Camellias cannot be surpassed by any of the broadleaved evergreen shrubs in all those areas where they may be grown as garden plants. Any garden in which they are used freely is lifted out of the commonplace, and even a single specimen improves its own surroundings. Various Uses Of Camellias Camellias make good specimen plants … Read more
Camellias are Asiatic, evergreen shrubs that are cherished for their waxy, long-lasting flowers. Their alternate, toothed leaves are of leathery texture, attractive, and decorative around the year. By proper choice of varieties, six or seven potted or tubbed camellias will provide a season of bloom from mid-September through March. Though they are often thought of … Read more
This is the season when American holly (Ilex opaca) reaches its peak popularity. The use of its shiny evergreen spine-tipped leaves and red berries has long played an important role during the Christmas holidays. It is the hardiest of the broadleaf evergreens grown in our area, a logical fact since this holly is a native … Read more
Mums dominate this month in our gardens. There is much work to be done—plant daffodils at once in the well-prepared ground. Bone meal is the safest fertilizer. Thrifty buys are Dutch iris, Roman hyacinths, and the graceful little candy stick tulip Clusiana, for these stay with us and multiply. Other tulips and exhibition hyacinths are … Read more
Seventy years ago, the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station suggested that gardeners try cultivated elderberries as something unusual in a fruiting shrub. A named variety called Adams was offered for introduction through the New York Fruit Testing Association at Geneva, which propagates and tests (through its members) the new varieties selected by the Experiment … Read more
There are many plants of outstanding merit that, for one reason or another, are ignored for years, only to come into style again suddenly. The long-stalk holly (Ilex pedunculosa), a native of China, is one of these. Perhaps because it looks less like a holly than many other shrubs, it has received little attention until … Read more
It is, of course, the Christmas rose, the perennial whose beauty is further enhanced by a legend that is as delightful as the plant. We are told that when the Three Wise Men traveled to Bethlehem, they came across a young girl tending her sheep. When the shepherdess named Madelon heard the story of the … Read more
The planting of a holly tree is much the same as taking a new member into your family, and quite naturally, you are looking forward to living together happily ever after. So, first of all, let me introduce you to the new arrival. The name is Ilex, conferred upon the hollies of the world by … Read more
It is an easy matter to have a garden here in central New Jersey that looks fresh and lovely in the spring. If water holds out, it will also be attractive in the summer and fall. However, the period from November to April, long and dreary, is not enlivened by flowers unless the gardener makes … Read more
Plants growing in poorly drained soils are far more subject to winter damage than those growing in well-drained ones. They also tend to grow more readily when the host leaves the ground in spring. Plants growing in well-drained soil have more luxuriant roots that penetrate more deeply. Such plants are more resistant to low-temperature injury … Read more