RAISING FLK3WERS ON A CITY LOT. ll'O 



to other climates. Violets I tound more of a pest than a flower. Com- 

 panula, digitalis, and Sweet William are bieunials, that is, you grow the 

 plants one year, they bloom the second and then die. Nasturtiums are 

 fine for some, easily grown, but common, and the space is worth more 

 in something else. Carnations need a greenhouse, supports, and lots of 

 care. Tritoma will not stand our cold winters. Bachelor buttons are 

 fine, but other kinds are finer. Opinions differ widely on this, however. 

 Forget-me-not is too tender for our winters. Bellis blooms are fine for 

 a day or two, then fade, then shortly become very unsightly. Portulaca 

 blooms for only half a day, and is such an inveterate self-seeder as to be 

 a pest for years to come. I have been trying for three years to get rid of 

 it, and yet a bed of it in bloom is a beauty. Salpiglossis is certainly a 

 novelty, easily raised, but is not fragrant nor much good for cut flowers, 

 is not a profligate bloomer, and the duration is only a month or so. Ten 

 weeks stocks are fine plants, but no flowers to speak of, and I don't Jcnow 

 why, as I started them early, and the few blooms I did get came three 

 months before frost. Boltonia, advertised so highly, has a short bloom- 

 ing period in fact, although there are scattering blossoms for two months. 

 Chrysanthemums are too slow for our short seasons. Scabiosa blooms 

 are too small and few to count enough. Ageratum is a pest. I bought it 

 for a six-inch high edging plant. It was soon three times this high, and 

 each plant is sufl^cient to self-seed four hundred thousand million (esti- 

 mated, not counted) other plants. Some of these later grew and bloomed 

 the same season as their parent planis. Begonia is too tender for the 

 garden, although some varieties do reasonably well. Crocus did not last. 

 Not one out of hundreds came up the third year, and only a very few the 

 second year. Coreopsis is apparently too tender without winter protec- 

 tion. Centaurea needs about ten times more blooms to make it worth 

 while. Shasta daisies apparently won't stand either the hot sun of sum- 

 mer or the cold of winter, or at least mine did not. Hibiscus needs a 

 farm instead of a city lot. It is tall and straggly. Verbena is fine and 

 to be recommended, but petunia answers every purpose for me and I 

 think is superior in several respects. The season is a little longer at 

 each end, and the persistence of bloom greater. However, a. bed of blue 

 and purple verbenas that I had attracted as much attention as anything 

 1 had and these colors are hard to supply in other flowers suited for con- 

 tinuous garden display. 



I will now list and describe the flowers I am continuing to raise: 



Achillea 36x36, has a small white double flower, and blooms from 

 June 20 until frost. The roots may be divided every year. It is very 

 hardy. When the flowers fade, cut the top all off and new flowers will 

 soon come. Fine for garden display, cemeteries and cut flowers. 



Aster, annual, 12x12, I raise from seed planted in open garden in 

 May. Thus started, it will bloom from August until frost comes. Extra 

 choice for vases. It is a mistake to start the seed too early in the house, 

 as much better flowers are produced in the cool weather of the late fall. 



Bleeding Heart, 36x36, blooms in April and has scattering blooms 



