Highest quality EDITORIAL Cold Frame System Plants and Publishing Pick lettuce and spinach 6 weeks later this Fall , 6 weeks earlier next Spring . Start perennials now from seed and grow them right on into December. Raise all garden transplants. he October issue of American Hor­ Literature gives a dozen year-round uses. fan-shaped trellis for support. Although I Greenhouse quality construction includes solid ticulturist marks an anniversary for never quite succeeded in training it to fill aluminum frame with double-wall polycarbonate T me. As this issue goes to press, I out into three dimensions, I loved it, and glazing . High light transmission , equal to glass. Top and all 4 walls are glazed . Shatterproof. will have completed my fifth year on the I have grown house plants ever since. Aunt Durable, but light weight materials. Easy to staff of the American Horticultural Soci­ Hattie also taught me how to knock pe­ assemble, move or store. Vent locks with 3 open ety. I first came to AHS as Associate Ed­ tunias-her favorite flowers-{)ut of clay pOSitions. Optional automatic openers. System expandable with add-on units. itor, and since August 1983 I have been pots and settle them in the soil. More im­ Publications Director and Editor of the So­ portantly, she helped teach me to appre­ Imported from England ciery's publications. It is hard for me to ciate the many magical things plants can believe I have worked on 30 issues of provide: the fragrance of hostas growing American Horticulturist magazine-and by a cellar door, the shade of passion vines watering as many newsletters-in what seems like covering a front porch, and the beauty of such a short time! magnolias blooming in spring. Cans Paging through those issues of the mag­ I learned about shade gardens and wild­ Regular & azine and newsletter-re-reading favorite flowers long before I had a chance to gar­ Long Reach articles and enjoying the many photo­ den in a sunny spot. My family lived ifl Models graphs and illustrations that have ap­ Columbus, Ohio, on nearly an acre of land peared within our pages-has reminded that was partly covered with a young woods This range of 6 me again of what a tremendous education and partly with an overgrown apple or­ cans handles every watering job in the greenhouse, garden or . I have received here at the Society. Al­ chard. Over the years, the woods became home. Good looking , strong green plastic and though I was a lifelong gardener and a home to wildflowers rescued from areas built to last. Brass-faced rose attachments pro­ vide gentle rain for seed beds and delicate seed ­ trained horticulturist when I first came to near our home that were scheduled for lings. All priced under $10. work here at River Farm, I knew almost development. Although my mother tried nothing about producing a magazine. Copy to grow roses, peonies and other such plants ELECTRIC deadlines, color separations, typesetting, in the sunnier portions of our yard, the advertising specifications, printing sched­ small patches of sun became ever smaller ules, editorial calendars and all the innu­ as the woods matured. Over the years, the Chipper­ merable details that must come together garden and lawns have slowly been given to make a successful publication were far over to hostas, ferns and other shade-loving Shredder removed from my experience with plants plants. and gardening. I remember my frustration when I learned Stein max 1800 cleanly shreds old plants, leaves, prunings and vines Fortunately, the subject matter of the that we could not grow rhododendrons, then pulverizes them into fine Society's publications was far from new, azaleas and other acid-loving plants be­ mulch . Chipper chute takes 1'14" branches. Powerful 1700w. -~i==!!!IIt!f for I have been a gardener as long as I can cause we had decidedly alkaline soil. It was motor runs on house . remember. Even when I was very little, one of my many early confrontations with current. Special accessory for bulk gardens held a fascination for me. I have the horticultural facts of life. We could, leaf shredding . vivid memories of gardening as a child: however, grow many other spectacular tending my small strawberry tower, learn­ plants, and my family spent many a crisp ing about rain gauges and scarecrows from October afternoon planting hundreds of a neighbor with a large vegetable garden, daffodils in our woods. Planting, digging, and finding out from another neighbor that caring for, and giving away plants from Call or write for red-flowered plants attract hummingbirds. our garden taught me many of the lessons FREE INFORMATION PACKAGE I also remember one of the first house a gardener needs to learn. The plants given to me. It was a green-and­ In addition to a love of gardening, I yellow-leaved coleus that my Great-Great­ brought formal training and experience in Kinsman Aunt Hattie had grown. Like all of her horticulture with me when I came to the Company house plants, mine was trained as flat as Society. After receiving a degree with a River Road (Dept. 911) Point Pleasant , PA 18950 a pancake so it would fit on her win­ major in fine art from Kenyon College, I (215) 297-5613 dowsill. It also had a turquoise, plastic, entered The Ohio State University to study

2 October 1985 I ~~~~ I horticulture. The more I studied the sub­ The American Horticultural Society ject-propagation, plant identification, greenhouse production, botany, entomol­ ogy, soil science-the more fascinated I Aegean &Adriatic became. While at OSU, I spent a summer in Philadelphia working as an intern at a Spring Wildflower, Garden and Flower Arranging wholesale florist, selling cut flowers and Symposium cruise aboard the yacht ARGONAUT florists' supplies. After graduation, I moved on to a job with a wholesale florist in Man­ April 19 to May 5, 1986 hattan. There, I helped sell bulbs, seeds, plants and cuttings to wholesalers and re­ tailers all over the country. I tend a perennial bor­ der filled with plants I remember from my childhood, as well as many that contributors have written about. In my present position with the Society, I am lucky to be able to combine a lifelong interest in gardening with formal training in art, horticulture and business. Like 75 percent of Society members, however, I am an amateur gardener first, and it is often my experience as an amateur gardener that helps me evaluate a manuscript or decide on a newsletter item that would be of in­ terest to members. When this workday draws to a close, I will put down my horticultural books and magazines and go home to my own garden. There, I tend a perennial border filled with plants I remember from my childhood, as well as many that contributors have writ­ ten about in the pages of American Hor­ ticulturist. I'll also fuss over my house plants, and work on digging the wat€r garden I have wanted for years. Combine wildflower exploration amid scenic gandeur and There are many days when the business treasures of antiquity in Greece and her islands with gardens, of producing a magazine and newsletter palaces and great art in Yugoslavia and Italy. Travel in relaxed almost overwhelms me, and it seems my comfort, free from bother, with congenial company of kindred job has more to do with schedules and interests. Arrangements include privileged access, private open­ deadlines than with gardening. Fortu­ ings and hospitality. Enlightening the horticultural way will be nately, the gardens here at River Farm­ Martin J. S. Sands, Senior Botanist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the many gardeners I've met through authority on Mediterranean wildflowers, and Mrs. Philip Temple, the Society, both via the mail and in per­ AHS board member and past White House floral designer under son-help remind me that gardening is why four administrations. I am here at AHS. I wouldn't trade the Descriptive brochure is available from Robin Williams, things I've learned here-and the vast American Horticultural Society, Po. Box 0105, Mt. Vemon, VA 22121 or call, visit or write: The Argonaut is registered in Greece amount I have yet to learn-for anything in the world. Five years and 30 magazines Raymond &.. Whitcomb Co. and 30 newsletters later, I am still learning 400 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017 every day. Tel: (212) 759-3960, 1-800-245-900510utsideNYStatel -Barbara W. Ellis Publications Director/Editor First in Travel Since 1879

American Horticulturist 3 4 October 1985 PLANTS & PEOPLE PaulAden­ Hostas atLarge

he journey by car to the home and eye. Round and oval island beds divided garden of Paul Aden takes the driver by grass or stone paths cover the entire T along some of the busiest and most yard. One bed is a mix of blue, green and complex highways in the nation. The roads yellow hostas, their oval or arrow-shaped that ring New York City are choked with le aves set against three dwarf Alberta cars almost every day of the yea r, and to spruce. To one side are a dwarf rhodo­ reach Baldwin on the south shore of Long dendron, a Japanese painted fern (A thy­ Island-where Paul lives and gardens---one rium goeringianum 'Pictum') and varie­ must brave these confusing, traffic-clogged gated grasses. Another island consists of a roads. border of variegated Iiriope (Liriope mus­ Baldwin itself is a busy suburban town, cari 'Variegata') surrounding a group of within a reasonable commute to Manhat­ hybrid daylilies, including Hemerocallis tan but bathed in the soft glow of a clean 'Eenie Weenie', a vigorous dwarf with light atmosphere tinged by the Atlantic. Paul ye ll ow flowers that Paul developed. lives on a side street lined with trees and It is in this garden that Paul Aden has comfortable homes, each with a back yard, studied and tested the most extensive col­ but only Paul has traded grass, swimming lection of hostas available. His island beds pools and lawn furniture for one-third of are small laboratories where sun tolerance, an acre of hostas in all shapes, sizes and Peter Locwcr drought resistance, flower quality and the wlors. ABOVE: Paul Aden examining Hosta f/uc­ stability of variegations can be observed Making an appointment to view the gar­ tuans 'Variegated' in his garden. LEFT: Day­ and measured. And it is here that he works den is difficult; Aden's schedule consists lilies, variegated yucca, liriope and a variety with Klehm Nursery of Illinois to hybridize of hostas make an attractive island bed in of equal amounts of gardening and trav­ and develop new American hostas for the Aden's ga rden. eling, much of it worldwide. We visited in gardens of tomorrow. In fact, much of the June of last year, shortly after members of ture goes something like this: "Our speaker garden is in a continual state of flux, as the Garden Writers Association of Amer­ is a retired physics teacher and is often new plants arrive for testing and older cul­ ica had toured the garden and just before called 'Mr. Hosta.' He could also be called tivars are removed; approximately one-third Paul left on a lecture tour to England. He a true plant entrepreneur. His secret is that of the display changes every year. drove over 2,000 miles while in England; he has managed to make a good living in As we walked around Paul's garden on the following quote from the newsletter of horticulture after only 40 years of effort. that JURe morning, I asked him what was the Hardy Plant Society (HPS) is just a The pattern sounds simple enough: Paul the long route (I knew it had to be) that small sampling of his visit there: "In Sep­ discovers or develops variegated perenni­ eventually led him to hostas. tember, HPS members, together with the als, and gardeners in the United States, "I think back," he said, "to the war British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society, England, Europe and Japan buy lots of years when I was a merchant seaman who had the opportunity of meeting Paul Aden, them every year. Although our guest be­ played a harmonica to ocean sing-alongs, American nurserymaR and plant breeder. lieves that plants must sell themselves, his then to being a film producer, to a fling He gave us an entertaining lecture at Wis­ talk will focus on important shade per­ at advertising with more travel than even ley and showed slides of tissue-cultured ennials, with a particular emphasis on I wanted to endure, to high school physics, Hosta iRtrodllctions such as H. 'Reversed' hostas. " and finally a hosta expert and plant (a variegated sport of H. (ortunei var. hy­ Aden's garden begins the moment you developer. acinthina), H. 'Zounds' (heavily puckered step from your car onto his driveway. The "Bringing a plant to the point where it's golden foliage with a metallic sheen) and front yard is a brilliant bed of Hosta 'Pied­ ready for market is not an easy job. Every H. 'Flamboyant' (growing in the National mont Gold', which has ruffled yellow leaves unusual hosta now in the garden cata­ Collection at Wisley). Aden also showed that sparkle in the morning sun. As you logues represents years of growing and slides of other variegated perennial plants walk around the side of the house by way testing; most of the plants are thrown away on his list: Aquilegia (labellata {formerly of a carefully tended grass path, you pass as unsuitable." A. akitensis), Arisaema sikokianum and A. many more cultivars of these beautiful But why hostas? I asked. asitense, and Bletilla striata 'Variegata'." plants, until reaching the back yard, where " Because they are a perfect low-main­ A typical introduction to an Aden lec- a kaleidoscopic world of greens greets the tenance plant that serves people. Hostas

American Horticulturist 5 PLANTS & PEOPLE are not, in my judgment, going to fade printed pictur€s and articles featuring our sun could be felt even through the canopy from the fashionable garden scene. They Hosta hybrids, and how difficult it was to of trees in the yard. I asked Paul how much are a basic landscape tool that combines translate from the Japanese language. Then shade these plants would endure. many color variations, has attractive flow­ when the Japanese Horticultural Society "The blue-leaved types do their best in ers, does well in the shade and can live for invited me to visit and lecture on these shade-full shade to one-half sun," h€ re­ over 100 years in one spot." plants, and were willing to provide a trans­ plied. "The greens adapt to most situa­ I thought of the old country gardens I've lator, I had to go. It was amazing to go tions-one-quart€r sun to full sun. The seen where a lifetime of toil has been over­ back to a hotel after an interview and see golds prefer a moderate amount of sun grown with wtleds and untended bushes myself talking in Japantlse on a color TV." (from oFle-quarter to one-half), and the and trees, but where, in one corner, a larg€ We continued to talk as we walked past variegated varieties, one-quarter sun to clump of Hosta fortunei persists and blooms the perfectly tended beds of hostas in end­ three-quarters sun." in the shade. less shades of green, yellow and white, many He paused to look at a new Gultivar of "While a few Hosta species come from of which wertl in bloom or were sharing Athyrium goeringianum, a beautiful fern Korea and China," he continued, "most space with ferns, other U1msual variegat€d that was growing next to a clump of Hak­ have undoubtedly originated from Japan. plants (Paul has a special liking for these) onechlora macra 'Aureola', that most They were named in honor of Nicolaus and charming daylilies of all colors and magnificent of grasses from Japan. Host, a physician to the Emperor in Vienna sizes. "Another thing I noticed in Japan was in the early 1800's. And, I think, wheFl I expressed amazement at the she€r that there were more hostas in gardens that originally called funkias, they w€re named numbers of plants in a back yard garden. belonged to older gardeners. Their rea­ after anoth€r German doctor, Heinrich "You don't need a lot of space to have soning was that most gardens get shadier Christian Funck." a gardeFl of your own," he said. "I feel as they get old€r, and most gardeners get We stopped to admire a fine clump of sorry for people who have a vast tract of older as their gardens get shadier." H. fluctuans 'Variegated', and in the dis­ grass but feel they haven't the room for a We walked on in the shade.~ tance heard the baseball game from the grand garden. In this relatively small area -Peter Loewer Baldwin High School athletic field that I have three or four microclimates, and I Peter Loew€r is a botanical artist and borders the back of the Aden garden. feel like an amateur sleuth as I find out scientific illustrator who writes and illustrates "I'll never forget," he said, "the Iilumber just what a particular plant will do." his own books. He is th€ author of Peter of Japanese horticultural magazines that The afternoon grew warmer, and the Loewer's Month-By-Month Garden Almanac. GARDENING IN HISTORY Eliza Lucas Pine - Colonial Gal1

omen have always been at home in the garden, and Eliza Lucas W Pinckney was no exception. A ma jor pioneering horticulturist in the American colonies, she loved "the vegi­ table world extremly," and experimented with growing ginger, cotton, alfalfa and cassava in an attempt to bring them " to perfection." She is most famous for her experiments in indigo culture, which she began when she was 17 years old . Through her persistent efforts, indigo became a va l­ uable cash crop in South Carolina. Eliza was born on the island of Antigua in 1722 but, like most children of well-to­ do English colonists, was educated in Eng­ land, under the care of her parents' friends, the Bodicotts. Her father, George Lucas, was a sugar planter and lieutenant colonel in the British Army. After li ving in Antigua for some time, he decided to move his two daughters and semi-invalid wife to South Carolina. He had inherited three planta­ tions there from his father, John, who had also been an Antiguan sugar planter. George Eliza Lucas Pinckney concentrated her horticultural energies on making indigo a viable export Lucas was hopeful that a change in climate crop for South Carolina planters. Not only did indigo require ca reful so il preparation and cul­ tivation, but the dye-making process was extremely complex, as this illustration depicts. would help his sickly wife. He also feared a renewal of hostilities with the Spanish, that Eliza was happy in her new, chal­ respite." She did have, however, the deft and thought South Carolina might be a lenging life. Although she made friends pen of an indefatigable letter-writer, and safer place to live. easily and occasionally joined the social enthusiastically described "the beauties of He settled his family on a 600-acre plan­ world of Charleston, she also had a "love pure nature unassisted by art." In one let­ tation along Wapoo Creek, six miles by of solitude" and a desire to succeed in the ter, for example, she noted that in spring water from Charleston and 17 miles over variety of tasks she had set for herself. " To "the majestik pine imperceptably puts on land. From there, he also directed the op­ be happy we must have one steady rule for a fresher green, the young mirtle joining erations of 1,500-acre Garden Hill on the our conduct in life. We must consult rea­ its fragrance to that of the Jesamin of golden Combahee River, and the 3,000 acres of son and follow where that directs," she hue [which) perfumes all the woods and rice-growing lands he owned along the wrote to Mrs. Bodicott in England. And regales the rural wander[er) with its sweets; Waccamaw River. so she rigorously adhered to a daily sched­ the daiseys, the honeysuckles, and a thou­ The Lucases had barely begun their new ule that appalled some of her more tra­ sand nameless beauties of the woods." life in South Carolina when, in 1739, the ditionally minded female neighbors. All this and more Eliza observed begin­ feared hostilities with Spain erupted, and Every morning she arose at 5:00 a.m. ning at7:00 a.m., when she left her reading Major Lucas was recalled to Antigua. He and read such writers as Plutarch and Locke. to walk in the garden and check that her apparently realized what an extraordinary She particularly liked Virgil, whose "calm "servants [were) at their respective busi­ eldest daughter he had, for he seemed to and pleasing diction about- pastoral and ness." Then she had breakfast, followed have no qualms about leaving such a young gardening" seemed comparable to what by an hour of "musick," which meant girl in charge of his properties. Whether she experienced during a South Carolina practicing the harpsichord. The rest of the or not her father influenced her love of spring: "I am so much delighted that had morning she devoted to French, shorthand horticulture or merely cultivated an al­ I but the fine soft language of our poet to and teaching her younger sister Polly, as ready existing passion, there is no doubt paint it properly I should give you but little well as two little servant girls, how to read.

