358 



GARDENING. 



Aug. 15 



raise from seed, but the arabis and aubre- 

 tias will germinate in a few days. If you 

 have grown forget-me-nots in your gar- 

 den this summer no doubt you could 

 gather enough self-sown seedlings to fill 

 your frame. They will be just as good as 

 those from the seed you buy. Our garden 

 and lawn is full of them. 



David Fraser. 



L1LIUM AURATUM. 



A few years ago some florist in an arti- 

 cle (in Gardening, I think,) mentioned 

 the fact that he took the bulbs of Lilium 

 auratum left over after the season of sale, 

 and wrapping them in sphagnum moss 

 planted them. Naturally they were the 

 culls, and weakened by long exposure to 

 the atmosphere. He further stated that 

 they did well. 



My experience with this bulb is probably 

 the same as that ot many others. Gener- 

 ally the first season after the planting is 

 a successful one, but only a small percent- 

 age can be relied upon the second year, 

 and each successive year thereafter the 

 number that appears above ground grows 

 less and less. On this account I have 

 been renewing my bed every second year, 

 although those freshly planted last fall 

 are in a worse condition this year than 

 usual and will be discarded this fall. 



When planting fresh bulbs last fall in 

 the bed devoted to them, I selected about 

 a dozen of the best of the old lot, and 

 tried the experiment of wrapping them in 

 moss as suggested by the article above 

 referred to. I planted them on a knoll of 

 clay loam, not over six inches deep, and 

 threw some rough manure over them in 

 winter. I was quite surprised this year 

 to note the continued healthiness of foli- 

 age and flower, and forgetting that I had 

 mossed them I attributed this feature to 

 the nature and condition of the soil, but 

 was somewhat puzzled because one feat- 

 ure supposed to be essential to success 

 with all lilies was absent, viz., a cool sur- 

 face mulch at the roots. They were 

 planted at the foot of a solid board fence, 

 just east of it, with the ground perfectly 

 bare above them. No attention what- 

 ever was paid to them other than keep- 

 ing them free of weeds. 



To-day I took one bulb up in order to 

 examine its condition, and then found the 

 moss I had forgotten about. All indica- 

 tions pointed to a healthy condition of 

 affairs and a prolonged healthy life. It 

 certainly will cause me to wrap in moss 

 those I plant this fall. W. C. Egan. 



declared by some writers an impossibility 

 to kill the Canada thistle in this way, 

 but those who fail have not persisted in 

 keeping the foliage cut off. If leaves are 

 permitted for awhile it means that an 

 extension of its life has been givi n the 

 plants. 



Many of the best shade trees in cities 

 are ruined by being pruned so severely 

 that not enough foliage can be made by 

 the remaining branches to sustain the 

 trunk. These lessons can be borne in 

 mind both when plants are to be de- 

 stroyed and when they are to be pre- 

 served. To remember that foliage is nec- 

 essary 7 to the life of a plant, will suffice to 

 guide one to correct action. 



Philadelphia. Joseph Meehan. 



KILLING THISTLES AND OTHER WEEDS. 



The best way to kill any living plant is 

 to cut it down continually as it sprouts, 

 so that it cannot make a single leaf, for 

 without foliage it must die. The roots 

 of a plant cannot long exist without it 

 has a growing top. Each partis depend- 

 ent on the other. If the foliage be stripped 

 off as fast as it appears the plant must 

 die in time. In this way thistles, poison 

 vines and similar noxious plants may be 

 effectually destroyed 



The first chopping down of such plants 

 as named should be in June, before the 

 foliage has had a chance to perfect the 

 sap for the support of the plant. Let the 

 chopping down be made close to the 

 ground, then as soon as fresh shoots 

 appear, treat them the same way. The 

 majority ot plants will succumb to this 

 treatment the first season, but a few, the 

 Canada thistle among the number, will 

 sprout again the second season, though 

 more feebly than before. But persistency 

 in the cutting down process will kill this 

 or any other weed in time. It has been 



NOTES ON GARDEN ANNUALS. 



Many of the annuals are now past their 

 best but with a little exertion the garden 

 can be kept gay by keeping a stock of 

 young plants on hand. As soon as the 

 early sown ones are past they should be 

 rooted out and their places filled with 

 new stock. In this wav the garden can 

 be made to look well the whole season. 



The ten weeks stocks are now past but 

 they were very fiue while they lasted. We 

 grew twenty-eight varieties of them and 

 among the best were Farquhar's Boston 

 Florists' Double White. This is without 

 doubt the finest white stock we have 

 ever seen. The plant is branching and 

 very double, the spike long and compact 

 and one of the best for cutting purposes. 

 Sutton's Snowball, S. Mont Blanc, S. 

 Perfection and Princess Alice were among 

 the best of the other varieties. Dwarf 

 Bouquet in various colors is also good 

 for edging as it grows only about nine 

 inches high, forming a compact little 

 plant with very double flowers. 



