Cecile Brunner' (1881), which is often called the sweetheart rose; and an unidentified nine­ teenth century rose with scented, double, .cherry-colored blossoms that Grate hu­ morously refers to as "Larkin House No. 4." These were all planted during Mrs. Toulmin's thirty years in the garden, and some have tmnklike stems that flaunt their maturity. The many trees growing in this relatively small area-including three yews (Taxus) whose overly large size gives them added character-make for a good deal of shade gardening. A dozen or so camellias, rho­ dodendrons, and azaleas found a home beneath some. But in their midst grows a tree-size dracaena (possibly Dracaena draco from the Canary Islands), a small pine­ apple guava tree (Feijoa sellowiana) of South American origin, and an olive tree (Olea europaea), which was introduced into Cal­ ifornia by the Spaniards. This is one of the few climates where warm tropical and cool English can meet outdoors, blending into a style that could be called "Anglo Californian," reflecting both the Mediterranean environment and the loose, eclectic style of California gar­ dens in general. Horticultural opportuni­ ties on the West Coast can easily make for a melange of reconciled bedfellows.

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 29 The Gardens of La Mirada

uite a different srory unfolds in thedevelopmentofrhegar­ dens at La Mirada. Cooper­ Molera slept for a century ro awaken in historic res­ toration and the Larkin gar­ den rook shape in mid-career; Mirada is a late bloomer, coming to maturity only re­ cently from humbler origins. Castro Adobe was built in 1836 by Gen­ eral Jose Castro, the last Mexican gover­ nor of Alta California. The land that had been in Castro's family for generations, dating to the Spanish regime, was fine pas­ ture for cattle that roamed this property as late as 1915. The house itself, sitting on a mesa overlooking Monterey Bay, was a modest affair of four rooms without porch, wall, or other adornments; the gov­ ernor apparently was not an ostentatious man. In 1849 Jessie Benton Fremont, wife of GeneralJohn C. Fremont, rented two rooms of the adobe and wrote of entertaining delegates ro the State Constitutional Con­ vention " in the garden." But no details of the garden were recorded, and it's quite likely that the term "garden" was inap­ propriately used, at least in the modern sense of the word. It may simply have meant outside the house with only a few native trees about. When playwright-author Gouverneur Morris purchased the mesa property from the Castro family in 1919 (the same year that Alice Toulmin bought Larkin House), the home was a dilapidated shingle-roof, mud-colored, four-room adobe dwelling without trees or garden wall. Morris re­ stored the adobe's structural walls, built additions, and developed it into a modern, twenty-five-room mansion of 8,000 square feet, including a forty-foot drawing room that looks into a courtyard. Encircling walls were added for privacy. While stone walls have a way of inspiring gardens within their boundaries, there is no sure evidence of plants from the Morris period. It wasn't until 1937, when ownership passed ro T.A. Work, that we may safely date the beginning of the present gardens. Work, who loved trees, planted a native cypress grove, a row of Cedrus deodara, and a variety of fruit trees. A couple of old lilacs and banksiae roses also may date back to Work. His son Frank Work acquired the estate in 1946, and with a passion for color, con­ tinued to develop the gardens. In the 1960s he commissioned a well-known California landscape architect, Florence Yock, to

30 AUGUST 1989 killed in a car accident and whose husband is an avid rhododendron collector. Exist­ ing leggy plants were pruned by one-third each year for three years to restore their vigor and fl!111ness. Other fifteen-to-twenty­ year-old plants were moved here from Pe­ den's private collection. Today, 400 rho­ dodendrons of more than 140 varieties make up the largest display of its kind in the area. Innumerable azaleas, perennials, flow­ ering plums, and cherries join the rhodo­ dendrons to convert T.A. Work's somber cypress grove into a dazzling display of spring color. Although Dietterle's original plans for the gardens are now almost ma­ terialized, she envisions adding a com­ munity garden center and garden work­ shop. Construction of a working greenhouse will soon be underway. Cooper-Molera, Larkin, and La Mirada are living history books begun in the 1830s. Time and circumstance have written very different plots for each. Fortunately, they have fallen into the hands of gardeners sensitive to their unique personalities. While OPPOSITE: Overlooking Monterey there are other gardens on old sites in the Bay, the rose garden was renovated to include both Monterey area, these best exemplify the modern hybrids and old classics. combination of sluggish continuity and ABOVE: The memorial sharp historic turns that with time and rhododendron collection is one some luck can bring about exceptional of the largest displays of its kind in the area. RIGHT: Although results. traditional in design, the herb garden maintains a unique K. Mose Fadeem writes a garden column, Spanish style. magazine articles, and produces 'The Fanatic Gardener" radio show on station KAZU on the Monterey Peninsula.

For More Information redesign the maiu courtyard that he had on California's central coast. Both Cooper-Molera and Larkin House been using as a small rose garden. Yock In 1988 an anonymous donor made ren­ are located in the heart of Monterey, brought in the tulip tree (Liriodendron tu­ ovation of the rose garden possible. Sup­ as part of the Monterey State Historic lipifera), coral tree (Erythrina spp.), saucer port from the American Rose Society helped Park system. Both are open 10 a.m. magnolia (Magnolia x soulangiana), ca­ revive the depleted earth with fresh topsoil, to 5 p.m. six days a week; Larkin mellias, rhododendrons, and New Zea­ alfalfa, epsom salts, and liquid iron. Old House is closed Tuesdays and land ferns that continue to provide the sub­ hybrid teas were pruned, and twenty-three Cooper-Molera is closed Wednes­ stance of the courtyard today. Yellow­ new varieties were aclded. Echeveria x days. There is a small charge for the flowered Kerria japonica and Clematis imbricata makes a delightful border for the hourly tours of the homes. The gar­ montana have since been added. beds. This is for the most part a rose garden dens are admission-free. For more In 1983 Work deeded the estate to the for modern tastes, but the older roses hold information, write the park system Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art. Kate their own well. office, 525 Polk Street, Monterey, Dietterle, ex-president of the museum The traditional herb garden is the han­ CA 93940, or call (408) 649-7718. board, former landscape designer, and a diwork of Guy Rodriguez, a local gar­ La Mirada is located near Monterey close friend of Work, was not only instru­ dener, who along with a few friends do­ Peninsula College. House and gar­ mental in this transfer of the property but nated materials, planted, and did all the den tours are conducted at 1, 2, and assumed personal responsibility for fur­ labor. One hundred twenty-five varieties 3 p.m. each Saturday. A small do­ ther development of the gardens. In five of medicinal, culinary, and fragrant herbs nation is requested . Special arrange­ unfunded years, Dietterle, one paid assis­ are displayed in four beds surrounded by ments can be made for tours at other tant, and a few generous donors and vol­ paved brick. times. For more information, write unteers have transformed what came to be The first thing one sees coming up the La Mirada, 720 Via Mirada, Monte­ called La Mirada-after the Lagunita Mi­ drive is the rhododendron garden, which rey , CA 93940, or call (408) 372- rada (Little Lake), which it overlooks­ came into existence as a memorial to Julia 3689. into one of the largest and loveliest gardens " Pat" Peden, an area resident who was

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 31 32 AUGUST 1989 INDEFENSE OF MODE

hen 1 started growing gar­ look of the bushes on which the new babies den roses, 1 was advised to grew, how disease-resistant they were, or plant both old varieties and whether or not the blooms were fragrant. modern hybrids. "Decide for Although they did succeed in getting new yourself which you prefer," colors, they also got scentless blossoms. my mentor said. What my consultant didn't By the beginning of the twentieth cen­ mention was that most gardeners finally tury, there were enough new cultivars opt for only one of the rwo, and that the around so that a new name was needed to rwo camps rarely see eye to eye. separate old from new. Those who pre­ You'd be surprised how many people ferred the older kind began calling them light up when 1 say that I'm a devoted "garden" roses, labeling their offspring rosarian, then are instantly disappointed "modern." to learn that 1 grow modern roses. "Oh," Garden roses have their modern off­ they say, "I don't know about them. 1 pre­ spring beaten hands-down as far as lineage fer old garden roses." They then change is concerned. How can any manmade hy­ the subject, making me feel like an upstart. brid compete with ancestors that grew long Now I'd like to set the record straight be­ before man existed? Even a modern rose rween modern hybrids and their ancestors. like 'Peace', whose budwood was stowed What separates old from new? Most agree onto the last airplane to leave France just that it was the silvery pink 'La France', before it was occupied in World War II hybridized in 1867 by Guillot Fils. Nine­ and which then went on to become the teenth-century hybridizers wanted new floral symbol of the United Nations and forms-more specifically, blossoms with the All-America Rose Selection for 1946, high, pointed centers. 'La France' was the can't compete with the le.gendary apoth­ first cultivar that promised to fulfill their ecary rose. No one is sure how old Rosa dreams, but its supply of pollen was gallica var. officinalis is, but we know that stretched thin as hybridizers scrambled to it was planted all over the Roman Empire parent crosses. and was probably the first rose imported Breeders were shameless in their rush to into the American colonies. introduce new cultivars, and they had their Old garden rose bushes billow, creep, sights firmly fixed on only rwo elements: arch, and sprawl in ways that few modern form and color. They didn't care about the Continued on page 42 BY RAYFORD REDDELL

