1989-02R.Pdf
Is YOllr ganien missing jewel-like flowers floating on a one of the mos ~ satisfying forms of gardening. If you shimmering water sllrf~ce and the da1;"ting brilliance of haven't one, you are missing a great deal of satisfaction goldfish? Are you missing the melodic sounds of w!lter from your garden. spilling from a f(i)unt ai'n, vessel or waterfall? Let Li1yp(i)ns and TETRA poNt:> help you to get started What y@u need in yew'" garden is a wate'C my pooL A water today by @rd'ering one of our durable TETRA POND 32 mil, llly pool is a' garden whose plants like damp to very wet flexible 2 ply PVC pool liners. So easy to install and m,ain feet. Fish a:qd frogs like to live tJiere and butterflies will tain you will ask yourself why you waited so long to begin like your garden bette'C than ever. A water garden is simply this adventure. Ch(i)ose from the seven sizes listed (stzes are approXimate, for depth 1 V2 ' to 2' in your own deSign.): o Lilypons water gardening catalogue subscription...... $ 5 '0 8' x 12' Imer makes 4' x 8' pool ...... g 99 o 10' x 16' liner ~akes 6' x 12' pooL ...... : ...... $145 0 13' i. 13' liner makes 9 ' x 9' pool...... $165 o 13' x 20' l.iner makes 9' x 16' pooL ...... $199 0 16' x 23' tiner makes 13' x 19' pooL .. .. : ...... $299 o 20' x 26' liner makes 16' x 22' po@l...... $399 0 23' x 30' liner makes 19' x 26' pooL ...... $499 Use your personal check 0 ],' circle cliedit card: AE CB CH " DC MC VS. , Card Number: Exp. Date ~.,....-~~~~~-=-~~=,,~~~ Name · Addtess~~~~~=-~~~ __~~ ______~ __~~ __~ __~ City State Zip Phone ( ) ~"=-'~~~;.-- Catalogue free with liner order. California (6%), Maryland (5%) and Texas (7%) residents please add sales tax. LilyponsWater Gardens 1526 Ambon Road SUit~ 1526 1526 Lilypons Read. ' 1".0 . Elox 10 . P.O. Box 1130 P.O. Box 188 Lilypons, Maryland 21717-ooJ:6 Thermal, CaHfoUrua 92274-1'130 Brookshire, Texas 77423-(181) (301) 874-5133 Washi.t!gton Local 42B-OOS6 (713) 934.8525 HOllsren Local 391-0076 . VOLUME 68 NUMBER 2 Contents
President's Page: Spring Events 2 by Carolyn Marsh Lindsay
The Design Page: Special Spaces 4 by Ann Reilly
Horticulture and History: Liberty Hyde Bailey 8 by Frederick McGourty
Native Americans: Bog Beauties 10 by Thomas J. Murn The Other Side of the Cascades 14 by Ruby Weinberg
Proven Performers-Plant Societies Name the Best Rhododendrons 19 by Harold E. Greer Daffodils 21 by Leslie Anderson Irises 23 by Audrey Machulak Daylilies 26 by Ainie Busse Trials of a Zone 5 Gardener with a Zone 10 Dream 29 by Peter Loewer
Pronunciation Guide 32
Book Reviews 34
Sources 37
Classifieds 40 Letters 44
One of the many cultivars recommended by the American Daffodil Society, 'Actaea' sports a large, On the Cover: Majestic conifers, colorful wildflowers, and whit e perianth and a sweet fragrance. Beginning craggy rocks create spectacular scenes at the Ohme Gardens in on page 18, four plant societies report on award Washington. Set on an eastern foothill of the Cascades, this lush, winning cultivars, new introductions, and old green gard(m was once a barren, rocky bluff. Turn to page 14 and classics for you to try in your own garden. discover how the Qhme family completed this difficult but beautiful Photo by Pamela Harper. transformation. Photo courtesy of Ohme Gardens.
PUBLI CATIONS DIRECTOR, EDITOR: Virginia W. Louisell. SENIOR ASSISTANT EDITOR: Karhleen Fisher. ASSISTANT EDITOR, HORTICULTURE: Peggy Lyrton. ASSISTANT TO THE EDITOR: Marrha Palermo. DESIGN DIRECTOR: Rebecca K. McClimans. MEMB ERSHIP DIRECTOR: Sharon Barnes. ADVERTISING: American Horticulrural Sociery Adverrising Department, 80 South Eafly Stree t, Al exandria, VA 22304, telephone (703) 823-6966. COLOR SEPARATIONS: Chroma-Graphics, In c. EDITO RIAL ADVISORY BOA RD : Dr. Gerald S. Barad, Flemington, N} j Dr. Harrison Flint, West Lafayette, IN; Peter Loewer, Cochecton Center, NY; Dr. Eli zabeth McClintock, San Fran cisco, CAj Frederick McGourty, Norfo lk , CT; Janet M. Poor, Winnetka, IL; Maire Simington, Phoenix, AZj Jane Steffey, Sykesville, MD; Dr. James E. Swasey, N ewark, DE; Philip E. Chandler, Sa nta Monica, CA.
Replacement issues of AMERICAN HORTICULTU RIST are available at a COst of $2.50 per copy. The opinions expressed in the arricles that appear in AMERICAN HO RTI CULTURIST are those of the amhors and are nor necessarily those of the Society. Botani ca l nomenclatu re in AM ERI CAN HORTI CULTURIST is based on HORTUS THIRD. Manuscripts, an work , and photographs sent for possible publication will be returned if they are accompanied by a self- addressed, stamp ed envelope. We ca nn ot guarantee rhe safe rerum of unsoli cited materia l.
AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST, ISSN 0096-4417, is the official publication of the America n Horticultural Sociery, 793 1 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Vi rgini a 22308, (703 ) 768-5700, and is issued Sl.X times a year as a magazine and six rimes a year as a news editi on .. Th e American Horti cultural Society is a nonprofit orga nization dedi ca red to excellence in horriculcure. Membership in the Sociery incl udes a subscription to AMERI CAN HORTI CU LTURIST. Narional membership du es are $30; two years are $55. Foreign du es are $40. $12 of dues are designated for AMERICAN HO RTI CULTURIST. Copyright © 1989 by th e American Horticu ltu ral Sociery. Second-class postage pai d ar Alexandria, Virginia, and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send Form 3579 to AMERI CAN HORTICULTURIST, P.O. Box 0105, Mount Vernon, VA 22121.
American Horticulturist PRESIDENT'S PAGE AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY omCERS 1988-1989 spring Events Mrs. Carolyn Marsh Lincbay Rochester, New York Prl!>idem Mrs. Harry J. Van de JWnp Paso Robles, California First Vice President pring is a precious time in itself, but to visit Colonial Williamsburg ifl Mrs. John M. Maury the spring is truly one of life's treasured experiences. The Annual Spring Washingt0n, D.C. Gardening Symposium, April 9-12, offers this opportunity. For more Second Vice President S Mr. Rithard C. Angino than twenty-fiv 2 February 1989 (Winter gives a gardener time to think) IMAGIN E A STAMPEDE OF HIGHLY CRITICA L E NGLISH G ARDENERS ARRIVING TOMORROW MORNING To S EE YOUR G ARDEN. Panic. You suddenl y realize what's wrong, what's right, what's been mi ssing all along. Your ga rden will 1101 magically come together simply by planting another 12 blue cranesbills here and 100 thalictrums there. No. Ga rdens need a destination, a focus, a place for your eye and then you to go to. Furniture can do that. A simple, timeless teak MAYBE WHAT YOUR GARDEN NEEDS Is A DESTINATION. bench ca n be the answer. The 4 ft. Pemberton, shown above left, is only $195 deli vered to your doo r. It will make your ga rden more beautiful, more comfortable, even a tiny bit grand. If you ord er now and let the worst winter weather start turning it silver, you will really have something by spring. Yes, spring. 4 fl. Pemberton Bench -$195 delivered to your door. IN PRAISE OF MUD In the good old days, you were able AND WINTER SOLITUDE. to count on mud to guarantee a little prIvacy. You could go out Into your ga rden any winter and stand there, like a perfect fo ol, lost in thought for hours, EVEN THE SMALLEST GARDEN HAS with no interruptions whatsoever. ROOM To EXPAND VERTICALLY. Nobody else wanted to wade out in the wet mud to join you. So you got some garden thinking done. That's the purpose of winter, after all. Seeing the deciduous trees bare, seeing the evergreens, like human knuckles changing color in the cold ... You had the mud to thank for all this. Things were so good (or bad) that respectable houses had mud rooms. Not any more. These odd, indestructible rubberlike plastic clogs are taking over the world. They keep feet dry and comfortable in the worst sticky, wet mud; then you just wash off the mud under a tap (removing the insole first). Next thing you know, there won't be any room outdoors in the garden anymore. There will be too many people out there wearing these things and admiring the "composition;' "rhythm" and "textural counterpoint' of your winter garden. Women's Clogs, sizes 5-11 (red, yellow, blue or green)-$22.00 Men's Clogs , sizes 5-11 (blue or green)-$26.00 (Shipping $3 .50 to each address) Our English Rose Arch (nobody will object if you grow honeysuckle instead) pulls your eye strongly across the garden and then sharply up. Steel construction, weather-proofed In thick, black nylon. (Same as at the RHS garden at Wisle y, in England.) Two sizes: 6V2 ft. tall x 3 ft. wide-$95.00 7 ft . tall x 5 ft. wide - $115.00 (Shipping $3 .50 to each address) (A tunnel of arches joined together makes a mysteriOUS and irresistiole destination for the eyes and feet, even of the most rational accountant, but that's another story). To order, please call 800-777-4556 SMITH&HAWKEN 25 Corte Madera, Mill Va ll ey, Cali fornia 94941 Call for our Spring Catalog. It's bursting with seri ous English ga rdenin g tools, furniture, books, gloves, . clothes, birdfeeders, topiary, bell s, binoculars and, speaking of destinations for the eye, many good-lookI ng kInds of outdoor planters and containers (each of which, in cidentall y, solves the nagging problem of "perfect drainage"). © 1989 Smilh & Hawkt:'n THE DESIGN PAGE special spaces ven though one might consider the A landscaper in Maryland made effec entire landscape of a home as "spe tive use of the space in a very small back Ecial," there is often one piece of yard by raising the deck several steps off the landscape that is a favorite. It might the ground. Isolating the deck in this way be a spot where a problem was pleasingly tells you it is a special place and also adds solved, or a place with a private garden. height to an otherwise flat and uninter These special spaces in a landscape can be esting piece of property. The design was anywhere-front, back or tucked away into further enhanced by planter boxes built a corner. right into the deck, which create a feeling Entryways are always special. They wel of belonging to the rest of the garden while come visitors, setting the tone for the house still defining the deck's special use. and the rest of the garden, but many that In Atlanta, Georgia, a landscaper was you see can be improved. One Maryland commended for placing a deck away from house, for instance, sat on top of a hill; the hous 4 February 1989 American Horticulturist 5 r------, GOPHER IT! THE DESIGN PAGE Eliminate Burrowing Rodents At last an effective means to rid the yard and garden of Gophers, Moles and Shrews. NEW The electronic stake vibrates and emits a noise in 15 second intervals causing underground dwellers within 1000 square yards to flee. Has been proven effective. Trained evergreens and topiary create unique statements in the landscape. bench under a vine-covered canopy not series of steps and platforms from the Protect your Lawn, only offers a shady place to sit, but stands driveway to the house instead of using steps out as a very special part of the garden. In only. Planters were built into the platforms Garden and 'frees. a small New York City back yard, an arbor to add color and interest. The steps and leads into the garden, but this particular platforms took several turns, which made FEATURES arbor is different - it is very wide and within the area even more appealing. it are two built-in benches. Steps should be designed as a part of the • No more gas, traps or Small areas should not be thought of as landscape and not treated merely as a func problem areas, but rather as areas to be tional necessity. If edged with vertical pieces pOlson. made special. Think of them as quiet of wood, Belgian block, or plants, they • Safe for children and pets. gardens in which to rest or read, with become an integral part of the entire gar garden benches of an appropriate style. den design. Walls can be topped with • Each stake is effective for Use touches of color in plantings, limiting graceful, cascading plants to soften their 1000 square yards. choices to white, blue, and violet to make lines. If the material from which the wall • Battery powered the area seem larger and to give it a soothing is made matches either the paving or the feeling. house, it will tie the garden together even (4 "0" cell- not included). Small areas between the house and the more effectively. • Waterproof. property line are often overlooked as a In Georgia, a small back yard, virtually place in the garden that can be special. Use unusable because of a steep slope, became • No servicing required. the narrowness of these to your advantage a very special place by contouring and con • 1 Year Warranty. by creating the feeling that they are leading structing a retaining wall. The lower level to something more special beyond. Select was paved in brick to match the wall and We accept Visa, Mastercard, Checks, and an attractive paving material and line both a hot tub was installed. The upper level Money Orders through the mai l. For one sides of the pathway with colorful, low could be used for seating and dining. unit, please send $45.00 (plus $4.00 ship growing plants. Tall plants would not be A change in grade is also ideal for a rock ping). Save money and buy 2 units for appropriate in most cases as they would garden. The problem often encountered in $85.00 (plus $6.00 ~hipping) . Or 4 units for $165.00 (plus $10.00 shipping). CA need constant attention to keep them designing rock gardens is that the result Residents add 6% sales tax. clipped and out of the way of passersby. can look contrived rather than natural. But M.O. Xpress ______Changes of grade on the property can take a lesson from nature: plants in natural 4330 Barranca Pkwy .• Suite 101E be made special by the use of steps and rock gardens grow where the rocks protect walls. In Illinois, a landscaper placed a them from the elements or serve as a struc- LI::n~C~9::'1~ ~:!.:~1~8__ J 6 February 1989 FROM 15" LEYLAND CYPRESS TO OVER A fast-growing evergreen (3 to 5 ft . per yr.) ture on which to grow. Tuck some plants 7 FEET Long-living in at the base of the rocks; allow others, IN JUST such as cotoneaster, to cascade over the 2 YEARS I Leyland Cypress was discovered in 1952 rocks for a natural look. by Mr. Leyland in Wales. Since then it has Garden sculpture and statuary are eye been widely grown in England and Ireland. catching; the smallest garden can use a It is only now becoming available in this statue, sundial or piece of stonework as an country. The trees, grown on the Eastern important focal point. Be sure it is in pro Shore, are in pots. portion to the size of the garden and of a color that enhances the planting rather than Trees can be planted NOW becoming a distraction. Rated for Zone 7 An unusual plant can be used in the • Will grow in marshy or dry soil landscape to create a special effect. This • Not affected by salt sprays can be a plant with a unique growth habit, such as the monkey-puzzle tree, or a plant Prices from $5. QO that has been pruned into an unusual shape. (Lots of 100 or more $4.00 ea.) You can train the latter yourself. For an (Larger sizes available) instant effect, purchase one of the many now available at nurseries. Be restrained MAIL ORDERS: Six (15") Trees in this type of planting, though; where one NURSERY Delivered $51 .00 (UPS) is special, an entire garden of them can be C~ale.a wholesale too busy . Catalpa Point Ox1ord Road Gift Certificates Available Ornamental grasses are becoming pop PO BOX 1599 EASTON. MD. 21601 Leyland Cypress Trees make ular as landscape plants, and a small sec (301) 822·0242 thoughtful gifts for holidays, tion of the garden can be devoted to them, homes and other special events. or they can be integrated into the garden u.s. Rt. 50 to Easton By- Pass (Rt. 322) along with other plants. Ornamental grasses to Oxford Rd . (Rt. 333). Turn right at the OPEN 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Catalpa Point Sign (3 mi . from By-Pass) SUNDAYS By Appointment are attractive near natural or man-made pools and other water features. The use of island beds is effective, es 'Waft IJ.(jc/(g s pecially on large properties. They are a device to make the garden feel more in timate while not completely blocking the (jaraen rra{/( view beyond. They can also be used to A catalog for garden-type people separa,te active and passive use areas of the Over 300 fine tools and products garden. Because they are free-standing, they Hand -forged English digging tools "'flaws water must be designed to be attractive from all ing cans * Danish ~dgiil8'Jt@qJ:so-A DaJhsh dibbles * sides. Such a bed would also be an ideal Long handled bul~ 'P lanllrp * TOilI ttees * Heavy spot for a magnificent specimen plant. Fol duty digger trowels * Seed owefs * Garden lines & lowing the same idea is the peninsula bed, twines * Scovil f:1Je hOes 'fGOose eck hoes * Austrian which hides the rear entrance of the house grub hoes * German star harrows ~ Uoo & Vee from the lawn but still leaves it accessible. weeders * Cape Cod weeders ~ Magic weeders * Fish tail weeder & asparagus knife * Weed slicers *Eng Whether you are designing a new land lish Roleut pruners >I Swiss Felco pruners * Two scape or looking for ways to renovate your handed loppers * Swedish pruning saws * Floral art existing one, use your imagination and scissors * English tru$s * Co1dframes * S"olarvents* creativity, and adopt the examples of Cloche Clips * Englis~ prop,ators * lish grow professionals. The result-garden spaces ers pots * Dwarf pots hs * all baskets that stand out from the crowd. * Potted plant tools * -Ann Reilly lish watering lances Compost shredders * *pH test tape * Seaw Ann Rei lly is a free-lance writer and r-·_·--_···.Please send your value-packed • fertilizer * Slug t s * photographer. • catalog. I enclose $2, deductible s Scottish plant PEort • on my first catalog order. • The sites described in the article were chosen Garden boots * F for national recognition through the National • Name • Landscape Association's (NLA) annual • StJRFD • Res idential Landscape Award Program. For the past eighteen years, the NLA, • City State---.Zip_ • send to: • headquartered in Washington, D.C., has been II honoring outstanding residential landscape • GILBERT H. WILD & SON, INC .• projects designed and executed by AH-289 Joplin SI. • Sarcoxie , MO 64862 • professionals. ..