Make your lawn feed itself! Use slow-release Nitroform® Your lawn can feed itself when Nitroform® nitrogen is tJsed. It's the concentrated, long-lasting organic that releases nitrogen safely and evenly to your grass for months. Nitroform nitrogen doesn't burn, doesn't smell, doesn't leach. Ask your garden center for the lawn fertilizer con­ taining blue Nitroform. If the bag says Blue Chip or Nitroform, you can be sure it's a Slue Chip® quality fertilizer using Nitroform. Hercules Incor­ porated, Turf & Horticultural Products, Wilmington, Delaware 19899. ~e laWii~eper ..JL HERCULES WHAT DO WE ADD TO NOTHI NG! Nothing is added to enhance Milorganite's fertilizer value. It's already there - naturally! THE SEWERAGE COMMISSION p o. BOX 2079 • MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53201 an editorial . ... SPRING SALE ........... gardens for everyman As the sun ri ses from among the fishes to gi Id the horn s of immemorial men have li ved w ith nat ure, and when conditions the ram we know that it is spring. Life responds, each part of permitted, men built beautiful gardens. The hi story of mankind creation in its own way. Birds st ir, and move north ward, - at least, the happy part of it- is the history of gardens and of ghostly, hi gh-flyin g flocks we know of onl y w hen they are ga rdening. It ma y turn out to be axiomatic that man divorced silho uetted aga inst th e moon. In the North, hybernating an i­ from nature becomes an intolerable brute; the bellicose types ma ls ro use and hunt for their first meal in months and New spawned by th e inner city would see m to indicate the possi­ England expe rts drain the wate ry jui ces from apparent ly bility. Do you get the point? We may be happily ga rd ening sleepin g maples to enjoy an all day-all ni ght orgy of cookin g while a ca ta clysm is building just across the hedge. down syrup. Gardeners on the Gulf already enjoy their ea rli est It is hard to se ll things of th e spirit. Fl as hy adverti sing annuals and they know that now is the time to work up beds se rves to entra; p people into buyi ng stuff that is here today, fo r th ose wonderful, summer-flowering bulbs, corms, and gone tomorrow. B'ut try to se ll the average fellow on a Bach tubers brought to o ur ga rdens from tropical pl aces. Arizona fugue, on Swan Lake, or even on a su n-drenched fi eld by van ga rd eners think of c lea rin g away the an nual flowers that have Gogh. It isn't eas y. Thi ngs of the spi rit take some effo rt ; it takes brightened their gardens through the " w inter" months; they concentration and, perhaps a modicum of brains, to appreciate w ill rely on deep rooted, desert trees and shrubs for summer creative arts. Certa inly, it takes a susceptible spirit. A bea utiful beauty, and th e lawn is irrigated daily. We average-type North flower is j ust as elevating as the fin est music or a great piece of Temperate ga rd ene rs, we ca n hardl y wait. Seedlings are sc ulpture- and far more personal, because anybody can grow comin g on st rong in the basement under lights and in the hi s own flower. G iven a pot of so il and a seed , anybody ca n be ga rd en in growing frames. Many of us already have planted a Michelangelo. Th e average man on the st reet may be a hard o ur hardier spring vegetable crops; lettuces, peas, spin ach, se ll w hen it comes to do-it-yourself horticulture (B ut is he cabbages and other cold-loving, frost tolerant sorts, our legacy rea ll y? H as anybody- any gardener-tried to se ll him ?) but from o ur ancestors in cold, clammy, no rth ern Europe. youngsters take to ga rd en ing like they take to peppermint It's a shame to tell a fellow sitting on the edge of hi s chair, ca ndy. already to run out and start shoving seeds in th e ground when Th ere ' s our chance . Thi s year, as we begin ga rd ening the weath er bureau chap says " no more frost (probab ly} ", to aga in, let's sow one more crop. Let's bring on a crop of do a little hard thinking. But we ga rdeners need to take a gardeners. Th e kids are easy; show them how to spade up a minute for so me hard thinking. Not a ge neration ago people sunny place, how to plant their seeds, and how to tend the engaged in plant industries