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 33 THE SUMMER DELIGHT OF DAYLlLlES

Continued from page 20 At this stage in the walk around the selecting superior plants from the South­ ferns and caladiums, that friends first sus­ garden the men pause to point out some east's outstanding hybridizers. Each clone pected this would not be the average back whimsy in their landscape. An old blue had to have three fans to maintain balance yard garden. Walkways in this anteroom bathtub removed from the house during in the beds. The men realized the need for are lined with Liriope muscari 'Variegata', the renovation was covered in leftover scrap more off-white cuhivars to act as buffers Japanese sedge (Carex morrowii), and many wood siding from the new exterior and that would calm and separate the strong types of ajuga. planted with seasonal displays of white daylily colors. A call went out to American Attention then goes to the beds of pink begonias or yellow and blue pansies. White Hemerocallis Society hybridizers in five and white begonias planted between the angel wing begonias (Begonia 'Richmon- states who responded with everythiflg they railroad ties that have been terraced up to had available. two square wooden chairs. Above the chairs Shores and George had retaintld the ser­ is the wall plaque proclaiming this to be Suddenly) the garden turns vices of landscaper Dan Franklin to add the Georgian-Shores Hillside Garden. a comer, and daylilies in all professional touches, for all three agreed George recalls: "Last summer we planted that a gardtln that featured only fine day­ yellow lantana here and the effect was dis­ color gradations rise boldly lilies would btl incomplete. Franklin added quieting. The colors now are soft and sub­ stone walkways and borders, the statuary tle. It is much more pleasing when we sit on terraced steps ... and water, and more perennials and an­ in those chairs on a warm weekend morn­ nuals. He suggested scattered border plants ing, lingering over coffee." densis'), water-marked in hot pink, bloom of white dianthus 'Princess White' and be­ George notes that anywhere people sit mischievously on the ground beneath the gonias to complement the daylilies, and there should be a close view and a long planter'S rim. Beyond, water sprays from planted a sea of blue Iris ensata behind one. He directs attention to the scene as it a cherub fountain discreetly secluded by a them as a foil. Later into the daylily season, telescopes down broad flagstone steps, rounded shrub of Hydrangea macro­ these are supplanted by yellow canna ti­ edged again in railroad ties and flanked by phylla. Almost hidden is a spreading clump tans. In the lower garden's borders, he added shade-loving plants. Here, precisely la­ of winter-blooming Helleborus niger. Yel­ his own strain of white Cleome hasslerana, beled, is an outstanding collection of hosta; low tones, introduced first in the hosta Hydrangea arborescens 'Flower Pink', pink one sees swells of large leaves, lanceolate foliage, reappear here in sedum and spurge, Digitalis x mertonensis, blue salvia, and leaves, yellow leaves, green leaves, puck­ which are repeated in other low-light gar­ more Stokesia. ered leaves, and smooth leaves. Some, like den areas. On the far side of the grape arbor, built Hosta sieboldiana 'Frances Williams', Three large, robust evergreen shrubs of by Owen Shores, rows of low-growing red 'August Moon', 'Francee', and 'Kabitan' Kalmia latifolia indicate the end of the shade daylily cuhivars march behind a line of the are somewhat familiar in Atlanta gardens. garden and the beginning of a new garden small-flowered, yellow-blooming 'Little However, there is also a clone of H. to­ of sun-loving perennial borders. The tran­ Moon'. Both are mixed with sun-toltlrant kudama with round, cupped, and waffled sition is assisted by compact bushes of Hy­ types of golden hostas. Then, suddenly, thtl golden leaves, and mounds of 'Parky's drangea macrophylla with corymbs of both garden turns a corner and day lilies in all Gold', 'Wogan Gold', 'Butter Rim', 'Ruf­ pink and blue flowers on the same plant. color gradations, once again the whole fles', 'See Saw', and 'Sashi Dini Giboshi'. Clumps of Stokesia laevis, top-heavy with show, rise boldly on terraced steps leading Interspersed with hostas is an equally fine five-inch flowers of soft blue, and nearby, up to the clematis-covered, latticework assortment of ferns - maidenhair fern yellow threadleaf Coreopsis verticillata fence. (Adiantum pedatum), Japanese painted fern 'Zagn:b' contimle the pastel theme. Blue Behind the house's service area, where (Athyrium goeringianum 'Pictum'), cin­ veronica and white Phlox maculata 'Miss a flowering peach presides in spring, the namon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea), ce­ Lingard', a mainstay of the southern sum­ steep embankment provides more sunny dar fern, regal fern, sensitive fern, Christ­ mer garden, effectively mellow huge clumps terraces for repetition of the garden's pas­ mas fern, and leather-leaf fern, the only of Echinacea purpurea, whose rosy-purple tel hues with a long season of society garlic one not hardy in Atlanta's climate and hoop skirts sway above stiff stems. Con­ (Tulbaghia violacea); yellow yarrow which must be dug and sheltered before tinuing along the grassy path, the garden (Achillea filipendulina 'Moonshine') ; small, winter. conveys seclusion in an urban environ­ heat-resist'ant, blue Petunia 'Azure Pearl'; Reaching to the lush grass carpet, hardy ment. A high privacy screen surrounds much wax begonias; pink foxgloves; and white begonias intertwine with white caladium of the property and curtains off the fire Nippon daisies. leaves laced with green veins. In the back­ station and church. Tall, conical Crypto­ Bob George and Owen Shores calculate ground is pieris with large drooping pan­ meria japonica 'Elegans', force-fed to grow that it takes two to two-and-a-half days a icles. Burford hollies (Ilex cornuta 'Bur­ six feet the first year planted, veils neigh­ week to maintain their garden during the fordii') and Rhododendron 'Rocket' give borhood homes from view. growing season. To the question everyone bulk to the garden and supply color in As he walks, Bob George recalls that always asks, thtly say: " Yes, we would do other seasons. Here is also a specimen plant after learning that their gard(m would be it again." George adds, "Just think-once of an English perennial virtually unseen in featured during thtl 1986 Atlanta meetings I was naive enough to ask 'How long does southern gardens-coin-dotted Ligularia of the American Hemerocallis Society, a a daylily bloom last?'" tussilaginea. It is apparently hardy in this great flurry. of activity was necessary to setting and tolerant of any hot Georgia sun complete their project. George and Shores Avis Aronovitz is a free-lance garden writer that reaches it. began upgrading their daylily collection by who lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

34 AUGUST 1989 Sources

The Summer Delight of Daylilies For daylilies, contact the following nurseries: Daylily World, 254 Old Monroe Rd. , Sanford, FL 32771, catalog free. Oakes Daylilies, 8204 Monday Rd., Corryton, TN 37721, catalog free. Solomon Daylilies, 105 Country Club Rd., Newport News, VA 23606, catalog free. Hostas and perennials can be obtained from: Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Rd ., Madison, OH 44057, catalog free. Crownsville Nursery, P.O. Box 797, Crowns­ BANISH THEM! ville, MD 21032, catalog free. STOPS ANIMAL DAMAGE FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON I Spring Hill Nurseries, 110 West Elm St., Tipp SAFE FOR PETS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS. City, OH 45371, ca talog $2. HAS NO OFFENSIVE ODOR. Monterey's Historic Adobe Gardens Many of the old vegetable cu ltivars mentioned are carried by these seed companies: De Giorgi Co., Inc., P.O. Box 413, Council Bluffs, ,I IA 51502, catalog $l. ANIMAL, RODENT & BIRD REPELLENT Landreth Seed Co., 180-188 W. Ostend St., Bal­ timore, MD 21230, catalog $2. Le Marche Seeds International, P.O. Box 190, Dixon, CA 95620, catalog $2. Wyatt-Quarles Seed Co., P.O. Box 739, Garner, NC 27529, catalog free. Lamium and Lamiastrum: Each Has a Place Kurt Bluemel, Inc., 2740 Greene Lane, Baldwin, MD 21013, catalog $2. W. Arlee Burpee & Co., Warminster, PA 18974, catalog free. CaHoll Gardens, 444 East Main St., West­ minster, MD 21157, ca talog $2. SPECIAL OFFER - In Defense of Modern Roses MAKES A GREAT GIFT! Antique Rose Emporium, Rt. 5, Box 143, Brenham, TX 77833, catalog $3. The Original Jackson & Perkins Co., P.O. Box 1028, Medford, OR 97501, catalog free . STEM STRIPPER Roses of Yesterday and Today, 802 Brown's ~ Valley Rd., Watsonville, CA 95076. "B A unique tool [J A Dream of a Garden for removing 'Petticoat Flounce' Forestiarm, 990 Tetherow Rd., Williams, OR Estate Peonies. Tree Peonies thorns and Fancy Hosta • Tetraploid Hemerocallis 97544, catalog $2. Siberian Iris. Pulmonaria • Achillea Thompson & Morgan, P.O. Box 1308,Jackson, leaves from Asarum. Ferns. and many others. NJ 08527, catalog free. stems. Send $4.00 for your 1989 Color Catalog (refundable with first order) Wayside Gardens, 1 Garden Lane, Hodges, SC ONLY 29695, catalog free. 9.95 Woodlanders, 1128 Colleton Ave., Aiken, SC INCLUDING 29801, catalog free. POSTAGE & HANDLING CAl RESIDENTS, Start Bulbs Now for Winter Bloom ADD 6% SALES TAX) Breck's, U.S. Reservation Center, 6523 North The Keth Company Ga lena Rd., Peoria, IL 61632, catalog $2. p.o. Box 645 Bundles of Bulbs, 112 Greenspring Valley Rd. , Corona del Mar, CA 92625 Route 5, Box 197 Penny Road Owings Mills, MD 21117, catalog $l. South Barrington, Illinois 60010-9555 McClure & Zimmerman, P.O. Box 368, Fries­ OUR LATEST CATALOGUE Call Toll Free 1-800-553-3715 land, WI 53935, catalog free. 1 . 00