•••••••••• American Horticu lturist 7 HORTICULTURE AND HISTORY Liberty Hyde Bailey merica has had its share of out standing horticulturists, especially Ain the formative years of the nine teenth and early twentieth centuries, but many illustrious names have faded with time-the Princes, Wilders, Parsons, Sar gents, Ellwangers, and Barrys, remem bered mainly by those who haunt the an tiquarian bookstores in search of old treasures. Gardeners don't pay any more attention to the past than a twelve-y€ar• old of the 1980s does to Pogo. Gardening is anticipation, and one's bent is usually forward. However, the name of one man keeps recurring-Liberty Hyde Bailey, who lived from 1858 to 1954. Not Bailey (except to his colleagues), nor L.H. Bailey, for to the gardening public he was Lib€rty Hyde Bai ley-much as baseball fans of his day re member the commissioner for that sport was named Kenesaw Mountain Landis. As a greenhorn editor at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, my first secretary was Constance Elson, who had in earlier years typed her share of letters to L.H.B. for BBG horti culturist Montague Free and director George Avery. When I asked if she had actually met Bailey, she sweetly smil€d, had mlsgivmgs about Bailey pursuing a "Oh, you mean 'Old Free Skin'? Of course." horticultural rather than a scientific care€r, Veteran secretaries and iconoclastic stu '~y garden is small in the and botanist John Merle Coulter summed dents don't let reverence pass by lightly. up the feeling of the profession: "You will Bailey illuminated the American garden midst ofa city, yet I have never be heard from again." scene as have few men. Author of more grown as many as eight As professor of horticulture (1889) and than sixty-seven books, and editor-in-chief later as dean of the College of Agriculture of the massive and still useful Cyclopedia hundred different things in at Cornell (1903-1913), Bailey was a pi of American Horticulture (four volumes, it in a single year." oneer and chief spokesman in the exten 1900-1902, revised later in separate six sion service program, a uniquely American and three-volume editions), Bailey com Liberty Hyde Bailey institution too often taken for granted in bined the best qualities of botanist and our materially comfortable times. Since horticulturist at a time when plant scholars farmers often could not go to college, Bai often had deep contempt for the practical ley, in effect, brought college to them benefits of botanical science. Bailey's hor through a multitude of public information ticultural-botanical work will undoubt butions Bailey (who had been reared on a bulletins issued by his office. In addition, edly be his lasting testimonial, and it is farm in southern Michigan) made to im Bailey wrote a number of highly readable, appropriate that successors carry on his prove the lot of rural America at the turn lucid books on such directly useful subjects work at the Hortorium bearing his name of this century. It started when, after a as vegetable and apple growing, grape cul at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. short apprenticeship sorting herbarium ture, and pruning-all aimed toward the Hortorium is a word coined by Bailey to specimens for Asa Gray at Harvard Uni small rural landowner. It might be pointed refer to a herbarium that includes plants versity, he returned in 1885 to Michigan out here that Bailey's other encyclopedia, of garden as well as of natural origin. Agricultural College, to serve as professor Cyclopedia of American Agriculture (four Less well known are the solid contri- of horticulture and landscape design. Gray volumes, 1917) was a standard reference 8 February 1989 work in many country households. Trinidad while he was looking for new him. In good Latin he snappishly an Bailey was a superb organizer and with palms. Then with one eye he would peek swered, "Delirium tremens." Shortly the aid of foresight and several desks, was to see whether Avery was still listening. thereafter the doorbell rang, and a man able to manage a host of difficult projects Though he lived a few more years, Bailey asked to see Bailey. Sally told him that he at one time, even serving for awhile as never recovered fully from the accident with couldn't because her father was upstairs editor of Country Life in America, the the door. in bed with delirium tremens. As it turned country's first broad-paged, mass market People who accomplish a great deal are out, Ethel Zoe Bailey (Bailey's other gardening magazine. usually very disciplined. In his later years daughter) told me, the caller was the pres The Cyclopedia of American Horticul Bailey would recount that in fact he had ident of Cornell University-and Bailey's ture had over 400 contributors, all experts developed a life plan from early on. It was boss-Jacob Gould Schurman. in their respective fields, and it represents divided into three parts: the first twenty Would you like more information on the pinnacle horticultural work of this cen five years were to be devoted to training, Bailey? You will probably have to get the tury. Bailey as editor would not take "no" the second twenty-five to service, and the book from an antiquarian book dealer be for an answer. For example, the authority final twenty-five to pleasurable pursuits. He cause it is out of print, but Philip Dorf's whom he wanted to do a piece on the didn't count on the twenty-year bonus, but Liberty Hyde Bailey: An Informal Biog insectivorous plant genus Nepenthes ini it was fruitfully spent studying particularly raphy (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New tially declined the invitation. Bailey made difficult plant groups, including the palms, York, 1956) is very enjoyable reading. up a false galley proof with deliberate er brambles, and even the Carex genus. -Frederick McGourty rors about this plant group and sent it to Bailey put in long, exhausting hours when the expert for comments. Bailey then took he was deep into a project, then he would Frederick McGourty is co-owner of Hillside his comments and formed them as the entry. collapse, sometimes for days at a time. On Gardens in Norfolk, Connecticut, and has Despite his many administrative tasks, one occasion, lying in bed, he was asked written frequently for American Bailey was a familiar figure in the Grange by his young daughter Sally what ailed Horticulturist. halls of New York and other states. His men sometimes journeyed in pairs to nearby farms to personally answer inquiries that had come by letter. While one worked the startled farmer's plow, so that the farmer Honoring Service and Spirit might not lose precious work time, the n 1958, the Council of other would straighten out the farmer's the American Horticul particular problem. Bailey himself often I turned up to help farmers who were seek tural Society voted to name ing information. In the early days of ex its highest annual award in tension education, farmers frequently dis honor of Liberty Hyde Bailey, trusted plant scientists, and Bailey, by such whose contributions to Amer acts, helped break down this barrier to ican gardening exemplify its rural progress. aim of promoting excellence The stories about Bailey are legion, for in horticulture, and who he had a long, active life and a flair for served as keynote speaker at center stage, albeit with many people on th~ first American Horticul the stage. As a professor he would fre tural Congress in 1946. quently enter a classroom talking and fin ish up his lecture walking out the door. Bailey'S long, productive Often he would lecture standing sideways life spanned the last half of to the class and looking out a window, the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth-he worked then startle a student by calling on him by another thirty-six years after his "retirement" at age fifty-five. His name to answer a question. The drama contributions bridged the gaps between the science of botany and the extended to the hospital room. In 1950, practical aims of horticulture, and between the university classroom George Avery, who served two times as and the isolated small farmer struggling to succeed with his crops. president of the Botanical Society of Amer Thus the recipient of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal must exhibit not ica, visited Bailey several times in Beekman only achievement, but also service and a pioneering spirit. Hospital in New York. Bailey was con At its Annual Meeting July 26-29, the Society will once again honor valescing from a broken thighbone caused by being hustled through a revolving door. Liberty Hyde Bailey in a special observance at which some of those He was then 91, and irritated because his who have measur~d up to this high standard will offer their thoughts upcoming plant-hunting trip to Africa had on Bailey'S life and the state of the art and science to which he was to be canceled. With eyes closed, he would devoted. The past award winners will speak on Saturday morning, talk at length about some past event, such July 29. At a banquet Saturday evening, the tradition will be carried as being nearly mugged in Seoul, Korea, on with the presentation of the thirtieth Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal. or almost drowned by a tidal wave in Horticulturist 9 NATIVE AMERICANS Bog Beauties lants are adventurers: they grow of the North. where they can. Weeds grow fast Bog vegetation has evolved a unique sys P est and farthest, making their homes tem of survival strategies to deal with cold, in railroad yards, croplands, lawns-any acidic, nutrient-poor conditions. Roots of where they can grab a foothold. Native bog trees, shrubs, and plants generally grow plants require more "settled" conditions. horizontally, to take advantage of the small Woodland plants love shade and moisture, aerobic zone of the ubiquitous sphagnum and prairie plants need full sun and rich moss hummocks. The plants make do with soil. Wetland plants are even more par limited amounts of nitrogen and calcium, ticular; they require wet footing and are or supplement their diet, as do the insec able to cope only with certain kinds of tivorous pitcher plants, bladderworts, and nutrients. sundews. Of the types of wetlands, bogs are per A trip into a bog reveals both the hard haps the most specialized in their demands. ships and the beauties of these common Unlike their cousins in sedge meadows, but little-understood landscape plants. tidal flats, and cattail marshes, bog plants While mosquitoes buzz and boots sink in live only in acidic lowlands-places where the hollows between hummocks, a fasci nitrogen is as scarce as a warm day in Thomas J. Mum nating floral display greets the May visitor. winter. in the mountain zones. In general, bogs Members of Ericaceae or the heath family Acidic lowlands in the United States are will not be found south of a line that runs are the first to bloom, often while the mat generally confined to the North and East. from Chicago to Philadelphia. Close rel of sphagnum moss under them is still frozen. Plants that grow in these lowlands can atives of the bog plants are found in the Members of Ericaceae are well-known sometimes be found as far south as Geor arctic tundra; our southern bogs are only in other parts of the world; the Scottish gia, where cold and wet conditions occur miniature examples of the vast bog areas heather belongs to Ericaceae. The cran- 10 February 1989 berry-one of a handful of fruits native to the North American continent-is another family member. Many plants in the heath family are well adapted to life in a bog, and in spring the fragrant blossoms of the leatherleaf vie for attention with the in tense pinks of bog laurel and dainty dis plays of bog rosemary (Andromeda glau cophylla). Sprinkled in between these plants are ground layer plants such as the native calla lily (Calla palustris), several types of lady slipper orchids, and the bogbean gentian (Menyanthes trifoliata). A few grasses and sedges also manage to thrive in the difficult conditions; most notable among these are the pincushion tufts of cottongrass (Eriophorum spissum). In the harsh en vironment of a bog, the fanciful puffs of the white inflorescence of cottongrass is an enchanting contrast. The visitor to such places in the spring returns tired, but has viewed plants seen only by determined nat uralists. Bog plants would thus seem to be poor candidates for home gardening. Creating a cold, acidic, lumpy wetland in a back yard might challenge the most exacting of designers. But there are ways to fulfill the needs of these discriminating plants, and there are incentives to try. Bog plants will present some of the most aesthetic and unusual displays of frond and flower found anywhere. I had worked for years with bog vege tation, and was constantly surprised by the beauty and hardiness of the plant life. The plants obviously would not survive trans location to any conditions different from their own, even if I could justify digging in any natural area, which I could not. However, the digging of a water channel in a bog that I had frequently visited pro vided the opportunity I needed to obtain some plants; the excavated wet peat spread out beside the channel sprouted pioneering bog plants. These plants would apparently sprout from seeds or bits of roots when conditions were right. I had also become interested in phen ology over the years and along with my LEFT, ABOVE: Calla lily. LEFT, BELOW: Pink lady's-slipper. ABOVE: Steeplebush. wife had kept careful records of flowering American Horticulturist 11 Wilt-Prufis the proven way to NA TIVE AMERICANS reduce moisture loss and drying out dates in the woodlands and prairies around Fortunately, several nurseries are begin our house in southern Wisconsin. I longed ning to experiment with the germination when plants are to possess some of the strange and b€au• and propagation of these choosy but tiful bog plants. Perhaps, after all, bog con beautiful plants. The owner of one, JoAnn under water stress. ditions could be duplicated successfully. I Gillespie, is leading a project to propagate determined to try. pitcher plants. She says that "when we first I dug a deep hole in our side yard and set out, we found virtually no information lined it with a double layer of heavy plastic that could help us. We had to plant almost tarp. Light-to-moderate shade conditions everything from scratch." Undeterred, the mad€ this area of the yard seem the most nursery is collecting bGtanical expertise appropriate for a wetland. I used lannon for the specific purpose of introducing as stone, which is used extensively for land many people as possible to the wonders of scaping in Wisconsin, around the edge of bog plants, both in pool-gardens and in the hole to hold down the tarp and provide specialized pots. a separation layer to set it off from the Other nurseries offer "bog plants," lawn and flower beds. though some plants thus designated would Wet peat and roots from the sprouted be more comfortable in a deep marsh or plants on the peat-dredge berm would need alkaline sedge meadow than in a true to be put in next. No aerobic exercise, I northern bog. Gillespie's experiences con believe, could match the exertion of dig firm my own suspicions-bog plants will ging and hauling bushel baskets of wet do well under appropriate growing COfl peat on a warm and sunny spring day; peat ditions. There are advantages in using peat can absorb up to 800 percent of its dry as a substrate; it is best to think of peat weight in water content. as a "sponge," which neither takes up nor The next trick would be to duplicate the gives off water unless squeezed. My side hummock-hollow conditions with which yard bog garden has survived droughts that the bog plants are comfortable. I built up were due as much to the soggy character some hummocks with peat moss, and cov istics of the peat as to my sporadic water ered them with some live sphagnum moss. ing. But there were other dangers. I had The rootstock went in next: a few of the purchased some pwperJy labeled lady hardier members of Ericaceae, some cot slipper orchid plants from a commercial tongrass, sedges, and cranberry runners. supplier. The orchids seemed to prosper in I watered, and waited. A pH meter would their native peat during the first growing have been useful but, had the pH started season, yet disappeared by the second sea to creep towards 7 (bog chemistry nor son. The cause was not a variation in some mally tilts pH to points under 4), would I microclimate condition; the roots were have added vinegar? diluted battery acid? eaten by voles. pine needles? Actually, sphagnum moss has I look forward to stepping out my door the ability to generate its own acidity, and this spring and seeing the small white blos the tap water and rainwater entering the soms of the leatherleaf, although there is Sprayed on plant surfaces, Wilt bog garden didn't seem to affect the plants. nothing like a long trudge thwugh the wet Pruf® forms a protective coating Most grew willingly, and the steeplebush lands in the cold to find them wher€ they that slows down moisture evapora grew best of all. This plant (Spiraea to like to grow. tion from leaves and stems. Use for: mentosa) is a relative of the common flow I hope in future years to add marsh ferns • spring and summer transplanting ering bushes of the same genus. Steeple (Dryopteris spp.), spike rushes, bluejoints, • protection from summer heat bush flowers in panicles of small flowers and grasses (Glyceria spp.), afld be amply and drought at the end of the stems and in a color rewarded by their textures and shades of • fail transplanting somewhere between pink and purple. green. And I will remember the fact that • winter windburn protection • Christmas trees, wreaths Bogs are a type of wetland, and wetlands there was no need for me to haul bushels and greens everywhere continue to be threatened by of wet peat dredge when I could have gone Organic and biodegradable, Wilt filling, dredging, and other destructive ac to the nearest garden center for large con Pruf is the safe way to guard tivities. In many places, remnant bogs are tainers of dried and immeasurably lighter against moisture loss the last stands, literally, for many peculiar peat moss for a decent substrate. There is year 'round. plants. Digging in such areas would not no rule that a bog garden has to thoroughly Ask for Wilt -Pruf at IIll0 be appropriate; yet there is much to learn exhaust before it can abundantly reward. your garden supply PRUf® from bog flora, not the least of which, - Thomas J. Murn store today. ANfl.TRAHSPIAANT cOflsidering the sour rains that scientists tell us are descending from the skies, would p.o. Box 469, Essex, CT 06426-0469 Thomas J. Mum is an author and 2031767-7033 be their ability to deal with high soil and environmental advocate who lives in water acidity. Belleville, Wisconsin. 12 February 1989 43rd Williamsburg GARDEN SYMPOSIUM State Arboretum in Raleigh, "Gardens for April 9-12, the Forgotten Season" Harold H. Cooke, Run 1989 nemede, New Jersey, flower arranger and flor lei olonial Williamsburg ist, "Flower Arranging Foundation and the in the American Style" American Horticultural Don Shadow, Win Society invite you to chester, Tennessee, nur come to Williamsburg seryman, "New and Un amid the glory of spring usual Plants for the for America's oldest and Spring Garden" most prestigious annual Cherie Kluesing, Bos gathering of garden ton, Massachusetts, land enthusiasts. scape architect, "The Fourteen authorities Changing Image of Sculp from around the United ture in the Garden" States will discuss the RussellMorash, creator theme, Winter Dreams; and executive producer Spring Delights, through of the weekly PBS televi practical and entertain sion program, Victory ing presentations, tours, Garden, on the fascinat exhibits, and clinics. The ing story of Victory rhododendron will be the Garden and its impact on featured flower, Cincin American gardeners. nati the honored city, Other specialists are with a special program Henry Marc Cathey, of on its horticultural the U.S. National Ar accomplishments. An M . Kent Brinkley, and past president of the boretum, Carolyn Marsh optional tour will be of Colonial Williamsburg New England Wildflower Lindsay and Frank L. fered to see the azaleas at landscape architect, and Society, "Great Ameri Robinson of the American the Norfolk Botanical Marley Brown III, Colon can Gardens: Garden in Horticultural Society, Gardens. ial Williams bu rg director the Woods" lecturer and writer Topping it all off will of archaeological re David Leach, Madison, Frederick McGourty, and be an optional three-day search, "Lessons from Ohio, plant hybridizer, the Colonial Williams post-Symposium trip, Colonial Williamsburg "Tomorrow's Rhodo burg Horticultural staff. April 13-15, to private Gardens: Recreating the dendrons" Think Spring! Come and public gardens on Shields Tavern Gardens" ]. c. Raulston, director to Williamsburg for the Virginia's Northern Neck Polly Pierce, trustee of the North Carolina lovely blossoms and an arranged for the Sympo opportunity to gather sium by the American helpful hints about all Horticultural Society. (please print) four seasons. For a regis Speakers in order of tration folder, please appearance are: Williamsburg Garden Symposium I mail this coupon, or call Marlene Holwadel, Cin Symposium Registrar 1-804-220-7255. BoxC I cinnati, Ohio, Park Com Williamsburg, VA 23187 Sponsored by The mission, "Cincinnati's Colonial Williamsburg Gardens: People Make Name I Foundation in conjunc the Difference" tion with the American Allen Lacy, Linwood, Addr~s: ______I Horticultural Society. New Jersey, garden writer, "A Gardener's I City: State Zip I Winter Dream" L ______.