54 



GARDENING. 



Nov. /, 



feet winter covering to the plants. The 

 same sort of thing in the case of pa;onies, 

 irises, coreopsis, gaillardias and other 

 border flowers would also hold good; for 

 tidyness' sake though we cannot permit 

 it; we can do just as well though. We 

 can cut down all of those and other plants 

 close lo the ground and remove their 

 tops, then spread a good layer of well 

 broken up manure all over the border or 

 bed, covering crowns and roots, letting it 

 stay there till spring, when the rough 

 part, if any there be, is forked oft', and all 

 the fine part dug into the ground. More 

 than that this over-all mulching protects 

 all manner of little self sown seedlings 

 that may have sprung up in the borders, 

 saving them for spring planting if we 

 wish. And while the old straw of irises 

 and other rank plants would afibrd a 

 happy home for field mice in winter, the 

 manure dressing gives them no shelter. 

 In the case ot evergreen pentstemons, 

 statices, veronicas and others we are par- 

 ticular to scatter the manure only lightly 

 on top of the plants and heavier around 

 and between them; over mistflowers, 

 Japan anemones, acanthus and such as 

 have a reputati n for being somewhat 

 precarious we mulch heavier than on the 

 average. 



We winter our Canterbury bells, forget- 

 me-nots and daisies in a cold frame as 

 much because they are easier to handle in 

 that way than in the open garden than 

 to better protect them from frost. Holly- 

 hocks, foxgloves and sweet williams we 

 mulch heavily about with clean tree 

 leaves with a little dirt or loose manure 

 thrown over them to keep them from 

 blowing away. The leaves alone when 

 there is no grassy stufi among them is not 

 an attracti\e home for mice, still they will 

 inhabit it if better is not at hand. We cut 

 over the tritomas, say six inches above 

 ground, and lift a lot of them and heel 

 them in in a cold pit over winter; but the 

 majority weletstayin the ground, mulch- 

 ing them heavily with leaves, strewing 

 their own cut-over foliage over the tree 

 leaves. 



Grasses.— We will now cut them over. 

 Arundo Donax is cut over close to the 

 ground and the stems saved to mate 

 windbreaks of in winter; then we cart in 

 a layer of fresh stable litter six inches 

 deep over the crowns and roots, leaving 

 it there all the time. The eulalias are cut 

 over about a foot or so above ground 

 and a heavy mulching placed around 

 them; the stubble in the middle is protec- 

 tion enough to the crown and admits air 

 freely. Pampas grass in rigorous neigh- 

 borhoods should be lifted and wintered in 

 the cellar; if left outside protect it heav- 

 ilv. A piece of roofing paper laid over the 

 crowns of somewhat tender grasses, and 

 held in place hy a few forkfuls of litter 

 around it makes a good protection. 



We winter a good many pansies on a 

 raise! bed out of doors, where they keep 

 well till spring; a few evergreen branches 

 are laid over them to shade them, protect 

 them from being heaved by frost, and 

 catch the snow. 



Greenhouse and Window. 



TAB VARlBGflTED RUBBER FLflNT. 



W. H. A., Boston, wants to know about 

 it, also, "Is it a disease of the plant that 

 causes the whiteness, or is it a natural 

 color? Florists here who have it to sell 

 say it is natural, those who don't keep it 

 say it is a disease. I have been thinking 



of buying some, but I don't want them if 

 the variegation is a disease. I know you 

 will tell me the truth in the matter." 



The white variegations in Pandanus 

 Veitchii, Mountain of Snow geranium 

 and Japanese hop vine are just as much 

 of a disease as is the variegation in the 

 leaves of F/cus elastica, at the same time 

 while those three plants are of exceed- 

 inglv eas3' cultivation the variegated rut- 

 ber plant is not. True. W. K. Harris of 

 Philadelphia and some other florists who 

 make a specialtj' of this and similar 

 plants succeed with it admirabh', butnot 

 at all so the average florist. The leaves 

 have an ugly way of turning brown, 

 splitting and dryingup,then dropping off 

 and leaving the specimen bare and ugly. 

 See what James Dean (one of our largest 

 and best florists) says about it in Gar- 

 DKNiNG, Februarv 15, '9-1, page 170. 



OUR BIG GERANIUM. 



Mrs. E. S. B., Harrisville, Pa., writes: 

 "We have a big geranium in one of our 

 hardware store windows. Three years 

 ago in September we put it in an 8-inch 

 pot in good garden soil and rich leaf 

 mould and set it in the south window. 

 The first year it reached to the top of the 

 window and had a dozen or more large 

 trusses on it at one time. The second 

 year it filled the window with bloom, 

 having 20 trusses of blooms on at a time. 

 At present, entering the fourth year, it is 

 not so thrifty. During all this time it 

 has not been cut back or repotted. Mr. 

 B. objected to it being pruned or dis- 

 turbed in any way, so the man and plant 

 have had their own sweet will and now 

 the geranium is suffering." 