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 35 Pronunciations

Acer palmatum AY-ser pal-MATE-um Achillea filipendulina a-KILL-lee-ah fil-i-pend-yew-LEAN-ah Adiantum pedatum ah-dee-ANT-um pe-DATE-um Artemisia absinthium ar-tay-MIS-ee-uh ab-SINTH-ee-um Athyrium goeringianum a-THIRE-ee-um ger-rin-jee-AN-um Begonia bi-GON-ee-uh Berberis thunbergii BER-ber-is thun-BERGE-ee-eye Boltonia asteroides bowl-TONE-ee-uh as-ter-oh-IDE-ezs B. incisa B. in-CISE-ah Buddleia davidii BOOD-lee-uh day-VID-ee-eye Buxus microphylla var. japonica A Trudy Petree hybrid, 'Atlanta Simplicity' has BUCKS-us my-crow-FIL-ah var. large, six-inch-wide creamy-yellow flowers. jah-PON-ih-kah B. microphylla var. koreana B. my-crow-FIL-ah var. kore-ee-AIN-ah Feijoa sellowiana Carex morrowii fay-JO-ah sel-o-we-AIN-ah CARE-ecks mor-ROW-ee-eye Galanthus nivalis gah-LAN-thus nih-VALois Catharanthus. roseus Gomphrena globosa cath-ah-RAN-thus ROHZ-ee-us gom-FREEN-ah glow-BOWZ-ah Cedrus deodara SEED-rus de-o-DOR-ah Helianthus annuus Chionodoxa luciliae he-le-ANTH-us AN-new-us ky-on-oh-DOCK-sah loo-SIL-eye-ee Helleborus niger hell-eh-BORE-us NY-jer Chrysanthemum maximum Hemerocallis hem-er-oh-KAL-is kruh-SANTH-uh-mum MAX-i-mum Hibiscus syriacus C. nipponicum C. ni-PON-ih-kum high-BISK-us SEER-ee-ah-kus Clematis montana Hosta plantaginea klem-ATE-us mon-TAN-ah HOST-ah plan-tadge-i-NEE-uh C. paniculata C. pan-ick-yew-LATE-ah H. sieboldiana H. see-bold-ee-AIN-ah Cleome hasslerana H. tokudama H. toe-ku-DAME-ah cle-OHM-ee has-ler-AIN-ah Hydrangea arborescens C. spinosa C. spin-OZ-ah high-DRAN-gee-ah are-bo-RES-ens Coreopsis verticillata H. macrophylla H. mack-ro-FIL-ah core-ee-OP-sis ver-tis-see-LATE-a H. paniculata H. pan-ick-yew-LATE-ah Corn us alba KOR-nus AL-bah Ilex cornuta EYE-lex core-NEWT-ah Crassula argentea Ipomoea alba eye-POME-ee-ah AL-bah KRASS-yew-la are-JENT-ee-ah Iris danfordiae EYE-ris dan-FORD-eye-ee D Please send me a Free Catalog. Cryptomeria japonica I. ensata I. en-SA TE-ah D Please send me Mammoth Dar­ kript-o-MEER-ee-uh jah-PON-ih-kah I. pseudacorus I. sue-DACK-or-us win Hybrids/IOO. Cynara cardunculus I. reticulata I. reh-tick-yew-LATE-ah D Payment enclosed $ ___ sigh-NAR-ah car-DUNK-yew-lus Juglans regia JUG-lanz REJ-ee-uh D Charge to: Datura inoxia day-TOUR-ah in-OXS-ee-ah Kalmia latifolia D Master Card D Visa Digitalis x mertonensis KALM-ee-ah lat-ih-FOL-ee-uh Exp. Date ______dih-jih-TAL-is x mert-o-NEN-sis Kerria japonica Act. No. ______Dracaena draco drah-SEEN-ah DRAKE-oh CARE-ee-uh jah-PON-ih-kah Name ______Echeveria x imbricata Koelreuteria bipinnata eck-eh-VARE-ee-uh x im-bri-COT-ah kol-rew-TEAR-ee-uh bi-pin-ATE-ah Address ______Echinacea purpurea Lagerstroemia indica City ______eck-i-NASE-ee-ah pur-PEW-ree-ah lag-er-STREAM-ee-uh IN-di-ka State ______Zip ___ Endymion hispanicus Lamiastrum galeobdolon en-DIME-ee-on his-PAN-i-kus lam-ee-AST-rum gal-ee-OB-do-lon Eranthis hyemalis Lamium album LAME-ee-um AL-bum ee-RAN-this hy-ee-MALE-is L. amplexicaule L. am-plex-i-CAL-ee Erythrina air-ri-THRINE-ah L. garganicum L. gar-GAN-ee-cum StiIlbrook Farm Euphorbia marginata L. hybridum L. hy-BRID-um Maple Street, 307-X, Litchfield, CT 06759 yew-FORB-ee-uh mar-jin-ATE-ah L. maculatum L. mack-yew-LATE-um

36 AUGUST 1989 SMALL WONDER A Pocket Size Pruner Only 31/2" Stainless Steel L. purpureum L. pur-PEW-ree-um "Small Wonder", from Shef­ L. veronicaefolium field , England, is light in your L. ver-on-i-ce-FOL-ee-um hand and pocket, but easily Ligularia tussilaginea cuts stems. Carry it with you lig-yew-LARE-ee-uh tus-sil-LAGE-in-ee-ah ready to snip a flower or cut a Lilium philippinense cutting .. 1000 uses for all gar­ LIL-ee-um fil -IP-pin-enzs deners and a very smart gift Liriodendron tulipifera ONLY $14.95 each, Leather case $1.95 leer-e-o-D EN -dron to- Ii p-IF-er-ah (includes shipping) Liriope muscari THE PERMANENT li-RYE-o-pe mus-CARE-ee Magnolia x soulangiana METAL GARDEN LABEL The ForgotteA Art Of mag-NOL-ee-uh x soo-lan-gee-AIN-ah A- Hairpin Style Markers 30 for $ 8.70 Building a Stone Wall Mimulus aurantiacus 8-Plant or Shrub Labels 100 for $ 6.70 By Curtis Fields C-Cap Style Markers 30 for $ 9.10 MIM-yew-lus aw-ran-tih-AKE-cus fl- Swinging Style Markers 30 for $ 7.40 This book demonstrates the Mirabilis jalapa meer-AB-i-lis jal-AP-ah E - Rose Markers 30 for $ 8.20 fundamentals of laying a Miscanthus sinensis F-Tall Display Markers 30 for $11.35 G-Tall Single Staff Markers 30 for $ 8.55 handsome and durable wall mis-CAN-thus sin-EN-sis H - Flag Style Markers 30 for $ 7.15 that will withstand freezing Muscari armeniacum J - Small Plant Labels 100 for $ 6.50 K - Tie-On Labels 100 for $ 9.60 and thawing. It explains how to move mas­ mus-KAH-ree are-MIN-ee-a-cum M-Miniature Markers 30 for $ 6.90 sive rocks safely, how to employ simple Narcissus bulbocodium Special Quantity Prices Available tools to split stones, how to construct gates nar-SIS-us bul-bo-CODE-ee-um Prices Include Prepaid Postage and stiles. 64 pages, 6" x 9", over 60 illus­ N. tazetta N. tah-ZET-ah trations, photographs and diagrams. Nelumbo lutea ne!-UM-bow loo-TEE-ah fNTRODUCTORY OFFER 1 Each: A, B, C, D, E, H, J and K With Only $7.95 each (includes shipping) Nymphaea lotus var. dentata Waterproof Crayon, OnIY,$ 3.00 NIM-fee-ah LOTE-us var. den-TATE-ah Olea europaea o-LEE-ah your-ROPE-ee-ah PAW PAW EVER LAST Waft !J{ick? Co. Osmunda cinnamomea LABEL COMPANY Dept A, Box 433, Topsfield, MA 01983 oz-MUN-dah sin-ah-MOME-ee-ah P.o. Box 93-AH Phone Orders: (508) 887-3388 MC/VISA (9am to 4pm Eastern Time) Penstemon spectabilis Paw Paw, Michigan, 49079-0093 PEN-steh-mon spek-TAB-i-lis Free Catalog Petunia pe-TUNE-yah Phalaris arundinacea fa-LARE-us ah-run-din-A YSH-uh Phlox maculata fl ox mack-yew-LA TE-ah GRAND ENGLISH STYLE PLANTER P. paniculata P. pan-ick-yew-LATE-ah Hand-crafted in wrought iron for your Prunus caroliniana terrace, garden room, deck or as a PRUNE-us care-oh-lin-ee-ANE-ah graceful room divider. Designed for P. cerasifera P. ser-ah-SIF-er-ah displaying azaleas, ivy, ferns or your P. domestica P. do-MEST-ick-ah flowering favorites. P. dulcis P. DUL-sis Send $1 for a color brochure of garden Pyrus pendula PIE-rus PEN-dew-lah planters, tile tables and other wrought iron accessories. Rosa centifolia 23h x 48w x ltd ROHZ-uh cent-i-FOL-ee-uh R. gallica var. officinalis The Packet Boat Ltd. R. GAL-i-ka var. oh-fis-ih-NALE-is 250 North Goodman, Studio llA R. galtica vaL versicolor Rochester, NY 14607 R. GAL-i-ka var. ver-sih-KOL-er (716) 442-6020 R. soulieana R. sole-EEN-ah Rhododendron ro-do-DEN-dron Sophora japonica so-FOR-ah jah-PON-ih-kah t;REER (jlRDENS Stokesia laevis sto-KES-ee-ah LEV-is Syringa sah-RING-gah 1280 Goodpasture Island Rd., Eugene, OR 97401-1794 Ta xus cuspidata TACKS-us cus-piht-DATE-ah Specializing in -- Thuja occidentalis EXOTIC Rhododendrons THOOG-ah ok-si-den-TALE-is UNUSUAL Japanese Maples Thymus aureus TIME-us AIR-ee-us RARE Trees & Shrubs Trachycarpus fortunei SPECIAL Bonsai Materials tray-kee-CARP-us for-TUNE-ee-eye Tulbaghia violacea tull-BAG-ee-ah vy-oh-LACE-ee-ah Verbena tenuisecta ver-BEAN-ah ten-yew-i-SECT-ah

