of Rural Art and Taste. 



299 



Flower G-arden for October. 



TENDER plants which are required for 

 stock, such as geraniums and scented ver- 

 benas, must be taken up and protected at 

 once. It is useless saving old verbenas, pe- 

 tunias, and such plants, young ones doing 

 much better ; and the same may be said of 

 geraniums, except for stock of any variety of 

 which the stock is limited. 



Ay undo Donax vfrHeffnta should be 

 taken up and either laid into soil or boxes. 

 These plants will winter well in a cellar, and 

 generally in the open ground in many parts of 

 the States. We should expect it hardy in all 

 places south of New York ; but it is well to 

 have a good reserve stock, if only to vary the 

 place of planting. 



Caiuias and Ddhlias must be taken up 

 as soon as the frost pinches the foliage. If 

 left in the ground until the stems are killed, 

 the roots frequently rot during the winter. 

 These roots keep well, treated like potatoes, 

 excepting a few varieties of cannas, which do 

 not form nmch tuber. These require some of 

 the shoots to remain on, and to be kept dry in 

 a moderate dry place, free from frost. 



Violets must be at once planted in cold 

 frames, to be protected from severe frost. A 

 few boxes or pots placed in the greenhouse are 

 useful to gather flowers from in very cold and 

 showery weather, when it is difficult to open 

 frames. If home-grown lily of the valley is 

 used for forcing, the roots should be taken up 

 or protected before severe frost, or it will be 

 impossible to dig them up when required ; but 

 Grerman roots are so much better, it is hardly 

 worth the trouble of forcing home-grown 

 plants. If it is desirable to plant any of the 

 beds or borders with spring bulbs, they should 

 be planted at once, after digging and stirring 

 in a portion of thoroughly decayed manure. 

 It is a good plan to mulch the beds with salt 

 hay or short straw, to prevent bulbs from being 

 loosened by alternate freezing and thawing ; 

 it can be removed early, before the bulbs be- 



gin to grow. Some snowdrops planted in the 

 turf, especially near shrub borders and under 

 trees, are very pretty, coming in flower before 

 the frost is well out of the ground, and the 

 leaves will be mown off" the first time grass is 

 cut, without damage to the plants. Winter 

 aconites and narcissus may be treated the 

 same way, and will require no more attention 

 after being planted. 



Jap<in Lilies should be planted at once. 

 They root all the winter, and do much better 

 than when planted in the spring. 



Roses. 



BY C. H. MILLEU. 



[From an address before the Peuusylvania Frnit 

 Growers' Society, Jan., 1874.] 



THE hybrid perpetuals are general favorites, 

 and deservedly so, for of all the hardy 

 kinds they are the most desirable. They thrive 

 under common treatment, and are generally 

 suited for all soils and situations. For the 

 embellishment of the flower garden and shrub- 

 bery they are indispensable, and can be relied 

 on for all the various purposes to which roses 

 are applied in garden and lawn decoration. 



This division embraces classes of roses that 

 differ widely in many respects. Some bloom 

 but twice, others are almost constantly in 

 flower till frost sets in. Some are quite hardy, 

 others scarcely so, and require some little pro- 

 tection during very severe weather. 



The China and tea-scented roses are the 

 original perpetuals, and all others that are 

 called hybrid perpetuals, have been created by 

 hybridizing with one or other of the numerous 

 species of summer roses, and breeding in and 

 in with these crosses, to produce all the varie- 

 ties now cultivated. 



All are hybrid perpetuals but those which 

 show strong resemblance to the species with 

 which they are crossed. They are separated 

 into classes by the principal rose growers, to 

 conform to usage and for convenience of clas- 

 sification. Thus we have hybrid Chinas, hy- 

 brid Bourbons, hybrid mosses, and hybrid 

 perpetuals or remontants. 



Soil. — One of the conditions essential to- 

 wards success in rose culture is the prepara- 

 tion of the soil. Good loamy soil requires 



