USING PEST PREDATORS: What Works, What Doesn)t ERIC A Publication of the American Horticultural Society March/April 1998 $3.95 MULTICULTURAL LANDSCAPES What Shaped Our Designs TALE OF A TEXAN Benny Simpson's Legacy HOOKED ON EPIMEDIUMS An Addict Confesses NATIVE AZALEAS A Treasure of Eastern Woods a • growers of distinctively better plants. Nurtured and cared for by hand, each plant is well bred and well fed in our nutrient rich soil- a special blend that makes your garden a healthier, happier, more beautiful place. Look for the Monrovia label at your favorite garden center. For the location nearest you, call to ll free 1-888-Plant It! From our growing fields to your garden, We care for your plants. ~ MONROVIA~ HORTICULTURAL CRAFTSMEN SINCE 19 26 Look for the Monrovia label, ca ll toll free 1-888-Plant It ! co n t e n t s Volume 77, Number 2 March/April 1998 ~.. .......,. Members' Forum 4 Irresistible Epimediums 32 Century plant, local treas~wes, mums. by C. Colston Burrell News from AHS 8 These delicate, 10w-glrowing shade plants Lectulre series, soil glue. are liIee potato chips: I t)s impossible to grow just one. Focus 12 Halr nessing pest predators. The Melting Plot 40 by Susan Davis Price Offshoots 20 Amelrican galrdens) like theilr creators, are a A season as a horticultural servant. mix of influences from arMmd the world. Gardeners Information Service 22 Rethinleing fall clean-up, sweetJenrt. Lone Star Super Star 46 by Linda Thornton Mail-Order Explorer 24 Benny Simpson was admired by fellow Plants of the Southl17eSt. Texans both fOir his knowledge of the state)s Natural Connections 26 plants and his eagerness to share it. The allure of algae. Out of the Woods 53 Planting the Future 28 by Richard E. Bir A childfriendly show in Philadelphia)s shadow. Native azaleas alre Urban Gardener 30 adaptable, fragrant, Cottage galrdening, L.A. style. colorful, glraceful- and rarely seen Book Reviews 59 in galrdens. Desig-ners, alrrangements, Mark Catesby, food plants. Regional Happenings 65 Columbia Basin guide, butterflies in Hershey. Hardiness and Heat Zones 69 Pronunciations 70 On the cover: Lilium regale, a native of China, began appearing in our gardens after plalrtthunter E.H. Wilson sent bulbs to Arnold A rboretum in 1908. Lilies were among the first non-native plants blrought to our shores by settleIrs at least 350 years ago. Among the oldest species recorded is the Madonna lily, L. candidum, dating back to 1300 B.C. On page 40, Susan Davis Price begins a two-part series on the influence of immigrants on American gardens. American Horticultural members' Society 7931 East Boulevard Drive Alexandria, VA 22308-1300 (703) 768-5700 fo rum ~ The American Horticultural Society seeks to promote and recognize excellence in horticulture across America. ~ PRESIDENT/CEO LLNDA D. HAlLMAN BOARD OF DmECTORS Officers 1997-1998 WI'tL1AMK'BARRI0K, Pm.D, CHAIRMAN Pine Mountai1~ Ge01;gia KAITMOS5WARNER"FtR-STVl:OE CHAIRMAN Lake Buena Vista, Blerida Ni\,1'>1CY S. TROMAS,SECOND VWJl e~ Houston, Texas WJiLUAM A. PUSEY, S.llCR!IlTAlIT Washington, D. C. CHARtES HENRY S'MlrrH jR., 'I1REASURER Middleburg, Virginia CENTURY PLANT tongs-the latter to pick up pieces from the We had a big (literally) event in our cactus­ smaller cacti. 5J!IERMAN M>LER Bobe Sound, Florida planted front yard this summer. One ofour The leaves of the century plants have L.M. BAKER YR. century plants (Agavesp. ) put up a tall stalk to be manhandled into the wheelbarrow, Winston-Salem, N01·th Carol"na and flowered. The leaves at the bottom of which becomes extremely heavy and is KATMEMNE McKAy BELK the plant were taller than I (I am five-foot­ filled and emptied many times before Charlette, North Ca.·onna eight) and above the leaves the flower spike we're done. The century plants are JAMES L CORfIELD rose 13 to 14 feet. pruned from the bottom up, resulting in DOlVners Gro"e, Illinois Apart from the excitement of such a something resembling a giant pineapple. AiWlEbU S. DANE Boston, Massachusetts happening on our property, we were fasci­ The tip of each leaf has a lethal spine, PA!UL ECKE JR. nated by the fact that the conformation of which can pierce the skin and leave behind Encinitas, Califomiro the stalk is an exact replica of an asparagus a wound that aches unpleasantly. After the DOROTHY T. 1RELAND spear. I find no botanical relationship be­ century plant bloomed and died, as they Birmi'lgiJrom, Ala.bama tween a century plant and asparagus! always do, it took two men with rope and W.ILLIAM R. MMKBN Ins Altos, California Our garden includes several kinds of a tractor to haul it away. THEODORE R. MARsTON cacti-two or three types of prickly pear, in­ Enid M. McClintock Kirkland, Washington cluding cow tongues, all of which are Alamogordo, New Mexico GENE M. MILLER equipped with spines that, I swear, jump Silver Spri11g, M a1·yla1Id out and embed themselves in our arms and Century plant and asparagus are in