816 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



ilar conditions. Likewise the sweet gum, 

 red maple, magnolias, alders, with others 

 will indicate what to use on low 

 grounds. Close to water we find the wil- 

 lows of various tints of gold and red 

 bark, and the variety babylonica of airy 

 graceful foliage, dipping its branches 

 into the very stream. This is nature's 

 guide, and if followed will give us har- 

 mony at least. 



Ingenious man, however, is not satis- 

 fied with the indigenous, so the catalogue 

 must be increased to numerous importa- 

 tions. Here is an easy channel to err; 

 like the boy with his first box of crayons, 

 we are tempted to use too many varie- 

 ties, scattering them throughout the 

 plantations with no more serious thought 

 for the combinations of color. The plants 

 should be arranged in harmonious 

 masses, and each located with regard for 

 its particular beauty at difi'erent seasons. 

 Nature has given us material in the form 

 of leaf, flower, or fruit with which to 

 decorate the landscape at all seasons, 

 and as the flower of one variety is fad- 

 ing another is appearing, thus it con- 

 tinues until fall, when the foliage as- 

 sumes its gayest attire; and after the 

 leaves have fallen the fruit and twig 

 still brighten the aspect. 



In arranging the masses of color, those 

 at a distance should be larger than those 

 closer to the eye. Clumps of the same 

 colored flowers should not be repeated 

 too frequently, or it \vill give the ap- 

 pearance of spottiness. On observation 

 we frequently see the lack of judgment 

 in distributing single specimens over the 

 lawn. Recently was counted at least 

 forty plants of spiraea and forsythia on a 

 small place in as many difi'erent posi- 

 tions, and all visible from one point. 

 This, as you may imagine, was not very 

 pleasing. 



The foregoing refers to the framework 

 of the grounds, and torches only in the 

 most brief manner a few of the many 

 points to be considered by the landscape 

 gardener. Whether the work be great 

 or small, we must apply the same funda- 

 mental principles, judg-ment and taste. 

 And it would seem that the more fa- 

 miliar the florist becomes with those im- 

 pul>r.^ wliicli inspire 1-. hotter methods 



m...v :iili-iir uill l„. iir..-,. rniire'llish- 

 m.'iit> whirl, ;,,-,• uill,,,, In. province. 

 Whatever we do let it be done with a 

 purpose: if a tree is to be planted for 

 shade, place it where it best serves that 

 end. If the space will not permit of 

 planting one of spreading habit, use one 

 of pyramidal growth. 



The planting of many large growing 

 trees on smail groinicl.; is not wise, nor 

 should they be plac. J , I,,-! , ili.m twenty 

 to twenty-five feel i.. ih. Imhi-,.. Never 

 plant a speciiinen li<(;iii~c il i^ attractive, 

 unless a suitable place can be found for 

 it. Consider ultimate size and the gen- 

 eral appearance of the whole. It is bet- 

 ter to map out a scheme with system 

 regardless of the rendering of the draw- 

 ing. A lay-out may be depicted crudely 

 on paper, and yet be highly satisfactory 

 when realized on the ground. 



Specimen plants should be isolated, as 

 they are not generally necessary to the 

 picture as a whole. In planting to 

 screen offensive objects, use the hemlock 

 or spruce; as a summer screen privet 

 is better, or vines, the dolichos being 

 particularly useful in making a quick 

 screen over a lattice. We have learned 

 a lesson from the wanton mutilation of 



street trees by the telegraph and tele- 

 phone companies, which would suggest, 

 where practicable, to set them back of 

 the building line. Then the leader will 

 be spared at least, and if cutting is 

 found necessary it may be done sym- 

 metrically. 



When the grounds are small and the 

 straight lines predominate, the flower 

 beds should be located in geometric 

 fashion; what is done on one side must 

 be duplicated on the other. The beds 

 should be placed close to the house Or 

 the border planting, for they appear best 

 with a background. Brilliant colors 

 should only be used when they are sur- 

 rounded with abundance of green and 

 dark shadows. Planting at the base of 

 the house is infinitely better than cut- 

 ting beds in the turf. When thus treated 

 use only the cleaner, free growing sorts. 



Herbaceous plants, as a rule, are not 

 suitable for this purpose, and some vari- 

 eties are as much out of place as a 

 coleus bed in the woodland. These 

 should be scattered through the shrub- 

 beries in borders, along the .walks of 

 the vegetable garden, or in- a flower 

 garden especially provided, where one 

 may cut at will for indoor decoration. 

