iS 97 



GARDENING. 



359 



GLOXINIAS GROWN BY MR. T. HOGAN. GARDENER FOR MR. E P. WILBUR. SOUTH BETHLEHEM. PA. [SEE PAGE 361.] 



but they will give us plenty of flowers in 

 September and keep it up till frost. In 

 the African sorts the dwarf ones are the 

 best for the garden. These grow only 

 about eighteen inches high and come in 

 flower earlier than the tall sorts. Neme- 

 sia strumosa Suttoni is a handsome free 

 flowering annual which grows about a 

 foot high. This year we have a great 

 many new colors, which range from yel- 

 low to deep pink. They are well worth 

 a place in every garden. 



The dwarf and tall nasturtiums give 

 us all the cut flowers we want. Wegrow 

 them on our raised narcissus beds, as 

 they always do best there, in poor, rather 

 dry soil. Petunias in variety are making 

 a good show as they generally do. Their 

 free flowering nature commends them to 

 all. The Giants of California, are all that 

 could be desired, the flowers being large 

 and the markings beautilul. Penstemons 

 may be classed among the annuals as 

 they bloom the first season if sown early. 

 They are a showy class of plants and 

 their long spikes of various colored flow- 

 ers are suitable for cutting. We raise 

 them from cuttings put in by the 15th of 

 September and winter the young plants 

 in a cold frame. 



Phlox Drummondii should be grown 

 largely by all. It is one ol the most satis- 

 factory annuals we have. The dwarf 

 compact varieties are not so good for 

 cutting as the grandMora sorts but are 

 nice for edgings. A second sowing of these 

 should be made in order to have plants 

 in flower all summer, as the early sown 

 ones are now about past. Portulacca 

 comes up every spring from self-sowings. 

 We let it carpet the edge of the walks 

 and its flowers verv freely, The minia- 

 ture sunflower is an indispensable annual 

 for the garden. Where cut flowers are in 

 demand its small yellow flowers on long 

 stems are very desirable. A few plants of 

 the tall sorts here and there in the gar- 

 den are not out of place and can be 

 placed to have a telling effect. We have 

 some of them over fifteen feet high, 

 crowned with a dozen or more flowers 

 and these were from self sowings. 



The giant yellow and giant white 

 Sweet Sultan are now a mass of flowers 

 and they will bloom the whole season. 

 They are very showy and the white one 

 is very valuable for cutting, it lasts so 

 long in water. Silene, double white and 

 S. Bonetti, dwarf pink, make nice edging 

 plants. They grow only about four 

 inches high and they flower so freely that 



the Dlant is almost hidden. The sweet 

 scabiosas in various colors have been in 

 flower for sometime. They are one of our 

 pet plants and we grow a great many of 

 them. Nothing could be better for cut 

 flowers and we use them largely for this 

 purpose. Torenia Bailloni and T. Four- 

 nieri bloom freely when planted out but 

 are best grown in say 6-inch pots and 

 plunged out. In this way they flower 

 more freely. They are also well adapted 

 for greenhouse decoration in summer. 



Verbenas flowered freely in the early 

 part of the season but since the rains 

 they have rusted badly and when once 

 they do that it is hard to get them clean 

 again. Whitlavia gloxinioides and 

 grandiflora are now past, the rain rotting 

 them badly, but a second crop coming on 

 will give us flowers till frost. Zinnias are 

 fine for a mass of color but not much 

 thought of as cut flowers, they are so 

 stiff; but they flower so freely and last so 

 long that nothing is showier or easier to 

 grow. Z. Haageana has smaller flowers 

 and does not grow so tall, it also flowers 

 very freely. 



These are a few of the annuals wegrow; 

 most all common sorts but we have a 

 many more; all desirable and we may 

 speak of them later. We have a great 

 many asters in great variety but they are 

 not all in flower yet. Some of the new 

 branching kinds are all that could be 

 desired. The flowers are large and 

 numerous. David Fraser. 



Mahwah, N. J. 



HERBACEOUS PLANT NOTES. 



Copious rains and moderately cool and 

 cloudy weather have greatly improved 

 the appearance of the herbaceous borders, 

 which in the prolonged excessive heat 

 early in July suffered greatly with us for 

 want of water. Many beautiful things 

 are in full flower now, among them Acon- 

 itutn napellus is making a good show in 

 the border. It is one of the easiest to 

 grow and multiplies very fast; a mass of 

 new tubers are formed every year around 

 the older ones and frequent separating 

 and replanting is necessary for the pro- 

 duction of largest flower spikes, though 

 where plenty of room is allowed, they 

 may be left alone for some years, espe- 

 cially where they have abundance of 

 moisture. The blue flowers come on long, 

 erect, often branched spikes, and are set 

 closer than in most other kinds. As a 

 cut flower it is also very useful and lasts 

 well in water. 



Eryngiums are at their best during the 

 first half of August, though they will con- 

 tinue in good shape for some time to 

 come. The peculiar steel blue color of the 

 flower heads is exceedingly attractive; 

 many of the species show the same color- 

 ing on the upper half of the flower stems. 

 These plants succeed well in almost any 

 position, are ornamental in the borders 

 as well as in the shrubbery but should 

 have the benefit of full exposure to the 

 sun. E. amethystinum is highly colored, 

 but the best of all is E. alpinum; none of 

 the rest can compare with it in richness 

 of coloring; it is rarely found true to 

 name in our country, various kinds being 

 offered under this name. 



Epilobium hirsutum is a continuous 

 bloomer from June or July to September, 

 the pretty pink flowers produced on the 

 ends of the many branehlets with which 

 the main stems are furnished from top to 

 bottom; the foliage is shorter and more 

 blunt than that of E. angustifolum and 

 the habit of the plant is more symmet- 

 rical and compact, though it grows 3V4 

 to 5 feet high. They grow best in a some- 

 what moist situation, but we have a 

 number of plants doing well in dry bor- 

 ders. Sidakea Candida and malv&fiora 

 are both desirable borderplants blooming 

 now, the first with white and the other 

 with rosy pink mallow-like flowers, 

 arranged along a slender and twiggy 

 stem. They grow to a height of from 2 

 to 3 feet and are very ornamental either 

 in the border or at the edge of small shrub- 

 beries. 



Verbena venosa is not quite hardy with 

 us and requires slight protection. It is a 

 continuous bloomer and produces its 

 rosy purple flower heads in profusion 

 until late in autumn. A sunny situation 

 is best for it and the plant is well worth 

 growing even if we have to protect it in 

 winter. Pardanthus sinensis has been in 

 - flower for some time past. The stems 

 grow to a height ot 2V2 to 3 feet and bear 

 a succession of orange yellow flowers 

 splashed and dotted with purplish brown. 

 It is a good plant in most any situation, 

 does well in shade or sun, but prefers 

 moist ground. In the fall the seed-pods 

 are very ornamental when they are open- 

 ing and expose to view the glossy seeds. 



Silene Scbaftx is a low compact grow- 

 ing free flowering plant, covering the 

 ground effectually. Its pretty flowers 

 are produced continually from now until 

 fall, but with us it will flower best and 

 longest in partial shade, though formerly 



