342 



GARDENING. 



Aug. 



zibareiisis. Xeliitnbiiiin speciosum, (one 

 root each); and water hyacinth and 

 water poppy (one plant each) in wooden 

 grape baskets and submerged them in a 

 hall' cask. The hyacinth and poppy nearly 

 till the tub with leaves and blossoms, 

 and the other plants have not shown on 

 the surface. Will they appear later, or 

 have the rampant ones smothered them? 



2. "With no greenhouse, is it possible 

 to keep these over winter, and how? 



3. "The enclosed flower and leaf?" 



1. Probably both the nympha>as and 

 nelumbiums are dead. You shouldn't 

 have had them in the same tub with the 

 water hyacinths and poppies, these grow 

 and spread so fast on the surface of the 

 water as to kill out small lily leaves trj-- 

 ing to get up to the light. Bven if N. 

 Zanzibarensis hove in sight now it would 

 hardly be of any use this year, and it does 

 not winter well". Raise it from seed every 

 year. 



2. Yes, in a pail of water in a light part 

 of a frostproof or little warmer cellar. 

 But have two pails— one for the hyacinth 

 and one for the poppy; when grown to- 

 gether the hyacinth outgrows and smoth- 

 ers the other. The shallower the pails are 

 the better; little shallow tubs are prefer- 

 able; half an inch of water is enough, but 

 be sure the water is up to the top even if 

 vou fill the bottom with sand or soil. 



3. Platycodon grandifforuw. 



rUOWER GARDEN QUESTIONS. 



Z. B , Tower Hill, 111., asks: 



1. "Should ferns he watered over- 

 head as well as at the root?" 



Answer. Maiden hair ferns and gold or 

 silver powder ferns (Gymnograwwe) 

 grown in pots should not as a rule be 

 watered overhead; at the same time, 

 especially in the case of maidenhairs, 

 many of our florists water their young 

 stock in no other way than overhead 

 with a hose. But do it early enough in 

 the day to let the fronds get dry before 

 nightfall. Out of doors a sprinkling over- 

 head won't hurt the plants, indeed if done 

 gently it will do them good. But inde- 

 pendent of this soak them at the root. 



2. Ipomcea Leari and I. grandiflora. 

 What shall I do with them this autumn? 



Ans. Yoa will probably find lots of 

 vine of Leari running on the ground and 

 rooting at every joint. About the end of 

 this month dig up a few of these, cut 

 them back to an eye or two beyond a 

 good joint of roots, and pot a few of 

 them, singly or two or three together in 

 a 3-inch or 4-inch pot, and keep these 

 over winter in a warm window. Then 

 let the old plants die. Let the /. grandi- 

 flora die, and renew it from seed next 

 spring. 



"Hai.l's JapanHoneysuckle, when to 

 plant it and how to treat it?" 



Ans. As it lifts with good fibrous roots 

 it may be planted any time between now 

 and frosty weather, or in spring. If the 

 vines are long when you get them cut 

 them back to a foot, they'll be sure to 

 grow. For the first winter let it lie on 

 the ground and throw some leaves, rank 

 litter, or brush over it to keep it from 

 being heaved by frost. Itlikes good moist 

 ground, and seems happiest in a very 

 thin shade. 



"Hardy Blue and White Phlox, 

 should they be planted in autumn?" 



Ans. "Hardy blue and white" are too 

 indefinite tor us to know what kinds are 

 meant. But we will answer you in a 

 gene ral way. All manner of phloxes can 

 lie planted with safety in spring, and we 

 would rather plant the tall, late bloom- 

 iuL' s(,rt-i then than in fall. The l.hie /'. 



Stellaria, moss pinks, and P. verna and 

 P. procumbens we would plant in August 

 so that the3^ might get a good root hold 

 before winter, or in early spring. 



"Deutzia crenata, Exochorda grandi- 

 ffora and Anemone alba, what satisfac- 

 tion do they give as regards hardiness 

 and blossoms?" 



Ans. The exochorda blooms in May 

 and the deutzia in June Both shrubs are 

 quite hardy here, free blooming, and 

 copious, and run in size from -i to 10 or 

 more feet, according to age, situation, 

 soil, etc. The anemone (we presume you 

 refer to Japonica) is a hardy perennial 

 blooming in August and September, and 

 is one of the gems of its season. It likes 

 good ground, moderate moisture, and a 

 mulching in winter. Sometimes it thrives 

 luxuriantly, running 3 to 5 feet high, at 

 other times it needs coaxing to carry it 

 along. 



"Hardy Perennials to bloom all sum- 



.4ns. Snowdrops, crocuses, Siberian 

 squills, pansies, narcissi of sorts, hya- 

 cinths, tulips, white rock cress, moss 

 pink, spring adonis, spring irises, lily-of- 

 the-valley, columbines, pyrethrum, tril- 

 lium, golden alyssum, bleeding heart, 

 German iris, campanulas of several kinds, 

 pieonies, poppies, spirjeas, larkspur, 

 coreoposis. gaillardia, sweet williams, 

 achillea Pearl, lilies, Koempfer's iris, 

 monarda, yellow and Thunberg's day 

 lilies, phlox, gypsophila, ageratum-like 

 eupatorium, dwarf sunflowers, platy- 

 codon, white day or plantain lily, Japan 

 anemone, mist flower, pink sedum (S. 

 spectabile), Siebold's sedum, and several 

 fine asters and many other plants. 



"Hardy small shrubs that will give a 

 succession of bloom from spring till fall?" 