-J The Ohme family turned an arid, rocky bluff into an alpine wonderland. T ."den, of 'h, P,6f', No"hw", plateau of desert and scrubland. The Jap ifer that will endure less moisture. are renowned for the profusion and di anese current that tempers the coastal Leaving the high mountains, orchard versity of both their native and ornamental weather and the Pacific Ocean clouds that country suddenly appears. Almost every plants; a temperate climate and abundant bathe the Far West are blocked from where, plains and terraced hillsides are rainfall make this possible. On our first reaching the other side of the Cascades. neatly planted with evenly spaced fruit trees. trip to the area, my husband and I planned Further climatic data indicated that tem The rushing Skykomish River that follows a visit to the celebrated alpine gardens of peratures vary between winter lows of 0° the roadway is a clue to this abundance. Ruth, Carol, and Gordon Ohme near the to summer highs of 90° F. The growing Washington's waterways, especially the town of Wenatchee in central Washington. season, only 180 days long, is far from a mighty Columbia River and its tributaries, As it is located only 138 miles east of Se perfect garden paradise. A brochure from crisscross a good part of the state. Agri attle, I assumed that we would find our Ohme describes its site on an eastern foothill cultural bounty, as well as ornamental gar selves within that lush climate. of the Cascades, but the gardens were ac dening on the eastern side of the Cascades, Before visiting the gardens, however, we tually created on a barren, desolate, sage is the direct result of this prodigious water planned to join a white water rafting ex brush-strewn, rocky bluff. supply. In 1937, the first full-scale federal pedition on one of the many rugged trib Leaving the coast on a route called "The dam, Bonneville, provided farmers with utaries of the Columbia River. While ar Cascades Loop," the traveler on its south usable river water. Under irrigation, the ranging this by telephone from New Jersey, ern fork enters the heart of the mountains soils proved to be fertile, and coupled with I inquired about a "rain check" should the at Stevens Pass. From the car, every inch plentiful sunshine, became productive. weather that day prove inclement. Imagine of the slopes seems green with conifers, Spouting sprinkler heads along the route my surprise at the reply: "No fear of rain. but beyond the pass, the eastern slopes testify to the heavy use of this water. We get only nine inches of precip per year." begin to change. They roll gently and thin The study of a topographical map revealed to open forest. On this side of the Cas LEFT: Like an impressionist painting, that after traveling east through the Cas cades, colonies of fast growing, moisture wildflowers add daubs of color amidst rocky bluffs and stately conifers. BELOW: A bend cade Mountains, one leaves behind the Pa demanding Douglas fir are replaced by in the green lawn leads to a rustic shelter of cific climate and enters Washington State's shorter ponderosa pine. The latter is a con- red cedar bark. American Horticulturist 15 This is no plantsman's garden; simple flowers grow with abandon. OIY ",von mil" nonh of Wen high mountains to dig up an assortment furry, striped animals much like chip atchee is Rocky Reach, one of the many of conifer seedlings to transplant onto their munks. The squirrels delight in human dams along the Columbia and other rivers. own foothill. With no truck available, they companionship and, with little chirping (Grand Coulee is the largest of these dams.) transported small quantities at a time in sounds, will feed from the outstretched The lakes created by the dams provide hy the back seat of their car. With a setup of hand. But it is the seed from the conifer droelectric power and irrigation for mil hoses and sprinkler heads in place, the life cones that brings them to this garden. They lions of acres. Giant pumps lift impounded giviflg water combined with the amazingly store it in cheek pouches, eating some, and lake water and start it flowing into count fertile soil to produce good growth. The carrying the rest away to shallow burrows. less miles of irrigation canals. evergreens became quickly established. Each Stellar blue jays and other birds enliven Ohme Gardens, as we discovered, would small area was not completed until th€ the scene. According to Gordoro., deer come not exist without these irrigation canals slopes and ridges around th€In were planted to browse and an occasional coyote slith and its own pump with a 130-foot lift. Th€ with ground covers to prevent erosion and ers along the ridges-all unwelcome guests gardens are now fitted with 150 sprinkler to beautify the whole. These mats spread because of the damage they do to plants. heads, used mostly at night, to distribute profusely with such excellent drainage, and more than 100,000 gallons of water over the orginal plants were then divided to its fline acres of alpine plantings. After being convert flew terrain into green and flow harnessed, the rivers could-and did-turn ering knolls and basins. a desert into an oasis. The Ohmes were fortunate in raising Upon entering the gardens on the top of two sons who grew up participating in this the hill three miles north of Wenatchee, venture. The younger son, Gordon, shared T P'"oo cock p,th load, on to oth" imagination allows one to visualize the set his family's passion and soon proved to be levels where jade green lawns are sur ting as first seen fifty-seven years ago by an agile worker. The expansion and main round€d by boulder formations and beds Herman Ohme, father of the present own tenance of the gardens became an ever of creeping, sprawling ground covers. Here ers. It was a treeless wasteland then, cov increasing responsibility. When he finished and there, an individual specimen adds a ered with basaltic outcrops. As a young his schooling, Gordon worked full time on splash of color; more often, two or thre€ man, Herman had migrated to the state of the project. In 1939 it was decided to grad kinds mingle in competition. This is no Washington from the flatlands of Illinois. ually relinquish the orchards to tenant plantsman's garden of highly cultivated As he worked on the plateaus learning the farmers and to open Ohme Gardens to the perennials or even rare alpine species. skills of an orchardist, he marveled at the public. Rather, the Ohmes prefer simple flowers majesty of the distant, snow-capped Cas The basic gardefl construction was com that grow with abandon. The effect is like cade Mountains. On occasional weekend pleted during Herman's first twenty years, an impressionist painting-daubs of color jaunts, he climbed the forested trails and but the work of creation continued until are more imponant than studied detail. It enjoyed the spectacular scenery close at only recently. The garden area now en is all so natural that the viewer can scarcely haFld. Below, irrigation projects were be compasses nifle acres. During this time, the envision man working here mowiflg lawns, ginning to quench the parched land to the Ohmes moved hundreds of tons of rock, irrigating, fertilizing, raking, and pruning. east, and Herman was encouraged to buy planted over 1,000 conifers, introduced The most vibrant color begins in mid forty acres of orchard land. many kinds of ground covers, and dug April when rose-colored moss pinks (Phlox On an autumn day in 1929, Herman endless ditches for concealing irrigation subulata) and cloud-white candy tufts (Iberis and his bride Ruth stood upon this highest pipelifle. spp.) appear after the snow melts. Patches point of their acreage with its breathtaking After forty-two years of heavy toil, Her of basket-of-gold (Aurinia saxatilis) are view. Why not, he mused, enhance the man Ohme died, and Gordon took his place pockets of yellow against the dark rocks; craggy bluff by creating an attractive rock as head gardener. Hermafl's widow Ruth purple-blue carpet bugles (Ajuga reptans) garden? continues her interest in the gardens with come into bloom along with white flowered It was a transformation of enormous Gordon and his wife Carol sharing the dryads (Dryas octopetala). The latter com magnitude. Herman and Ruth spent all workload. It has always been a family pletes its cycle in a mass of fluffy seed pods. their spare time first clearing away the affair with little outside help. As young As the month ends, great sweeps of blue weedy sagebrush, then plotting a circui sters, the third generation-Gordon and periwinkles (Vinca minor) carpet the hills. tous course of steps and pathways in and Carol's sons - assisted their parents, In some places dusty-miller (Artemisia around the boulder. These trails were out but the young men have now moved on stellerana) adds its white, feltlike foliage. lined with small, bulky rocks, and from to other occupations. In early May, the thymes begin to flower other areas the Ohmes brought in flat sed From the garden gate, the visitor peers there are eight to ten different kinds. As imentary rock that was carefully split into out at a lush plain of Kentucky bluegrass the months progress, they are joined by slabs with a sledge hammer, then fitted and backed by a rocky mound where brilliant thrift (Armeria maritima) and maiden pinks cemented into place. They had only a mule yellow violas gleam in the sunshine. Be (Dianthus deltoides ). At the time of our and drag sled to help them carry their heavy hind this mound are conifers, some tall and JUfle visit, gold moss sedum (Sedum acre) loads up and down the hillsides. dense, others low and narrow. Across the mingled with purple thymes (Thymus spp.), Eventually the Ohmes drove out to the lawn scamper Golden Mantel squirrels- a striking color combination. 16 February 1989 The firs are stiff and narrow with cones on the upper side of horizontal branches. In the gardens are three types: the red silver or western balsam fir (Abies amabilis) from the eastern foothills; the alpine fir (A. la siocarpa) of the western Cascades; and the grand fir (A. grandis). The latter is the tallest, growing to 300 feet on the Pacific Coast. Gordon Ohme feels that all the true mountain species are slower growing in his garden than they would be in nature. Spruce adds blue-green to the backdrop. Engelmann (Picea engelmannii) and sitka (P. sitchensis) are here. Spruces are fatter than firs and they hold their cones beneath drooping branches. And then there are the hemlocks, both the western and mountain species: Tsuga heterophylla and T. mertensiana. The for mer can grow to an enormous height. Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is a little more difficult to identify because its outline and its oval-shaped cones resemble a spruce. However, its bark is reddish and deeply fissured. Last, but not least, is the western red cedar (Thuja plicata) with flat sprays of scale-like leaves. Logging trucks in the area carry primarily pine and Douglas fir, but if the cut ends appear reddish brown, the species is more likely the red cedar. In the early days, Gordon Ohme had transplanted many ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa) to his garden. They have now been removed because their needle drop created an eyesore in the ground covers and had to be raked away. Conifers and ferns surround this hidden pool and create a mountain glen atmosphere. Throughout the hillside, tables, benches, seats, and even a wishing well have been These seasonal displays are followed in to wander in the dark! fashioned out of rock. Some of the benches early July and August by a great show of The bluff looks over the high Cascades were fitted snugly between boulders. One Sedum spurium 'Dragon's Blood'. Its crim to the west and the Columbia River snak trail leads to a beautifully designed shelter son flowers are brilliant against succulent ing through the entire Wenatchee Valley house; it is open on one side with rock burgundy foliage. Often, there is a repeat in the east. At this location, the shores of pillars on the other. The exposed part of scattering of blooms from earlier plants in the river had earlier been a meeting ground the roof, as well as some of the siding, the autumn, and many of the deep green for the Wenatchee-Salish Indians, and it looks very much like thatch, but is actually mats take on tones of copper and bronze. was here that they had a yearly rendezvous the stringy, fibrous bark of the red cedar. Clambering along the stone pathway, with tribes from the opposite side of the This bark had been a favorite material of visitors wind along the contours, stepping Cascades, trading their baskets, salmon, the Indians, who peeled strips twenty to gingerly like mountain goats. In places, and foodstuffs for western goods. thirty feet long and then cut and used them they climb up steep and narrow rock stair On the hill itself, sober conifers hold for making sturdy baskets and fishing line. cases. Some of the plants nearby look like sway amid mighty boulders. Straight and Several beautiful pools are among the slippery moss, but they are actually sagina, tall, the conifers dot the scene like green garden's outstanding features; Ruth and a low-growing, mosslike evergreen. From candles on a cake. For the horticulturist, Herman Ohme had been enraptured by almost everywhere, the valley below is vis some genera are not difficult to identify, placid mountain lakes. They designed their ible. The cliff-side paths come precariously especially with binoculars. Exact species own simulated alpine pools and carved them close to the edge. This is surely not a place are another matter and require more study. Continued on page 36 American Horticulturist 17 1)ltf)'7J~N 1)1~ltl~f)lt)II~ltS Plant Societies NaDle the Best ~or its past six February issues, American Horticulturist has , spotlighted new introductions from the nation's leading nur I series. But this year, we wanted to do something different, because we know that in the world of gardening, the new is fre quently not as desirable as the tried and true. And who would know better, we thought, which plants are both dependable and delightful than our sister horticultural societies? There are some 260 such societies, each of them dedicated to encouraging and educating the public in the use of one particular group of plants, and promoting the development of ever more hardy and/or beautiful cultivars. The American Horticultural Society has a long history of affiliation with these specialized groups. In coming months, we hope to begin renewing and strengthening those bonds, and doing more to bring their efforts to the attention of our own members. To help us launch this initiative, we approached four societies the American Daffodil Society, American Hemerocallis Society, American Iris Society, and American Rhododendron Society-that are among the largest of these groups and that promote widely used plants for the garden. The societies differ greatly in the way they honor the giants among their genera: for example, the American Daffodil Society sponsors many regional shows so that in a given year hundreds of cultivars may win top awards, while the American Rhododendron Society has an award that it has bestowed only five times in thirty years. Nevertheless, all of them did their best to fill our tall order: Give us a list of the cultivars that are the most attractive and dependable throughout the country. We hope these articles will increase gardeners' awareness of these organizations and the resources they offer; heighten interest in the history, potential uses, and culture of some of these plants; and encourage readers to explore the incredible array of hybrids that is continually being expanded, partly as a result of the dedication and enthusiasm of these fellow member societies. 18 February 1989 'I' he name "rhododendron" brings to the mind of most gardeners a large-growing, often lavender-pink flowering plant. While many rhododen drons fit this description, there are count less others. The genus Rhododendron contains 800 to 1,000 species, including the plants that are commonly called azaleas, that are na tive primarily to the Northern Hemisphere. We can make an imaginary trip around the world to see them in the wild. Starting in the Atlantic provinces of Canada and continuing southward down the east coast of North America and west to Texas, there are a number of naturally growing rhododendron species. One spe cies native in this area is R. catawbiense, parent of many of the first hybrids, which itself was hybridized in the early to mid- 1800s. Rhododendron occidentale grows in the high mountains of Southern California, then appears again in the wild 800 miles further north along the coast in California and southern Oregon. Two more species grow in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Moving westward from there, we find other species occur ring along the Pacific rim from Alaska to Siberia, Japan, and Korea. Continuing on west to China, we reach the Himalayas, the heartland of the genus Rhododendron, where hundreds of rhododendron species occur. Their flowers are often very brightly col tional in at least three different gardens. As we go through India, we find the ored with many striking oranges and yel More than ten years went by before an important species, R. arboreum, a treelike lows. While a few of these plants were in SPA was awarded. Then in 1971 it was rhododendron that is responsible for many cultivation in the late 1800s, most have awarded to two plants, 'Lem's Cameo' and of our garden hydrids. Finally we go west been introduced only recently. In the fu 'Trude Webster'. into Europe, where five species occur, in ture, a new race of showy house plants • 'Lern's Cameo' was produced by the cluding R. ponticum, the source of most may come from this group. late Halfdan Lem in Seattle, Washington, of our purple hybrids. Though no species Out of all these species and the some and was not registered until 1975, after are native to Great Britain, R. ponticum 10,000 hybrids, including azaleas, how can his death. The plant grows about five feet has naturalized there and is considered a we find a few outstanding plants of es tall in ten years. Its foliage is shiny mahog noxious pest. pecially high quality? Let us look at the any-bronze when new, and turns a me While one dwarf species, R. lapponi five plants that have received the coveted dium to deep green. The rounded leaves cum, grows in the countries around the Superior Plant Award (SPA) from the are about six inches long. North Pole, the only area where rhodo American Rhododendron Society. It is considered a mid-season bloomer, dendrons cross the equator into the South In the nearly thirty years this award has generally flowering in early to mid-May. ern Hemisphere is Indonesia and New been offered, it has been awarded only five The flower is superb in every way with its Guinea. There is also one species native in times. To receive an SPA, a plant first must large, frilled, perfectly rounded trusses of northern Australia. be nominated and judged worthy to be on satiny apricot, cream, and pink, spotted red Most of these southern species belong the Eligibility List. In a succeeding yea r, it in the throat. This is not the fastest grow to section Vireya, whose members are very must be awarded a Conditional Award. ing rhododendron, but once established in different from other rhododendrons. They Then in another succeeding year, it must a partly shaded location, it will without tolerate little or no frost and many are be successful in winning an Award of Ex fail produce a magnificent display of truly epiphytes, meaning they do not grow in cellence. Only then can it be nominated as beautiful flowers. It does best in a climate the ground but on tree limbs or other plants. an SPA candidate. It also must be in com like that of the Pacific Northwest and is A number are vinelike in their growth habit. mercial production and be judged excep- hardy to about 5° F. American Horticulturist 19 • 'Trude Webster', the second of the flowers open as purplish-pink with a lighter in many areas. The leaves are about one two plants awarded an SPA in 1971, was center, accented with a strong yellow flare inch long and densely cover the plant in one that I produced in Eugene, Oregon, on the upper petal. The foliage is deep fir forest green. It will grow to about eighteen and registered in 1961 when I was sixteen green with a slight glossy appearance. The inches' tall in ten years. It is quite easy to years old. In mid-season this large-growing rounded leaves, which are six inches long, grow and is hardy to minus 10° F, so that plant displays gigantic, perfectly formed cover the plant well with foliage. 1m ten it is suitable to many gardens throughout trusses of clear, pristine, sugar pink years the plant will be about five feet tall the country. sometimes nearly a foot tall-tha t are ac and a sight to behold in the gard 20 February 1989 climates as well) include: chid-lavender flowers, this two-foot dwarf cupped leaves and the whitest blossoms of • 'Scintillation'. Good both for its glossy is suitable for a low border or rock garden, any rhododendron. The underside of yak green foliage and light bluish-pink flowers, but will grow taller in shade. It is hardy ushimanum leaves are thick with a woolly it is hardy to minus 15° F and is widely to minus 25° F. brown indumentNm, which helps the plant adaptable and widely used. • 'Nova Zembla' is widely grown be control its water supply. • 'P.J.M.'. Its small, rounded leaves are cause of its hardiness, to minus 25° F. It Harold E. Greer is the president of the green in the summer and mahogany in has glossy leaves and bright red flowers. American Rhododendron Society and has winter; the flowers are bright lavender • R. yakushimanum is a hardy species, authored or co-authored two books on pink. Hardy to minus 25° F, it will grow to minus 25° F, whose forms include 'Mist rhododendrons. More information can be Maiden', which has flat leaves and flowers obtained by writing to Paula Cash, Executive to four feet in ten years. Secretary, The American Rhododendron • 'Ramapo'. Very small-leaved and low that turn from apple-blossom pink to white; Society, 4885 S. W. Sunrise Lane, Tigard, OR growing with blue-green foliage afid or- and 'Yaku Angel', which has twisted or 97224. 4 4 By Leslie Anderson I)~... ,''''''C)I)II S American Daffodil Society currence of double flowers. Within each division, daffodils are further character ized by the colors of their coronas and surrounding halo of petals, or perianth. For instance, a white-yellow has a white perianth and yellow corona, while a yel low-white has a yellow perianth and white corona . • Division 1 daffodils are the trumpets, which have coronas as long or longer than the surrounding petals, and one flower to a stem. In this division, most people are familiar with the ninety-year-old yellow yellow 'King Alfred'. But when you see 'Golden Vale', 'Kingscourt', or 'Midas Touch', you realize that this combination can be even more beautiful. All three are favorites in gardens and shows. 