262 



GARDENING. 



May 



a mass of different colors. They are well 

 worth growing and quite hardy, but the 

 loveliest one of them all is F. aorea, it has 

 large golden yellow flowers; a clump of it 

 in the border has flowered very fine. The 

 crown imperials are in fine flower, crown 

 upon crown, it is one of the first to 

 flower. 



Leucojuw SEstivum (the summer snow- 

 flake) is in nice flower, its large long 

 stemmed drooping flowers are nice for 

 cutting. It is also pretty as a border 

 plant. 



What a lovely showing Sanguinaria 

 Canadensis (the blood root) is making! 

 although quite plentiful in the woods 

 here a few plants in the garden don't go 

 amiss and we regard it one of the nicest 

 little flowers we have. 



The first of the iris to flower is the 

 pretty little dwarf variety, Iris cristata, 

 it makes a nice edging to beds or borders 

 and is quite hardy here. 



The first anemones to bloom were the 

 single poppy varieties, but it will be ten 

 days or more before we have the best of 

 them in flower. All the varieties we have 

 planted have proved quite hardy, 

 although I did not think they would be. 



Anemone rnnunculoides and Persian 

 ranunculus potted up in the early part of 

 March and planted out in April are now 

 in full flower. This was tried to see if 

 they would do well, and they seem to 

 flower quite freely. 



The daisies and forget-me notsareciuite 

 bright, the violets are beginning to show 

 their flowers. V. cornuta in frames is 

 giving plenty of flower and the polyan- 

 thuses and primroses sown last spring 

 are now beginning to flower. 



David Fraser. 

 Mountain Side Farm, Mahwah, N.J. 



flSPflRflOUS VERTlCILLflTUS. 



I got Asparagus verticillatus last year: 

 it came near being smothered by adjoin- 

 ing plants. Last May frost cut it to the 

 ground and I thought it was killed, but 

 one plant it seemslived,for I found it this 

 spring. I did not seeitat all last summer. 

 I want to put a stake to it now. How 

 tall does it grow? Shall I put a branched 

 stake? That is will it become somewhat 

 bushy at top? C. W. 



Northern Illinois. 



On well drained ground and with some 

 earth or coal ashes heaped over the crowns 

 in winter they should survive fairly well; 

 like all asparagus it is perfectly herbace- 

 ous, that is the old stems die down to the 

 ground every fall. To begin with a long, 

 straight pole, say a pole, say a bean pole, 

 will sufiice. It isn't a very branching 

 species. 



FLflHTS FOR AN ARCH. 



T. N., Morris, 111., writes: Kindly tell 

 me what would be the best climber to 

 cover a small arch 10 inches wide and 

 about 6 feet high, and how many, one or 

 two? Guess I would have to get two 

 anyway for immediate effect." 



Ans. We wish you had been more 

 definite, for instance where and how is the 

 arch situated? Do you want a hardy or 

 a tender vine, an annual or a perennial 

 one, and is the span of the arch only ten 

 inches wide, or is the frame ten inches 

 wide, and the arch some feet across? We 

 will assume that the frame is ten inches 

 wide and the arch 6 feeth gh, with a span 

 of -i to 6 feet wide If you want an 

 annual vine maurandia should answer, 

 Lophospcrtnum scandens and coba;a 

 would cover it but run too far; the varie- 

 gated Japanese hop would answer nicely. 



OYPRIPEDroM SPECTABILB. 



As a tender vine that will grow well and 

 stand well in summer Ipomoea Leari 

 should answer very well, but would likely 

 give some trouble keeping it from sprawl- 

 ing all over the ground. But a good big 

 tuber of Ipoinoea paniculata planted at 

 each end should cover that arch nicely in 

 a summer, and when fall comes you may 

 dig up the tubers and store them in a 

 frostproof cellar as you would dahlia 

 roots till planting time again next May. 

 Rosa Wichuraiana led over that arch 

 would look very pretty, but would have to 

 be cut into check when it wandered away 

 too far. Among the common vines Hall's 

 Japanese honeysuckle and the golden 

 netted honeysuckle are quite appro 

 priate. No matter what plant is used, 

 set out enough of it for immediate effect, 

 for it is easier to cut out a surplus, than 

 add to the filling after hot, dry weather 

 sets in, two plants will be few enough. 



of golden-netted, or green-leaved Japan 

 honeysuckle cover it. using a rail or some 

 stumps to let it clamber over. And there 

 would be lots of little places about it in 

 which you might plant bulbous plants. 



PLANTS FOR EXPOSED BORDER. 



I have a strip of ground about 3 feet by 

 50 feet on the north side of my house that 

 is shaded all day long. For three succes- 

 sive years I have tried to grow pansieson 

 it but have failed, owing to the peculiar 

 situation of my place, which is high and 

 greatly exposed to the west wind and a 

 strong draught at this spot. Do you 

 know of a low growing flowering plant, 

 either annual or perennial, that would 

 grow and thrive in this position? 



Amsterdam, N. Y. W. McC. 



It is an unfavorable place for anj'thing, 

 not so much on account of the shade as 

 because of the open exposure to wind and 

 draught. First dig the poor ground out 

 deep and replace it with rich earth. 

 Devise some means of checking the winds 

 and draughts, an arbor vit;E evergreen 

 hedge or a common privet deciduous one 

 might help j'ou to do this. With the 

 ground good and deep and the wind 

 broken you could grow the several 

 funkias there, also many ferns, trilliums, 

 lilies and other bulbous plants; but if left 

 unprotected common periwinkle might 

 CO vert he ground, or you could have a mass 



PLANTS FOR CEHETERY. 



A western subscriber asks: "What 

 kind of a plant would do well on the west 

 side of a monument? I think cannas,say 

 Madame Crozy, would look nice, but am 

 afraid it will be too hot for them, as the 

 ground is sand and gravel, but filled in 

 with good dirt for the plants." 



Ans. If the land is poor and dry and 

 the location very hot in summer, and you 

 have no adequate means of watering 

 your plants there, cannas won't grow 

 well with you; in fact, nothing will. 

 Better try acalyphas of sorts, with Vinca 

 rosea alba and globe amaranths. But 

 better still, use a deep, wide bed of good 

 soil, and make provision for a flood of 

 water there, then you can grow lots of 

 things there. 



Garden Lilies and Manure. — G A. G., 

 N. J., asks: "How do you fertilize them? 

 I was informed that manure placed on 

 the surface of the beds will kill the bulbs, 

 is this so? I gave my lily beds a top- 

 dressing of sheep and cow manure that 

 had been piled up and rotted together for 

 a year. Do you think they will survive 

 it?" Ans. indeed we do, and be very 

 grateful to you for your generous atten- 

 tion. Topdressing is the proper way to 

 manure Hly beds. In making a lily bed if 

 a good deal of manure has been mixed 

 into the soil, and the bulbs come into 

 direct contact with this manure it is apt 

 to provoke decay in the bulbs, but if the 

 manure doesn't touch the bulbs directly, 

 no harm is apt to ensue. 



Trumpet Creeper on Clothes Posts. 

 I would suggest to those who plant 

 trumpet creeper by clothes posts to use 

 twisted wire clothes lines which can be 

 left out and are very satisfactory, as I 

 know bv some eight vear's experience. 



Madison, Conn. " F. C. D. 