Antirrhinums are now at their best and 

 will last the most of the season. They 

 require good soil and should be grown 

 largely in every garden. We are growing 

 fifteen varieties of them, and for some- 

 thing that will bloom the most of the 

 season I would class them at the head of 

 the list of annuals. They are splendid for 

 cutting and last a long time in water. 

 Sutton's Intermediate, forms a compact 

 bush about a foot high, the flowers large 

 and in many colors. GrandiBorum is the 

 tall form, growing about three feet high. 

 This is the finest for cutting as the spikes 

 are long and well filled, a very showy 

 variety, the markings in the flowers be- 

 ing all that could be desired. We will 

 propagate a lot of these to winter over 

 in frames, thereby inducing much earlier 

 blooming next summer. Or, they can be 

 grown in pots for house decoration. 



In Begonia Vernon, Sutton's Reading 

 Snowflake and S. Crimson Gem, we have 

 something that lasts the whole season, 

 always in good shape, and flower freely. 

 They make a good edging for tall grow- 

 ing stuff or are good in a solid bed and 

 will grow in the open fully exposed to the 

 sun, or will do just as well in the shade. 

 And, if they are taken up inthefall before 

 frost comes, and potted up, they will 

 bloom the whole winter long. 



Chrysanthemum coronarium, white 

 and yellow, are now in good flower and 

 will last till frost. C. segetum grandi- 

 florum has heads of bright yellow flowers 

 fine for cutting and they last well in 

 water. C. Burridgeanum has very beau- 

 tiful flowers with crimson, white and yel- 

 low petals. All of these are free flower- 

 ing annuals growing about three feet 

 high. They like plenty of room to grow 

 as they form quite large bushes. 



Centaurea cvanus minor (Cornflowers) 



are lovely annuals and much prized for 

 cutting. They are very free flowering and 

 last the whole season. Candytuft Im- 

 proved White Spiral is the largest flow- 

 ered sort we have everseen. The spike is 

 long and well filled, the color pure white. 

 This does not last much after July unless 

 a second sowing be put in about the 15th 

 of June. The annual coreopsis are a free 

 flowering class of plants that last the 

 most of the season. C. Drummondii and 

 C. coronata are fine forcuttingand make 

 a showy plant for the mixed border, 

 color is yellow. 



Dianthus Heddewigii is a desirable 

 plant to have in the garden. They are 

 now getting past their best but they 

 have given flowers in abundance. Some 

 of the good ones were The Bride, white; 

 Salmon Queen, pink; Rosy Morn, in 

 various colors; Sutton's, rich crimson, 

 and S. Superb, in mixed colors. The 

 double sorts flowered well too but we do 

 not like them so well as the singles they 

 are so stiff. D. chinensis are all double 

 and make a good show, including all 

 colors. With us they live over winter in 

 the garden with a light protection, but 

 they are not to be depended upon and it 

 is best to get up a new stock each year. 

 In this way the plants are of an even size 

 but the old ones flower the earliest. 



Sutton's special mixture in gaillardias 

 has given us many colors. The flowers 

 are large and borne in great numbers. 

 This lasts the most of the season. In 

 Calendula officinalis we have something 

 that is alwa3'S in flower. They are showy 

 in the garden and can be used in either 

 the mixed border or in solid beds. The 

 colors are lemon yellow and orange yel- 

 law. Helichrysums in mixed colors give 

 one all the winter flowers desired if cut 

 when opening and hung up to dry; they 

 make nice bouquets for the winter. They 

 are also good for the mixed border as 

 they are of a free flowering nature. 



Gypsophila elegans has feathery lilac 

 flowers that are much sought after for 

 bouquets, for which it is very desirable. 

 The double jacobea flowers very freely. 

 The flowers are small but as they are 

 borne in clusters they are well adapted 

 for cutting and last a long time. The 

 white and rose colored ones are the show- 

 iest. The godetias flowered freely in the 

 early part of the season, but thelate rains 

 have rotted them and we will have to 

 replace with dwarf nasturtiums. Lobelia 

 compacta, white, blue and purple, makes 

 nice little plants for edgings, but they 

 don't like to be grown in the full sun, a 

 half shad}' place is best suited for them. 

 They are still nicely in flower but as a 

 rule thev don't last much after the end of 



July- 



The leptosiphon is another nice edging 

 plant. They are of a trailing nature and 

 very free flowering, but like the lobelia 

 they are good only in the early part of 

 the summer. The Emperor larkspurs in 

 four colors are showy and nice for the 

 mixed border, and useful as cut flowers. 

 The white and diflertnt shades of blue are 

 the best colors. They grow about two 

 feet high. The annual lupinus makes a 

 charming border plant and flowers freely. 

 They are of man)' colors but the white 

 and blue are the best. They grow about 

 two feet high. 



Marigolds in great variety keep the 

 garden gay the whole season. The minia- 

 ture varieties are very free and as they 

 are dwarf they make nice edgings for the 

 taller sorts. The single Legion of Honor 

 and Queen of Dwarfs, in the early part 

 of the season were one mass of flowers, 

 but since our late rains they have left off 

 flowering and are making a rank growth, 