American Horticulturist 7 GARDENING IN HISTORY

Dinner was followed by another hour ready to be cut. The leaves were then steeped of music. Then the rest of the afternoon, in water in large vats open to the sun until until candlelight, she spent at needlework. they fermented and turned the water a Reading or writing letters occupied the rest greenish color. This fermentation process of her evening. Some days she visited nearby took several days and was observed both neighbors, helping the poorer ones by day and night by teams of men directed writing out wills for them, a skill she learned by the indigo maker, who never left the from reading Thomas Wood's Institute of premises. When he decided the process was the Laws of England. This, she admitted, complete, the solution was strained and was a dull and difficult tome to read and poured into a second vat, along with a understand, but she felt an obligation to small amount of limewater, where it was help her struggling neighbors. beaten with paddles until it began to thicken. Her mind seemed to buzz with horti­ This agitation determined the final color cultural schemes. She planted a fig orchard of the dye, since the longer the mixture in hopes that someday she would dry and was beaten, the darker the color became. export the fruit. She also created "a large Finally, the solution was put into a third plantation of oaks," and in the spring of vat and allowed to settle before the clear 1742, planted a cedar grove with the in­ water was drawn off, leaving a sediment tention of eventually filling it "with all that was formed into dye cakes. After the kind of flowers, as well wild as Garden cakes were carefully dried in the shade, I flowers with seats of Camomoil and here they were ready for market. and there a fruit tree-oranges, nectrons, While Eliza struggled with indigo pro­ Name ______I Plumbs." duction, she continued to send progress Address ______I I Most of Eliza's hortinlltural en€rgies, reports to her father on other experimental City ______State --- I however, were concentrated on making in­ crops. On June 4, 1741, she wrote from Oregon Bulb Farms digo a viable export crop for South Car­ Wapoo that "the Cotton, Guiney corn, and Zip 39391 S.L Lusted Rd .-H I olinian planters. Others Iud tried beforf most of the Ginger planted here was wrt LI ______~n~~g.:.~5~_.J her but had not been successful, and Eng· off by a frost" and, furthermore, that "the land continued to purchase indigo dye cake! Lucern [alfalfa] is yet but dwindlering." NOW... BY MAIL! from French colonies in the West Indies. She decided, in 1742, to " try deferent soils FLOWER ARRANGING Letters went out to her father every yeal for the Lucern grass." In addition, the gin­ SUPPLIES: reporting her progress in growing indigo, ger had turned out poorly. Tools, Techniques, By July of 1740, she felt she could make Despite the horticultural tasks she had Tricks of the Trade! a success of it if he would only send her set for herself, Eliza always had time to seed earlier the next spring. Apparently, enjoy the natural world around her. She even from that crop, which was killed by took special delight in the mockingbird, SPECIAL OFFER - frost before it had dried, she managed to "her little darling that sweet harmonist" MAKES A GREAT GIFT: pick out some good seed to plant, but only who inspired her to write a poem while 100 bushels came up. Nevertheless, she she was lacing her stays! And, in the spring The Original was certain that if her father sent her seed of 1742, she spent one evening watching Stem Stripper in time for her to plant it by the latter part a comet: "To my unphilosophical Eyes [the of March, the crop would dry before frost. light] seems to be natural and all its own. A unique tool for removing thorns and leaves from stems. Her father sent her Rot only seed but How much it may borrow from the sun I Nicholas Cromwell of Montserrat, who am not astronomer enough to tell." 95 including only $9ea . postage £, handling was an expert " indigo maker," as the head Such an active, intelligent girl did not man was called. Expert or not, both he go unnoticed among Charleston's gentry, ------and his brother spoiled the dye during the and Eliza was invited to many social gath­ The Keth Company crucial fermentation period-probably be­ erings. Evidently, she made enough of a P.O. Box 645 cause they did not want South Carolina to stir to excite the interest of at least two Corona del Mar, CA 92625 rival their native island in indigo produc­ men who asked her father for permission tion. Lucas finally sent out an unidentified to marry her. But Eliza turned them both Please send me __Origlnal Stem Stripper(s)at $9.95 black man from one of the French islands down, writing to her father that " a single each incl uding pos ta ge and handling. Enc losed is m y U c hec k or 0 money ord er. (Sorry. no C. 0. D.s. CA res. add 60¢ ea. lax.) to serve as chief indigo maker, and Wapoo life is my only choice and if it were not as o Pl ease se nd your FREE Complete List of Fl oral Supplies. produced its first successful dye cakes in I am yet but Eighteen, hope you will [put] PLEASE 1744. aside the thoughts of my marrying yet these PRINT Nam e ______The cultivation of indigo was not easy. 2 or 3 years at least." Address ______The soil had to be carefully prepared, and In the meantime, Eliza continued to ac­ CHy ______once the bushes began to grow they had cept as many invitations as she could find

State. Zi p ______to be watched until the crucial moment, time for. She seemed particularly fond of Elizabeth Pinckney and her niece, who was Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back! just before blooming, when the leaves were

8 October 1985 VIsitIng from England. When the three women were not together, letters fl ew back Dolt and forth between Wapoo and Bellmont, the Pinckneys' plantation. Elizabeth's hus­ Our Way band, Charles Pinckney, also liked Eliza, especially si nce she enjoyed reading so much. It was he who lent her books and Just pot or repot our way. Stro ng. talked to her about them, and his name healthy growth and beautiful bloom s was always mentioned in Eliza's letters to wil l come your wayl ... Year after his wife and niece. year after year. Elizabeth, who had been an invalid for IT'S BACTI-VATED I Baccto Potting Soil is teeming with the live . ben ­ years, died of an enlarged spleen in January eficial bacteria plants need to utilize 1744. At the same time, George Lucas de­ fertilaer and water efficiently. Plant s cided he would never be able to return to benefit immediately. and rem ain A COM~ PlANTlNG MIX READYTOU$E South Carolina, since he had been made hea lthi er long er. lieutenant governor of Antigua, so he sent Everything grows better with Baccto BACCTG POTTING SOIL his son George to Wapoo to bring his wife Potting Soil. Try it. You 'll see . and daughters back to the West Indies. It looked as if Eliza's days of experimenting were over. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Charles SOILBUILDING Pinckney proposed to Eliza, and she quickly PRODUCTS FROM accepted. By May of 1744 they were hus­ MICHIGAN PEAT CO. band and wife, and Eliza entered the most BACcm P.O. Box 66388, Houston, TX 77266 joyful years of her life. Despite the age disparity (he was 45 and she was 22), there was no doubt that it was a love match. Charles was a successful lawyer and planter with "a charming temper and disposition, gay and courteous manners, well-looking, well-educated and of high religious prin­ Build a 10' x 12' ciples." Eliza, as usual, revealed her feel­ ings by letter: " I have the greatest esteem and affection imaginable for you; that next portable greenhouse to Him that form'd it, my heart is entirely at your disposal." for under $299! She moved to Bellmont, which was only 15 miles from Charleston and overlooked a tributary of the Cooper Ri ve r, but she and Charles continued to oversee the cul­ tivation of indigo on both their own and her father's plantations. The summer after their marriage, they gave indigo seed to any planter who promised to raise and export it, and Charles sent six pounds of the blue dye made from the Wapoo crop to South Carolina's London agent, James Crokott, for an expert opinion on its qual­ ity. It turl1led out to be excellent, and a .• Attractive, specially-engineered hoop wo'rthy substitUte for the West Indies Write today for product. In 1745 indigo valued at 225 design with 4' wide beds, 2' wide door. more information: • Expandable in 4' lengths (no limit) . English pounds was exported to London • Convenient, sturdy galvanized steel from the Lucas Combahee plantation alone. tubing/plywood/greenhouse film Other planters who had gotten seed from construction. the Pinckneys were equally successful. Eliza • Flexible enough to follow the contour of your land. Lucas Pinckney had fulfilled her primary • Usually, no building permit is required. horticultural dream: to make indigo a • Easy assembly/breakdown. profitable crop for South Carolina. As his­ • Can expand your growing season by up to 4 months! FOX HILL FARM torian Edward McCrady put it, "Indigo 20 LAWRENCE ST . • ROCKVILLE, CT 06066 proved more really beneficial to Caro'lina

American Horticulturist 9 NOW! Outdoor Furniture You'll Own with Pride Quality and Elegance You Thought Were Gone Forever. GARDENING IN HISTORY

Gasden Bench $289 (kit $209) than the mines of Mexico or Peru were to 3' Table $124 (kit $89) Spain . .. . The source of this vast wealth . . . was the result of an experiment by a Classically styled weatheFpro9f mere girl." marine mahogany and teak furni­ But Eliza was now a wife and a mother. ture for your patio, pool and garden. Charles Cotesworth was born in 1i 46, fol­ Available hand finished and as precision cut lowed in 1747 by George, who was named kits. Other styles available. Free Color Catalog. for Eliza's father. Little George did not survive his premature birth, which was WOOD CLASSICS, INC. Dept. 5AH6 caused by Eliza's shock when she learned RD HI. Box 455E High FaIls. NY 12440 €914) 68'7-7288 that her father had died. Eliza took the losses of both Georges hard, but her daughter Harriott, born the following year, eased her heartache. In 1750 the birth of the Pinckneys' last child, Thomas, com­ pleted the family circle. While Eliza struggled with indigo production, she continued to send progress reports to her father on other experi- mental crops. During her early years as a wife and m0ther, Eliza probably still wrote letters, but most of them have not survived. She evidently continued her interest in horti­ cultural experiments, planting trees at Bellmont and embarking on the cultivation Lflypons Water Gardens of silk. She sent to Europe for the eggs of the silkworm, and planted mulberry bushes. Slave children gathered the mulberry leaves Ckk a tJ.twl1 thwlliJh ..£il:J/== in yOU'1- fQJJO'1-it£ duu.'1-. ~o it with and fed the worms while Eliza and her a ..£il:J/== catafo;}UG f=tu'1-in;] ff19E aft£'1- ~E of Cc.autiful maids wound the silk. wat£'1--li!ic.tJ., lotutJ-, CO;} planh, (iili, tJ.tatua'1fj and the. Ej.Untia!tJ. fO'1- Charles, in the meantime, continued to rise in his profession, and in 1752 he was it ~in;] all wod:.in;] I:o;}Ethe.'1-. appointed chief justice of South Carolina ..No /=ol yEt ? ..£il:J/== OffEU tk.m in fiCE'l:Jla.H, gxv{!, df!Ba by the Royal Governor. However, his ca­ reer took a sudden turn for the worse the pl=tw., and mCCE'1-. following year when the King of England made his own counter-appointment-Peter ,------, Leigh, tormerly high bailiff of Westmin­ D Begin my stroll now by sending me the new Lilypons catalogue plus ster, London, and evidently a political thorn informative newsletters with seasonal sales. Enclosed is $3.50. MD and TX residents please add 18¢ tax. in the King's side. Embittered by the way he had been treated, Pinckney decided to D 1500AmhortRoad D 1500 Lilypons Road take his family to England. Eliza had re­ P.O. Box 10 P.O. Box 188 membered her school days there with Lilypons, MD 21717-0010 Brookshire, TX 77423-0188 (301) 874-5133 (713) 934-8525 fondness, and both parents wanted their children to have the benefits of an English education. As a consolation prize to Charles, the governor appointed him special agent Name Addres;s for South Carolina in London. This temporary position lasted for four City State Zip L ______~ years while Eliza, whose letters resumed during her English sojourn, enjoyed re­ newing old friendships and making new

10 October 1985 ones. In 1757 Charles's special position painfully, letters went out to friends, to thoughts a relief from melloncholy sub­ ended. At about the same time, he learned her London agent, to her sons and their jects, ... and gives me air and exercise." his brother, who had been overseeing his guardians, to her sister and mother, telling Eliza devoted much care and attention affairs in South Carolina, had suffered a of her great loss. "I had lived for more to Bellmont. As the head gardener, she stroke. Charles decided it was time to re­ than 14 years in the most uninterrupted worked hard to revitalize the garden, which turn home to set his affairs in order, and felicity with one of the most worthy and she had found in ruins when she had re­ he and Eliza, with their daughter Harriott, best of men, that ever woman was blessed turned from England. Not only did she set sail in May 1758. The boys stayed in with; his mind and temper were the most have a wood to clear, she also wanted to England with friends to continue their unexceptionable I ever met with or heard plant groves of trees and to modernize the education. of in a human being, and to me the most old garden. Nursery planting, sending seeds The Pinckneys received an enthusiastic tender, partial, and affectionate of hus­ to friends in England, reading and raising welcome from their friends and neighbors, bands, nor had ever an angry moment in Harriott were her chief occupations. and Charles immediately set out to revive that time. He was every thing that was Harriott, it turned out, was "fond of his neglected plantations. But summer in amiable to me," she wrote to her friend learning." "I indulge her in it," Eliza wrote. the southern countryside was dangerous, Mrs. King in England. "It shall not be my fault if she roams abroad and many planters moved into Charleston Once again her interest in horticulture for amusement, as I believe tis want of to escape the fever. Charles almost im­ occupied her time, helping to turn her sor­ knowing how to employ themselves agree­ mediately contracted malaria, and within rowful mind from death back to life. ably that make many women too fond of three weeks he was dead. Someone had to oversee the plantations going abroad." Women, she believed, were It seemed to Eliza as if her life had ended and make them profitable enough to sup­ capable of both friendship and business, on July 12, 1758. "Earth has no more port a widow and three children. "It re­ so she trained her daughter as she had been charms for me," she wrote to her mother quires great care, attention and activity to trained: " to love a book and a garden." in Antigua. Only her belief in an afterlife attend properly to a Carolina Estate, " she She also continued to write letters. Her and her responsibilities toward her three wrote, "tho' but a moderate one, to do most important correspondents were her children sustained her during the next four ones duty and make it turn to account, two young sons in England, whom she years. Eliza mourned long and bitterly, and that I find I have as much business as I encouraged to be upright and honorable, at least twice came close to dying herself can go through of one sort or other. as their father had been. Although she did from mysterious illnesses and fevers. Slowly, But a variety of employment gives my not see them again until they had finished

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American Horticulturist 11 GARDENING IN HISTORY

their law training, they became the kind ander Garden. Even when she lost most of of sons she had hoped for. her hard-earned financial stability through Her children, her horticultural interests, the years of British occupation of South her reading and her m~mories of Charles Carolina, her patriotism was unwavering. kept her occupied and happy for the r~st Once the war end~d, her sons were able of her long life. She did receive at least one to care for her. By then Harriott, like her I The ONLY specialty liquid plant I marriage proposal, sometime in 176l. mother, was a widow left with a daughter I foods in the industry. Made for I safety, accuracy and results. Howevef, as she wrote to Mrs. King, sh~ to raise, so they all lived together at Hamp­ was Rot inter~sted: "In point of fortune ton Plantation. Shortly thereafter, Charles I JUNGLE JUICE (2-5-4) for fantastic I I foliage grow,th and super green. I [it) must have be!}n to my advantage, but Cotesworth's wife died, leaving three young as entering into a second marriage never daughters, whom Harriott and Eliza also I GRANNY'S BLOOMERS (0·6-5) I ZERO nitrogen and special trace once entered into my head and as little into decided to raise. One day in 1791, this I for abundant african violet I my iflclination-and I am persuaded never proud hous~hold of femaoles hosted George I blooms, you won't believe your I will-the affair took not a moment's hes­ Washington at breakfast. Washington knew eyes. itation to determine." of Eliza's sons, both of whom had distin­ I CACTUS JUICE (1-7-6) For I Eliza was a lover of trees, particularly gl!lished thems€lves duriflg and after the I outstanding specimens and' helps I of the "oaks which we have of Various war, just as their father would have wanted. promote flowering. sorts [and) fine Magnolia which in low Charles Cotesworth, a prominent lawy€r, I FLOWER CRACKER (1·6-5) For I moist land ... grow to a very great height." was sent as one of South Carolina's del­ I Impatiens, Orchids, Bromeliads, I I Geraniums, all flowering plamts. I She planned to send acorns and seeds from egates to the Constitutional Convention in the trees and to "plant a nursery here to 1787, and Thomas was governor of South 6 oz. bottle makes 12 gals. capful I I measure. $3.85 ppd. be sent you [the Kings) in plants at 2 year Carolina and th~ man who negotiated the I Any 4-6 oz. bUs. $11.85 ppd. Free I old." The following year, in 1761, she sent Pinckney Treaty with Spain. • catalog. Mr. King seeds of magnolia, which she Eliza's blood was in her sons, too, since • thought was "the most beautiful of all both enjoyed experimenting in horticul­ DeerfIeld. IL 6001S n Clarel trees." The palmetto royal, which she called ture as much as th~ir mother always had. III LdIHH.ltIHlt'o., Ill< "Pennento Royal," was another favorite Charles Cotesworth, who had inherited of hers: "[It) bears the most noble bunch Pinckney Island trom his father'S estate, of flowers I ever saw. The main stem of was one of the early planters of sea-island KLEHM/ADEN th€ bunch is a foot and a half or two foot cotton. Thomas hired a Dutch engin~er long with some hundreds of white flowers named Van Hassel, who d€vised a system Hosta hanging pendant upon it!" of embankment that made the salt marshes 'Blue Umbrella' She sent the seeds of myrtle to her friends along the Santee River profitable for plant­ in the belief that the plant would do well ing rice. In addition, Thomas shared his in England: " Our winters are sometimes scientific farming expertise with his fellow very cold. They grow in the woods and planters, much as his mother had shared are never hurt." According to Eliza's biog­ her knowledge and her indigo seeds 50 rapher, Harriott Horry Ravenel, this myr­ years before. tle was the sweet myrtle that now grows A y~ar after Washington's visit, Eliza throughout the southern coastal regions was stricken with cancer. She traveled to and produces berries from which pale green se€ a cancer specialist in Philadelphia, where candles were once made. she died on May 26,1793. Ironically, Eliza The decades passed pleasantly for Eliza. Pinckney-the woman who had done so She spent four or five months of the year much for South Carolina-was buried in HOSTA 'Blue Umbrella' leaves at Bellmont, "quite in a forrestt where I St. Peter's churchyard in Philadelphia. make great rain hats . . . Shade find much amusement . . . and where I have President George Washington was one of Gardeners love HOST A . .. less fuss room enough to exercise my [gardening) her pallbearers, at his request. Washington . . . more pride. Genius." Harriott married an older planter, probably recognized that in addition to For best color Hosta G.uide/Catalog Daniel Horry, when she was 19, and Eliza raising two fine patriotic sons, the re­ ever printed . .. often visit~d her at her home, Hampton markable little woman, who had b~en "very Send $2 (refundable) to: Plantation. Her sons, who finally returned early fond of the vegetable world" and "an CHAS. KlEHM & SON to South Carolina, married and started their inthusiaste in her Veneration for fine trees," own famil,ies, and Eliza was content. had left her adopted country a fine hor­ But the war with England soon broke ticultural legacy. 0 -Marcia B(mta HLEHm out, and her sons and sOR-in-law did not hesitate to join the American cause. Eliza, Marcia Bonta, a weekly columnist for the nu".,y too, never wavered from her support of Altoona Mirror, has written for The Conservationist, Bird Watcher's Digest atld RT. 5, BOX 197 the patriots, despite strong ties to English Pennsylvania Heritage. Her most recent SOUTH BARRINGTON,Il60010 friends and to American royalists-in par­ article in American Horticulturist, " Alice ticular, her horticultural friend, Dr. Alex- Eastwood," appeared in October 1983.

12 October 1985 • 00 !

The American Horticultural Soci­ Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. eludes the history of the individual's garden, ety is pleased to offer members its Michael A. Dirr. 826 pages. New edition of in addition to thoughts about the garden and 15 best-selling tides. Choose a new very useful book on trees, shrubs and woody gardening in general. Gardens from all over vines for gardens. Includes many new species the country are represented. Hardcover, book for your own library, or se­ and cultivars not found in earlier editions. $29.95. AHS member price, $26.95. lect an old favorite to give a Hardcover, $29.80; solkover, $22.80. AHS friend. member price, $26.05 (hardcover) , $21.70 ------(solkover). The Ortho Problem Solver. 2nd Ed. OrderFonn Michael D. Smith, Editor. 1,040 pages. Im­ Bonsai: The Art and Technique. Dorothy Prices relIect AHS member discount mensely valuable reference book on problems S. Young. 423 pages. Perfect reference for the D The Ortho Problem Solver ...... $160.15 encountered by the home gardener. advanced bonsai enthusiast. Includes discus­ CHEVR·03150 Hundreds of color photographs. Original edi­ sions of wiring, pruning, container mixes D Ball Red Book...... $ 22.65 tion sold out. Hardcover, $179.95. AHS mem­ and design, as well as chapters on indoor PRENT -02970 bonsai, sakei and other bonsai styles. Hard­ D Manual of Broad-Leaved Trees and ber price, $160.15. Shrubs-Volume 1...... $ 55.25 cover, $29.95. AHS member price, $26.50. Ball Red Book: Greenhouse Growing. ISBS-OOIJ70 D Garden Design ...... $ 28.00 14th Ed. Vic Ball, Editor. 720 pages. Essen­ Exotica IV. Alfred Byrd Graf. 2,580 pages, SIMON-D1930 tial reference on all aspects of commercial 2-volume set. Revised edition of the compre­ D Landscape Plants in Design ...... $ 49.50 production of horticultural crops. Over 425 hensive guide to plants from tropical and AVlPU.02070 near-tropical areas. Includes 15,800 black­ D The Gardens of Japan ...... $ 72.25 pages devoted to the cultural requirements of KODAN·02310 specific crops. Hardcover, $26.95. AHS mem­ and-white and 405 color photographs. Con­ D Plants That Merit Attention-Volume 1...... $ 39.70 ber price, $22.65. cise descriptions of each plant. Hardcover, 1SBS.00020 $187.00. AHS member price, $175.90. Manual of Woody Landscape Plants Manual of Cultivated Broad·Leaved Trees D Hardcover ...... $ 26.05 and Shrubs, Volume 1. Gerd Kriissmann. The Wonderful World of Succulents. STIP£.OOl30 498 pages. A standard reference used by Eur­ Werner Rauh. 164 pages. Guide to succulent D Soflcover ...... $ 21.70 opean gardeners and nurserymen. Descrip­ plants of the world. Includes hundreds of STIP£.OOl40 D Bonsai...... $ 26.50 tions of thousands of taxa, and extensive line black-and-white and color photographs, as PRENT.()2810 drawings and photographs. 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An excellent plan­ Hardcover, $35.00. AHS member price, STERL-D3620 ning tool. Hardcover, $35.00. AHS member $26.25. D The American Woman's Garden ...... $ 26.95 price, $28.00. L1m-D2180 Oaks of North America. Howard A. Miller Landscape Plants in Design-A Photo­ &0 Samuel H. Lamb. 327 pages. Field guide I would like to order books. graphic Guide. Edward C. Martin. 496 to 75 species and varieties of oaks. Includes Please add $1.'15 per book to cover postage pages. A useful textbook presentation of descriptions and illustrations, as well as and handling. trees, shrubs and vines for the garden. For raRge maps and winter twig and acorn char­ the amateur or the professional. Hardcover, acteristics for most species. Also includes a Enclosed is my check for $, ____ $55.00. AHS member price, $49.50. key to 112 Mexican species. Hardcover, Please make checks payable to the American Horticultural $14.95; solkover, $9.95. AHS member price, Society. Allow six weeks for delivery. 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Rose­ on a national basis, but which deserve to be mary Verey &0 Ellen Samuels, Editors. 191 City grown more frequently. Hardcover, $44.95. pages. Collected essays by 30 American AHS member price, $39.70. women about their gardens. Each essay in- State Zip w o E o § o T o E o R o N