had it all their way. Ours was an plants. And while you are at it, cultivate an ad ult or two. A fl at ag ri cu lturall y oriented nation. Many of us had sta rted on a of surplus petunias handed over th e ga rden fence may lead to farm, and if we were city bred, we spent the summers in th e better thi ngs . country with our grandparents. All of a sudden thi s no longe r is Right now ga rd ening is on th e defensive. W e 'are beset true. Ours is a commercial, citifi ed society. Major cities truck a w ith meetings and projects that ea t into our ga rd eni ng hours. cow, a pig, and a chi cken round to each sc hoo l so horrified Th ey tell us that if th e bugs don't get us, the stuff we use to fight children get an idea of the o ri gin of milk, pork chops, and eggs. 'em wi ll. We have our problems, But we have o ur pleasures, Because city air has become into lerably choked with filth we too, Think of dawn sunl ight filtering through th e budding trees, hear quite a lot about abused nature, the need for protectin g with dewdrops sparkling like diamonds, and with birds singin g our rapidly diminishing natural sites, and all the rest of it. We to welcome the tulips as they waken for the day, In the ga rd en are sec ure in our gardens; we have o ur homemade islands of there is pea ce and seren ity. And th ere is sati sfaction, We did it. gree nery, of horticu ltural beauty. But we need to rea lize that But, no; we and nature did it. We go together. We need to see our number is proportionately less every year. that every perso n on ea rth has a chance to enjoy th at age-old 2 It is ax iomatic th at man and plants go together. From time partnership, -I. P. B. American HCDrticulturist Volume 52 Number 1 Spring 1973 JOHN PHILIP BAUMGARDT, Editor The American Horticultural Society, Publisher For United Horticulture . .. the particular 901 North Washington Street/Alexand ria, Virginia 22314 objects and business of Th e American O. KEISTER EVANS, Executive Director Horticultural Society are to promote and encourage national interest in scientific resea rch and education in horticulture in all of its branches. AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST is the offi­ cial publication of The American Horti­ IN THIS ISSUE cultural Soc iety and is issued in March, Jun e, September, and December of each 2 Editorial year. This magazine is included as a ben­ 45 Gardener'S Gazette efit of membership in Th e Ameri can Horti­ 46 Books c ultural Society. In d ividua l dues are $15.00 a year. Refer ed itorial matters to: Education John Philip Baumgardt 4 Hortic ultural Therapy Is In!-Alice We ssels Burlingame Ameri can Horticulturist 10 Arboreta Are For People-John E. Bryan P. O. Box 7163 Kansas City, Missouri 64 11 3 Refer ad vertising matters to : Publisher Services, Inc. Gardener'S Notebook 62 1 Duke Street 24 Climbing Plants-David O. Lofgren Alexandria, Virginia 223 14 Add re ss relj uests for repri nts of articles to The America n Hort-Sclence Horticultural Society, Al exa ndria, Vi rgin ia. 32 Rhododendron nakaharai and Some North Tisbury Hybrids-Mrs. Julian W. Hill 36 Plants from Seeds and Cuttings-C. Gordon Tyrrell AMERICAN HORTICULTURIST is de­ voted to the dissemination of knowledge in the sc ience and art of growing orna­ mental plants, fruits, vegetables, and re­ Indoor Gardening lated subjects. O ri gi nal papers w hich in­ 6 Gardening Under Lights-George A. Elbert crease knowledge of plant materials of economic and aest heti c importance are in v ited. For m anu sc ript specifications please ad dress the Executive Director, 901 Native Plants North Washington Street, Alexandria, Vir­ 40 Elliottia ... Propagating a Rare and Beautiful Native Shrub-Clermont H. Lee ginia 22314. Repl ace ment iss ues of AMERICAN HOR­ TICULTURIST are available at a cost of $2.50 per copy, but not beyond twelve Plant Taxonomy months prior to date of current issue. 20 Pie ris-Emily Brown The opinions expressed in the arti c les which appear in AMERICAN HORTICUL­ TURIST are those of the authors and are Research Report not necessarily those of the Society. They 18 Japanese Iri s with Fi ve-day Blooms-W. L. Ackerman are presented as contributions to contem­ porary thought.