• erIC an • • IC urIS November 1993 A Publication of the American Horticultural Society $2.00

Inside: A Report on OUf Children's Symposium American Horticultural Society

The American Horticultural Society seeks to promote and recognize excellence in horticulture across America.

OFFICERS 1993-1994 Mrs. Sarah S. Boasberg, Washington, DC Chairman 500 Attend Children's Symposium Dr. WIlliam E. Barrick, Pine Mountain, GA First Vice Chairman Mr. David M. Lilly, St. Paul MN More than 500 people attended the Secretary American Horticultural Society's national Mr. Gerald T. Halpin, Alexandria, VA symposium, "Children, Plants, and Treasurer Gardens: Educational Opportunities" in BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chevy Chase, Maryland, August 12 to 14. Dr. Thomas Amason, Birmingham, AL The event was so successful that Mrs. Suzanne Bales, Bronxville, NY attendees from California are beginning Mr. George C. Ball Jr., West Chicago, IL to plan a similar meeting for the West Dr. Sherran Blair, Columbus, OH Coast for 1995. Evaluations of the meet­ Mr. WIlliam F. Brinton, Mount Vernon, ME ing were extremely positive. If anything, Mrs. Nancy Callaway, Pine Mountain, GA Mr. Paul Ecke, Encinitas, CA many said, the conference offerings were Dr. John Alex Floyd Jr., Birmingham, AL too rich, with three workshops offered Mrs. Julia Hobart, Troy, OH simultaneously, and the program continu­ Dr. Richard Lower, Madison, WI ing into the evening with 10-minute "idea Mr. Elvin McDonald, Houston, TX forums." There were more than 60 Mr. WIlliam G. PanniU, Martinsville, VA presenters. Mr. Lawrence V. Power, New Ymk, NY Dr. Julia Rappaport, Santa Ana, CiA. Outgoing AHS Chairman George C. Mrs. Jane N. Scarff, New Carlisle, OR Ball Jr. opened the meeting with his own Mrs. Josephine Shanks, Houston, TX childhood memories of the outdoors and Mr. Andre Viette, Fishersville, VA expressed hope that the meeting would Ms. Katy Moss Warner, Lake Buena Vista, FL serve as a "template" for many more Mr. Monroe Whitton, Alexandria, VA ideas for gardening with children. PRESIDENT "Gardening teaches virtues such as Dr. H. Marc Cathey strength in the face of adversity. It's also a Hardie Newton of Hardie Blossoms in beautiful art that nourishes the soul." Madison, Virginia, conducted a EXECUTNE DIRECTOR Washington'S August heat and humidity children's {lower arranging class during Mrs. Helen Fulcher Walutes abated to a tolerable level and skies were the symposium tour of River Fann. blue for the tour of the U.S. National AMERICAN HORTICULTURlST Arboretum and AHS's River Farm head­ and hearing opposite opinions from quarters. There the group toured the 12 opposite disciplines." EDITOR: Kathleen Fisher children's gardens created this spring by • "I'm proud to be a member of AHS MANAGING EDITOR: Mary Beth Wiesner children and professional landscape de­ because of this event. Thank you George ASSISTANT EDITOR: Chris Bright signers. "The Children's Gardens display Ball Jr. for exuding excitement about EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Steve Davolt horticulture. I hope this can become an MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR: Darlene Oliver was incredible!" one participant said. ADVERTISING: American HoFticuitural Said others: annualJregional event where thousands of Society Advertising Department, 2300 South • "I've been to many conferences­ educators can participate." Ninth Street, Suite 501, Arlington, VA both bigger and smaller, science teachers, • "Best group of keynote speakers I've 22204-2320, (703) 892-0733. math teachers, environmental educators. ever heard!" This has been one of the warmest (no pun Address all editorial correspondence to: The Editor, • "This conference confirms my belief American Horticulturist, American Horricuhural intended) and most enriching conferences that gardeners are very special people." Society, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA I have ever attended." 22308·1300. AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST, ISSN 0096-4417, is published by the American l;Iorricultural • "It was an awakening of old spirits Society, 7931 East Boulevard Dr:ive, Alexandria, VA in me as well as a renewing and Resource Guide 22308·1300, (703) 768·5700, ana is issuea six times a year as a magazine and six times a year. as a News commitment to the earth and children." Edition. The American Horticultural Society is a • "It was beyond my expecations. I am A 21-page resource guide for teachers, nonprofit organization devoted to excellence in parents, and youth educators, Iistillg horticulture. Botanical nomenclature in AMERICAN overflowing with many new ideas to try HORTICULTURIST is based on HORTUS THIRD. and the knowledge and support of many resources for curriculum guides, National membership dues are $45; two years are $80. people. River Farm is a jewel in the children's gardening programs at public Foreign dues are $60. $15 of dues are designatea f0r AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST. C0pyrigl\t © 1993 crown of the American Horticultural gardens and hortichlltural societies, by the American Horticultural Society. Second-class Society. Thank you for an unforgettable related publications, and institutions postage paid at Alexandria, Virginia, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send Form 3579 to three days!" offering teacher training, horticultural AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST, 7931 East • "Incredibly rich, informative, therapy programs, financial assistance, Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308·1300. connected by diverse people and interests." and gardening supplies is available for $5 • "Most of the subjects covered were postage paid. Write to AHS, Children's Produced in U.S.A. right on target for me .... It was fun Resource Guide, 7931 East Boulevard listening to discussions about speakers Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308-1300.

2 • American Horticulturist • November 1993 Kids Need Wtld Places, Gentle Guidance

omething special is happening in "Gardening," he suggested, means his produce onto the family dinner table environmental education, "participating with natural forces in the with the harvest from his father's garden. observes Roger Hart. "I hope it creation of something beautiful-powerful "He had an intrinsic desire," said Hart, lasts this time," he told the forces that are never completely controlla­ "to be competent." nationalS children's symposium audience. ble. And you have to be able to understand But Hart believes what most children We are less naive than we were in the nature in order to work with it." need is wild gardens. "They like leftover, 1970s, he observed, about the impact of Human intervention is just one part of wild places that they have the freedom to our idealism on the poor of other countries. gardening, yet gardening classes may wipe manipulate, creating tree houses, forts, Nevertheless, Hart, a psychologist at nature's slate clean, possibly with the use snow runs, a garden carved out of a lawn. the City University of New York, is of chemicals. "There's also the attitude These tend to be anarchistic, messy concerned that the children who move that you grab all ages at the salT' -.,le, places." Hart recalled a childhood audiences to tears with their pleas for and that everyone's got to be interested." neighbor, Nigel, whose garden was so whales and the ozone layer "are isolated It's dangerous, he said, to speak of unkempt the town council wanted to kick from any direct interactive experience" what all children want. While some will his family out of the neighborhood. "But with the natural world. As a result, he never be interested in gardening, some that's where we had all our best hiding believes, they may lack the deep sense of can't be stopped. He described walking places," he said. a personal relationship needed to sustain across a field in Vermont with a young It is probably not surprising that so few environmental concern. boy in a group he had worked with. He communities have worked to preserve Hart pointed to a survey of 45 conser­ thought he knew about all of these wild lands close to children's homes. vationists, intended to discover the roots children's activities. But there, "like "Society is understandably paranoid of their devotion. "Not one of them was neolithic markings" in the melting snow, about children going outdoors for any­ reacting to an ugly environment," he said. were some strange bare patches. The pre­ thing. This danger to our preadolescent "They were all motivated by affection" vious summer the boy's parents told him children, especially young girls, has been for beautiful places they had known. he couldn't have a garden, so he created a the biggest change in our children's lives, Hart shot down a number of myths secret vegetable plot amid the head-high not television or computer games." about children and their relationships to grasses. He told Hart that he had sneaked The answer is not more programmed nature. "We all have these romantic activities or keeping children indoors, but notions that equate nature and children, developing some kind of "new institu­ much as we equate cities with rationality tional alliances" to manage wild gardens. and adulthood. We believe that children In the Netherlands, for example, parents are somehow closer to nature. But they take turns walking around one untamed have a lot of learning to do." space to keep an eye out for suspicious We also believe that mere contact with strangers. nature will cause them to develop a sense Hart urged anyone planning to build a of understanding and caring. "All you natural area or garden for children to have to do is observe what children do to involve them in the design process. "It animals, walking down a beach crushing can be quite magical. Kids love to build crabs until they're all dead, burning models, and it has led to some great frogs," ·he said. "Children need good role discussions. " models, apprenticeships. Being with America's public gardens could do adults in a garden is more important than more for children, he proposed, if they doing their own gardens. " didn't tend to keep education and In a study of the intellectual develop­ horticulture in separate departments. ment of young children, Susan Isaacs "Following experts around while they found that while children may feel sympa­ work in the garden is a great way for thy for animals, they see plants as mere children to learn. Not all horticulturists decoration and amendment. "Somebody would want that, of course. So we'll hire has to be there to help them develop that the ones that do." sympathy for plants," Hart said. He advised against force-feeding Hart grew up in a nursery family, but children information about plants and while he was around plants in his youth, gardening. "They should turn to he had no desire to garden then. Too A ditch garden, seen by symposium professionals when they want answers to many gardening programs for children participants and their children on their questions, not the other way around. call for action, he said. "People tend to tour of River Farm, exemplifies the sort They should be allowed to develop a stress learning skills and plant names." of leftover places Roger Hart believes sense of wonder. But they don't want to But children also need time to reflect. children need. be in the environment alone."

American Horticulrurist • November 1993 + 3 A Landscaper's Plea for Less Design

ark Francis knows the favorite childhood haunt-to begin his There are scattered exceptions to the world has changed a lot university classes, and he urged other bleak picture Francis painted. He offered since he was a child. A teachers to do the same with their stu­ a wide range of examples, from through­ landscape architecture dents. "Most people remember a mucky out the world, of natural spaces and Mprofessor at the University of California­ pond, a patch of woods, or an undevel­ "adventure playgrounds" that offer Davis, he recalls the response of a nine- or oped lot." But lately, he has been alarmed children privacy, empowerment, fantasy, 10-year-old girl asked to describe the ideal to notice natural places disappearing and restorative experiences. outdoor environment. "She described a from these memories. He quoted the asser­ In a five-acre housing project near curly slide that would come off a very tion of author Richard Love that natural Seattle, the area outside the front door is high hill, come down through a waterfall, places are important for creating a world designed not as an adornment to the and finally arrive in a pond. It was separate from that of parents, and a building, but as a "kid habitat." About wonderful image of a place. I was ready child's own sense of place and time. "Un­ an acre of the grounds has been left as a to start drawing. But then I asked, 'What like television, nature does not steal time, woodland play area. would you do if you fell off?' And she said but augments and enriches time," Love In Denmark, where you can receive without hesitation, 'I would sue you.'" wrote in his book Childhood's Future. formal education as a playground leader, Today's children don't seem better off an area is set aside for children to build either physically or emotionally than houses out of scrap lumber. previous generations, in spite of all their In inner-city London, Gillespie Park has enriching activities. In fact, a Cornell been left largely wild, with the exception "We are denying children study indicated that half of them are over­ of a mowed interior for impromptu weight or slower or weaker than children sports. "The youngsters I followed into their basic right to child­ the same age were 10 years ago. Their the park joined a soccer game. That achievement test scores are essentially the lasted all of 10 minutes, and then they hood-overdesigning, same. A Stanford-Michigan study examin­ went to an adjacent pond." ing the learning gap between American In Boulder, Colorado, a park consists overcontrolling, and over­ and Asian students found that the Japan­ of only sand and rocks. One big rock is ese schools view unstructured playtime as used as a slide "in about eight different structuring their lives. " part of the educational experience. ways, instead of only one." Francis said his own profession adds to In the Village Homes development in the problem by overdesigning spaces. Davis, foot and bike paths were created "We're careful to rush in to fill up all the before the roads, so it's easier to walk or Our society is not only litigious, but available space. Disneyland-and I've pedal than to drive. Children's favorite crime ridden, and today's parents have taken my own children there-is such a places there included a dover patch, a some very realistic fears for their children, structured experience, because nature is willow pond, and a scrap-lumber fort in Francis concedes. But he believes that the completely controlled." Tom Sawyer's a side yard. way they have responded- he admits that Adventure Island there is a wonderful Landscape architects, Francis said, are his own children are on the day care­ place, he says. "People pay to take their always asked to include play structures in soccer game-violin lesson-Nintendo game children there to do stuff they used to do developments, "not for the children, but merry-go-round- may have some very in the neighborhood." for the parents. Get out your catalog and real costs. "We are denying children their Even "nature walks"sometimes put order them, and then put your energy basic right to childhood-overdesigning, nature on the other side of a fence­ into the natural environment." Francis overcontrolling, and overstructuring their "something to look at but not touch, said it is only a theory he hopes will never lives." If you look out the window of the especially for children." be tested, but he believes there is less nearest school building, he said, "you will Like psychologist Roger Hart, a liability for builders in a natural play see something not that different from a keynoter the previous day (see page 3), environment than an artificial one. prison yard." Francis is concerned with the gap "There is a sense that climbing a tree Francis repeatedly urged the children's between what children seem to know involves a certain amount of risk." symposium audience to extend their about the global environment and their A round of applause showed that concern beyond the home and school own firsthand experiences with nature. Francis had clearly struck a sympathetic garden and into the larger community They don't grieve personally for the chord with his audience when he quoted and to consider ways children can be things they might have found in the Lady Allen of Hertwood, an advocate of given unstructured experiences with mucky pond they have been denied by adventure playgrounds in London. Asked nature as part of their daily lives . He often our squeaky clean suburbs. " If we put if she wasn't worried about children uses a process he calls an environmental our children in boring and insignificant injuring themselves, she responded: biography-asking people to recall feel­ places, they're not going to be advocates "Better a broken arm than a broken ings, smells, and sounds connected with a for natural spaces when they grow up." spirit."

