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<l Y<lars, the American Horticultural Soeiety and Coloflial Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Williamsburg have co-spoflsored this meeting, which occupies a special place in SeGretary American horticulture for all of us who love to garden. Mr. RithardJ. Hutton Everyone is welcome! It makes no difference if your whole lifetime has been West Grove, Pennsylvania spent in horticulture, if you only plant a few daffodils, or just like to smell the Treasurer roses! We've been planning since last May to make sure that this program is Mr. Everitt L Miller Kennen Square, Pennsylvania horticl!llturally sound and interesting to all gardeners. Special opportunities lmmedidle Past President include coffee with the speakers and staff of Colonial Williamsburg, an BOARD OF DIRECTORS afternoon in the gardens with staff gardeners present to answer questions, plus Mr. RiclWd C. Angbio a trip to the Norfolk Botanical Garden. And, there is a perfectly beautiful golf H¥risburg, Pennsylvania course for non-horticultural spouses. Gerald S. B~ M.D. Decca Frackleton, an enthusiastic member since 1956, had been asking us Flemington, New Jersey why we have never planned an event in her town - historic Fredericksburg, Mrs. Ben~ P. Bole, Jr. Virginia. So we called her up and asked her to plan a post-symposium gardefl Cleveland, Ohio tour. Her first list of things to see was so long that we would have had to stay a Mr. J. ~udson Brooks Sewickley, Pennsylvania month to see it all! But she has narrowed it down to an exciting three days, Dr. Henry M. Cathey eflding in the Washington area with a luncheon at River Farm-your River Washington, Il C. Farm, home of the American Horticultural Society. The Fredericksburg tour Mr. Russell B. Clark dates are April 13-15, 1989. Bost0n, Massachusens An Additional Opportunity Mri. Erastus Coming D Albany, New York A two-day symposium, "Fletcher Steele, Gardenmaker," will be held April 29 Mrs. Ann Lyon Cranimond and 30 in Rochester, New YOIk, and will be sponsored by the American AIIanta, Georgia Horticultural Society, the Memorial Art Gallery of Rochester, and the Allyn's Mr. Edward N. Dane Creek Garden Club of Rochester. Boston, Massachusens Steele is considered one of the most prominent and original landscape Mrs. Bevedey White Dunn Birmingham, Alabama architects of the first half of this century-the link between Beaux Arts Mr. RiChardJ. 'Hutton formalism and modern landscape design. You recently read about his work in West Gf0ve, PeJll!SYlvania the October issue of American Horticulturist. Mr. Stephen 1'. Keating The symposium is the first ever to focus exclusively on Fletcher Steele - his Minneapolis, Minnesota design work, his stylistic developmeflt, and his broad theoretical contributions Mrs. CaroIr11 ~h Lindsay to the profession of landscape architecture. Morning lectures and a panel Rochester, New Y0rk discussion on Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30, will be followed by tours Mrs.JOM M. ~ Washington, D.C. of several Roch<lster gardens designed by Steele, including the town garden of Mr. Everitt L Miller Charlotte Whitney Allen and the country estate of Nancy Turner. Kennen Square, Pennsylvania Symposium participants will be invited to a private opening of the exhibition, Dr. JUlia W. Rappaport "The Gardens of Fletcher Steele," at Memorial Art Gallery Saturday. The Santa )Ina, CalifOrnia prepublication edition of the new Steele biography by Robin Karson, Fletcher Mr. frank L. Robinson Steele: An Account of the Gardenmaker's Life (Sagapress in collaboration with Springfield, Virginia Henry N.