once for all, that the Retinosporas are of unexcelled hardiness, both winter and summer, and that their variegations are all permanent. Can a higher character be given to any other evergreen? "There are two distinct kinds of weeping Retinosporas-namely, a beautiful fern-like pendulous form of R. obtusa, originating in Flushing, and an extravagant, attenuated form, imported recently from Japan through Mr. Thomas Hogg. The long thread-like leaves of this variety fall directly down and curve about the stem in swaying, meager masses, which suggest that in this plant the extreme of the weeping form among evergreens has been reached. Almost as curious as this is another introduction of Mr. Thomas Hogg, R. filifera aurea. We have known R. filifera for some time as a rare tree with tesselated shaggy masses of green, thread-like foliage, but Mr. Hogg's new variety offers the same strange mass of foliage, only in this case it is turned into gold, broad, solid, permanent gold. While I am pointing out the Golden Retinosporas, which are veritable sunbeams amid other evergreens, let me call your attention to R. obtusa aurea, one of the best and most distinct of all variegated forms. It is freegrowing, with a beautiful combination of gold color intermixed with glossy rich green, all over the plant. Although not exactly a new plant, I am constrained to call your passing attention to R. obtusa nana, one of the very best of dwarf evergreens, a dense flat tuft of glossy, deep green spray, a cushion or ball of evergreen foliage that will hardly grow two feet in ten years. The golden form of R. obtusa nana is charming. Its yel low is a rich bronze, and I do not know anything of the kind more attractive. R. pisifera nana variegata is also very beautiful, a dense miniature bush of a general bluish-gray aspect, except a portion of the lesser branchlets and leaves, which are pale yellow. But do not think I have begun to exhaust the curious forms of these Retinosporas. I have only given the most noteworthy to be found on a superior lawn. Any large group of R. obtusa will give a dozen beautiful diverse forms of weeping, pyramidal and dwarf or spreading evergreens. All or practically all kinds of Retinosporas now used came from Japan, where they are common, but highly valued in the beautiful gardens of that country. Mr. Hogg has not only introduced several of these new Retinosporas, but has given us possibly more new Japanese plants than any collector since the time of Robert Fortune's famous horticultural explorations. "I must not leave these Retinosporas without calling attention again to their excellent adaptation to small places. If we restrict the planting on a small lawn to Japanese maples, Retinosporas and two or three shrubs, like Spiraea crispifolia, we may almost defy, with a little skill, the power of time to compass, by means of trees, the destruction of our grass plots. I must add, however, one other conifer to this seemingly short, but really varied, list of new hardy plants suited to miniature lawn planting. I refer to Sciado pitys verticillata, the parasol pine, one of the most extraordinary evergreens known. The plant we see on this lawn is scarcely two feet high, and yet it is more than ten years old. Travelers in Japan tell us of specimens in Japanese gar dens fifty and one hundred feet high; but certainly in youth the plant is wonderfully dwarf. Its strange habit is produced by the curiously long, broad, dark, green needles, or narrow-shaped leaves, that cluster in parasol-like tufts at the end of each succeeding year's growth. The color is as dark as that of the yew, and the growth as compact. It is, moreover, very hardy, and thus presents a combination of choice qualities of the most strange, attractive, and valuable character. The plant is so entirely original in its forms that it seems some lone type, the correlations of which are lost, or yet to be found. As we look upon it, we commence to realize how thoroughly most plants of the same genus, all over the globe, are related to each other, just because we can think of nothing else that resembles the parasol pine. "A Japanese yew, near by, of rich and spreading habit, exemplifies this resemblance between various members of a genus situated in various parts of the earth. This Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) is however, very noteworthy for great hardiness, a character that can be scarcely accorded to any other yew in this climate. Thuiopsis Standishii is another Japanese plant on this lawn, of comparatively recent introduction. I want to call your attention to it, situated near the Retinosporas, not only because it is a beautiful evergreen, somewhat like the arbor-vitæ in general appearance, but because it does better here, apparently, than in England. This is a peculiarity remarkable in an evergreen, for the moist climate of England seems to make for them a very home." I do not need to apologize for inserting this essay in full; because it will surely be helpful to a Street very large class of those whom I desire to aid in making home delightful by the use of evergreens. Most of the trees which Mr. Parsons describes can be used in hedges, groups, and shelters. The true home builder is also a decorative artist. FIG. 8. GROUND PLAN OF VILLAGE PLOT, WITH FLOWERS, HEDGES AND WINDBREAKS. |