THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



It is dryness at the root that kills most of our evergreens, and not winter 

 cold. 



Herbaceous, annual and bulbous flowers must always form the salient 

 feature in any home garden, but before mentioning them, roses should 

 have a few words. They cannot well be omitted from any well-considered 

 garden. On large estates "special rose gardens are possible, but in the 

 average home garden a bed or border may be allotted to them. By plant- 

 ing, say a dozen varieties, we can secure flowers from June until Novem- 

 ber. In the way of hybrid perpetuals, a few of the really desirable ones 

 which are perpetual bloomers are : Mrs. John Laing, Mrs. R. G. Sharman- 

 Crawford, Frau Karl Druschki, Ulrich Brunner, Prince Camille de Rohan, 

 and Alfred Colomb. This section is hardier than the hybrid teas, and at 

 pruning time must be headed back severely. Hybrid teas are more tender 

 than the hybrid perpetuals, and need light pruning. A useful half-dozen 

 consists of Mme. Caroline Testout, Gruss an Teplitz, Sunburst, Viscountess 

 Folkestone, Konigin Carola, Dorothy Page Roberts and Mme. Leon Pain. 



In the way of polyantha roses we have some useful sorts, such as Mrs. 

 Cutbush, Catherine Zeimet, Orleans, Clotilde Soupert, Hermosa, and Mme. 

 Cecile Brunner, all good bedders and fairly persistent bloomers. Rambler 

 roses for piazza, pillar, or arch cannot be omitted. The pioneer of these. 

 Crimson Rambler, is not desirable — the flowers fade a bad color and 

 the foliage becomes unsightly after the blooming season. Very good 

 climbers are Dorothy Perkins, Lady Gay, Farquhar, Excelsa, Tausend- 

 schon, American Pillar, Alberic Barbier, Hiawatha, and the good old bufif- 

 colored Gloire de Dijon. I regret that time will not allow of further 

 mention of roses. 



Referring to hardy herbaceous perennials, don't use too many varieties, 

 but select those which will give a lengthy flowering season. Remove seeds 

 from plants when flowers have faded ; in some cases this will cause addi- 

 tional flowers to appear, but it will always benefit the plants. You need 

 not be dependent on nurserymen or florists for all plants. Many varieties 

 are very easily raised from seed in a cold frame, which every garden 

 should possess. In this pansies, violets, double daisies, forget-me-nots, 

 Canterbury bells, and other early flowering plants of questionable hardi- 

 ness can be wintered. Let these plants freeze stiff, then fill over them 

 with perfectly dry leaves, and place on the sashes. Such plants will winter 

 perfectly. 



The four best kinds of hardy perennials are : phloxes, which, including 

 the dwarf P. subulata type, flower from April until October, unquestion- 

 ably the most valuable hardy perennials we have : irises, commencing with 

 the early bulbous sorts, flower from early April until July; larkspurs, 

 from June 20 until October, by cutting down the first crop of flowers when 

 faded and by utilizing seedlings; peonies, which give us but little more 

 than a month of bloom, but have the advantage of carrying handsome 

 foliage right through the season, and lilies or gladioli dotted amongst 



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