276 



GARDENING. 



June /, 



petals verv large, shell shaped and of 

 great subs'tance; fragrant, foliage very 

 large, dark green, a strong, vigorous 

 grower." 



The Flower Garden. 



T«B fLOWER GARDEN. 



Bv this time most bedding plants will 

 have been set out, and annuals sown and 

 ,«:rennials planted. Keeping the garden 

 clean and neat, staking and tying the 

 plants, and watering them in dry weather 

 are now in order. But we mustn t lose 

 sight of the fact that many annuals soon 

 pass away, and leave empty places be- 

 hind them that should be filled up with 

 something else, perennials also grow up 

 and bloom and in due time have to becut 

 down, leaving more vacant room, and 

 now is the time to prepare for this. In a 

 nice, moistish piece of ground, sheltered 

 from the sweep of the wind, and where 

 vou can shade it if necessary vvith a lath 

 or brush shade or covering of excelsior, 

 prepare a bit of ground for a seed bed. 

 Mark it off into rows six inches or so 

 apart and here sow China asters, zinnias, 

 French marigolds, cosmos, coreopsis, 

 nasturtiums, sweet alyssum, balsams, 

 candytuft, petunias, scarlet salvia Zan- 

 zibar balsam (Impatiens Sultaw), dwarf 

 sunflower, centranthus, dwarf convo vu- 

 lus, pot marigolds and the like. All of 

 these grow well from seed and are easily 

 transplanted, and raised now they will 

 l)loom well in latesummerand iall. Uon t 

 let them crowd each other in the seed 

 rows, thin them out a little to make them 

 stockv, and if vou cannot use them as 

 soon as thev are ready transplant them 

 into close rows in another bed, there to 

 await a convenient time and place to 

 plant them in. It is also well to have a 

 store of such plants as Lmdheimers 

 gaura, heliotrope, lemon verbena, scented 

 leaved geraniums, begonias, cannas, sin- 

 gle dahlias, and the like to fill up gaps 

 when they occur. 



Coreopsis, escbscholtzia, candytuft, 

 mignonette, alyssum, and several others 

 may also be sown in rows or patches 

 where they are intended to bloom. In 

 warm, dry weather though it often is a 

 difficult matter to get them to germinate 

 well. Before sowing, thoroughly soak the 

 ground with water, leave it a night, then 

 next dav dig it over and fine, then sow 

 the seed's and lav a board over the row, 

 tilted up a little, or spread some excelsior 

 over it to shade it and keep it moist till 

 the seeds grow. 



Staking is a necessary evil, but in the 

 case of delphiniums, hollyhocks, dahlias, 

 sunflowers and other tall or topheavy 

 plants that are apt to be broken by 

 storms of wind or rain, stakes should 

 be used. Don't wait till the plants break 

 down before vou give them the stakes, 

 but apply the supports early and let the 

 plants grow up to them. Stakes should 

 be stout enough to support the plants, 

 neat and straight, and when inserted only 

 about two-thirds or three-fourths as high 

 as the plants. In staking a hollyhock if 

 the stake comes up to about where the 

 blossoms begin, or if in an exposed place 

 to half the height of the flower spike, that 

 is enough. In staking try to hide both 

 the stake and the string, for both are an 

 eyesore. Some little plants need stakes as 

 well as big ones, for instance upright 

 veronicas that grow in bunches and 

 Gypsophila pankulata; if not staked they 

 spread apart in the middle. The way to 

 stake them is to insert four or five short 



stakes close around the clump, then run a 

 piece of stout string around the stakes 

 encircling the plant. The same thing is 

 done with herbaceous pjEoniesto keep the 

 heavy blooms up off of the ground, and 

 tomatoes to keep their fruits above the 

 grit, only in these last two instances a 

 wooden hoop as of an old keg or barrel 

 instead oi string is tied up to the stakes, 

 the plants coming up inside and drooping 

 over on the outside. 



For stakes we use dogwood, alder, 

 birch, or saplings of most any sort cut in 

 the woods in winter, anything will last 

 a vear, and many will be good for two or 

 more seasons. For small and slender 

 plants tamarix prunings are the best 

 things we have, but as people who don't 

 grow this shrub must use something else 

 we may say that most any slender, 

 straight, hard-wooded sprouts they may 

 get in the woods are good enough. 



THE FflEONlES WON'T BLOOM. 



K. K. W., Wellston, Ohio, asks: "What 

 is wrong with piconies when they refuse 

 to bloom? I havehad quantities of them 

 for years, and several varieties. None of 

 the pink ones have bloomed for five or six 

 years. During that time they have all 

 been moved and divided twice. After 

 moving them thev were left two years or 

 three in their places, but failing to bloom 

 the second year, thev were again moved 

 the following fall. Each time they were 

 good large clumps 'when planted. Last 

 fall I moved them, all that I had and now 

 have a few buds on the white variety 

 onlv, but no red or pink buds. Formerly 

 I had an abundance of bloom in all." 



