88 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Portulaca. This flower don't ask any favor. It will grow without it. 

 Plant the several varieties in a half circle, and they will outrival the rain- 

 bow in colors.. 



Pansies. What is more beautiful and a more universal favorite with 

 young and old than a bed of pansies! Friends call them heart's-ease. 

 They ask this favor : to be in the sunshine till noon, and the shadows to 

 cover them in the afternoon. To prepare a bed, dig out the old soil, then 

 get a supply of leaf mold, and mix with it one-fifth of well rotted manure 

 and one-eighth ashes or soot. Fill the bed a little above the level. Set 

 plants a foot apart each way. 



Seed sown in the house in April should bloom in June. If sown in 

 August and plants lightly covered through winter, they will bloom early in 

 the spring. 



Asters. The queen of autumn annuals and indispensable for the flower 

 garden. Among the best for show at fairs and exhibitions. Flower of the 

 most perfect form, being loose, like the poppy, imbricated as the rose or 

 incurved like the chrysanthemum. The plants are tall, half dwarf and dwarfs. 



The dwarfs are like so many bouquets and are particularly fine for bor- 

 ders; half dwarfs are most excellent for pot plants; the tall for background 

 and cut flowers. To prolong the season make several sowings. These plants 

 need water and mulching. 



Nasturtiums take a high stand among the annuals. They are so easily 

 grown, with attractive foliage and beautiful blossoms, borne profusely all 

 summer long. Insects have no use for them. They stand drouth well and 

 need but little care. Plant on thin soil and don't let seeds form. 



The nicotiana. A sweet scented, even bloomer. Is one of the best an- 

 nuals to pot for winter, as it blooms profusely for months. 



Irregular planting about the grounds, leaving a broad, open lawn where 

 possible, will add much to the beautifying of the place. 



A hardy vine may also be used here and there to cover an unsightly 

 trunk of a tree or other object. It may also be trained to cover a portion 

 of the house or porch with its graceful foliage. Herbaceous plants, perennial 

 and annual flowers can also be worked in among the shrubbery and give to 

 it a finishing touch by the surprise it affords. 



Tastes will differ much in the arrangement and extent to which some 

 varieties are used, but on the whole there must be a basis to work on. It 

 takes much thoughtful planning on the part of the planter to obtain desired 

 results, and it is far better to go slow but sure. Thereby much greater 

 success is likely to attend your efforts, and you will always have occasion 

 to look upon the work accomplished as "A thing of beauty and a joy for- 

 ever." 



Give the Boys a Garden Plot. — My younger brothers, aged 7 and 9 years, 

 who took a great interest in the garden last year, will be able to help me 

 more this year. It was impossible to keep the time they worked, and I 

 could only get at it by paying a small wage for doing certain things, and 

 debiting it to garden. This pleased them and gave them quite an interest 

 in it, and both wish small gardens of their own this year, which they are 

 to get, and both have their plans already, as to what they are to grow in 

 them. I expect the garden contest will bring many more young and old 

 to take more interest in the garden, and among none is it more needed 

 than among farmers, whose gardens very often in the fall are only notice- 

 able by the weeds being particularly strong. — G. P. 