o o o o

n gardening, as in life, the most in­ o BY IRENE MITCHELL o good growth. Where soils are slightly wet­ teresting things happen when we are ter than in the plants' native habitat (for li forced to discard old perceptions and example, the North-Central or midwest­ look at the world with a fresh, unpreju­ 8.5). At high altitudes, increased precipi­ ern states), a gardener can often succeed diced eye. tation and larger amounts of rotting or­ by simply planting these shrubs on sloping The current, almost exploding interest ganic matter create neutral or slightly acid ground, in raised planters, or slightly above in drought-tolerant and soil-indifferent soils. the normal soil level. (At one time, English native shrubs in the High Plains and Rocky Botanical diversity is guaranteed by the gardeners effectively used yuccas in their Mountain West started with the disen­ altitude extremes (from 2,000 feet to over soggy gardens by putting the plants on a chantment of fatigued gardeners in this 14,000 feet above sea level) in this region. mound of soil; this practice also created area of the country. Too few of us can A hiker can start a walk up a mountainside an interesting change in terrain.) afford to maintain lush landscapes that in the cactus zone, continue to the wetter In gardens of the mountain and high need good soil, tropical breezes and enough and colder hardy conifer zone, and finally plains region, these shrubs harmonize with water to float an ocean liner. end up in a zone where melting glacial the existing landscape and are, of course, But everywhere gardeners are in search snows feed wet areas inhabited by plants already well adapted to existing condi­ of that Holy Grail, the beautiful garden, such as the bog orchids (Habenaria spp.) tions. Because they need no supplemental and few become attached to ugly shrubs, and hardy water lilies. watering, they are valuable to gardeners no matter how practical. So in the semiarid The one common denominator that all who are concerned about dwindling water land of the intermountain West-with its of the zones have is the climate, which is supplies. poor soil, hot summers and cold winters­ usually harsh. Because of the mountains, In other parts of the country, these shrubs shrubs must be like the heroines in old most of this area does not enjoy the mod­ can be grown for their unusual coloration Westerns: tough but beautiful. ifying effects of adequate periodic precip­ or form-to provide a contrast to the pre­ The semiarid country of the western itation. Many of the shrubs from this area vailing lush greenery or a grouping of United States is roughly defined by the are successfully cultivated in other parts boulders. They are worth trying in difficult western third of the Dakotas, down to west of the country simply because they can places, such as seaside gardens, along Texas, across to eastern California, north adapt to extremes of climate or humus­ roadsides, in spots where erosiQn control through Nevada and the eastern end of poor soils like those of their native habitat. is necessary, or in wildlife habitat. Some Washington, ending in Montana at the Ca­ For example, Rocky Mountain juniper, su­ are restrained enough in growth (or can nadian border. Although this area includes mac and shrubby potentilla-all arid west­ be contained enough by pruning) that they frost-free, low-elevation deserts (for ex­ ern natives-grow well throughout the could easily fit into the conventional gar­ ample, in southern Arizona and southern country because they are tough plants that den as long as their soil and light require­ California), much of the semiarid country can adapt to extremes. ments are met. is high plains or mountains, where tem­ The plants recommended below are not A gardener accustomed to the lush green peratures range from below zero in winter cold-tender, low-desert plants. Although foliage and bright flower colors of rho­ to the low 90's in summer. Annual pre­ most do not thrive with wet feet, even the dodendrons may at first be disappointed cipitation ranges from as little as eight inches drought-adapted shrubs easily endure sub­ in native western shrubs. But a closer look on the high plains to as much as 40 inches zero temperatures, which are common in reveals a beauty that is far more subtle­ in the alpine zone. the semiarid, pinyon-pine-juniper zone specifically, a beauty that relies on unusual The East Coast, West Coast or mid­ (located about 5,000 to 7,000 feet above foliage colors (such as silver-grays or blues), western gardener who wants to grow shrubs sea level in New Mexico and Colorado). unique foliage shape or branching pat­ that are native to this large area should Those native to the higher country (above terns, winter color and dainty-often ethe­ keep in mind the immense variation in 9,000 feet), where more moisture and richer real-flowers and seed heads. Like the growing conditions in the mountain and soils prevail, often endure snow-blanketed plants in an Oriental garden, these shrubs high plains states. The massive thrust of winters of -400 F. have a kind of austere grace that invites the Rockies affects many things: winds, In general, the shrubs described here are contemplation, and are therefore appro- temperatures, precipitation and soil pH, probably adaptable to most parts of the Sagebrush, Artemisia sp., is a member of the among others. At lower elevations, where country, except for the Southeast or rainy daisy family, Compositae. Its striking silver­ vegetation is sparse, soils are apt to be Northwest, where highly acid soils and ex­ blue foliage can lend a dramatic touch to a sandy or clay-like and alkaline (pH 7.5 to cessive soil moisture may interfere with dry, sunny spot.

14 October 1985

priate for use as specimen plants. kept more compact by pruning. It would thamnus nauseosus, is a fast-growing shrub The tallest of these intermountain shrubs make a nice specimen plant in a large gar­ with gray-green stems and foliage and a are most interesting when used as speci­ den, since it is attractive throughout the loose, airy habit of growth resembling that men plants, either singly or in small groups. seasons. Hardy to at least -200 F, elder­ of broom. About five feet tall and five feet Few shrubs can outshine the red-osier dog­ berry will also survi ve considerable drought. wide, it makes a fine informal hedge and wood, Cornus sericea (formerly C. stolon­ Picturesque in a more sophisticated way is crowned each October with a sunny blaze ifera), in winter. About six feet high and is the cool silver-blue Artemisia tridentata, of goldenrod-like flowers. C. nauseosus almost as wide, it produces a vase-shaped the West's famous big sagebrush. This endures alkaline soils, heat and drought, clump of scarlet branches that bring fire craggy bush, which normall y reaches a but must have good drainage. Easily started to the snowy landscape. Native to moun­ height and width of seven feet, can be from seed, it makes an effective erosion tain streamsides, red-osier dogwood pre­ pruned severel y to a compact shape rem- control planting in a year's time. Because fers a sunny spot in woody soil and an occasional deep soaking during droughts. Maintenance usually consists of pruning­ to the ground-some of the older canes each spring to encourage growth of new, more brilliantly colored young canes. More interesting for its fiery-red autumn foliage is Rhus glabra, commonly called smooth sumac. It is a close relative of R. typhina, the staghorn sumac listed in many nursery catalogues. Both are large shrubs: R. glabra ranges from nine to 15 feet tall, depending on soil moisture; R. typhina, which can grow to 25 feet or more, is the size of a small tree. Neither is suitable for the small garden, but both make brilliant additions to the fall foliage display if planted in clumps at the edge of a sunny meadow. These pest-free plants need pruning and thinning only when their natural aggres­ sive tendencies threaten the rest of the landscape. Although the two species closely resem­ iniscent of an iced-over waterfall in the it tends to become invasive, it should be ble each other, R. glabra has smooth moonlight. One landscape designer has used restricted to meadowland or roadsides. branches, while R. typhina has fuzzy ones sagebrush, combined with a stark setting Mountain mahogany, Cercocarpus (hence its common name). My personal of gravel and river rocks, to dramatize a montanus, is an excellent plant for use as preference is for R. typhina 'Laciniata' small, sunny, square courryard at the en­ an individual specimen. Its burgundy-col­ (Hortus Third lists cultivars by this name trance to a townhouse. Deep but sandy, ored branches bear small, deep green, crin­ under both species), which has delicately well-drained soil and a location with full kled and serrated leaves. This shrub has cut leaves that add to the plant's charm. sun encourage compact growth and bluer an upright, vase-like shape and grows to Cut-leaf sumacs are equally at home in foliage. about six feet high and three to four feet swamps or deserts, sandy or clay soils, Some native junipers are straggly trees, wide at the top. Its flowers are barely no­ and their lacy appearance belies their but the evergreen Rocky Mountain juni­ ticeable; the shrub's real appeal is in the ruggedness. per, Juniperus scopulorum, has been an seed heads, whose plumed, feathery curl­ Like the sumacs, plants in the genus accent plant in gardens all over the country icues cover the plant in the winter. Sambucus bear attractive fruits that de­ for years because of its columnar shape Mountain spray or rock spiraea, Hol­ light both the eye and the bird population. and neat, blue-green foliage. The many odiscus dumosus, is often mistaken for some Red elderberry, S. pubens (also listed as S. cultivars differ mainly in foliage color and kind of wild spiraea. It has leaves much racemosa subsp. pubens), is often spotted compactness. The tall evergreen spires, like those of spiraea, as well as exfoliating along mountain passes in the Rockies. It which often reach 12 feet or more in height reddish bark and large, often pendent is a bushy plant with pinnately compound but only one to two feet in width, are well plumes of creamy flowers. Ornamental leaves, a creamy-white flower head com­ suited for growing in narrow places. Some enough to serve as a specimen, this species posed of many tiny florets, and brilliant of the newest cultivars remain tight, nar­ grows about six feet high and about four scarlet, bitter-tasting berries that appear in row cones of feathery foliage and are good feet wide, in a graceful, arching fountain large clusters from midsummer to fall. choices for smaller gardens. Graceful, shape. It is a fast-growing and potentially In rich soil with adequate water, elder­ weeping forms have also been developed. very useful species that is relatively un­ berry can grow as tall as eight to 10 feet All retain their compact growth and fines·t known even in the Rockies, its native hab­ and as wide as six feet, though it is easily color in full sun, although they will adapt itat. Like mountain mahogany and rab­ to shade. bitbrush, it needs full sun and good LEIT: Red elderberry, Sambucus racemosa, is Several high plains and mountain shrubs drainage. known for its attractive fruit and creamy­ white flowers. ABOVE: Clumps of smooth are of more compact growth than the above, Another seldom-cultivated shrub with sumac, Rhus glabra, would provide stunning or, at least, can be kept lower with prun­ unusual seed heads is Fallugia paradoxa. autumn color in any large garden. ing. Rabbitbrush or chamisa, Chryso- Its common name, apache-plume, aptly

American Horticulturist 17 describes the pinkish, feather-duster-like snow-fed streams. Thimbleberry, Rubus Creeping holly grape, Mahonia rep ens, seed heads, which are often present at the parviflorus, grows well in rich soil in a is another good ground cover, though it same time as the flowers. A slow grower, partially shaded spot. It has a loose, often reaches a foot in height. This plant apache-plume is a member of the rose fam­ branching growth habit and usually grows has blue-green, toothed leaves, much like ily and bears one-inch, white flowers in no higher than four feet. This shrub-with the leaves of the taller, more familiar Or­ May and June, like those of the strawberry. wide lobed leaves like those of a maple, egon grape, Mahonia aquifolium. It is un­ The waving seed heads quickly attract at­ and a graceful, two-inch flower like a sin­ usual in that it thrives in dry, shady spots. tention in the autumn sun. gle rose-belongs in woodland areas. Like its larger cousin, it bears pretty yellow F. paradoxa is a three-foot-high shrub Flowers are followed by edible, raspberry­ flowers in spring, followed by clusters of with a spreading vase shape. Because it is like berries. blue-black berries that are attractive to native to dry, rocky slopes at the lower Another shade-lover, Symphoricarpos birds. elevations of the Rockies, it may be dif­ ficult to cultivate in gardens in wetter por­ tions of the United States. However, its resistance to drought makes it a likely can­ didate for a south-facing exposed slope where nothing else will grow. An eye-catcher in all seasons is the mountain ninebark, Physocarpus mono­ gymlls, whose leaves resemble those of a currant and whose spring flowers are borne in small, pink-white umbels. [n autumn, the foliage turns bright red. Winter reveals the interesting red-brown bark, which, like that of the birch, tends to peel off in thin curls. As far as I know, rabbitbrush, mountain mahogany, mountain spray, apache-plume and ninebark have not been extensively cultivated in other parts of the country, but there is no reason why an experimen­ tally minded gardener cannot try them if he or she can provide sunshine and well­ drained soil. Sagebrush, which has similar occidentalis, commonly called Indian cur­ All three plants-Arctostaphylos uva­ requirements, has been grown successfully rant snowberry, bears porcelain-pale pink ursi, Paxistima myrsinites and Mahonia in midwestern gardens. berries. This plant's neat, four-foot-tall repens-would be good choices for cov­ Few gardeners or landscape designers growth habit and pretty berries that attract ering the bare soil under a large tree. They need to be introduced to the yellow-flow­ birds make it suitable for use as a low, are well adapted to growing in dry, poor ered shrubby cinquefoil, Potentilla fruti­ untrimmed hedge. Like potentillas, snow­ soil in the shade, and will send runners cosa. A neat, two- to three-foot shrub that berries have long been recognized by the and roots down far enough to compete never grows out of bounds, this species is nursery trade, and there are several at­ with the roots of large trees. rugged and pest-free, and adapts to almost tractive cultivars, including one with coral­ Although all of these shrubs can toler~te any garden. There are many cultivars of colored berries. poor soils and require very little watering shrubby potentillas, all of which will stay In the higher country (above 7,000 feet), once established, they do need the same below three feet in height and form rounded where soil is less alkaline than on the plains, attention given to other shrubs during their shrubs. Some cultivars are even more com­ shrubs that are related to East Coast plants first year. Compacted clay soils should be pact, however, reaching only 18 inches in appear. Two creeping, two-inch-high ever­ loosened with organic matter and sand. In height. Because there are so many good green ground covers are bearberry, Arc­ moister climates, plant these shrubs on a cultivars with flowers of yellow, white, red tostaphylos uva-ursi, and mountain-lover slope or mound of soil to provide good or orange, most nurseries offer these im­ or Oregon boxwood, Paxistima myrsin­ drainage. During the first season, soak the proved versions rather than the original ites. Both have tiny, leathery leaves and soil weekly (when there is no rain) and add species. The yellow- or white-flowered cul­ are often mistaken for each other. How­ a moisture-retentive mulch to encourage tivars are the most dependable. ever, P. myrsinites has a symmetrical leaf strong, deep root development. Lest I give the impression that growing arrangement with opposite leaves, while In subsequent years, such plants need conditions are always hot and dry in the bearberry displays an alternate leaf ar­ watering only when there has been a pro­ West, I would like to mention two shrubs rangement. Also known as kinnikinick, longed droughr lasting six months or more. that are native to the moister, cooler and bearberry has dainty, pink, urn-shap€d Withholding fertilizer and pruning once a richer soil that borders the high country's flowers, which are followed by bright red year will help preserve the natural, com­ berries. Because it is evergreen, it is used pact growth habit of these tough western LEFT: Thimbleberry, Rubus parviflorus, and as a substitute for holly in Christmas dec­ beauties. ~ western sword ferns, Polystichum munitum, orations. Though fairly slow-growing and thrive in shade and rich soil. INSET: The Irene Mitchell is a garden writer with a flowers of Rubus parviflorus. ABOVE: Poten­ difficult to transplant, both of these tiny special interest in native plants. She gardens tilla fruticosa is a well-known western native broadleaf evergreens make durable and very at an altitude of 7,000 feet in Santa Fe, New that is both rugged and pest-free. neat ground covers. Mexico.

American Horticulturist 19 20 October 1985 BY MARGARET PARKE

nce in a while, if yo u are lucky, @yo u enter a ga rden where the true meaning of " the art of landscape design" is rea li zed. When this happens, the experi ence forever changes yo ur notion of what a garden is--or can be. This may happen on a grand scale-perhaps while visiting Sissinghurst or Hidcote--or un­ expectedly, when a newfound friend mod­ estly shows you his or her garden, the re­ sult of 30 years of dedicated nurturing and love. The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden is such a garden. Located on 21/2 acres at Seal Harbor on Mount Desert Island, Maine, it is distinguished by a unique blend of East and West that is hauntingly un­ forgettable; antique Asiatic sculptures in­ habit the garden alongside opulent English flower borders that take one's breath away. Moreover, beginning with the rosy-red stucco wall, which encloses the garden on ends about a mile further down the road, three sides and glows through the ever­ at Seal Harbor, and any of the local people green forest as one approaches, the garden can direct you to your landmark-a gray is a place where the line between fantasy stone church on the left, then to the first and reality is blurred. driveway on the right. On most days there is an unobtrusive Most visitors come to Mount Desert Is­ sign, similar to others along the sun­ land to pitch their tents on the several bleached roads on the island, near the campsites operated by the National Park driveway entrance that says "Private Prop­ Service, or to trek through Acadia Na­ erty." On the approximately six days in tional Park, or to sail their yachts. How­ late summer when the garden is open to ever, old-time Island residents still recall the public, no sign marks the entrance. If those halcyon days when lavish estates lined you were to drive from Northeast Harbor the shore at Bar Harbor. About the tum along Route 3 to Seal Harbor hoping to of the century, wealthy families began come upon the Rockefeller Garden with­ coming to Mount Desert for their summer out further directions, chances are you retreat. The rich coastal scenery and the would pass by it, for the garden is not sparkling summer days had already drawn visible from the road. Fortunately, the road artists to the Island, where, it is said, the ] ? LEFT: The central Greensward, which was sun first touches the nation each morning ~ once bisected by crosswalks, is surrounded by atop 1,530-foot-high Cadillac Mountain. $" two levels of borders filled with annuals and In 1910, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 1! perennials. ABOVE: The round Moon Gate and his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, in the north wall of the garden frames a a purchased a house and 16 acres of land at ~ majestic spruce and the Greensward and bor­ if ders beyond. Seal Harbor from Samuel F. Clarke, a uni-

American Horticulturist 21 for the Forbidden City for the past 700 years. China, "Mother of Gardens," was the catalyst for the Oriental mood of the gar­ den. In 1921, Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rock­ efeller, Jr., made a four-month trip to the Orient, primarily on a Rockefeller Foun­ dation mission to Peking, China. (Their itinerary also included sojourns in For­ mosa, Japan and the Philippines.) The cou­ ple was impressed by the Asian shrines, architectural landmarks and gardens they saw, and thus began their lifelong love af­ fair with Oriental culture. Their garden at The Eyrie was originally to have been an English-style flower garden, but as plans evolved, many Oriental aspects were in­ tegrated into the design. Also, as time went ABOVE: This 1935 on, Mrs. Rockefeller's collection of Asian photograph of the gar­ den depicts th.e lavish sculptures and artifacts grew, and the gar­ perennial borders, den was chosen as the place to display which at that time sur­ them. rounded a central area In 1926, the Rockefellers tapped the skills filled with flowers for cutting. In the distance, w of the most sought-after landscape archi­ Korean tomb figures ~ tect for country estates of that time, Bea­ stand along the Spirit ~ trix Jones Farrand, to help them build the Path. BELOW: A pho­ j garden. (For more on Farrand, see "A Por- tograph of the Sun 11 trait of Beatrix Farrand" in the April 1985 Garden and pagoda, also taken in 1935, ] issue of American Horticulturist.) Mrs. shottly after the major ~ Farrand was 54 years old at the time, and work on the garden f had a reputation as a rather imperial, eru­ was completed. """"""";;';;;::.:18 dite figure. Farrand's professional work had expanded to include university cam­ versity professor. They hired architect away from the house, so there was not the puses, and she had already had some in­ Duncan Candler to transform the house, usual architectural dictum to make the volvement with Rockefeller-related proj­ and soon a three-story Tudor structure garden an extension of the house. The gar­ ects. She had been spending summers at containing almost 100 rooms rose on the den's makers were free to follow their fancy, her family home, Reef Point, in neighbor­ site, a high bluff overlooking the Cran­ as is revealed as one ventures further. ing Bar Harbor, so Mr. and Mrs. Rock­ berry and Sutton Islands. The house was Even before stepping foot into the gar­ efeller were probably familiar with other named "The Eyrie," a popular name on den, the visitor is seduced into an Oriental gardens she had designed on the Island. the Island for lofty places used as nesting mood. This feeling is sustained throughout Although Farrand had designed a gar­ areas for birds. After Mr. and Mrs. Rock­ the garden by architectural features, gar­ den with Oriental motifs for the Willard efeller both died, The Eyrie apparently be­ den artifacts and, more subtly, by the sen­ Straights on Long Island, she had never came a "white elephant," and the house sitive placement of statues and shrines, and set foot in the Orient. To prepare for The was torn down in 1963. A small building­ their tranquil interaction with nature. Eyrie project, she immediately began to formerly the children's playhouse but now A pagoda roof made of glazed, ocher­ study books, articles and photographs on used by Mr. and Mrs. ("Peggy") David yellow tiles caps the southwest entrance China--even picture postcards sent from Rockefeller, the current owners, as a guest­ gate. (One can easily imagine Marco Polo the Orient by one of her employees. She house-remains on the property, and there entering such a gate when he went to meet could also look to Mrs. Rockefeller, who is a tennis court. Kubla Khan.) These same glistening tiles had a knowledge of and uncommon sen­ The visitor can take a nostalgic stroll to are used in the coping around the wall. sitivity to Eastern culture. the spot where the house once stood by They are fascinating historically; many are Correspondence between the two women walking a short distance up from the im­ two centuries old and once graced the cop­ during the garden'S creation reveals that provised parking lot to a circular grassy ing on the Red Wall of the Forbidden City Mrs. Rockefeller lent Farrand the Chinese plateau. The only remnant of grander days of Peking. The tiles (there are approxi­ Book of Gardens out of concern that the gone by is a partly demolished balustrade mately 10,000 of them, including about garden's Moon Gate might be "too much and stone terrace looking out to the sea. 2,000 broken ones) were imported by the in the spirit of Ching Lung and not in Fifty old-fashioned pink rosebushes re­ Yamanaka Company in Boston in 1927 enough harmony with the Sung figures. " cently planted near the rim now frame the for use in the Rockefeller Garden when The Eastern concept of symmetry, Mrs. vIew. parts of the Red Wall were demolished. The garden is northeast of the terrace Recently the wall has undergone repair. In The pagoda-roofed South Gate, which leads and is reached by a pleasant stroll along fact, repairmen are using facsimile tiles ob­ to the Spirit Path, is guarded by a pair of stone rams from Korea. The ocher-yellow a pine-needle path through the woods. From tained by David Rockefeller from the same tiles once graced the Great Wall of the For­ the very beginning the garden was located factory in China that has made all the tiles bidden City of Peking.