The trouble is probably local, and we 

 cannot tell what it is. How about drouth 

 in the summer? Pa;onies love good, rich, 

 deep soil, well drained but holding moist- 

 ure well in summer, and while they enjoy 

 an open place in the garden they love 

 shelter from wind. Although they are 

 perfectly hardy a mulching of leaves or 

 litter over their crowns in winter does 

 them good. Thev grow fast in spring 

 and bloom early— here between the mid- 

 dle of May and about the 20th of June— 

 and we make it a point to keep them in 

 good leaf and growth as long in the sum- 

 mer as possible to lay the foundation of 

 good crowns and lots of bloom next year. 

 Don't plant them where the roots of big 

 trees can rob them. 



The Russian Violet enquired about, 

 page 228, is a really remarkable plant. 

 It blooms with me in the open ground all 

 winter without protection of any kind. 

 Wnen slightly covered the blooms are 

 longer stemmed and more perfect, but 

 from plants not covered 1 have picked 

 flowers every month of the past winter 

 when there was no other trace of plant 

 life in the garden. I have never seen this 

 remarkable winter blooming violet prop- 

 erly commented on in print, and for that 

 reason doubt il the species I have is gener- 

 ally known. [No, it is not. Commercial 

 florists don't have it, so far as we know, 

 hence the public have no ready means of 

 obtaining it. A year or two ago Mrs. 

 Chrisman of Virginia, one of our readers, 

 kindly sent us plants of it.— Ed.] 

 New Jersey. F- P - W. 



The Greenhouse. 



SOME WINTER FLOWERING PLANTS. 



Freesias, lachenalias, ixias, etc., when 

 done blooming, are allowed to ripen ofl'. 

 We keep them in their pots in a cool, dry 

 place till September, when they are re- 



potted; but those not wanted early are 

 kept dry till the cool weather comes, so 

 as not to start them into growth. We 

 separate the bulbs of the freesias, plant- 

 ing six of the larger ones in a 5-inch pot; 

 the smaller ones are planted in flats, giv- 

 ing some blooms and making large bulbs 

 for next year. We brini them into the 

 greenhouse from the frames successively. 

 The freesia is one of our most important 

 winter flowering plants. 



Cali.as— We grow them in pots an<l 

 let them rest from the middle of May till 

 middle ot August, when we shake them 

 out of the old soil and pot them into 

 6-inch pots; and about the middle of Octo- 

 ber shift them into 8-inch ones. Water 

 them liberally with liquid manure all the 

 winter. We get plenty of blooms from 

 them all the winter and up to the middle 

 of Mav. 



CvcLamen.— For the amateur who does 

 not grow these in quantity, two-year old 

 plants will give better results than 

 younger ones. We had some two-year 

 old plants last winter in 5-inch pots, with 

 30 and 37 blooms open on them at the 

 same time. Plunge the pots in a shady 

 place duringthe summer, givingno water, 

 only such as they receive from the rain. 

 In September repot them, shaking off the 

 old soil and using the same sized pots; 

 plunge them in some light material such 

 as leaf mould, in a frame, keeping the 

 sash on, and allowing very little ventila- 

 tion, and shade them during the hot part 

 of the day. Put the leaf mould well up 

 around and in the pots, only leaving the 

 crown of the corm or "bulb" exposed; 

 this is to "soften the bulb." Early in 

 October bring them into their winter 

 quarters and place them on a shelf as 

 near the glass as possible. The following 

 is the method of a market grower in this 

 vicinity, who tells me he gets a dollar 

 apiece for his plants: He saves his own 

 seed and alwavs sows it as fresh as pos- 

 sible. The seed is sown 13 months before 

 he wants the plants in bloom— October, 

 November and December are the months 

 in which he sows. As soon as they can 

 be handled the seedlings are pricked off 

 into flats, and then into thumb pots, 3- 

 inch, and finally 5-inch pots. They are 

 grown in low houses, very much shaded 

 all the summer till the middle of Septem- 

 ber, when he clears the glass. One point 

 he puts great stress on: he never has the 

 YOung "bulb" above the surface of the 

 'pot till the last shift. He savs that if it 

 were otherwise the "bulb" would get 

 hard, which would be injurious to the 

 quick growth of this plant. At the last 

 shift the crown of the corm is just level, 

 not higher, with the rim of the pot. 



Wm. Fitzwilliam. 

 Baronald, Orange, N.J. 



ft C«EflF GREENHOUSE. 



C. H. P., Stockbridge, Mass., writes: 

 "I want very much to grow roses, carna- 

 tions and chrysanthemums, but I cannot 

 afford to build a green house any larger 

 than about 16x24. It is more convenient 

 to run the house north and south, there- 

 fore shall have a ^4, span roof. I am 

 greatly puzzled over the problem of how 

 it can be built the cheapest, how it can be 

 heated the cheapest, how it can be best 

 arranged in regard to benches, walks, etc., 

 and still have it possess as many 'up to 

 date' improvements in greenhouse con- 

 struction as possible. Will you please 

 help me?" 



North and south may be all right for 

 chrysanthemums and carnations, but 

 cast and west and facing south would be 

 better for roses. If you insist on running 

 it north and south make it a full span and 



