i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



345 



ished soil, all enervating to the asters, 

 may be laid at its door, however. While 

 wc have grown China asters several suc- 

 cessive years in the same ground, freely 

 fertilizing it each year, we had good proof 

 that it is poor policy, asters want a 

 change of soil We believe your plants are 

 affected by some of the aster diseases. 

 Vou should go out to South Park and see 

 Mr. Kanst, the gardener there, and con- 

 sult with him about the matter. A year 

 or two ago when we were there last he 

 had a lot of asters in his frame ground, 

 and in answer to our inquiry why he 

 didn't plant them out he replied when 

 ])lanted. on account of the disease so 

 many gaps occurred in the beds that he 

 c. ased to use thi m in that way, and now 

 grew them in his frame ground for cut 

 flowers onlv. 



NOTES ON GflRDBN ANNUALS. 



1 he hardy annuals are now making 

 (|uitc a show in the gardens. We arc 

 growing about two hundred and fifty 

 distinct varieties of them here, having 

 raised them all from seed this spring and 

 on an average fifty plantsof each variety. 

 The ten week stocks were very fine. 

 Mont Blanc had spikes twenty-two 

 inches long and of a pure white color, 

 Princess Alice was another good white, 

 and Princess May a lovelv vellow. 

 Dwarf Bouquet was one of the best we 

 had; the plant is compact and it flowers 

 very free, making a nice pot as well as 

 outdoor plant. 



The marigolds are quite gay. Legion of 

 Honor and Queen of Dwarfs are two ot 

 the best dwarf ones. The tall striped and 

 the miniature striped and blotched are 

 the best ones. The dwarf orange and 

 lemon are the best amongst the African 

 sorts. 



Calendula officinalis, Meteor and Prince 

 of Orange, are twogood, very free flower- 

 ing plants and last all summer, long. 

 Calendula pluvialis (Cape marigold) is 

 ()uite different from the other ones, it has 

 white and purple flowers something like 

 a marguerite, and it flowers very freely. 

 .\lthough well worth growing for garden 

 decoration it is of no use for cut flowers, the 

 blossoms shut up so soon after being cut. 



We grow a great many antirrhinums; 

 the\' are very free flowering plants and it 

 is a" wonder they are not more grown; 

 about the only place I ever saw them was 

 at Dosoris. The tall ones grow about 

 three feet high, and the intermediate ones 

 only about a foot high. Granciflorum is 

 a good tall one. A paper of mixed seed 

 will gives you a great variety of colors. 

 We also grow Sutton's Rosy Mom and 

 white throated and think so well of them 

 that we grow more of them in the garden 

 than of any other annual. 



Phlox Drummondii grandiflora makes 

 a good show, growingabout a foot high, 

 and giving us many colors. Snowball is 

 a nice dwarf white only six inches high 

 and Fireball is much the same only the 

 flowers are red, but because of their short- 

 ness these two last are no good for cut- 

 ting; the tall ones however are one of the 

 best cut flowers we have. Zinnias are 

 now in good flower and will last till frost; 

 the scarlet ones are the most showy and 

 when grown in a mass they are very 

 brilliant. 



What a show Dianthus laciniatus 

 makes; mixed seed givcsagreat variety of 

 color, our plants are fairly hidden with 

 flower. D. imperialis is a good double; 

 so is the double whiteand doubleerimson. 

 Salmon Queen is also a nice one with pink 

 flowers, and Rosy Morn has rose colored 

 ones. The Bride is a fine white. 



Vcnidiuni calcndulnccum is a very free 



flowering annual with orange colored 

 ealendula-like flowers, it grows about nine 

 inches high. Coreopsis coronata and C 

 Drummondii are two free flowering 

 annuals which should have a place in every 

 garden;grown in a mass they makea fine 

 show and their flowers are good for cut- 

 ting. The annual gaillardias are also 

 good, Lorenziana has double flowers of 

 various colors and amhiyodon has red 

 flowers. Linaria reticulata aurea pur- 

 purea gives lots of flower and is (|uite 

 showy. 



Nemesia strurnosa Suttoni is a showy 

 annual; last year it did not flower very 

 well, but this sea.son it has done very 

 well, the colors range through crimson, 

 white and yellow. It growsabouta foot 

 high. Mimulus cardinalis has a bushy 

 habit, leafy stems, and showy scarlet 

 flowers; it makes a verj' showy border 

 plant, and blooms all summer. 



Brachycome iberidifolia or Swan River 

 daisy is a lovely dwarf annual, the plants 

 are completely hidden with small blue 

 flowers. Venus' looking glass is a free 

 flowering annual makingnice edgings, the 

 colors of its flowers are blue and white. 

 Nierembergia frutescens is in good flower 

 and makes a nice show, it is also good for 

 cutting, lasts in bloom all summer. 



Viola cornuta varieties Admiration and 

 White Perfection have flowered all summer 

 long, .\lthough the flowers are small 

 they are very showj', although we 

 treat it as an annual it is properly 

 a perennial. Begonia Vernon, crimson, 

 pink and white, is flowering fine; in 

 a half shadv place it grows and 

 flowers very freely. The lobelias like a 

 half shady place too. Erinus compacta 

 alba and Crystal Palace compacta form 

 nice little plants well suited for edgings 

 and they flower very freely, especially up 

 till midsummer. The annual chrysanthe- 

 mums gives plenty of flowers that are 

 good for cutting. Our favorite is Bur- 

 ridgeanum , a white variety with a crimson 

 ring. C. segetum grandifforum is the 

 yellow ox-eye daisy. 



