American Plants for American Gardens

VIII. THE HEMLOCK RAVINE

CHAPTER VIII THE HEMLOCK RAVINE HEMLOCKS grow on the side of deep ravines. Their roots find foothold between big boulders. Their tall dark trunks tower beside great cliffs. Their soft branches throw shadowsover fern-covered rocks. In the deephollowswater trickles over mossyledges. All is dark and cool and green. Even at noon-day when the sun is high the wood is held in lavender light. In the rich moist ravines of the north, the ground is covered with yews. These low shrubs with their short-needled branches repeat the delicate structure of the hemlocksabove them. Farther south, throughout the Alleghanies, rhododendronsgrow in thesedeep woods. Their leaves are large and leathery, their green rich and glossy. They growtree-like withwideflung angular branches that often arch overhead. Mountain laurels with their luxuriant evergreen are found there, both in the north and in the south. So, too, is the Viburnum alnifolium, or hobble-bush. It has a vigorous structure, horizontal branches, large white flowers and generous heart-shaped leaves that are a rich wine-red in the fall. There are, also, striped maples and mountain maples. The striped maple is particularly noticeable for its trunk has vertical alternately green and yellow-white markings. [66] The Hemlock Ravine Many delicate plants, too, grow in these woods: bishop's caps with dainty white spires, heucheras with their airy flowers, violets, golden saxifrages, bellworts , Solomon's seals, bunchberries, wild gingers and many another whose foliage is as delightful as the flowers. The flooring of the woods depends, however, for its real loveliness upon its many ferns. On the flat tops of the rocks are luxuriant mats of little polypods. On their vertical sides, caught in the niches, are cliff brakes and rock brakes. Frail bladder ferns seek foothold nearer the water and cling to wet boulders. Maidenhairs seek the moist ground nearby. Sometimes spleenworts grow there, too. These ferns are, however, less dependent upon moisture and are found as well on the sides of the ravine. Their slender little clusters often spring up beside cliff brakes and tuck themselves in among polypods. Their long glossy black stems make effective silhouettes against gray lichen-covered rocks. And, sometimes, among all these there are walking ferns. Their curious longtapered leaves reach out, touch the rock, take root, form new plants and, thus reproducing themselves, trail further year by year across huge limestone ledges. Woodsias, too, grow in luxuriant masses. They are all silvery green in the spring-time. Woodsia ilvensis is often found within a few feet of the trickling water, while Woodsia obtusa loves the stony hillsides and grows either in the sun on the very top or on dry rocks in shady places. And luxuriant darktoned evergreen Christmas ferns grow in satisfying [67] American Plants for American Gardens masses wherever rich earth fills the spaces between rock and ledge. There are, besides, Aspidium marginale and Aspidium spinulosum. Both are tall evergreen ferns of graceful habit. They gather together in delightful groups. They assume the place of shrubs in situations that do not permit shrubs to grow. They are particularly fine where they have room really to express themselves. And in these woods, so rich in ferns, even the mosses have a fernlike character and spread their leaf-like patterns flat upon the rocks. This scene, filled with varying tones of quiet green, lies in such subdued light and is held in such soft shadows that it seems caught in enchantment. This atmosphere is worth preserving even,if our grounds are small and there is but a single old hemlock upon them. It may be that the house can be built right beside the tree, almost under its branches, and that the windows , porch or paved terrace can open upon a hemlock -shaded garden surrounded with laurels and rhododendron and matted with yews and ferns. The hemlock may, however, be in a more secluded spot away from the house, often on the side of the hill, guarding rocks and ledges with a stream nearby to trickle over the stones. This can be made into a delightfully cool retreat. If the hemlock happens to be situated in a less fortunate spot a few great rocks can be brought in to form a quiet nook and a rough stone seat can be built into a shady corner. A hidden pipe can be installed, too, so that water can drip slowly, [68] The Hemlock Ravine intermittently even, over...