246 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



pots were plunged to their brims in an old hotlied 

 and allowed to root through; treated thus they made 

 nice bushy plants which were smothered with flowers. 

 Some of the hardy Asters are of quite dwarf habit 

 and these are specially good for pot culture. If some 

 grower would like to make a pleasing innovation at 

 a Fall exhibition I should suggest a batch of hardy 

 Asters grown in this way. For those who do not 

 possess a greenhouse. I should say that these hardy 

 perennials can be sown in April or May in a cold 

 frame, planted out when of sufficient size in a nursery 

 row, and all will flower the following Autumn. 



Immediatel}- following the hardy Asters come the 

 pompon Chrysanthemums, in fact a number of 

 varieties of the latter are blooming before many of 

 the Asters have passed. One or two varieties of 

 Chrysanthemums were in good bloom outdoors here 

 in the first week in October, and close flowered 

 varieties of rather small size are found the most de- 

 pendable. In some seasons the single varieties, which 

 under glass are most beautiful, will do fairly well in 

 this portion of New England but their thin petalage 

 is a decided drawback outdoors when we get windy. 

 storm}- weather, for the same reason the large double 

 flowered varieties are not dependable. There is, 

 however, a continued growth in the popularity of 

 the pompons and as late as Thanksgiving they may be 

 seen in manv a little garden when all other flowers 

 have passed. At our Fall exhibitions we see collec- 

 tions of what are called "hardy Chrysanthemums": 

 these, however, are grown under glass and not a few 

 are of no earthly value outdoors. What would be 

 more educational, even though the flowers were of 

 less high grade quality, would be bunches of flowers 

 which had reallv been grown outdoors. It is for these 

 varieties that thousands of amateurs would cheerfully 

 pav a fair price. While a number of these Chrysan- 

 themums are perfectly hardy in well-drained ground 

 and with me have wintered without protection, if a 

 cold frame is at command, it is good policy to store 

 one or two clumps there over W'inter. 

 ^ ^ ^ 



Among low-growing perennials with blue flowers 

 which come in season quite late. Plumbago Larpent;e 

 is one of the best. The deep blue flowers are carried 

 in clusters, and are produced very abundantly over 

 quite a long period. This plant is a native of the Hima- 

 layas and Northern China and in our more northerly 

 states needs some Winter protection. It is a splendid 

 plant for either the rock garden or for a bordering 

 subject and for the blue garden it is absolutely in- 

 dispensable. The liotaiusts liave for some years 

 dropped the name Plumbago in favor of Ceratostigma 

 plumljaginoides but the earlier name is so mucli nuirc 

 easily remembered that there is small likeliliDud cif 

 the newer and longer one displacing it. 



It is easily possible to get a fine disjilay (jf iJel- 

 phiniums late in the season by making one f)r two 

 sowings of seed of either D. chinensis or the l)clla- 

 donna and formosum hylirids. In late .Sc])tember and 

 through October these make an excellent show, and 

 the spikes produced are on the average much better 

 than old cut back plants. Plants from sowings made 

 early in June are now making a lovely show; the 

 chinensis are rather dwarf but on the formosum jiy- 

 brids, spikes a yard in length are not uncommon, and 

 this has been a very arid season with a deficiency <if 

 nearly 9 inches in precipitation on October 1. Ilusc 

 plrmts have had no artificial watering biU tlie culti- 



vator has been constantly plied about thetn. Usually 

 in our herbaceous border displays we depend on a 

 secondary crop of spikes from old plants, sometimes 

 they are good but this season they have been some- 

 what disappointing unless water in abundance has 

 lieen supplied. The production of this second crop 

 of spikes undoubtedly weakens the plants and makes 

 them more susceptible to disease. Of course, where 

 neatness in the garden is demanded the cutting back 

 to get a late crop is necessary, but if the faded flowers 

 and seeds only were removed there would be a strik- 

 ing dilTerence in the vigor of the plants the following 

 year. With choice varieties it would pay amateurs 

 to try a few plants cut back, and merely remove the 

 seeds from others and note the dift'erence in the vigor 

 of the latter the following season. 



* * :K 



Each year many amateurs fail to successfully winter 

 foxgloves and Canterbury bells. It is not so much the 

 cold as the warmth and heavy Winter covering which 

 is the cause of death. In too many cases, as soon as 

 the leaves fall, they are spread over these and sundry 

 other plants with the idea of keeping the plants warm. 

 This Winter protection should be applied rather 

 with the idea of keeping the ground frozen and pre- 

 venting alternate freezing and thawing of the ground 

 which causes heaving. A heavy Winter coating of 

 lea\-es or any other mulch, applied while the ground 

 is still warm, is sure to cause trouble for as the 

 covering gets damp from the Fall rains, it is packed 

 down and not infrequently we have warm spells as 

 late as the middle of November which will heat up 

 these coverings sufficiently to start the rot in the 

 hearts of the protected plants. For this reason it is 

 dangerous to cover them early. .An excellent plan 

 is to spread a good handful of coal ashes over the 

 crowns of these plants, which helps to absorb the 

 moisture and acts as a splendid preventive of rot. 

 Where plants are wintered in cold frames and simply 

 covered with dry leaves after the soil is hard frozen 

 and sashes placed over them, there is the same danger 

 of plants damping ofif, due to insufficient ventilation 

 as Winter is passing. It is also a good plan to lay 

 some fine coal ashes over each crown; the long leaves 

 on the foxgloves should also be cut well back. 

 * * * 



The terrible disaster in Japan is bound to make the 

 supply of certain lilies smaller for the coming season. 

 The bulbs of T.. longiflorum giganteum, which or- 

 dinarily arrive in America in October, will be much 

 delayed and are unlikely to come to hand liefore the 

 middle of December or even later. However, as 

 Faster is unusuallj- late next year it should still be 

 possible to force these into flower in time. More 

 reliance is likely to be placed on other varieties of 

 lilies during the coming season. L. candidum is only 

 grown in moderate numbers ; in large i)ots it is im- 

 measurably the superior of any other white lilies for 

 Faster. It will only stand moderate forcing, how- 

 ever. Quite a ninnl)er of growers will try out the 

 be.iutiful L. regale. It is easily jiossible to bring it 

 into flower for a late season. No doubt if placed in 

 cold storage after digging for a few weeks it will 

 force much better. .Some of tlie growers who have 

 been very successful in flowering Freesias for Christ- 

 mas have found that they start to grow much more 

 i|uickly and evenly if given a few weeks in cold stor- 

 age and tlie same sJiould prove true with Liliums. 

 The number of L. ff)rmf)sum is going to 1)e vcr\- much 

 snKilIcr than normrd but from I'.ermuda tlie stoik of 

 ( ("iiliiiiiril nil /'(/.c 2S(i) 



