Year: 1903
Type: book
Abstract: IGHLANDS NURSERY is located at the summit of the Blue Ridge range of the Appalachian Mountain system, at an elevation of nearly 4,000 feet, and at the foot of the famous Grandfather Mountain, 5,978 feet high, in a region of grand natural beauties and almost Alpine climate.Established in 1886, we were the first to systematically introduce to American and foreign gardens, and especially the former, the unrivaled wealth of beautiful native Rhododendrons, Azaleas and other ornamental plants for which America, and particularly the Carolina Mountain region, From Grandfather Moun-jg justly world-famed.We are now in our twentieth year, and from a I KO eI S26 ge oe 8Hair dig A Meri Cyan Pla ners effects appeal.It seems strange that while the whole world outside the United States was searched and explored to obtain the choicest ornamentals to beautify our grounds, our more beautiful and hardy American Plants were almost entirely overlooked, were rarely seen in cultivation, and were, in fact, quite unknown to Americans.Foreigners were quicker to learn the value of our choice natives, for in 1871 Mr. E.S. Rand, an early champion of native plants, in his book on' Rhododendrons and American Plants," said: "We do not appreciate the wealth of our American flora, and have shut our eyes to the richness which lies around us.In England a crowning glory of horticultural exhibitions is the show of 'American Plants,' and we in America do not know what they are."The late Prof. W. A. Stiles, editor of " Garden and Forest," says of our Carolina Mountains: "It is a fact that no part of the world has furnished the gardens of Europe and America with so many ornamental plants of this kind [shrubs and lawn trees] as this same Alleghany region.Along the course of every rocky stream are masses of the great Rhododendron and Kalmia, while on the borders are smaller broad-leaved under-shrubs of rarest beauty.But, beyond question, the most beautiful flowering shrubs are the Azaleas, which are here massed together in the greatest profusion and luxuriance.There are a dozen other genera that could be named, each with a special charm of its own.Jo these add the species that are small ]awn trees in the north, but attain the stature of timber trees here, and we have a group that, for neatness of habit and beauty of foliage, flowers and fruit, and brilliancy of autumn coloring, has no rival."
Authors: Harlan P. Kelsey (Firm), Henry G. Gilbert Nursery and Seed Trade Catalog Collection., Harlan P. Kelsey
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2241380974