22 October 1985 RockefelIer notes in one of her letters, in­ York and in California, Mrs. Farrand was Rockefeller, for example, commended cluded "just enough asymmetrical so that very much at the helm. Farrand for submitting her expenses "as the formality of true symmetry was not Despite the conflicting demands on her usual in apple-pie order." Farrand, in turn, oppressive. " time and energy, Farrand, as well as others notes in a letter that "the work Mr. Can­ In September 1928, after the second involved in the project, was apparently dage has done on the steps is beyond alI summer of work on the garden, Farrand completely absorbed with the garden at praise. We have alI fussed over stone after wrote a lengthy letter to Mr. RockefelIer The Eyrie. She contemplated such matters stone, altering here and there and the stair­ on how best to physicalIy incorporate the as grading, the laying of walks and walls, way is not only handsome but appropriate walI into the garden site without disrupt­ matching the color of stones and tile, mov­ and easy in its progression." ing the natural harmony of the setting. She ing trees, and, of course, the plantings Mr. RockefelIer showed a keen interest ended the letter on a prophetic note: "Please themselves, as well as the placement of in every step of the garden's creation. Even forgive so long a letter ... but [the garden) gates, shrines and statues, and the design after his wife's death, he was concerned is frankly so absorbing my thoughts, and of the Moon Gate, wall coping and other that the garden be maintained in accor­ it wilI be such a joy if it can be made a Oriental motifs. No detail, however smalI, dance with her wishes. "The old-fashioned success and happiness to you and Mrs. escaped the scrutiny of both designer and pinks, wherever they appear, are lovely Rockefeller, that I am throwing myself into client, who reached the larger decisions and most appropriate," he wrote to Mrs. the work with my whole heart." only after carefully studying plans or Farrand in August, 1950. "The carnations And so she did. Her enthusiasm is all sketches (usually several for each subject). just coming into bloom seem to me, so the more amazing considering that from Mockups of architectural features such as ignorant as I am about a garden although 1926 to 1930-the years during which the the Moon Gate were made first, then placed such a lover of its beauty, out of place and basic and hardest work was accomplished in position in the garden. incongruous wherever I see them .... on the Rockefeller Garden-she was also Small dramas marked the evolution of Would their replacement another year by working on her " magnum opus" at Dum­ the garden, such as the tiff between gar­ more of the old-fashioned pinks be a det­ barton Oaks, the garden she built for Mr. dener and grounds superintendent over how riment? . .. I am wondering whether they and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss in Wash­ deep the topsoil should be (Farrand's sug­ were in the garden when Mrs. RockefelIer ington, D.C. In addition to these two mon­ gestion of one foot for the lawn and 18 was here and had her approval. If so, I umental projects, there were other com­ inches for the garden prevailed) and the withdraw even these comments and wilI missions as well; although these were proper size for the bulb storage cellar. like them." administered by Farrand's offices in New Compliments were also extended. Mr. The basic work on the garden was com-

American Horticulturist 23 ABOVE: A magnificent spruce surrounded by clematis, yellow pansies, giant cow parsnips, and a host of other plants. RIGHT: The 1,200-foot-long Spirit Path is lined with pairs of Korean stone statues.

24 October 1985 pleted about 1930. In 1935, Mrs. Rock­ efeller assumed the major responsibility for her garden, and Farrand remained as con­ sultant. The two women continued to fine­ tune the garden for the next 10 years. As it turned out, Farrand was involved with the garden for almost a quarter of a cen­ tury. During this time, she also became a valued advisor to Mr. Rockefeller on an­ other project dear to his heart-that of beautifying areas on Mount Desert that are now part of the National Park Service. The letters kept in the Rockefeller Archives in Tarrytown, New York, span this entire period. They reflect a relationship between the Rockefellers and Mrs. Farrand marked by mutual and, at times, touching courtesy l: and respect. ~ It is now almost 60 years since the gar- ; :( den was begun. It has been looked upon as a living memorial to Abby Aldrich separates this part of the garden from the southern end of the garden's main axis, Rockefeller by the Rockefeller descen­ flower borders on the other side. Halfway and here, as well as throughout the garden, dants, who have preserved the basic design down the Spirit Walk, the sound of falling pagodas, shrines, Buddhas, steles and other of the garden much as it was when she water lures one along a by-path to a stone secret delights in shaded niches can be found was alive. Students of landscape architec­ bench overlooking a pond-a perfect place in abundance. At the end of a short foot­ ture study the Rockefeller Garden as one for contemplation as frogs leap in and out path leading from the oval lawn is the of the few surviving examples of Beatrix of the water near their stone counterpart. twelfth-century Arhat Bhadra, Buddha's Farrand's garden designs (she died in 1959) According to Gary Solari, the head gar­ disciple, with a tiger cub. Considered the and as a representative garden of what has dener, this is "the best spot in the garden." finest sculpture in the garden, it should not come to be known as the "country-place Halfway down the Spirit Path, it is pos­ be missed. era" in American landscape history. sible to enter the inner flower garden from From the Sun Garden looking north­ When entering the garden through the a crosswalk, which passes through an ward, the visitor can take in the whole pagoda-roofed entrance gate, the visitor opening in the granite wall. But a more visual climax of the garden in one sweep fi·rst sees the Spirit Walk, designed in the subtle way is through the Bottle Gate. This of the eye. If the weather has been hot and tradition of an eighth-century Chinese no­ is the route that Mrs. Rockefeller pre­ sunny, the garden picture will be one of bleman's burial ground. A long walk, ferred, as revealed in a letter written by sparkling splendor: the uninterrupted em­ flanked by six pairs of guardian-like Ko­ Mrs. Farrand to Mr. Rockefeller in 1950, erald-green velvet of a large, central, sunken, rean statues, begins at the entrance and two years after his wife's death: "As I re­ rectangular lawn, appropriately called the ends in the distance at a stele. The path, member it, she said she tried to control Greensward; myriad-colored flower bor­ known as the Spirit Path, runs parallel to her guest visitors and bring them in by this ders on two levels framing the Green­ the garden's main axis and flower beds, entrance rather than by the cross walk. sward; and a magnificent spruce in front which are out of sight, over the granite Once inside the gate at the path with the of a rosy-red wall at the opposite (north) wall on the right. The Spirit Path is 1,200 Korean figures, she hoped her guests would end of the garden. All paths and borders feet long, but the distance appears greater pause a moment and see the quiet sim­ appear to meet at the spruce. Behind it, because the figures are arranged along the plicity of this first view. Then she meant the round Moon Gate pierces the north path in descending size to create a false to take her guests through the little wood wall and invites the visitor to venture into perspective (a design ploy that Farrand used and the Bottle Gate to the platform and the fern glen beyond the garden. in other gardens as well). From the stele then let the brilliance of the garden come Farrand used trees artfully for architec­ one can see Long Pond at the foot of wooded as a surprise after the greenery and quiet tural effects and would try to work her hills. of the other two views." design around those already existing on a The massive tomb figures rise from car­ The Bottle Gate, so named because of site. In the Rockefeller Garden, a majestic pets of low-growing plants that are native its shape, leads first into another restful maple towers over the north wall, lending to the Maine woods. These are all simple garden, the Sun Garden or Ellipse, with its its strong vertical emphasis, along with and winsome-red-berried Cornus cana­ central oval lawn and rectangular reflect­ companion yellow birches, lindens and red densis, lowbush blueberries, highland ing pool. The lawn is framed by borders spruces. All three sides of the garden have cranberries, bearberry and, perhaps the of hostas (still labeled Funkia), several kinds a fine backdrop of northern hardwoods, most elegant of all, haircap moss. Nothing of subdued white and pale pink Astilbe, combined with fir, spruce and pine. is allowed to detract from the dignity and Filipendula ulmaria (commonly called The two tiers of flower borders sur­ repose-qualities that are at the heart of queen-of-the-meadow) and the dramatic rounding the central Greensward are about Oriental culture and philosophy-of this foliage of Rodgersia tabularis. Single spec­ six feet wide and parallel wide flagstone part of the garden. Osmunda spp., ostrich imens or small groups of laburnum, walkways. In the borders on the left or ferns (Matteuccia sp.), native shrubs and moosewood and other shrubs and trees­ western side, billowing drifts of flowers in small trees are carefully graded to fill in mostly native plants-fill in the back­ watercolor tints and hues-muted blue, li- the background along the granite wall that ground. This peaceful oasis lies at the Continued on page 44

American Horticulturist 25 ellevue, Heartsease, Pilgrim's Rest, Seven Hearths .... Such pleasingly named houses dating from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries so abound in this charming, somewhat sleepy colonial town of Hillsborough, North Carolina-about a half­ hour's drive from the horrendous traffic jams and high-tech bustle of the Research Triangle, which is North Carolina's an­ swer to Silicone Valley and Route 128 around Boston-that no one has ever gotten around to putting a historical marker at the driveway that leads up to the huge white house with its spanking new greenhouse just off the kitchen. But a marker would be entirely justified. The house itself dates back only to the late nineteenth century, but it's the third one to be built on these 60-odd acres of lawn, woodland and meadow since 1781, when Lord Cornwallis camped here in his war against the rebellious colonists. Some original outbuildings remain, including a barn, a smokehouse (still used until a few years ago), and the simple but capacious and appealing one-story wooden frame building that William A. Graham-who was governor of North Carolina, secretary of the Navy under Millard Fillmore, and an unsuc­ cessful candidate for the vice-presidency of the United States­ put up in 1842 to serve as his law office. The place is named Montrose, after the Graham family'S an­ cestral home in Scotland. Here Nancy Goodwin, a very soft­ spoken but highly determined woman, wages a crusade to save as many species of cyclamen as she can from extinction in Tur­ key, Greece and elsewhere around the Mediterranean Basin, where they are being collected in the wild and shipped, quite illegally, to gardeners in Great Britain and the United States. Many of us who have bought cyclamen in the past don't realize that the bulbs have been collected, that extremely rare sorts are often misidentified as more common ones, and that in our en­ tirely understandable yearning to grow these tiny but charming ABOVE: Cyclamen hederifolium 'Album'. RIGHT: A brand-new greenhouse at Montrose is used to propagate species of Cyclamen from all over the world.

26 October 1985 of Montrose BY ALLEN LACY

American Horticulturist 27 ABOVE: Cyclamen repandum. RIGHT: In addition to Cyclamen spp., Nancy Goodwin grows a wide variety of other perennials at Montrose. wildflowers we contribute to their extermination in their native habitats. The World Wildlife Fund and other conservation or­ ganizations have recently called attention to the plight of wild cyclamen, but word on such matters spreads much more slowly rhan juicy pieces of gossip about politicians and rock musicians. In the meantime, a devoted gardener and cyclamen-lover in Hillsborough is doing everything she can to ensure that we can have these treasures growing on our own piece of earth without aiding their extirpation where they originated. Before talking about the reasons wild cyclamen are endangered and about her crusade on their behalf, Nancy Goodwin takes me on a tour of the grounds at Montrose, occasionally stopping to bend down and pull up a stray weed that has invaded the immaculately tended flower beds surrounding the house and William A. Graham's old law office, now a studio where she gives piano lessons. We admire the splendor of a Cardiocrinum sp., a lily-like plant with greenish-white buds and blossoms like trumpets. It rises so high above a boxwood hedge that it would take a stepladder to find out if it's as fragrant as it looks. We we went to England, where I saw my first wild cyclamen, which walk toward the vegetable garden, where her husband Craufurd, simply enchanted me. I ordered some tubers that fall, and then an economist who is dean of the Graduate School of Arts and began to raise them from seed. Before long I was totally con­ Sciences at Duke University, grows his corn and tomatoes. On sumed by a passionate interest in horticulture. I planted an herb the way, we pause to admire a sprawling colony of Clematis garden. I joined the American Horticultural Society. I looked integrifolia, a low, non-vining sort with lovely nodding blossoms up the botanical names of everything I grew, determined to the color of sapphires and twisted, silvery seed heads as hand­ master the basic terminology of something that was more to me some as any flower. We amble through an immense cutting than a newfound hobby. garden, radiant with yellow and ivory Anthemis, to some rows "I hated to leave that garden in Durham, but 1 must admit of raspberries ripe for the picking-a pleasant pla.ce to stand that it meant leaving behind some bad mistakes in judgment, and talk while eating handfuls of berries. especially about color. I had put things that were separately I ask Nancy Goodwin about her career as a gardener. Ap­ wonderful righi: next to each other, where they clashed-red parently, it's a lifelong thing-"probably hereditary." One Monarda with big, hot gloriosa daisies, to name a particularly grandmother had a wonderful rock garden in middle Tennessee. dreadful and loathsome combination." Another, in Georgia, grew old-fashioned plants like larkspur, When the Goodwins bought Montrose in 1977 from the great­ poppies and love-in-a-mist, all of which are abundantly in evi­ grandsons of its original owner, there was no garden to speak dence at Montrose. Her mother was never happier than when of-merely some fine old boxwood hedges and shrub borders, the lady's-slippers came into bloom in her shady garden in Dur­ some venerable oaks and other native trees, as well as a rock ham, and her father, who recently retired as a professor of garden dating back to the nineteenth century. The rock garden­ Victorian literature at Duke University, has long been locally developed during Graham's service as secretary of the Navy, celebrated for his success at raising vegetables. when Commodore Perry sailed to Japan to open that country "My first experience with gardening was a dismal failure," to the West-may be one of the earliest examples of Oriental she explains, "but then disappointment is hardly a stranger to influence on American horticulture. gardeners. My parents gave me an iris to tend, cautioning me On this unusually sultry June morning, we have walked down to keep the soil off the top of the rhizome. The thing never a grassy path leading to a good-sized pond fit for both swimmers bloomed, not even once. I started gardening in earnest in 1963, and turtles, its creek- and spring-fed waters eventually tumbling when Craufurd and I bought a house in Durham. That summer over some small waterfalls to the Eno River, one of the nation's

28 October 1985 spearmint, and we slip into the greenhouse, where thousands of little cyclamen grow in the plastic pots they will be shipped in to customers. (This cuts down on the disturbance to the plants' root systems and guarantees them a better start once planted.) Summer isn't really their season, so the bloom in the greenhouse is scanty. But the leaves look healthy, and each plant has formed a tuber, either on top of the soil or beneath its surface, depending on the species. (c. coum, for example, stays high and dry; C. repandum buries itself all the way to the bottom of the pot.) When Nancy Goodwin speaks about the very first cyclamen she ever ordered, she mentions with some horror her conviction that they had been collected. I am reminded of St. Augustine, who, from the perspective of a reformed sinner, tells in Confes­ sions of his yo uthful transgressions in stealing pears, as well as some stea mier deeds. The tubers were shriveled, indicating a long and hot journey from the eastern Mediterranean; they were pocked with marks from the poor, stony soil of their native habitat; and they were gn arled and irregular in shape. (Usually, though not always, cyclamen tubers grown in cultivation from seed are smooth and rounded.) It was onl y after Goodwin had already begun to raise as many different species of Cyclamen from seed as she could lay her hands on-seed she got from plant societies, seed exchanges, botanica l gardens and other gardeners in the United States and abroad, as well as commercial sources-that she came to un­ derstand the enormity of the chain of events that was putting tubers of cyclamen into the hands of many gardeners. These tubers-some of them of species rare to the point of extinction­ were being greedily stripped from the wild, held for a year or least celebrated watercourses. Here, after crossing through the two by several bulb dealers in western Europe, and then placed stubble of a new-mown field and entering the welcome shade on the retail market, generally in poor condition and often mis­ of a woodland strewn with boulders, my guide cries out in identified. Seeing a need for reliably named, seed-grown cycla­ warning: "Watch out!" Fearful of copperheads and rattlesnakes, men for American gardeners, she stepped up her program of I halt in my tracks. But there's no snake-just a small plant of propagation. She germinated seed from her own rapidly growing Cyclamen hederifolium I'm about to trample underfoot. Nancy collection in her basement and on the windowsills of her piano Goodwin is fiercely protective of cyclamen wherever they grow, studio, and then raised them in pots on a screened porch, until at Montrose and elsewhere. last year, when she put them in a greenhouse. The result is This woodland, recently cleared of poison ivy and brambles, Montrose Nursery, which issued its first slender catalogue last was once farmed. Signs of plowing still remain in the form of year. The catalogue was enlarged this fall to list many additional curving terraces that protect against erosion. The forest litter of species and to include a great deal of practical cultural infor­ decaying leaves is deep, and everywhere there are cyclamen, mation based on Goodwin's keen and close observation of her which Nancy Goodwin identifies on sight-C. cilicium, C. coum, favorite genus of flowering plants. (For more information, see C. graecum, C. pseudibericum, C. trochopteranthum and a va­ "Sources" on page 39.) rietal form of C. hederifolium with extraordinarily complicated Nancy Goodwin makes no claim that she's a lone voice crying leaf markings, which the -noted British garden writer E. A. Bowles in the wilderness. Some other nurseries, including We-Du Nurs­ named 'Apollo'. Much of this planting is only one year old. With ery in Marion, North Carolina, and Russell Graham in Salem, time, and continuing vigilance against the inroads of poison ivy, Oregon, also sell seed-raised cyclamen. But in her view, these it should become one of the glories of Hillsborough, since every graceful wildflowers deserve to be more widely grown in Amer­ year the tubers will grow fatter, the blossoms more abundant, ican gardens-though not at the expense of their continued until each plant produces up to 100 delicate blooms during its existence in the places where they grow wild. She's doing what season. she can to help. 6 We are back in the house Graham's son built in 1898-a commodious place with enormous rooms and ceilings so high Allen Lacy, a professor of philosophy at Stockton State College in that air-conditioning isn't always needed to combat the fierce New Jersey, is the gardening columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Home Ground: A Gardener's Miscellany, as well summer heat of the Carolina Piedmont. Nancy Goodwin fixes as Farther Afield: A Gardener's Excursion, which is scheduled for tall glasses of iced tea with lemon slices and crushed leaves of publication in April 1986.

