Botany: The Science of Plant Life

by Norman Taylor

Plant Product	Derived from the	Native of
Absinthe	Foliage of Artemisia absinthium	Europe.
Brazil nut	Seeds of Bertholletia excelsa	Tropical S. America.
Camomile	Flowers of Anthemis nobilis	Europe.
Cassava	Roots of species of Manihot	Tropical America.
Water chestnuts	Fruits of Trapa natans	Southern Europe.
Cohune nut	Fruits of Attalea Cohune	Central America.
Cork	Bark of Quercus Suber	Southern Europe and northern Africa.
Gamboge resin	Stems of species of Garcinia	Southeastern Asia.
Gum arabic	Exudation of species of Acacia	Tropical Asia and Africa.
Hops	Female flowers of Humulus Lupulus	Eastern Europe.
Indigo	Whole plant of Indigofera tinctoria	India.
Mushroom	Whole plant of Agaricus campestris	Temperate regions.
Teak	Wood of Tectona grandis	Southeastern Asia.
Japanese varnish or lacquer	Sap of Rhus vernicifera	China.

CHAPTER VI
GARDEN PLANTS

NOT only does the plant world furnish us with all the multitudinous products that we have already noticed, but it makes possible the beautifying of our homes and parks. For with plant materials, anyone with the knowledge and taste necessary for work of this kind may paint living landscape pictures that grow in beauty as their individual units reach maturity.

It lies outside the scope of this book to tell you the principles of design upon which such landscape pictures must be based to be really effective—that is the function of the landscape architect. But every one of us knows when a house looks and is bare of vegetation about it, and consequently has the earmarks of being merely a house, but not a home. A walk through any suburb of a large city or through most of our American villages would convince the lover of gardening that we are still miles behind England and many other countries in the love and appreciation of that kind of beauty in our home surroundings which plant life alone can furnish. How unnecessary this is anyone can see by visiting certain distinguished exceptions to the general indifference to plant life about our homes. Such suburbs as Brookline near Boston, Garden City and Morristown near New York, Guilford at Baltimore, Germantown near Philadelphia and many places on the Pacific Coast show what can be done to transform an otherwise indifferent landscape into a beauty spot. While these are on the whole the homes of the wealthy, money is not what has made them, for thousands of cottage gardens in England are just as beautiful and have been made by people who live a busy industrial life, but whose desire for beautiful surroundings makes them spend their brief leisure in tending their flowers.

While large garden schemes demand somewhat expert advice as to their planning and arrangement, it is perfectly simple for anyone to begin planting his own home grounds if he has in his mind’s eye the ultimate picture which he wishes his house and garden to become. But the habits of plants, their growth requirements, their stature, and particularly their colors are so various that, with the best will in the world, a garden enthusiast without some knowledge of these things will get a wholly disappointing result. Certain plants will grow in some sections of the country, but fail in others; some flower in the south, but will not do so in the north, and a few set seeds in certain places, but never do in less favored regions. In the different sections of this chapter a few good garden plants will be noted according to the regions to which they are suited, but it must not be forgotten that some are suited also to other regions than the one in which they are listed.

Those who have read the earlier chapters already know the difference between annuals, biennials, and perennials which comprise all the herbaceous plants upon which we depend mostly for cut flowers and in large measure for giving color to the garden. The woody plants are the ones upon which most garden pictures depend for their permanent value—trees, shrubs and vines of infinite shape and foliage character. In the case of trees, there are two major classes, those that drop their leaves in fall and are therefore deciduous, and of value chiefly during the growing season; and the evergreens, which retain their foliage all the year and make winter landscapes of great beauty. The garden enthusiast will very soon learn that evergreen plantings, while in many ways the most beautiful, are much the most expensive and are never suited to regions near big cities, for they will not stand smoke and other fumes as many deciduous trees will do. Nor will they stand violent winds, small rainfall, and great summer heat such as characterize the central parts of the country. Their best development is therefore found east of the Mississippi and west of the Rockies, and generally speaking, their use in the garden should be confined to this region.

Plant Materials for the Garden

TREES

So much of what makes landscapes permanently beautiful depends upon trees that first place must always be given to them in any scheme of planting. The location and ultimate spread of these trees will infallibly make or mar any garden picture so that great care should be used in selecting and planting them. The actual planting details such as preparation of the soil and all the after care of plants cannot be dealt with here, but many nursery catalogues give accurate directions and there are hosts of books on the practice of gardening which give the necessary information. In listing the different trees, symbols will be put before the names, indicating in which region they are likely to grow best, as follows: