The Weekly Florists' Review. 



151 



MISCELUNEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Care of Beds. 



Having so much work on our beds this 

 spring it occurs to me that a word or 

 two of advice might be beneficial to 

 some who have the charge of these. The 

 real gardener knows pretty well how to 

 manage the flower beds, but too many 

 of them are left to the care of very in- 

 experienced help, and it is not always 

 the help's fault, for many in our city 

 insist that the coachman or hired man 

 shall water "the flowers," as they oall 

 them, every night, as well as the lawn. 

 Now this is a great mistake and a little 

 watering, or just sufficient to bake the 

 soil, is much worse than none at all. 

 Every gardener knows there is nothing 

 like hoeing. Look at our experience with 

 a few carnation plants: Planted early 

 in May and only two or three rains, 

 maybe, during the summer, with no ar- 

 tificial watering at all and yet we pro- 

 duce some good plants by August be- 

 cause they were continually cultivated. 



There are some beds that can be 

 watered copiously and often. Partic- 

 ularly is this true of cannas and cala- 

 diums. They even are not much ben- 

 efited after they have made a good growth 

 but for the first month after they are 

 planted out they should have a copious 

 watering at least twice a week and be 

 hoed the following day. The lioeing 

 should always occur at the time when 

 the soil is in that condition between the 

 wet and the dry. and not be allowed to 

 bake. A bed of verbenas should have 

 by this time made such growth that un- 

 less wo have a very dry time they will 

 need no further watering. A bed of ge- 

 raniums, supposing we have a rain once 

 a week, will scarcely need any watering, 

 but if you have licen without rain then 

 once a week is ciinimh for them. 



When you do water, water thorough- 

 ly. That is, make sure that you apply 

 enough to so down ,nt least three or four 

 inches, and then follow the next day with 

 n, hoeing and then leave them alone. 

 There are many things to do in tlic car- 

 den to help besides continual sprinkling. 

 One thing is keep all old flowers picked 

 oflT. This will apply to geraniums, pe- 

 tunias, verbenas and cannas; in fait, all 

 our flowering plants, nnd particiilji ly to 

 geraniums. It is the '.'oiivj in ''■'"! Ili:it 

 exhausts the plant and :ill lln\;(i lliat 

 are past their bc!i\ilv >Iin\il.l In- |iiikril 

 off. not only for the health of liic plant 

 hut for tidiness' sake. 



Roses. 



People complain that their hybrid per- 

 petual roses after one burst of bloom in 

 .Tune give up flowering until late again 

 in the fall. My experience is that if 

 they have good soil and sufficient water 

 that that is not so, but the flowers 

 should be picked oflF the moment they 

 are past their best. It is not the break 

 from the strong shoots at tlie bottom 

 from which you are so likely to get 

 flowers, but the upper eyes or shoots will 

 almost certainly give you more flowers, 

 the same as the American Beauty does 



when disbudded in the fall. If hybrid 

 perpetual roses could only be made per- 

 petual, as their name implies, how many 

 more would be planted and how much 

 more satisfactory they would be, and I 

 think they can be under correct and lib- 

 eral treatment. 



Tuberous Begonias. 



Tuberous rooted begonias are often con- 

 sidered undesirable for out of doors. As 

 I have bad occasion to mention several 

 times, a few of the most brilliant beds 

 ever seen, not excepting a bed of gera- 

 niums, were of tuberous rooted begonias. 

 They need lots of water, but it should 

 never be applied as you would in the or- 

 dinary way — overhead or by sprinkling. 

 Take the hose and let it run thorough- 

 ly among them and let it wet the soil 

 between each plant. This will not only 

 prevent the soil from baking but will 

 well water the roots. I hope you have 

 tried some and if well taken care of 

 you will not be disappointed. 

 Dahlias. 



Don't forget to stake your dalilias 



as soon as planted out. Remember these 

 are plants that want an abundance of 

 water. As soon as they have started 

 into growth you should mulch them with 

 two inches of manure for at least a ra- 

 dius of eighteen inches round the plant. 

 If planted in a bed this means mulch 

 the whole bed. No light sprinkling over- 

 head does for these but a good soaking 

 iwn or three times a week. 

 Herbaceous Plants. 



There are not many herbaceous plants 

 that should be watered in ordinary sea- 

 sons because they are so well established 

 and the roots go deep; still I have seen 

 seasons, last year notably, when the dry 

 time very much hurt many of them, es- 

 pecially the perennial phlox. I will say 

 again, no light sprinkling is any good, 

 but they should be thoroughly soaked. 

 Gladioli. 



Our gladioli also suffered very much 

 last Summer for want of water with no 

 means of giving it. The spikes will be 

 better, the flowers finer in every way if 

 the soil can be kept moist. If you have 

 the means of irrigating do so by all 

 means and you will be well paid with the 

 quality of blooms. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



I have a good opportunity this year to 

 notice the failure with a good many de- 

 ciduous trees and shrubs that were plant- 

 ed early in May. A great many decid- 

 uous trees have vitality enough left in 

 them to send out a few leaves, but as 



The Tower at Night. 

 PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 