American Horticulturist 29 THE INDOOR GARDENER A Longing/or Lithops

'"1 ike my Lithops? They're my fa­ commonly called living-stones. These names through transpiration), and a thick cuticle vorite plants." reflect the trait that makes Lithops unique; and waxy covering further protect the My smiling guests peer into they look, quite frankly, like colorfullinle leaves. the flowerpot I hold before them. After a stones. A plant's visible portion consists Lithops also use water wisely through moment they look up with weaker smiles, only of two squat, succulent leaves that their growth and flowering habits. Once silently wondering if I've lost my mind. barely protrude from the soil. The leaves each year a new pair of leaves develops in The bravest speaks: "But ... there are no form an inverted cone about one to two the cleft, drawing moisture from the old plants in here. This is just a pot full of inches wide, split across the middle by a leaves and reducing them to crusty shells stones." narrow cleft. Fused at their apexes, the at the base of the plant. Lithops flower Grinning triumphantly, I point out half leaves join a short, cylindrical stem that, only when the annual rains come; then a dozen tiny plants barely distinguishable in turn, attaches to a deep taproot. they plump up and push out of the soil, from the colored pebbles surrounding them. Lithops' colors, which range from shades and a daisy-like yellow or white flower Ah, yes, now they see them. My Lithops of brown and gray to green and tan, allow emerges from the cleft. trick has amazed my friends once again. the plants to blend with the stony, sandy If the plants are to set seed, cross-pol­ Lithops are amazing plants-but not only soil of their native habitat, the Orange River lination must occur between plants of the because they make a good cocktail party Basin of South Africa. Some have channels, same flower color. A multi-segmented seed prop. Lithops have evolved uniquely in­ dots and margins in tones that contrast capsule perches above the cleft on a dry, genious traits that enable them to survive with the main color. Often, hints of pink, sand-colored stem. Lids on each segment in their hostile native habitat. These same blue and green suffuse the leaves. This sub­ traits make Lithops beautiful and durable tle disguise hides them from thirsty rodents TOP LEIT: Lithops hallii growing in its na­ tive habitat. BOTTOM LEIT: Three plant­ house plants for the neglectful plant lover. who savor their succulence. ings of blooming Lithops spp., including L. The genus Lithops belongs to the Ai­ To survive in the arid desert, Lithops olivacea in the small pot; L. dinteri var. zoaceae (formerly Mesembryanthema­ have become masterpieces of water-con­ brevis (yellow flowers) and L. karasmontana ceae), or carpetweed family. The name serving ingenuity. Their plump, compact var. tischeri (white flowers) in the large bowl; leaves grow flush with the soil surface to and L. fulleri (white flowers) and L. lesliei Lithops is both singular and plural, and var. hornii (yellow flowers) in the flat bowl in comes from the Greek words for "stone" avoid the drying desert winds. Lithops have the foreground. RIGHT: Lithops bromfieldii and " like." Appropriately, Lithops are few stomata (the pores that lose moisture var. glaudinae.

30 October 1985 MANUAL OF BROAD-LEAVED TREES AND SHRUBS Vol. I By Gerd Krussmann Translated by Michael Epp Technical Editor - Gilbert Daniels hold the seeds in place until a strong rain pops them open and washes the seeds onto . is sure to become tbe ultimate reference work." the soil surface. There, seeds can remain -charles Huckins American Horticulturist viable for several years, until they receive enough moisture to germinate. The young Published by Timber Press in cooperation with the American seedlings grow near their parent plant, Horticultural Society eventually forming a colony that looks like I a collection of randomly tossed pebbles. "Tbe late Gerd Krussmann was one of tbe world's most respected dendrologists . .. " - Roy Lancaster These water-saving adaptations also Country life create a problem, however. With most of the leaf buried, the plants have little sur­ This three volume work, a standard in Europe, has been translated into face area available for photosynthesis. Ev­ English. It will cover 5000 species, 6000 cultivars and nearly 800 genera olutionary wonders that they are, Lithops of all the cultivated broad-leaved trees and shrubs, vines, subshrubs and have developed a compensating trait: the some herbaceous plants as well. This is a must for every gardener's library. tops of the leaves are translucent and act Volume I 498 pp. 178 pp. of illustrations 8 V2 x 11 Hardbound Volumes 2 like windows to let the sun's rays penetrate and 3 Similar Format into the leaves' fleshy core. The light strikes the inner walls, which are lined with chlo­ Special Offer: Please send me 3 vols. subscription price @149.25 ___ rophyll-containing chloroplasts responsi­ Volume II published Fall '85 ble for photosynthesis. Thus, Lithops make Volume III published Winter '86 up for the lack of photosynthetic surfaces Please include postage and handling $1.75 each on the outside by putting them on the inside. Please send payment to: Jean Eggeman However, there are times when Lithops American Horticultural Society must limit the amount of light reaching P.O. Box 0105 the inside in order to avoid overhea ting. Mt. Vernon, Virginia 22121 As the desert sun grows more intense to­ Signed ______wards midsummer, opaque islands form on the top of the leaves . These islands act like shades on the translucent windows by blocking out excess light. The leaves­ ~~~~~I~~111~~/II~~.. ~~~~~~~~ brightly colored when first formed-be­ come mottled and take on subtle hues as i Country Casual Classic British garden Seats ~ the islands develop. The changing pattern ~ Country Casual is a Direct ' J ~ of windows and islands gives Lithops their 2· Importer of Lister. Charles "-l .{ @ Verey, and other fine classic ® unique and fascinating beauty, and guar­ ~ Engl,ish garden and leisure ~ antees that no two plants are identical. ~ furmture. .~ Lithops have other characteristics that }. Traditional designs · Pegged ~ @ mortise and tenon jOinery endear them to the lover of strange plants, execut ed in solid lea k and iroko including a wide va riation in size as well durable hardwoods by British @ craft smen. .~ as color. Although most species have yel­ ~ l. BENC HES . CHAtRS • TABLES " low flowers, some have white; a few even @ SWINGS ' PLANTERS @ S • for park . church, school. offi ce 3 have scented fl owers. Several species de fy @ or pri va l(~ garden ~ the norm of forming one two-leaved head ~ • timber weathers to a silver gray .~ 2. patina " each year and produce multiple heads. @ • vi rtuall y mamtenance free @) Lithops' diversity ensures their collector a & 5 lifelong hobby. ~ / ~ Perhaps the quality that makes Lithops ~ The new 6 ft . 6 in. Charles Verey solid teakwood Lutyens ~ most wonderful is that they demand so s: 6 h. 6 in. THE LUTYENS BENCH 8 h. 6 in. S little care. They are ideal for people who ~ C harles Verey has designed a solid teakwood Lutyens in a size suitable for our ~ ~ smaller spaces. This exquisite bench is a perfectly scaled 6' 6" version of the longer ~ forget to water, or who vacation fre­ .'-. Verey Lutyens fea tured prominently at Sissi nghursl. the garden of Victoria " quently, or who hate anything that re­ ~ Sackvi lle·Wesl and Harold Nicholson in Kent . Engla nd . Country Casual now offers ~ _ both size Lutyens 6' 6" or the magnificent 8' 6". Either size is supplied fully .a. quires constant attention. ~ assembled and crated. ~ One warning before beginning your CHIPPENDALE II the soft er look ~. • A Count ry C<"sual original design in so lid teakwood. " Lithops collection: The variability within ~ Higher bac k - Rounded corners - Broad nat arms i species makes identification tricky. If you @"" THE ENTIRE CHIPPENDALE II COLLECTION fealures a durable Full morli se @ want correctly named plants, be sure to ~ and tenon lattice back espec ially designed for heavy public or priva te use. ~ 2. Country Casual-CAH ~ order them from a conscientious supplier. @ Four Ft. Chippendale II Loveseat. 173 17 Germant own Rd .. Germant own . Md. 20874 (See the sidebar on " The Classifi cation & Also ouoilable in S' and 6' benches 10 order call (301 ) 540·0040 Metro DC# 428·3434 Mystery.") @ with matching armchair. AMEX VISA MASTER CARD send $1.00 for 16·page catalogue ~ When your plants arrive, naked and pit- ~'@))';~III@1h~~~~~~~~~~~ ~

American Horticulturist 3 1 THE INDOOR GARDENER

iful, wrapped in slips of paper, it is im­ portant to make them feel at home. First, The Classification Mystery find a suitable pot. Plastic is cheap and The variability that makes Lithops species, and 93 varieties and forms. Since easy to sterilize, but ugly. It is also non­ such unusual and wonderful house he published his list in 1973, he has porous and may keep the soil too moist. plants has also made them a taxonomic described another species, L. naureen­ A clay pot is more expensive, but its earth nightmare. Leaves, the most obvious iae, which he named after his wife. tones flatter Lithops. Because clay is po­ portion of a Lithops, are not normally Other researchers have studied rous, it will compensate somewhat for over­ considered a reliable diagnostic char­ everything from pollen structure to seed watering. Whichever type of pot you choose, acteristic. And considering that mark­ morphology in an attempt to find a re­ it must have good drainage, be three to ings and colors not only change on in­ liable, consistent identification trait. four inches in diameter, and be deep enough dividual plants over time but also vary Variability is again the obstacle; enough to accommodate the taproot. Also, be sure among individuals, it is no wonder the exceptions exist for each rule to make it is not garish; pink flamingo planters clash identification and classification of Lith­ generalizations useless. Furthermore, with Lithops. Terrariums, which are muggy, ops have been confused since the ge­ research has been sporadic. As Ed are also unsuitable. nus's discovery in 181l. Storms, owner of the largest Lithops Lithops need a loose, quickly draining Within the last decade, the work of greenhouse in the United States, says, soil like that found in the desert. To make Desmond T. Cole has brought some "There's not much financial support for a simple potting mix, combine one part order to the confusion, conflicts and this kind of research; after all, nobody sterile potting soil with one part coarse, inconsistencies surrounding Lithops' eats Lithops. So, as far as identification clean sand. Or mix one part sandy soil, classification. Cole, who lives in Jo­ goes, we're pretty much stuck with what one part sharp sand, one part peat and hannesburg, South Africa, has been able they look like and where they grow." one-half part fine gravel. You can modify to study Lithops in their native habitat. Storms anticipates that researchers these suggestions, but remember that the Combining his observations of the geo­ will revise the classification of Lithops soil should feel gritty and should not form graphical distribution of individual during the next few years as they sort a ball in your hand when wet. species with extensive studies of leaf through the literature for incorrectly Fill the pot with dry soil, make a hole characteristics throughout the growth identified species that have received with a pemcil, and slip the plant into place. cycle, Cole identified and described 37 multiple names.

Enjoy growing our antique 4arden roses and historic perennials LITHOPS

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32 October 1985 Endangered Wtld.I!!!JEers

Leave about one-third to one-half of the 1986 CALENDAR plant exposed above the soil surface. Tap the pot lightly to settle the soil, then water Help save our endangered and threatened wildflowers by pur­ lightly to establish good root-to-soil contact. chasing the American Horticultural Society)s 1986 Enaan­ At this point your creativity comes into gered Wildflowers Calendar. Funds raised from sales will be play. To mimic Lithops' natural surround­ used to support conservation projects. ings, try covering the soil with a thin layer of sand. Or add a layer of pebbles similar • 20 full-color photographs To Order Calendars: in color to your plants (pet stores often • Information on all plants carry them). You can group several plants pictured Send $6.95 per calendar ($6.25 in one pot, but be sure they are on the • Large 8 W' by 11 W' format for AHS members), including same watering cycle. To be safe, put only (8W' by 23 /1 when open) postage and handling, to Jeanne plants of the same species together. • Reward offer: calendar owners Eggeman, American Horticultural Keep the newly potted plants in a lightly are encouraged to help Society, PO. Box 0105, Mount shaded area for the first few days, then rediscover populations of plants Vernon, VA 22121. Virginia begin moving them into direct sunlight for thought to be extinct. residents, please add 4% sales tax. a few hours each day. Eventually, you can leave them in a sunny spot permanently. Nrumc ______WATIRING: The secret to caring for Addrcss ______Lithops is to remember that they are desert plants suited to a dry, hostile environment. CiN ______All cautions against over-watering house plants apply several times over here. Over­ Statc ______Zip ______watered Lithops quickly become uniden­ tifiable mush. Total # ordered ______Amt. Enclosed $ ______Lithops do not need to be watered when o they are actively growing, since they draw all the moisture they need from the old leaves. As the active growth phase begins, you will notice that the cleft in the center Feed Your Entire of the plant begins to widen. New leaves will slowly push through the crack, sep­ Garden With "Food" arating the old leaves. During the eight to 12 weeks required for the new growth to From Your emerge fully, the old leaves will shrink and wither at the base of the plant. Own Backyard Begin watering in the spring when the Tum twigs, branches and weeds into old leaves are nearly consumed. Then water mulch and compost - with Lescha, when you notice that the plants are slightly the little electric chipper from West Germany. shriveled; the frequency will depend on soil, humidity, ventilation and all the other Here's the smoothest running, quietest, variables that make setting up a watering yard-and-garden clean-up machine we've ever come across. The Lescha weighs P.S. We now have a new optional acces­ timetable impossible. Never water when only 63 Ibs., stands 39" tall (no stooping, sory, a Feeder Funnel, that speeds your Lithops look plump, fleshy and no tiptoeing!). Its 1% HP motor runs off the flow of loose or lightweight content. house current; its tough 2" steel cutting material. Now 50% off the regular blade spins at 3300 rpm and takes price. Lithops require only an occasional branches up to 1'/.0" thick (without having watering during the humid summer. A slight to first trim off side limbs). Call 802-655-9006 for full details and sprinkling when the leaves look unusually Everything organic - weeds, cornstalks, special price. even newspapers - can be turned readily wrinkled should be sufficient. If you over­ into mulch for your garden. Lescha's SALE for a limited time only: water, you will end up with Lithops soup. sturdy and safe, too! Its bipod legs make Leschaforunder$200! Our Lowest Price Ever! When fall's cool days arrive, return to it virtually untippable - and the two the watering program you followed in the wheels let you move it about easily. ",,!t Gardeners Supply Co. Because of a special arrangement with 1~ ,Y " 133 Elm Street, Dept. PAH59 1 spring. Your Lithops will reward you for the manufacturer, we have secured a ;:0 Winooski. vr 05404 your infrequent attention by flowering late supply of these portable, powerful little I ~ Tel: (802 ) 655-9006 I in the season (unless they're very young, chippers at a special volume discount 0 Rush me information about your Lescha which lets us offer them to you at our Chipper, and the optional Feeder Funnel. I in which case you will just have to be pa­ lowest price everl Less than $2001 Do tient). Stop watering entirely once flow­ send for details today. j)# ~"1'2-.-- Name ------ering ends, usually in late November or r" I - Address 1 early December. Do not start again until Will Raap, President City ______the new leaves ha,ve consumed the old ones. '-______G_ar_de_n_e_r'_s_S_u_pp_l_y_C_o_. -'~at:.....------Zip _ __I

American Horticulturist 33 THE INDOOR GARDENER

If, for some irrational reason, you are fertilized Lithops will be big, but their eolors compelled to water your plants too often, AShopping Listfor and patterns will be unspectacular. They you will produce large, fleshy monsters Lithops also run the risk of an early grave. that may impress your cocktail party guests HUMIDITY: Lithops detest stale, muggy but will appall the true Lithops lover. Over­ If you are looking for Lithops with air almost as much as over-watering. Keep watered Lithops will be abnormally large specific qualities, consider these your plants in a well-ventilated area. and may produce leaves and flowers sev­ possibilities: PESTS: Lithops are blessedly pest-free. eral times during the year. But these vic­ WHITE FLOWERS: L. bella var. (Once a chipmunk took a bite out of a tims of your indiscriminate watering are bella; L. fulleri; L. marmorata friend's plant, but that's the only com­ doomed to an early death. Therefore, be SCENTED FLOWERS: L. bromfieldii plaint I've heard. Fortunately, the new leaves SUrt~ to exercise restraint when watering. var. insularis; L. aucampiae; L. oliva­ weren't damaged, so her plant will out­ LIGHT: Lithops can handle all the light cea; L. ruschiorum; L. verruculosa grow its injury.) Mealybugs are occasion­ in your brightest window if you live in a ally a problem. By rc.~ moving the old leaves LARGE PLANTS: L. aucampiae; L. northern climate. In the South, give them once they have dried up, you will eliminate lesliei; L. marmorata; L. pseudotrun­ about 20 percent shade. In either case, they the bugs' hiding place and prevent an attack. catella; L. turbiniformis will do better under natural, rather than If you respect your Lithops' need for dry artificial, light. SMALL PLANTS: L. bella; L. din­ periods and restrain any urge to fuss ex­ FERTILIZING: Over-fertilized Lithops teri; L. herrei; L. optica; L. werneri cessively with them, they will entertain you look as silly as over-watered ones. If your MULTI-HEADED: L. aucampiae; L. by changing color, flowering and growing potting mix contains garden or commer­ lesliei; L. marmorata; L. salicola; L. a new body each year. And, of course, they cial soil, there is no need to fertilize. If you turbiniformis will give you a conversation piece for your use a soilless mix, fertilize rarely. Dilute next cocktail party. 0 the fertilizer to one-tenth the recom­ DIVERSE SPECIES: L. aucampiae; L. -Erin Monica Hynes mended strength, and apply it when you fulleri; L. halli; L. julii; L. lesliei Erin Hynes is a technical writer for the water. Do not fertilize during the summer UNIFORM SPECIES: L divergens; L. Institute for Scientific Information in or non-watering phase of the cycle. Over- meyeri; L. optica; L. viridis Philaddphia. Lithops are her favorite plant.

"I'VE BEEN SEARCHING FOR A Caribbean Garden Symposium PRODUCT LIKE YOURS FOR 5 YEARS. ALL MY ROSES SURVIVE. January 19-29 GREEN CROSS IS TERRIFIC:' Elaine Crisman-Collinsville, IL \---=~~~ 7 ur seven-day cruise sails from Barbados through the Ounspoiled Grenadine Islands and down Venezuela's exotic Orinoco River. Our ship is small enough to gain ac­ cess to secluded harbors, thereby enhancing our shore ex­ cursions to some of the most picturesque and botanically interesting spots in the Caribbean. Delight in exploring the spice island of Grenada, the tropical forests of Martinique, the lovely Botanic Gardens of Tobago. Four days on Barba- dos at the end of the .BARBADOS FORTIFY YOUR PLANTS WITH 2·20·10! trip will include visits to public and private MULTI·MINERAL GREEN CROSS WINTER· gardens and many CARE HARDENS STEMS, REDUCES areas of horticultural DIEBACK AND WINTER INJURY. significance. Join Tour Leader Everitt 1.5 Ibs.-$7.95, 5.0 Ibs.-$14.95, 25 Ibs.-$32.99 Miller, former Direc­ Postpaid USA. Send check to Green Cross Inc., Box tor of Longwood Gar­ 195 AH-l Oyster Bay, NY 11771 • 516-922-9176 • dens, on this very Call Toll Free 1-800-841-1105. special trip. Also available through Smith & Hawken, Brookstone, Gardeners Eden catalogs. For more information on this tour, please write to: American Horticultural Society, Box 0105, Mt. Vernon, VA 22121, or telephone (617) 246·3575.