'Kings court' is a fifty-year-old hybrid, while 'Midas Touch' was first produced only twelve years ago. Those with white per ianths and white trumpets have had their greatest improvements in the Irish grow ers' fields. 'Cantatrice', an old standby, is a beautiful flower. Newer ones would be 'Silent Valley', 'White Star', and 'Rhine Wine', the latter hybridized by American Bill Pannill, a very successful amateur breeder. Amofig the white-yellows, 'Newcastle' is a great favorite, and available more readily than most. Of the newer introductions, I would suggest 'Pop's Legacy' and 'Elegant '1' he climate in the United States is The hardiest daffodils are no doubt the Lady', which are both American-raised. so varied you would think there old varieties, probably brought from Eng The reverse bicolors-yellow peria.nth, would be somewhere that daffo land to the United States by the first set white cup-would be headed by 'Honey dils would not flourish. The climate does tlers, which will survive in rather wild hab bird' and 'Gin and Lime', both good grow affect the time of bloom, the culture, and itats. But there are very few true species, ers in all areas. the quality of the end result. The bulb needs while there are about 20,000 cultivars to Pink trumpets are gradually increasing, a period of rest; cold weather improves its choose from. All daffodils, whether species and two of those are 'Rima' and 'Park blooming ability. For instance, Southern or hybrids, are of the genus Narcissus, and Lane'. Mississippi, where I live, is not ideal. fall into one of twelve divisions depending • Division 2 encompasses the large Nevertheless, bulbs will grow, and if dug on such characteristics as the length and cupped daffodils, on which the corona is out each year and stored, will produce sat shape of the flower's corona or cup, the not as long as the perianth, but more than isfactory blooms. number of flowers per stem, and the oc- one-third as long. This is the most prolific American Horticulturist 21 di vision, with some of the most beautiful blooms in ten or more color combinations. Among the yellow-yellows, 'Golden Aura' Spring Favorites Take Fall Planning is an almost-every-bloom-perfect cultivar; 'Golden Joy' and 'Symphonette' are also on the list of favorites. may help reds or pinks retain deeper col White-pink cultivars are increasing, and oring. one of the leaders in production is Grant Like most plants, daffodi.!s need well Mitsch Novelty Daffodils. 'Accent' is an drained soil. They should be planted at old favorite and still at the top of the list a depth about three times the height of is 'Dailmanach', a first-class show flower the bulb. Plant larger bulbs six to eight and a good garden grower. 'Fragrant Rose' inches apart, smaller ones four to six is just that: a lovely flower with a scent inches apart, and the smallest two to three more reminiscent of a rose than of the inches apart. To achieve a matural effect, other scented daffodils. avoid planting them in rows. Avoid put The favorite in the American Daffodil So ting fertilizer in the hole during planting; ciety popularity poll last year was the white fertilize with a formula high in potash yellow 'Festivity'; 'Classic' and 'Pure Joy' during the winter after the roots have are two others you may want to try. The begun growing. Daffodils don't need to white-whites in this division seem to win be fertilized in spring. Water is most im Best in Show more often than any other portant to them in the fall when roots subdivision, and there are so many excellent are being established, during the active cultivars it is difficult to pick only a few. top growth in spring, and when flowers However, you could not go wrong with fade and the bulbs start storing food for 'Wedding Bell', an older rultivar, or 'Canisp', the next year's bloom. For the plant to 'Gull', 'Ashmore', or 'Homestead'. be able to manufacture this food, the daf Among the yellow-reds, probably as col Ann Reilly fodil's leaves need to grow for six to eight orful a flower as you will find in the gar Daffodils should be planted in the fall weeks after the blooms are gone. The den, there is a great choice: 'Resplendent', after the soil has begun to cool off so leaves should not be tied in bunches as 'Loch Hope', 'Falstaff', 'Surtsey', 'Sports that they can begin to grow roots before this cuts down on the air and sunlight man', and 'Loch Lundie'. The yellow-or the soil freezes. If this is not possible, they they receive. They can be removed when ange combination is also brilliantly col can be stored in a cool, dry, well-venti they begin to turn yellow if you find them ored, with 'Chemawa', 'Dumrunie', and lated place and planted as early as pos unsightly. Bulbs should be dug and di 'Golden Amber' likely choices. Orange-red sible in spring, although they will be vided every two to four years. They will offers one of the smaller selections, al somewhat smaller the first year. All daf separate easily when they are ready; never though their number is growing; 'Rio fodils thrive in full sunlight, but shade force them apart. Rouge', 'Ambergate', and 'Limbo' are all pleasing and good growers. The white-reds are headed by 'Decoy' Tempie' and 'Lollipop' are growing in fodils, which usually lack a defined cor and 'Rubh Mor'; 'Orange Lodge' and popularity. 'Merlin', which has a white ona, and include multiple- and single 'Peaceful' are good white-oranges. Out perianth and a yellow cup edged with red, headed blooms. Among those with mul standing among the yellow-whites are is probably the best-known in Division 3. tiple flowers, the best are 'Yellow Cheer 'Daydream', 'Pastorale', and 'Chelan'. Of It is an incredibly consistent cultivar that fulness' and 'White Cheerfulness'. In colder growing interest are the yellow-pinks, with has won several awards from the Royal climates the white-white 'Erlicheer' is 'Kelanne' and 'Pastel Gem' two favorites. Horticultural Society. sometimes damaged by a late freeze, but - Divis\on 3 comprises the short-cupped Yellow-yellows that come to mind are is distinctively fragrant and well worth the daffodils, in which the length of the corona 'Ferndown', 'Golden Pond', and 'Irish effort if you succeed in getting it to bloom. is less than one-third that of the perianth, Coffee', all of them free-flowering and very 'Bridal Crown' will grow anywhere in the and this division offers much the same color hardy. The white-white group would be country. combinations as Division 2. Favorites led by 'Cool Crystal', 'Trona', and 'Ach The single-bloom doubles offer nearly around the country that also grow well nasheen'. The white-reds will make a great as wide a range of color as Division 2. include the yellow-reds, 'Achduart', 'Mav color splash in the garden: choose 'CuI Favorites are yellow-red 'Tahiti', white erick', and 'Timandaw'. Among the white Beag', 'Cairn Toul', or 'Cherry Bounce'. red 'Gay Challenger', and white-white and orange, a much smaller class, I have An Australian-raised flower, 'Dimity', is a 'Sweet Music'. Lovely white-pinks that are only 'Dr. Hugh', a good grower and a good very prolific orange-red, with color that is increasing in popularity are 'Apricot Sun show flower. (While the average grower sun-proof here. dae' and 'Pink Pageant'. may not be concerned about whether a Many of the Division 3 cups have several Doubles grow well under most condi cultivar is good for show, those that fall colors, and one of the best is 'Purbeck', tions, but are the most likely of the daf into that category are nevertheless the most which is white with a yellow and orange fodils to suffer bud blast due to lack of attractive a!1d most enjoyable flowers to cup. 'Dell Chapel' and 'Fairmile' have white ·moisture. In warm areas that lack weekly grow whether or not they ever sit on a perianths with orange-tinged cups. 'Gos rains, it is a good idea to water the growing showbench.) samer', with a nice pink rim, is one of the buds daily. Among the white-yellow small cups, few in this division to display that color. -Division 5 members, the triandrus daf 'Aircastle' is a world favorite, while 'Our - Division 4 is that of the double daf- fodils, are marked by having more than 22 February 1989 one flower per stem; delicate necks that 'Mocking Bird' are good garden and show dils, are very showy flowers that are some allow the flower head to droop; narrow, flowers. (Grant Mitsch has long named his times called orchid-flowering or collarette silky perianth segments that are sharply daffodils for birds, and maybe that is one in commercial catalogs. Great for cut flow reflexed from the corona; and a corona good reason I am entranced with his ers or show, they are frowned on by some that is slightly narrowed at the mouth. hybrids.) judges but are nevertheless conversation Some of the best are the white-white • Division 8 is the tazettas, another pieces everywhere they are seen. 'Lemon 'Arish Mell' and 'Mission Bells'. The yel scented division with multiple-headed Beauty' and 'Cassata' are among the fa low-yellow 'Harmony Bells' and 'Liberty flowers - from two or three to ten or fif vorites. A new one on the market is 'Tri Bells' are older varieties but great growers teen flowers per stem - but different from partite', a triple-headed split corona that and excellent flowers. The white-yellow Division 7 in that perianth segments are the adventurous might like to try. 'Tuesday's Child' is one of the best of this often crinkled and somewhat twisted. These • Division 12 includes miscellaneous class. White-pink 'Akepa', first bred only are excellent garden flowers. daffodils that do not fall into any other in 1979, remains rather expensive but a The white-yellow 'Geranium' was the class. There are very few cuitivars, and of most delightful little flower. leader within Division 8 in our popularity those, the yellow-yellow 'Dovekie' is the • Division 6, the cyclamineus daffodils, poll and is one of the best known. Others only one I have tried. are distinguished by having a short neck you should try are the yellow-oranges I have not yet mentioned miniatures, that holds the flower so that the stigma 'Golden Dawn' and 'Hoopoe'; the yellow which are bred for daintiness and have points downward, sharply reflexed per red 'Motmot'; the white-white 'S ilver flowers usually under two inches and stems ianth segments, and a narrow cylindrical Chimes' and 'Highfield Beauty', which has of ten inches or less. They grow well and corona. There is usually only one flower a white perianth with a green eye-zone and have a habit of growing on you. You may per stem. orange mid-zone and rim. want to begin by reading Elizabeth Law Cyclamineus is a favorite of mine and The tazettas are some of the more tender rence's The Little Bulbs. Some good ones it's hard not to want to list every flower, cultivars and may not survive really cold you should have no trouble finding include so I will force myself to be brief. You can't climates without a little extra care and 'Tete-A-Tete', 'Minnow', 'Hawera', 'April beat 'Jetfire' for yellow-red, 'Foundling' shelter. Tears', and 'Little Beauty'; you may have for white-pink, 'Dove Wings' for white • Division 9, the poeticus daffodils, have to hunt awhile for 'Humming Bird', 'Xie', yellow, or 'Shimmer' for yellow-orange. a glistening white perianth with points or 'Bobbysoxer', 'Pequenita', 'Paula Cottell', 'Jenny' is an excellent white-white, al 'pips' at the tips and a distinctive fra 'Small Talk', and 'Snipe'. This should give though it does not do well for me. grance. The short, flat corona is tradition- you a good start and hook you completely. • Division 7 daffodils are the jonquilla, . ally yellow edged with red, but there are Many of the flowers I have mentioned which are usually multiple-headed and very new variations, some with pink in the cup. cannot be bought from your local market. fragrant, have perianth segments that are It is a late-blooming variety that will pro But if you like daffodils, you should spread smooth and starlike, and last for a long long the daffodil season for you. I suggest your wings! Write for catalogs from hy time both in the garden and in cut ar 'Angel Eyes', 'Cantabile', 'Webster', and bridizers and start a collection of daffodils rangements. One you should enjoy is 'Buf 'Actaea'. that will bring you more and more pleasure fawn', which has a very distinctive scent. • Division 10 embraces species and nat each year. Two good yellow-yellows are 'Trevithian' ural forms, and Narcissus jonquilla in all and 'Circuit'; 'Bunting' and 'Triller' are its variations is the leading example. It is colorful yellow-oranges. one of those we Southerners find at aban Leslie Anderson is the executive director of Very different selections would be 'Bell doned house sites or flowering in the mid the American Daffodil Society. Additional information about the society can be obtained Song' or 'Pink Angel', both pink-cupped dle of a pasture or along the road. Every by writing The American Daffodil Society, and both lovely. The white-white 'Curlew' one should have some in his or her garden. Route 3, 2302 Byhalia Road, Hernando, MS and the yellow-whites 'High Note' and • Division 11, the split-corona daffo- 38632. "'S4 . . By Audrey Machulak IIIISI ~ American Iris Society ris connoisseurs may be inclined to rescue of those in either situation twice the midsection of the fall. pamper each individual plant, never each year: once when society judges vote Some irises remain favorites year-in and I losing enthusiasm because they hope the Dykes Medal winner, and again, in year-out: the fact that' Amethyst Flame', eventually to be rewarded with abundant, what probably offers an even truer picture an iris that was introduced in 1958, still show-stopping blooms on robust foliage. of the best choices, the Symposium Ballot, appears among the top 100 varieties seems Zealous perennial gardeners, on the other through which the approximately 7,500 to assure its good performance. hand, are looking for a large variety of society members from all across the coun But many gardeners want a modern iris plants they know will perform well, with try and in different parts of the world vote to occupy a special place in their land each plant contributing unfailingly to the for their favorite tall bearded iris. scape. For them, 'Beverly Sills' is a good effect they desire to create in their land Irises are described by noting the color choice. The Dykes Medal winner in 1985, scape. They must rely on the tried-and of their standards-the petals that are up 'Beverly Sills' has been number one on the true varieties that have proven themselves right; their falls-those that hang down; Symposium Ballot for three consecutive in various climates. and in the case of bearded irises, the hue years. It is an extremely fast grower and The American Iris Society comes to the of the fuzzy stripe or beard that runs down early bloomer with broad, coral-pink stan- American Horticulturist 23 dards and lacy-edged falls, and is a de and three to four branches with at least The luminous aura of deep blue-purples scendant of 'Vanity ', number two on the eight buds ensure a long bloom season in has contributed to the popularity of 'Mys 1988 Symposium Ballor. 'Vanity' is more all climates. 'Titan's Glory' is one of the tique', whose upright standards of light tailored and truer pink in color. It averages best irises of its shading-a silken, bishop's blue flow to a deep purple flush at the two stems per rhizome, each bearing at purple-introduced in years. It was the 1988 midrib. The wide, flaring falls are dra least eight buds. Dykes Medal winner. matically marked by bluish beards. It is no If light blue is your favorite color, the While a primary purpose for growing mystery that this flower received the Dykes third place 'Victoria Falls' may win your flowers is for the beauty displayed right Medal in 1980. heart. The ruffled, light-to-medium blue there in the garden, an excellent variety Since its introduction in 1972, 'Going fl owers have a white spot on the center of for those who enjoy the competition of My Way' has been a favorite among iri each fall and a white beard. In the East, flower shows is 'The Song of Norway', sarians. The standards and falls of this pli West and South, the flower reblooms again which can open three blooms at once. Its cata are white with a precise purple rim, in autumn. flaring, heavy flowers are a glacial ice-blue, and its good substance and ruffling add Every garden should contain at least one and should help many an exhibitor win a charm to its fresh, clean-cut appearance. clump of 'Stepping Out'. Though intro blue ribbon. These tall bearded irises are probably duced in 1964, it shows no sign of going Grandma's wedding gown was made of the most popular, but there are other classes out of fashion; it occupied third place on pure white cotton with lots of ruffles and grown by iris lovers everywhere. Because the Symposium Ballot in 1986 and 1987 yards of exquisite lace, and 'Laced Cotton' of their dependability, the following irises and was still a strong fourth in 1988. 'Step is the equivalent among irises with its pure have won top awards in each of their re ping Out' is a plicata, meaning that it has white, daintily ruffled and very lacy petals. spective classes: veining and dotting of a color darker than It has received international recognition • Border bearded irises are shorter than its background. In this case, the combi for its exceptionally good branching. the tall bearded, with proportionately nation is violet and white, and the large 'Mary Frances' received the Dykes Medal smaller flowers. A leader in this class is flowers are enhanced with ruffling and a in 1979 and is still among the ten most 'Brown Lasso', whose standards are a deep glossy sheen. popular irises. This distinctive blue-orchid butterscotch. The horizontal, flared falls If you like to impress with big flowers, self-meaning that its petals and sepals are are light violet with a sharp edging of me 'Titan's Glory' is for you. The flowers of the same color-has gently closed stan dium brown, and the full beard is yellow. this marvelous iris are six inches tall and dards; wide, flaring, lighter centered falls; 'Pink Bubbles' is an exquisite shade of light five inches across. Double-sock€ted bracts and a white beard touched with yellow. pink and the flowers are beautifully formed. 24 February 1989 If soft colors are to your liking, try 'Mar malade Skies'. This slightly ruffled flower is apricot-orange with a pink tinge on its Dry Feet, Weeding Keep Bearded standards and an orange beard. A striking combination of colors that will call out Irises Happy "Hey! Look at me!" is found in 'Whoop 'em Up '. The standards are brilliant golden yellow; on the reverse side of the maroon the beardless, notably the Siberian and falls is a golden yellow that extends to the LOllisiana irises, which will thrive in wet top and forms an all-around edge that sets conditiolls.) Hobby gardeners may fine! off the yellow beard. it Ilecessary to raise bearded iris beds • Intermediate irises bloom earlier than slightly above the level of their garden the tall bearded irises and are favored for paths. They should plant the rhizomes cutting because of their size. One that will slightly below the surface of the ground not fail to perform excellently is 'Az Ap '. with the roots well spr~ad out, and firm This is a terrific grower with domed stan the soil tiglltly around each rhizome. Ir dards and flaring falls of cobalt blue. ises are generally planted from fourteea Something a little more showy can be found inches to two feet apart, bllt tor an im in 'Rare Edition', a striking mulberry-pur mediate dump effect, rhizomes can be ple plicata with good substance and abun planted about eight inches apart in groups dant blooms each year. of three or mor~ of olle variety. Color the standards cream, color the falls Irises respond to fertilization. Always a rich amber, add a gold beard, and you incorporate generous amounts of com will have the vigorous grower 'Honey Ron Mullin post in the preparati0n of a new iris b(ld. Glazed'. And even if you despise cats, you In general, irises will thrive without too Apply a well-balanced fertilizer as a top will be enamored by 'Hellcat'. Its stan much TLC. An ideal location for the dressing on established plantings in early dards are a pale blue-lavender with a dark bearded irises is a sunny, well-drained spring and very late fall. Do not cultivate flush at the midrib. The falls are wide, spot. Irises want at least six hours of too deeply, as the iris's feecliag roots are ruffled, and velvety dark blue-lavender ac sunshine a day and resent standing in very near the surface of the soiL Keep cented by a dark blue-Iav(mder beard. water at any time. (Do not confuse the your iris bed weed-free; this is the best • Miniature tall bearded irises are made culture for the bearded iris with that of precaution for iris problems. distinctive by their slender, wiry, flexuous stalks. Sure to be a favorite is 'Carolyn Rose', a dainty, rose-pink plicata with a a five-and-a-half-inch plant with dainty Dasch' were close seconds. Though 'Easter yellow beard. 