Rush (plant)

“ The doctrine which has been delivered, is calculated to humble the pride of man by teaching him his constant dependence upon his Maker for his existence, and that he has no pre-eminence in his tenure of it, over the meanest insect that flutters [455] in the air, or the humblest plant that grows upon the earth. ”

“ Coloring matter from the newly opened bolls, or from the soil, is washed into the floss by the rain, and while such spots or stains may be bleached out by the sun, the lustrous bloom never returns. Frost will make permanent tinges or stains, and the wind will frequently wrap the pendulous locks of fibre-covered seed about the stems of the plant or tangle them up in the leaves. ”

“ Its foliage is not especially delicate, but nothing can be more dainty than its slender spikes of pale, greenish-white bloom. It is a thrifty plant, making in a single summer a growth of five or six feet. It is a shrub, but one could fancy that, ages ago, it must have been a "sport" of a climber, so slender and rapid is its habit of growth. After flowering-time, which begins late in July and continues until late in October, it drops most of its foliage, which is soon replaced by young, delicate shoots and fresh leaves and buds. ”

“ The common Rush is found by roadsides in damp pastures, and is readily known by its long, slender, round, naked stem, containing pith, and showing about the middle of July a dense globular bead of brown flowers. ”

“ It is a capital wind screen, and may be used to advantage on the exposed side of rockwork or flower beds, or as an ornamental shrub by the pond or lake side. The small dark-green leaves, the tiny white flowers, and great abundance of deep purple berries in winter, are all points that are in favour of the shrub for extended cultivation. The pretty, pinky shoots, too, help to make the plant attractive even in mid-winter. Propagation by layers or seed is readily brought about. To grow this shrub to perfection, peaty soil or decayed vegetable matter will be found most suitable. ”

“ The proper species of rush for this purpose seems to be the juncus effusus, or common soft rush, which is to be found in most moist pastures, by the sides of streams, and under hedges. These rushes are in best condition in the height of summer; but may be gathered, so as to serve the purpose well, quite on to autumn. It would be needless to add that the largest and longest are best. Decayed labourers, women, and children, make it their business to procure and prepare them. ”

“ Twenty-eight days finds the leaves a slightly deeper green in tint and beginning to unfurl; while the flower-stem is now more slowly developing, showing a close approximation to the order of growth under natural conditions. In thirty days the flower-stem begins to put on a spurt and catch up with the leaves in growth. Thirty-six days from the planting of the retarded crown the fully-formed flower-buds begin to open, and a day or two later the plant is in full bloom and the foliage and flowers are ready for the market. ”

“ Prune weak-growing roses much harder than strong-growing roses. As the object of pruning is to throw the sap into the young shoots which will start from the dormant buds or "eyes," in order to make them flower, a weak-growing rose must be pruned hard so as to concentrate all the vigour of the plant on the few dormant buds we leave. While if we prune a strong-growing rose very hard we only make it throw yet longer shoots, which soon [19] get out of all bounds, and run to wood and not to blossom. ”

“ If the soil is rich—and it can hardly be too rich, for these Roses, like those of the kinds treated of in the foregoing chapter, require strong food and a great deal of it in order to do themselves justice—this bud will soon develop into a vigorous branch which, like the original one, will bear a cluster of flowers. In order to keep a succession of bloom it is absolutely necessary to keep the plant producing new branches, as flowers are only borne on new growth. ”

“ When in flower the branches spread rigidly, but as the seed ripens the leaves begin to wither and drop off, the branches curl inward, and the plant becomes coiled up so as to resemble a small ball. In this state it is loosened from the soil and is drifted about with the sand over the arid plains. Should rain fall, or should it be blown into the water, the branches expand, the pods open, the seeds fall out, and it is a remarkable and newly-discovered fact that in the short space of twenty hours the seeds germinate and root. The plant will retain its susceptibility for years. ”

“ Botanists and Gardeners have given to this species of Rubus the name of flowering, not because it is the only one which produces flowers, but from its being regarded for its flowers merely; they indeed are so shewy, and so plentifully produced, that the plant has long been thought to merit a place in most shrubberies; to the various inhabitants of which, both in the largeness and elegant form of its leaves, and the colour of its blossoms, it forms a pleasing contrast. ”

“ The common rushes (species of Juncus; see Juncaceae) are used in many parts of the world for chair bottoms, mats and basket-work, and the pith serves as wicks in open oil-lamps and for tallow candles-whence rush light. The fibrous stems and leaves of the bulrush or reed-mace, Typha augustifolia, are used in N. India for ropes, mats and baskets. Scirpus and other Cyperaceae are used for chair-bottoms, mats and thatch; the rush mats of Madras are made from a species of Cyperus. The sweet-rush, yielding essential oil, is a grass, Andropogon Schoenanthus, known also as lemon grass. ”

“ In warm countries, in which the plant is very widely cultivated, it becomes a small tree, but is much prettier in the state in which it is seen with us—i.e., with an unbranched stem clothed from top to bottom with noble leaves. Soon after it betrays, a tendency to develope side-shoots the cold autumn comes and puts an end to all further progress; and so much the better, because it is much handsomer in a simple-stemmed state than any other. The same is true of not a few other large-leaved plants—once they break into a number of side-shoots their leaf beauty is to a great extent lost. ”

“ When their summer leaves have faded and fallen, they put forth fresh radical leaves which sustain the life in their root still, against a new spring. The dry fields have, for a long time, been spotted with the small radical leaves of the fragrant life-everlasting, not to mention the large primrose, John's-wort, etc. Almost every plant, although it may show no greenness above ground, if you dig about it, will be found to have fresh shoots already pointing upward, and ready to burst forth in the spring. ”