34 October 1985 Pronunciation Guide

Achillea ah-KILL-ee-ah Dianthus die-AN-thuss mah-HONE-ee-ah ak-qui-FOE-Iee-um Allium albopilosum Eustoma grandif/orum M. repens m. REE-penz AL-ee-um al-bow-pill-LOW-sum you-STOW-mah grand-i-FLOOR-um Matricaria mat-ri-KA Y-ree-ah A. christophii a. kris-TOE-fee-eye Fallugia paradoxa Matteuccia mat-TOO-see-ah Anemone x hybrida fal-LOO-jee-ah par-ah-DOCKS-ah Monarda moh-NARD-ah ah-NEM-oh-nee HY-brid-ah Filipendula rubra Nerium indicum NEAR-ee-um IN-di-kum Anthemis AN-them-iss fill-i-PEND-you-Iah REW-brah N. odorum n. oh-DOOR-um Aquilegia akitensis F. ulmaria f. ul-MARE-ee-ah N. oleander n. oh-Iee-AN-der ak-qui-LEE-jee-ah ah-kit-EN-sis Funkia FUN-kee-ah Oenothera missourensis A. f/abellata a. f1ab-ell-A Y-tah Gypsophila jip-SOF-i-Iah ee-no-THAIR-ah miss-or-EN-siss Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Habenaria ha-ben-AIR-ee-ah Osmunda oz-MUN-dah ark-toe-STAFF-ill-ose OO-va UR-see Hakonechlora macra Pachysandra pak-i-SAN-drah Arisaema akitense hak-on-eh-KLOR-ah MACK-rah Paxistima myrsinites air-iss-SEE-mah ah-kit-EN-see Hedera helix HEAD-er-ah HE-licks packs-iss-TY-mah mir-sin-EYE-tees A. sikokianum a. si-koe-kee-A Y-num Hemerocallis hem-er-oh-KAL-iss Physocarpus monogynus Artemisia tridentata Heracleum sphondylium subsp. montanum fizz-oh-CAR-puss moh-no-GUY-nuss ar-tem-EASE-ee-ah try-den-T A Y-tah HER-ah-kloom sfon-DIE-Iee-um Platycodon plat-ee-COE-don Astilbe ah-STILL-bee mon-TAN-um Potentilla fruticosa Athyrium goeringianum Holodiscus dumosus po-ten-TILL-ah froo-ti-KOE-sah ah-THIGH-ree-um gair-rinj-ee-A Y-num hole-oh-DISC-us do-MOE-sus Rhus glabra ROOS GLA Y-br ah Begonia evansiana Hosta f/u ctuans HOSS-tah FLUK-too-ans R. typhina r. ty-FY-nah be-GO-nee-ahlbe-GOAN-yah H. fortunei h. FOR-tune-eye Rodgersia tabularis ee-van-see-A Y-nah H. fortunei var. hyacinthina rod-JERS-ee-ah tab-you-LAIR-iss B. grandis b. GRAND-iss h. FOR-tune-eye hi-ah-sin-THIGH-ah Rubus parvif/orus Bletilla striata bleh-TILL-ah stry-A Y-tah Juniperus scopulorum REW-bus par-vi-FLOOR-us Campanula kam-PAN-yew-Iah jew-NIP-er-us skoe-pull-OR-um Sambucus racemosa subsp. pubens Cardiocrinum car-dee-oh-CR Y-num Linum L Y-num sam-BEW-kus ray-si-MOH-sah PEW-benz Cercocarpus montanus Liriope muscari ~antolina san-toh-LEE-nah sir-koe-KAR-puss mon-TAN-us ler-R YE-oh-pee mew-SCARE-ee Stembergia lutea Chrysothamnus nauseosus Lisianthus russellianus stern-BERG-ee-ah LOO-tee-ahlloo-TEE-ah kris-oh-THAM-nus naw-see-OH-sus liss-ee-AN-thuss russ-ell-ee-A Y-nus Symphoricarpos occidentalis Cimicifuga racemosa Lithops aucampiae sim-for-i-CAR-pos ok-si-,den-T A Y-liss sim-i-si-FEW-gah ray-si-MOH-sah LITH-ops aw-CAMP-eye-ee Thalictrum thah-LICK-trum Clematis integrifolia L. bella var. bella I. BELL-ah BELL-ah Veronica rep ens ver-ON-i-kah REE-penz KLEM-ah-tiss/klem-AT-iss L. bromfieldii var. insularis Vinca minor VIN-kah MY-nor in-teg-ri-FOE-Iee-ah I. brom-FIELD-ee-eye in-sul-AIR-iss C. x jackmanii c. jack-MAN-ee-eye L. dinteri I. din-TEAR-eye TREE PEONIES C. x jouiniana c. jew-in-ee-A Y-nah L. divergens I. die-VER-jens OF THE WORLD C. lanuginosa c. la-new-gin-OH-sah L. fulleri I. FULL-er-eye TIps for the home gardeners. Many color photographs of the peonies we sell-both tree & herbaceous with our new C. montana c. mon-T AN-ah L. halli I. HALL-eye introductions. C. virginiana c. ver-jin-ee-A Y-nah L. herrei I. HER-eye Cleome hasslerana L. julii I. JEW-lee-eye SMIRNOW'S SON Oakwood Drive West, RI. #1, Huntington, N.Y. 11743 c1ee-OH-me has-Ier-A Y-nah L. lesliei I. LESS-lee-eye (516) 421·0836 Please send $2.00 for Catalog Colchicum autumnale L. marmorata I. mar-more-A Y-tah KOL-chi-kum aw-tum-NAL-ee L. meyeri I. MY-er-eye Coreopsis kor-ee-OP-sis L. naureeniae I. naw-REEN-eye-ee Comus canadensis L. olivacea I. oh-live-A Y-see-ah KOR-nus can-ah-DEN-siss L. optica I. OP-tik-ah C. sericea c. ser-EE-see-ah L. pseudotruncatella C. stolonifera c. stow-Iow-NIFF-er-ah I. sue-doh-trunk-ah-TELL-ah Crocus CROW-cuss L. ruschiorum I. rus-key-OR-um Cyclamen cilicium L. salicola I. sal-i-KOE-Iah SYKE-lah-meniSICK-lah-men sill-ISS-ee-um L. turbiniformis I. tur-bin-i-FOR-miss C. coum c. KOOM L. verruculosa I. ver-oo-koo-LOW-sah C. graecum c. GREE-kum L. viridis I. VEER-i-diss C. hederifolium c. head-er-i-FOE-Iee-um L. werneri I. WER-ner-eye C. pseudibericum c. sue-di-BEAR-i-kum L ycoris squamigera C. repandum c. re-PAN-dum lie-CORE-iss skwa-mi-JER-ah C. trochopteranthum Macleaya cordata c. troh-kop-ter-AN-thum MACK-lee-yah kor-DA Y-tah Delphinium del-FIN-ee-um Mahonia aquifolium

American Horticulturist 35 CIassifieds

CLASSIFIED AD RATES: Fascinating and use·ful gardening books, old and door! Superior color ... longlasting quality . .. large field bunches. Order our 5-bunch Sampler 75¢ per word; $15 .00 minimum per insertion. 10% new. Catalog, $1.00. SUTLEY HORTICUL- discount for three consecutive insertions using same TURAL BOOKS, 1105 Cherry, Dept. AHI05, .. . receive 6th bunch FREE! $20 plus $4 ship- copy. Copy must be received two months prior to Centralia, WA 98531. ping . .. Great gifts ... Guaranteed. 1985 publication date. Send orders to the attention of Cindy Out of print and scarce gardening and botanical Croplist $1.00. YOUNGHART FARM, Route Weakland, American Horticultural Society, Mount 1, Box 233A-B, Solsberry, IN 47459. books. Catalogs issued regularly. Please write Vernon, Virginia 22121. Or call (703) 768-5700. to WHEELBARROW BOOKS, 22 Brangwyn DRIP IRRIGATION AMERICAN BONSAI SOCIETY Ave., Brighton, Sussex, BNl 8XG, England. DRIP IRRIGATION-ideal for flowers, vege A national society for those interested in min- Used and Rare Books: Horticulture, Botany, tables. Save water, reduce disease, increase yields iature trees. 4 Journals a year, newsletters, lend- Pomology, Landscaping, Herbology, Floral Arts. durable. Free information. MISER IRRIGA ing library, slide programs. Write ABS, Box 358, Catalogue $1.00. POMONA BOOKS, Rock- TION, Box 94616 AH, Lincoln, NE 68509 Keene, NH 03431. ton, Ontario, Can ad: LOR lXO. 4616. THE AVANT GARDENER CACTI & SUCCULENTS DWARF CONIFERS DIFFERENT, EXCITING, GREAT FUN TO Unusual and unique cactus plants from the great Over 180 types of dwarf conifers, small lea READ-for the gardener who wants to get more Southwest . . . all fully guaranteed up to one rhodies, andromeda & hollies. Many suitabl e out of gardening! Subscribe to THE AVANT year! FREE catalog; write or call collect-ARID for bonsai. Described by size, shape, color an d GARDENER, the most useful, most quoted of LANDS PLANTS, 6538C East Tanque Verde, texture. 50-page catalog$2.00 (refundable) all gardening publications. Every month this Tucson, AZ 85715, (602) 298-7651. WASHINGTON EVERGREEN NURSERY unique news service brings you the newest and ORCHID CACTUS, XMAS/EASTER CAC- Box 388AH, Leicester, NC 28748. most practical on-going information-new TUS. We're specialists! Hundreds to choose from EARTHWORMS plants, products, techniques, with sources, plus in our 91 + color plantlbookshop catalogs, 34 Red Earthworms, nature's productive soil im feature articles, special issues. 16th year. Awarded pages total. 200 + cactus books also available. provers. They produce: free natural fertilize r, Garden Club of America and Massachusetts All only $1.00. RAINBOW GARDENS, Box healthier soil and plants. 1,000-$14.00, wor m Horticultural Society Medals for outstanding 721-AH105, La Habra, CA 90633-0721. castings 5 pds.-$8.00. Postpaid. Instruction contributions to horticulture. Curious? Sample Descriptive/illustrated, cacti, succulent plant and provided. ELLIOTT SACKS (A H ), Soil 1m copy $1. Serious ? $10 full year (reg. $15). THE seed catalog. $2.00 (deductible). MESA FLORA provement Speciali st, 1329 Virginia Ave. AVANT GARDENER, Box 489M, New York, NURSERY, HC 1, Box 4159, Yucca Valley, CA Campbell, CA 95008. NY 10028. 92284. EXOTIC SEEDS AZALEAS & RHODODENDRONS FLECHSIG CACTI & SUCCULENTS, Dept. 1500 varieties of rare and unusual seeds in bea u- AH, 619 Orpheus Ave., Encinitas, CA 92024. AZALEA PETITES-choice and hard-to-find tifully color illustrated and descriptive catalo g. Choice cacti, aloes, many other succulents for dwarf and ground cover azaleas-hardy and Many never offered before. Available from collectors. Catalog $1, deductible. large enough to be transplanted directly 'From INTERNATIONAL SEED SUPPLIES, PO Bo x Our Garden To Yours!' MailorderCatalog $2.00 CARNIVOROUS PLANTS 538, NOWRA N.S.W., 2541 AUSTRALIA. Fo r (deductible). CARLSON'S GARDENS, Box 305- Carnivorous, woodland terrarium plants and your catalog, send $2.00 for surface mail, $3.0o AHA1085, South Salem, NY 10590. supplies. Book, The World ofCarnivorous Plants, for Air Mail, refunded with first order. BONSAI $6.95 postpaid. Catalog FREE. PETER PAULS Bonsai Plants, Pots, Tools, Books, Supplies. Great NURSERIE~ Canandaigua, NY 14424. 100% ORGANIC FERTILIZER Peruvian Seabird Guano is excellent for Rose s, Hobby. Catalog "AH" $1.00. BONSAI FARM, CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR GARDENERS PO Box 130, Lavernia, TX 71821. Mums, Vegetable Gardens, and all Green Plants . Beautiful, functional gifts for those who live to Bonsai trees. FREE 1985 catalogs of Bonsai Even the more skeptical soon become convince d garden. To receive our publication, please call after having used it. Dealer inquiries invite d. Books, Tools, Pots, Trays, and Supplies. Visit or write MRS. McGREGOR'S GARDEN SHOP, our display when in our area (by appointment). For information call or write: LAWRENCE A. Dept. AH, 4801 1st Street North, Arlington, POZARELLI, 3562 E. 80th St., Cleveland, 0 H Call or write for catalog or more information. VA 22203. (703) 528-8773. We ship anywhere. Wholesale inquiries invited. 44105, (216) 641-1200. BONSAI CREATIONS, Dept. 102AH, 2700 N. CULINARY PRINTS FLOWER ARRANGING SUPPLIES 29th Ave. #204, Hollywood, FL 33020 (305) HERB/SPICE COOKING CHARTS. Unique in- FREE CATALOG-Flower Arranging Su p- 962-6960. formative fu ll color prints. Tubed pair $8.50 plies, Books, Publications, Dried and Silk Flo w­ BOOKS postpaid (58¢ NY Sales tax). Send long SASE ers, Baskets, Containers. FLORAL ACCENTS, for brochure. Wholsale inquires welcomed. Dept. A, Rte. 1, Box 69, Rustburg, VA 2458 8. DRIED BOUQUETS SO REAL THEY LOOK GOURMET'S ARTIST, Box 514A, Staten Is- FRESH!!! Two show-and-tell books give land, NY 10310. FLOWER ARRANGING QUARTERLY Professional secrets for PRESERVING FLOW- The Flower Arranging Quarterly is for every- CYCLAMEN ERS Step-by-Step $2.95 (includes Microwave) one! If you enjoy working with flowers, fruit s, and companion book Step " by~Step BOOK OF Cyclamen, primulas shipped in pots. Descrip- weeds, and foliages; are eager to know what IS· DRIED BOUQUETS $8.95-over 285 pho- tive list, cultural advice, $1.00. Nancy Good- going on in the world of design, you will sure! Y tographs for making Williamsburg, Victorian, win, MONTROSE NURSERY, PO BOX 957, wish to receive this magazine devoted to the a rt Modern, Gifts. Both Books $12.90 ppd. FREE Hillsborough, NC 27278. of flower arr.anging. Take advantage of this sp e­ NEWSLETTER, send stamp. ROBERTA DAYLILIES cial offer: a first year subscription mailed in th e MOFFITT, Box 3597, Wilmington, DE 19807. Daylilies " The Ultimate Perennial" we grow U.S. for $10.00. FLORAMERICA, Box 26 3, EXOTICA 4,16,300 photos, by Dr. A. B. Graf, hundreds of the finest cultivars available. Color Westwood, MA 02090. 2,590 pages in 2 volumes, $175. EXOTIC catalogue $1.00. GREENWOOD NURSERY, PLANT MANUAL-4,200 photos, $37.50. GARDEN ORNAMENTS 2 El Camino Ratel, Goleta, CA 93117. EXOTIC HOUSE PLANTS-1,200 photos, ERKINS-Since 1910 importer of finest lea d, $8.95. Circulars gladly sent. ROEHRS, Box 125, DRIED FLOWERS iron, terra cotta, stone and teak garden om a- E. Rutherford, NJ 07073. Finest dned flowers ... farmfres h . .. to y our ments. Send $4.00 for catalo g ue. ERKIN S

36 October 1985 STUDIOS, 604 Thames Street, N ewpo rt, RI Ba ldwin Place, NY 10505. HEATHS & HEATHERS 02840. Dealer inquiries welcome. GREENHOUSES Enjoya colorful all -year HEATHER GARDEN! GARDEN RAFFIA Redwood/fibergl ass, solar-effici ent kits, fun c­ Send SASE for descriptive 100-cultiva r li st. Imported Raffia for tying and grafting. 100 per­ tional, economical. Write for FREE brochure. HEATHER GROWERS, Box 850, Elm a, WA cent natural. Soft and pliable; wi ll not cut in to GOTHIC ARCH GREENHOUSES, PO Box 98541. or harm pl ants. 3 oz. Send $3.00 today. IN­ 1564-ah, Mobile, AL 36633-1564. HELP WANTED TERWORLD ENTERPRISES, 7615 Fulton Av­ HANDMADE WREATHS Couple, Caretaker/ga rdener. Connecticut es ­ enue, North Holl ywood, CA 91605. tate. Care of grounds, pool, small gree nhouse Enj oy the bea uty of th e ga rd en year-round with and housekeepin g. Fu rther inquiries phone col­ GARDENING BOOKS our handmade wreaths, decorated with a va­ lect to Mrs. Hardy: (212) 751-7440. Send six 22¢ stamps for ex tensiv e li stings of ri ety of wi ld and ga rden fl owers, grasses, etc. both new and out-of-print titles, especiall y gar­ Designs capture an airy, natural look. Illu s­ HORTICULTURE THERAPY den history and des ign. WARREN BRODER­ trated brochure of wreaths and other nature Horticulture therapy and rehabilitati o n pro­ ICK, PO Box 124, La nsi ngburgh, NY 121 82. crafts $2.00 (deductible fro m first o rd er). gram serving the mentall y ill and mentally re­ NATURE'S HARVEST, AHS, 42 Elm Avenue, tard ed is seeking funds for expansion. For more GREENHOUSE ACCESSORIES Newpo rt News, VA 23601. info rm ation, pl ease contact Joe Krake, THE COMPLETE MIST PROPAGATION SYS­ FLOWER POT GREENHOUSE, N.W. 18th St., HARDY CYCLAMEN-PERENNIALS TEMS. Get phenomenal propagati on results­ Richmond, IN 47374, or ca ll coll ect (3 17) 962- Greater financia l yield! Unequall ed-inexpen­ RUSSELL GRAHAM PURVEYOR OF 7177. sive-FREE brochure. AQUAMONITOR, Box PLANTS. Featuring hard y cyclamen, native HOSTAS 327, Dept. B, Huntington, NY 11743. pl ants, hardy ferns, lil y species, specialty bulbs Seedling Hostas $37.50/50, $65/100, $375/1000. and hardy perennials. An extraordinary selec­ GREENHOUSE BOOKS Hosta list 2 stamps. Quality hybrid Hosta, Lily, tion of uncommon plants. Descriptive ca talog Iris, Daylily Seeds-10 packs $12.50. Varie­ GREENHOUSE MANAGEMENT-SEC­ $2.00 (refundable on 1st purchase). Visitors ga ted Liriope $15 Doz., $95/100. HOLIDAY OND ED ITI ON by Robert W. Langhans, Cor­ welcome by a ppointment only. RUSSELL SEEDS, 4276 Durham Circle, Stone Mountain, nell Uni versity professo r. Info rmation on heat­ GRAHAM PURVEYOR OF PLANTS, 4030 GA 30083. ing, cooling, watering, li ghting and pest control. Eagle Crest Road N.W., Sa lem, OR 97304. 270 pages, 209 illustrations. Send $21.00 post­ HOUSE PLANTS HARPER HORTICULTURAL SUDE paid to HALCYON PRESS OF ITHACA, 111 TROPICALS delivered to your door courtesy LffiRARY (PAMELA HARPER) Halcyon Hill Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. of Logee's. Our 1985-86 catalog li sts 2,000 60,000 sli des of plants and ga rdens. Lectu re sets Indoor Pl ants including Begonias, Geraniums, GREENHOUSE EQUIPMENT for rent or purchase, including six different sets Jasmines, Citrus, Herbs. Beautiful color illustra­ FREE CATALOe-Save on equipment, pots, on PERENNIALS, with lecture notes. Catalog tions throughout-$3.00. LOGEE'S GREEN­ fl ats, baskets, soils, fe rtilize rs. Send 22¢ stamp $1.50.219 Robanna Shores, Seaford, VA 23696. HOUSES, AH, 55 North Street, Danielson, CT tor postage. GROW-N-ENERGY, PO Box 508A, (8 04) 898-6453 . 06239.

