Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1897-07-17
COMMON PLANTS,

Their Value Depends On the Use We Make
of Them,
Ia these days, when so many mon
OF business, professional men and
artisans are taking Il close interest
i'll the products of the earth under
their own Immediate supervision,
anything relating to tie raising of
plants is regarded us an essential
element of education. 1t is true that
the general knowledge of horticul-
turc is much more extensive than,
say 20 years ago, but the utterances
OF ;sn expert arc none the less valu-
able on that account Therefore the
discussion of Common Plants" in
Garden and Forest tells US many
things that we did not know, OF,
knowing, showed US that we might
with advantage receive more infor-
nation. The article on Common
Plants" says that different plants
have different values to planters &C.
cording to the use that is made of
them. Landscape gardening wher-
ever it is Iracticed over areas of
considerable extent deals properly
with scencry--that is, with the per-
manent features of the land-its roll
of surface, its sky line and distance.
The greatest artist in landscape is
one who with these fundamental ele
ments and the common trees and
shrubs and grass makes picture
which is a unit, and every portion
of which helps consistently to give
expression to central idea. This
differs entirely from what is called
decorative gardening, which is con-
cerned more especially with the de,
tailed ornamentation of more limit.
ed spaces.
For decorative purposes plants and
flowers may he grouped into al
rangements which kintle admira-
ton on account of their symmetry
VI A'A IL Gnu vi NolOT. Ills
is the presentation of beauty for its
own sake. 1t appeals to tho aesthetic !
sense alone and not to the imagina-
ton, and through it to our higher
nature as Il landscape picture does.
1t is not necessary that Il decorative
group should be i'll any sense nat.
ural, and plants with foliage OF
strong color or those that can be
trained into peculiar shapes on which
have an unusual habit are often the
most valuable in such places. They
are useful just as stones of different
form and color are useful in a mo.
sale. In decorative gardening q
plant of golden elder OF of Prunus
pissardi may have the highest value,
while the same plant in y natural
would be worse than USE
less and, indeed, might ruin quiet
picture by its obtrusiveness
There Is another kind OF garden
Ing, however, which has been called
specimen gardening, and which has
many attractions to genuine lovers
Of plants. To such persons Il garden
exists for its plants rather than the
plants for the garden. 1t is not
picture that is desired,
nor yet geometrical designs of pleas.
ng form and color. 1t is individual
plants that are cherished irrespeo-
i've of their arrangement, and they
nay be selected for their rarity or
heir oddly or for any other quality
nat appeals to the fancy of the
PLANTER This makes pleasant di.
'erslon, but it is by no means the
highest form of gardening. A wise
observer once said that it marked n
Instinct decline in garden art when
gentleman led you to a point on
lis estate where he could show Won
he finest cryptomeria in England !
instead OF conducting you to the ]
'olnt where you might see the most
elightful view. II