'Chickee', a showy, bright, flowers, yellow standards, smooth butter Tide' won the top award for the Louisiana ruffled, yellow flower with good form and yellow falls, and a medium blue beard. irises, it had a close race with 'C'est Mag substance is a worthwhile addition to every 'Libation', another popular little beauty, nifique', 'Acadian Miss', and 'Black iris collection. Or your heart may be won has standards of wine red, falls of a deeper Gamecock'. Among the Spuria irises, 'Des by 'Consumation' whose pretty white wine red with a darker spot, and a yellow tination' and 'Cinnamon Stick' were neck flower has a deep blue spot on the falls. beard. and neck, but 'Janice Chesnick' emerged Equally showy is 'Aachen Elf', which has 'Garnet Elf' is a dark red self with lush, as winner. The Japanese iris award went yellow standards and lavender falls. velvet falls and dark violet beard. On the to 'Freckled Geisha', with 'Blueberry • Standard dwarf bearded irises are easy lighter side, 'Alpine Lake' has standards Rimmed' in second place and 'Japanese to grow, good increasers, and in~xpensive. of white with a slight blue tinge and falls Sandman' in third. 'Big Money' and 'Cal Their color range equals that of the ta.Jl of light blue with a pale blue beard. If you ifornia Mystique' were the favorite Paci bearded class. Start with 'Michael Paul', a desire one last look at irises before the ficas in 1988. ten-inch plant covered with very ruffled, winter sets in, add 'Ditto' to your collec There are thousands of irises, some of very dark purple flowers. Add 'Cotton tion. Fitting its name, this iris reb looms as them well-known favorites, many others Blossom' as a contrast. It is a superb, twelve far north as Indiana. The standards are lovely but unheralded. The All-America inch, ruffled, warm white self with a white whine. A dark red-maroon edged with white Selections award winners and the popu beard. Include 'Rain Dance', which com and a touch of green on the haft color the larity polls should serve as guides, and it bines bluebird blue on both standards and falls. The white beard is tipped with a flash should be reassuring to know that a par beard with great shape and form. Top off of blue. ticular iris will grow and perform well. But the collection with 'Dixie Pixie'. Oyster In fairness to many beautiful flowers, gardening is for the adventurous, and ul white with bright green hafts-the lower some mention must be made of the beard timately, your iris garden should be a re part of the petal-its beard is pale laven less irises. In the aril and arilbred cate flection of you. der-blue, its standards are round, and its gory-the arils have a coated seed and ar falls are crisp and flaring. ilbreds are a cross between arils and Audrey Machulak is a homemaker, gardener, • Miniature dwarfs are the smallest and eupogons whose seeds are uncoated - re student, hybridizer of standard dwarf irises, earliest bloomiag of all bearded irises. Un cent award winners have included 'Tabriz' and twenty-one-year member of the American affected by fickle spring weather, they of and 'Humohr', while 'Pro News' and 'Green Iris Society who lives in Muskego, Wisconsin. fer bounteous bloom on compact plants More information about the American Iri s Eyed Lady' were in the runners-up circle. Society can be obtained by writing the AIS and are excellent as border or rock garden Last year, 'Pink Haze' was the top Si Membership Secretary, 6518 Beach y Ave., specimens. 'Zipper', the most popular, is berian iris and 'Chilled Wine' and 'Ann Wichita, KS 67206. American Horticulturist 25 "1.'71 II II~S By Ainie Busse 1'l~...... ~ American Hemerocallis Society delus-more commonly known as H. (lava or lemon lily-is still sought after by gar deners because of its strong lemony fra grance. But the modern hybrids have come a long way from the species brought to the United States from Europe, and bear little resemblance to H. lilioasphodelus or the common orange "roadside" daylily, H. fulva. Today's daylilies come in several color patterns and those with an interesting eye zone-a band of color where both petals and sepals meet the flower's throat-a're becoming increasingly popular. There are also a number of different flower forms, ranging from the circular and flat to the double to a narrow spider shape. Flower sizes range from under three inches in di ameter to as wide as nine inches. Until recent years all daylilies, like most plants, were diploid in their genetic make-up, with two identical sets of chromosomes. Dou bling of the chromosom@s through the use of a chemical agent made from the autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale, has pro duced tetraploids. Their blooms are larger and more intensely color@d, their flower stalks are sturdier, and both flower and foliage have more substance. This means that their tissue structure is thicker and as a result, they are better able to withstand the elements. Gardeners who want to begin growing daylilies or add new ones to their collec tions may want to consider some of those that have received one of the seven cultivar awards voted annually by garden judges of the American Hemerocallis Society. Here '1' he beautiful and versatile daylily try, including the coldest climates of the is a list of recent winners, with each cul offers immense satisfaction to the North and the warmest parts of the deep tivar described according to its hybridizer, gardener. Daylilies corne in a rain South. Their foliage dies back part way, height, type of bloom, and foliage habit. bow of colors, have a long season of bloom, and after a brief rest during the coldest (Becatase these daylilies are chosen from and can be grown in all parts of the coun months, begins to grow again. all parts of the United States, gardeners try. They are virtually pest-free, heat- and The botanical name for daylilies is Hem should be careful to determine whether or drought-resistant, adaptable to most soils, erocallis, which combines the Greek words not the winning cultivars are hardy for and grow in either sun or partial shade. for "day" and "beauty" to imply beauty their part of the country.) Daylilies are classified as having three for a day. But while individual blooms are • The Stout Medal is the society's high types of foliage habit: dormant, semi-ever open only for a day, a single plant produces est cultivar award. 'Stella de Oro' (Ja green, and evergreen. Dormant daylilies successive flowers for a number of days blonski, eleven inches, early midseason to lose their leaves completely after frost afld during the blooming season. Planting a late, dormant), the 1985 Stout Medal win grow best in the northern states. They do range of cultivars results in long periods ner, is a charming two-to-three inch gold not do well in hot climates. Evergreen day of bloom during the late spring, through miniattare and the only reliably continuous lilies are generally more tender, retain their the summer, and into early fall. 'Stella de reb looming daylily that has been produced foliage throughout the year, and do best Oro', winner of the American Hemero to now. Its blooming habit has led to its in the South and far West.They experience callis Society's Stout Medal in 1985, is at extensive use as a border plant. their greatest difficulties in the middle states, this point unique among daylilies in Most of the other recent Stout Medal which have alternate freezing and thawing. bloomiflg from May until frost. winflers have had blooms in the six-to Most of the semi-evergreen daylilies gen Among daylily species, which occur nat seven-inch range. The bloom of the 1986 erally perform well throughout the coun- urally, the early-blooming H. lilioaspho- wiflner, 'Janet Gayle' (Guidry, twenty-six 26 February 1989 inches, early midseason, evergreen) is a American Award in 1983. eighteen inches, early midseason, dor lovely pink-cream blend. Lucille Guidry • The Donn Fischer Memorial Cup goes mant), a superb four-inch pink bloom with won the Stout Medal again in 1987 with to the outstanding hybrid among minia a ruby red eye. The 1986 winner was 'Cho 'Becky Lynn' (twenty-four inches, early ture daylilies, which are those with blooms rus Line' (Kirchhoff, twenty inches, early, midseason, semi-evergreen), a stunning rose three inches or less in diameter. The 1985 evergreen), a breathtaking three-to-four blend. The 1988 winner, 'Martha Adams' winner was 'Pardon Me' (Apps, eighteen inch pink with a rose halo. The 1987 award ( W. Spalding, nineteen inches, early mid inches, midseason, dormant), an abun went to 'Pandora's Box' (Talbott, twenty season, evergreen), has a gorgeous pink dantly flowering bright red miniature. The two inches, early midseason, evergreen), flower. 1986 winner was 'Little Zinger' (Lankart, an eye-catching cream with a purple eye. Some older Stout medal winners have sixteen inches, early midseason, semi-ever Because this daylily multiplies quickly, it become classics that are still enjoying green), another red charmer. In 1987 the has been used successfully as a border plant. widespread popularity. These include 'Mary award went to 'Siloam Tee Tiny' (Henry, The latest award, for 1988, went to 'Sil Todd' ( Fay, twenty-six inches, early, dor twenty inches, midseason, dormant), aN oam Jim Cooper' (Henry, twenty-seven mant), a ruffled yellow tetraploid; 'Win exquisite orchid flower with a purple eye. inches, early midseason, dormant), a bril ning Ways' (Wild, thirty-two inches, early The 1988 winner was 'Yellow Lollipop' liant red with a deeper eye. midseason, dormant), which is a greenish (Crochet, eleven inches, early midseason, • The James E. Marsh Award goes to yellow with a small green throat; 'Ruffled dormant), a miniature that grows quickly an outstanding lavender or purple daylily. Apricot' (S . Baker, twenty-eight inches, early into a clump with myriad yellow blooms. The 1988 winner was 'Hamlet' (Talbott, midseason, dormant), a fragrant, apricot • The Annie T. Giles Award goes to eighteen inches, early midseason, dor tetraploid with lavender-pink midribs; and the outstanding cultivar among small mant), a four-inch purple with a blue-pur 'Ed Murray' (Grovatt, thirty inches, late flowered day lilies, which are those with ple halo. midseason, dormant), a four-inch black blooms between three and four and a half • The Ida Munson Award goes to the red. The latter also won the Annie T. Giles inches across. Winner of the 1985 award best double-flowered variety. In 1988, this Award in 1976, and the Lenington All- was 'Siloam Virginia Henson' (Henry, award went to 'Siloam Double Classic' (Henry, sixteen inches, early midseason, dormant), a five-to-six-inch bright pink self-meaning that its petals and sepals are Daylilies Are Low Care, Not No Care the same color. • The Ernest Plouf Consistently Very Fragrant Award, which goes to a reliably from spring through fall, even while in fragrant dormant daylily, was won in 1988 bloom. However, in the North, spring is by 'Chorus Line', winner of the Annie T. the best planting time, while early spring Giles Award in 1986. or very late fall is best in the deep Sm.lth. • The Lenington All-American Award Before planting, a soak in a ten percent goes to the cultivar that performs out fertilizer solution will help make the roots standingly in all parts of the country. To turgid, but do not use a chemical fertilizer be eligible, cultivars must have been in in the planting hole. Many gardeI'lers rec troduced for ten years. This award is voted ommend spreading the roots t€epee fash by the American Hemerocallis Society ion over a mound of dirt; breeders who Board of Directors. The winner in 1988 raise large numbers of daylilies say this was 'Lullaby Baby' (Spalding, nineteen is unnecessary. In either case, the crown inches, early midseason, semi-evergreen), sh0uld be no more than an inch below a three-to-four-inch light pink with a green the soil level. Daylilies should be placed throat. This cultivar is not always reliably OI'le to two feet apart, depending on the hardy in some far-northern states. eventual siz€ of the plant, aNd should The American Hemerocallis Society had receive an inch of water each week. registered more than 29,000 hybrids Established plants can b€ given a watef through 1987. The newer introductions Darrel Apps soluble, low-nitrogen fertilizer in spring. are relatively expensive. Gardeners wish Daylilies have beeN called the lazy per Too much nitrogen can result in ydlow ing to know which cultivars grow best in son's plant, but they do require some foliage, inferior blooms, and in reds and their area should contact the regional vice degree of caFe. F0r instance, while they purpl€s, a slick appearance arnd everntual president of the American Hemerocallis tolerate a wide qll'lge of soils, organic wilting. Apply fertilizer several inches Society in their state and follow the rec ma,tter should be added to sandy soils away from the crown so it is not damp ommendations of members of the local and those that are heavy clay. Most bloom ened. Eventually, diminished quality and chapter nearest their home. best irn full sun, at least six hours a day. smaller blooms will signal a I'leed for di Many red and purple cultivars beI'lefit vision, although this caI'l take several years if soil is loose and friable. After blooms Ainie Busse, a professional garden writer, is a from partial shade in the hottest part of member of the American Hemerocallis the day. In the South, daylilies do well are gone, cut back the foliage to about Society Board of Directors and its under the dappled shade of pines, but eight inches and separate the clump into publications chairman. Information about planting them near broad-leafed trees will single, double or triple fans, depending membership in the American Hemerocallis rob them of nutrients. on how soon you are willing to divide Society and a brochure listing daylily sources are ava ilable from the society 's executive Daylilies can be transplanted anytime them again. secretary, Elly Launius, 1454 Rebel Dr., Jackson, MS 39211. American Horticulturist 27 Peter Loewer in his Cochecton center, New York, garden Trials of a ZOne 5 Gardener with a ZOne 10 Dream his is one of those cases in which the imag charms are in evidence, and the:: flower haunts your mind. I've ination is baffled by the facts, " said Win never had a hope of owning some of these plants because of the ston Churchill upon hearing that Rudolf climate, while others have survived in the garden only for a year Hess had parachuted into Scotland back or two, then simply gave up the ghost. in 1941. The remark has special meaning Once on a trip to Florida I saw a Christmas palm (Veitchia to me as it perfectly describes the continual fight I have between merrillii) and I wanted it; those berries of brilliant red arching the gardens of my fancy and the realities that I must confront. out from a textured trunk called out to me for ownership. But First, reality. Land I have. Our house sits surrounded by thirty reality surfaced, and I gave up thoughts of having such a tree in acres of fields and woods, one tenth of a mile from the main road. my back yard. So to satisfy my tropical urges, I came home and The driveway is lined on either side by sixty-year-old white pines built a greenhouse. (Pinus strobus), and the only care they require is picking up wind This greenhouse occupies the space where an old porch once swept branches and occasionally cutting down the wild brush that stood. The structure is a lean-to, twenty-seven feet long and six appears between the trunks each year as though by spontaneous feet wide, facing southeast. Today it serves as a place to house generation. temperate house plants, winter over perennials that I want in the When real estate is mentioned most salespeople would tell you garden proper but that will never survive without shelter, and in that there are three things to consider: location, location, and the spring, a home for seedlings. location. When it comes to gardens, my cry is climate, wild Once this glass house held my collection of orchids and tropical animals, and climate. succulents. I can still remember the pots of cattleyas that hung Wild animals are a problem for us. We have at various times from the ceiling, each plant bearing huge, fluttering blooms that of the year: rabbits (they chew); woodchucks (they chew); deer brightened up the winter night. There were no prom corsages (they chew and generally pillage and destroy); skunks (they dig here, but cultivars with flowers of white and the palest of pinks, up the lawn looking for grubs); voles (they tunnel for grubs); my favorite being the snow white 'Bow Bells'. There were also moles (they tunnel for love); and a host of other pests, including cymbidiums, including one, Cymbidium lowianum, that was a a month of biting, black flies in mid-spring. In addition, we gift from a reader married to an army sergeant stationed in the have a cycle of gypsy moth caterpillars that peak every decade Canary Islands. That particular orchid arrived in late December or so, plus a full-scale attack of Japanese beetles that fly in with blatant ferocity every July. And there are slugs. If you could hear me hiss the word you would immediately perceive my dislike for this creature. But a fence is out. I have no desire to live in a garden that resembles a prison, with the animals enjoying unlimited freedom on their side. I'd happily opt for a ha-ha, but that seems a bit impractical (and prohibitively expensive) on rock encrusted ground. I have a great deal of grass to cut. I tell myself that this lawn serves as a frame to set off the garden's glorious canvas, but in reality, it's to give me a clean line of sight on the various varmints that leave the woods to chew among the flowers. Then there is climate. Our house sits 1,300 feet up on the side of a minor Catskill hill in southwestern New York State. That means frost first appears on a clear night in September and has been known to return in early June. We have snow some years and ice in the others. Temperatures have been known to plummet to minus 30° F every few Februaries (usually accom- panied with thirty-mile winds). And although the maps have us marked in USDA Zone Sa, two years out of five the weather is more like that of 4b. Over the years I've become enamored of a number of plants, but I can never quite remember just how I was smitten. Like a Cymbidillm /('IA' crush you have when young and high-stepping, a combination of v rr'l3nllm American Horticulturist 29 in a cardboard box that had been shipped by ordinary parcel post. All the enclosed plants were mush, except the orchid pseudo bulb that miraculously survived the exposure to cold. Under all the orchids were fifty-odd members of the stapelia family. These are fascinating succulents with strange flowers too odd to be beautiful-more like the blossoms that populate the living room of Des Esseintes in Huysmans' book, Against the Grain. Each leathery petal had an artificial look in deep, pulsing colors, and the flowers exuded a perfume redolent of spoiled meat. Stapelia pasadenensis bore flowers so large that I was glad the plants bloomed in spring and could be taken outdoors to be admired. But S. hardyi and S. nobilis had flowers with more charm (probably because they were smaller), and I delighted in having them bloom and surprise visitors to the greenhouse. They're all gone now. In late April 1977 we had a sleet storm that coated all the electric wires for miles around with blankets of ice, and the power went out for over two days. Try as I may, I couldn't keep the greenhouse warm enough to save the orchids and the stapelias. Today it serves as a place to winter over my cabbage palm (Cordyline australis), a New Zealand plant often set about in gardens of southern England where it lends a tropical air. This plant should be familiar to everyone: it's that bunch of grass],ike leaves found in the center of hanging pots, usually sur rounded by drooping strands of Vinca major 'Variegata' (in garden centers) or in urns guarded by zonal geraniums (usually sold outside of cemeteries). My cabbage palIh began life in 1973, is now eight feet tall, and will soon outgrow the greenhouse ceiling. Another favorite that winters inside is my dwarf redwood (Se quoia sempervirens 'Adpressa'), hardy only in Zone 7 and no match for a Catskill winter. It sits within a carved clay pot, aI'ld each year the slender branches are decorated for Christmas. Also treasured is my collection of red and pink flowering maples (Abu tilon hybridum) and white calla lilies (Zantedeschia spp.) that spends summers in a partially shady spot next to the terrace. If we lived in California, they would be permanent residents of the garden; instead, I must dig them up every fall before the killing frosts arrive. Outside, the gardens have developed over time, and like Topsy, just grew. By the time I came to realize the importance of planning, most of the beds were already in place, and once in place I hated to undo the look of maturity they presented. The gardens now contain hundreds of favorite perennials, shrubs, and dwarf con ifers, and all of them have met the test of climate. Still, I dream of others. What I have to go through to have cardoons (Cynara cardun culus), with their silvery leaves and huge lavender thistle-like flow ers! Seeds must be started in March in order to have any display at all in the summer garden. Then frost must hold off until No vember, or I must never forget to cover the buds night after night ShOrfia in order to have man-sized plants with their unusual blooms. OalaCifOlia My Rosa moyesii is another case in point. If my garden were in a warmer zone, the scarlet hips would charm every visitor's eye. But every fall I must bundle up the plant and pile on mounds of hay just to keep it alive. There are five plants that I have coveted for years, but I know they are impossible to have: Pinus wallichiana 'Zebrina' would have a place in front of the bank now covered with hay-scented fern (Dennstaedtia puncti lobula) so that its long, descending needles, each barred with white, would sparkle in the fall or on summer mornings when the dew would collect at needle's end. Books list this tree for Zone 5, but I tried. It is not. The Nippon daisy (Chrysanthemum nipponicum) is a fall blooming flower of great beauty. I first saw it in ocean-front 30 February 1989 gardens along the Jersey Shore where it took the battering of autumn winds with ease. But in our mountain garden, the frost comes too thick and too quickly, and the plants never have time to bloom. I have a copy of Gertrude Jekyll's Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden and page 122 is well worn. That page has a description of a garden spot warming in the late afternoon English sun where lilies, hydrangeas, and cannas share their space with bridal-wreath (Francoa ramosa), a perennial from Chile. If my garden were warmer, there would be banks of these plants. The Anyu nasturtium (Tropaeolum tuberosum) is another plant that has haunted me for years. I still have a collection of nursery catalogs that list this plant as though it were as common as a "blooming" hosta. Christopher Lloyd's book, The Well-Chosen Garden, has a picture of an early flowering variety, 'Ken Aslet', clambering up from a large clay pot to find its home in a coto neaster shrub. I've tried planting seed, but it never germinated. Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' is a compact form of a viburnum that has been fotmd in English gardens for centuries. Carmine buds open to light pink flowers throughout a mild winter, followed by metallic blue fruits that eventually turn black. It is a Zone 7 shrub. I would plant it next to my scree bed so that the glossy green leaves, when viewed next to the gray and lichened stone, would seem even brighter on rainy days. The scree bed reminds me of my try with the Himalayan may Rosa mOYes;; apple (Podophyllum hexandrum). The seed I obtained from the Alpine Garden Society germinated with ease, and soon I had five healthy plants. Three were lost to slugs; one was planted in rich "Stop!" shouts an inner voice. "Soon you will become maudlin but shady soil just above the scree plain; another was given to with your talk of failure. Those white plastic labels that mark the my gardener friend twenty miles away in Pennsylvania. For some place of fallen plants will no longer resemble Chiclets but will reason my plant always leafs out but never blooms, yet my friend's become lines and lines of tombstones." plant not only blooms, but produces the lovely orange-pink fruit. "But all those plants I've lost-" Then I have a list of lost plants. "Write as though you have a garden in a warmer clime." Fraser's sedge (Cymophyllus fraseri) livlld for some years and If only I could garden under a warmer sun, I would have huge rhen perished. The location was perfect-under the shade of a banks of Himalayan lilies (Cardiocrinum giganteum). Monocarpic w€eping birch and settled in moist earth. Everything seemed des they may be, but I would take my chances just to see their nine tined for success, but by the second year, the glossy, straplike foot stalks smothered with their fantastic lily like flowers. They leaves began to tarnish and there was only one quaint blossom. would be planted next to my Japanese maple, and their roots By summer of year three it was gone. would be protected by a mass of lily turf (Liriope muscari). In that garden, the unbounding lily turf would be h€ld in check by an ambling border of aged bricks (their tops just brush€d with moss), and on the nether side of th€ brick there would be clumps of Oconee-bells (Shortia galacifolia), a low-growing evergreen. Surdy few American wildflowers are as beautiful as these pink or white bell-like flowers nodding above leaves that turn bronze and red in the fall. Years ago I succeeded in having one Meconopsis horridula bloom and will never forget the flower. If allowed, I would have a bed of these blue poppies, their thorny stems protecting their beauty. Then to play against the blue would be a line of Calceolaria 'John Innes', their nodding golden slippers perched on slender stems and looking up at the poppies that are looking down on them. I would not forget the drama of the evening. Nearby would be a number of evening primroses (Oenothera caespitosa), their fra grant, white, four-petaled blossoms unfurling like a Disney nature film as soon as the sun dips in the western sky. And just a few steps away would be a very large and very mature specimen of the angel's trumpet (Brugmansia suaveolens). This tropical plant from southern Mexico bears huge, white, pendant, trumpet-like flowers, sweetly fragrant at night. Mine would be potted in an antique black iron urn with large handles made to represent putti Ervng giganteUm from Renaissance Italy. ium Continued on page 38 American Horticulturist 31 Pronunciation Guide Abies amabilis Glyceria gli-SE-ree-a R. ponticum R. PON-ti-kum A Y-beez ah-mah-BILL-iss Gunnera chilensis R. williamsianum A. grandis A. GRAN-diss GUN-er-ah chi-lEN-sis R. wil-yamz-ee-AH-num A. lasiocarpa A. lah-see-oh-KAR-pa Hemerocallis (lava R. yakushimanum Abutilon hybridum hern-er-oh-KAL-iss FLAY-va R. ya-koo-shi-MAH-nurn ah-BEW-tih-lon HY-brid-um H. fulva H. FUL-vah Rosa moyesii ROW-sah MOYES-ee-t:ye Acanthus mollis H. lilioasphodelus Roscoea humeana ah-CAN-thuss MOLL-iss H. lil-ee-o-AS-foe-dell-us ROSS-co-ee-ah hewrn-ee-AH-na Ajuga reptans ah-JEW-gah REP-tans Hosta HOSS-tah Sedum acre SEE-dum A Y-kree Andromeda glaucophylla lberis eye-BEAR-is S. spurium S. SPEW-ree-urn an-DROM-ee-dah glah-KO-fill-ah Jeffersonia dubia Sequoia sempervirens Arenaria montana jef-er-SON-ee-a DO-bee-ah see-QUOY-ah sern-per-VIE-renz a-ray-NA-ree-ah mon-TAN-ah Lewisia cotyledon var. howellii Shortia galacifolia Armeria maritima LOU-iss-ee-ah ka-ty-LEE-don var. SHORT-ee-ah gah-lass-ih-FOE-lee-ah are-MARE-ee-ah rnah-RIT-i-rnah how-WELL-ee-eye Spiraea tomentosa Artemisia stellerana Leycesteria formosa spy-REE-ah toe-rnen-TOE-sa ar-tay-MIS-ee-a stell-er-A-na lest-E-ree-a for-MOE-sa Stapelia hardyi Aurinia saxatilis Liriope muscari stah-PEEL-ee-ah HARD-ee-eye aw-RIN-ee-ah sa~ks-ah-TILL-ee li-RIE-o-pe rnus-KAH-ree S. nobilis S. NO-bil-iss Bletilla striata bleh-TILL-ah stry-A Y-ta Mahonia aquifolium S. pasadenensis Brugmansia suaveolens mah-HONE-ee-ah ak-qui-FOE-lee-um S. pass-a-DEN-en-sis brewg-MAN-see-ah swav-ee-O-lenz Meconopsis horridula Thuja plicata T1=IOO-gah pli-KAH-tah Calceolaria kal-see-oh-LAIR-ee-ah meck-on-OP-sis ho-RID-ew-la Thymus TY-mus Calla palustris KAL-ah pah-LUSS-tris Menyanthes trifoliata Tropaeolum tuberosum Cardiocrinum giganteum rnay-nee-A WNTH-eez try-foe-lee-A Y -tah tro-pee-OH-lurn too-bur-O-sum car-dee-oh-CRY-nurn ji-GAN-tee-urn Narcissus nar-SISS-us Tsuga heterophylla Carex CARE-ecks Nepenthes ne-PENTH-theez SUE-gah het-er-oh-FILL-ah Carlina acaulis kar-LEE-na ah-CALL-iss Oenothera caespitosa T. mertensiana T. mehr-TEN-see-ah Cattleya cat-LA Y-ah ee-no-THAIR-ah kie-spi-TO-sa Veitchia merrillii Chrysanthemum nipponicum Paxistima canbyi vee-CHEE-ah rnare-rill-LEE-eye kris-AN-thah-mum ni-PON-ih-kurn pack-iss-TIE-rnah CAN-bee-eye Viburnum tinus Colchicum autumnale Phlox subulata flox sub-yew-LA-ta vie-BUR-nurn TY-nuss KOL-chik-urn aw-turn-NA Y-lee Picea engelmannii Vinca major VIN-kah MAl-or Cordyline australis PIE-see-ah en-gel-MAN-nee-eye V. minor V. MY-nor core-dee-LIE-nee aw-STRAIL-iss P. sitchensis P. sit-KEN-sis Yucca filamentosa Cortaderia selloana Pinus ponderosa YUCK-ah fill-ah-men-TOE-sah core-tah-DARE-ee-ah sell-o-A-na PIE-nus pon-de-RO-sa Zantedeschia zan-tah-DESK-ee-ah Cyclamen hederifolium P. strobus P. STRO-bus SYKE-lah-rnen head-er-i-FOE-lee-urn P. wallichiana C. repandum C. re-PAN-dum P. wa-lick-ee-A Y-na THE HERB COMPANION Cymbidium lowianum Podophyllum hexandrum A colorful new magazine on growing sirn-BID-ee-urn loh-ee-AH-nurn poe-doe-FILL-urn hecks-AN-drurn and using herbs. Six issues, $2 1.00lyear Cymophyllus fraseri Polystichum munitum (Sample $4.(0). Write: INTERWEAVE si-mo-FILL-us FRA-zer-rah pol-ee-STY-kurn rnew-NEE-tum PRESS, 306 N. Washington, Dept. 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SUNLIGHT GARDENS die-AN-thus dd-TOY-deez REE-um al-ex-AN-dree Rt. 1 Box 6OO-AH7 Dryas octopetala R. nobile R. no-BILL-ee Andersonville, TN 37705 DRY-as ok-toh-PE-ta-la Rhododendron arboreum Dryopteris dry-OP-ter-iss ro-do-DEN-dron are-BORE-ee-um Years of Pleasure Eriophorum spissum R. catawbiense WIND CHIMES, WIND BELLS, containers, acces ee-ri-OFF-o-rurn SPISS-sum R. cah-taw-bee-EN-see sories, solar lamps and plants for the small-space Eryngium giganteum R. griersonianum terrace, patio or city garden. Fine quality, unusual e-RIN-ji-urn ji-GAN-tee-urn R. GREER-sone-nee-a-num products. Satisfaction guaranteed. Send for free catalog. SMALL PLEASURIES®, Dept.AH1 , PO Francoa ramosa R. lapponicum R. la-PON-nick-um Box 673, Berwyn PA 19312 (215)688-4738 frang-KO-a rah-MO-sah R. occidentale R. ok-si-den-TA Y-lee 32 February 1989 ~t.: by Pat Branin exchange capacity. th...tt1·II ~ranin was the organic gardening Robert Herlocker of Girard, Kan. says: columnist for the San Diego Union.) "I applied Nitron to 200 acres of soybean U Used over a period of time, enzymes can ground at the rate of 1/2 gallon per acre in two 0 W relieve problems of shallow soil by penetrat- applications. They received approximately 1 ing hardpan and even marl. Finger demon- 1/2" of rain before harvest; the normal for this gr strated this on a field where he had hardpan period is 5 inches. Even though these beans Did you hear near the surface. He pushed a 3/8 inch steel were hailed on , there was no ledging (bruis- what happened on Frank's farm? rod its full length of 36 inches into the ground ing or loss of fol iage) , and the 200 acres without effort. This could be a boon to hun- averaged 35 bushels per acre." Some readers will remember a story pub dreds of thousands of acres of land in South- Frank Finger's wife, Gay, takes care of the lished in the San Diego Union April 6 report ern California. vegetable garden, shrubs and house plants: ing a new soil conditioner made from Agricultural enzymes also will detoxify "Last spring I sprinkled my row of carrot enzymes. The first inkling I had concerning soils that have been chemicalized to death seeds with 1 1/2 gallons of water with 1/4 cup this product for gardening and commercial with inorganic fertilizers, herbicides and of Nitron added before covering the carrots. agriculture came from Acres, USA , a pesticides. They also will adjust the acid- In five days the carrots were up so thick I had farmer's newspaper published monthly in alkaline balance to a favorable pH 6.5 to 7, to thin them several times. We ate them Raytown, MO. which nearly all plants prefer. Even high through the season and mulched them when The editor and publisher, Charles Walters, alkali soils can be restored to production. freezing weather came. We have been dig- Jr., gave permission to quote the story about Theywillcause heavy soils to flocculate (to ging and eating them all winter." Frank Finger, a biodynamic farmer near loosen and break down) so the structure is Also, she has a cucumber story: "I Larned, Kan ., and his experiments with loose and plants can develop a more mas- accidently over-treated one of my cucumber enzymes on his soybean and alfalfa fields. sive root system and irrigation water or rain plants with a mixture of half water and half The difference between an inkling of infor can penetrate more quickly, evenly and Nitron which I had intended to dilute; how- mation and an in-depth pr0be is about the deeply. ever, I watered the area deeply and that same as Mark Twain's definition of the differ Perhaps the most importantthing of all that cucumber plant took over the whole patch. ence between a lightning bug and lightning. enzymes do is improve the soil's "cation- One day in July I picked 79 from it and picked So when the opportunity offered, I made a trip exchange" capacity. Cation·exchange 50 on each of three other days that week. I to Frank Finger's farm . means the release of the natural minerals pulled up all my other cucumber plants to give There I set foot on the first enzyme-treated and plant nutrients by unlocking them and this one room to spread ." soil I have ever knowingly trod upon. All of converting them to a form the plant can use to There are many other stories about central and eastern Kansas looks like a make its food by photosynthesis. enzymes that border on fantasy. Perhaps I beautifully planned and meticulously main No matter how bad your soil is , it is almost can tell about them later. tained park, and Frank Finger's farm seemed certain that you have considerable ancient to have an extra glow of well-being. minerals and trace elements which it needs Our 40-page catalog contains more details To understand what agricultural enzymes but which are locked in by an imbalance about Wet-Flex hose in addition to many natural soil building products from Bat Guano to Fish are and what they do, you must first know caused by a lack of organic material and Meal and from Blood Meal to Uquid Humic Acid. what they are not. Enzymes are not a fertil enzymes. By adding both to the soil, the And of course, our primary product, Nitron, izer nor a plant nutrient. enzymes supply the magic key to unlock Formula A-35, enzyme soil conditioner. 1-800-835-0123 WET-FLEX HOSE Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m . to 8:00 p.m. Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Nitron Enzyme Soil Conditioner Description Cost Shipping 1 Gallon ...... $25.95 ...... $4.00 2 Gallons ...... $51.00 ...... $7.20 4 Gallons ...... $92.00 ...... $9.50 5 Gallon Container ...... $105.00 ...... $11 .00 1 Wet-Flex Hose ••• tlJOUSClRU of tiRY por.es putth:e. water 50' Wet·Flex Hose .. .. $19.98 ...... $3.50 100' Wet· Flex Hose .... $34.00 ...... $5.20 where you want it! ______.....!. _ _ _ ~'_ Wet · Fle~0.::.:.;,!!40.0<::::... = . ~5 . 00 WET FLEX HOSE-When we first heard ab0ut this i 1 j eS Frank and Gay, I want to hear more about enzymes! i new hose that "leaks" and "sweats" from thousands of pores, the idea seemed too good to have been so II:> 0 Please send FREE 'O-page calalog II long in coming . When we learned further that it was ni~n made of recycled automobile tires, the idea seemed Name ______even better. Several hundred thousand feet later, I Address I our customers continue to give us feedback on the qualities of Wet·Flex Hose. Wet-Flex Hose works I City State __ Zip I best on low pressure, reduces water usage and I 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Enzymes - the life I eliminates evaporation. Buried subsurface (2 I Most orders shipped within 2 days .• We honor Visa and Mastercard. force of the soil I inches to 12 inches, depending upon the crop) , Wet Flex Hose conserves even more water and is NITRON INDUSTRIES • DEPT AH9 • P.O. BOX 400 • FAYETTEVILLE, AR 72702 Information & Ordering, Call Toll Free: 1-800-835-0123 '10ugh" enough to last for years. Book Reviews Social Gardens Charlotte M. Frieze; photography by Peter C Jones. Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 1988. 223 pages. Hardcover, 840.00. AHS member price, 832.00 The selection of idea books for garden de sign is legion, and on the shelves of the bookstore they vie hotly for the browser's attention. Social Gardens by Charlotte Frieze will most likely jump into the hands of a prospective buyer on the strength of its very attractive cover photograph, which shows the inviting scene of a cerulean blue pool with two teak chaises longues placed in front of a perfectly manicured hedge. The striking cover is followed by excellent photographs by Peter C. Jones and accom panied by a dreamy text that should pro vide many ideas from which garden de signers (of both the armchair and professional kind) may draw. While most garden idea books include many European gardens built from re sources of national exchequers, this one consists primarily of private American gar dens that probably are not widely known intended it to be, an exhaustive treatise on fifteen years, and is the author of six of and that have been built with more modest garden design. It is a thoughtful work, nicely the book's fourteen chapters. means. Many of the ideas will be useful to presented, and would make an attractive To write the rest, he has assembled a people with smaller properties, small ur and inspirational gift for any garden en distinguished list of co-authors. These ban gardens, and roof decks. thusiast as well as a valuable addition to writers, lecturers, and botanists, who each This book is not an instructional manual anyone's library. contribute a chapter on the subject, rep that gives exact dimensions and details, -Peter Cummin resent three continents, giving this book a but rather invites readers to analyze a de distinctly international flavor. sign problem-such as "What sort of an Peter Cummin is principal of Cummin Based on the cumulative years of its au Associates, Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts experience should entering a property based firm of landscape architects that thors' experience, the book's approach is be?"-and then leads them through sug specializes in residential landscape design practical. Although the volume of infor gestions as to how this experience may be work in several states. mation may overwhelm the novice gar achieved. dener, the practiced home landscaper could Good design is to a great extent an The Hosta Book not find a better reference guide on the expression of appropriateness; this book Edited and compiled by Paul Aden. Timber Press, hosta. suggests appropriate solutions for all sorts Breeders throughout the world have Oregon, 1986 133 pages; illustrated. Hardcover, of garden design problems. The selected $29.95. AHS member price, 825.45. shown a keen appreciation for the value gardens are simple, subtle, and not over of hostas in the landscape and have de designed. It is refreshing to read a garden "While there is no one 'perfect' genus among veloped many new cultivars. John Elsley, book in which the author makes practical the perennials, one could make a case for a distinguished "plant hunter" for Way suggestions based on her own observations Hosta," suggests the dust jacket of this side Gardens and George W. Park Seed and experiences rather than parroting book, in which Paul Aden, who has devoted Company, contributes a chapter on the trendy design jargon. In this respect, the many years to developing and promoting diversity of these plants, whose color, leaf book follows in the tradition of the late hostas, offers us the first comprehensive texture, and shape have been greatly im Russell Page's Education of a Gardener. treatment of this popular shade-loving proved. The book contains a liberal quan The final pages feature helpful lists of plant. tity of color photographs of new types. the designers and contractors whose work Aden, owner of the Garden of Aden in Another chapter of particular interest is appears in the book and also lists of garden Baldwin, New York, and a man who knows by Dr. Samuel B. Jones Jr., a botanist at furniture, ornament suppliers, and nur his perennials, has compiled a wealth of the University of Georgia, who is currently series. This is not, nor do I think its author information on hostas over a period of involved in extensive research on hostas. 