4 • American H orticulturist • November 1993 The Centerpieces of Civilization

oo many conservation groups, where he is vice president for plant conser­ nothing about the chemical composition says ethnobotanist Mark vation, he is living with the Indian tribes of over 98 percent of the flora in Brazil, Plotkin, try to raise children's of the tropical rain forest, recording every­ which has more species than any other concern about the environ­ thing they will share with him about the country. A single rain forest tribe, he says, Tment with pictures of huge, bizarre, or power of plants. may use at least 300 plants for medicinal cute, fuzzy animals. "The extinction of "You can usually impress children by purposes. But many have ceased passing corn or wheat," he told the children's telling them that the difference between their secrets along to succeeding symposium audience, "would have a lot medicine and poison is just a matter of generations. "When our missionaries greater impact on our culture than the ex­ dosage." For example, the curare liana, come to their countries, the first people tinction of the elephant or the panda. It's which yields a poison the Indians apply to they try to discredit are the medicine men time we were placing plants where they the tips of blow-gun darts, provides and women." As a result, thousands of belong, as the centerpieces of civilization American doctors with a muscle relaxant years of accumulated wisdom is about to that make our culture, industry, medicine, for abdominal surgery. It can't be disappear. and agriculture possible." synthesized in the laboratory. The Indians Not only the tribes' knowledge, but When Plotkin lectures to children, he often make these substances more power­ their cultures, are evaporating. When points out that they probably ate some of ful with admixtures: substances that Plotkin first began his work in the late the tropics for breakfast. "Did you have scientists once dismissed as inert, but now 1970s, the Indians were living much as cornflakes? Corn comes from Central recognize as catalysts of complex they had for centuries. Children's first America. Rice Krispies? Rice comes from chemical reactions. "These men running toys were bows and arrows for hunting tropical Asia. Sugar on your cereal? New around the jungle in penis strings and red and fishing. They knew how to quench Guinea. Bananas? Tropical Asia. breech cloths," said Plotkin, "are a lot their thirst with the water vine, which Chocolate? The Amazon. Hash brown better chemists than we are." fruits were edible, how to carve their own potatoes? Potatoes come from the Andes. It has been estimated that we know toys, how to make Continued on page 6 Ketchup on your potatoes? Tomatoes come from Mexico." And we are still going back to these places, he noted, for wild or semi­ domesticated plants to help give these "They Died for Our Planet" crops more pest and disease-resistance. For instance, scientists in Bolivia recently Mark Plotkin dedicated his talk at seeds. "Gentry identified them all in found a potato with hairs that exude a AHS's national children's symposium less than 1 0 minutes." poisonous paste that traps insects. to two scientists killed in a plane crash Using sterile vegetative characteris­ Clearly, crossing this strain with domestic in Ecuador 10 days earlier: Alwyn H. tics such as leaves, bark, and odor to crops has fascinating implications. Gentry, a senior garden curator at the identify plants was a specialty of Children may not be thrilled by Missouri Botanical Garden and the Gentry's. He recently produced a discussions of interbreeding rwo potato world's leading expert on the plants of landmark book, A Field Guide to the species, he admitted, but their attention is Latin America, and Ted Parker, a Families and Genera of Woody Plants easily captured with a picture of "the distinguished ornithologist. of Northwest South America, an aid killer potato in action." While many Americans were to identifying these plants when they Medicinal plants are especially useful shocked at the death of a young lack flowers or fruits. Only 48 years for teaching kids-"and politicians, who professional basketball player that old, he made more than 70,000 botani­ are much slower learners than children"­ same week, a relative handful knew of cal collections during his lifetime. about the importance of plants to human the tragedy in Ecuador, said Plotkin. Said Plotkin: "We've got to put welfare, he's found. Many people are "When people die in battle, we say biodiversity, plants, gardening, fami li ar with the rosy periwinkle, now a they died for their country. I like to horticulture back in the forefront of weapon against leukemia and Hodgkin's think these guys died for all of us. our culture where it belongs. I want disease, first used by tropical Indians to They died for our planet. They didn't my kids to grow up to be Ted Parker treat blood problems. "But not many make much money. Their personal and Al Gentry and not basketball play­ people know that one of its closest lives were dedicated to biodiversity." ers or baseball players or politicians, relatives is on the verge of extinction. If Plotkin recalled that the first time he because these are the resources that we can't save all the species, I want to met Gentry, Plotkin was giving a make our lives possible. These guys make sure that the first cousins of our lecture in which he said he had 20 should be international heroes. They anti-cancer superstars end up in gardens, tropical plants that no one could never did and never will get the instead of going into the abyss." identify because they lacked flowers or recognition they deserve." When Plotkin isn't on the road lecturing on behalf of Conservation International,

Ameri ca n Ho rticulturist • Novem ber 1993 • S An Imagination Garden Blooms

Michigan State University's 4-H Children's we'll put in fireweed and goldenrod." Garden was officially dedicated in early Visitors came in a steady stream during August. Just a couple of days later the the construction phase. Now that the garden's curator, Jane Taylor, described it gardens are officially open, huge crowds and its history to AHS's children's are the norm-the gardens receive symposium participants. "The garden is between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors a really for the young and young at heart. week. Evening crowds are drawn to a bed It's a garden where children grow up and of evening primrose. "They open in 15 adults don't have to," she said. seconds," Taylor said. "You can go out to The half-acre garden, started in 1987, the garden at 9 o'clock at night and there is part of the campus's seven-and-a-half­ are 30 or 40 people surrounding the acre Horticultural Demonstration primroses and they don't leave until the Gardens (see "In Michigan, An Imagina­ primroses are all open. Then they go out tion Garden," American Horticulturist, and get in their cars and that's the end of November 1992). Within that half acre the garden for the night." are 54 theme areas. One is the Alice-in­ But the next day will bring more Wonderland Maze. At every dead end of visitors to stroll around the gardens, the maze, children find a stepping stone Evening primroses attract nighttime picking up ideas for their own imagina­ sculpted with an Alice-in-Wonderland visitors to the 4-H Children's Garden. tive spaces. "All children need some character: the rabbit, the Cheshire cat, the special place just for them," Taylor said. Cheshire cat's smile, a flamingo, the story, the engine brings apples and "Children need a special garden because Queen of Hearts. At its center is a tea spinach to good girls and boys. And of our future poets, philosophers, scientists, arbor. Children leave the maze through course, the train is part of our horticul­ artists, and musicians will all come from the Secret Garden Door. Carved by a tural transport system." Taylor plans to experiences in a children's garden, where Michigan State University graduate add peepholes to the wall so children can imaginations do grow." student from New Zealand, it features a watch the trains go by. This area includes robin holding the key to the garden and cwo tracks for a G-gauge garden railway Michigan State University's 4-H Children's opens to a garden of old-fashioned British that will be landscaped with alpine plants. Garden is open every day from dawn to perennials and a statue of Mary Lennox. The train theme continues in another dusk between May and November. It is The entire south wall of the 4-H part of the garden with a large, brightly located on Bogue Street on the Michigan Children's Garden borders the Grand colored train that children can climb on. State University campus. For more Trunk Line railroad track. "When life "Eventually, because I can't stand just information or directions to the garden serves you lemons you make lemonade," putting in a train like that, we're going to write or call: Jane Taylor, Curator, Taylor said. "You can't ignore the train educate from it," Taylor said. "We'll Michigan 4-H Children's Garden, 4700 because it makes too much noise. So we plant plants that you find along railroad South Hagadorn Road, Suite 220, decided to have fun with trains. We will tracks." Someone asked Taylor if poison Hannah Technology and Research Center, put up a little cutout of 'The Little Engine ivy was on the the list for that area. "Well, East Lansing, MI 48823-5399, (517) That Could' because, if you remember the maybe not poison ivy," she said. "But 353-6692.

Civilization Continued from page 5

rope from palm fiber and musical instru­ Plotkin described a number of projects journals. "When you publish in a journal, ments from bamboos. intended to return rain forest profits to its seven people may read it. Four already But Indians who 10 years ago greeted indigenous peoples. Conservation hate your guts, and three say 'It's okay, him in scarlet macaw feathers and blue International's Shaman's Apprentice but I could have done a better job.'" By body paint are now wearing blue jeans Program encourages medicine men of lecturing to nonscientists, including and athletic shoes. The Macushi tribe, Amazonian tribes to formally train mem­ children, he hopes to reach thousands whose use of curare led to its use as a bers of younger generations. One result of with his message that plants are much medicine, were given shotguns by that project is the Tiri6 Plant Medicine more "than something that goes in one missionaries and traders and forgot how Handbook, which records the knowledge end of a panda and out the other." • to make blowguns or prepare curare. of that tribe's shaman in their language. When their economy fell apart, they The Bible, said Plotkin, is the only other Mark Plotkin's book, Tales of a Shaman's could no longer afford shotgun shells. book they have in the Tiri6 tongue. Apprentice, 318 pages in hardcover, is "The last time I was there, they were Plotkin said he is sometimes asked why available for $18.70 plus $2.75 for hunting with machetes," said Plotkin. he lectures to lay audiences, rather than shipping and handling from the AHS "We have curare, but they do not." publishing his findings in scientific Horticultural Book Service.

6 • American Horticulturist • November 1993 Building Greenways From Coast to Coast

he first schools were rural, dents should learn science in the national will fit anywhere." Start by studying small, one-room classrooms parks," Lusk said. "That's a good idea, community maps and identifying areas of close to where people lived. but only 8 percent of the population lives publicly-owned land, she suggests. Then Kids walked or biked to get to near a national park." Children who map out possible routes. "You might class.T But as our population expanded learn about nature near their homes have to put a section of the garden and cities sprang up, schools grew. Bigger develop stewardship ethics about their classway along a road leading from the schools were supposedly better schools. own neighborhoods. They learn about school to eventually get to more of a class­ Huge educational fortresses appeared. their own plants, trees, and wildlife. Lusk room setting." Sections of the greenway Now kids are bussed to schools and, cited a study of an inner-city school in may use parts of divided highways, according to Anne Lusk, they've lost the Boston that discovered that if kids rail-trails, or alleys. Canal towpaths along exhilaration of getting to school; they've learned about nature near their school, rivers are another option, as are side­ lost contact with the land and surround­ they took better care of their own walks. "You might cross over a river with ing neighborhoods. "A bus is just neighborhoods. "Kids also learn about your own bridge or go under a dangerous transportation," Lusk told symposium science when they dam up a stream on a road with a tunnel. But if, and this is very participants. "It's not a learning greenway," she said. "They learn how a important, if you and your students don't experience. It's a void in a child's day." wetland functions, why a pump brings up play an active role in the creation, we water, what fish swim in a river." could end up with a replay of the • Geography. Children first learn geog­ interstate highway system. This greenway raphy and map reading by understanding will be sterile and void of the science their own communities. "A child can't classroom you want to have." ~~There is a theory that drive, and therefore, can't understand To build the garden greenway system, spatial relations from a car," Lusk said. teachers need people, a plan, and publi­ students should learn "Children can't even see over the dash­ city; they need to play politics and they board to see where they are going." But if need money. Lusk's suggestions include: science in the national children travel on a pathway system, • Cultivate grassroots leaders and steal scaled to their size, "they perhaps know good people from other professions­ parks. That's a good the whole community like the back of lawyers, doctors, high-profile politicians, their hands." women's club members, Rotarians. idea, but only 8 percent • Architecture, Architectural History, • Create an innovative plan. Dream and Regional History. Greenways can big- the sky's the limit. of the population lives take students into built environments • Market, campaign, fund-raise with where they may learn about historic no holds barred. "Anything goes, the near a national park." versus new bridge construction, historic zanier the better." bridge ornamentation, and the functional­ • Play politics. Study issues and offer ity of an arched bridge. The path can take suggestions. "Politicians appreciate a students to study city hall and its work­ fresh outlook and logical reasoning." Lusk wants to change that by creating ings or to study rural barn structures and • Raise money through local, state, 108,000 greenways-recreational their inhabitants. "This garden classroom and federal sources. "The only place in pedestrian and bicycle paths- across the becomes like a pop-up book," Lusk said. the federal government where there is any United States. That's one for every school "Only it's in 3-D, real life." money at all is in transportation. The new in the country. These greenways would • Physical Education. A playground Intermodal Surface Transportation allow more children to bike or walk to offers a place to exercise, but students Efficiency Act is the only place where school and serve as garden classrooms. need more variety. Greenways can be there is funding. " Within the act there are Lusk, who led efforts to build a five-mile used for bicycle rodeos and to learn safe 14 sources of funding, Lusk said. greenway in Stowe, Vermont, cited a biking practices. Physical education Lusk's goal is to have all 108,000 1957 study in the British Journal of teachers can help students learn in-line schools participate in the greenway Educational Psychology that said children skating. In snow country, children can program to create a system connecting learn better if they can bike or walk to cross-country ski on greenways. And from school to school to school-"a new school. These children "have a cognitive there's also just plain walking. As an environmental adjunct interstate understanding of where home and mom added bonus, kids who have gym class on greenways system that goes from the East are instead of being blindly taken away the local greenway continue to use the Coast to the West Coast." by bus," Lusk said. "When they arrive at recreational resource after school. school they don't feel lost. " "You might be saying 'That's a nice For more information write to Anne These garden greenways would also pro­ idyllic idea, but the greenway classroom Lusk, Chair, Vermont Trails and vide outdoor classrooms for four subjects: won't fit in my community,'" Lusk said. Greenway Council, 1531 River Road, • Science. "There is a theory that stu- "But many people believe that greenways Stowe, VT 05672.

