Dwarf plant

“ Most of the Alpines and dwarf-growing plants, whose home is the rock-garden, bloom in May or June, but a few flower in early autumn. Of these one of the brightest is Ruta patavina, a dwarf plant with lemon-coloured flowers and a very neat habit of growth. It soon makes itself at home in a sunny bank in poor soil. ”

“ Excepting the petunia, no plant will give the profusion of bloom with as little care as the annual phlox (Phlox Drummondii) . For clear and brilliant colors, the many varieties of this are certainly unrivaled. The dwarf kinds are the more desirable for ribbon-beds, as they are not so “leggy.” There are whites, pinks, reds, and variegated of the most dazzling brilliancy. The dwarfs grow ten inches high, and bloom continuously. Set them 8 inches apart in good soil. Seed may be sown in the open ground in May, or for early plants, in the hotbed in March. ”

“ Neither budding nor grafting should be resorted to, unless other means fail absolutely. When standard trees cannot be got true from seed, budding or grafting must be practised, and the evils of these methods of propagation are not so pronounced in such cases as with dwarf plants. With the former, suckers, or growths from the stock, are easily seen as soon as they appear, but [Pg 39] with dwarf plants a perfect forest of suckers may seriously weaken the plant before they are noticed. ”

“ Hence the chances that a tall plant will have coloured flowers are three times as great as its chance of having white flowers. And this is also true for the dwarf plants. As the result of this cross, therefore, we should expect an F2 generation consisting of four classes, viz. coloured talls, white talls, coloured dwarfs, and white dwarfs, and we should further expect these four forms to appear in the ratio of 9 coloured talls, 3 white talls, 3 coloured dwarfs, and 1 white dwarf. ”

“ Here one treads on a carpet of dwarf willows, downy catkins of creditable size and the greatest economy of foliage and stems. No other plant of high altitudes knows its business so well. It hugs the ground, grows roots from stem joints where no roots should be, grows a slender leaf or two and twice as many erect full catkins that rarely, even in that short growing season, fail of fruit. ”

“ Any variety may be grown as a dwarf by grafting it on a plant that naturally remains small, although some varieties are more adaptable than others to the purpose.
If seeds of the natural diminutive apple-tree are sown, a variety of trees and apples may be expected. The fruits would probably be inferior. Probably the stature would vary between different seedlings. If we are to get the effect of dwarfness, we must be sure that the stock is itself really dwarf. ”

“ To make them flower freely, they should be planted in poor heavy soil. From the end of this month to the middle of May, take the roots from their winter quarters to the garden, and with a spade make a hole sufficiently wide and deep to receive the crowns of the roots one inch deeper than the surface of the ground, cutting off with a sharp knife the old stumps close to the eyes. They have the finest effect in rows; plant them four feet apart in the row, and the rows six feet asunder. Individual plants of a dwarf nature look extremely well. ”

“ It is certainly the species best adapted for cultivation in small greenhouses or in the windows of dwelling-houses, as it grows quickly, remains healthy under ordinary treatment, is dwarf in habit, and flowers freely—characters which, along with the vivid colours and large size of the blossoms, render it of exceptional value as a garden plant. ”

“ Those who have observed how dwarf plants grow on the tops of mountains, or on elevated stony ground, must have seen in what unpromising positions many flourish in perfect health—fine tufts sometimes springing from an [90] almost imperceptible chink in an arid rock or boulder. They are often stunted and diminutive in such places, but always more long–lived than when grown vigorously upon the ground. Now, numbers of alpine plants perish if planted in the ordinary soil of our gardens, and many do so where much pains is taken to attend to their wants. ”

“ For the purpose of this little book, however, the interest in the dwarf apple centers not so much in the origin of the stock as in the natural-history of the tree itself and the good skill of hand and heart that one may expend in the growing of it. If one would come close to a plant, knowing it intimately in every season, causing it to respond to sympathetic treatment through a series of years, then a garden collection of dwarf apples may satisfy the desire. It is too bad that we do not have time to cultivate the dwarfs often in the yards and gardens of North America. ”