.4ns. Mezereon, star magnolia, white 

 rugosa, Agnes Emily Carman, and 

 Mme. Georges Bruant roses; tree pjeonia, 

 Thunberg's, Van Houtte's and Bumalda 

 spirjEas, Simon's Japan quince, Deutzia 

 gracilis, Ghent azaleas, if they flourish in 

 your soil; Deutzia crenata, if kept low, 

 Lemoine's mock orange, weigelias, golden 

 hypericum, hydrangea, oak-leaved, also 

 paniculata grandiffoia; Siebold's lespe- 

 deza (better Unown as Desmodium pendu- 

 liHorum). But these are only a few 

 among many. Now, while the mezereon 

 and Deutzia gracilis never become tall 

 spreading shrubs several of the others, 

 after some years, may become large; at 

 the same time they all bloom when quite 

 small. You can transplant them in fall 

 or spring with safet}', but spring is the 

 safest time. 



with a little care, we can grow man\- 

 garden plants. 



2. Cape Fuchsia is quite an appro- 

 priate name, and surely prettier than 

 "Cape figwort," the English name as 

 given in books. Whether or no it will 

 thrive there, though, can only be known 

 by experiment. Is it quite hardv with 

 you? It isn't at Dosoris. 



3. By "BlueSpir.*;a" we presume you 

 mean Caryopteris Mastacanthus, the 

 little Chinese shrubby plant about which 

 a good deal has been said since a couple 

 of years. We know of no reason why it 

 shouldn't thrive in that bed. But mulch 

 it with rough litter and branches in 

 winter. As it comes into bloom in late 

 summer or fall, plant verbenas or sow 

 portulacca among it to brighten the bed 

 in summer. 



4. Maximilian's SUNFLOWER comes into 

 bloom about the last of September and 

 lasts well into October; it is one of the 

 boldest and handsomest of its race, a 

 hardy perennial, and well worth growing. 

 It likes good ground, shelter, and a posi- 

 tion where it may grow 7 to 9 feet high 

 without anv danger of getting broken by 

 wind or rain. 



5. We should prefer spring planting. 



AN EMPTY FLOWER BED. 



W.M. P., Hagerstown,Md.,(l)has a cir- 

 cular flower bed, exposed on all sides and 

 filled with excellent soil. The common 

 purple flag does well in it, so does Sedum 

 spectabile, but gladioli have been a failure 

 in it. Further: (2) "I have seen that 

 the Cape fuchsia (Pfiy^e/ZusCapens/s) did 

 well in such a place also the (3) blue 

 spiraea. What do you think of them? 

 Also of (4) Maximilian's sunflower? (5) 

 Would it be best to set them out in the 

 fall or the spring?" 



1. Fill the bed with yuccas, they will 

 be a mass of green all the time and from 

 June into July a pretty show of blossoms. 

 They need no care. Or for a continuous 

 summer show fill it with striped petunias. 

 Or fill it with daffodils for spring blos- 

 soms, then as they begin to fade and are 

 cut over sow portulacca over it; in after 

 years the dalTodils will come up and 

 bloom in spring, die down in June, and 

 be sm-cceiled with self-sown nortulacc.n. 



flflRDY PERENNIALS FOR JUNE. 



An Ontario subscriber asks for a list of 

 hardy perennials that would fill in be- 

 tween the late tulips and the first annuals, 

 say between May 25 and July 1. "I have 

 a great lackof bloom then, pansies and 

 roses being about all." 



The variety of pretty plants you may 

 have in bloom at that time is legion. 

 About the time the tulips are in flower 

 you can have spreads, belts or clumps of 

 moss pink, golden ah^ssum and purple 

 aubrietias; the poet's narcissus is with 

 you, and you have got trilliums, blood- 

 root, Virginia lungwort, spring orobus, 

 lily-of-the-valley, vernal irises, bleeding 

 heart, Alleghany dicentras, and others. 

 The common and yellow cypripediums 

 bloom in May and into June, and C. 

 spectabile in June. We have gentian- 

 leaved and long-leaved veronicas, sea 

 thrift, white and red valerian, fraxintlla. 

 Oriental and Iceland poppies, peach-leaved 

 bell flowers, peonies of several kinds, 

 German irises, grandiflora and lanceolata 

 coreopsis, potentillas, thermopsis, bap- 

 tisia, pyrethrums, Dumortier's and yellow 

 daylilies, perennial gaillardias, Haage's 

 and Chalcedonian lychnis, ragged robin, 

 Hoopes' helenium, large-flowered betony, 

 alpine centaurea,spir£Eas, such as ^runcus, 

 /ilipendula, and Jajian hoteia, showy 

 erigeron, yellow asphodel, doronicums, 

 foxgloves, larkspur, erect white clematis, 

 the early lilies, as tenuifolium,pulchellum, 

 Hansoni, etc., and soon. Several of these 

 begin blooming before the tulips have 

 faded and others last into bloom till after 

 the first annuals come in. Before the first 

 of July yuccas, Koempfer's irises, holly- 

 hocks, trumpet lilies and a host of annuals 

 as mignonette, Drummond phlox, sweet 

 peas, candytuft, etc., begin to put in an 

 appearance. 



FALL SOWING OF SWEET PEAS. 

 Mrs. W. G. L., Falmouth, Mass., says 

 she raises the finest sweet peas "all 

 around" there; "they do extra well, as 

 where they are grown is so warm under 

 a big hill." She sells all she raises. But 

 as she has heard so much about the ad- 

 vantages of fall sowing over spring sow- 

 ing as regards earliness, she hopes by 

 sowing in fall to get her sweet peas in 

 bloom bvthe first of Mav. 



