i8g6. 



■ • • GARDENING. 



163 



A BED OF BEGONIA SEMPERPLORENS NIVBA 



different conditions, but we would hesi- 

 tate to recommend it, in company with 

 vines, for growing in a veranda box. At 

 the same time it might do well there, 

 (iood vines to droop down from the 

 l)oxes are Vinca major, green or varie- 

 gated, German ivy, and Lobb's nastur- 

 tium; to grow upward to cover the upper 

 rail and spindles Lobb's nasturtium, 

 Lopbospermum scandeiis, Barclay'smau- 

 randia, variegated Japanese hop vine, 

 cobaea, and Ipomoea paniculath and /. 

 Leari are good. If only one vine is needed 

 the Lobb's nasturtium will answer every 

 purpose, it can be trained up to the upper 

 rail and allowed to droop over it, when it 

 will soon reach most down to the ground. 

 But it needs good soil, lots of water, and 

 to have the yellow leaves kept picked off. 

 The other vines may te treated in the 

 same way, but the maurandia being a 

 thin wiry vine at first maj' need some 

 switches, stakes or other supports till it 

 gets up over the rails. 



ELLETSON'S NEW BEGONIfl. 



(B.se,>!/>erJlo,n,s,:rr,a-) 



Nearly three months ago Mr. J. lillet- 

 son, Auburn, N. Y., sent us a few of this 

 begonia and other of his new plants for 

 trial at Dosoris. We potted the begonias 

 and set them in a greenhouse having a 

 night temperature of 55° to 60-; the glass 

 is also thinly shaded with white lead and 

 kerosene. This little begonia is a perfect 

 gem, of compact bushy habit, and all the 

 time full of clusters of white flowers that 

 project well beyond the foliage in more of 

 a pendulous than upright way. We are 

 in love with it, and so is everj-one else 

 who has seen it here; even Thomas Griffin, 

 the begonia specialist, when he saw it 

 here the other day couldn't help admiring 

 it. It is identical in habit with li. sem- 

 perflorens rosea, but without the stiff 

 habit or close-set flowering nature of 

 Vernon or the typical scmperfforens. Mr. 

 lUlctson writes to us "It is a charming 

 bedding plant. When we set out those 

 seen in the picture they were four inches 

 high, and about the first of October when 



the picture was taken they were 12 to 16 

 inches in diameter and full of floral glory. 

 It must have plenty of water in summer 

 if the best results are expected from it, 

 and a mulching too will be of great value 

 in bringing out its best feature." We 

 have been watching for some seed pods 

 hoping thereby to increase our stock a 

 little faster or raise something new, but 

 so far not a fertile flowerhas appeared on 

 any of the plants. 



Mr. E. writes: "The picture shows a 

 small piece of ground planted in flowers, 

 and is such as anyone can easily have. 

 When the shrubs were thinned out I 

 planted out a few decorative plants to 

 help the summer appearance of the place. 

 The tall shrubs at left hand of the picture 

 are Hercules' club {Aralia spinosa), it is 

 an elegant plant when in full leaf, flower 

 and fruit, and it is quite hardy. The 

 palms just set in for the summer consist 

 of arecas, kentias and seaforthia; give 

 them plentv of water and they do very 

 nicely. The tall grass clumps are of 

 Eulalia Japonica and its varieties. The 

 lesser plants consist of borders of hardy 

 pinks, and lots of geraniums and be- 

 gonias." 



GLADIOLI, now I WINTER TflEIH. 



Perhaps my method of caring for 

 gladiolus bulbs over winter, that has 

 uniformly brought them safely through 

 maj' be of some use to others, who like 

 me, have not the ideal place, that is never 

 too cold or too hot or too wet. I leave 

 them in the ground till after October 1, 

 then loosening the ground pull them and 

 with tops on them, lay them in a shed, 

 often standing the bulbs down in a 

 barrel or box. In two or three weeks they 

 are thoroughly dry, and the tops come off 

 easily. The bulbs are then put in paper 

 sacks about one half-peck in a parcel, and 

 if perfectly drj-, each parcel is wrapped 

 again in newspapers, five or six thickness, 

 and then put in baskets and hung to the 

 joist in the cellar. They "come through" 

 all right though the atmosphere in the 

 cellar is frequently below freezing during 



the winter. I save all the bulblets, treat- 

 ing the large ones the same as the bulbs, 

 and in the spring planting them, and as 

 frequently directed inGARDENiNG removing 

 the hard outer husk. The small ones (even 

 as small as bird shot) I plant as soon as 

 I can separate them from the parent bulb 

 or as I gather them, in digging the larger 

 bulbs, in a row anywhere in the garden 

 where space can be spared, raking the 

 place fine, sowing the bulblets as I would 

 peas, covering them w ith about one inch 

 of sand if I have it, marking the row 

 with sticks lest the spot be forgotten. 

 Over all I put leaves or litter, about a 

 foot deep, and lay something to keep them 

 from blowing away. Last winter the 

 thermometer marked several degrees be- 

 low zero, for days at a time; but my row 

 of baby gladioli came up full and green in 

 the spring. They need a little nursing in 

 the spring. The litter must be carefully 

 taken away, when other things begin to 

 peep thro gh the eround— not too soon 

 however— and after taken away don't let 

 the ground dry out too much; or bake in 

 the .sun and wind. Whenthe tops are an 

 inch high begin to mulch and add more as 

 tops grow. I found old excelsior shavings 

 to answer the purpose very well. I let 

 them grow until the middle "of September 

 when I treated them as noted of the other 

 bulbs in this article. 



(Rev.) J. C. Berrien. 

 Steubenville, Ohio. 



VERBENAS AND LILIFUT ZINNIAS. 



I have taken so much pleasure last 

 summer in the product of seeds of the 

 Royal Splendor verbena and Liliput 

 zinnias obtained from A. B. Howard, 

 Belchertown, Mass., that I feel that I am 

 doing a good act in calling the attention 

 of the readers of Gardening to them. 

 The brilliancy and purity of coloring, and 

 the massive proportions of the verbenas 

 were a revelation. The zinnias are pure 

 in color, perfect in form and their dimini- 

 tive size removes them from the charge of 

 coarseness attributable to the ordinary 

 form. W. C. Egan. 