“ Those kinds required for exhibition purposes should have several of the side shoots removed, so that the whole growing energy of the plant may be centralised into from five to seven flower-heads, by which means fine blooms may be obtained. The dwarf kinds are most valuable for bedding and pots, as the taller kinds frequently require stakes for support. The following are the most important sections ”

“ And there seems to be a general wish among seed growers just now to dwarf all annual plants. Now, when a plant is naturally of a diffuse habit, the fixing of a dwarfer variety may be a distinct gain to horticulture—it may just make a good garden plant out of [250] one that was formerly of indifferent quality; but there seems to me to be a kind of stupidity in inferring from this that all annuals are the better for dwarfing. I take it that the bedding system has had a good deal to do with it. ”

“ Block had an old orchard of dwarf trees, planted perhaps forty or fifty years ago, which he converted into an approach to a standard orchard by removing alternate rows, and the trees being otherwise treated like standards have been satisfactorily producing pears for many years. How far these trees are still on the dwarf roots and how far they have supplied themselves with roots from the variety growth above, we do not know. There is no disposition whatever to plant dwarf trees in this State except among a few amateurs who are making home fruit gardens. ”

“ Speedwell, Veronica.—Herbaceous plants, usually rather tall (11⁄2 feet to 3 feet) , in some cases dwarf and neat alpine plants with blue flowers in various shades; are among the hardiest of plants, and will grow in any soil. All the taller kinds are admirably suited for naturalisation among long grass and other herbaceous vegetation. A great number that are in cultivation in borders are only fit for this purpose. The dwarf kinds are equally suitable for bare places, or among other dwarf plants. ”

“ As the pear grows to perfection on quince, the dwarf tree is peculiarly adapted to planting on small home grounds, and is often used as a boundary plant, or to serve the purpose of a screen. These dwarf trees should be set deep—4 to 6 inches below the union—to prevent the stock from growing. Dwarf trees may be set as near together as 10 to 16 feet, while the standard or tall-growing pears should be set 18 to 25 feet apart. Trees are planted when two or three years old.
The pear thrives on clay soil, if well under-drained, and for this reason may succeed in places where other fruits might fail. ”

“ As is well known young seedlings bear only scattered green leaves and scale-leaves and dwarf-shoots are developed only gradually. Of the 101 seedlings one did not possess any dwarf-shoots at all and was unbranched. Otherwise the plant was erect and healthy so far as could be seen. No further notice will be taken of this plant. All the remaining one hundred possessed dwarf-shoots and a great many possessed long shoots in addition. No plants were found with abnormal shoots only, but normal and abnormal shoots were mixed in more than one half, 57 per cent, to be exact. ”

“ Never plant in a very wet soil, nor allow crude [Pg 320] manures to come into direct contact with the roots. See that the roots are spread out properly and naturally, not pressed into a small hole and cramped or distorted from the first. Plant dwarf kinds two inches deeper than the junction of the rose and stock, and standards three inches below the original root. To place a small grower side by side with one of three or four times the strength is a great mistake; the weaker grower has no chance whatever. ”

“ Plant evergreen, dwarf. Stem a span high, stout-growing, densely leafy. Leaves distichous, broadly ligulate-obtuse, with an unequal bilobed apex, very stout and fleshy in texture. Scape stiff, erect, bearing a spike of several showy blossoms. Flowers large, distinct in character, prettily spotted; sepals and petals cuneate-oblong, acute, somewhat undulated, of a greenish-yellow colour, decorated with numerous round reddish-brown spots, white inside at the base ”

“ The standard dwarfs give good satisfaction as permanent fillers. Where space is very limited, or the fruit must go into the garden, they may be used in place of the standard sorts altogether. The dwarf trees are, as a rule, not so long-lived as the standards, and to do their best, need more care in fertilizing and manuring; but the fruit is just as good; just as much, or more, can be grown on the same area; and the trees come into bearing two to three years sooner. They cost less to begin with and are also easier to care for, in spraying and pruning and in picking the fruit. ”

