Gardens In Mount Vernon Neglected - When?

It is a well known fact that the gardens at Mount Vernon were alternately neglected and cultivated during the nineteenth century until the property was purchased by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association in 1858. It is very doubtful that any of the herbaceous perennials in the flower garden today have any direct connection with the plants growing in the garden in the eighteenth century. There is little doubt that the dwarf English boxwood hedges which now dominate this garden were planted by the gardener in 1708, probably from stock plants obtained from General Washington's close friend, Colonel Henry Lee of Stratford.

The restoration policy of the Association restricts the plant material to that which was grown in the Virginia of General Washington's lifetime. This list of material is a long one. The sources include journals, letters, descriptions by travellers and the catalogs, periodicals and publications of that time.

The "high" or flower garden during the Spring is filled with the brilliant colors of Spring bulbs supplemented by a variety of early blooming perennials. A few of the more outstanding items include the bright, yellow madwort Alyssum saxatile; the white, alpine, bastard, tower mustard Arabis alpina; the hoary, mouse-ear chickweed Cerastium tomentosum; the evergreen, Cretan iberis, I. sempervirens; the white valerian, Centranthus ruber albus; and the feathered columbine meadow-rues, Thalictrum aquilegifolium and T. glaucum. The Chalcedonian and the Florentine iris, Iris susiana and I. germanica var. florentina; the common, creeping bugle, Ajuga replans, and the perennial flax, Limon perenne, introduce the blue shades of color. The yellow cowslip, Primula veth, is massed with the forget-me-not, Myosotis alpestris and groups of polyanthus, Primula polyantha, are located toward tire edges of the informal borders. The clove gilliflowers, Dianthus plumarius, are also favorites.

After the iris have bloomed, the buds of the old clumps of peonies, Paeonia officinalis, burst, and the deep pink and deep red blooms dominate every border in the garden until the next heavy rain. The greater, wild valerian, Valeriana officinalis, and the white lily, Lilium candidum, are effectively associated with the annual rocket larkspur, Delphinium ajacia. Unfortunately, the perennial bee larkspur does not develop properly within the confined areas between the high hedges of dwarf boxwood.

The yellow perennial tickseed, Coreopsis grandiflora; the yellow and the orange daylilies, Hemerocallis flava, and H. fulva reflect the strong early Summer sun. Greek valerian, Polemonium caeruleum, and the creeping, Greek valerian, P. replans, bloom with the herb bonnet, Geum coccineum, and the cardinal flowers, Lobelia cardinalis and L. siphilitica. The brilliant hue of the maltese-cross, Lychnis chalcedonica, is very much in evidence during the midsummer.

The everlasting pea, Lathyrus latifolius, climbs to fair height on the trellises against the north garden wall between espaliered cherry trees. The plants bloom profusely from early August. Summer perennial phlox, Phlox paniculata, does not thrive within the enclosure of the high boxwood hedges, but the many small clumps add much color to the midsummer garden.

A few plants of the golden rod, Solidago canadensis; the asters, Aster novae-angliae; the blue monk's-hood, Aconitum napellus; the perennial sunflower, Helianthus multiflorus; and the false chamomile, Boltonia asteroides, are all attractive among the profusion of annuals in the garden during the early Fall.

In maintaining the gardens at Mount Vernon it is significant to note from the available records that General Washington, despite many major distractions, had a continuing interest in the plantings around his home. He was in constant attendance upon the programs either in person or through correspondence.

What Are Disk And Spike Tooth Harrows Used For?

Most people like to use a disk harrow for preparing the soil after plowing. For many years manufacturers made them too small, but now garden tractor disk harrows can be had in diameters from 7 to 10 inches, depending on the tractor. These are usually in two gangs that can be adjusted for leveling and angle of penetration. If they appear to he set properly but still do not penetrate deeply enough the operator can add extra weight on top, so long as the tractor does not labor in pulling it. A spike- or peg-tooth harrow may be used but this does not chop up the soil, manure and trash as the disk harrow does. On lighter, trash-free soils, however, it is fine.

Don't overlook the disk and spike-tooth harrows as cultivating tools; the disk for fruit and row crops, and the spike for weeding before or just after crops emerge. The spike-tooth harrow set lightly is especially good on crops like corn and potatoes. ,In addition to killing weeds it breaks up the light crust which usually forms on top of the soil.

Cultivating is the job in which small power equipment shines best. In fact, this was the job manufacturers set out to conquer first. However, many gardeners do not get the full value out of their cultivating equipment because they do not use the proper teeth or attachments, nor do they take time to adjust them properly. If cultivating is done at the right time with the proper equipment adjusted correctly, little hand work is necessary. A good dealer will have a wide variety of teeth, shovels and steels. Many people fail to realize the progress made in this direction.

