54 



• GARDENING. 



Nov. /, 



E. C. Monroe, Minerva, Black Prince, 

 True model. Red and Black, Mrs. Geo. 

 Reed, Evadine, Mrs. W. H. Maule, I lif- 

 ford W. Bruton, Henry Patrick, Henry 



F. Miehell, Win. Agnew, Marchioness of 

 Butte, Princess Harry, Grand Duke 

 Alexis, Little Cactus. W. C. Egan. 



1P0MABA "HEAVENLY BLUB." 



Sometime ago I wrote of my failure 

 during the summer of 1896 to bloom 

 Ipomsa 'Heavenly Blue." The vine ran 

 all to foliage. A lady noticing my bloom- 

 less vines told me that in a window box 

 at her home, with other plants, it bloomed 

 freelj'. Soil impoverished by the crowded 

 contents of the box, together with root 

 restriction, evidently caused the bloom ng. 

 Acting upon that theory I this year 

 planted in 6-inch pots and sunk the pots 

 in the soil. Subsequent events showed 

 that they ran their roots through the 

 opening at the bottom of the pot. and 

 again grew vigorously, but did not 

 bloom. 



About the 25th of September, being 

 short of pots, my gardenerremoved those 

 containing these ipomreas, and being torn 

 up on account of some recent improve- 

 ments in that quarter, be left the ball of 

 soil containing the roots on top of the 

 ground fullv exposed to the sun. The 

 tops of most of them remained up among 

 the other morning glories. Soon the 

 Heavenly Blue began to materialize and 

 in less than a week the vine began to 

 bloom, increasing in number of flowers 

 until within a few days (October 15) 

 when their number is lessening One 

 plant, where the vine had been cut near 

 the pot, commenced to bloom soon after 

 and continued for nearly two weeks. 

 Next year they shall be planted in a small 

 box set upon the ground, some trailing 

 plant being their companion in order to 

 hide the box from inquisitive visitors. 

 W. C. Egan 



CUTTING BACK CLEMATIS. 



In an issue of Gardening I read, "All 

 clematis are cut to within a foot of the 

 ground in the fall." May I ask if, in this 

 statement you includetheC/emat/span/c- 

 ulata? I purchased a three year old 

 plant of this variety last spring and it 

 has reached the top of my veranda. In 

 replying to my request for information as 

 to its culture, Mr. Dreer of Philadelphia, 

 from whom I purchased it, wrote me that 

 "it requires but little trimming, only 

 when it gets too tlrck it might be trimmed 

 in a little like honeysuckle;" but having 

 seen your article in Gardening I am puz- 

 zled and moved to ask it you include 

 paniculata in your sweeping rule? If cut 

 down as your rule requires, could it annu- 

 ally reproduce wood enough to cover the 

 veranda as Mr. Dreer says it should do? 



D. W. 



Where the climate is not cold enough in 

 winter to freeze back the wood of those 

 varieties of clematis which bloom on the 

 current vear's growth, to which class C. 

 paniculata belongs, it is merely a ques- 

 tion of taste as to whether the plant is 

 cut back or not. The variety in question if 

 allowed to retain its old wood, has a ten- 

 dency to become bare of foliage at the 

 basej which cutting back somewhat pre- 

 vents. Strong plants that have been cut 

 back when established, well watered and 

 in good soil, will readily grow fifteen feet 

 in a season, and give foliage from the 

 ground up. 



Did voi' keep your sweet peas, dian- 

 thuses and other flowering plants well 

 picked of flowers? The production of seed 



by a plant, draws strongly upon its vital- 

 ity. Azaleas and rhododendrons bloom 

 much more freely if the seeds are not 

 allowed to form Double flowered varie- 

 ties of the annual larkspur (delphinium) 

 that bear no seed have become perennial. 



Roses. 



WINTERING CRIMSON RAMBLER ROSE. 



Have two fine plants of the Crimson 

 Rambler rose and as they are very large 

 and have twined around some fencing 

 it will be a difficult matter to take them 

 down. What would you advise me to 

 do? If they will stand the winter with- 

 out being taken down and covered would 

 prefer leaving them as they are. We 

 have a temperature that seldom goes be- 

 low ten degrees below zero, but on some 

 rare occasions it has been as low as 

 eighteen degrees below. 



Schenectady, N. Y. L. W. C. 



The chances are that the rose will go 

 through the winter uninjured to any great 

 extent. The fence around which they have 

 twined will protect them somewhat. If it 

 is a solid board fence facing south, a hot 

 sun beating aga inst the fence and reflecting 

 on the vine in winter will injure it, or at 

 least the chances are that it will. Per- 

 haps the situation is such that any light 

 vine, old pea vines, thunbergia vines, or 

 an}' open material that will not mat to- 

 gether, may be put up against the rose. 

 " urlaps may be placed over it; if so it is 

 better to have it stand out from the rose 

 so when wet it will not freeze and thaw 

 against the wood. 