“ And with imagination and artistry, it can be trained to re-create in miniature one of the majestic pictures of nature. However, some plants are more amenable to rigorous dwarfing than others; some adapt more willingly to growing in containers; and some are by nature more suitable in habit and appearance.
The easiest plants to dwarf are those that are naturally small, or slow growing, and those with small leaves or needles, flowers or fruit. Proportion is the most important factor. Every element—leaf, twig, branch, trunk, root, container—must be in harmony and balance with all others. ”

“ The wealth of vegetation was equal in luxuriance and entanglement to that of the tropics, primeval vegetation, on which the lumberer’s axe has never rung. Trees of immense height and girth, specially the beautiful Salisburia adiantifolia, with its small fan-shaped leaves, all matted together by riotous lianas, rise out of an impenetrable undergrowth of the dwarf, dark-leaved bamboo, which, dwarf as it is, attains a height of seven feet, and all is dark, solemn, soundless, the haunt of wild beasts, and of butterflies and dragonflies of the most brilliant colours. ”

“ Dwarfing by root-pruning, repeated transplanting, and thorough heading-in, will not render the trees very short-lived, and in many situations it is profitable. The same is true of the dwarf pear on the quince. All other dwarfing is more for the amateur than the utilitarian. ”

“ For the kitchen-garden the dwarf and half-dwarf varieties are the best, as the tall kinds will need brush or wire to support them, causing considerable trouble and labor and not being as neat in appearance. The tall varieties yield a larger crop than the dwarfs, but as the rows must be made from 3 to 5 feet apart, the dwarf ones, which are planted only 6 to 8 inches apart, will give as large a yield on the same area. ”

“ UNFIT FOR ORCHARDS—ROOT-PRUNING—HOW IT OPERATES—TIME TO BEGIN—HOW TO BE PURSUED—SEASON FOR—EXPENSE—ROOT-PRUNING PLOW.
Dwarfing consists in so controlling the growth of plants as to reduce the natural size of any of our fruit trees, and bring them within comparatively narrow bounds. The objects of dwarfing are to enable us to plant [145] a large number of specimen trees, or of varieties upon a small piece of ground, or to have small trees beside the alleys of our gardens. Such plants are also well adapted for growing in pots, or in the borders of an orchard-house. ”

“ The dwarf Apples are secured by grafting any variety on the Paradise or Doucin stocks, which are simply small-growing varieties of Apples. Dwarfs are much used in the Old World. There is no reason why they should not be used for home gardens in this country. They may be planted 8 to 10 ft. apart, and trained in various ways. The body or trunk should not be more than 1 or 2 ft. long. The top should be headed-in each year a third or a half of the annual growth. Dwarfs bear sooner than standards. A dwarf in full bearing should produce from a peck to a bushel of apples. ”

“ The dwarf Heaths can be used quite differently from the more tree-like species that have just been described: as a carpeting beneath sparsely-planted shrubs, for furnishing sloping banks, or for growing on the small terraces of the Rock Garden they are equally useful. And of all these dwarf Heaths more can be said in favour of E. carnea than of any other species. It is not only absolutely hardy, but it flowers with astonishing freedom at a time of year when flowers are particularly cherished. ”

“ The bark of this wild rose is of a bright red, and the young wood is armed with bristly prickles of a greyish colour. When growing in shade, the half opened flowers and buds are of a deep pink or carmine, but where more exposed in sunny spots, the petals fade to a pale blush-colour. This shrub becomes somewhat troublesome if encouraged in the garden, from the running roots which send up many shoots. In its wild state the dwarf rose seldom exceeds three feet in height ”

“ All dwarfs should be kept small by vigorous annual heading-in. If the tree is making good growth, say one to three feet, a half to two-thirds of the growth may be taken off in winter. A dwarf apple or pear tree should be kept within a height of twelve or fifteen feet, and it should not attain this stature in less than ten or twelve years. ”