Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1915-11-03
VISITED MONTANA'S SNOWY
MOUNTAINS.
Clarence Wedge, SOn-inLaw of Mrs.
L. Cutler. Seeks Hardy
Plants i'm Mountains.

OF interest to a great many of our
readers. Mr.. Wedge is a son-in-law
of Mrs. E. Cutler, of DEBORAH, and
quite well known here. Mrs. Wedge
accompanied her husband on the
trip, from which they returned sew
eral weeks ago.
Il think that some of our people
know that | am making a trip to
Montana this summer to follow up
the beginning that l made two years
ago in getting seeds and plants that
give promise of value for Minnesota.
The big snowy mountains are in the
geographical center of Montana, a
group widely detached from the
main range of the Rockies. A meet
ing place of the plants of the plains
and the plants of the mountains,
where we may expect to find trees,
shrubs and plants hardy enough for
us with the interesting character
istics of the mountain species.
Almost everybody knows some
thing of the beautiful Rocky Noun
tain evergreens of which the Colora-
do blue spruce is the most generally
known and popular. From my own
experience with them for years past
| feel certain that all that keeps
them from taking first place among
the conifers planted with us is the
habit Of the nursery men of getting
their seed too far south in states
like Colorado, in latitude several
hundred miles south of us, and that
when we get the Douglas fir and
the ponderosa pine from the lati-
tudes corresponding to our own we
shall have evergreens that will stand
our hot dry summers and cold win
tiers and keep a healthier, prettier
green all the year round than any
thing we have so far planted.
While exploring for these harder
evergreens in the Snowy mountains
II have run across several plants that
appear very promising for. planting
at home. One is little broad leaf
ed evergreen with a leaf much like
| the holly that is used so freely ev-
| erywhere for Christmas decoration.
| 1t is commonly known through the
mountains as the Oregon grape and
/ remember Hervey Mcmillan ds-
tributing some at Christmas time,
that he had received from friends in
Washington. The plants from Wash
F, ington would not be likely to stand
our Minnesota winters, but those
gathered in Montana and-planted
at Albert Lea a year ago stood last
winter splendidly and came out in
the spring with leaves as fresh and
pretty as ever. With plants from
Montana | do not see why any one
may not have an abundance of
Christmas green's from their own
garden and decorate freely with
them all winter. While they are
called grape, the plant has no re-
semblance to the grape except in
fruit, which looks somewhat like a
diminutive b nch of grapes. Botani-
cally it is classed with the barberry,
under the name Barberis aquifolium.
/ think that the acquisition Of this
pretty decorative plant will alone be
worth many times the trouble of my
two trips to the mountains.
| am bringing back with me some
bulbs of the Mariposa lily unique
little lily that grows freely all over
the snowy mountains and l believe
is common throughout the Rockies.
1t is nearly white with a greenish
throat and in form is more like the
tulip than the native lilies of Min
nesota. 1t ought to be of the very
hardest type for it grows in the
most exposed places where the
ground is so dry and hard that few
things except the most iron clad
would endure through one season. l
am expecting to also be able to Sc
cure quite a quantity of seed of
this promising lily to distribute
among our home people through
Mr.. Blacks seed store next spring.
1t will take year longer to get
blooms from seed than from the
bulbs but if they please people gem
orally, as well as they have us, they
will be worth all the trouble it takes
to bring them up to blooming size.
The columbine of the mountains is
another interesting plant, pale
yellow, instead of red as with us.
! presume that ii has furnished part
of the foundation for the varied
forms that are now planted with
such satisfaction in the perennial
garden and as there are already so
many fine things of this class | did
no more than send home a few