34 February 1989 His chapter deals with the cultivative his other plants such as peonies and crabap tory of the hosta, the bewildering squab pies. The last chapter, on "Lilac Hybri bling about nomenclature, and the rela dizers of Yesterday and Today," gives in tiemship of hostas to similar plants. sight into not only the goals and criteria Aden's most valuable contribution to the for the creation of new lilacs, but also their book is in the chapters on cultivation, par creators. At the conclusion of the text, there ticularly the section on hybridizing. He gives are nearly forty pages of appendices with information on harvesting the seed cap lists of outstanding lilac collections and sules, storing and planting of the seed, as gardens; noted explorers, discoverers, and well as instructions on the growing of the introducers of the species; advice on han hosta seedlings. dling lilacs in floral arrangements; and an The book also contains several chapters extensive bibliography. on the uses of hostas in the landscape. But no matter how extensive the chapter These include ideas for woodland settings headings or range of appendix subjects, and for color combinations available Lilacs will be noted for two additional through using hostas. Andre Viette's chap qualities. One is the great number of color ter on successful companion plants de plates. Lilacs are known and loved for their D Bron.ze aluminum D Shatter-resistant 1" thick scribes other species that can prosper along flowers, but those flower colors are not double-wall glazing D Do-it-yourself assembly with hostas in shady locations. easy to photograph or reproduce on the D Ideal greenhouse, spa/hot tub room, entry way. The Hosta Book provides information printed page. It is due to Father Fiala's Send $2 for Color Catalogues, Prices, SENT FIRST CLASS MAIL. on hostas and shade gardening found in insistence and Timber Press's technical Dealer Inquiries Welcome no other book that I have seen, and would ability that there are almost 400 color pho VEGETABLE FACTORY. INC. make a valuable addition to any garden tographs. No lilac book ever published has P.O. Box 2235, Dept. AHO library. - John P. Guerin presented such a color menu of the newest New York, NY 10163 cultivars as well as the old standards. With John P. Guerin is a garden editor, free-lance those "true to life" pictures, a gardener writer, and lecturer. He owns a landscape can compare cultivars or check the veracity Book Order Fonn company in Atlanta, Georgia, that specializes of a catalog description. in shade gardens. Please send me the following books at the The second unique feature of Lilacs is special AHS member prices. the author's style. There can be no ques Lilacs: The Genus Syringa tion about his authority. He has been in D Social Gardens Charlotte M. Frieze ...... $32.00 Father John L. Fiala. Timber Press, Portland, volved with lilacs since he was a boy, has STEWA 06i90 Oregon, 1988. 372 pages, illustrated. Hardcover, been an active hybridizer for more than o The Hosta Book Paul Aden ...... $25.45 $59.95. AHS member price, $50.95. forty years, was one of the founders of the T1MBR 06020 International Lilac Society, and has a whole o Lilacs: The Genus Syringa Truly monumental books are rare. For li wall of awards to prove his standimg in the Father John L. Fiala ...... $50.95 lac enthusiasts, the last one was The Lilac T1MBR 06200 horticultural community. But beyond that, by Susan McKelvey, published in 1928. he writes in an engaging personal style that Now we have Lilacs: The Genus Syringa I would like to order _____ books. will draw readers into the text, where they by Father John Fiala. The distillation of a Please add $2.50 per book for postage and will find new delights on one page after lifetime of effort, it has been eagerly awaited handling. Virginia residents, also add 4V,% sales another. The author's enthusiasm for lilacs tax. Please allow six weeks for delivery. by a worldwide audience. and the people who are associated with Enclosed is my check for $______The book contains twelve chapters, with them is infectious and spills out onto the o Charge to: 0 VISA 0 MasterCard complete sections on taxonomy, incll!lding page. descriptions of several new taxa that are Expiration Date ______Lilacs is a comprehensive, authoritative published here for the first time. The chap reference book tnat reads like a chat over Acct. # ______ter on history traces the lilac from its cen the back fence. It is a must for any library ters of origin to Europe and across to Signature ______that is to be considered complete, and for America. There are also chapters on cul to: ______lilac enthusiasts everywhere. Ship ture, propagation, and landscaping with -Dr. Owen M. Rogers Street: ______recommendations of cultivars, species, and companion plants based on Father Fiala's Dr. Owen M. Rogers is professor of Ciry: ______extensive garden experience. horticulture and chairman of the Plant State: ______Zip: ______Throughout all the chapters, the reader Science Department at the University of New Hampshire. He has been a lilac breeder for gets glimpses of Father Fiala's personal MAIL TO: Robin Williams, AHS, P.O. Box 0105, over twenty years and is a past president of Mount Vernon, VA 22121. philosophy as well as his endeavors with the International Lilac Society. American Horticulturist 35 CASCADES Continued from page 17 into the hillside. Early excavation was back breaking work using, again, only a mule and drag bucket. One of the pools is shaded like a moun tain glen. Here, conif€r branches weep over the blue water, and the edges are planted with plantain lilies (Hosta spp,) and var ious types of ferns . Of the ferns, the most unusual is the sword fern (Polystichum munitum), also called the giant holly fern. Gordon collected them from the "wet" side of the Cascades. They are evergr€ens with fronds ten inches wide at the base and four to five feet in length, A hidden pool was the first large project THEY DISAPPEAR FROM A ICT that Gordon tackled by himself. The pool TREATED AREAS. ,.. is reached by climbing down a rock stair STOPS ANIMAL DAMAGE FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON. case and entering a sunlit cove sheltered NON-HAZARDOUS, SAFE FOR ALL ANIMALS. by the hillside. Conifers cover one slope HAS NO OFFENSIVE ODOR. and the other is a mass of flowering trail ~ ers; each, in its season, reflects color in the I water. , Down from a steep incline, visitors come ANIMAL, RODENT & BIRD REPELLENT upon two small, oval-shaped bodi€s of water called " twin pools." A tiny trickling stream also descends from abov€, enters the smaller pool, and then feeds the larger. Th€y were the last pools to be constructed, in 1972. Luckily, the Ohmes w€re able to Simply the Best! reach the lower excavations with a tractor, YOU CAN GROW HERBS greatly facilitating the work involved. At the highest point of the garden stands Our handbook/ catalog is a "ADD-IT" ® "The Lookout." It is similar to but smaller dictionary of herbs from than the garden shelter. One climbs up to Acorus to Yarrow, with enter it near a small grove of the shiny accurate descriptions of Automatic leaved Oregon grape holly (Mahonia aqui more than 600 culinary, tea, folium ). From these heights, the cineramic decorative and scented Fertilizer scene is all encompassing-the gardens, the herbs, scented geraniums, Injector valley, and the distant mountains, The dye plants, flowering peren vi€wer can imagine its majesty in €arly sun nials, seeds, topiary plants rise, as well as in the depths of winter when Simple to install. Simple to use. and frames. Recipes, books, a the conifers are cloaktld in heavy snow. Compact. No moving parts, and growing guide, and garden Mother Nature left this area of the world designs help your fragrant no electricity required. Just fill in a tumultuous state, depositing upon it and gourmet gardening . the tank, and each time you ir giant boulders and rushing rivers, and in rigate, you fertilize. And oh, the places such as this foothill, she l€ft the soil Handwritten results .. barren of vegetation. Visitors to Ohme in finest "ADD-IT". It's simple. Gardens can only wonder at th€ tenacity of the Ohmes in bringing water to this dry calligraphy. That's why it's the best! Send $4.00, land and, with it, the beauty of growing refundable :~~~~-::. plants. Because th€ir monumental labor first order ~~ was coupled with skill and artistry, they to: created a Imique masterwork. Hopdully, Gordon's words will be heeded in the fu Sandy Mush Herb Nursery G" ~~!n~~!e~~~!ms ture, and the gardens will be " maintained Rt. 2, Surrett Cove - AH 8733 Magnolia Ave, Suite HJO and perpetuated for the enjoyment of the Leicester, NC 28748 Santee, CA 92071 generations that follow us. " (619) 449·6408 FAX (619) 449-2368 Ruby Weinberg is a frequent contributor to American Horticulturist. 36 February 1989 Sources Bog Beauties Country Wetlands Nursery, Box 126, Muskego, WI 53150, catalog $1. Niche Gardens, Dept. AH, Rt. 1, Box 290, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, catalog $3 . The Other Side of The Cascades Water lilies, gold6.sh, MUSSER TREES Colorado Alpines, Inc., P.O. Box 2708, Avon, gurgling water in CO 81620, catalog $2. The widest selection available of Evergreen and Hard wood Seedlings and Transplants, Landscape Ornamen Forestfarm, 990 Tetherow Rd., Williams, OR your garden. Lilypons tals. Rhododendron. Rooted Cuttings. Ground Covers. 97544, catalog $2. Container-Grown Plants, plus money saving Special has it all! Offers. We ohlp to an U.S. otateo and Canada. Girard Nurseries, P.O. Box 428, Gel'leva, OH 44041, catalog free. Catalogue Subscription, S5 BUY DIRECT FROM GROWER Rhododendrons Pleale lend FREE CATALOG to: Name ______Bovees Nursery, 1737 S.W. Coronado, Port Name land, OR 97219, catalog free. Ad&~s ______Address ______The Cummins Garden, 22 Robertsville Rd., City ______Marlboro, NJ 07746, catalog $2. City ______State __ Zip ___ Greer Gardens, 1280 Goodpasture Island Rd., Eugene, OR 97401, catalog $2. Lilypons Water Gardens 1526 Amhort Road Daffodils P.O. Box 10 Lilypons, 21717-0010 The Daffodil Mart, Rt. 3, Box 794, Gloucester, Maryland VA 23061, catalog $1. See our ad inside front cover. MGClure & Zimmerman, P.O. Box 368, Fries land, WI 53935, catalog free. Grant E. Mitsch Novelty Daffodils, P.O. Box Low-Price Chipper/Shredder 218, Hubbard, OR 97032, catalog $3. John Scheepers, Inc., Philipsburg Rd., R.D. 6, Middletown, NY 10940, catalog $3. BREAKTHROUGH! Finally: Rid your property of ugly brush piles with the Irises TROY-BIU' 3HP Junior TOMAHAWK@Chipper/Shredder! Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden, 608 N.W. 119th • Powerful! Chips 2" thick branches, St., Vancouver, WA 98685, catalog $1. sh~eds woody brush to W· thick that Bay View Gardcms, 1201 Bay St., Santa Cruz, would quickly clog an electric CA 95060, catalog $1.25. shredder! Schreiner's Gardens, 3629 Quinaby Rd., N.E., • Fast! Wide-mouth hopper takes leaves, Salem, OR 97303, catalog $2. rakings, prunings by the armload, and turns them into instant mulch! Shepard Iris Garden, 3342 W. Orangewood, • Convenient! Lightweight, wheels to Phoenix, AZ 85051, catalog free. work as easily as a hand truck; stores in less space than your lawn mower! Daylilies • Dependable! Bui It to last, and backed by American Daylily & Perennials, P.O. Box 7008, TROY-BILT's famous FULL NO TIME The Woodlands, TX 77387, catalog $3 . LIMIT Warranty! Andre Viette Farm & Nursery, Rt. 1, Box 16, Fishersville, VA 22939, catalog $2. Send for FREE details today! Gilbert H. Wild & Son, 1112 Joplin St., Sar TROY-Bn:r Mfg. Co., Dept. A 1088 I coxie, MO 64862, catalog $2. I 102nd St. & 9th Ave., Troy, NY 12180 I DYES! Send me complete Free details on I Trials of a Zone 5 Gardener I the TROY-SILT Junior TOMAHAWK~ I I Chipper/Shredder, including prices, I Carroll Gardens, 444 East Main St., West SPECIAL SAVINGS now in effect, and I minster, MD 21157, catalog $2. I NO MONEY DOWN Plan for qualified I I customers! Fennell's Orchid Jungle, 26715 S.W. 157 Ave., Homestead, FL 33031, catalog free. I I I Name I Mesa Garden, P.O. Box 72, Belen, NM 87002, I Address I send two postage stamps for plant list. """-""~-" I City I Wayside Gardens, 1 Garden Lane, Hodges, SC L-______---I ______State Zip 29695, first catalog free. J American Horticulturist 37 GUNSTON HAll TRIALS OF A ZONE 5 GARDENER Continued from page 31 Nearby would be a five-by-five-foot spot Walking over to the new, circular, 5,000- full of Yucca filamentosa, so that when the gallon reflection pool, I would pass my flowers appear the night air will be filled clump of sea hollies (Eryngium giganteum) with the sound of whirring moth wings as with their ghostly gray and serrated bracts. the moths fly across the face of a glowing But instead of producing one or two seed moon. lings, as my plants usually do, this new There's an open spot in front of a low batch would produce an abundance of Built 1755 by George Mason stone wall that I built to contain a mix of plants year after year. spring bulbs. I would set in that spot two Framer of the Constitution Next to the pool-where its reflection other plants that I see only in my mind's Father of the Bill of ~ights would double its size - would be a Gun eye: a Rheum alexandrae and a Sikkim nera chilensis, sending up its giant ribbed rhubarb, R. nobile. "Rhubarb," you say. WILLIAM BUCKLAND Masterpiece leaves on f(~ d, prickly stems and proclaim Ah, yes, but what rhubarbs! Plants with 18th Century Furnishings ing to all the world around me that Kew panache: Sikkim with its straw-colored 18th Century Boxwood Allee Gardens or Chartwell are not the only places bracts on four-foot stems and the other with such a brilliant-and threatening with greenish-yellow handkerchief bracts Formal Gardens Restored in 1950 by the Garden Club of Virginia plant. held five feet abov~ · the ground. There is one type of bear's bf(~ eches In the rock garden there would be my (Acanthus mollis 'Latifolius') in my garden three R's: Ramonda myconi, the type with • Gift Shop • Museum Exhibits today. It plods along from summer to sum the deep lilac petals bouncing above those • Nature Trail mer but only flowers once a decade, and green, crepe-papered leaves; Raoulia aus Rental Space for Parties and Meetings the leaves-the inspiration for the rather tralis, from New Zealand, forming a huge baroque effect of a Corinthian column mat of sulphur yellow that would border 9:30 to 5:00 Daily ( except December 25th) never attain the size that tourists see when the flagstone path to the garden'S interior; walking the gardens of Rome or southern and Roscoea humeana, a glowing purple, Lorton. Virginia 22079 (703) 550-9220 Italy. In my new garden, there would be surrounded by various small sedums scat 22 Miles South ofW:Jshington. D.C.. Signs From 1-95 or US1 a glossy mound of them, four feet high tered here and there, all looking as though with a spread of twelve feet. they were well over fifty years old. Instead •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• And I must not forget my infatuation of my present three or four Jeffersonia du REDWOOD : with Himalayan honeysuckle (Leycesteria bia, there would be dozens, and pink and formosa ). Every few years I start seeds that white candystriped Lewisia cotyledon var. GREENHOUSES: quickly grow into good-sized plants, and howe/Iii would artfully cascade over the America's BEST Values! • I rush to the garden looking for a spot wall just behind the rhubarbs. GREENHOUSES AND SUN ROOMS WITH TEMPERED GLASS . • where they might survive. They never do. Around a little reflecting pool set in the PANELS COME READY TO BOLT TOGETHER FOR EASY. ASSEMBLY. ALSO FIBERGLASS KITS . In my dream garden, the bottle-green shoots center of the rock garden there would be will produce chains of white flowers, each a thicket of Paxistima canbyi, that some surrounded by a purple bract, and will what hardy dwarf evergreen from the experience a balmy autumn, allowing the mountains of West Virginia, and just to purple berries to form so that my flock of the right would be many cyclamen, in peacocks will relish the fruit as they walk cluding both Cyclamen repandum and C. across the lawn. hederifolium, SU Fely some of the most Most orchids would be relegated to a beautiful flowers rn the world. larger greenhouse, but I would still have I would not leave out a healthy clump a number of Bletilla striata blooming in of Carlin a acaulis, but instead of having, the shade of a broom, perhaps Cytisus ar at best, two flowers every three years, my doini with its golden-yellow flowers, or to alpine thistles would produce dozens of give an electric jolt to the orchid's laven blossoms. der, a purple broom (c. purpureus). Finally (and artfully to the left of center) , My garden would not only be warm, in the greenness of the stately lawn there but would be sUfliounded by a magic lasso would be a giant clump of pampas grass just like Wond(lr Woman used. All the plants (Cortaderia selloana), not the common inside its ring would be safe from pests, white kind but probably the black- or pink either four-footed or winged. colored type. Rhodod(mdrons would be present along But I must not ramble on. With all its the edge of the woods, just beyond the last limits, my present garden is a happy place, part of the garden border. Not just any, . . . and soon it will be spring . ... but perhaps R. williamsianum from China, (805) 482·3765 a small shrub with flowers of a delicate Peter LOClwer, Cochecton Center, New York, SEND FOR FREE COLOR CATALOG pink, or R. griersonianum from Burma, SANTA BARBARA GREENHOUSE writes frequently for American Horticulturist. with bell-like flowers of shocking scarlet. His newest book is American Gardens. 1115·J AVE. ACASO •.A CAMARILLO. CA 93010 • ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 38 February 1989 Fletcher Steele, Gardenmaker: The arching rails of Steele's Blue Steps at Naumkeag in Massachusett's Berkshires echo the semi-circular vaults, while the grove of Betula papyrifera highlights the white rails. A Symposium and Exhibition For six decades until his death in 1971, land most dramatic gardens; and a panel that includes scape designer Fleteher Steele practiced land Carolyn Marsh Lindsay, president of the Amer scape design as a fine art, and served as the ican Horticultural Society, discussing the main fundamental link between the nineteenth cen tenance and p-reservation of Steele's works. Ad tury's Beaux Arts formalism and modern garden ditional support for this project has been provided design. An exhibition illuminating Steele's design by the Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester and innovations and stylistic development will open the Allyn's Creek Garden Club. The Saturday in the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, New session, including lunch, is $50. The Sunday ses York, April 29. To launch the exhibit, the Amer sion is $40. For more information, call AHS toll ican Horticultural Society is sponsoring a Fletcher free at 1-800-777-7931. Steele symposium in Rochester the weekend of ------Apr:'il 29-30. Participants will include Robin Kar Please send me more information on the son, contributing editor for Garden Design and Fletcher Steele Symposium. Landscape Architecture who has recently writ ten a biography of Steele; landscape designer Name __~ __------~~---- Dan Kiley, whose works include Washington's Dulles Airport and the exterior and atrium of the Street _____------East Wing of the National Gallery of Art; Peter Hornbeck, who was a draftsman and assistant City _~~ __------to Steele; JoAnn Dietz Beck, who has studied Steele's ideas for smaller home gardens; Kath State ______Zip ______erine Moss Warner, general manager of Parks Horticulture at Walt Disney World, whose child Mail to: American Horticultural Society, hood home was surrounded by one of Steele's Box 0105, Mount Vernon, VA 22121. Classifieds Classified Ad Rates: BONSAI, dwarft:d conifers, pines, maples, trop $1.00 per word; minimum $20 pelr inserrion. icals, stock and cuttings. Catalog $1.25. MA TSU 10% discount for three consecl!ltive ads using MOMI]I NURSERIES, PO Box 11414, Phila same copy, provided each insertion meets the delphia, PA 19111. (215) '722-6286. $20.00 minimum after taking discount. Copy BOOKS must be received on the first day of the month two months prior to publication date. Send orders OUT-OF-PRINT-BOOKS: Bought and Sold: to: American Horticultural Society Advertising Horticulture, Botany, Landscaping, Herbology. Department, 80 South Early Street, Alexandria, Large Catalog $1.00. POMONA BOOKS, Virginia 22304. Or call (703) 823-6966. Rockton, Ontario, Canada LOR lXO. 1985 Edition EXOTICA 4, with 16,300 photos, AFRICAN VIOLETS 405 in color, 2,600 pages in 2 volumes, with Addenda of 1,000 Updates, by Dr. A. B. Graf, America's Finest-177 best vi01ets and gesner SUNDIALS $187. TROPICA 3, revised 1986, 7,000 color iads. Color Catalog and Growing "Tips" $.50. photos, now 1,156 pagelS, $125. Exotic Plant WEATHERVANES FISCHER GREENHOUSES, Box M, Linwood, Manual, 5th Ed., 4,200 photos, $37.50. Exotic WEATHER INSTRUMENTS N] 08221. House PlaNts, 1,200 photos, $8.95. Circulars ALPINE & ROCK GARDEN PLANTS gladly sent. ROEHRS, Box 125, E. Rutherford, FREE CATALOG N] 07073. ALSO PERENNIALS, HOSTA, HEMERO CALLIS Iris, Wildflowers, Shade Plants, Per CAROL DIDRICK'S LITTLE RED BOOK ON ennial Seed. 24 Page Catalog. $.50 Stamps. Our OLD GARDEN ROSES. Where to get them and Wind & Weather 61st Year. ROCKNOLL NURSERY, 9210 U.S. where to plant ~hem. An introduction to OLD PO Box 2320-AH 50, Dept. 33, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133-8546. GARDEN ROSES. Each book signed and num bered. Send $14.95 post paid. CAROL DI Mendocino, CA 95460 THE AVANT GARDENER ORICK, 1535 Willard Drive, Orrville, OH (707) 937 -0323 DIFFERENT, EXCITING, GREAT FUN TO 44667. • Please add $2.00 out of country mailing. READ - for the gardener who wants to get more out of gardening! Subscribe to THE AVANT BULBS GARDENER, the most useful, most quoteld of Gladiolus Bulbs, Asiatic Lilies, Novelty Bulbs. all gardening publications. Every month this Color Catalog $1. (rdundable with order). uniqHe news service brings you the newest and FLAD'S GLADS, 2109 Cliff Ct., Madison, WI most practical on-going information - new 53713. plants, products, techniques, with sources, plus Unusual Daffodil varieties - specializiflg in hy feature articles, special issues. 