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 37 Classifieds

Classified Ad Rates: $1 per word; minimum $20 SEND $1 FOR 24-page illustrated newsletter Record Exam must be taken no later than Oc­ per insertion. 10% discount for three consecu­ featuring citrus and tropical fruits, indoors and tober for December Application. The rwo-year tive ads using same copy, provided each inser­ program yields the M.S. degree in Public Hor­ tion meets the $20 minimum after taking dis­ out. INDOOR CITRUS & RARE FRUIT SO­ count. Copy must be received on the first day of CIETY, DEPT AHN, 176 Coronado Ave., Los ticulture Administration with emphasis in lead­ the month rwo months prior to publication date. Alto~ CA 94022. ership, and in management of public ga.rdens. Send orders to: American Horticultural Society CAROL DIDRICK'S LITTLE RED BOOK ON The Program offers students acadc:mic study at Advertising Department, 80 South Early Street, OLD GARDEN ROSES. Where to get them the University of Delaware and practical ex­ Alexandria, Virginia 22304. and where to plant them. An introduction to perience working with business, education, hor­ OLD GARDEN ROSES. Each book signed and ticulture and maintenance staff of Longwood AFRICAN VIOLETS numbered. Send $[ 4.95 post paid. CAROL Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. The Longwood America's Finest -177 best violets and gesner­ DID RICK, 1535 Willard Drive, Orrville, OH Graduate Program is appropriate for individ­ iads. Color Catalog and Growing "Tips" $.50. 44667. "Please add $2 out of country mailing. uals interested in lc:adership and professional FISCHER GREENHOUSES, Box H, Linwood, careers in arboreta, botanical gardens, horti­ NJ 08221. BOTANICAL CRAFTS cultural societies, park systc:ms, civic garden DRIED FLOWERS FOR ARRANGEMENTS. THE AVANT GARDENER <::enters and related institutions. Further infor­ Prc:ssc:d flowers. Potpourris-25 varieties. Herbs, mation and applications may be requested by DIFFERENT, EXCITING, GREAT FUN TO spices, fixatives, fragrances, containc:rs, books. contacting Dr. James E. Swasey, Coordinator, READ - for the gardener who wants to get more Quantity discounts. Catalog $1 (refundable). Longwood Graduate Program, Box H, 153 out of gardening! Subscribe to THE AVANT Herbal Crafts Quarterly Newsletter $14/year. Townsend Hall, University of Delaware, New­ GARDENER, the most useful , most quoted of TOM THUMB WORKSHOPS-AH, Mapps­ ark, DE 19717-1303. Tel. (302) 451-2517. all gardening publications. Every month this ville, VA 23407. unique news service brings you the newest and GARDENING ACCESSORIES BULBS most practical on-going information - new GOATSKIN GLOVES. Tough, lighrwllight, napa plants, products, techniques, with sources, plus Bulbous Pl ant Journal, HERBERTIA and Quar­ goatskin stretches and becomes form-fitting, feature articles, special issues. 20th year. Awarded terly Newsletter. Color-filled articles on bulbs, giving wearer ultimate in fit, grip, dexterity. Garden Club of America and Massachusetts corms and tubers of Amaryllidaceae and related Natural lanolin in leather keeps hands soft. Sizes Horticultural Society Medals for outstanding families. $20/yr. APLS-AH, P.O. Box 985, 7-10 or send outline of hand. $9.50 postpaid. contributions to horticulture. Curious? Sample National City, CA 92050-0241. PUTNAM'i, Box 295-AH, Wilton, NH 03086. copy $1. Serious? $10 full year (n~g. $15). THE CARNIVOROUS PLANTS GREENHOUSE ACCESSORIES AVANT GARDENER, Box 489M, New York, SPECTACULAR CUL TIVA TED CARNI­ NY 10028. COMPLETE MIST PROPAGATION SYS­ VORES! Rare and Bizarre Varieties. Attractive, TEMS. Get phenomenal propagation results, AZALEAS Educational, and Practical. Informative Illus­ indoors-outdoors. Environment sensitive con­ GROUND COVER AZALEAS-North Tis­ trated Catalog $1. WORLD INSECTIVO­ trolled. FREE BROCHURES. AQUAMONI­ bury Hybrids, hardier than the parent species, ROUS PLANTS, Box 70513-C, Marietta, GA TOR, Dept. 4, Box 327, Huntington, NY 11743. R. nakaharai, 'Landscapable sizes.' Northern 30007. Tel: (516) 427-5664. grown and acclimated! Two-year catalog sub­ Carnivorous and woodland terrarium plants and scription: $2 (deductible). CARLSON'S GAR­ supplies. Catalog FREE. PETER PAULS NUR­ HEATHS & HEATHERS DENS, Box 305-AHC889, South Salem, NY SERIES) Canandaigua) NY 14424. HARDY HEATHERS FOR ALL-YEAR GAR­ 10590. (9 14) 763-5958. CATALOGS DEN COLOR! Send SASE for descriptive mail­ BIRD DETERRENT order list. Fast Service! !=IEATHER GROW­ FREE ILLUSTRATED CATALOG OFBOOKS ERS-, Box 850, Elma, WA 98541. SCARE BIRDS FAST! From Fruit Orchards, on plants, flowers, trees, other nature topics. Gardens, Resi dential, and any problem area. Classic, hard-to-find volumes on study, iden­ HELP WANTED Environmentally Safe! For a free color brochure tific a~ ion, cultivation. Most $6 to $10. A must We at the American !=Iorticultural Society are contact: HARTMANN'S PLANTATION INC., for horticulturists, gardeners, nature lovers. Write often asked to refer individuals for significant PO BOX E, 310 60TH STREET, DEPT. AHS, DOVER PUBLICATIONS, Dept. A281, East horticultural positions around the country. We GRAND JUNCTION, MI 49056. (616) 253- 2nd Street, Mineola, NY 11501. are not in a position to offer full placement 4281. DAY LILIES services to candidates or employers. However, BONSAI as a service to our members, both individuals Tetraploid Hybrids, Reblooming Miniatures, and employers alike, we would be very glad to BONSAI TREES, pottery, books, tools, trays, Dwarfs and Eyed varieties. All are hardy dor­ receive resumes and cover letters of individuals supplies, and soils. Catalog $2.50. BONSAI mant homegrown in central Illinois' rich prairie seeking job changes and employers sec:king can­ CREATIONS, P.O. Box 7511AH, Ft. Lauder­ soils. All orders are freshly dug and well pack­ didates. All responsibility for checking refer­ dale, FL 33338. aged. KLEHM NURSERY, Rt. 5, Box 197 Penny ences and determining the appropriateness of BONSAI PLANTS, INDOOR AND OUT­ Road, Barrington, IL 60010-9555 (1-800-553- both position and candidate rests with the in­ DOOR, IMPORTED POTS AND TOOLS, 3715). dividuals. AHS's participation in this activity is BOOKS, SUPPLIES. CATALOG $1. BONSAI THE KING OF PERENNIALS! New color cat­ only to serve as a connecting point for members FARM, BOX BOW, LAVERN lA, TX 78121. alog $2 (refundable). DA YLIL Y DISCOUN­ of the Society. Inquiries and informational ma­ BONSAI, dwarfed conifers, pines, maples, trop­ TERS, Rt. 2, Box 24, Dept. AH8, Alachua, FL terial should be sent to: Horticultural Employ­ icals, stock, and cuttings. Catalog $2. MATSU­ 32615. VlSA/MASTERCARD. (904) 462-1539. ment, American Horticultural Society, 7931 East MOMIJI NURSERIES, P.O. Box 11414, Phil­ Experts recommend fall planting! Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308. adelphia> PA 19111. (215) 722-6286. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES HERBS BOOKS LONGWOOD FELLOWSHIPS IN PUBLIC HERBS - Annual/perennial; extensive collec­ Out of print, scarce, and antiquarian gardening HORTICULTURE ADMINISTRATION. tion. Perennials - Large selection for sun/shade. and botanical books. Catalogs issued regularly. Nc:wark, DE and Kennett Square, PA. Univer­ Sedum-Tall, medium, carpeting; many vari­ Write to WHEELBARROW BOOKS, 22, sity of Delaware's Longwood Graduate Pro­ eties. Visit Living Room Gift Shop for herbal Brangwyn Avenue, Brighton, Sussex, BNl 8XG, gram is accepting applications ~hrough 29 De­ treats. Display gardeNS. Retail catalog $1.50; England. cember 1989 for the 1990-92 class. Graduate Wholesale list (Business SASE). WRENWOOD,