American Horticulturist • November 1993 • 7 Tips for Triumphing Over the Naysayers

Anyone who has ever proposed starting a Get manure from a stable or zoo, or grow garden. Affixing signs with the name of school or community garden for children compost plants (green manure) that can the plant and possibly the names of the has heard at least one person argue, "We be worked into the soil. Borrow the big gardeners makes it clear that the plants can't do it!" Holly Kennell, an extension tools that you'll only need once to belong to people that care for them. Plant agent with Washington State University, prepare the soil, then scavenge small hand multiple crops and lots of flowers, so that trotted out all the arguments and shot tools that the children can use for some may survive a raid. them down handily. weeding and cultivating. "Have the kids "Plant root vegetables that are less "People tend to see it as a difficult task, ask people for these things; they're a lot visible. And don't plant tempting, color­ and they don't want to be part of a harder to turn down," Kennell urged. ful things like strawberries, tomatoes, or failure," she said. They have to be There have been some ingenious solu­ pumpkins in your garden's borders." convinced it will be a roaring success. tions to the land problem. One group was Kennell said children sometimes make The seven most common arguments able to build a garden in an abandoned "ugly juice"-egg shells and lime mixed are: a brown thumb; no funding; no land; swimming pool-an eyesore and a poten­ in a blender-and spray it on choice inhospitable weather; no caretakers over tial hazard. Another took the opposite edibles. It has an unpleasant smell, but summer vacation; the possibility of approach, creating raised beds with washes off easily. "I'm not a proponent of vandalism; the kids will get dirty. cinder blocks on top of asphalt. fences," she said. "They just seem to "Get some outside help" for the brown To keep the garden from becoming a serve as a challenge." thumb, Kennell suggested. Talented worry in the summer, plant flowers and veg­ Keeping children clean is as simple as gardeners are likely to live nearby. "Walk etables that can be harvested in spring. Or letting parents know which day is garden­ around near the school and look for espe­ choose plants that can be harvested in fall, ing day, so Susie doesn't come to school cially interesting gardens," she proposed. and arrange for parents to share watering in her new party dress. Men's dress You may find help among groups such as and weeding duties. The janitor may still be shirts-long a favorite as smocks for little garden clubs, Master Gardeners, or senior coming by once a week to mow or do other artists-are just as handy as gardening center participants. One children's garden chores and may be willing to water. cover-ups. A well-defined path of chips is rototilled each spring by the local police. "Involve all the kids in talking about cuts down on mud-puddle play. There's no need to spend a lot of vandalism," Kennell said. "Mention that By all means, involve parents, Kennell money on soil amendments. Make it can happen so it won't be a surprise." said. "They might not know anything compost in a bin of wooden pallets; the Try to make all the children in the school about gardening, but they can come to the children may want to paint it wild colors. or neighborhood feel protective of the school to help celebrate a successful crop." Growing Soilwise Citizens

John Jeavons used an organically grown times faster than nature while using less and start thinking about what we can apple, usually a gift to cheer a teacher's of our resources, said Jeavons, quoting give them. And we need to start growing day, to impart a grim lesson to the from a University of California-Berkeley people who understand what I've just children's symposium audience. study. described. " Jeavons, director of Ecology Action's Jeavons said this method of growing minifarming program, cut away food, used by the Chinese 6,000 years three-fourths of the apple, representing ago and by the Bolivians, Mayans, and earth's oceans, then two-thirds of that, Greeks 2,000 years ago, requires 99 representing desert and ice. Next he percent less energy, 50 to 100 percent less peeled off two-thirds of the remaining purchased fertilizer, and 67 to 88 skin, representing our topsoil. percent less water than conventional "It took 3,000 years to build up our agricultural methods. topsoil, but we've lost 1,500 years worth Not only our soil, but our skill base, is in the last 200 years. In the last 20 years, eroding, he said. The average farmer, who we've lost 750 years worth," he said. Its grows food for 500 other people, is 551i2 quality is also eroding. "In 1972, it took years old. "I was encouraged to see in the two bushels of soil to produce one bushel New York Times that there are now one of corn. In 1992, it took three bushels of million, six thousand minifarmers, soil to produce one bushel of corn." making $10,000 a year or less. But I'd Bio-intensive minifarming-which like to see millions of them." involves double digging soil two feet Jeavons asked the audience to stop deep, packing plants close together, and thinking about growing crops and to start returning all unused organic matter to growing soil. "We need to stop thinking John Jeavons greets a symposium the soil-could build up the soil 60 about what we can get from our gardens participant at the book signing table.

8 .. American Horticulturist • November 1993 MeOlbers' FOrUOl , .

Tame Wildlife gallon of water and sprayed on plants. (If ing on one's location, can keep deer away. The July issue of the News Edition was used in large quantities in a pump Fences can even be unobtrusive or very interesting, especially the features sprayer, you should filter out solids.) Egg aesthetic. My own solution has been a about the wildlife gardeners. The photo­ spray was one of the longest-lasting fence around the house and its environs graph on page 8, with "Gardening With deterrents I have tried; it worked about and small fenced-off spots to protect Deer in California," is fascinating. How three years. It washes off with rain or young plantings until they grow large did Lea Meyer lure a chickadee to perch sprinklers, however, so that it must be enough that the local deer herd will not on a piece of paper held by a human applied frequently. I have also used, with destroy them. The deer and I coexist on being? The chickadees I have observed in brief success, bags of hair clippings, bars all the unfenced acreage. Molly Hackett this area (Carolina chickadees) are too of soap, monofilament line tied to stakes. Victor, Montana elusive and wary of danger to approach One product, Ropel, marketed as a so closely. Perhaps California chickadees pre-mixed spray, should be a long-term Egg on Their Muzzles are more relaxed! solution since the plant absorbs the Ropel How do I find out who manufactures In the article on page 7 ("In Delaware, and tastes bitter for several months. It can Deer-Away so that I can find out where a Little Lot of Butterflies"), the owner of be used only on ornamentals and not edi­ to purchase it in northern California? the garden reported seeing a humming­ bles, of course, and it is toxic to some Visiting Monticello, I asked them how bird visiting his butterfly bush. Buddleias foliage plants. I have heard that the same they kept the deer from eating the plants in are definitely hummingbird attractors, compound is being developed in plantable Jefferson's unfenced vegetable garden and especially the newer ones in shades of red pellet form for nurseries in British Colum­ the gardener told me they make up their or pink. I have a Buddleia 'Pink Delight' bia, but I have not seen it on the market. own rotten egg mixture to spray the plants. that hummingbirds visit every summer in Deer like to keep doing the same thing, If it works for deer in Florida and Virginia, July and August. Usually the flowers in the same place, at the same time. we need to try it in California, especially in continue to bloom into September. Remembering this can help gardeners the San Francisco Bay area, where we live New England asters didn't last for me figure out how to protect their particular next to the San Francisco watershed and either, and my bee balm was overtaken by plantings from their particular deer. For county park lands. Marion E. Gallagher mildew and insects. I had one that instance, Ropel works best if the deer Cupertino, California bloomed fairly well, but both butterflies never taste the unsprayed plant. If the and hummingbirds ignored it. deer eats a shrub for a while before it is We had a number of inquiries about Perhaps you could feature more wildlife sprayed, they may return for many where to obtain Deer-Away. The gardens. I would also like to hear more nibbles before they are convinced that it manufacturer is IntAgra, Inc., 8500 about Lea Meyer's garden. Margaret Lord no longer tastes good. Pillsbury Avenue South, Minneapolis, Ellicott City, Maryland A variety of fences, the choice depend- MN 55420, (612) 881-5535.

Lea Meyer tells us that the bird in the photo is a mountain chickadee. "In fact, three different mountain chickadees do feed from hands. They love black Desperately Seeking Miss Daisy sunflower seeds, cracked walnuts, and peanuts," she says. "Last year when they Though an English member of AHS, I widely cultivated. Friends who have were nesting in one of our boxes, I could have a particular interest in North visited the U.s. have failed to spot a call the chickadee and it would fly down American flowers. single Xanthisma on their travels. to my hand to take a piece of walnut, and For many years the lazy daisy (Xan­ I would love to reintroduce it to this then fly right back to his nest. " thisma texana) was easily obtainable part of the world, and would welcome in the U.K. and brightened my garden any information from any of your mem­ Deer Solutions with its bright yellow flowers, which bers who may share my enthusiasm for Charles E Weiss's letter on Deer-Away frequently lasted into November and what, in the UK., is now a very rare and (July) leads me to some further reflections on one occasion until Christmas. neglected plant. Michael Thomas on deer deterrents. After a dozen years of Wet seasons seem to cause a lack of South Croydon, Surrey experience with the local whitetails, I viability in the seeds, and my supply ran have reached several conclusions. out about seven years ago. Since that We have also failed to find this plant A solution to a deer problem in one time I have spent quite a considerable available in the trade. More commonly geographic area or for one species of deer amount of money trying to trace a called the sleepy daisy because it is not necessarily a solution for another source in the US. for seeds of this doesn't open until midday, it has two place or another deer. colorful annuaL Sadly, despite many varieties: X. texana var. texana, fairly Too many "solutions" may be based on letters, no information has been common in the Rio Grande Plains of the American desire for the quick fix. forthcoming. I have considered paying Texas, and X. texana var. drummondii, Many so-called deterrents work for one, the plane fare just to get a few seeds more widely dispersed through Texas, two, or even three years, but no longer from this plant in the wild! but less frequently seen. We would than that. I suspect that Deer-Away may I would be most interested to know love to put Michael Thomas in touch fall in this category. I have not used it, but if the lazy daisy is still a common plant with members who can supply him I have used a close relative-the U.S. in the US. Southwest, or indeed if it is with Xanthisma seed. Forest Service-developed egg spray. It is simply one raw egg beaten in one-half

American Ho rticulturist • November 1993 + 9 Editor's Note: In our July issue, we ran "Nurseries Equally Artistic" several letters from members complaining We were visiting Florida at the time, but about the Chelsea America Flower Shows had we purposely traveled from our in California and Florida last February. Camellia Sources home in Virginia to attend, we would However, a press release from show have been outraged. A nearby small organizers claimed they had conducted Members who are interested in the public garden had better displays than the exit polls that found only 1 percent (in hardy camellias bred by William show. Several retail commercial nurseries Florida) and 10 percent (in California) of Ackerman of the U.S. National along the route we traveled had equally visitors expressing negative opinions of Aboretum and described in our artistic displays, with no admission the shows. We asked to hear from any September "Mail-Order Explorer" charge. George R. and Florence R. Kruer members who were pleased with the can find them through four addi­ Falls Church, Virginia shows. This triggered several additional tional nurseries: Camellia Forest responses, but none of them were Nursery, 125 Carolina Forest "Done in a Half Hour" positive. Most were very long and very Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, I drove up from San Diego and was done in angry. Some excerpts: catalog free; Mann's Nursery, 201 a half hour. The show was awful! I com­ Tennessee Avenue S.E., Hanceville, plained to everyone but they were happy­ "Unhappy Memories" AL 35077; Roslyn Nursery, 211 they had my money! They should have I thought that the unhappy memories of Burrs Lane, Dix Hills, NY 11746, been tarred, feathered, and run out of being "taken" by the unbelievable hype catalog $2; Tom Dodd's Nurseries, town! How do we protect ourselves in the and publicity of the CAFS had faded into P.O. Drawer 45, U.S. Highway 98, future from this type of scam? Connie Beck blissful forgetfulness, but my outrage Semmes, AL 36575. Santee, California returned upon reading the letters .... Being an avid gardener I had looked Besides Caveat emptor, we're not sure. forward to this trip for many months, The show sponsors offer a "preview" to having been to shows in San Francisco, subsequent exhibits seemed to consist of which the news media are invited, but by Portland, and Seattle (now that is a hastily thrown together assortments of that time, gardeners have often already flower show.) potted nursery plants; few were labeled, made plans to travel long distances to Ms. Joni Nelson [chairman and and some of the exhibitors were unable to attend. We are unable, of course, to make founder of the shows] and cohorts should provide botanical names. From what I al­ judgments about the many events across be hanged in a blooming fruit tree ready knew of some of the plants shown, the nation that we list in "Gardeners' buzzing with killer bees! If she said that I felt that they were used inappropriately, Dateline." Most people believe that the only 10 percent of the comments were e.g., African violets placed so as to appear name "Chelsea" and the huge publicity negative, the other 90 percent must have that they were planted in the ground. campaign for these shows raised expecta­ been from the fruit and drink purveyors. Many of the plant combinations seemed tions unjustifiably. The Royal Horticul­ ... Of what exhibits could be identified, unrealistic, because they required tural Society of England, which sponsors only two merited a stop-the rest were different growing conditions and would the famous Chelsea Flower Show in pitiful. ... Garden writers from San probably not have thrived together in a London each year, had no affiliation with Diego to Seattle were merciless in their real Florida garden. the American shows, but many visitors reviews. Jinny Jacobs The inside exhibits consisted mainly of clearly assumed otherwise. The same Yachats, Oregon cut flower stalls, with a few small design week that we received many of the above booths interspersed. The design booths letters, we received a nine-page press "I Felt Cheated" actually had some interesting and unusual release and six slides (two sets of each, I had just moved to Florida last fall, when ideas and plants; again, most of the plants actually) announcing the 1994 Chelsea notices of the show appeared in the local were not labeled. These exhibits filled one America Flower Shows. They mention papers. As a new resident of USDA Zone medium-sized building. On the way out, "valuable lessons" from the first shows 9, and recently certified as a landscape there was a double row of very small and "perennially higher levels of designer, I was especially interested in this business stalls, none of which showed excellence" that will occur with chance to learn more about tropical anything unusual or unavailable locally. I "increasing public and industry support. " plants and their landscape uses .... I finished at 10:15. I bought nothing Joni Nelson says the site for the drove an hour, paid my turnpike toll, and except a $3 handbook on palms, which I California show will be more accessible waited for 15 minutes in a very long line could have obtained at my neighborhood from freeways and offer easier parking. for parking (fees for which were not men­ book store. But of course, this does not address the tioned in the ads, although the show was I felt cheated, both intellectually and issue of disappointing displays once held in a huge open field . .. ). I antici­ financially. Alison Tannenbaum inside the show itself pated spending several hours, or possibly Lighthouse Point, Florida the whole day, in horticultural bliss .... As I approached the entry gates at 9:15 a.m. and paid my $10 fee, I was surprised "Never Again" to see that some people seemed to have We too were hyped up with the brochure Correction finished and were already leaving! I had a regaling the Chelsea America Flower moment of doubt, but attributed this to Show in West Palm Beach. To our dismay Nancy Callaway, a new member of the fact that these must be people who the 30 acres of proclaimed show were in the American Horticultural were not seriously interested in plants, fact about 25 acres of grass and gravel. Society's Board of Directors, is not and had misunderstood the value of this Within an hour we had viewed the on the board of Callaway Gardens. particular show. nurserymen's set-up and the big tent. The Her husband's father and mother The first exhibition garden was a entire affair was a major disappointment. founded the gardens, and she has comprehensive display of a variety of We witnessed no one taking a poll done volunteer work there in palms used in landscaping; they were on reaction to this show. Never again. several capacities. carefully labeled, and the exhibitor was Eleanor and Robert Greninger knowledgeable. However, the next and Rochester, New York

10 • American Horticulturist • November 1993 Editor's note: In our May issue on recycling in the garden, we asked readers to send in their own recycling ideas. Yvonne D. Savio, a landscape consultant Two Winners and Master Gardener in Davis, Califor­ CS~~~ nia, sent almost nine pages of ideas she 1.) After the recycling center opened has collected for classes, lectures, and and we began composting, we no articles. Here are a few of them: longer needed our 3D-gallon plastic trash can. I put the can out by the ~1l1&S • Use plastic or metal cans or plastic garden and take the lid off when­ SEED berry baskets to support melons and ever it rains. I tested the pH of the squash as they mature. These supports rainwater and since it is acidic, I use CATALOG keep fruits out of range of many soil­ it to water acid-loving plants like borne insects and diseases. blueberries and azaleas. 2.) Every • Metal cans under melons concentrate year I have a yard sale. I dig up the sun's warmth and transfer it to the invasive plants like mints put them maturing fruit, resulting in sweeter in last year's collection of plastic melons ripening earlier in the season. pots, and sell them. Debra Hughes • In cold wet weather, use inexpensive Bolivia, North Carolina household rubber gloves for all but the roughest garden chores. They'll insulate your fingers better than cloth gloves because they don't absorb moisture. periodically to dry the fruit evenly. Bread­ • To keep garden gloves accessible, and cake-cooling racks also work well. turn a mousetrap into a "glovetrap." • To create support for cucumbers, Hang it on a the wall near your exit to peas, or other reluctant climbing vines, tie the garden. twine through the springs of two • Use old refrigerator and oven racks clothespins and clamp the pins to either covered with cheesecloth to make a side of a trellis. The clothespins allow "sandwich" rack for drying fruits or easy moving or readjustment of the herbs. Stretch the cheesecloth across one tension on the twine without untying rack, spread the fruit on it and cover with knots hidden in the foliage. Featuring 112 full color pages, another layer of cheesecloth. Place the sec­ • Plant labels can be made by cutting Stokes seed catalog is a com­ ond rack on top, and flip the "sandwich" strips from the flat center portion of plete guide to gardening for plastic jugs. Use pens with indelible ink to the beginner and the profes­ write on them. sional. The catalog lists over • Use the bottoms of those jugs as 2,500 varieties of vegetables, saucers for pots, shallow starting trays, or flowers and herbs, including Pantyhose Panache cutworm guards. For the guards, make a more than 250 Stokes Exclu­ slit from one side to the center. Then cut a sives . Stokes also carries a full Both Californian Yvonne Savio and hole for the plant stem and slip the plastic line of helpful garden accesso­ ries for around the home. George and Florence Kruer of Falls over the seedling with the bowl side of Church, Virginia, endorsed panty­ the jug downward. Get high quality Stokes seed hose as plant ties. • When you're pruning trees and at grower prices, send for your "We find them particularly good shrubs, save a Y-shaped crook to scrape free Stokes Seed Catalog to­ for tying bulky, but tender plants, mud from boots, forks, and other tools. day! like tomatoes and dahlias," wrote A broad wedge is best for shovels. the Kruers. "Because of their • Save used motor oil to coat the metal Stokes Seeds stretchiness, they allow plants to surfaces of tools for winter storage. Fill a 1714 Stokes Bldg., Box 548 move in the wind without breaking, can with builders' sand and add some old Buffalo, N.Y. 14240-0548 yet do not chafe or cut into the oil for easy maintenance of shovels, hoes, stalks. When used to tie woody and forks after each use. Be sure to o YES! Please send my FREE Stokes Seed Catalog to: plants, they permit longterm growth choose a can with no drainage holes, and without girdling the trunk or limb." which is deep and wide enough to Savio suggests that the hose can accommodate a whole shovel blade and Name: ______be tied to a trellis so that each all the fork tines. cucumber, melon, squash, or • Create a horizontal trellis for vining Address: ______pumpkin has its own "hammock." crops by fastening chicken wire to a Or the pantyhose can be made to frame a foot above the soil. Plant seeds in serve as protection against birds, compost-enriched hills in the center and earwigs, snails, and other munchers mulch heavily under and around the by slipping the vegetable inside the racks. As vines develop, train them up hose and tying knots at the top and through the wires onto the flat area. bottom close to the vegetable so They'll soon shade their roots and thus there are no openings. "The panty­ require less irrigation. Suspended in the hose dries quickly, doesn't hold air, vines and fruits will be less susceptible Stokes Seeds 1714 Stokes Bldg. heat, yet stretches to allow further to soil-borne diseases; insects that do Box 548 growth," she observes. appear will be easier to spot and control. Buffalo, N.Y. The racks also keep vines and fruits .. 14240-0548 above walking and weeding areas.

American H ortic ulturist • November 1993 + 11 Regional Notes

A Legume Garden in Arizona

A desert might seem a berter place for As visitors to the DELEP's garden will cacti than for beans, but according to the discover, desert legumes offer all sorts of founders of a new demonstration garden other possibilities. For instance, the in Arizona, members of the legume family cosmetics industry is evaluating the playa critical role in desert ecosystems. aromatic resins produced by the desert Last month the Desert Legume Program smoke tree (Psorothamnus spinosus), a (DELEP) opened its Taylor Desert native of northern Mexico and the South­ Legume Garden at the Boyce Thompson west. Medical researchers have discovered Southwestern Arboretum in Superior, that a leguminous tree from Australia, the Arizona. The garden is intended to show Moreton Bay chestnut (Castanospermum off desert legumes and to demonstrate australe), yields an alkaloid that affects their importance in our lives, according to z the development of the AIDS-causing Phillip Upchurch, an agronomist at the ~ Human Immunodeficiency Virus. University of Arizona and DELEP's Q Beyond the uses of particular plants, director. The garden consists of a series of Upchurch sees a broader potential. enclosures laid out along a serpentine "Desert legumes have evolved under very wall. Each enclosure contains plants challenging conditions, so they have traits u. valuable for a particular use, like o that occur nowhere else in the plant in pharmaceuticals, landscaping, forage, w kingdom," he says. The introduction of ti: and food. Upchurch says the garden gets ::J '1 ~ their genes into crop plants could have "a oUL- ______2"" ~ its name from its principal benefactor, profound impact" on agriculture. Gladys Taylor. The Bauhinia-leaf acacia, a desert Currently, DELEP has about 1,000 The garden joins a small but growing legume native to Mexico. species in its seed bank. Upchurch says set of programs designed to win attention legume seeds generally have a long for a group of plants that DELEP says economic potential. Mesquite is the viability but even so, they will eventually have never been systematically studied. common name for several North need a more extensive grow-out program Founded in 1988, DELEP is sponsored by American shrubs and trees that belong to to test the seed stocks. They conserve the arboretum and the University of Pros opus, a genus containing about 50 annuals by growing them in their green­ Arizona. In addition to the garden, it species scattered throughout the arid house. With the woody plants, DELEP maintains a seed bank and conducts long­ regions of the world. The pods of some often tries to establish "mother trees" to term studies of propagation techniques, mesquite species are edible and can be yield new seed crops. One of the salt tolerance, and water requirements. ground to produce a flour. "Historically, program's goals is to conserve 10,000 DELEP also publishes a quarterly mesquite was an important food crop for seeds of each species. But the strength of bulletin, Aridus. Native Americans," says Upchurch. "One the collection is still uneven. "For some The legume or pea family, Leguminosae of our hopes is to have mesquite used as a species," says Johnson, "we only have or Fabaceae, contains about 18,000 food source again, because it's supremely three or four seeds." species of herbs, shrubs, and trees. well-ada pted to arid conditions." DELEP Upchurch would like to quadruple the Legumes playa critical ecological role the is growing an experimental field of number of species in the seed bank to world over because their roots host the mesquite in order to determine potential 4,000. The target is arbitrary, he admits, Rhizobium bacteria that "fix" atmo­ yields. but it would give DELEP over half of the spheric nitrogen in the soil. According to There's plenty of horticultural promise relevant species. "We will never stop col­ Upchurch, some 15 legume species are in the group as well. Some desert legumes lecting," says Upchurch. "But the farther cultivated today as major crops. Another are already used as ornamentals. you go, the tougher it gets to add to the 30 species are grown as minor crops. Southwestern gardeners may plant the collection. We have all the species that are Upchurch puts the number of desert or mescal-bean tree (Sophora secundiflora), native to Arizona, or we will very shortly. dryland legumes at 7,000 species, account­ for instance, or some of the shrubs in the We have collaborators all over the world ing for over a third of the entire family. In Dalea genus. But others are not as well and of course we trade seeds with them." some deserts, legumes constitute a major known. Matthew Johnson, DELEP's To reach its collecting goal, and to component of the flora. "The role of botanist, says that one of his favorites is provide stable funding for a full-time bot­ legumes varies from desert to desert," he Caesalpinia paraguariensis, a small, anist, DELEP established an endowment says, "but in some deserts legumes are a multiple-stemmed tree that he has seen in 1991. Upchurch says it now holds predominant element and in most deserts growing in Argentina and Paraguay. It about $10,000-a figure he would like to they're important because they provide has fine, bipinnate foliage that emerges raise to $300,000. "It's our hope," he the nitrogen." Upchurch says legumes bronze and matures to a dark blue-green. says, "that many people will feel strongly often predominate in Mexican and Its bark is also blue-green, but mottled enough about the value of what we're African deserts. with gray, beige, and tan. Johnson says doing to help us get the job done. " Part of DELEP's mission is to investi­ the Los Angeles State and County gate the practical values of the species it Arboretum has several mature specimens For more information on desert legumes, collects. Upchurch cites mesquite as an of C. paraguariensis. DELEP has some write DELEP at 2120 East Allen Road, example of a desert legume with major young trees in cultivation. Tucson, AZ 85719 or call (602) 621-9492.