20th year. Awarded bridizing development of new pinks and species Garden Club of America and Massachusetts hybrids. Bulbs grown and personally cared for Horticultural Society Medals for outstanding on our Oregon farm. Color catalog, available contributions to horticulture. Curious? Sample April- send $3 (deductible on ordelr) to: GRANT' copy $1. Serious? $10 full year (reg. $15). THE MITSCH NOVELTY DAFFODILS, PO BOX AVANT GARDENER, Box 489M, New York, 218D, Hubbard, OR 97032. NY 10028. TULIPS, DAFFODILS, HYACINTHS AND LANDSCAPE AZALEAS MANY OTHER VARIETIES OF SPRING DESIGN PROGRAMS AZALEAS AND RHODODENDRONS-Se FLOWERING BULBS . PRICE LIST AVAIL Live, work, and study at the magnificent lect from 1,000 varieties with many new excit ABLE UPON REQUEST. MAD RIVER IM Chateau de La Napoule on the French ing introductions. Also Laurel, Andromeda, PORTS, BOX 1685-B NORTH FA YSTON Riviera. Comprehensive programs in Holly, Conifers, Rare Plants afld Trees. Mail ROAD, MORETOWN, VT 05660. order catalog $2.00. ROSLYN NURSERY, Landscape design. (in English ) 3 Yellow "FIRE LILIES" (Cyrtanthus) $10 Dept. AH, Box 69, Roslyn, NY 11576. (516) postpaid. RARE BULB list $1 for 2 issues. WIL SPRING WORKSHOP May 4-14, 1989 643-9347. An intensive 10-day program for LETTS, POB 446, Moss Landing, CA 95039. beginners and those who wish to review "GO-BETWEENS" -lower growing azaleas that BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES fundamental design principles. Faculty fit between existing azaleas and rhododendrons led by JOHN BROOKES in your garden. Northern grown and accli WHOLESALE NURSERY in North Carolina, mated! Two Year Catalog Subscription: $2.00 45 miles from Raleigh. 15 acres under irriga SUMMER WORKSHOP (deductible). CARLSON'S GARDENS, Box 305- tion. Option for 16-acre expansion. Buy or lease August 5-26, 1989 AHA-289, South Salem, NY 10590. (914) 763- land and greeflhouses. Call Gonzalo Fernandez, The fourth annual 3-week program for 5958. CORPORATE INVESTMENT INTERNA landscape architects, designers, graduate TIONAL, (91 0) 781-2665. & advaF\ced undergraduate students. BONSAI Faculty: BONSAI TREES, pottery, books, tools, trays, CACTI AND SUCCULENTS JOHN BROOKES supplies, and soils. Catalog $2.50. BONSAI BRAND NEW 1989 FLOWERING ]UNGLE JAMES VAN SWEDEN and CREATIONS, P.O. Box 7511AfI, Ft. Lauder CACTI catalog now available! Orchid Cacti GERALDINE WEINSTEIN dale, FL 33338. (Epiphyllums), Rattail Cacti, XmaslEaster Cacti, LA NAPOULE ART FOUNDATION BONSAI PLANTS, INDOOR AND OUT Hoyas, Haworthias, more. 66-page plant/cactus Suite 411A, 217 East 85th Street DOOR, IMPORTED POTS AND TOOLS, bookshop catalogs (175 color photos) all only New York, New York 10028 BOOKS, SUPPLIES. CATALOG $1.00. BON $2. Includes $3-off winter bonus coupon. Hurry! (212) 628-2996 SAI FARM, BOX BOW, LAVERNIA, TX RAINBOW GARDENS, 1444 Taylor Street, 78121. Vista, CA 92084. 40 February 1989 .... _-"r'--.,i."- ...... ,,,...--"!I CARNIVOROUS PLANTS GROUND COVERS ~\~. ..A7., •• ~ QUALITY GROUND COVERS AND PER Carnivorous and woodland terrarium plants and BIRDS &. SEAts s upplies. Catalog FREE. PETER PAULS NUR ENNIALS! Aegopodium, European Ginger, Ivies, ISLAND FLOwe~S SERIES, Canandaigua, NY 14424. Lamiums, Hardy Cactus, Plumbago, Sweet BwAUTIFlilL GA,RDENS Woodruff, Sedums, Vincas. Over 100 varieties. l'ours in CATALOGS GILSON GARDENS, INC., Dept. AH, PO Box ENCl'LANr;>, SC@TL~ND & WALl!S FREE GARDEN CATALOG-Over 4,000 277, Perry, OH 44081. (non viveuf, budget or self. d~ive) I terns: Seeds, Plants, Trees, Pots, Plant Foods, - HEATHS & HEATHERS Other intFiguing ~hemes jnclude: Beneficial Insects, Books, Greenhouses. MEL HUN1'IN6:FOR AN'l\IQUES LINGER'S, Dept. 320D, North Lima, Ohio 452- HARDY HEATHERS FOR ALL- YEAR GAR 9731. DEN COLOR! Send SASE for descriptive mail r NEW, INEXPENSIVE way to buy perennials. TUYNIA CORDATA 'Chameleon'. Sensa RHODODENDRONS Specialists in growing and improving perennials tional groundcover, "heart" leaves marbelized yellow, red, green. 6/$7.50, 12/$12.00. Chef's RHODODENDRONS for Eastern Gardens. guarantee you the finest plants ever offered FREE descriptive listing. CARDINAL NURS same as by professional nurserymen. Send for SWEET BAY (Laurus nobilis) rooted cutting $4.50. Fantastic JAPANESE PAINTED FERNS ERY, Rt. 1, Box 316M, State Road, NC 28676. free Bluestone catalog; lists mor€ than 300 va (919) 874-2027. rieties, plus information on care and growing. (Athyrium "Pictum") Super-hardy! Variegated BLUESTONE PERENNIALS, 7201 Middle burgundy, silver, green. WHOLESALE: RHODODENDRONS AND AZALEAS-Se Ridge, Madison, OH 44057. 3/$6.00, 6/$10.50, 12/$18.00, 18/$25.20, 25/ lect from 1,000 varieties with many new excit $32.50. (18 ~up postpaid) SALE ENDS 3/25/89! ing introductions. Also 1.aurel, Andromeda, PLANTERS Minimum order $15.00 plus 25% shipping. Holly, Conifers, Rare Plants and Trees. Mail CEDAR PLANTERS THAT HANG ON YOUR WILDWOOD FLOWER, Rt. 3, Box 165H, order catalog $2.00. ROSLYN NURSERY, RAILINGS! Each planter adds 2 ft. of planting Pittsboro, NC 27312. Dept. AH, Box 69, Roslyn, NY 11576. (516) space to your DECK, PORCH, BALCONY or NEW JOST ABERRIES, SMOKY SASKA 643-9347. FENCE. For brochure write: MITCHELL'S AND TOONS and HARDY KIWIS. Custom propa SON, 3857 25th Avenue W, Dept. A, Seattle, ROCK GARDEN PLANTS gation of 150 New and Antique apple varieties. WA 98199. UNIQUE ornamental nut trees, Buartnuts, Rare Alpines, Wildflowers, Dwarf Conifers, Groundcovers, colorful Rock Plants, hardy PLANTS (UNUSUAL) H€artnuts, and much more! Send two stamps for catalog to BEAR CREEK NURSERY, BOX Rhododendrons, Bonsai Books. Catalog $1. RARE DWARF HYDRANGEA Macrophylla 411-B,NORTHPORT, WASHINGTON 99157. RICE CREEK GARDENS, 1315 66th Ave. NE, 'Pia.' Remarkable pygmy marures 12", large pink Minneapolis, MN 55432. (612) 574-11.97. blossoms. Hardy. $6.00 each. 6/$27.00, 12/ FOXBOROUGH NURSERY is a grower of $48.00,18/$65.00,24/$82.00,50/$160.00,75/ ROSES dwarf and unusual conifers, broadIeafs, and trees. $225.00, 100/$275. (18/up postpaid). HOUT- Send $1 for our 40 page, mail-order catalog HORTICO. These are just a few from our large today! FOXBOROUGH NURSERY, 3611 selection of roses: Miller Road, Street, MD 21154. Visits by ap Hybrid Teas: Bimboro, Blue River, Bobby pointment only. (301) 836-7023. Charlton, Burgund '81 (Loving Memory), Ca nadian White Star, Clivi a, Eiffel Tower, Folk RARE SUCCULENTS, CAUDICIFORMS, EU lore, Fragrant Charm, Freshie, Ingrid Bergman, PHORBIAS, SANSEVIERIAS, LOW LIGHT John Waterer, Johnny Walker, Kardinal, Kon PLANTS, OTHER EXOTICS. Catalog, $1.50, rad Henkel, Lemon Sherbert, Maid of Honour, deductible from first order. SINGERS', 17806 Maestro, Marijke Koopman, Modern Art, Nan Plummer Street, Dept. A., Northridge, CA 91325. tucket, Peaudouce (Elina), Penthouse, San dringham Centenary, Stephanie Diane, Soli POSITIONS AVAILABLE taire, Swathmore, Sweepstakes, Ten Ten CPRB, GENERAL MANAGER/HORTICULTUR Tiffany, Uncle Joe, White Knights, Wieteke Van IST - for corporation engaged in manufacrure Dordt, (Potifar), Veronica, World Rose. and sales of agricultural nutritional biostimu Floribundas: Amanda, Annisley Dickson, Aus lants; requires product design of multi-hor tralian Gold, Brown Velvet, City of Leeds, Eng monal biostimulants composed of giberellins, lish Miss, Escapade, Evelyn Pison, Greensleeves, auxins & cytokinins adapting European prod H.C. Anderson, Jimmy Cricket, Langford Light, ucts to U.S. and foreign regional climatic and Len Turner, Nearly Wild, Oh La La, Oran soil conditions, and individual customer re geade, Prins Willem-Alexander, Red Hot, Red quirements; setting annual marketing strategy, wood, Tabris, Waiheke, Woburn Abbey. identifying specific market niches for company's Miniatlares: Dandenong, Young Cale. products; implementation of commercial strat egy including registration, distribution, and Climbers: Dortmund, Dublin Bay, New Dawn, promotion, hiring and managing (including Rosanna, White Dawn, William Baffin. Perennial Wild Flowers product familiarization of) sales force; setting Modern Shrub Rose: Buff Beauty, Dorn Plants & Seeds for Sun & Shade and projecting budgets and product pricing; Re roschen, Fred Loads, Golden Wings, Morgen 100% Nursery Propagated quired B.S. in Horticultural Engineering plus at rot, Eos, Robusta, Sally Holmes, Shropshire Lass, Send S.A.S.E. for plant list or least one year of additional professional level Surf Rider. s1 for descriptive catalogue experience in research or product development Austin Hybrids: Charmian, Chianti, Claire Rose, Native Gardens in the field of plant growth regulators. Salary: RFD 1, Bx. 494 Cymbaline, Immortal June, Lucetta, Mary Rose, Greenback, TN 37742 $40,000 per year; 40 hours per week. Apply Proud Titania, The Miller, The Squire, Win with resume and references to GEORGIA DE drush. PARTMENT OF LABOR, 1275 Clarendon Av enue, Avondale Estates, GA 30002, or to the Antique Roses: Baronne de Rothschild, Car dinal de Richelieu, Celsiana, Damascena Sem Send $1.00 nearest Georgia Job Service Center. Georgia Job #GA 5303038. perflorens, George Arends, Karl Foerster, Maid for descriptive en's Blush, Queen of Denmark, Reines Des brochure of many POSITIONS WANTED Violettes. ornamental and EXPERT PROPERTY CARE. Land, Flora, Explorer Roses: Champlain, Jens Munk, John distinctive Cabot. varieties. Structures, Administration, all capably handled. Permanent position sought with responsibili Ground Cover Roses: Dart's Dash, Red Max ties. Will live on site. L.S., PO Box 761, Ojai, Graf, Sea Foam. Catalog on request: $2.00. CA 93023. HORTICO, INC. 723 Robson Road, Water down, Ontario LOR 2HO (416) 689-6984. Mark your calendars PUBLICATIONS for the 1989 AHS Annual EXTRAORDINARY hot appetizers: ginger pork SEEDS Meeting, July 26-29 in bits, curried onion rounds, anchovy puffs. For Seeds, fr€e sample and price list of evergreen Minneapolis/St. Paul. recipes send $3 POB 221783-Q, Carmel, CA seeds, WAUKESHA SEED COMPANY, PO Box 93922. 1820, Waukesha, WI 53187. 42 February 1989 C;REER C;~RDENS FRAGRANCE SEEDS FOR FRAGRANCE, 1280 Goodpasture Island Rd., Eugene, OR 97401-1794 herbs, atavars, prairie plants, and others. Cat alog $1. THE FRAGRANT PATH, Box 328A, Specializing in -- Fort Calhoun, NE 68023. EXOTIC Rhododendrons THE WORLD'S LARGEST and most famous UNUSUAL Japanese Maples seed catalog. Over 225 pages, 4,000 varieties, RARE Trees & Shrubs 1,000 color pictures. A major book of reference. SPECIAL Bonsai Materials The Encyclopedia of how and what to grow from seed. Vegetables, potted plants, exotics, ' . ~ EXCEPTIONAL COLOR CATALOG perennials, alpine, rockery, latest and best an { "'-, Offering 2000 kinds of plants - ONLY $2.00 nuals, trees, shrubs, bulbs from seed; includes . \\'\ WE SHIP ANYWHERE rare items unobtainable elsewhere. Write for catalog by calling 1-800-548-0111 free copy, allowing three weeks, or enclose $2 for first class mail: THOMPSON & MOR GAN, INC. Dept. AHC, PO Box 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527. WORLD-FAMOUS SELECTION OF RARE SEEDS, specializing in hard-to-find species from ~~\)lES of BVeS eVllry continent, from tropical rainforest to al pine snowline. Thousands of exquisite peren ~ Your distributor for the ~ nials, flowers, trees, grasses, cacti. Fragrance GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA TULIP plants, unusual ornamentals for drying, wild in 1988 flowers, dye plants. Fine culinary herbs, dis AVAILABLE AGAIN THROUGH US IN 1989 tinctive heirloom and imported vegeuables, plus our unique collection from the Zapotec Indians Supply will be limited. of Mexico's high Sierra Madre. Detailed catalog Send $2.00 for your 1989 HORTICULTURAL CATALOGUE $1.00 J.L. HUDSON, SEEDMAN, P.O. Box 1058-AT, Redwood City, California 94064. Daffodils . Tulips . Unusual Lillie Bulbs. ete. - Direct from Holland - TREES Lilies . Peonies Trees, shrubs, perennials, pre-bonsai plants, ferns, 112 Greenspring Valley Road. Owings Mills. Maryland 21117 herbs. Catalog, $2. OWEN FARMS, Route 3, Box 158A, Ripley, TN 38063. MILLIONS OF SEEDLINGS: High Quality, Reasonable Prices. Over 100 Selections for Christmas Trees, Ornamentals, Windbreaks, Timber, Soil Conservation, Wildlife Cover. Free Award An AHS Medal At Catalog. CARINO NURSERIES, Box 538, Dept. J, Indiana, PA 15701. VIBURNUM Your Next Plant Show BEAUTIFUL "SHASTA" VIBURNUM. Na tional Arboretum's splendid Viburnum plica tum "Shasta" cultivar at exclusive low price. Young 8" plants $10 each postpaid. WILD WOOD FLOWER, Rt. 3, Box 165M, Pittsboro, NC 27312. WATER GARDENING WATER GARDENING: Begin a FRAGRANT and COLORFUL WATER GARDEN today! Send $2 for a complete color catalog from America's Oldest Water Garden Specialist: WILLIAM TRICKER, INC., 7125 Tanglewood Drive, Ipdependence, OH 44131. (216) 524- 3491. WILDFLOWERS UNCONVENTIONAL, RARE AND FAMIL IAR NATIVE WILDFLOWERS AND CUL The American Horticultural Society offers the Bole Memorial Medals, TIV ATED PERENNIALS for formal or natur designed by Victor Schreckengost, a nationally known sculptor and industrial alistic areas. Top quality nursery-propagated designer. These medals are awarded to individuals for horticultural excellence plants. Descriptive catalog $3.00. NICHE at regional shows put on by plant societies who are members of AHS. The GARDENS, Rte. 1, Box 290, Dept. A, Chapel gold medal retiluires 15 species or cultivars of blue ribbon quality; the silver Hill, NC 27516. medal 8 species or cultivars. These need not be all of the same species. The NATURAL SPLENDOR of North American medal measures one and a half inches across with a ring attached so it can be Prairie wildflowers and grasses. Select from 70 + worn on a chain or ribbon. The date and the recipient's name can be varieties of hardy, drought resistant, native per engraved on the back. ennials. Nursery grown plants and seeds ready Requests for applications, which must be made three months in advance of for spring planting. Informative, illustrated cat the event, can be obtained from Mrs. Benjamin P. Bole, Jr., Chairman, 1 alog only $2. PRAIRIE NURSERY, Dept. AH, Bratenahl Place, Cleveland, OH 44108. Box 365, Westfield, WI 53964. American Horticulturist 43 Letters We Grow Beautiful Perennials At A Price ~ Will Like!!! This marks the first "Letters" column for mond's Fan District. The vine festoons a The plants that return to bloom season the American Horticulturist magazine. We five-foot fence between our garden and the after season for years of easy pleasure, believe that our members should have more alley and every year attracts attention from our specialty ... Perennials. opportunities to express their ideas to us passersby. The bees like the flowers, and White Iberis for early spring, and each other, and hope to hear from of course, birds like the berries, but they summer's perky Shasta Daisies and many more of you in months to come. usually let us enjoy them for a while. fall for blooming Chrysanthemums ... Letters will be selected; try to keep them A small pot was given to me about Perennials beautify your home. to 225 words or less. All are subject to twenty-five years ago, and I was told it Bluestone grows over 300 varieties editing for style and length. was a "mystery vine." It didn't seem to be of perennials which are shipped in known around here. Virginia Polytechnic full growth - easy to plant and each Institute and State University idefltified it plant guaranteed. Specs for the Rooftop Garden for us as turquoise berry, porcelain berry, Send for our free catalog. We will be Regarding your article "Gardening on a and Ampelopsis brevipedunculata, which pleased to hear from you. Manhattan Rooftop," August, 1988, how is fun to pronounce, and people enjoy can one determine whether or not a roof Name ______hearing the various names. can bear the weight of a roof garden? You -Florence Bauer Address ______also neglected to specify the suggested depth Richmond, Virginia of soil used, or are all shrubs and plants State ___ contained in tubs or pots? Kudos for October's Issue Z ip ______- Jane Ferrell October 1988 has arrived and I enjoyed Charleston, West Virginia every bit of its contents. Of particular in 7225 Middle BLUESTONE Ridge Rd. terest was "The Designer As Artist" on the PERENNIALS Madison, David Murray, owner of the garden de work of Fletcher Steele. Two years ago on Ohio 44057 scribed, responds: a conducted tour for the Men's Garden In determining the weight that my roof Clubs of America, a national organization, can bear, I consulted with a professional I visited the Choate garden. When I opened GarclensAlive!TM building engineer to define the existing roof the October issue it was at the pages show structure and condition. His report stated ing the grove of Betula papyrifera. I rec ognized it immediately. Truly a masterpiece. Safe, natural that the roof was constructed of steel eye beams covered over with reinforced con - Albert Wilson products for crete. Taking into consideration the over Menlo Park-Palo Alto, California a healthy all weight load of the bearing walls with garden the span of the roof, he reported that the "Wonderful, wonderful, most wonderful roof could safely sustain 120 pounds per out of all whooping!" (William Shake FREE PEST-CON square foot, with somewhat more weight speare). Henry Mitchell's article in the Oc TROL GUIDE iden- on the perimeters. tober 1988 issue has brought me more de tifies the insects and diseases attacking To determine the weight of the per light than one could imagine. I want each your garden, and tells you how to control manent planters, I built a one foot square and every plant, and a neighbor like Henry them safely, without chemicals! box thirty-six inches high and bought a Mitchell just over the garden fence! FREE CATALOG offers over 125 environ fifty-pound bag of topsoil. The soil filled -Rebecca T. Frischkorn mentally-safe, natural products: beneficial the box up more than twenty-four inches, Charleston, West Virginia insects that prey on destructive ones, botan so I knew that I was safe because I would ical sprays, mineral dusts, insect traps, be adding peat moss and manure to the After reading several of Marcia Bonta's 100%-organic plant foods for lawn and gar planting medium. I used this mixture for articles previously published by the Amer den, superior mulches, and more! all the plants and have found that just about ican Horticultural Society, it was with Send today for your FREE catalog anything will grow in eighteen to twenty pleasure that we looked forward to your and pest-control guide! four inches of topsoil, either in wooden October issue and were not disappointed. ,------, boxes or pots. ("One Woman's Legacy" describing the : Natural Gardening Research Center Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve.) I 108 Hwy. 48, P.O. Box 149, Sunman, IN 47041 Portrait of a Favorite I The response from our friends has been I 121 Please send my free Gardens Alive! catalog : and pest-control guide right away! I changed my mind about canceling my delightful. Comments ranged from "well membership after receiving your letter and deserved" to "thanks for helping bring :I Nrune ______seeing the beautiful porcelain berry vine Southern gardens to the front" .. . I : Address ______picture in the August issue. - Jessie F. Johnson Maybe you would like to hear about our Caroline Dormon Nature Preserve I I City State -_ Zip -::-:-:-:::-:-::c:- porcelain berry vine. We live in Rich- Saline, Louisiana L ______@ 1989 NCRC 44 February 1989 Great Gardens Await You on the AHS 1989 TOUI{S Visit lotusland during the March Pacifi~ Ceast Gaf(;iens tour. ravel with athers who share your interest in gal'dening. AliIS trips take you ta the warld's • great gardens--sroall and large, public and private-and offer experiences to expand T. your en'iaYment Qf America's tap leisure-time actiVity. Write Qr call for infoFmatian today! March 2~-29, 1989 year-old Muskettoe Point and AHS's own River Fann. July 30"August 7, 1989 'I'acific Coast Gardens Lgenaril l'Iaertter Travel C;om(j>any, 7922 Bonh0mme Ave 6ardensof the Canadian Rockies nue, 5t. louis, M(;) 63105 (8001 942-6666. Tl