American Horticulturist Volume 72, Number 2 February 1993 ARTICLES Proven Performers In our popular annual feature, three national plant societies name some (nearly) fail-safe favorites. Dianthuses by Rand B. Lee ......................................... 12 African Violets by Carol Bruce ......................................... 17 Lilies by Calvin Helsley .. .......................... .......... 21 Men Who've Loved Lilies by Melissa Dodd Eskilson .................. ...... ....... 26 From the exquisite but fussy species, lily-breeding pioneers have produced tough-as-nails hybrids for gardeners and florists. FEBRUARY'S COVER Drip Rationale Photographed by Priscilla Eastman by Robert Kourik ....................................... 34 The three-foot-tall Vollmer's tiger Simple hardware offers a drought-busting, water-conserving path lily, Lilium vollmeri, grows in to lusher growth. hillside bogs in two counties in southwest Oregon and adjacent A Defense of Ailanthus areas of California. It is threatened by Richard S. Peigler .... .. ... ......................... 38 by collecting throughout its range, according to Donald C. Eastman's It may be the stinking ash to some, but in a city lot bereft of other Rare and Endangered Plants of greenery, it earns the name tree-of-heaven. Oregon. Of ninety lily species native to the Northern hemisphere, only twenty-two have been tapped by breeders for garden and DEPARTMENTS cut-flower hybrids. The Nature Conservancy reports that at least Commentary .. ... .... .. ............. ... ... ............ 4 seven are candidates for federal listing as endangered. For more on Letters ........ ............ .. ........... ......... ...... 5 endangered lilies, see page 28. Offshoots .................. ....... ..... ............ .. 8 Book Reviews .......................................... 10 Pronunciations . .. ........ ......... ......... .......... 44 Classifieds ....... ......... ..................... ...... 45 American Horticultural Society The American Horticultural Society seeks to promote and recognize COMMENTARY excellence in horticulture across America. OFFICERS 1992-1993 reating a fertile ground of horticul­ Mr. George C. Ball Jr. tural understanding is essential to a President positive, progressive future, not West Chicago, Illinois C Mrs. Sarah S. Boasberg only for our organization, but also for our First Vice President nation. Therefore, the Society staff focuses Washington, D.C. much of its work on promoting gardening Dr. William E. Barrick to children and young adults. Neverthe­ Second Vice President Pine Mountain, Georgia less, our current membership of dedicated Mr. David M. Lilly gardeners and horticulturists is our Secretary germplasm, our li fe blood. I will devote the St. Paul, Minnesota next few commentaries to your concerns. I Mr. Gerald T. Halpin hope you take some time to respond. Treasurer Alexandria, Virginia We begin with the definition of horticul­ ture as an art and the need both to evaluate and to teach it as an art form. Webster traces "art" back to the Latin noun BOARD OF DIRECTORS "skill" and the Greek verb "fit" and defines art as "skill in performance Mrs. Suzanne Bales Bronxville, New York acquired by experience, study, or observation." Note its similarity to the Dr. Sherran Blair definition of science: "knowledge attained through study or practice." Columbus, Ohio Horticu'lture fares beautifully in Webster: "the science and art of growing Mrs. Mary Katherine Blount Montgomery, Alabama fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants." Note the emphasis on Mr. William F. Brinton both art and science. The Society will focus its resources on these two areas Mount Vernon, Maine in the next three years. We will promote and develop professional and Mrs. Beverley White Dunn Birmingham, Alabama amateur education and wi ll concentrate in our publications, lectures, and Dr. John Alex Floyd Jr. symposia on the art, design, and philosophy of horticulture. Birmingham, Alabama Of the contemporary arts, sculpture is most like gardening. It is subjec­ Mrs. Julia Hobart tive and physically demanding. A great sculpture inspires and then moves Troy, Ohio Dr. Richard L. Lower the spirit; it is a wellspring of emotion and energy. A great garden performs Madison, Wisconsin the same function. The ultimate expression of the art of gardening is the Mr. Elvin McDonald Japanese garden. Several thousand years have resulted in the suggestion of Houston, Texas Mr. William G. Panni II a universe within a small space. Western gardens may be more expressive Martinsville, Virginia of a particular philosophy of life or of the power and mystery of the natural Mr. Lawrence V. Power world, but no western garden expresses so directly the relationship between New York, New York human nature and the greater universe as does a Japanese