The Crimson Rambler may be called 

 hardy in ordinary exposures, but in a 

 bleak wind swept place it may winter- 

 kill. It is the late growing unripened 

 tips that are apt to be injured. It is well 

 to pinch out the extreme tips late in 

 September. This retards further growth 

 and hastens the ripening of the wood, 

 especially if some of the leaves near the 

 top are picked off, the object being to let 

 in the light. Where the growth is not 

 bushy enough to shade the new wood 

 near the tips the leaves need not be 

 plucked. If covered, don't be in a hurry. 

 Ordinarily from the 10th to the 15th of 

 December is early enough More damage 

 is usually done after the 1st of February 

 than before. 



ROSES HARDY IN MINNESOTA. 



Please give a list of absolutely hardy 

 roses of all kinds that will winter with- 

 out protection in the vicinity of St. Paul. 

 Are the new hybrid Sweet Briars and R. 

 Wichuraiana sufficiently hardy to meet 

 above conditions? A. J. W. 



Yoii have propounded a question very 

 difficult to answer. If by "absolutely 

 hardy roses," you mean a rose that may 

 be planted without regard to situation 

 or shelter, then we know of none, except 

 possibly the wild prairie rose, and even 

 then nature kindly throws some protec- 

 tion about them, as they are found to 

 flourish best under the shelter of a hill, or 

 when screened by brush or shrubby 

 plants. 



In June roses, we find the Harrison's 

 Yellow perfectly hardy, Madame Plantier 

 verv nea'ly so, and Magna Charta next. 

 In Prairie roses, the Oueen of the Prairies 

 and the Gem of the Prairies heal the list. 

 In H. P. roses, our experience would dic- 



tate the following order: Paul Neyron, 

 hardiest, most vigorous grower, and 

 greatest bloomer; General Jacqueminot 

 Anne de Diesbach, John Hopper. Mrs. 

 John Laing, and Fisher Holmes, in the 

 order named. The Sweet Briar is hardy 

 here if in a sheltered location, but is not 

 long lived. We have grown many of the 

 Scotch roses of the rugosa family for the 

 past five years, and now have the rugosa 

 alba, rugosa rubra and Rugosa rosea. 

 All of these have proven perfectly hardy 

 with us, requiring no protection other 

 than that afforded by a shelter belt of 

 evergreens. 



In conclusion we would not advise any 

 one to attempt the culture of roses in this 

 latitude who is not prepared to give them 

 reasonable shelter and protection, else 

 disappointment and failure will result. 

 With many varieties a sheltered position 

 alone will answer, but with others — the 

 H. P. roses in particular — protection in 

 the form of winter covering is advisable. 

 This i.eed not require much labor or 

 expense, but is more a question of atten- 

 tion at the proper time. Our practice is 

 to remove the old wood late in the fall, 

 and bend down the branchesto the earth, 

 covering the plant entirely with earth, 

 leaves, or litter, as may be most conven- 

 ient. A moderate covering will answer 

 the purpose, and the time spent will be 

 amply rewarded with the increased bloom 

 and vigor of the plants, even with the 

 roses we esteem most hardy, or indeed, 

 those classed as "absolutely hardy." We 

 grow and sell over 10,000 rose bushes 

 every year, and we find protection (varied 

 to suit varieties) pays. Our experience 

 with the Wichuraiana, or hybrid Sweet 

 Briar roses, is too limited to warrant the 

 expression of an opinion. 



The Jewell Nursery Co. 



Lake City, Minn. 



Aquatics. 



KEEPING TENDER AQUATICS OVER WINTER. 



Please tell me how I can keep over win- 

 ter the plants of Nymphwa zanzibarensis 

 azurea, without a greenhouse. I have a 

 dry cellar in which a furnace fire is built 

 once a week, where my bulbs and roots 

 keen perfectly, 



I also have in my water garden, which 

 consists of cement tanks, large numbers 

 of seedlings of the nymphaea above men- 

 tioned. Can I keep them over to advan- 

 tage? 



The tank (4 by S feet in size) in which 

 I grow my lotus has been planted five 

 years. This year I have only two or 

 three blossoms. Should I take up the 

 roots and replant some of them? And if 

 that would be the best plan, should it be 

 done in the spring? I followed this plan 

 with my hardy nymphreas last spring 

 greatly to my advantage, putting the 

 extra roots in a pond near by, from 

 which I get many lovely lilies for gather- 

 ing. K. H. 



New York. 



As to wintering Nymphsea zanzibaren- 

 sis azurea will say that I have not suc- 

 ceeded in keeping through the winter the 

 old bulbs of plants that have grown all 

 summer, as they make a large growth for 

 the season, but the old plants usuall}' 

 form one or two smaller new bulbs at the 

 base of the old one; these I take off and 

 put in small pots, keeping in water tank 

 with a temperature of 60° till February, 