“ In the warm and sheltered gardens of the South and in light well-drained soil the roots pass the winter safely. But where frost prevails some protection, such as a small mound of litter, must be provided; the covering to be removed immediately the danger of frost is past. The most favourable time for planting is the autumn, but during open weather the roots may be put in up to the end of March. It is usual to plant in clumps at a depth of about three inches, allowing a distance of six inches between the corms. ”

“ But as an extra precaution in the event of very severe weather, the earth may be drawn up some four or five inches round the stems, so that if by chance a hard frost should cut the upper part of the shoots, the base may still be kept alive. Great care, however, must be exercised in uncovering the plants, the protecting material being removed gradually, so that growth may not be unduly forced on—only to be cut by the first cold wind—or, on the other hand, that the plant may not receive a shock by sudden and complete exposure. ”

“ If you look close at the figure, you will see small projecting points at the roots of the leaves. These represent buds, which you may find, most probably, in the shoot you have in your hand. Whether you find them or not, they are there—visible, or latent, does not matter. Every leaf has assuredly an infant bud to take care of, laid tenderly, as in a cradle, just where the leaf-stalk forms a safe niche between it and the main stem. The child-bud is thus fondly guarded all summer; but its protecting leaf dies in the autumn ”

“ In general, it is best to set hardy plants in the fall, particularly if the ground is fairly dry and the exposure is not too bleak. To this class belong most of the fruit trees and ornamental trees and shrubs; also hardy herbs, as columbines, peonies, lilies, bleeding-hearts, and the like. They should be planted as soon as they are thoroughly mature, so that the leaves begin to fall naturally. If any leaves remain on the tree or bush at planting time, strip them off, unless the plant is an evergreen. ”

“ Although it is a very hardy plant, and will thrive almost anywhere in moist soil and a shady position, it will be better to place it in sheltered positions along the sunny fronts of shrubberies, amidst low-spreading evergreens, and in cosy spots about the flanks of rock work and ferneries, to prevent its handsome foliage from being disfigured by cold wintry winds. One great merit of this is that it may be used to ornament positions in which few other plants will thrive,—as, for instance, under trees, groups of shrubs, etc. Easily multiplied by division in the end of summer and in autumn. ”

“ All the three colours, when grown side by side, are very showy when in bloom.
This species, with its varieties, may be easily propagated by root divisions at any time from late summer to spring; the long fleshy roots should not be broken more than can be helped; every piece with a crown on it will make a flowering plant the first season. ”

“ We know that each spring, as the sap rises in your veins, you put forth afresh lush green sprouts symmetrically from the buds at your growing points; and that if these sprouts were permitted to develop equally and evenly in every direction, you would have grown from the first as normally and formally as a spruce-fir or a puzzle-monkey. But not for us are such joys. We must grow as the tempests and the hail-storms permit us. Soon after you have begun each year to put forth your tender green shoots comes a frost—a nipping frost—whirled along on the wide wings of some angry sou’wester. ”

“ They hastily scoop out a shallow hole, in which the roots, which should be down in the cool depths of the soil, curve like a half-circle toward or to the very surface.
In the most favorable weather of early spring a plant is almost certain to grow, no matter how greatly abused; but even then it does far better if treated properly, while at other seasons nature cannot be stupidly ignored. It is almost as easy to set out a plant correctly as otherwise. ”

“ Many plants will appear in spring, while others will remain in the ground until autumn, or the spring following. When the plants come up, they should be kept free from weeds, or they will be choked and frequently destroyed. The plants may remain in the original bed two years, and then be removed early in October into beds four or five feet wide, each plant a foot apart from the next, and the same distance in the rows; taking care to lay a little muck over the ground about their roots, and to water them in dry weather. ”

“ Unfolding in winter or early spring, they continue to appear as the branches lengthen until late in the autumn, turning to beautiful yellow or orange and falling one by one. Beginning during the second season, they continue to drop, as new shoots loosen their hold. These leaves are rich in an aromatic oil which causes them to burn readily when piled green upon a campfire. Plum-like purple fruits succeed the small white fragrant flowers, borne in clusters in the axils of the leaves. The seeds germinate before the fruit begins to decay. ”

“ If you want good roses, you must be content to see a little bare, brown earth between the bushes, only allowing a narrow outside border of pansies, the horned bedding violets (cornuta) , or some equally compact and clean-growing flower. To plant anything thickly between the roses themselves prevents stirring the soil and the necessary seasonal mulchings, for if the ground-covering plants flourish you will dislike to disturb them. ”

“ Other kindly plants have earned the name of fire-weed, but none so quickly beautifies the blackened clearings of the pioneer, nor blossoms over the charred trail in the wake of the locomotive. Beginning at the bottom of the long spike, the flowers open in slow succession upward throughout the summer, leaving behind the attractive seed-vessels, which, splitting lengthwise in September, send adrift white silky tufts attached to seeds that will one day cover far distant wastes with beauty. Almost perfect rosettes, made by the young plants, are met with on one's winter walks. ”

“ The buds appear already formed, early in the spring; as soon as the snow leaves the ground they appear as a small, round green ball well settled down in the middle of the leaf-tuffet; this bunch of buds pushes itself boldly up, on its thick stem, which is still quite short when the flowers begin to open. As the stem lengthens the clustered flowers become less dense until, finally, it reaches its full height, and the blossoms, fully expanded, spread loosely apart; they remain in perfection a long time—two or three weeks. ”

“ Few plants if grown too vigorously will flower well, if at all. A certain check in their growth is absolutely necessary, [221] and the summer’s sun or winter’s cold, under ordinary circumstances, effects this perfectly in this climate—the former by perfecting and condensing the elaborated sap, and the latter by arresting vegetation altogether. Too much moisture and shade cause those parts intended for flower-buds to be developed as leaves. ”