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Two 30 " x 15" =$49 .50 Windows or shutters Mechanical and design Pat. Pend . SOLD ONLY BY MAIL ORDER

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American Horticulturist 37 CLASSIFIEDS

RARE FLOWERING PLANTS, flowering vines, For more information send addressed, stamped alog $1.00, refundable. THE CUMMINS GAR­ tropicals, begonias, gesneriads, African violets, envelope to: Education Department, BROOK­ DEN, 22 Robertsville Rd., Marlboro, NJ 07746. miniature and terrarium plants. Catalog $2.00. LYN BOTANIC GARDEN, 1000 Washington (201) 536-2591. KARTUZ GREENHOUSES, Dept. A, 1408 Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225. (718) 622-4544. Largest selection of Rhododendrons and Aza­ Sunset Drive, Vista, CA 92083. ORCHIDS leas on the East Coast with many new varieties. Mail order catalog $2.00. ROSLYN NURS­ ORCHIDS! ORCHIDS! ORCHIDS! Brome­ HOYA SPECIAL ERY, Dept. AH, Box 69, Roslyn, NY 11576. WHAT'S A HOYA? 6 ea. different Hoya cut­ Ii ads, Staghorn Ferns, Books, Peters Fertilizer, Potting Mixes, Supplies for indoor and green­ tings. $14.95 Postpaid. FREE descriptive list & ROSES growing instructions. Satisfaction guaranteed. house culture. REQUEST CATALOG. FOX HARD TO FIND ROSES, old and new vari­ SLO GARDENS, 4816B Bridgecreek, San Luis ORCHIDS, INC., 6615 West Markham, Little eties. List FREE on request. HORTICO INC., Obispo, CA 93401. Rock, AR 72205. R.R. #1, Waterdown, Ontario, Canada LOR 2HO; (416) 689-6984. INDOOR GARDENING ORGANIZATIONS ROSES, ROSES, ROSES: Save Money-buy di­ Lighted Plantstands of solid wood, waterproof You will enjoy these benefits when you become rect from us. All guaranteed finest qualiry #1 hard finish custom made. SUNI'S VIOLETS, a member of THE INDOOR CITRUS & RARE bareroot roses. Many varieties to choose from; P.O. Box 329, South Kent, CT 06785. FRUIT SOCIETY. We have developed a finder's service-availabiliry of information, seeds and patent and non-patent at the best price. Shipped INDOOR-OUTDOOR GARDENING plants of Citrus and rare fruits. Special prices late January through April. Write for FREE LIST SUPPLIES of books on Tropical & Subtropical Fruits for of varieties and prices: DONOVAN'S ROSES, " FREE CATALOGUE" ... "LOWEST members. A 16-page quarterly Newsletter that Dept. AH, PO Box 37800, Shreveport, LA 71133- PRICES-TOP QUALITY SUPPLIES" .. . Plas- updates research on Citrus and other rare fruits. 7800. tic pots, hanging baskets, peat pots, etc .... 2 Membership fees: $10 per year, U.S.A.; $12 per SEEDS Stamps . .. Postage . .. PLANT COLLECT­ year outside U.S.A. Make checks payable to WORLD'S LARGEST SELECTION of qualiry IBLES, 103E Kenview Ave., Buffalo, NY 14217. INDOOR CITRUS SOCIETY, 176 Coronado rare seeds from every continent. Thousands of FREE GROWING SUPPLIES CAT ALOG­ Ave., Los Altos, CA 94022. hard-to-find exotics, flowers, bulbs, house­ Wholesale Prices! Pots, flats, fertilizer, Pro-Mix, PALMS plants, hardy perennials, trees, ferns, alpines. insecticides, more' FPI, Dept. H, 2242 Palmer, Rare herbs, medicinal, edible plants. European DWARF RHAPIS EXCELSA-ELEGANT IN­ Schaumburg, IL 60195. and Oriental vegetables. Hundreds of exclu­ DOOR PALMS Green and variegated varieties, sives. Reasonable prices. World's most informa­ JAPANESE AND AMERICAN 12"-32" tall, 5"-10" pots. 3-9 years old. Catalog tive catalog, packed with illustrations, cultural WILDFLOWERS $2. Rhapis Palm Book $5. ppd. RHAPIS GAR­ and historical information, $1.00. WORLD Also Cyclamen, Epimediums, Alliums, Species DENS, POB 287-A, Gregory TX 78359. Iris, Rock Garden Plants, Rare and Unusual SEED SERVICE, J.L. Hudson, Seedsman, Box Perennials. Catalogue $.50. WE-DU NURSER­ PEONIES 1058-AT, Redwood Ciry, CA 94064. IES, Rte. 5, Box 724, Marion, NC 28752. Including rare hybrids. Also Daylilies, Japanese THE WORLD'S LARGEST and most famous Iris, Hosta. FREE catalog. CAPRICE FARM JASMINES seed catalog. Over 200 pages, 4,000 varieties, NURSERY, 15425 SW Pleasant Hill Rd., Sher­ 1,000 color pictures. A major book of reference. Jasmine polyanthemum, Jasmine revolutum, wood, OR 97140. The Encyclopedia of how and what to grow Jasmine officinallis. 4 for $6.00. List 25¢.. EDNA PERENNIALS from seed. The Bible of seed catalogs to gar­ WELSH, Route 3, Box 1700, Madison, FL deners in over 100 countries. Vegetables, pot 32340. We offer a good selection of sturdy plants. Send plants, exotics, perennials, alpines, rockery, lat­ LANDSCAPING $1.00 for Plant List (refundable). CAMELOT est and best annuals, trees, shrubs, bulbs from Learn Landscaping and the growing of plants NORTH, R2, Pequot Lakes, MN 56472. seed with rare items unobtainable elsewhere. at home. Start business or hobby. FREE book­ PLANTS-RARE BUT AFFORDABLE Write for FREE copy, allowing three weeks or let. LIFETIME CAREER SCHOOLS, Dept. A- Extensive selection: ,. American Natives * Out­ enclose $2.00 for First Class mail: THOMP­ 176,2251 Barry Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90064. standing Ornamentals * Uncommon Conifers * SON & MORGAN, INC., Dept. AHC5, PO LONGWOOD GRADUATE PROGRAM Wild Fruit * Hardiest Eucalyptus * Wildlife Plants. Box 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527. Education Graduate Fellowship in Public Hor­ Affordable containerized starter-plants. Informa­ TOPIARY ticulture Administration. The Universiry of Del­ tive catalog-$1.50. FORESTFARM, 990 Planted topiary and frames. Discount to clubs. aware in cooperation with Longwood Gardens Tetherah, Williams, OR 97544. Write for brochure. TOPIARY, INC., 41 Ber­ is now accepting applications for the 1986-88 POSITION WANTED ing, Tampa, FL 33606. class of the Longwood Graduate Program. The EXPERT PROPERTY CARE. Land, Flora, rwo-year Program yields the M.S. degree in Or­ TREE PROBLEMS structures, administration, capably handled. namental Horticulture with emphasis in the ad­ For FREE DIRECTORY of American Sociery Permanent position sought. Will live on site. ministration and management of public gar­ of Consulting Arborists, experts on care, ap­ L.S., PO Box 761, Ojai, CA 93023. dens. Further information and applications may praisals, casu airy losses and legal problems, write: be requested by calling Dr. James E. Swasey, RHODODENDRONS ASCA, 700 Canterbury Road, Clearwater, FL Coordinator, Longwood Graduate Program, RHODODENDRONS for the woodland, land­ 33546. (302) 451-2517 or by writing Dr. Swasey, Long­ scape, or rock garden. We grow only rhodo­ UNUSUAL PLANTS wood Graduate Program, 153 Townsend Hall, dendrons. FREE listing. CARDINAL NURS­ Baobabs, rare succulents, caudiciforms, Sansev­ Universiry of Delaware, Newark, DE 19717- ERY, Rt. 1, Box 97M, State Road, NC 28676. ierias, low light plants, and other exotics. Price 1303. (919) 874-2027. list and periodic newslerters, $1.50 deductible MAPLES RHODODENDRONS & AZALEAS from first order. SINGERS', 17806 Plummer MATSU-MOMIJI NURSERY-Attention Dis­ CHOICE AND HARD-TO-FIND Azaleas and St, AH, Northridge, CA 91325. criminating Gardeners and Bonsai Growers­ Rhododendrons-hardy and large enough to be WOODLANDERS we are offering the finest Japanese Maples and transplanted directly "From Our Garden To RARELY OFFERED SOUTHEASTERN NA­ Black Pines. Also we have selections of Spruce Yours!" Mailorder Catalog $2.00 (deductible). and Tropicals for Indoor Growers. Catalog TIVES, woody, herbaceous, nursery-grown. CARLSON'S GARDENS, Box 305-AHR1085, Many hardy northward. Also newly introduced $1.25, PO Box 11414, Philadelphia, PA 19111. South Salem, NY 10590. (215) 722-6286. exotics selected for Southern gardens. Send SPECIALIZING IN THE UNUSUAL. Dwarf postage for extensive mailorder list. WOOD­ ORCHID SYMPOSIUM Rhododendrons, Evergreen & Deciduous Azal­ LANDERS AH, 1128 Colleton Ave., Aiken, SC November 9, 1985. Lectures, demonstrations. eas, Dwarf Conifers, Companion Plants. Cat- 29801.

38 October 1985 AIlS Sources Travel ELIZA PINCKNEY Road, NW, Salem, OR 97304, Cata­ Program Readers who would like to learn more about logue $2.00. Eliza Pinckney will want to look for the We-Du Nursery, Box AH, Route 5, Box The American Horticultural Society is following books and articles about her: 724, Marion, NC 28752, Catalogue 50¢. sponsoring an exci:1 program ofhorti- Berkeley, Edmund, and Dorothy Smith. Dr. cultural explorations or the 1986 sea- Alexander Garden of Charles Town. LITHOPS son. Plan to jOin fellow AHS members Chapel Hill, North Carolina. University on one or more of these exciting garden- of North Carolina Press. 1969. Unnamed Lithops are availab le from a va­ related tours. Pinckney, Elise, editor. "Letters of Eliza riety of sources, including garden centers Pinckney, 1768-1782," South Carolina and nurseries across the country. To order Caribbean Garden Symposium (January 19·29) Historical Magazine Uuly 1975) Vol. 76, plants that are identified with their correct Cruise the unspoiled Grenadine Islands and Ven· . ezuela's exotic Orinoco River. Explore the spice No.3, pp. 143-170. botanical names, write to one of the fol­ island of Grenada, the tropical forests of Marti- Pinckney, Elise, editor. The Letterbook of lowing companies: nique, the lovely botanic gardens ofTobago, and Eliza Lucas Pinckney. Chapel Hill, North Ed Storms, Inc., Box AH, PO Box 775, public and private gardens on Barbados. Tour fas- Carolina. University of North Carolina Azle, TX 76020, Catalogue $1.50. cinating gardens and natural areas in the Carib- Press. 1972. Lauray of Sa lisbury, Box AH, Under­ bean with tour leader Everitt Miller, fonner Direc- Pi nckney, Eliza. Letterbooks. Library of mountain Road, Route 41, Salisbury, tor of Longwood Gardens. Congress, Manuscript Division. Wash­ CT 06068, Catalogue $1.50. ington, D.C. Gardens of Costa Rica (February 16-March 1) Ravenel, Harriott Horry. Eliza Pinckney. Visit private and public gardens, and tour com- mercial nurseries and natural areas in a horticul- New Yo rk, New York. Scribners. 1896. OLEANDERS turaJ paradise. See mature collections of orchids, Wi ll iams, Frances Leigh. A Founding Fam­ Gardeners who are interested in lea rning aroids and bromeliads at Lankester Garden, and ily: The Pinckneys of South Carolina. more about oleanders will want to join the stay at an Organization for Tropical Studies field New York, New York. Harcourt Brace National Oleander Society. Members re­ station near the Panamanian border. Tour Jovanovich. 1978. ceive a quarterly newsletter, and the So­ Leader: Mildred 1. Mathias, Emeritus Professor ciety will also supply seeds and, when of Botany, UCLA WESTERN SHRUBS available, cuttings. Memberships are $5.00 for individuals and $8.00 for couples. For Holland at Tulip Time (April 27-May 11) Ad- Many of the plants mentioned in Irene a brochure on the Society, send a self­ mire spectacular Dutch flowers in Amsterdam Mitchell 's article should be available from and Aaismeer during tours to bulb fields, private addressed, stamped envelope to Nationa I well-stocked garden centers and nurseries. gardens and nurseries. Spend one week on a lux- Oleander Society, PO Box 3431, Galves­ ury canal barge cruise. The fo llowing two companies offer seed ton Is land, TX 77552. of these plants via mail order: Kenya and East Africa (March 5-24) Visit pri- Forest Farm, Box AH, 990 Tetherow Road, Plants vate gardens, arboreta and great tea estates in this Williams, OR 97544, Catalogue $2.00. Logee's Greenhouses, Box AH, 55 North exotic part of the world. Learn about the botanical Plants of the Southwest, Box AH, 1812 Street, Danielson, CT 06239, Catalogue wonders of the lake, mountain, rain forest and 2nd Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501, Cat­ $3.00. moorland habitats throughout Kenya There will alogue $1.00. Mellinger'S, inc., Box AH, 2310 West South also be many opportunities to view the vast array Range, North Lima, OH 44452, Cata­ of African wildlife. Tour Leader: Dr. Gilbert ABBY ALDRICH ROCKEFELLER logue free. Daniels, Past President of AHS. GARDEN Van Bourgondien Brothers, Box AH, 245 ------Farmingdale Road, Route 109, Baby­ YES! Please send me more information The Rockefell er Garden on Mt. Desert Is­ lon, NY 11702, Catalogue free. on the tours I have checked below. land is open to the public on a very li mited basis. Visitors may tour the garden from Seeds o Caribbean Garden Symposium 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays from Thompson & Morgan, PO Box 1308-AH , o Gardens of Costa Rica o Kenya & East Africa mid-July until the end of August. Jackson, NJ 08527, Catalogue free. o Holland at Tulip Time WILD CYCLAMEN OF MONTROSE ADVANCED PROPAGATION Name Readers who would like to order cyclamen MIST SYSTEMS Address fro m Nancy Goodwin can send $1.00 for (Free brochure) her list to Montrose Nursery, PO Box 957, City State __ ZIp __ Hillsborough, NC 27278. Seed-grown cy­ AQUAMON ITOR clamen are also available from: Dept. 10 -Box 327 - Huntington, N.Y. 11743 MAIL TO: Robin Williams, American Hortlcultura1 SOCiety, PO Box 0105, Mount Vernon, VA 22121. Russell Graham, Box AH, 4030 Eagle Crest 516-427-5664

American Horticulturist 39 SEASONABLE REMINDERS Oleanders

he oleander is a fascinating plant whose associations with man date T back to Biblical times. Originally found from the Mediterranean region to Japan, this lovely shrub occupies a unique place in the horticultural history of this country. Early immigrants, especially from the southern European countries, brought double rose- and white-flowered cultivars of oleander with them to the United States. This beautiful plant was especially popular among the Pennsylvania Dutch, and could be found from the Shenandoah Valley to the valley of the Delaware and westward to Kansas. Oleanders were grown in tubs so they could be protected from the north­ ern winters. Plants were passed from gen­ eration to generation and provided a feel­ ing of continuity with ancestors and life long past. Southward, along the eastern seaboard, oleanders were planted out­ doors. Oleanders still flourish outdoors in our southern climes. In the North, they are still found growing in tubs and containers, gracing patios and indoor gardens. These lovely shrubs belong to the Apocynaceae, or dogbane family, and are classified in the genus Nerium. Hortus Third recog­ nizes two species in the genus, only one of which, N. oleander, is in cultivation. This is the common oleander, also called rose­ bay. Although N. indicum and N. odorum are often listed as separate species, bota-

ABOVE: Oleanders frame many of the homes and other buildings in the historic district of Galveston, Texas. LEFT: 'Mrs. Agnes Campbell' is a magnificent, single-flowered cultivar. nists do not consider these two taxa to be offer many cultivars for sale. Furthermore, distinct from N. oleander. information on the plant's culture can be Oleanders can become overwhelming if difficult to obtain, and is rarely found in left to their own devices. Bushes can grow any detail in gardening books. to a height of 25 to 30 feet and can form Fragrant blossoms of oleander can be dense windbreak fences. In areas where seen from California through the Gulf and oleanders grow luxuriantly, it is important southern states. Blossoms of all shades of to keep them well pruned and trimmed to white, yellow, pink and salmon line the shape. They are able to survive the heat streets and flank the gardens of Galveston, Some nurseries now and dryness of summer, and basically r€:• Texas, which has been named "The Olean­ quire little attention. Because of their der City." Over 60 cultivars have been offer dwatjand semi­ adaptability and easy maintenance, olean­ named in this island city, many bearing ders make excellent median breaks along the names of prominent persons in the his­ dwatjcultivars oj highways. Oleanders can also be trained tory of Galveston. In 1841, a trading oleander. in a tree form. However, oleander seed is schooner from Jamaica brought some not widely available, and nurseries rarely oleanders to Galveston in rum barrels, and

40 October 1985 after a few years, oleanders were growing ti va rs that will also survive the colder win­ in a matter of weeks. all over the city. Dr. Ferdinand Roemer, ters. In areas that have prolonged periods Oleander seeds should be sown in a good who wrote a book about his travels of sub-freezing temperatures, cut plants sterile medium such as vermiculite or per­ throughout Texas from 1845 to 1847, was back to several inches from the ground, lite. Pat the seeds down into the dampened struck by the beauty of the plants: "The cover with sand or peat moss after apply­ medium and cover lightly. It normally takes city with its cheerful white houses and pretty ing a general insecticide and a fungicide, two weeks for the seeds to germinate. gardens, in which roses and oleanders were then top with a covering of plastic or other To create a standard or tree-form olean­ in full bloom, pleased me still more than protective material. As soon as the last der, cut a piece of mature wood four to on my first visit." freeze has passed, uncover the plant so that six feet tall that is at least one inch in After a devastating hurricane in 1900, it ca n sprout. In extremely cold climates, diameter at the base. Strip the leaves from the women of Galveston organized to re­ keep the plants in contai ners that ca n be the branches and place the cutting in water plant the streets and avenues with palms brought indoors during the winter. in a non-metal container. Keep the water and oleanders. City residents graduall y be­ A spring appli cation of a fertilizer that level about eight to 10 inches deep. After came interested in the many different cul­ is high in phosphorus (the middle number three to four weeks, place the rooted trunk tivars of oleanders that had developed over in the nitrogen-phosphorus- potassium in a container filled with a mixture of peat the years, and in 1967, founded the Na­ formulation on the fertilizer container) will moss and garden soil. Water well for at tional Oleander Society. help oleanders bloom and grow in all cli­ least six months before planting the tree One of the aims of the National Olean­ mates. Aphids, mealybugs, scale and wart­ in a permanent location. Support the plant der Society is to clarify the confusion con­ like galls are the principal pests and di s­ with a stake, and strip all new shoots from cerning the cultivars of oleanders, many eases that afflict oleanders. Use any com­ the trunk except at the top. Trim to shape. of which no doubt have multiple names. mon garden spray for insect pests. Cut off In moderate climates, some cultivars of One publication, The Nerium Oleander in and burn the ga ll s, which are ca used by oleander have a blooming season that ex­ Israel, lists 18 cultivars prevalent in that bacteri a, and disinfect shears afterward. tends into the late fall; others burst into a land, with names set by the Hebrew Ac­ Fungi also cause a leaf spot disease on mass of blooms in the spring, but after ademic Society. Galveston, The Oleander oleanders; di seased leaves should be picked several spectacular weeks they are through City, written by Clarence Pleasants, details off and destroye d as soon as th ey are blooming for the season. The flowers, which some of the history of the oleanders and discovered. are borne in terminal branching cymes, lists 60 cultivars of the plant; this list is It is important to remember that caution may be used in floral arrangements and based on research done in 1966. The April is in order when handling oleanders, since for corsages. (In the early 1800's, women 1978 issue of Southwest Gardener, the of­ they are poisonous. Fortunately, olean­ wore clusters of oleander blossoms on their ficial publication of the Dallas Garden Club der's sap is extremel y bitter and is a de­ bosoms for decoration, and the plant was of Texas, includes a comprehensive review terrent to ingesting the pl ant. According considered a status symbol.) The flowers of the various types of oleanders that are to A Co lour Atlas of Poisonous Plants, of some cultivars last longer than others listed by the National Oleander Society "The plants contain cardiac glycosides of when cut; one should experiment in ad­ and in nursery catalogues and botanical the cardenolide type in all parts, but it is vance with the type to be used. Cut blos­ and horticultural literature. Since these only from the seeds that a large number soms in the early morning or late evening, publications appeared, additional dwarf of such compounds has been isolated .... and place them in deep water in a cool cultivars have been introduced commer­ The bitter taste of the cardenolides is a place before using. cially, including 'Casablanca' and 'Al­ deterrent to excessive consumption of the The shape of oleander blossoms varies. giers'. A newly patented cultivar listed as plant." Vomiting, often a side effect of this Single blooms can be pinwheel- or star­ 'Little Red' can reportedly withstand tem­ type of poisoning, prevents the absorption shaped, buttercup-like, square-ended or full­ peratures below 10° F. of large amounts of poison, so "although petaled. The double blossoms look some­ Some nurseries now offer dwarf and semi­ the plant is very dangerous, serious poi­ thing like gardenias, carnations or roses. dwarf cultivars of oleander, as well as the sonings are rare." Oleander blossoms are prevalent in the larger, more common ones. (Galveston is Oleanders can be propagated by both historic sections of Galveston, such as the one of the few places where all of the vary­ cuttings and air layering. Cuttings of ma­ East End Historical District, where many ing shades and flower types are readily ture wood can be easily rooted in water bushes are well over 50 to 75 years old. available.) The dwarf types grow approx­ or sand. In the spring and summer, cuttings The large, old bushes provide a beautiful, imately two to four feet in height, and the of mature wood stripped of leaves will send old-fashioned frame for the lovely homes. semi-dwarf cultivars, four to six feet. The out roots within seven to 14 days. In the In May, the yearly Historic Homes Tour larger cultivars can grow as high as 20 to fall, the rootlets take longer to appear. occurs at the height of the blooming sea­ 30 feet. Cuttings rooted in water should be han­ son, and visitors leave with a vivid impres­ Some cultivars of oleander are more hardy dled with extreme care, as the roots are sion of the flower-laden avenues. Indeed, and resist freezing temperatures better than very brittle and will break off easily. Rooted the city is a garden tended by many hands, others. In fact, some will withstand tem­ cuttings are best left in pots for a year and and the thoughts of residents and visitors peratures down to the teens. For those gar­ then transferred to the spots where they alike often turn to the famous flower of deners who grow oleanders in less tem­ are to grow; they will bloom the second Galveston. 6 -Elizabeth S. Head perate areas, the red- and white-flowered year of growth. Air layering has also been Elizabeth Head is a resident of Galveston, selections are recommended, although there extremely successful, and if one chooses Texas, and a former president of the National are some pink- and salmon-flowered cul- the proper branch, the new plant may bloom Oleander Society.