12 + American Horticulturist • November 1993 Mapping Life in Rhode Island

Rhode Island may be the smallest state in updated to account for shifts in range and state's plant communities and the ecologi­ the Union, but no one knows exactly population size, new arrivals, discoveries, cal puzzles they present. The survey data what's growing in it. To get a better and extinctions. could be used to explore the unusual mix­ picture of the local flora and fauna, a The Rhode Island survey was officially ture of northern and southern flora that group of biologists is organizing the launched last April. Funded by a lead grant characterizes some of the state's natural Rhode Island Natural History Survey. from the Lamb Foundation, it is now assem­ areas. In one bog, for instance, black The survey should greatly advance the bling an administrative staff. Killingbeck spruce and tamarack, both boreal trees, study of the state's wild plants, according says no decision has been reached on when intermingle with southern plants like to Keith Killingbeck, head of the Botany data collection would begin. Atlantic white cedar and the rare horned Department at the University of Rhode Killingbeck thinks the survey will help rush (Rhynchospora inundata). Island and a member of the survey's solve a wide range of problems, some of Killingbeck also thinks the survey steering committee. which are remote from biologists' tradi­ would help with the management of Rhode Island will be the 10th state to tional concerns. It could, for instance, endangered species, " if for no other have a natural history or biological improve public health strategies for reason than that it would give us a decent survey. "One of our goals would be to coping with the tick-transmitted Lyme handle on their population dynamics. " put together a complete inventory of the disease. "After the survey has been run­ But Killingbeck cautions that the sur­ state's biota," says Killingbeck, although ning for a few years, you might be able to vey would not have an advocacy role: its he concedes that this ambitious feat has determine where the highest densities of responsibilities would be limited to gather­ yet to be achieved in any state. Of course, vector ticks occur," says Killingbeck. ing and disseminating data. "It would," natural history surveys are never really To botanists, the survey should eventu­ he sa ys, "provide a good, sound database complete: they must be continually ally offer a much clearer picture of the for whatever decisions need to be made." Going Native in Alaska

Landscapers in Alaska may soon have a "It's a nice alternative to poplars," says south. Wright thinks the plants may not larger palette of plants to work with. The Wright, "although it doesn't get as big." be adapting to more southern day Alaska Plant Materials Center, a part of One of the grass introductions is blue­ lengths. They tend to go dormant at the state's Department of Natural green, and Wright thinks that it also midsummer and fail to revive the Resources, is looking for plant varieties shows some ornamental promise. following spring. The same problem that perform well in the demanding Although the center works with non­ occurs within Alaska, when plants from conditions of the Great White North. native plants, it has a special interest in north of the Brooks Range, within the This fall, the center released a selection of Alaskan natives, like the willows and the Arctic Circle, are brought to the southern the nagoonberry (Rubus arcticus). A nagoonberry. This approach meshes well parts of the state. vigorous, low-growing member of the with another item on the center's agenda: But maybe Rubus arcticus 'Kenai raspberry and blackberry genus, the conducting trials of edible berries, which Carpet' will be happier in the lower 48 nagoonberry has strawberrylike leaves, are popular garden plants in rural Alaska. than its predecessors. Wright hopes it will pink flowers, and red edible fruit. Apart from the nagoonberry, Wright says gain acceptance in Alaska and, in the Catherine Wright, a horticulturist at the the state has two native Amelanchier meantime, she has her eye on some other center, thinks R. arcticus 'Kenai Carpet' species (service berries), eight Ribes interesting natives. There are two dog­ may have a future as a ground cover. (gooseberries and currants), the mountain woods, for instance, and another potential "Alaskans don't have many alternatives cranberry (Vaccinium vitis-idea), and the ground cover: Sibbaldia procumbens, a for ground covers," she says. Wright highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum). little perennial with blue-green leaves. And thinks 'Kenai Carpet' may prove espe­ Unfortunately, the center's introduc­ she adds, "there might be some nice cially useful on slopes or around shrubs. tions haven't generally done well farther selections of our native spirea." Several botanical gardens in the lower 48 are also interested in 'Kenai Carpet' and are growing it in trials this fall. The plant materials center was set up in 1972 to do research on grain production Michigan Garden Launched and revegetation. A decade later, vegeta­ bles, greenhouse crops, and ornamental After 15 years of planning, horticulturists in West Michigan broke ground in horticulture were added to its mandate. August for the Michigan Botanic Garden outside Grand Rapids. The garden, The center is based on a farm near which comprises more than 70 acres of wetlands, woodlands, and meadows, is Anchorage, in southern Alaska, but scheduled to open to the public in late 1994. operates trial sites throughout the state. The nonprofit West Michigan Horticultural Society was formed in 1981 with So far the center has introduced 12 the sole purpose of establishing a botanical garden. The property on which the varieties, mostly grasses and willows garden will be built was donated by Meijer, Inc., a chain of department stores. intended for use in revegetation projects. The garden will feature a 15,000-square-foot conservatory, Michigan's largest, In addition to 'Kenai Carpet', Palmer sees housing collections of orchids, ferns , palms, ficus, hoyas, and sedums. The landscape potential in two of the willow conservatory complex will include an art gallery and a learning center with introductions. The Oliver barren ground classrooms, a library, and an audio-visual center. willow, Salix brachycarpa ' Oliver', grows Barbara Hoag, a member of the society's capital campaign cabinet, said the to only six feet and may be suitable as a garden was financed entirely through private donations from individuals and hedge. The Roland Pacific willow, S. organizations in 45 states and three foreign countries. lasiandra 'Roland', is a larger tree, pyram­ idal in form, with "peach leaf" foliage.

America n Horticulturist· ovember 1993 + 13 Mail-Order Explorer

A Southwestern Sampler

In parts of the Southwest, 100 miles will largely undervalued. "The use of native says, and the fuzz tends to hold sa lt take you from USDA Zone 9, as in south plants is really only in its incipient crystals away from the more delicate leaf Florida, to Zone 5, as in south Michigan. stages," she says. "But I really think that's surface. The thick, "waxy" leaves typical With its wild variations in elevation, rain­ the wave of the future: we need to be of other desert plants also stand up well fa ll, and temperature, "the region is pock­ restoring native vegetation." For the past to salt. eted with extraordinary microclimates," five years, Brooking has been buying The company's catalog makes a says Ga il Haggard, owner of Plants of the seeds and plants from Plants of the compelling case for the garden potential So uthwest, a seed company and nursery Southwest for her landscaping projects. of the region's flora. The descriptions, based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. "I do a lot of native land restoration in many with handsome color photos, offer Given the terrain, it's not surprising the Southwest," she says, "and Plants of germination instructions and often that the region's native flora is so richly the Southwest is one of the very few indicate native habitat, but zone numbers varied-the surprise is that so few companies that provide seed for south­ are omitted. (Gardeners in other parts of gardeners know southwestern plants. But western natives, apart from the most the country may want to note that that's a gap in our horticultural literacy common wildflowers." Haggard places Santa Fe in "Zone 5 to that Plants of the Southwest is trying to Word is getting around to landscape 6.") Virtually all the selections, Haggard fill. Haggard reca lls the frustration that designers outside the region as well. says, are native to the Southwest, "or as inspired her to organize the company 15 "When I saw how many plants they had close as we can get without being purists. years ago. In the early 1970s, she had that I wanted, I got excited," says Scott And there's no point in being a purist­ helped set up New Mexico's native plant Dilatush, owner of the Sandscaper, a we don't even understand the genetic society and was looking for seed sources. landscaping company in Virginia Beach, origins of the chile pepper. " "I guess I got angry," she says. "Nobody Virginia. Dilatush cites the selection of Whatever its origins, the chile genome was selling native plants." sagebrushes (Artemisia spp.) as a case in is well represented in the catalog, with Today, Plants of the Southwest sells a point. "Everybody grows the same, old, more than three pages of selections. broad sampling of the region's flora: food boring artemisias," he says, "but they Among the other edibles listed are beans, plants, grasses, ornamental annuals and have some unusual ones." The 1993 grains, squash, and some unusual greens. perennials-even trees and shrubs. The catalog offers four: sand sage, fringed The emphasis is on varieties cultivated by company has stores in Santa Fe and sage, prairie sage, and big sage. Dilatush the native peoples of the region. The corn Albuquerque, a mail-order service, and admits that using southwestern plants in selections, for instance, include ancient both retail and wholesale operations. humid, seaside conditions was "a big varieties of blue corn and popcorn. Most offerings are sold as seed, which is gamble." But the risk paid off: Dilatush Among the beans is the Anasazi, believed grown on the company's own land or discovered that many southwestern plants to have been cultivated by the cliff-dwell­ under contract with other nurseries. Some do surprisingly well on the coast. Many ing people of that name. The devil's-claw, seed is also collected from the wild. southwesterners have fuzzy leaves, he a sprawling annual cultivated by the Shrubs and trees are usually sold both as Sonoran peoples, yields fibers for seed and as nursery-propagated plants. basket-weaving, purple pink "Growing natives in the intermountain flowers, and edible seeds from its West has suffered from two problems," bizarre, claw-shaped pods. says Pam Poulson, manager of The catalog'S main section is a environmental education at the Red Butte very broad selection of "wild­ Garden and Ar boretum in Salt Lake City, flowers." Included here are a few Utah. "All the books are written for annuals, like the robust owl's Massachusetts or California, and the seed clover (Orthocarpus purpurascens) , mixes are mostly made up of Great Plains which grows to a foot and a half flora." Poulson is chairman of the board tall, and the low, mounded purple of the Utah Native Plant Society, which nama (Nama hispidum), a candi­ used to have a seed-collecting program, date for the rock garden. Among but gave up because the viability was so the perennials are some well-estab­ low-often zero, says Poulson. But Plants lished luminaries, like butterfly of the Southwest seed has had "excellent" weed and purple coneflower. But via bility in her home garden. "I can't tell you'll also find such little-used th at it isn't 1 00 percent." Poulson has delights as the chocolate flower bought both individual species and (Berlandiera lyrata) , whose wildflower mixes from the company. "It's delicate yellow-petaled blooms neat that they include annuals in their suffuse a chocolate fragrance mixes," she says, "so the first year you'll through the morning air. The have some bloom even if it takes a year or section also includes a collection two for the perennials to get going." of 23 penstemons, ranging from Joan Brooking, a landscape architect several delicate, foot-high species who works mainly in New Mexico and Sonoran tribes used fibers from the devil's-claw to Penstemon palmeri, the Arizona, agrees that the local flora is still for basket weaving. "monster penstemon" that can

14 + American Horticulturist • November 1993 reach six feet. Haggard says there are more penstemons to come: she estimates that New Mexico has 35 natives of this genus. Poulson says there are about 70 LET'S GROW penstemons native to Utah. A remarkable aspect of the wildflower section is the interest in the nocturnal TOGETHER garden. There is, for instance, the night­ blooming sacred datura (Datura inoxia subsp. quinquecuspida or D. GIVE AMEMBERSHIP IN THE meteloides), a four-foot perennial that AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. produces trumpet-shaped, white flowers eight inches long. Another night-bloom­ ing offering is angel's-trumpet (Mirabilis longiflora), which grows to three feet and Share the unique range of AHS membership benefits D $35 Check enclosed produces four-inch tubular white flowers with your family and friends: the American Horticultur­ for Introductory New Member Dues with long, magenta stamens. Its sweet­ ist, toll-free Gardeners' Information Service, Annual smelling blooms attract hawkmoths. Member#: I _I _I _I _I_I Gardeners who don't know these species, Free Seed Exchange, Educational Programs, Horticul­ incidentally, should be careful about their tural Employment Service, Horticultural Book Service, Nome: common names. Datura inoxia is some­ Environmental and Conservation Programs, Official AHS Address: times called jimsonweed, but so is its less Membership Card, special events at River Farm, our City I Stote I Zip: glamorous relative, D. stramonium. D. Society's headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, and inoxia is sometimes also called angel's­ Daytime Phone: trumpet, as are species in the related much more. genus, Brugmansia. If you like the Please send gift membership to: nocturnal approach, you can buy a set of It's so easy to give an AHS membership I Simply fill in Nome: "Moon Garden" packets, containing the coupon at right and mail to AHS Gift Membership, seeds of a variety of perennials and Dept. 1193, 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Address: shrubs with nighttime appeal. Haggard VA 22308. Using your MasterCard or Visa? Call our City I Stote I Zip: would like to restore an aesthetic Membership Department toll-free at (800) 777- dimension to the night. "Artificial lights," Sign gift cord: she says, "have robbed us of the night." 7931 to place your gift membership orders. The shrub and tree section ranges from woody ground cover "shrublets" like snake broom (Gutierrezia sarothrae) and creeping mahonia (Mahonia repens), to oak and pine. Here you'll find the SPECIAL INTERE5T GROUP lOURS fernbush (Chamaebatiaria millefolium), a tall shrub with fragrant, fernlike leaves J7cuc1en& ffJVord ~ and white flowers. The compact feather dalea (Dalea formosa) has feathery leaves Dear Garden Enthusiast, and fuzzy, pealike, purple and yellow On OUT special GARDENS qfNOKTH flowers. The cliffrose (Cowania mexicana) AMERICA tOUTS, you can discover the is a dense evergreen shrub whose yellow idyllic settings which flowers give way to long, silky plumes. poets, Most of the company's customers live where the plants do, but about a quarter of the mail-order business now comes from outside th€ region. Haggard is pleased with the increasing interest in the plants-even in regions where they're not native. "There are two main things going on here," she says. "We attempt to get people to appreciate our native flora. That's really our mandate. And then there's the part of horticulture that's thrilled with anything new, with each new introduction, and I'm very happy to be a part of that as well." After all, she says, "80 percent of the plants in American gardens are from Asia and Europe." So if you're looking for something really exotic, consider some American natives.

Plants of the Southwest can be reached at Agua Fria, Route 6 Box 11-A, Santa Fe, First-class tours since 1928 NM 87501, (505) 471-2212. The 1994 I'br Cl/Tee brochllTe, calI800-..ll5'-7092. ahm catalog is due out this month and costs $3.50. A seed and plant list is free.