 There are exceptions, however, and per- 



haps all have appreciated the perfect 

 harmony of the larkspur, delphiniums, 

 hollyhocks, pa?onics and monkshood scat- 

 tered in a natural manner around the 

 base of a building of the old farm-house 

 type. V^ernonias, asters and solidagos 

 seem most suited to the borders of the 

 woods. 



The demand for perennials is becom- 

 ing more general, and in a measure they 

 are supplanting many of the bedding 

 plants. Therefori'. it lM'hM,,v(.s ilie lliirist 

 to familiarize liiin-ili wiili the best 

 adaptation of tln-r nu.i lii.iMr plants, 

 and gain even greatii ilijluiction than 

 he possessed as the author of the pat- 

 tern beds. 



In closing, whether we are florists, 

 nurserymen or landscape gardeners, let 

 our work be the faithful representation 

 of what may be done in helping nature, 

 and though commercial interests must 

 be a factor, there is no legitimate rea- 

 son why it should.be a barrier to good 

 design. Let us have a brotherhood, at 

 least, through the genius of which the 

 world may be made more beautiful by 

 the conferences and intermingling of 

 thought on this the most delightful of 

 vocations, "Landscape Gardening." 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Bedding Plants. 



The next big business will be filling 

 the flower beds, and with us veranda 

 boxes and vases. Nearly all flower beds 

 are of some geometrical design and with 

 the material we use for filling them 

 they can hardly be anything else. 

 Shrubbery should never be planted in 

 formal beds or straight lines, and for- 

 tunately they seldom are, and the trees 

 dotted round the lawn take off the 

 stiffness of the flower beds. Do not 

 wait till the first of June, telling people 

 it is not safe, but use discretion. You 

 will have people asking you for pansics 

 on the first of June when they should 

 have had them to cheer up the garden 

 all the month of May. I can only write 

 with the knowledge of the weather of 

 our latitude, and do not pretend to ad- 

 vise those in Chattanooga, Tenn., or 

 Bismarck, Dakota. 



Some thirty years ago, being young 

 and green and not knowing our climate, 

 I planted out quite an extensive flower 

 garden from the 12th to the 15th of 

 May. The coleus and achryanthes did 

 not grow very fast but not a plant was 

 hurt, and it is only one season in ten 

 that we get any real fro.st after the first 

 of May, but cool nights are an injury 

 to real tropical plants and those there 

 is no advantage in getting out before 

 the last days of the month. Then again 

 a lot of our bedding plants (and the 

 leading ones) are not tropical, and if 

 the thermometer goes dow'n to 38 or 40 

 not the slightest harm is done. All the 

 zonal geraniums, verbenas, petunias, 

 sweet alyssum, carnation, centaurea, 

 lemon verbena, lobelia and most all 

 plants that you have been growing in a 

 cool temperature, should go out at once. 



I and I can tell you if you can get a few 

 thousand of your zonal geraniums bed- 

 ded out it is a great relief. 



There are some plants that like cool 

 weather, yet the slightest frost is death 

 to them,' notably the dahlias, cannas, 

 caladiums, coleus, achyranthes, alter- 

 nanthera, aealypha: Wait until June 

 1. Speaking of dahlias, some of the 

 expert growers do not plant till the 

 first of July. The idea is, I believe, that 

 if planted early they get stunted in 

 July, while if planted late the cooler 

 weather comes on while they are making 

 their vigorous growth and helps them 

 to maintain a vigorous growth. 



Planting. 



I have often had occasion to speak 

 about what I consider the correct 

 method of planting, whether it be an 

 elm tree or a geranium. It takes longer 

 to plant properly and carefully, but if 

 you wish the best results it is time well 

 spent. Most of our patrons have their 

 flower beds rounded up much too high 

 to look well and far too high for the 

 .good of the plants. Now supposing an 

 eight foot diameter bed has a rise of 

 nine inches to the center. How long 

 will it take before you could water that 

 bed enough to soak down six inches? It 

 would take hours. So you should wa- 

 ter thoroughly when they are planted, 

 and that can only be done by putting 

 the plant in the hole, putting suflScient 

 earth around the ball to firm it, and 

 then giving it a good soaking. When 

 the water has soaked awa.v fill in the 

 hole with dry earth, which acts as a 

 mulch. This is worth a dozen water- 

 ings on the surface. Men you send out 

 to plant beds are sometimes in a great 

 hurry and just stick the plants in with 