Bless him, he did what he thought Vas 

 right, and you, in letting him have his 

 own way, did right also. But why didn't 

 you take a slip from that geranium and 

 grow it according to your own sweet 

 will, and in that way teach him that 

 while he might know a good deal about 

 nails and saws his wife knew more than 

 he did about growing window plants? 

 Give the geranium a larger pot right 

 awaj', for it must be starving to death; if 

 it is in ill health, however, cut it pretty 

 well back some time before you repot it, 

 reduce the ball of roots a little at potting 

 time, and use an undersized rather than 

 large pot to begin with, .\fter all, it may 

 be easier to begin with a young plant. 



TilE GREENflOUSB. 



Have all the plants nice and clean and 

 prettily arranged, and keep the house 

 clean and tidy. Ventilate freely in fine 

 weather, but very carefully in boisterous, 

 wet or cold weather. Avoid a close, 

 muggy atmosphere, and an over-high 

 temperature is detrimental to the plants. 

 By economizing the sun heat in the dav 

 time we can do with much less fire heat at 

 night. 



While chrysanthemums are now very 

 gay and beautiful we must not allow 

 them to monopolize the greenhouse room 

 or our attention so much that the other 

 plants get overcrowded or overlooked. 

 The moment their best flowers are cut off 

 or past remove the plants. Tea roses, 

 carnations, scarlet geraniums, several 

 begonias, marguerites and orchids are in 

 good bloom. 



Bring into the greenhouse a few of the 

 most advanced of the Roman hyacinths 

 and paper white narcissus for flowers in 

 early December, and then a few more once 

 a week or fortnight for a succession. If 

 the other hyacinths, tulips and narcissi 

 are still out of doors cover them enough 

 to keep frost away Irom them; but it is 



about this time we generally bring them 

 indoors to a place in the cellar, covering 

 them as before. This is for convenience' 

 sake only. Pot or box up a lot of lily of 

 the valley for winter forcing. Dutch 

 bulbs should be well rooted before forced; 

 not so with lily of the valley. It can be 

 potted to-day and set into the forcing 

 house to-raotrow, but don't try to force 

 it early unless you are handling cold stor- 

 age roots. 



Keep all young stock in actively mov- 

 ing condition, giving them heat, light 

 and moisture; at the same time we must 

 remember that palms, ferns and our col- 

 ored-leaved tropical plants as a rule like a 

 little shade. 



TOBACCO DUST AS A MUUCti fOR VIOLETS. 



A subscriber from Hyde Park, Mass., 

 asks: 'What is your opinion on using 

 tobacco dust as a mulch for violets- 

 would itbe apt toinjure theirfragrance?" 



We would not use itexceptas an insect- 

 icide. If we wanted a tobacco mulch or 

 even an insecticide for aphides among 

 violets we would take fresh tobacco 

 stems and chop them up with a hatchet 

 to reduce them to a size easily worked in 

 between and under the plant leaves, then 

 moisten it and shut up the house or frame 

 to warm it and better give off the pun- 

 gent vapor to kill the insects. Use more 

 fresh stems every third or fourth day for 

 a week or two till every greenfly is dead, 

 then do away with them altogether. 

 Tobacco has manurial value, but it also 

 has a vile smell, and although the fra- 

 grance of the violet may overpower that 

 of the tobacco, you wouldn't like to offer 

 a hunch of tobacco-charged violets to a 

 refined lady. Then find some other mulch- 

 ing for the violet bed. 



Chrysanthemums. 



CflRySANTflEMUMS, 



I grow part of my plants in boxes, out 

 of doors, and restrict them to crown buds, 

 these as you know, come largest, and as 

 the plants, when they are in the open are 

 subjected to the natural ripening during 

 August and September, they generally 

 produce the earliest flowers. From these 

 boxes I have just made the following 

 notes. Among the varieties nowin bloom, 

 some of them last year were late and 

 their earliness this year must be accounted 

 for, to a certain extent, by the method of 

 growing them, which usually results in 

 earliness. Dr. Wakeley, a large bronze, 

 in full bloom and of magnificent form, 

 habit being dwarf to medium. Mrs. G. B. 

 Darby, an English variety, is also in 

 flower at this date; the flower is of a 

 medium size, reflexed form of a very rich, 

 brilliant pink color. Mrs. C. Meyers, also 

 an English importation by me two years 

 ago, is of very dwarf habit, and the flow- 

 ers are handsome, twice the size of those 

 of Mme. F. Bergmann, reflexing in form, 

 and of a clear white color, shading 

 towards the center a delicate lemon, with 

 age turning pure white. H. L. Sunder- 

 bruch, immense yellow, is by far the best 

 of all the earlj' yellows with me both this 

 year and last; it has been the first yellow 

 to open. Its habit is very dwarf" Mrs. 

 H. E. Wiedersheim, one of last year's 

 novelties, also appears to be early, the 

 flower is full and solid, a little above 

 medium size, and of a beautiful Mermet 

 or rose pink. It was awarded a certifi- 

 cate at Philadelphia last year. Majestic 

 is also in full bloom. It is sport from 