American Horticulturist • November 1993 • 15 Gardeners' Q&A 0

size, approximately three feet square. pile should be covered lightly with a Q: I live in New England where This size will provide enough bulk to canvas tarp or old sheet of plastic to pro­ winter temperatures are generally below generate heat. A pile that is much larger vide some protection from the elements freezing. What can I do to keep my com­ will take longer to break down and be but still allow good air circulation. post pile cooking so that it is ready to use harder to move. Turning or aerating your next spring? -N. P., Portland, Maine compost pile may be difficult in winter, Q: I have several cultivars of culinary but any time this can be done it will sage (Salvia officinalis) in my herb A: Even at very low temperatures your hasten the breakdown process. garden. Over the years these plants compost will continue to decompose. It Many composters in the North insulate have spread profusely, and are beginning will just be doing so at a much slower rate. their piles by placing a layer of leaves or to crowd out other herbs in the garden. Keep the compost pile at a manageable hay bales over the mound. The compost How and when should I cut these back? -D. c., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania A: You can divide your salvia into smaller clumps next spring. Using a spade or shovel, dig up the entire plant with roots intact. Divide the plant into sections with a knife or sharp spade, ensuring that each section has a healthy set of roots. Generally, you will find that the youngest shoots around the perimeter of the plant re-estabhsh themselves most readily. Replant the clumps into a sunny, well­ drained area of your herb garden and water thoroughly. Sages can be pruned during the growing season to keep plants full and bushy. Cut out shoots after they have flowered, and trim the plant to the desired shape. - Julie Maloy AHS Fall Intern

Q: I bought a beautiful Kalanchoe Lilypons Water Gardens® blossfeldiana at a local florist. It has since finished blooming and I have been FREE CATALOG unsuccessful in getting it to reb loom. Do kalanchoes require special treatment to Begin your water garden today with a Lilypons catalog bloom? - D. 5., Duluth, Minnesota featuring page after page ofbeautiful water lilies, lotus, bog plants, fish, statuary, and the essentials for keeping it all A: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is marketed widely as a bright-blooming working together. house plant. It is a succulent that requires No pool? Choose a fiberglass, EPDM rubber or PVC pool a dormant period in the fall if it is to rebloom the following year. Kalanchoes from the many sizes shown in the Lilypons catalog. will only develop flower buds when there For your copy of the new Lilypons 100 page informative color are fewer than 12 hours of daylight. This catalog and seasonal newsletters, send in the coupon below. will happen naturally in November and Or call toll free. flowers can be expected the following spring. 1-800723-7667 Next year, toward the end of August, you can create artificial short day Operator 1502 conditions to encourage earlier blooms. Place the plant in a dark closet or cover it 1------Mail this coup~o c!os:; addres~ I with a bag or box every day from around 6 p.m. until 8 a.m. Continue this treat­ I Name Lilypons Water Gardens, Dept. 1502 II ment for about four weeks, at which time I P.O. Box 10 natural daylight will have become short I Address Buckeystown, Maryland 21117-0010 I Apt. P.O. Box 188 enough to continue the "treatment" for I City Brookshire, Texas 77423-0188 I you. Water more sparingly during this P.O. Box 1130 dormant period and allow the plant very LI te Zip Thermal, California 92274-1130 I good light (at least four hours of direct sun) during the daylight hours. When the ------~ first few flower buds are large enough,

16 • Ame ri can Horticulturist. November 1993 remove them to promote more profuse grafting cuttings into the top of mature blooming. Then leave the buds alone. trees (top working). The plant should be in full bloom within If the novel characteristic is fruit color, 12 to 15 weeks from the beginning of the you must illustrate it with photographs or Helps plants treatment. another type of illustration, referred to as • Kalanchoes like a little liquid fertilizer "drawings" by the U.S. Patent Office. SUMve during the growing season. In spring, just You will need to describe the color by before flowering, apply a high phospho­ comparing it to anyone of a number of rus fertilizer every three weeks. Keep the existing color charts. If the characteristic cold, dry winters. soil barely moist and continue feeding is unrelated to the plant's appearance, no every two to three weeks during the drawings are required. In any case, you flowering period. will need to submit a "specification" that details how the plant was bred or (): I am planning to plant bulbs this discovered, gives a complete botanical ;;;trand would like some suggestions description of the entire plant, and for a good ground cover to plant with compares it with similar plants already on them. -M. T., Independence, Missouri the market. For example, if the unique characteristic is sugar content, you should A: You don't say if you want a ground provide scientific data to support that cover that blooms at the same time as claim. If the distinguishing characteristic your bulbs to complement them, or one is later ripening of a known cultivar, you that will cover the unsightly browning would compare ripening data on the foliage as your bulb plants mature. mutation, the parent plant, and any other For companion blooms in shade, we later ripening mutations of the parent. recommend forget-me-nots (Mysotis At this point, you can ask the patent sylvatica). Their delicate blue flowers are office to send you a kit, which will a lovely complement to tulips or daffodils. include any required forms, a copy of a For sun, try the little tufted pansies specification for your particular type of (Viola cornuta). These abundant bloom­ plant, and a list of the required fees. All of ers make cheerful companions for the above information, plus a check to the spring-flowering bulbs. Commissioner of Patents, constitutes a If you want a camouflage ground cover patent application. for bulbs that have finished blooming, Upon receipt, your application will be you will need later-developing plants dated and given a serial number. The slightly taller than those commonly application is then logged into the considered ground covers. We suggest appropriate examining area to await perennials with a bushy habit and large or examination. full leaves. For shade: Astilbes, ferns, The patent examiner may tell you that hostas, Brunnera macrophylla (Siberian your application has been allowed and bugloss or perennial forget-me-not), that you should send in your final fee. Epimedium spp., pulmonarias (lungwort), (Fees are subject to change, but currently or hellebores. range from about $550 for a small entity, For part shade or sun: Alchemilla mollis such as a sole inventor or a nonprofit (lady's-mantle), Japanese anemones, organization, to about $1,100 for a large heucheras, or hardy geraniums (cranesbill). entity, such as a firm employing more For full sun: Daylilies, hardy geraniums, than 50 people.) Or the examiner may Artemisia spp., peonies, Chrysanthemum state that your plant does not appear to pacificum (Ajania pacifica), or some of be novel when compared to a variety the ornamental grasses. -Sandy Flowers currently in the public domain. You must AHS Intern then respond to the rejection by specific­ ally pointing out the differences between How can I patent a fruit tree? Sprayed on plant surfaces, Wilt-pruf® Q: your plant and the plant alleged to be the forms a protective coating that slows -H. c., San Antonio, Texas same as yours. The examiner's treatment down moisture evaporation from leaves of your application may consist of minor and stems. Use for: A: Before anyone can patent a fruit tree objections to the description of your drawings, in which case you may need to • spring and summer transplanting or any other plant that they have found or • protection from summer heat bred, they must be sure that it is unique in take a more accurate photograph or and drought some aspect from all others. It may differ in choose another color from the color chart. • fall transplanting one or more characteristics, such as Requests for a patent application kit • winter windburn protection blossom period, time of ripening, frost or should be sent to: Commissioner of • Christmas trees, wreaths disease resistance, fruit color, firmness for Patents, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and greens shipping, or others. You may want to have Washington, DC 22031, Attn: Examiner Organic and biodegradable, Wilt-Pruf® experts analyze your plant and help you Feyrer, Group 1800. -Bob Bagwill is the safe way to guard determine this "novelty" aspect. GIS Volunteer against moisture loss Next, you must asexually propagate year 'round. IIll0 the plant to make sure that the novelty Bob BagwiU, who answers member Ask for Wilt-Pruf® at can be maintained in succeeding clonal questions each Thursday for the AHS your garcen supply PRUf® generations. In the case of a peach tree, Gardeners' Information Service, worked store today. for example, you could speed up the for 28 years as an examiner in the U.S. P.O. Box 469, Essex, CT 06426-0469 propagation and observation phase by Patent Office. 203fi67-7033

American Horticulturist • November 1993 • 17 Botanical Garden AHS Bulletin Board Former AHS President Donald Wyman Dies MASTER CLASSES IN HORTICULTURE, GARDEN Donald Wyman, 89, horticulturist highest award, the Liberty Hyde Bailey DESIGN & RELATED ARTS emeritus of Harvard University's Arnold Medal. He also received the Royal Arboretum and a Past President of the Horticultural Society'S Veitch Memorial an opportunity for study American Horticultural Society, died in Gold Medal, the highest award the British with celebrated professionals September at a Wayland, Massachusetts, society awards to a foreigner; the George nursing home of cardiac arrhythmia. Robert White Medal, the top award of ROSEMARY ALEXANDER & Wyman, perhaps best known to Ameri­ the Massachusetts Horticultural Society; ANTHONY ouGARD PASLEY can gardeners as author of Wyman's and the Medal of Honor from the Garden Gardening Encyclopedia, began serving Club of America. of the English Gardening School on the AHS Board of Directors in 1939, Also a bible for dedicated gardeners is at the Chelsea Physic Garden and served in that capacity almost his Trees for American Gardens. "His The Planning & continuously through 1954. In 1960 he writings on woody plants," says Creech, was elected First Vice President, and he "are timeless." Wyman's horticultural Planting Course became President in 1961. career, which included education at November 1-5 John Creech, who was serving on the Cornell University and 33 years as the The Art of Planting Board at the time, recalls: "This was a Arnold Arboretum's horticulturist, time in the Society's history when the focused on evaluating trees, shrubs, and November 8-10 American Horticultural Council was con­ other woody plants for their value to templating merger with AHS. Wyman, nursery professionals, landscapers, and BETTY EDWARDS long an advocate of efforts to establish home gardeners. author of leadership among the various gardening "His career," says Creech, "bridged the Drawing on the Right Sick of the Brain, organizations, was instrumental in period when that of the older 'deans' of and Drawing on the Artist Within bringing together AHS, then a society of horticulture were coming to an end and individuals, and the council, with its the fledgling professional community that Drawing on the Right umbrellalike concepts." At the urging of followed World War II had yet to be Side of the Brain all participants at a consolidation recognized. As a result, almost all of January 10-14 meeting, "Wyman agreed to accept the today's horticulturists were influenced by position of President, in the soft-spoken Wyman's teaching and research observa­ Drawing on Creativity manner he was capable of. 'If that's what tions. The entire nursery industry leaned January 18 & 19 you fellows want, that's fine with me.'" heavily on his woody plant evaluations In 1971, Wyman received AHS's for their inventories." JOHN BROOKES of the Clock House School of Garden Design,West Sussex, England, Memorial Fund Honors Elizabeth Corning and the School of Garden Design at The Royal Botanic Gardens Elizabeth "Betty" Corning, a former Vice She was a long-time member of a group President of the American Horticultural called "The Rares," who worked to Garden Design Society, died in September at a hospital in collect, propagate, and introduce new with John Brookes Albany, New York, from emphysema. She species and cultivars of exceptional merit was 81. into U.S. commerce and gardens. She was January 26-28 A native of Philadelphia, Corning credited with discovering a clematis, moved to Albany in 1932 when she subsequently named 'Betty Corning', married Erastus Corning II, who served which was among plants receiving the Call 1-800-322-NYBG, Dept. 80 as mayor of that city from 1941 until his coveted Gold Medal of the Pennsylvania for a brochure or mail coupon below death in 1983. Betty Corning was elected Horticultural Society in 1992. Please send information for: to the AHS Board of Directors in 1969 "Betty Corning was the consummate o Rosemary Alexander & and was elected Secretary in 1973. She private gardener," says AHS President Anthony du Gard Pasley served as Second Vice President from H. Marc Cathey, "who used her 1974 to 1978 and First Vice President professionalism and attainments to Betty Edwards o from 1978 to 1980. She served another benefit public gardens throughout the o John Brookes nine years on the Board before retiring in United States. No one that I know of in Name ______1990. She founded and co-chaired the American horticulture has visited more Friends of River Farm, a group whose private and public gardens, toured more Address ______goal was improving the grounds and areas of the world in search of new plants ______Zip ______buildings of the historic property. and experiences, or chaired, organized, She also served two terms as president supervised, funded, or inspired more Send to: Education, Dept. 80 of the Garden Club of America, helping groups and causes to the highest levels of The New York Botanical Garden that national organization refocus its horticultural excellence." Bronx, NY 10458-5126 priorities on expanding the horticultural A memorial fund has been established and environmental skills of all gardeners. at AHS in Corning's honor.