Iwpatiens Sultani,^ continuous flower- 

 ing plant with pink balsam-like flowers, 

 thrivts admirably and blooms all sum- 

 mer. The petunias make a great show 

 from early summer till frost. The Giants 

 of California are the most showy and the 

 markings in them are fine too. Linum 

 grandifforum, the red flax, is a nice showy 

 plant. Oxalis rosea is very free flower- 

 ing. Ageratum Mexicanum and the 

 variety Imperial Dwarf gives a lot ot 

 flowers all summer. 



The annual larkspurs flowered nicely, 

 but what a lot of dirty colors there were 

 amongst them. Centaurea Cyanus (the 

 cornflower) is a nicethingforcutting and 

 they last so long. The Marguerite carna- 

 tions are making a great show, a bed of 

 three hundred of them are in one mass of 

 buds and bloom; for cutting they are one 



of the best things 



grov 



th, 



very few single flowers amongst them, 

 and in size of bloom thej- are as good as 

 some of our best n med carnations. 



Zinnia Haageana ff. pi. has smaller 

 flowers than the other zinnias, but it 

 flowers so freely that we cannot do with- 

 out it. Portulacca single and double is 

 one of the chief flowers in the garden; it 

 sows it.self and comes up all over the 

 ground, so we let it alone around the 

 walks and it makes a nice edging and is 

 always in flower. 



Cosmidium Burridgeanum has large 

 velvety coreopsis-like flowers, it grows 

 about two feet high. 



The small sunflower (Uclianthus 

 cucumerifolius) is a good plant for the 

 garden where cut flowers arc in demand; 



the new variety of it called Stella is quite 

 good with us, it forms a bush about lour 

 Icet high the flowers are golden yellow 

 with a dark center and not very large. 

 The verbenas from seed are giving plenty 

 of flowers and the salvias are beginning 

 to bloom. The annual wallflower and 

 Sutton's First of All are blooming freely. 

 This old-fashioned flower is fine when 

 w ell grown, and everybody likes it. 

 Tagetes lucida has small yellow flowers, 

 and the foliage has a strong marigold 

 scent. The catch-flies are showy border 

 plants and they sow themselves all over 

 the ground, forenia Foorn;er/ makes a 

 continuous blooming plant in the garden, 

 also a nice pot plant for the window. 



PERENNIALS. 



The platycodons make a good show 

 still. The hollyhocks are past their best. 

 The phloxes are now making a great dis- 

 play; they are fine forcutting. Rudbeckia 

 speciosa is still in fine flower and R. pur- 

 purea has very large showy blossoms. 

 Dahlias both double and single are flow- 

 ering nicely, so is Coreopsis grandiffora. 

 The Peruvian lily is still giving lots of its 

 orange flowers. Anthemis Kehvayi is a 

 mass of marguerite-like flowers, they are 

 good for cutting. Lythrum Salicaria and 

 its variety superbum are in good flower 

 and make a good show Campanula 

 rotundifolia and C. carpa«A/caarebloom- 

 ing very freely. A few varieties of sun- 

 flowers help to make the garden gay. In 

 lilies we have Krameri, which has'blush 

 colored flowers, and the superbums in 

 good form; the latter grow to a height of 

 R feet and more. L. Wallace! will be in 

 flower in a few days, and so will a few 

 other varieties. David Fraser. 



Mountain Side Farm, Mahwah, N.J. 

 luly 23, 1896. 



DECORATIVE PLANTS FOR ROUOfl PLACES. 



You seem in need of so many things for 

 your Park that I .send you' some seeds 

 just gathered of a pyrethrum [No, it is a 

 gaillardia —Ed.] I got two years ago. It 

 is the most persistent bloomer I haveever 

 met with; it begins to bloom in spring 

 and continues in flower till frost comes in 

 fall, indeed it doesn't mind a little frost. 

 Last summer when everything else was 

 wilting into a dying state, this plant 

 bloomed on as if dry weather were its de- 

 light, but this summer it is prettier by 

 far. [Thank you, very much. The plant 

 is one of the garden varieties of Gaillardia 

 aristata. The big flowered forms of it 

 are called grandiffora. All of them are 

 excellent for our work. — Ed.] 



Japan honeysuckles would be useful 

 on some of your banks; I could send you 

 hundreds, if you so desire. [It is one of 

 the best of plants for this work and we 

 are growing it extensively.— Ed.] 



Ok my 34-inch long wistaria flow- 

 ers, I can send vou some if you wish. 

 [Indeed \ye do. We have many young 

 wistarias in the nursery rows and under 

 all the leading names, still there is a select 

 spot ready for yours; we know yours to 

 be the true long-racemed one, we can only 

 hope that ours may be so. — Ed.] 



Partridge-berry vine would be lovely 

 in some of your rough places; nothing 

 will kill it but digging up bodily. [Do 

 you mean Mitchella repens? If so, while 

 it is very common in many of our mount- 

 ains and woods, carpeting large spaces, 

 it requires a little coaxing to get it well 

 established in many gardens — Eu 1 



Chrisman, Va. L. G. C. 



If you appreciate Gardening please 

 recommend it to those friends to whom 

 you know the paper would be useful. 

 Vou can assist us matcriallv in this wav. 