fact in EGONMOLBAK legs as we go by. Their flowers range in the same order, Asparagales. Mrs. McClin­ Seattle, WqsMngtm color fi'om creanl to bright yellow. We have tock tells us she didn Jt really submit a favorite DUDLEY MORGAN Nashville, Tennessee a cholla that bears beautiful purply red plant story as much as she «Just felt the u1;ge GEOFFREY L. RAUSCH flowers and is reminiscent of a monkey to write!" WeJre glad she did, and since she PittsbU1;gh, Pennsylvania puzzle tree covered with particularly nasty sent us a photograph ofherself as well, she VAJ.;ERlE L. THOMAS spines. Birds like to nest in it. wins her choice of the 1997 AHS Book Alexandria, Virginia Before we planted our front yard with Award winners. Write us a short essay about ROBERT D. VOLl< cacti we thought they would be slow grow­ your favorite plant, and be sure to include a San Marino, California ing and trouble free. While they are easy on photo ofyourself in yourgarden. the water bill, they all need pruning sever­ HIDDEN TREASURES PRESIDENT EMERITUS al times a year, or we would have an im­ DR. H. MARC CATHEY penetrable cactus forest. How about a poll of members to assemble Cacti are no respecters of gardening a treasure-trove of relatively unknown or gloves, and have to be taclded with saw and underappreciated "neat things to see"? 4 THE AMERICAN GARDENER March/April 1998 Did you know that Rockford, illinois, has Jim Reed responds: The comment that we Anderson Gardens, designed in Japanese admired the royal poinciana tree in Bei­ THE AMERICAN style at huge expense? Where is mention of jing was offthe mark. It was at the Hong GARDENER the Klehm Arboretum and Botanical Gar­ Kong Botanical Garden, where it is dens in Rockford? It's outstanding, and cer­ known as (flame of the forest»-also the EDITOR tainly worth a stop ifyou're in the area. common name ofButea monosperma. KATHLEEN FIS14ER Froellinger-Freimann Botanic Conser­ Thanks to your staff, I now k1'/;oW that the MANAGlNG EDITOR vatory in Fort Wayne, Indiana? Even tree I purchased as B. monosperma is re­ MARYYEE sources in our own state don't list it. And I ally an Erythrina, although we aren't sure ASSISTANT EDITOR found a neat little nursery in Warsaw, Indi­ which species. DAVlD J. ELLIS ana, through a Bonsai Club member. GALLE'S AZALEAS EDITORIAL ASSISTANT You get the idea: a cornucopia of read­ SARA Epp ers' favorite little out-of-the-way spots. In your article about Fred Galle ("The Don't leave out the herb nursery in Ship­ Gifted Mr. Galle," November/December) DESIGN AND ART DIRECTION JOSEPH YACINSKl DESIGN shewanna, Indiana. Roderick N. Schueler MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Fort Wayne, Indiana DARLENE OLIVER We like the idea! Members, give us details EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD NINA L. BASSUK about why your public garden or nursery is Ithaca, Ntw York special, and include a phone number so we JOHN E. BRYAN can call them for more information. SausaLito, CaLifornia Anderson Gardens were built by Rock­ JOHN L. CREECH ford industrialist John Anderson beginning Hendersonville, North CaroLina in 1978 after he visited Washington Park KEITH CROTZ Gardens in Portland, Oregon, during a lay­ Chillicothe, Illinois PANA¥OTI KELAIDIS over on a business trip. In 1988 the five-acre Denver, Colorado gardens received the American Association 'Choice Cream' RICHARD W. LIGHTY ofNurserymen National Landscape Award Greenville, Deiawa"e and the Associated Landscape Contractors you mention that he has introduced two PETER LOEWER ofAmerica Environmental Improvement azaleas that are still available, 'Choice Asheville, North Carolina Grand Award. The gardens began offering Cream' and 'Galle's Choice'. Do you know ELVIN MCDONALD West Des Moines, Iowa tours in 1984, and in 1997 opened to the a source for them? Sallee Ebersole public seven days a week. This year's season Alexandria, Vi1lfinia begins May 1. For more information contact ADVERTISING AHS ADVERTISING OFFICE Debra Lindley, tour coordinator, Anderson You can order them from Greer Gardens, 4350 DiPaolo Cent~r, Suite B Gardens, 2214 Stoneridge Drive, Rockford, 1280 Goodpasture Island Road, Eugene, Glenview, IL 60025 IL 61107, (815) 877-2525, or fax (815) OR 97401-1794, (541) 686-8266. Their (847) 699·1707' FAX: (847) 699-1703 877-1525. catalog is $3. COLOR SEPARATIONS FILM GRAPHICS WE WERE ZONING STEELE, STILL PRINTER In "A Sensuous Delight"(November/De­ In your list of "75 Great American Gar­ BANTA PU:BLiCA'tlONS GROUP cember), about the Reed garden in Flori­ den Books" (September/October), you Th.Americtln Gard",er (ISSN 1087-9978) is pub­ da, surely the USDA Zone 10 plants that list Fletcher Steele: Landscape Architect by lished bimonthly (January/February, March/April, the Reeds saw in Beijing were not growing Robin Karson as being published by May/June, July/August, September/October, No­ vembcr/Decembe<) by the American Horticultural outdoors.