18 • American Horticulturist· November 1993 The Natural Shade Garden Down the Garden Path Ken Druse Beverley Nichols Hardcover. Retail price: $40. AHS price: $35. Softcover. Retail price: $19.50. AHS price: $16.75. Book code: RAM 003 Book code: ANT 007 Ken Druse shows that shade can be an This gardening classic has been reis­ opportunity to create gardens that sued to delight a new generation of work with nature. He covers every readers with the joys of horticulture. Wildflowers Across America aspect of gardening in the shade and Beverley Nichols (1898-1983) has en­ Lady Bird Johnson and Carlton B. offers extensive plant lists, hundreds tertained many readers with his vast Lees of tips, and a gallery of shade gardens writings, but it is for this volume that Hardcover. Retail price: $39.95. AHS price: $33.95. in nearly SOO photographs. Chapters he is best remembered. First issued in Book code: ABB 001 explain how to make and maintain 1932, it became a runaway best seller. This book is a tribute to the beauty of container, rock, water, and woodland This is not a gardening manual. In the this country's horticultural resources gardens. The Natural Shade Garden is forward Nichols writes: "You must not o and a plea for increasing the use of an inspiration and an invaluable refer­ look to it for guidance. It will not tell native plants and wildflowers in our ence for anyone who has despaired of you how to prune a rose bush .... " landscaping. It encourages us to let creating beautiful gardens with little Instead he hopes for his readers "that nature be our guide in our selection of light. 1992. 280 pages. there may come to them, once more, a plants. It answers such questions as faint tremor of that first ecstasy which o why a plant will thrive in one place shook them when they learnt that a and not in another and tells how to use garden is the only mistress who never wildflowers in our parks as well as in LEISURE READING fades, who never fails." We all need our own gardens. One of the best parts practical tips but we also need to stay of this book is the lOS-page album Passalong Plants close to the soul of the garden. 1983. featuring the most spectacular and Steve Bender and Felder Rushing 290 pages. best-loved wildflowers of America. Hardcover. Retail price: $29.95. AHS price: $25.50. 1988.309 pages. Boak code: UNC 005 A Celebration of Gardens Pass along plants are plants that have Sir Roy Strong American Gardening Series: survived for decades by being handed Hardcover. Retail price: $35. AHS price: $30. Water Gardening from one person to another. These Book code: TIM 010 Ken Druse botanical heirlooms, such as flowering This is perhaps the most wide-ranging Softcover. Retail price: $9. AHS price: $8.25. almond, blackberry lily, and night­ and delightful anthology of writing Book code: PRE 004 blooming cereus, usually can't be about gardens and gardening ever Nothing can match the magic and found in local garden centers; about compiled in English. Sir Roy Strong tranquility of water in the garden. Ken the only way to obtain them is to beg draws on his own experiences as a Druse shows how to design the ideal a cutting from someone who already gardener and a creator of gardens, on water feature for your own garden has them. In this lively and sometimes his vast knowledge of garden litera­ using enviromentally sound and or­ irreverent book, Steve Bender and Fel­ ture, and on his extensive personal ganic gardening practices. He includes der Rushing describe 117 such plants library of gardening books to present essential information on designing in the informal and personal manner the best essays of them all. The result and installing your water garden, from your neighbor might use when giving is a book not only impressive for its pumps and filters to fountains and fish you a cutting of her prize rose. Because erudition, but at times deliciously and a "troubleshooting" section to you might not find these plants easily, funny and surprising. It is a book for keep your water environment healthy. they list mail-order sources and tips on active gardeners but will also appeal You even learn how to build a water­ how to organize your own plant swap. to those who prefer to fantasize rather fall. There is also a superb "plant In the forward, Allen Lacy describes than to weed. A perfect companion for portrait" section in which more than this as "a worthy and eminently enjoy­ the short days and long nights of win­ 40 floating marsh plants are de­ able contribution to American ter. 1993. 410 pages. scribed. 1993. 96 pages. horticultural literature." 1993. 221 pages. The Garden and Farm Books The Natural Garden of Thomas Jefferson Ken Druse Robert C. Baron, Editor Hardcover. Retail price: $35. AHS price $30. Hardcover. Retail price: $20. AHS price: $17. Book code: RAM 002 Book code: FUL 006 A natural garden is one that is planned Thomas Jefferson was a gardener at and designed to work with, rather heart. He observed nature in detail than against, nature. Nature inspires and continually experimented with the choice of native plants, hardy pe­ new varieties of plants. Perhaps no­ rennials, wildflowers, and ornamental where else is the private side of grasses. In 12 chapters, The Natural Jefferson more apparent than when he Garden covers every aspect and ele­ is writing about gardening and the ment of natural gardening. It shows details of daily life at Monticello. This how to design, plan, plant, or improve volume contains letters to his col­ an existing garden and how to main­ leagues, friends, and family. Also tain it year after year. This complete included is a description of the resto­ reference guide will make converts of ration of Monticello's gardens. The those still toiling with mower and book is beautifully illustrated with shears and inspire those already de­ Jefferson's own drawings and Robert voted to this fresh new style of Llewellyn'S photographs. 1987. 540 gardening. 1989. 296 pages. pages.

NOVEMBER 1993 AHS BOOK CATALOG Thyme On My Hands highly scientific work of today. Be­ garden. Its more than 1,200 pages, Eric Grissell tween the purely analytical drawings 10,000 entries, 206 drawings, and Hardcover. Reloil price: $14.95. AHS price: $12.75. and the purely aesthetic paintings lies more than 100 photographs make it Book code: TIM 009 a vast body of drawings and paintings one of the most comprehensive one­ With humor that never misses its with a combined scholarly and visual volume gardening sourcebooks on the mark, Eric Grissell reflects upon the appeal, and it is this wide range of market today. 1,221 pages. simple, everyday joys and pitfalls of illustration that Wilfrid Blunt ex­ gardening: planning a new garden, plored and recorded. W. T. Stearn, North American dealing with pests, poring over seed who collaborated on the original edi­ Horticulture: A Reference catalogs, trying unusual plants. The tion, has revised this classic work, Guide, Second Edition book culminates in a wonderful chap­ bringing the chapter on 20th-century Thomas Barrett, Editor ter on his "pilgrimage" to Sudbrook botanical illustration up to date and Hardcover. Retail price: $75. AHS price: $65. Cottage in England. This is one man's including a great number of colored Book code: MAC 123 o lyrical, literary treatise on the "why" illustrations. 1993. 320 Pages. Compiled by the American Horticul­ rather than the "how" of gardening. tural Society, the completely revised 1986.182 pages. and expanded North American Hor­ ticulture is the most comprehensive Noah's Garden REFERENCE directory of U.S. and Canadian horti­ o Sara Stein culture. Thousands of organizations Hardcover. Reloil price: $21 .95. AHS price: $18.65. Hortica and programs are described. Included Book code: HOU 011 Alfred Byrd Graf are 28 categories, among them: con­ America's landscape style of neat Hardcover. Retail price: $250. AHS price: $210. servation organizations, international yards and gardens has devastated sub­ Book code: ROE 400 registration authorities, national gov­ urban ecology. Entire communities of Hortica is an extensive guide to plant ernmental programs, horticulture plants and insects have been wiped identification. Alfred Byrd Graf has education programs, botanical gar­ out. This book interweaves the gathered a comprehensive selection of dens, arboreta, conservatories, and author's efforts to build a garden that ilhastrations fea turing choice orna­ other public gardens, plant societies, welcomes all creatures with her ex­ mentals' as well as useful plants and and community gardens. 427 pages. plorations into the ecology of a edible fruit. Plants are photographed garden. She takes the reader along on in gardens, botanical collections, and The American Horticultural an adventure that will make every gar­ arboreta, or in natural habitats Society Encyclopedia of dener look at his or her yard in a new around the world. An appendix gives Garden Plants and thoughtful way. 1993. 294 pages. family, origin, synonyms (if any), com­ Christopher Brickell, Editor Ihon names, and usefulness. Zone and Hardcover. Retail price: $49.95. AHS price: $42.50. The Art of Botanical climatic tolerance are also included. Book code: GAR 006 IDustration 1,218 pages. A comprehensive, up-to-date, and lav­ Wilfrid Blunt and W. T. Stearn ish guide to garden plants, this Hardcover. Reloil price: $59.50. AHS price: $51. Wyman's Gardening extensive encyclopedia includes over Book code: ANT 008 Encyclopedia 8,000 plants, 4,000 of which are fea­ First published in 1950, this work has Donald Wyman tured in full-color photographs. long been out of print. The Art of Hardcover. Retail price: $55. AHS price: $46.75. Written by a team of plant experts, Botanical Illustration was probably Book code: MAC 666 • The American Horticultural Society the first attempt to present a general Updated and expanded, Wyman's Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is de­ survey of the development of botani­ Gardening Encyclopedia contains a signed to be the gardener'S bible, a cal illustration from the crude wealth of information on planning, standard work of reference for every scratchings of early man down to the planting, and maintaining any kind of gardening bookshelf. 608 pages.

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NOVEMBER 1993 AHS BOOK CATALOG Gardeners' Dateline

Mid-Atlantic Northwest • Nov. 18. Second Annual Orchids of the World Symposium. Naples, Florida. • Nov. 14. Bonsai Demonstration. U.S. • Dec. 3. Artists' Festival. Japanese Information: Jim Gunderson, (813) National Arboretum, Washington, D.C. Garden Society of Oregon, Portland, 262-2222. Information: (202) 475-4815. Oregon. Information: Darlene Dunham, (503) 223-9233 or Joan Civick, (503) • Dec. 5. The 14th Annual Country • Dec. 12. Holiday Open House. Lewis 636-0608. Christmas Celebration. Atlanta Botanical Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Garden, Atlanta, Georgia. Information: Virginia. Information: (804) 262-9887. South Central Carol Flammer or Kelly Borders, (404) 876-5859. North Central • Nov. 5-8. National Conference on Specialty Cut Flowers. Overland Park, Southwest • Nov. 6-28. Fall Floral Display. Kansas. Information: Alan Stevens, (913) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, 532-5173. • Nov. 11-14. Orchid Society Show Missouri. Information: (314) 577-5100. and Sale. Denver Botanic Gardens, • Dec. 4-31. Christmas at the Arbore­ Denver, Colorado. Information: (303) • Nov. 20-Jan. 9. Holiday Show of tum. Dallas Arboretum and Botanical 331-4000. 1,000 Poinsettias. Foellinger-Freimann Garden, Dallas, Texas. Information: (214) Botanical Conservatory, Fort Wayne, 327-8263. West Coast Indiana. Information: (219) 427-1267. Southeast • Nov. 4-7. Fall Plant Festival. The • Nov. 25-Jan. 9. Winter Holiday Huntington, San Marino, California. Show. Krohn Conservatory, Cincinnati, • Nov. 6-10. Plant Pathology 2000. Information: Lisa Blackburn, (818) Ohio. Information: (513) 352-4080. Joint Meeting of the American 405-2140. Phytopathological Society and the Society Northeast of Nematologists. Information: Joan • Nov. 7. Holiday Wreaths. Work­ Schimmi, (612) 454-7250. shop. South Coast Botanic Garden, Palos • Through Nov. 21. The Return of Verdes Peninsula, California. Informa­ the Dinosaurs. Dinosaur topiaries. tion: (310) 544-6815. Longwood Garden, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Information: Pam Carter, • Nov. 14. Gardens of Antiquity. (215) 388-6741. River Farm Events Lecture. Los Angeles State and County Arboretum, Arcadia, California. Informa­ • Nov. 4. Landscape Ideas '93: A The American Horticultural Society tion: (818) 821-3222. Landscape Design Seminar. Pittsburgh hosts its eighth annual Holiday Civic Garden Center, Pittsburgh, Open House from 10 a.m. to 3 • Nov. 19-21. The Art and Science of Pennsylvania. Information: (412) p.m. on December 11. Local garden the California Garden- A Look at 441-4442. clubs will dress the River Farm Inspirational Designers. Lectures. Santa mansion in seasonal regalia. Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, • Nov. 6. Trees and Shrubs for Fall There'll be hot cider and cookies California. Information: (805) 682-4726. Color. Tour. Scott Arboretum, and caroling choristers from nearby Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Information: churches. This is also the date to • Nov. 22. Across California. Lecture (215) 328-8025. pick up the Christmas trees, on natural areas. Cosponsored by the poinsettias, and other seasonal Strybing Arboretum Society and the Cali­ • Nov. 7. Succulent Plant Propagation plants that local members can fornia Native Plant Society. San Francisco Workshop. Bartlett Arboretum, preorder until mid-November. County Fair Building, San Francisco, Stamford, Connecticut. Information: River Farm will round out the California. Information: (415) 661-0688. (203) 322-6971. year with two art exhibitions. Through November 22, the oil and • Dec. 4. Garden Holiday Sale. Santa • Dec. 4-8. Winter Festival and pastel stilllifes and landscapes of Barbara Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, Poinsettia Display. Planting Fields Baltimore artist Beryl McDonough California. Information: (805) 682-4726. Arboretum, Oyster Bay, New York. will be on display. From November Information: (516) 922-9201. 24 to January 3, a group of artists • Dec. 4-5. Camellia Show and Sale. from the Loft Gallery in Los Angeles State and County Arbore­ • Dec. 6-8. Restoration '93. Occoquan, Virginia, will exhibit tum, Arcadia, California. Information: Environmental exhibition and conference. works in various media. (818) 821-3222. Boston, Massachusetts. Information: River Farm is four miles south of (617) 933-8744. Old Town Alexandria, off the George International Washington Parkway and overlook­ • Dec. 11. Garlands, Swags, and ing the Potomac River. For more • Oct. 28-May 2. The Wartime Wall-hangings. Workshop. The information, call (703) 768-5700. Kitchen and Garden. Exhibition. Imperial Horticultural Society of New York, New War Muse um, Lambeth Road, London York City. Information: (212) 757-0915. SE1 6HZ. Information: 071 -240-7200.