38 AUGUST 1989 RT. 4, BOX 361, Berkeley Springs, WV 25411. alogs $5. ENDANGERED SPECIES, Box 1830- HOSTAS A, Tustin, CA 92680. Latest Hybrids from Paul Aden. High qualiry POSITIONS WANTED containerized plants for safe all season shipping. ESTATE, UNIVERSITY, HISTORIC SITE Expertly packaged. Professionally grown. GENERAL MANAGER. 9 years large property KLEHM NURSERY, Rt. 5, Box 197 Penny Road, management experience in both private and Barrington, IL 60010-9555 (1-800-553-3715). commercial sites. Horticultural, mechanical, and HOUSE PLANTS cost-efficiency expert. Horticultural and man­ agement degrees. Excellent supervisor. Superio~ ORCHIDS, GESNERIADS, BEGONIAS, CACTI references. For resume contact Robert Bray at & SUCCULENTS. Visitors welcome. 1988-89 914-724-5293. catalog $2. LAURA Y OF SALISBURY, Rt. 41 (Undermountain Rd.), Salisbury, CT 06068. EXPERT PROPERTY CARE. Land, Flora, (203) 435-2263. Structures, Administration, all capably handled. Permanent position sought with responsibili­ Exotic Houseplants, Delivered to Your Door­ ties. Will live on site. L.S., P.O. Box 761, Ojai, step. Our 1988-90 color catalog lists 2,000 va­ CA 93023. rieties of rare indoor plants. You' ll find hibiscus, orchids, begonias, geraniums, heirloom, fra­ PUBLICAnONS grant plants and more. Send $3 refundable, THE BUSINESS OF HERBS. A Bimonthly Jour­ LOGEE'S GREENHOUSES, Dept. AH, North nal. Comprehensive reporting, trade news, Membership St., Danielson, CT 06239. marketing hints, personaliry profiles, grower resources, and more. Sample $3. Subscription Services IRISES $20/yr (USA). Brochure/SASE. NORTHWIND We hope you are enjoying being a Bearded Irises-7 mixed names $10. Postpaid FARM, Route 2, Box 246A, Shevlin, MN 56676. member of the American Horticul­ color catalog $2. Many iris rypes. COMAN­ RHODODENDRONS CHE ACRES IRIS, Dept. AH, Gower, MO tural Society. This is your organiza­ 64454. RHODODENDRONS for Eastern Gardens. tion and we want to make everything FREE descriptive listing. CARDINAL NURS­ LILACS run as smoothly as possible. ERY, Rt. 1, Box 316M, State Road, NC 28676. But when you do have a rroblem LILACS YOU'LL LOVE-their first year! (919) 874-2027. Shipped with root balls intact-not bare root­ or a question, give us a cal at 1-800- ROCK GARDEN PLANTS to avoid the usual year or more wait for them 777 -7931 or write to the: Member­ to become established. Free list. CARLSON'S Rare Alpines, Wildflowers, Dwarf Conifers, ship Department, American Horti­ GARDENS, Box 305-AHL889, South Salem, Ground Covers, colorful Rock Plants, hardy cultural Society, 7931 East Boulevard NY 10590. (914) 763-5958. Rhododendrons, Bonsai Books. Catalog $2. RICE CREEK GARDENS, 1315 66th Ave. NE, Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22308. NURSERY STOCK Minneapolis, MN 55432. (612) 574-1197. Ornamental, hardy trees, shrubs, perennials. Catalog, $2. OWEN FARMS, Route 3, Box ROSES 158-A-AH, Ripley, TN 38063. HORTICO ROSES: Hard-to-find varieties, new Austin hybrids (new English garden roses), haFdy ORCHIDS Canadian Explorer roses, and many others. Cat­ ORCHIDS! ORCHIDS! STAGHORN FERNS! alog listing over 350 varieties available on re­ BROMELIADS, BOOKS, GROWING SUP­ quest at $2. HORTICO INC., 723 Robson Rd., PLIES. FREE CATALOG. FOX ORCHIDS, Waterdown, ON LOR 2HO Canada. Phone (416) 6615 WEST MARKHAM, LITTLE ROCK, AR 689-6984. 72205. (501) 663-4246. SEEDS PEONIES Seeds, free sample and price list of evergreen Also HOSTAS, JAPANESE AND SIBERIAN seeds, WAUKESHA SEED COMPANY, P.O. IRISES, AND DA YLILIES. Current catalog $1 Box 1820, Waukesha.> WI 53187. refundable. CAPRICE FARM NURSERY-AH, THE WORLD'S LARGEST and most famous 15425 SW Pleasant Hill, Sherwood, OR 97140. seed catalog. Over 225 pages, 4,000 varieties, (503) 625-7241. 1,000 color pictures. A major book of reference. Estate, Hybrid, and Tree Peonies. High qualiry The Encyclopedia of how and what to grow plants, freshly handled and expertly packed. from seed. Vegetables, potted plants, exotics, Family owned company for 137 years. KLEHM perennials, alpine, rockery, latest and best an­ NURSERY, Rt. 5, Box 197 Penny Road, Bar­ nuals, trees, shrubs, bulbs from seed; includes rington, IL 60010-9555 (1-800-553-3715). Fare items unobtainable elsewhere. Write for PLANTS lUNUSUAL) free copy, allowing three weeks, or enclose $2 RARE SUCCULENTS, CAUDICIFORMS, for first class mail: THOMPSON & MOR­ EUPHORBIAS, SANSEVIERIAS, LOW LIGHT GAN, INC. Dept. AHC, P.O. Box 1308, Jack­ PLANTS, OTHER EXOTICS. Catalog, $1.50, son, NJ 08527. deductible from first order. SINGERS', 17806 FINEST RARE SEEDS from every continent. r-·----_·_-Please send your value-packed ..• Plummer St., Dept. A., Northridge, CA 91325. Thousands of species from tropical rainforest • catalog. I enclose $2, deductible Distinctive plants for your garden and land­ to alpine snowline. Wildflowers, trees, grasses, • on my first catalog order. • scape. Scarce, unusual and many old favorites. perennials, savory herbs, distinctive heirloom Well established in 4" pots, ready for you to vegetables. Catalog $1. J.L. Hudson, Seedsman, • Name • PO Box 1058-AT, Redwood Ciry, CA 94064. grow on. FREE catalog. APPALACHIAN GAR­ • St.lRFD • DENS, Box 82-A, Waynesboro, PA 17268. (717) TETRAPLOID DAYLILIES • City • 762-4312. Over 700 hybrids, exotic new Tetraploid Intro­ State~ip_ • send to: • UNUSUAL PLANTS for landscaping and col­ ductions. Catalog $1, deductible with order of lectors-140 Bamboo, 200 Palms, 100 Cycads, plants. SEAWRIGHT GARDENS, 134 Indian • GILBERT H. WILD & SON, INC. • 1,000 Books. Three dangerously crammed cat- Hill, Carlisle, MA 01741. (617) 369-2172. AH-889 Joplin SI. • Sarcoxie , MO 64862 • ..• ••••••••• AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 39 Book Reviews