garden. We Dr. Julia Rappaport Santa Ana, California burden our gardens with outmoded philosophies and "meaning." The Mrs. Flavia Redelmeier Japanese free their gardens of meaning, allowing the spirit of human nature Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada to mingle with the genius loci-the spirit of the place. Mrs. Jane N. Scarff New Carlisle, Ohio A recent lecturer at River Farm, Klaus Jurgen-Evert, spoke to us of the Mrs. Josephine Shanks new greenbelt recently completed in Stuttgart, Germany. He showed slides Houston, Texas of impressive new garden displays by American designers Michael Singer Mrs. Billie Trump Alexandria, Virginia and Dan Graham that break from patterns of tradition and reach beyond Mr. Andre Viette European models. Their gardens demand an experience of nature and Fishersv ille, Virginia plants unencumbered by conceptual baggage such as mankind's domina­ Mrs. Helen Fulcher Walutes tion of nature. These innovations are a good sign for the western horticul­ Mount Vernon, Virginia Ms. Katy Moss Warner tural tradition. We hope that eastern-inspired creativity continues to Lake Buena Vista, Florida liberate our gardens, enabling them to evolve in a greater and more universal context. Only in this way will horticulture become an important part of people's lives. -George C. Ball AHS President ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jr. , Mrs. Helen Fulcher Walutes 4 FEBRUARY 1993 American Horticulturist Editor Kathleen Fisher LETTERS Managing Editor Mary Beth Wiesner Assistant Editor Chris Bright Editorial Assistant Steve Davolt Hope for Fruit berries and cranberries, and 400 currants Design Director In regard to Chris Bright's lamentati ons on and gooseberries . We also have smaller Joseph Yacinski plastic-enshrouded fruit and the shy selec­ coll ecti ons of" minor" fr uit genera such as Designer tion at his local market ("Offshoots," Oc­ elderberry, serviceberry, quince, and med­ Bob McCracken tober): the apples of the past may be lar. -Joseph Postman, Plant Pathologist Membership Director forgotten but they are not gone! Apple and National Clonal Germplasm Repository Darlene Oliver pear trees can surv ive for a century or more Corvallis, Oregon Editorial Advisory Board and far-sighted individuals have either pre­ Dr. Gerald S. Barad served or rediscovered many of our heir­ Included in Joseph Postman's letter were Flemington, New Jersey loom cultivars. Amateur fruit enthusiasts the addresses of the fruit organizations he John Bryan have associated into networks such as the mentions: Home Orchard Society, P.O. Sausa li to, Californi a John Creech North America n Fruit Explorers, the Home Box 776, Clackamas, OR 97015; North Hend ersonville, North Carolina Orchard Society, the Seed Savers Exchange, American Fruit Explorers, Route 1, Box Keith Crotz and others. Their members have developed 94, Chapin, IL 62628; and Seed Savers Chillicothe, Illin ois Panayoti Kelaidis extensive coll ecti ons of heirloom and mod­ Exchange, Rura l Route 3, Box 239, Denver, Co lorado ern fruit varieties . Decorah, IA 52101. Peter Loewer Fruit cultivars old and new, wild and Asheville, North Carolina cultivated, beautiful, gruesome, delicious, We Killed the "Jr." Janet M. Poor Winnetka, Illinois and unspeakabl y dreadful tasting are safe In her interesting a rticl e o n the White Dr. James E. Swasey at our National Germplasm Repositori es H o use la ndscape (October), Barbara Newark , Delaware opera ted by the U.S. Department of McEwan seems to say that Frederick Law Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service Olmsted made a master design for the Advertising and are waiting for plant breeders and dar­ White H o use landscape in the time of AHS Advertising Department 341 Victory Drive, H erndon, VA 22070 ing growers to discover or rediscover thei r Franklin Roosevelt. The Frederick Law (703) 834-0100 hidden vi rtues. The repository for apples in Olmsted I know of died in 1903. (:olor Separations Geneva, New York, has abo ut 2,000 apple The reason I spotted this is because I only Chroma-Graphics, Inc. cultivars. At our repository in Corva llis, recently learned that Centra l Park (which Printer Oregon, we have collected nearl y 2,000 seems so modern) was already under way William Byrd Press, Inc. types of pears, including about 800 named at the time of the Civil War (whi ch seems edible cultivars. We are maintaining about so long ago). -Rachel Foster Replacement issues of AMERICAN H ORTICUL TUR- 1ST are ava ilable ar a casr of $2.95 per copy. The 300 kinds of hazelnuts, 700 strawberries, Eugene, Oregon opinio ns expressed in rhe articles that appear in 600 raspberries and blackberries, 400 blue- AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST are those of rh e authors and are not necessaril y those of the Society. You 're right.