iS 97 . 



GARDENING. 



357 



HEDGE OP CRIMSON RAMBLER ROSES 



bier rose. Its extraordinary vigor, its 

 freedom and brilliancy of bloom, its har- 

 diness and general adaptability give it a 

 position in which it stands without a 

 rival and everything claimed for it when 

 introduced has been more than realized. 

 Its availability as a hedge plant has 

 been demonstrated by Mr. Wm. Duck- 

 ham, gardener on the estate of Mr. D. 

 Willis James at Madison, N. J., where a 

 hedge 135 feet long was planted in May, 

 1896, and in Tune, 1897, thirteen months 

 after planting, presented the fine appear- 

 ance shown in our photograph which was 

 taken on June 20. The plants when set 

 out were from pots, on own roots. The 

 shoots are tied to a wire support, stretched 

 between iron posts. About the time that 

 the photograph was taken there were 

 counted 6293 clusters of bloom. 



The Flower Garden. 



GENTAUREA MARGUERITE. 



In reply to Mr. Egan's inquiry I will 

 give my experience with Centaurea Mar- 

 guerite. My first attempt to grow it 

 was in '94, having received seed from pri- 

 vate sources. In '93 I purchased seed of 

 the dealers and sowed both, obtaining 

 one plant that matured two seed balls 

 and then died. In '95 the failure was 

 repeated. 



My garden is sandy loam verging in 

 portions to gravelly loam. The sun is 

 very hot and constant and no reliance is 

 placed upon rains. Like all Colorado 

 soils it will grow anything when put 

 under water. The centaurea had full 

 exposure to the sun, and the ground was 

 well fertilized with rotted cow manure 

 all the three years. There were changes 

 in amount of water used and amount of 

 fertilizer, but to no purpose. 



In '96 an attempt was made to change 

 all the conditions. New ground was 

 broken, and I carted in soil from the 

 prairie where furrows had been ploughed 

 each side of the railroad, to prevent fires 



spreading from the sparks. This soil or 

 semi-turf is adobe clay mixed with sand 

 blown upon it, and also the roots of buf- 

 falo and gramma grass. It sticks to 

 one's boots when wet but will not bake 

 hard. I put eighteen inches of it on the 

 north side of the coal house and planted 

 four feet away from the north wall, 

 giving about one-fourth sun, and used no 

 fertilizer. No plants died down, and they 

 were a thrifty lot. 



This year is a repetition of '96. We 

 have cut freely of this lovely flower and 

 none died. Two swallows don't make 

 any kind of a summer, but it seems fixed 

 in my mind that thiscentaurea needs shade 

 and very little fertilizing. Whether the 

 adobe clay or the considerable mixture 

 of sand, or both, were factors I cannot 

 say. Certainly no soil could be more 

 "virgin soil" as it has never been manured 

 nor cultivated since the creation. 



All the seed from the dealt is has been 

 of low germinating quality, sprouting 

 very unevenly. This year I am saving 

 my own seed, although I have a lot of 

 C. saureoleus near by that may hybridize 

 the Marguerite. H. E. Gates. 



Colorado Springs, Colo. 



Since Mr. Egan's inquiry regarding 

 Centaurea Marguerite appeared I have 

 watched my plants closely for the trouble 

 he mentioned. This spring I put out 

 20 plants and now five are missing. Four 

 of them were undoubtedly destroyed by 

 cut worms, as they were perfeclty fresh 

 and healthy when I found them. The 

 fifth had the appearance of withering in 

 the way he described. The stem was par- 

 tially dried up and the leaves were droop- 

 ing. I am not sure that this one had the 

 disease, as it also seemed to be cut, but 

 give it the benefit of the doubt. During 

 the last week the remaining plants have 

 done remarkably well. They have formed 

 stocky little bushes and are fresh and 

 healthy and covered with buds and bloom. 

 My wife called me in this noon to look at 

 some flowers she had picked three or four 

 davs ago, and I found that she had in the 

 parlor a vase full of these C. Marguerites. 



She said they were handsomer than when 

 she picked them. I measured them and 

 found some of the flowers two and a-half 

 inches in diameter and none much under 

 two inches. 



My soil is very sandy, and to improve 

 it I mix coal ashes with it. I should say 

 that it now contains from Vh to Vi of 

 sifted ashes. All was not put on at once 

 but a little added every spring. I have 

 my ashes sifted and spread over the 

 ground, putting the most where I find the 

 sand predominating. I think the ashes 

 help to keep down the cut worms with 

 which this soil is infested to an unusual 

 degree. I have imagined too that they 

 were a great help in keeping the moisture 

 in the soil. I shall be pleased a little 

 later to give a more definite account of 

 how these plants have grown and finished 

 the season. Wm. J. Stevens. 



Marquette, Mich. 



PLANTS fOR EARLY SPRING. 



When should the following be planted: 

 Arabis alpina, Trillium grandiflorum, 

 Aubretia violacea, A. Leichtlinii, Primula 

 Sieboldii, Forget-me-nots and Saxifraga 

 caspitosa. Can 1 buy plants or must I 

 sow seeds? Is it too late for seeds? 



A. D. P. 



All the plants named should be planted 

 by the end of September To have forget- 

 me nots in good shape they will have to 

 be wintered in a cold frame. Plants that 

 bloom so earl}- in the spring are best set 

 out early the summer before. In this 

 way the plants have time to get estab- 

 lished and are more apt to bloom. 



Yes, you can buy any of the plants 

 mentioned and no doubt this would be 

 your best plan, except with the forget- 

 me nots, and you have time enough yet 

 to sow them. 



It is now too late to sow seeds and 

 expect flowers rext spring. But you can 

 sow seeds of all now and } r ou will have a 

 good stock of plants to grow on for 

 another year. The saxifraga and Sie- 

 bold's primrose are a little difficult to 