Ornamental Grass Gardening as elementary by a student of garden his­ Thomas A Reinhardt, Martina Reinhardt, and tory. Photographs from both sides of the Mark Moskowitz. Color photography hy Derek Fell. Atlantic document the great wealth of HP Books, Los Angeles, 1989. 127 pages. Publisher's flower tradition. price, hardcover: 319.95. AHS member price: The second section, "A Portfolio of An­ 314.95. ti

40 AUGUST 1989 The Natural Garden held Minolta. Plant details are well pre­ Ken Druse. Clarkson N Pottel; New York, 1989. sented for identification and some of the 296 pages with color photos. Publisher's price, pictures are quite striking. Almost anyone hardcover: 935. AHS member price: $26.25 would be entranced by photos of a golden tabebuia tree, a red New Guinea creeper As new styles of gardens appear on the vine, or that pink mandevilla vine that I've landscape, there is often one book best seen in the Hilo airport. remembered for setting the standards of Pictures are accompanied by brief de­ the future. The Natural Garden by Ken scriptions of the plants, botanical classi­ Druse will be such a book. fication, one or more common names, Too many gardens in America are set family affiliation, probable place of origin, apart from the gardener's dwelling. The plant dimensions, leaf and flower descrip­ gardens in this work serve as a smooth tions, and thumbnail cultural information. transition between the home and a natural This makes it especially valtlable for those perimeter. gardening in Zones 9 and 10, and in some The introduction offers a brief history cases and with proper protection, perhaps of gardens, followed by a definition of the even in Zone 8. It can be useful to green­ natural garden where large expanses of a visual dictionary of the plants usually house growers and plant-oriented travel­ grassy lawn are no longer necessary, plants seen when one visits a tropical area in the ers. The tips on nonedible plant parts could are native and dependable, and mainte­ United States or elsewhere in the world." be quite helpful to those curious about nance is kept to a minimum. The photos That is precisely what he has accom­ some interesting-looking fruit. are spectacular: more than 400 full-color plished, as, regardless of our familiarity If you'd like to learn more of plant life scenes explode upon the page like a fire­ with house and garden plants, most of us from "down where the trade winds blow," works display. But this is not a picture are completely baffled by our first sight of I don't think you could do better than book on the sweeping English estate scale. tropical plant life. Gone are the friendly Courtwright's beautiful book. The photos are less awe-inspiring than ac­ oaks, maples, elms, sycamores, conifers, - Charles Holtz tion-inspiring, motivating one to try the alders, birches, and willows, all to be re­ recommended plants. Ground covers, or­ placed by these exotic plants with their Sarah F. Price is curator of The namental grasses, shrubs, trees and vines, "different" foliage, flowers, and fruit. Yet Conservatory Garden of New York City's Central Park. often neglected in lesser works, receive as they have a way of enchanting us for the Jane C. Symmes owns Cedar Lane Farm, much attention as perennials and wood­ rest of our lives. Once having spent time Inc., a Madison, Georgia, wholesale land plants. in such a place, who doesn't daydream of nursery specializing in cultivars not readily The book proceeds ifl an orderly fashion islands on the horizon, with long stretches available in the trade. from the garden examples to elements of of sand sweeping into flamboyant flow­ Keith Crotz owns and operates American design. Rock gardens, water gardens, and ering shrubs, vines, and palm trees? Ap­ Botanist, Booksellers, a Chillicothe, Illinois, even edible plants are included. The nat­ firm specializing in rare and out-of-print propriately, a dozen pages of this book are books on horticulture. ural garden welcomes the visitor with or­ devoted to palms and cycads alone. Charles Holtz of Los Altos, California is naments and benches. Walkways and lights There are 378 beautiful color photos, editor for "The Gardener" of the Men's open the gardens for evening discovery. all taken in the United States with a hand- Garden Club of America. Cultivation instructions for the plants named in the text, a state-by-state list of where to obtain them, as well as sources for hardware and stmctures are assets Book Order Fonn of this book. Using the book will allow Please send me the following books at the special AHS member prices. you to design an envious settiflg, probably not original, but certainly great. Most of o Ornamental Grass Gardening .... $14.95 0 VISA 0 MasterCard Exp. Date ____ us toil for years to achieve the perfect gar­ PRICE 06510 den. The Natural Garden will allow you o Antique Flowers ...... $26.20 Acct. # ______time to sit and enjoy your landscape. RANDO 06490 - Keith Crotz o Tropicals ...... $30.55 Signature ______TIMBR 06370 o The Natural Garden ...... $26.25 Ship to: ______Tropicals CROWN 06500 Street: ______Gordon Courtwright. Timber Press, Portland, I would like to order _____ books. Oregon, 1988. 155 pages, photos by the author. Please add $2.50 per book for postage and Ci~: ------___ Publisher's price, hardcover: 935.95. AHS member handling. Virginia residents, also add 4if,% price: 930.55. sales tax. Please allow six weeks for delivery. State: Zip: ______MAIL TO: Sandy Abel, AHS, P.O. Box 0105, Gordon Courtwright's introduction to this o Enclosed is my check for $, ____ Mount Vernon, VA 22121. book states: "This book is intended to be

AMERICAN HORTfCUL TURIST 41 IN DEFENSE OF MODERN ROSES

Continued from page 33 cultivars can imitate. No modern cultivar I know of can tower to the heights of, say, the banksiae family-veritable house-eat­ ers that can cover whole walls and fill large trees after only three years in the ground. On the other hand, modern roses like 'Sparrieshoop' (1953) make fine graceful bushes, 'Altissimo' (1966) develops into a splendid pillar or climber, and some new "park roses" from Kordes in West Ger­ many grow into bushes the size of a Volks­ wagen. The vast majority of modern rose hybrids, however, aren't particularly not­ able as bushes. But anyone who says that you will not find richness and diversity of fragrance in modern roses hasn't stuck his or her nose into some modern cultivars I can name­ 'Fragrant Cloud', for instance. Hybridized by Germany's Tantau in 1963, 'Fragrant ABOVE: Rosa gallica var. officinalis is one of the oldest and most famous roses, dating back to Cloud' satisfies the piggiest of perfume the Roman Empire. BELOW: 'Duef is a two-tone pink rose with long-lasting blooms. fanciers. I attend an annual rose show that has a special class for the most fragrant younger cousins-and just as quickly. rose and that is judged by a sightless per­ Garden-rose enthusiasts relish telling son. Any rose bloom, old or new, can be devotees of modern roses how glad they entered. I wish I had kept track, but I'm are that they don't have to spray. I'd be certain that either 'Fragrant Cloud' or glad not to too, but I've seen what happens 'Mister Lincoln' (1964) has won more than when I try to skip. I've also seen gardens half the time. of old roses in August that looked terrible. Modern roses have a range of scents too. You see, it's not that old roses don't need Many people believe that 'White Lightnin' spraying, but rather that those tending them (1980) smells of citrus. I happen to agree, won't spray. Some of these same gardeners but when someone insists that Rosa sou­ also gloat over not fertilizing. To me, that's lieana (1896) smells like ripe bananas, my plain silly. No rose I know of performs credulity is stretched. I do know, though, well without sustenance, unless, of course, that 'Angel Face' (1968) smells nothing it's planted over an abandoned dungheap. like 'Granada' (1963), which doesn't re­ Many modern roses are amazingly dis­ mind me of 'Color Magic' (1978), whose ease-resistant. Take 'Queen Elizabeth' aroma doesn't favor that of 'Double De­ I remember being shocked, but that was (1954), for example. If you told me that I light' (1977), even though each of these before I realized that Monsieur Meilland could spray every rose I grow but one, I'd modern hybrids has a ravishing fragrance. has lots of company among his peers. omit the Queen-she's a tough old girl. Of course, I have to admit that far too Disease resistance? That's a close call as But let's get to the real bottom line. It's many modern roses have little or no fra­ far as I'm concerned. I have very little dis­ the shape of the blossoms of modern roses grance. 'Touch of Class', an All-America ease in my rose field, but that's because I that old-rose enthusiasts say they don't like. Rose Selection for 1986, is a smashing rose, spray religiously every seven to ten days. "Modern roses are too prissy," they claim, but it smells of nothing at all. There are Even mildew, every rosarian's plague, rarely "a little too perfect." I say wait awhile. In others-'Olympiad' (1984), 'Ole' (1964), develops on my bushes, old or new. The a couple 0f days, the most perfectly formed and 'National Trust' (1970), to name some few times mildew has managed to get a of hybrid buds will mature into a buxom, reds. toehold, it has been indiscriminate in se­ irresistibly informal bloom. The blame for the lamentable parade of lecting hosts. For instance, a 250-foot fence Once I went to a slide show at the home scentless roses rests with hybridizers. along one side of my growing field is planted of an old-rose grower. It was a pleasant Modern breeders are as ruthless as their entirely with old bourbon roses (' Madame evening and I learned a lot, mostly about nineteenth-century forefathers when it Ernest Calvat', 'Madame Isaac Pereire', and roses I didn't grow at the time. But I'll comes to their greed for new form and 'Variegata di Bologna'). When I try to skip never forget how our host began his show­ color at the expense of perfume. I met Alain a spray day, they'll mildew as quickly as with a tight, close-up shot of 'Mister Lin­ Meilland of the famous French rose dy­ the most modern of their offspring. Sim­ coln'. While poor Abe was still filling the nasty at an international rose meeting in ilarly, the old roses that I have interspersed screen, our moderator asked, "Why have 1980, and I asked him how much impor­ among modern bushes in another bed fall this, when you can have this?" as the pro­ tance he placed on scent. "None," he said. prey to the very same maladies as their jector whirled to a shot of 'Reichsprasident