American Horticu lturist • November 1993 + 21 Classifieds

Classified Ad Rates: $1 per word; BOOKS minimum $20 per insertion_ 10 percent discount for three consecutive ads using HORTICA-All-Color Cyclopedia of Garden same copy, provided each insertion meets Flora, with Hardiness Zones, also Indoor Plants, 8,100 photos, by Dr. A. B. Graf, $238. TROPICA the $20 minimum after taking discount. 4 (1992), 7,000 Color photos of plants and trees 1994 EARTH FRIENDLY Copy and prepayment must be received for warm environments, $165. EXOTIC HOUSE GARDENING CALENDAR on the 20th day of the month three PLANTS, 1,200 pnotos, 150 in color, with keys months prior to publication date_ Send to care, $8.95. Circulars gladly sent. Shipping WRITTEN BY ELLEN HENKE orders to: AHS Advertising Department, additional. ROEHRS CO., Box 125, East Ruth­ PHOTOGRAPHED BY 2300 South Ninth Street, Suite 501, erford, NJ 07073. (201) 939-0090. Arlington, VA 22204-2320 or call (703) GEORGE M. HENKE 892-0733. BULBS Dutch bulbs for fall planting, 12cm Tulips, DNI The American Horticultural Society is pleased to THE AVANT GARDENER Daffodils, Hyacinths and Miscellaneous. Cata­ offer "Earth Friendly Gardening" as its 1994 cal­ log Free. Paula Parker DBA, Mary Mattison Van FOR THE GARDENER WHO WANTS MORE Schaik, IMPORTED DUTCH BULBS, P.O . Box endar selection. This beautiful wall calendar FROM GARDENING! Subscribe to THE 32AH, Cavendish, VT 05142. (802) 226-7653. provides monthly advice on choosing native plants AVANT GARDENER, the liveliest, most useful and time-honored hardy plants, "ecoscaping," of all gardening publications. Every month this CARNIVOROUS PLANTS unique news service brings you the newest, most CARNIVOROUS (Insectivorous) PLANTS, composting for good soil, nurturing pesticide-free practical information on new plants, products, seeds, supplies, and books. Color brochure free. techniques, with sources, feature articles, special vegetables, and more-()II the information a gar­ PETER PAULS NURSERIES, Canandaigua, NY issues, 25th year. Awarded Garden Club of Amer­ dener needs to create an earth-friendly garden. As 14424. ica and Massachusetts Horticultural Society "America's Plant Doctor," Ellen Henke is well medals. Curious? Sample copy $1. Serious? $12 COMPUTER SOFTWARE known to television and radio audiences. Now full year (reg. $18). THE AVANT GARDENER, Henke, who holds a doctorate in botany from Box 489M, New York, NY 10028. NEW DOS DATABASES for study and selection of ornamental grasses, Hosta, and culinary herbs. Columbia University, has created an infarmative $3 for large catalog. TAXONOMIC COM­ calendar for both novice and veteran gardeners. . ~ . ~CHIP2 PUTER, Box 12011, Raleigh, NC 27605. The calendar is 14" x 103;8" and includes 12 full . Computerized Horticultural EMPLOYMENT color photographs by George M. Henke. One cal­ » . . Information Planner "SIMPLE" THE ROVING GARDENING ART­ Call or write: PH/FAX: 1-800-544-2721 IST specializing in horticultural art, garden illu­ endar is just $11 postage paid for AHS members. - or PH/FAX: 516·324-2334 PARADISE INFORMATION, INC. sion, facade, topiary, trompe l'oeil, espalier, Each additional calendar is only $9.50 postage P.O. Box 1701, East Hampton, NY 11937 trellis work, personalized teaching and training. paid. Virginia residents add 41;2%sales tax. ~ Box 69AH, Honey Brook, PA 19344. To order Earth Friendly Gardening 1994 fill OUR NAME INJAPANESE We at the American Horticultural Society are t I · Fine wood items for often asked to refer individuals to significant in the coupon below and mail to AHS Calendars, ~ the home or garden horticultural positions around the country. We 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308- t " Free Mailer are not in a position to offer full placement 1300. Or call toll-free, (800) 777-7931. . SUN GARDEN SPEClAUTIES services to candidates or employers. Howeve r, as ~"Welcome to P.O_ Box 52382, Dept. A-H a service to our members-jobseekers and em­ Iwould like to order calendars. fTff Garden' Tulsa, OK 74152 ployers alike-we welcome the resumes and cover letters of individuals seeking job changes Amount due : and €mployers seeking candidates. All responsi­ COUNTRY GAZEBO bility for checking references and determining the o Check enclosed appropriateness of both position and candidate rests with the individuals. AHS's participation in o Chorge my: OTHER GAZEBO AND GARDEN PLANS AVAILABLE this activity is only to serve as a connecting point o MosterCord 0 Visa Exp. Dote: for members of the Society. Inquiries and infor­ mation should be sent to HORTICULTURAL Account #: ______170 Mesa Rd Dept D EMPLOYMENT-AMERICAN HORTICUL­ Nipomo, CA 93444 Signature: ______TURAL SOCIETY, Dept. 1193, 7931 East Bou­ AVIARIES' GATEWAYS' levard Dr., Alexandria, VA 22308-1300. Nome: ______GAMES Address : ______Gardener's Pin actual size The classic English watering GARDEN PLOTS-A beautifully watercolored, City / State flip ______can in sterling silver, $95. entertaining, challenging floral card game for Daytime Phone: ______14K gold, $425. adults and children. Played by 2,3, or 4 "garden­ $4 shipping. In ers" who build gardens by collecting Garden NY add tax. Requirement Cards and informational Flower Catalogue on request. Matching Cards to score points. Once game is VISA/Mel AME)(: mastered, three bonus garden quiz games can be 516-734-4002. Or send played. Beautiful gift-$24 ppd. Checks: SUD­ EAST END SILVER DEN ELEGANCE, LTD., 3724 Cedar Dr., Balti­ more, MD 21207. Shipped promptly.

22 • American Horticulturist· November 1993 GARDEN PHOTOGRAPHY WE SPECIALIZE IN THE GENUS FICUS. Rare, unusual xerophytics, bonsai, tropicals. Send $1 MAUREEN MURPHY, PHOTOGRAPHER. and SASE to BOB'S, Rt. 2 Box 42, Wingate, TX Specialist in flower and garden photography of 79566. private and public gardens. One World Trade Center, P.O. Box 32363, Long Beach, CA 90832- 2363. (310) 432-3703. ROSES HORTICO'S LARGE CROP of heavy roses HOUSE PLANTS available from mid-November on. Over 700 va­ ORCHIDS, GESNERIADS, BEGONIAS, CACTI rieties, including: new show roses and ground & SUCCULENTS. Visitors welcome. 1992-1993 covers; English garden roses by David Austin; catalog, $2. LAURAY OF SALISBURY, 432 Un­ Pioneer roses; antique and classic roses by Peter dermountain Rd., Sa lisbury, CT 06068. (203) Beales; miniatures by Rennie; 6 thornless HT 435-2263. varieties; hardy types-Ottawa Explorers, Man­ THE AMERICAN itoba Parkland roses, and the fabulous Pavement NURSERY STOCK roses. A superb co llection from our field s that are HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY CHOOSE FROM 1,500 VARIETIES of exciting known to be virus-free. Orders shipped by our ENCYClOPEDIA OF GARDENING and hardy plant varieties. Many exclusive. Rho­ temperature-controlled truck to UPS depots in dodendrons, azaleas, conifers, shrubs, trees, per­ the USA for local distribution. Catalog $3. Sepa­ ennials and much more. Mail-order catalog $3. rate catalogs for roses, shrubs (& liners), and With 3,500 illustrations, including 400 series of ROSLYN NURSERY, Dept. AH, Box 69, Roslyn, perennials. HORTICO INC., 723 Robson Rd., step-by-step photos, The American Horffcultural So· NY 11576. (516) 643-9347. Waterdown, ON LOR 2H1. (416) 689-6984. Fax: (416) 689-6566. ciety Encyclopedia of Gardening is the only PALMS gardening guide you'll ever need. This 648'page RARE AND EXOTIC HAWAIIAN-GROWN STATIONERY companion volume to The American Horticultural PALM AND CYCAD SEEDLINGS from around DISTINCTIVE FLORAL NOTECARDS: Six Society Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is packed the world. Carefully shipped to anywhere in the hand-painted, original-design cards with enve­ with basic and advanced gardening techniques­ USA. Please send for price li st. KAPOHO lopes, $4. Hand-painted bookmarks and book­ PALMS, P.O. Box 3, Pahoa, HI 96778. (808) everything from transplanting to hybridizing plates also. Check/money order accepted. Free 936-2580. brochure ava il ab le upon reques t. BETH -and includes practical and informative tips on PLANTS (UNUSUAL) MOHANNY, 14660 Balsam St., Woodbridge, creating and maintaining your garden. Importont VA 22191. (703) 494-2611, after 4 p.m. UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL perennials and native plant groups-like hosta s, daylilie s, and irises­ plants. Ca talog $1, refundable, JOY CREEK and cultivating techniques are highlighted. The ENCHANTED REFLECTIONS! Photo cards by NURSERY, Bin 2, 20300 N.W. Watson Rd., encyclopedia includes a horticultural guide to the Scappoose, OR 97056. garden photographer Maureen Murphy. Beauti­ ful £lorals and landscapes suitable for business or major geographic regionsof the United States and PREHISTORIC PLANTS personal correspondence or as unique gifts. Sin­ Canada, acalendar of seasonal reminders, and an gle or boxed, catalog $1. ENCHANTED RE­ CYCADS! Flourished during the Age of Dino­ FLECTIONS, One Wo rld Trade Center, P.O. Box index of botanical and common plant nomes. saurs! 5 different, establi shed seedlings from 32363, Long Beach, CA 90832-2363. (310) 432- around the world, complete with care instruc­ 3703. The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of tions. Great gift id ea! Only $19.95! Guaranteed! SHERMAN NURSERIES, 751 Cassou Rd., San Gardening retails for$59 .95 but AHS memberscan Marcos, CA 92069. SWEATSHIRTS receive it for just $49.95 plus $5 shipping. Virginia "OLD GARDENERS NEVER DIE, They just go RARE PLANTS residents add 4lJ2%s ales tax. to seed !" is just one of our humorous RARELY OFFERED SOUTHEASTERN NA­ SWEATSHIRT designs. Sunflowers, roses, hum­ To order The American Horticultural Soci­ TIVES, woody, herbaceous, nursery grown. mingbirds, kids' shirts and more. FREE CATA­ Many hardy northward. Also newly introduced LOG. (800) 284-2899. ety Encyclopedia of Gardening, fill in the exotics selected for Southern gardens. Send $2 for coupon below and mail to AHS Encyclopedia, 7931 extensive mail-order list. WOODLANDERS AH, TROPICALS East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308· 1128 Colleton Ave., Aiken, SC 29801. TROPICAL SEEDS AND BULBS-thousands of 1300. Or call toll·free, (800) 777-7931. 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America n Hortic ul turist · November 1993 • 23 with a lawn sprinkler-"the equivalent of 36 percent blamed the media for their belief. A Gardener Was Here a three-quarter-inch rain"-and rolling it Some hortiwlturists pin the source of with a lawn roller. "I think it would work persistent rumor on the tale of an Army A study at the University of California­ as well for a home gardener just to tramp officer stationed in Hawaii whose 2-year­ Riverside has suggested a horticultural it down, as long it was an area that old child allegedly died after eating a solution to the expensive and ugly wasn't going to get heavy traffic." poinsettia bract. The story may be one of problem of urban vandalism. He suggested that newspapers shredded many " urban myths," like the alligator in Urban horticulturist Ted Stamen and into strips might be even less likely to the sewer, that refuse to die. Master Gardeners Lori Yates and Dave blow away than the chopped material he According to the SAF, a study Cli ne toured 31 randomly selected sites in and colleague David Heleba used. conducted at the Ohio State University by Riverside over a two-day period to check At the Ohio State University, scientists Robert P. Stone and W. J. Collins found out a hypothesis that plantings would got higher yields from sweet corn, that rats ingesting unusually high doses of deter graffiti. Not surprisingly, they found soybeans, and tomatoes mulched with all parts of the plant not only didn't die, that ivy-covered walls were untouched. shredded newspapers than those mulched but didn't become ill in any way or even But they also found that fences partly with wheatstraw or left unmulched. And lose their appetites. obscured by weeds or a tree, and even they found no accumulation of any "Of course, the poinsettia was never walls fronted with deep ground covers, potentially hazardous heavy metals, the intended to be eaten. Thus it's possible were free of sentiments from vandals. most frequent argument against using that those who do eat parts of the plant The researchers hypothesized that the newspaper as a soil amendment. may experience some degree of discom­ taller pl antings might have discouraged Pellett said he and Heleba found no fort," a society press release said. They graffiti vandals-Stamen calls them "tag­ evidence of heavy metals during the first recommend milk or ice cream to soothe gers"-because they want their work to year of their study. They don't yet have the ache, and that all monedible house be seen. And Yates suggested that urban that data for their second year. "We did plants be kept away fwm pets and children. youths may feel uncomfortable in deep find some increase of sodium, which plantings because they fear "something's wouldn't be a big concern." But even going to run up their pant leg." though many newspapers are converting Aphid Threat Previous studies of the psychology of to soy-based inks, it can be hard to find vandalism indicate that well-tended areas out from them exactly what they do use, to Citruses are less likely to invite this intentional Pellett said. "I would have some questions property damage than are unkempt about making broad recommendations of Citrus growers in Florida are gearing up spaces. Perhaps plants send out a subtle this mulch for food crops." for a potentially devastating invasion by message that says, "We care about this the brown citrus aphid, found in place, and you should, too. " Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, last summer. Poinsettias' Bad Rap The aphid is the most efficient transmit­ ter of severe strains of the citrus tristeza GoodNews Old myths die hard. So we'll say it once virus, which are now dormant or cause more for good measure: poinsettias are only minimal damage in Florida because on Old News not poisonous. there are no insects to spread them quickly. It's hard to believe that many people One-quarter of Florida's citrus crop grows Shredded newspaper recycled as mulch are tempted to eat one of these holiday on sour orange rootstock, which is got good reviews in two recent studies. plants. And a deadly reputation hasn't attacked by one strain of the virus. Researchers at the University of kept them from being one of the nursery Scientists say the question is not if, but Vermont fOUl'ld that chopped newspaper trade's hottest sellers. But a recent survey when, the aphid will arrive in the state, was quite effective at controlling weeds be­ commissioned by the Society of American either on a living citrus plant or via a trop­ tween rows of gaillardia, physotegia, and Florists (SAF) found that 53 percent of ical storm. Richard Lee, a University of daphne. Norman Pellet, of the department Americans believe that poinsettias are Florida plant pathologist, has found that of plant and soil science, said the news­ toxic. Twelve percent know they aren't, innoculating trees with a mild form of the paper was six to 10 inches deep between and the rest just don't know. virus could keep them from suffering the rows when first applied. "These were The survey found that women, Americans from the more severe strains. Entomolo­ pretty small plants when we started, so aged 50 to 64, and those from more gists from the university and the U.S. we had to be careful about putting it too affluent homes were the most likely to be Department of Agriculture are looking for close around the plant." The mulch was ill-informed. Forty-five percent got their natural enemies, such as parasitic wasps, kept from blowing away by soaking it misinformation by "word of mouth," but that might kill the aphid before it matures.

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