American Horticulturist 41 Book Reviews

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF AUSTRALIAN black-and-white line drawings of the in­ PLANTS SUITABLE FOR dividual plants. An appendix-with a chart CULTIVATION. of production timetables, recommended VOL. 1: Introductory Volume. 1980. books, a glossary and an index-com­ 336 pages; hardcover, $40.00. AHS pletes this valuable reference work. member price, $34.00. VOL. 2: A-Ca. 1982. 517 pages; hardcover, $59.95. A GUIDE TO ENJOYING AHS member price, $50.95. VOL. 3: WILDFLOWERS. Ce-Er. 1984. 516 pages; hardcover, Donald and Lillian Stokes. Little, Brown $59.95. AHS member price, $50.95. and Company. Boston, Massachusetts. W. Rodger Elliot and David L. Jones. 1985.371 pages; hardcover, $18.95. Lothian Publishing Company. AHS member price, $17.05. Melbourne, Australia. This attractive, field-guide-sized book will The Australian flora, which includes some appeal to anyone who loves wild plants 15,000 species of plants, has long been of and wants to learn more about them. The major interest to botanists and adventur­ book contains fascinating profiles of 50 ous gardeners in other parts of the world. GROWING AND PROPAGATING forest and roadside plants that are com­ Unfortunately, it has been relatively ig­ WILD FLOWERS. mon to urban and rural areas across North nored in its native land. The purpose of Harry R. Phillips. The University of America and that represent a variety of life this multi-volume encyclopedia is primar­ North Carolina Press. Chapel Hill, cycles and habitats. The featured plants ily to introduce this remarkable and highly North Carolina. 1985.331 pages; include common clover, chicory, colum­ varied flora to the Australian gardener. hardcover, $24.95; softcover, $14.95. bine, milkweed, skunk cabbage, thistle, However, it also provides an unprece­ AHS member price, $19.95 (hardcover), trillium, lady's-slipper and yarrow. The dented source of information on Austra­ $11 .95 (softcover). authors introduce each plant with a gen­ lian plants to gardeners around the world. No wildflower enthusiast should be with­ eral section on lore about the genus or the The five major divisions of Volume 1 out this useful, informative book, which particular species, including name origins, include "Introduction and History of Aus­ thoroughly covers the essential aspects of herbal and medicinal uses, history, and any tralian Plants in Cultivation," "Selection growing and propagating many species of interesting stories that have been associ­ and Cultivation of Australian Plants," wild plants. The introductory chapter on ated with the plant. Also included in the "Pests and Diseases," "Propagation" and cultivating native plants covers such topics discussions of each plant are sections on "Plant Lists" (for selection and use of plants as soil preparation, planting and design, wild and garden relatives, interesting char­ in special situations). It is interesting to as well as pests and diseases. There is also acteristics about the plant that an individ­ note that the chapter on the "History of an excellent chapter on propagation, which ual can observe, enjoyable features of the Eucalypts in Cultivation" deals mainly with includes discussions on seed collecting, flowers, and the characteristics of the plant early attempts at developing a hardwood cleaning, storing, dormancy and pre­ through the seasons. Nature-lovers and lumber industry in California. germination techniques, as well as asexual gardeners alike will enjoy this interesting Volume 2 onwards is an alphabetical propagation. The majority of the book is guide. account by genus and species of thousands devoted to extensive discussions of indi­ of Australian plants suitable for use in the vidual wildflowers, each of which includes THE FLORISTRY HANDBOOK. garden. The treatments are extensive; for information on fruit and seed character­ Harold Piercy. New Century Publishers, example, Acacia fills 121 pages and Den­ istics, how to clean and store the seed, Inc. Great Britain. 1985. 149 pages; drobium, 37 pages. For each species, a de­ propagation, cultivation and landscape uses. hardcover, $17.95. AHS member price, scription is followed by information on the This section is somewhat confusing to use, $16.15. natural habitat and notes on any special since the plants are not arranged in al­ The Floristry Handbook is an informative considerations for cultivation and propa­ phabetical order, but rather according to reference for both the amateur and the gation. Many excellent color photographs blooming time. Fortunately, however, a expert flower arranger. This is a British and black-and-white line drawings also ac­ complete index makes the individual de­ book, written by an individual who has company the descriptions. This new ref­ scriptions readily accessible. The author had 25 years of experience in the floral erence work is for adventurous gardeners has also devoted an entire chapter to ferns, industry. The author explains many of the everywhere-particularly in the Southeast, which includes an explanation of fern life techniques used by professionals in mak­ South and West of the United States. It cycles and propagation methods, as well ing flower arrangements. The first section should be in every serious gardener's home as descriptions of 15 ferns. of the book deals primarily with flower library and on the reference shelf in every With the exception of an eight-page sec­ arranging and decorating, and includes public library. tion of color photographs, Growing and chapters on handling flowers and foliage, -Gilbert S. Daniels Propagating Wild Flowers is illustrated with materials, basic flower designs, dried flow-

42 October 1985 HORTICULTURAL EXPLORATION OF ers, and wedding and church decorations. The second part of the book is devoted to floristry, and focuses primarily on the many ways flowers can be wired together to form Europe bouquets, headdresses, buttonhole sprays and other arrangements. Each chapter in­ Enjoy three different European itineraries escorted by horticulturists. All cludes detailed instructions for many in­ have visits to private homes and gardens besides interesting cultural and dividual projects. An entire chapter ex­ historical points. Since these trips usually are fully subscribed, we suggest plains floris try terms and methods, while early enrollment particularly for those who wish single hotel rooms. another sets forth the methods used to wire SPRING E~GLAND AND CHELSEA (May 8 - 23) flowers. The final section of the book cov­ Concentrating on Cornwall, see Trelissick and a helicopter trip to Tresco ers some of the details of running a flower in Scilly. Other public gardens include Stourhead and Numans. Also a full day at Chelsea Flower Show and free time in London. shop. SWITZ~RLAND AND NORTHERN ITALY (July 11 - 25) The alpine gardens are the highlight of this exciting exploration such as New In Paperback Champex and Rochers de Naye near Montreux, lovely private villas in the THE COMPLETE SHADE Italian lake region . Plus botanic gardens and visits to beautiful cities of GARDENER. Geneva, Interlaken and Zurich. George Schenk. Houghton Mifflin FALL ENGLAND (September 10 - 25) Company. Boston, Massachusetts. 1984. Explore one of the loveliest and least spoiled areas of England, that expanse of farm, marshland, and fen known as East Anglia. Visit some 278 pages; softcover, $14. 95. AHS of the greatest English gardens-Sandringham, Cambridge and Harlow Car. member price, $13.45. Plus York and free time in London. For your free brochures on these Horticultural Explorations led by horticulturists, please write to Education Department American Horticultural Society, Box 0105, Mt. Vernon, VA 22121. Or call collect: (513) 281-7000.

~------Book Order funn

Please send me the books I have checked below at the special AHS prices. Its ~rmast for Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants Suitable the Very Finest in for Cultivation Shade gardeners everywhere will find o Volume 1: Introductory Volume .. . $34.00 Miniature Roses 15B5·04140 something of interest in The Complete o Volume 2: A-Ca ...... $50.95 Shade Gardener. Sehenk had consultants 15B5·041 50 o Volume 3: Ce-Er...... $50.95 from all over the country, and includes 15B5·041 60 suggested shade plants for gardens o A Guide to Enjoying selection, featur­ Wildflowers ...... $17.05 throughout the United States in his plant LITIL·04220 ing the very best lists. The book-illustrated with black-and­ o The Floristry Handbook ...... $16.15 NEWCE·04230 of the older and white photographs as well as a few color plates-is divided into chapters on design groH~~3c~~~r ~~~:.~~~.~~~~.. ~.i.I~ .~.~. ~.~~$19.9 5 the very newest UN ORT·04100 and cultural practices. The major portion o Softcover ...... $11 .95 varieties. of the book, however, is devoted to a sec­ UNORT·04110 o The Complete Shade Gardener. ... . $13.45 tion of chapters with descriptive lists of HMIFF-04240 shade-loving plants such as shrubs, ferns, I would like to order books. (Please perennials, annuals and edibles. (Since spe­ add $1. 75 per book for postage and handling. :--D---~~-=~--~;--;~::--~-:~:~----- cies appropriate for all zones are included, Virginia residents, also add 4% sales tax.) Enclosed is my check for $. ____ be sure to verify the hardiness of any of Catalog Today! the listed plants in another reference work.) Please allow six weeks for delivery. I In short, this book would be a useful ad­ Mail to: Jeanne Eggeman, American Horticul­ tural Sociery, P.O. Box 0105, Mount Vernon, Name dition to any shade-gardener's library. Virginia 22121. -Barbara W. Ellis Ship to: ______Address City Barbara Ellis is Editor of American 5treet: ______, Horticulturist and Publications Director for ~S~t-at~e------~zl~· p------i the American Horticultural Society. City: ______Gilbert S. Daniels is the Immediate Past for~t Miniature Roses, Inc. ! 58 Hammond Street, Dept. AH i President of the American Horticultural State: Zip: ______Society. ______~?_~!~!::~_~~~~_~:~~:::t~_9..~?~~ ______.i ~------~

American Horticulturist 43 mE ABBY ALDRICH ROCKEFELLER GARDEN

Continued from page 25 a month earlier next time-perhaps in late Another architectural modification was lac, lavender, delicate mauve, pink and soft December for July bloom, since Maine's made in 1946, when the opening from the yellow-meld with each other. These are summers are so short.) central sunken panel into the oval garden interplanted with white-flowered and gray­ The garden was built on what was once was widened from six to 11 feet. The change foliaged plants, which act as buffers. The marshland. Originally, two magnificent red was designed by Farrand and her associate west borders betray the American pen­ spruce grew in a woodland on the site that on Mount Desert, Robert Patterson. Mr. chant for English flower gardens, partic­ is now bordered by the north wall; a cir­ Patterson, an architect who still lives on ularly for one in the style of Gertrude Je­ cular Chinese Moon Gate was centered the Island, later worked with Peggy and kyll, the great English garden designer behind the two trees. Now, only one of David Rockefeller to restore the Green­ whom Farrand admired. Uekyll favored the spruces survives. (Its existence is pre­ sward to its present form. the use of native plants, as well as subtle carious, however, as it was doctored for Peggy Rockefeller, "cattle breeder by blendings of color for total effect-tech­ root rot about 10 years ago and still wears vocation, gardener by avocation," has been niques that became the hallmarks of a Far­ scars in the form of cement-like filling chief gardener at The Eyrie since 1960. rand garden as well.) poured into the wounds.) This venerable Each fall, about October, she and Gary Tucked into the northwest corner of the sentinel is underplanted with a miniature Solari meet to weigh the successes and fail­ upper terrace is an inviting stone bench set fairyscape of purple lobelias ('Cambriclge ures of the past summer and to plan the among pale pink 'Catherine Woodbury' Blue' and 'Crystal Palace') and blue violas garden for the next season. Experiments daylilies, white Filipendula, gray-leaved ('Admiration' and 'Blue Perfection'). The and changes are still being made. The big­ thistle, hostas, Santolina and blue pansies. ubiquitous Veronica repens carries the blue gest change, sparked by David and Peggy Other stunning plant combinations in­ along the paths throughout the garden. Rockefeller's visit to English gardens sev­ clude dwarf Delphinium 'Blue Mirror', The plantings for the north wall were eral years ago, has been the gradual intro­ backed by Thalictrum, Liatris 'Cobalt', and selected to avoid any jarring effect with duction of new perennials into the garden. blue and white campanulas; and spires of the red stucco. They are interesting more Previously, about 85 perctmt of the border Filipendula rubra 'Venusta' and Achillea for their form and texture than for their space was devoted to annual flowers; now, 'The Pearl', grouped with Gypsophila 'Pink colors, which are a neutral gray, white and perennials fill most of the top tier on both Fairy' and Monarda 'Croftway Pink'. mauve. Peggy Rockefeller, in her essay on sides of the garden. The annuals are still Creamy and white Matricaria and margue­ the garden in The American Woman's being replaced gradually, as other peren­ rites add a gentle touch to the plantings. Garden, explains that the north wall gar­ nials are found that can withstand Maine's The eastern side of the garden receives den was planned to reflect the tranquil harsh winters and still bloom profusely in more sun, and the beds are more suitable mood of the green oval garden at the op­ late summer. for the hot-colored flowers that bloom there posite end, as well as to provide an inter­ Since the mid-1960's, the Rockefellers in gay profusion-various kinds of mari­ lude between the colors of the east and have been sharing the garden with the pub­ golds, sunflowers, annual phlox, zinnias west borders. lic on a limited basis. However, there is and salvia. Here the visitor finds Oeno­ The shows toppers along the north wall concern about the garden's vulnerability thera missourensis, as well as Dianthus are giant seven-foot cow parsnips (Hera­ to large crowds of visitors. It is obvious 'China Doll' and D. 'Danielli' (a deep, bright cleum sphondylium subsp. montanum), a that the maintenance, in the hands of a rose double with unusual broad-leaved, wild species spreading white umbels like staff of six gardeners, is unstinting and gray-green foliage). The vivid purples and delicate parasols. They are paired with airy meticulous. Nevertheless, compacted soil, reds, burnt oranges, bright yellows and plumes of Cimicifuga racemosa, black damaged turf and trodden-upon plantings many shades in between attest to what snakeroot. A bold planting of Macleaya can only be repaired to a point. Children Mrs. Rockefeller called the "courage of cordata, commonly known as plume poppy, who are allowed to stray off pathways and color." is also an eye-catcher. It could easily over­ wander through the garden unsupervised Many visitors come mainly to see the power most gardens, but here it is kept in pose another problem. The Rockefellers flowers and to enjoy their rich color, form, check. are exploring possible solutions to these texture and fragrance. On one hot after­ The central sunken Greensward did not problems with the Island Foundation, a noon last summer, as the sweet scent of exist until 1940; before that, the entire non-profit organization that also acts as heliotrope 'Royal Fragrance' wafted area was a sea of flowering annuals that guardian for other notable gardens on through the air, I counted 22 clematis provided cut flowers for the many rooms Mount Desert. scampering up the walls of the inner gar­ of The Eyrie. The planting design was geared But perhaps there's hope. One day while den. Also in this living catalogue of flowers for a profusion of colors during July and in the garden, I watched as a lad of about were both common and uncommon cul­ August, when the family was in residence. five, holding onto his father's hand, stepped tivars of alyssum, petunias, pansies, phlox, (It has been said that during Mrs. Rock­ through the Moon Gate by the old spruce. ageratum, geraniums, snapdragons, ve­ efeller's and Farrand's trial-and-error ex­ He stopped, looked ahead at all the colors ronica, lilies, penstemon and others. Pur­ periments with color schemes and textures of the garden, and said, "This must be the ple Eustoma grandiflorum (formerly Lis­ over a 10-year period, more than 1,000 best part of the world-right here!" 6 ian thus russellianus), commonly called plants were subjected to their meticulous prairie gentian, was grown in the garden standards.) Eventually, the annuals were Margaret Parke is a free-lance writer and photographer whose articles have appeared in for the first time last year. They made a replaced with lawn in order to create Organic Gardening and The New York stunning show in August after a slow be­ more space in the garden and to reduce Times, as well as in former issues of ginning. (Mr. Solari says he will sow seeds maintenance. American Horticulturist.

44 October 1985 mE DESIGN PAGE Jack-in-the-Box Planting

II of us have read the gardening of London. In June, the silvery-purple balls sage's advice to plant annuals in of Allium christophii (formerly A. albo­ A spaces where bulb foliage dies down pilosum) appear like fireworks above the in late spring. However, there is another still-low foliage of fall anemone (Anemone technique that will allow you to enjoy two X hybrida); the anemones neatly conceal or more displays in the same spot while the unsightly allium leaves near the ground. avoiding the yearly ritual trip to the garden The anemones grow upward through the center. Known as companion, multiple-tier fading allium blooms and seed heads, which or jack-in-the-box planting, this technique help support the sometimes-floppy anem­ will help you make the most of your gar­ ones. The white or pink anemone blossoms dening space and time. appear in late summer, creating a very dif­ Instead of planting annuals that disap­ ferent picture in the same space the alliums pear after one season, try using self-sowing dominated inJune. Spring-flowering bulbs annuals, which will repeat their show every would add a third season of color in the year. At River Farm, the American Hor­ same spot. ticultural Society'S headquarters, daffodils This technique has its practical aspect, and tulips grow in the perennial borders. aside from avoiding the need to replant Soon after the flowers fade, self-sown lark­ annuals every year. Some perennials emerge spur grows up through the bulb foliage. from the ground rather late in spring. Those The larkspur's feathery leaves disguise the of us who cannot remember the location bulbs without completely blocking the sun, of every plant in the garden might be seized allowing the bulb foliage to produce food by a zealous urge to cultivate the soil to for next spring's display. By the time the Raymond j. Rogers remove spring weeds, just as the late emer­ larkspurs bloom, the daffodils and tulips The dramatic blooms of Allium christophii gers are pushing through. With one spir­ are yellowing and collapsing out of sight­ overshadow the foliage of anemones, which ited whack of the hoe, we unknowingly without our having to remove them or plant come inro bloom in the late summer when decapitate a balloon flower (Platycodon), the alliums fade. something in their place. Then, as the lark­ discovering our misfortune when we un­ spurs set their seeds and as their leaves fore the begonias bloom, the magic lilies cover the remains. If early-blooming bulbs yellow, spider flowers (Cleome hasslerana) pop up their leafless flower stalks to pro­ or annuals had surrounded the nascent grow large enough to disguise them. The duce umbels of pink flowers. Many visi­ perennial, we would not have disturbed it, spider flowers carry the floral display until tors, unaware of the two different plants thereby saving ourselves a bit of anguish. frost; in the meantime, they drop their seeds growing in the same place, may think that Be sure to match your plants' cultural for next year's show. All told, we enjoy the pink flowers grow on the plants with needs when attempting to create jack-in­ three very different garden pictures in the the begonia-like leaves. In fact, the bego­ the-box combinations. For instance, most same spot, with little effort on our part. nias bloom soon after, repeating the pink irises grow in such tight clumps that noth­ Shade gardeners can repeat another suc­ theme a bit more subtly. ing (except weedy grasses) will come up cessful River Farm combination growing This little bit of garden theater also works through them, and irises need plenty of happily in our Ballroom Yard. Hellebores well with so-called autumn crocus (Col­ sun throughout the growing season to pro­ bloom in March, followed by bluebells and chicum autumnale) planted with Pachy­ duce a good show of flowers the next year. bright red tulips in April and May. As these sandra. The leaves of Colchicum do not As a general rule, loosely growing plants spring flowers fade, hardy begonias (Be­ stand out in spring, but be prepared for such as baby's-breath (Gypsophila), flax gonia grandis, formerly B. evansiana) ap­ many questions and comments when the (Linum), tickseed (Coreopsis) and meadow pear and quickly hide their predecessors. bright pinkish-violet colchicums suddenly rue (Thalictrum) combine well with those In August, the begonias' cheerful pink appear among the plain-Jane Pachysandra plants that take up little vertical space (such flowers provide a month or more of color, in fall. For a change of pace, try planting as many bulbous plants), or with those that giving us a completely different effect from Colchicum, Sternbergia lutea and true au­ die down soon after appearing in spring. the blue and red of spring. This planting tumn crocus (Crocus spp.) among ground­ Think of yourself as an imaginative gar­ carries the jack-in-the-box idea one step hugging junipers, English ivy (Hedera he­ den matchmaker, and try new combina­ further, however. In spring, upstaged by lix), periwinkle (Vinca minor), Liriope or tions of plants to grow and enjoy in the the bluebells and tulips, the strappy foliage other low evergreen plantings. same space. 6 -Raymond J. Rogers of magic lily (Lycoris squamigera) grows Another superb combination grows at Ray Rogers is Education Supervisor/ in lusty profusion, eventually disappearing Sissinghurst, the masterpiece garden of the Horticulturist at the American Horticultural among the begonia leaves. Then, just be- late Vita Sackville-West, located southeast Society.

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