42 AUGUST 1989 should bank on just one flush of bloom. (Now that I think of it, that is probably why some growers of old roses don't spray-they worry about the appearance of their bushes only during the spring.) My appreciation for successive blooms is more than personal. Since I grow roses commercially for the sale of their blooms, I must have staggered crops. Roses that bloom early, all at once, would give me more blooms than I need at one time and nothing when I need them later. My wholesaler at the San Francisco flower market has sent me a computer printout of each week's crop since we first began marketing our roses six years ago. The constant is twenty-six weeks of bloom in four cycles. In simple language, that means that every time we cut a rose, we can plan to cut another, or two or three, ABOVE: A hybrid tea, Just joey' opens up to large, apricot-colored blossoms. BELOW: True to from that same spot in about six weeks. its name, 'Fragrant Cloud' is one of the most fragrant of modem hybrids. Although I haven't hit upon the way to market old roses as well as I do modern on the show table because its center usually cultivars, I'm still trying. Because their stems doesn't rise above the rest of the bloom. are short and crooked, they're difficult to But when it's three-quarters to fully open, bundle. Also, they usually bloom in sprays, who cares? Mature blooms of 'Duet' are and we never seem to have enough idle majestic in their form and in the arrange­ fingers for vigilant dis budding. But the big­ ment of their two-tone pink petals. gest problem is still a singular burst of 'Just Joey' (1972) is another decorative bloom during the seasolil-beautiful to see, modern hybrid. Buds are globular and not but impossible to plan a business around. particularly interesting. As the bloom be­ Even so, I wouldn't think of removing gins to open, however, it's, "Katie, bar the myoId garden roses. No modern rose I door." Blossoms reach immense propor" know can compete with them for hiding tions, with frilly, apricot petals that are an unsightly fence, filling a hole in a clump drenched with fragrance at all stages. of spindly willows, or scrambling over trel­ If it's stem length you want, old roses lises, arbors, and pergolas. can't compete with the elegant long stems It is just possible that an arbitrator is of modern hybrids. There are exceptions, about to unite old and modern rose lovers. von Hind

AMERICAN HORT/CUL TURIST 43 SEASONALS I BY ADELAIDE C. RACKEMANN Lamium and Lamiastrnm: EachHas a Place

f you have a shady garden, you will Pliny in the first century, refers to the flow­ probably need a ground cover. You ers. It is derived from either the Greek may decide, as I did, that pachy­ "Iaimos" or "Iamos," meaning throat and sandra is too ubiquitous, myrtle too referring to the corolla, or from Lamia, boring, and ivy too traditional. It the mythical Greek devouring monster, Iwas while searching for another plant that pertaining to the labiate flowers. A mem­ I discovered lamil!lm-and lamiastrum. Of ber of the mint family (Labiatae), the genus the two, I think lamiastrum, if you care­ Lamium includes about forty species. But fully choose where to plant it, makes the only a few are used by gardeners. better ground cover in spite of its invasive The genus includes both annuals and habit. Lamium, on the other hand, has perennials, but it is the perennials that are more cultivars on the market and can serve used for ground covers. All came originally your garden in ways other than as a ground from Africa, Europe, and Asia, but many cover. are now naturalized in North America. Sad Lamium is sometimes called dead nettle, to say, most lamiums are considered weeds. because the toothed opposite leaves resem­ Some, though, have herbal uses, the leaves ble those of a stinging nettle. The flowers being slightly aromatic. The most familiar are two-lipped, and its name, coined by lamium is Lamium amplexicaule, OF hen-

44 AUGUST 1989 may be a hybrid between L. purpureum and L. amplexicaule. Found from New­ foundland to North Carolina, it has long, stalked leaves with sharply toothed leaf blades. L. maculatum, though mentioned in wildflower books, is the species most often used as a ground cover in the garden. Its most conspicuous feature is the white stripe in the center of its leaf, a leaf more blunt than those of the other lamiums. L. ma­ culatum has a purplish flower, about an inch long. Because of its broad white blotch, it is sometimes called spotted dead nettle. This species and its cultivars are the lam­ iums in greatest demand on the market today. 'Beacon Silver' may be the most popular of all, with its lovely silver leaf rimmed with bright green. The edges of the leaves are scalloped and the flowers are a soft, purple-rose. Among the other cultivars are 'Album', with creamy white blooms; 'Chequers', whose silvery white leaves are edged with green; and 'Varie­ gatum', with mottled green and white leaves. Another species, considered an old-fash­ ioned garden flower and rarely found on the market today, is white dead nettle, or L. album. A quaint English name for this plant is Adam-and-Eve-in-the-bower. Sometimes used in a salad, as a potherb, and even as medicine, L. album (according to an old herbal) onC(l cured such maladies as wens and the "King's evil." It has a prostrate base, stems sometimes branched, ovate to almost triangular leaves, toothed and coarsely crenated, and inch-long white flowers. Found from eastern Canada to Virginia, it may bloom from spring to fall. L. garganicum is a species from southern Europe, with smaller leaves, red-purple LEFT, ABOVE: Lamium maculatum 'Beacon Silver' lights up the garden with its silver-green flowers up to an inch-and-a-quarter long, leaves. LEFT, BELOW: The typicallabiate blossoms resemble an open-mouthed monster. with a two-lobed upper lip. Like most of ABOVE: Rarely found on the market today, Lamium album was once used for medicinal and the genus, it does well in shade. culinary purposes. One species, however, is best grown in sun. L. veronicaefolium is a showy native bit. A biennial that grows as an annual in Like the leaves, the corolla is pink to pur;­ of Spain, with large rose-pink flowers colder climates, this prostrate plant has pie, dark-spotted, and has a tuft of ma­ blooming on a six-inch stem. several stems that come from one root. On genta hairs on its upper lip. While more While it is fairly easy to propagate lam­ the lower part of the stems, round, scal­ common in the South, henbit can be found ium, either by division, stem cuttings, or loped leaves grow on long stalks, but the in fields on both coasts from March w by seeds, the cultivars of lamiums are not upper leaves are nearly stalkless. The flow­ November. apt to come true if raised from seeds. To ers are pale purple, first appearing in April L. purpureum, called red dead nettle, is use lamium as a ground cover, rooted stems in axillary whorls. Often the earlier flow­ an annual that often grows a foot high. It can be planted in the ground a foot apart ers of henbit don't open, but fertilize them­ has ovate leaf blades that are scalloped and either in spring or fall. Any ordinary gar­ selves inside the closed tube of the corolla. indented at the base. It also flowers in a den soil will do, and except for occasional Henbit usually blooms again in September. light shade of purple, but unlike hen bit, watering, lamium needs little care. Shear­ The small flowers have two upper lips and L. purpureum has leaves with petioles. ing the plants in midsummer will keep them a lobed lower lip, about a half-inch long. The cut-leaf dead nettle, L. hybridum, compact.