When plants are small, the row can be straddled with the tractor and cultivator, using 6- or 7-inch beet hoe steels special thin horizontal knives set at a slight angle. Later, these may he reversed for use between the rows. Small cultivating disks can be used similarly, and they are especially useful for beans, beets, spinach, strawberries and young bush fruits. Sweeps and half sweeps, turning shovels, hillers, spear points and many other cultivating attachments are available. Skill in adjusting and using these develops fast.

Reel mower attachments are also available for most garden tractors. ,The five-bladed reels are best. The riding feature is not to be overlooked; some makers provide an inexpensive sulky to be used when mowing the lawn. Also in the picture also are rotary mower attachments for lawn mowing. These consist of various whirling arrangements of a cutting mechanism parallel to the ground. A few people use these for lawns as well as for weeds and high grass. They are a little dangerous, but safe enough with reasonable care. Similar to the rotary mower are a leaf sweeper and leaf mill. One windrows the leaves and the other cuts them finely enough to drop down around the blades of grass.

Changes Coming To City Parks?

In early spring it is a real thrill to go south and then dash home again. When I leave Vermont, as early last month, there was plenty of snow and ice around. New York had no snow - although snow would have been a blessing over much of the city. Then all night I rumbled South and when I woke up I was in Georgia, and it was full Spring. By noon I was in Jacksonville and saw palms.

By night I was in Miami, dining under the stars in the patio of a friend with oleanders, hibiscus and flame-vine all around and above - Summer in full fact. Then three days later I was back in Vermont with the same snow. However, along the south side of the house, the whiteness had vanished and, sure enough, there were some crocuses, gold and purple crocuses, in bloom. You know, those few flowers were worth all the wealth of Florida to me.

Probably I am wrong, but it seems to me that a change is coming over our city parks the past 20 years. My idea of a public park is a place of peace and quiet, shaded by trees, and gracious with flowers and lawns. Although I hate potted palms and beds of coleus, cannas and castor-oil bean, they at least are plant material.

Lately I have noticed many parks are being transformed into what I am told are recreation areas. The idea seems to be to do away with flowers and trees and to replace the lawns with pavement of concrete of one kind or another. It seems that people need room in which to play. I am old-fashioned no doubt, but I think people also need a cool and beautiful place in which to rest and think. Could it be that we Americans are too sports-minded for our own good?

All my life, I have been fighting for conservation, particularly for forests. Often, I have been impatient at what I believe to be the stupidity of my fellow citizens. Part of the time I have argued on aesthetic levels; most of the time, as was necessary, I have battled on crass economic grounds. Now, I am delighted to see, people are waking up to the fact that our coal, oil and metals, will not last forever, and that we must rely more and more upon the products of plants - from trees in the forests right down to bacteria in the soil. I hope it is not too late. I am moved to be pleased nowadays by reports of progress being made in the new activity called chemurgy. This is the effort to "conserve our non-renewable resources, such as oil and coal, and to replace them with products from the inexhaustible earth, which means plants.

The Color And Smell Of A Lilac

May is the time when I use the spade. Some professors tell me that there is no need of turning over the soil every year, but how else am I to incorporate my annual dressing of manure and the winter rye? So, each morning, weather permitting, I labor at the end of my old spade. It is a joy to sink the steel with a firm thrust of the foot, a pleasure to feel the muscles of my back bulge as I lift the measure of glistening, black soil - and the keenest delight of all, as I break up the lumps with a careless sweep of the spade, to smell the fragrance of the soil, so rich with the promise of all the harvest soon to be.

One of May's delights, the green of the grass aside, for green is the grandest color of all, I find my greatest pleasure in two particular blossoms. First of all,there is the lilac, the sweet, purple lilac. I suppose they did originally come from Persia or some equally outlandish place, but they are now the very essence of New England. If there is a more magnificent fragrance on a warm showering night than the breath of lilacs coming in through the opened windows, I have yet to meet it.

The other flower, and please do not ask me to choose between them, is the apple tree. I do not mean especially the neat and well-pruned apple trees of our orchards, but the wild trees, those escaped from some long-forgotten orchard. The gnarled and twisted trees, the delicate green of the young leaves, and the blushed white of the flowers - there is beauty beyond comparison!

Speaking of flowers, I have a confession to make. I almost never pick or transplant wild flowers. I have a bit of forest, in fact, which I am holding secure so that wildings can grow as they please untouched.

However, each May I do pick one wild flower which I should not. Along about this time I go into the woods, where the pink lady slippers grow in colonies. Among the pine needles and the oak leaves, there is a mat of the trailing arbutus. I cut off one branch and take it home. It is the price I exact from May for the meanness of March.

SOMEONE IS SURE to take me to task for this preference. I will be told about tulips, iris and so on and on. Well, I planted more than 1,000 tulip bulbs last year, and I have been breeding iris for 20 years. And I know wild flowers; I take an afternoon off every now and then just to go and visit. But, for me, May means lilacs and apple blossoms.