AMERICAN HORTICUL TURIST 45 SEASONALS

Lamium can also be used in a border, Shaded by tall white pines and a peach dark green. The stems may sprawl, but are contrasting with taller, more colorful per­ tree, it grew where little else would. mostly upright. ennials or as a filler in any flower garden. Had I confined the lamiastrum to this This plant is at its prettiest when the Most lamiums do best in moist soil and, one out-of-the-way area, all would have yellow flowers are out in the spring. Then if planted in a sunny location, may need been well. But I made the mistake of trans­ it may be easily distinguished from lam­ watering. planting some to another fairly barren spot, ium, because the lower lip of the corolla My introduction to lamiastrum started behind a black walnut tree and American has three lobes of approximately equal size when I was given a few pieces of what a boxwood that served as a hedge for one (instead of a large central lobe with two side of our swimming pool. Here the lam­ toothlike lateral ones). Unlike the hairy iastrum again took over, crowding out wild anthers of lamium, those of lamiastrum Poor soi~ deep shade, and ginger, bloodroot, and other wildflowers are hairless. The bright yellow flowers, I had planted. The experience was repeated clustered in the upper axils of the plant, the tramping offeet do not in other parts of our yard. But despite its are loose spikes and account for the name bother lamiastrum at all. invasiveness, I still contend that lamias­ yellow archangel (or golden dead nettle). trum is a good ground cover for difficult Whether the flowers are out or only the places. It covers the ground and lights up leafy stems are present, lamiastrum is a well-meaning friend called lamium. Though shady areas, and when it starts to take off boon for flower arranging-a good standby lamiastrum was once called Lamium gal­ against your wishes, it is easy to pull up. when no other flowers are available or eobdolon, it is now classified as a separate Native to European woodlands, lam­ when interesting foliage is needed. If one genus with only one species (Lamiastrum iastrum develops long, above-ground doesn't mind a few rootlets at the nodes, galeobdolon). "Astrum" in Latin means creeping runners that root in the soil. The it is possible to pull up a stem of more "resembling," thus accounting for the high­ roundish leaves, opposite each other like than three feet. The stems root easily in sounding name. It was banished from the those of lamium, are larger-up to three water. lamiums because it has yellow flowers, and inches long. They appear on erect, slender, Other advantages are hardiness to Zone it has one provoking habit-it spreads hollow stems that are square, as is char­ 5, and an ability to crowd out unattractive quickly. Many of the members of the mint acteristic of the mint family, and the leaves weeds and to cover the ground quickly. family do spread, but lamiastrum outdoes are mostly variegated. One of the most The drawback, of course, is having to watch any of the lamiums in this respect. popular cultivars of this species is called it and do some methodical pulling out. I found, after a year, that my once-small Lamiastrum galeobdolon 'Variegatum'. A Lamiastrum is particularly useful around patch of lamiastrum, low-growing and few all-green shoots sometimes crop up as the trunks of trees, such as maples with striking with its silver-white and green a result of self-sowing, but they are rare. their long surface roots, and Norway spruce leaves, covered a whole section of the yard. Most have distinctive silver splotches on and black walnut, where many other plants will not grow. Poor soil, deep shade, and the tramping of feet do not bother lam­ iastrum at all. It seldom grows higher than a foot, and, with its green and white leaves, is an arresting sight. While I use it mainly as a ground cover, I recently saw it being grown in a brilliantly varied New Zealand garden as a specimen plant, its color and crinkly texture a nice contrast to some of the exotic perennials that thrive in that moist climate. Both lamium and lamiastrum can have a place in your landscape. Lamium is an informal plant: small, not showy, but hardy and vigorous. The delicate foliage, with its variety of subtle colors and patterns, is pleasing, as are the flowers, whether white, pink or purple. Even a little of the showy henbit goes well with other plants. Lamiastrum, on the other hand, though regarded by some people with distaste, has larger, bolder, more dramatic foliage and showier flowers, and in the right places, can be the perfect ground cover. The key is to use it wisely.

Lamiastrum gaJeobdoJon creates a quick and beautiful ground cover where other plants fail Adelaide C. Rackemann is a free-lance to flourish. writer who gardens in Baltimore, Maryland.

46 AUGUST 1989 Letters

I am eighty years old and do all my own in her letter, "There are as many methods Outstanding Issue yard work except pruning the trees. I am of growing plants as there are people w ho I never write letters to magazines, but I not afraid of heights, bur am afraid of fa ll­ grow them. Experimentation and diversity must to yo urs. What an absolutely won­ in g. A broken leg or hip is the last thing I of opinion add to the enjoyment." derful group of ga rdening articles in your need! In addition to Mr. McDonald and Mrs. June iss ue! Thank you so much for the wonderful Bailey, we want also to thank the follow­ Long ago, when your group toured PI i­ service and a very interes ting magazine. ing for their interesting replies: moth Plantati on, I joined the associati on. Keep up the good work! Mrs . Troy W. Earhart, Hannibal, It has heen helpful, educa ti onal, and en­ Mrs. Gertrude Von Kuster Missouri Silver City, New Mexico tertaining. Just this winter you helped me Joan Fessenden, Missoula, Montana locate eight-row flint corn. Barbara Jenke, Hot Springs, South Rosemary Verey's article was deli ghtful. A Resounding Response Dakota My husband and I had the great pleasure In our April issue a letter by Elisabeth H . Patricia A. Kenny, Silver Spring, to visit Barnsley H ouse in the fa ll in 1987. Belfer of New York City said her Christ­ Maryland Mayall her garden dreams come true! mas cactus bloomed very well without spe­ A.L. Loveman, Baltimore, Maryland The article on flower design was super. cial darkening. We said this differed from Marty Marlatt, Hilliard, Ohio I do many of the arrange ments here for our information and asked readers to let Robert E. Moran, Logansport, Indiana our great hall and exhibit ga llery. I w ish us know about their own plants. Joan A. Mueller, Minneapolis, th at I could take part in Mr. Tharp's work­ Minnesota shops. H owever, as a staff of one in Pli ­ Mrs. Paul Sayre, Gig Harbor, moth 's horticultural department, I can't Washington oft en get away. Dale E. Steinke, Dunlap, Illinois Your magazine is always excellent, but William B. Wilk ens, Gilmanton, New I fo und June outstanding. Hampshire. Darlene Beauvais -Editor Plymouth, Massachusetts ~c ~'" c'5 An Inspiring Day A First Class Letter .~,. One of my loveliest days this spring was I saw your cry for mail in the June iss ue. ~ in May at Ri ve r Farm when I had the op­ Who among us has not wished at times ~ portunity to attend one of Leonard Tharp's for anything in the mailbox besides beg­ 8 fl oral des ign classes. There are many fin e ging letters, sales pitches, or catalogs from fl oral designers, but no one I have ever companies we never heard of? I read each All respondents agreed with Mrs . Bel­ studied w ith has shown and communi­ issue (o f American Horticulturist) from fer's experience that plants need coolness ca ted to oth ers such a love of fl owers­ cover to cover and enj oy it very much. I at night but no special darkening in order not just the "standards," but all the grasses, do not have an estate; my house and gar­ to bud. Elvin McDonald, director of spe­ woody plants, bushes, and wildflowers that den are on a city lot. H owever, every once cial projects at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, are always around us, if only we look and in a whil e I read about a flower or shrub provided a report by G. Douglas Crater, see. I would like to try. I particularly enj oyed University of Georgia extension horticul­ The magic of the day continued with a the article about lavender as I have three turist, which says that fl owering is affected wonderful lunch on the terrace with Leon­ small plants. by the following differing conditions: ard and his assistant Tom Stovall , the op­ Just within the last week, I had occasion 1. At 50-55° F night temperature, flower portunity to watch an elementary school to call your offi ce about a ques ti on my buds will form regardless of day length. class romping in the meadow, the fl ower garden club had regarding our rose garden 2. At 60-55° F night temperature, thir­ gardens in full bloom, and fin ally, our own at the local cemetery. Peggy Lytton of your teen uninterrupted hours of darkness must Tharp-inspired fl oral arrange ments to take Gardener's Information Service immedi ­ be supplied. Or to put it another way, home. ately went to work and in less than half plants must be protected from electric light Givi ng Leonard Tharp a new home in an hour I had my reply. Such efficiency is fro m September to November. Virgini a was an AHS inspirati on! truly appreciated these days when it is so 3. Flower buds seldom form at night Mollie Caplan Potomac, Ma ryland difficult to get any satisfacti on. My since re temp eratures above 70° F. thanks for your assistance . 4. A fter flower buds are well developed I rea lly do not have much to write about they will fl ower at normal house temper­ Correction: We regret that the names except my cl ubs, my garden, or the weather, ature. of Dr. and Mrs. John A. Burkholder were inadvertently left out of the whi ch is ve ry capricio us in these high Thus flowering depends on the environ­ April issue's listing of gifts given mountains. Contrary to popular belief, all ment of your plants and your goals. As during 1988. of New Mexico is not desert. Donna R. Bailey of Linwood, Kansas, said

AMERICAN HORT/CUL TUR IST 47 THE NEW AHS CALENDAR

The 1990AHS Please send me the following AHS Calendars:

Calendar in a o Member single copy price, Accl. # ______$8.50 ...... $__ o Member quantity price Exp. Date ______New Large Size! (3 or more mailed to same address), $7.75 each . . $__ Signature ______o Non-member single copy price, $9.95 . $__ Make checks payable to: In a larger-than-ever format, the new 10% x 14 Total price for American Horticultural Society/Calendar. AHS calendar provides beautiful photographs of calendars ...... $_ _ Please add postage & SHIP TO: shrubs and plenty of space for noting your im­ handling charge ...... $~ portant dates. Cultural information, hardiness Virginia residents add Name ______4.5% sales tax ...... $__ zones, botanical names, and companion plants Address ______are listed for over thirty popular shrubs. Each TOTAL: $__ City ______month of the year highlights several shrubs that Please enclose check or charge to: have a significant garden interest, such as win­ o Visa 0 MasterCard State ______Zip ____ _ ter blossoms, spectacular fall color, or ever­ MAIL ORDERS TO : green leaves. Order today for yourself American Horticultural Society/Calendar, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, and for Christmas gifts! Alexandria, VA 22308. Allow four weeks for delivery.