6o 



THE CANADIAN HO irP T P U LTURI ST 



March, 1910 



What Amateurs Can Do in March 



THE best gardens are those that 

 have been planted beforehand. If 

 you wait until time for seed sow- 

 ing you may not have time to do just 

 what you would like. Decide now on 

 the general scheme for next season and 

 order plants and seeds right away. 





A Grand Specimen Geranium— Five- jears Old 



This plant had eighty-two blooms last August. 

 It is kept ill the house in winter and outdoors 

 in summer. Owned by Mr. Barlow Cumberland, 

 Port Hope, Ont. 



In localities where the season is early, 

 considerable work may be done outside 

 this month. Remove from the garden 

 and lawn all rubbish that was left over 

 winter. If the snow leaves early, lawns 

 may be raked and rolled and walks and 

 drives may be graded and put into shape. 



Repair all holes in tree trunks by re- 

 moving the rotten wood, singeing the 

 cut surfaces and filling with cement. 



Some kinds of shrubs and vines may be 

 pruned. Remove dead branches and 

 head back limbs that are growing too 

 vigorously in any one direction. Shrubs 

 that flower very early in spring should 

 not be pruned until after blossoming 

 time as they produce their flowers on 

 twigs that were formed last year. Prune 

 hardy roses. See page 61.. 



THE VBGETABE GARDEN 



Make a hotbed. Prepare the material 

 now. If the manure is fresh from the 

 stable, throw it in a heap for a week or 

 ten days. Turn it once or twice during 

 that time. Use manure that contains a 

 fair proportion of straw. If the manure 

 is not to be placed in a pit, see that it 

 extends at least one foot around all sides 

 of the frame. Have the manure two 

 anrf one half feet deep. Tramp it well 

 when building, and finish the job neatly. 

 After placing the frame, raise the sash 

 for a couple of days in order to allow 

 superflous moisture to escape. Use about 

 six inches of soil on top of the manure. 



Home-grown rhubarb may be had 

 early by placing a barrel or box, from 

 which the top and bottom have been 

 taken, over a clump in the garden. Cov- 

 er the top at night and during cold days. 



If you are burning wood in the house, 

 save the ashes for use as a fertilizer. 

 Keep them dry. 



AMONG THE FEUIT TREES 



If you have fruit trees that are not 

 producing satisfactorily, or are not the 

 varieties that you want, graft them with 

 scions of good varieties. Read the ar- 

 ticle on page 54. 



With most fruits and for most pur- 

 poses, this is the best month for prun- 

 ing. Do not leave this work until too 

 late. Read the articles on pages 54 to 

 58. Prune grape vines. 



If you did not mulch your strawberry 

 bed last fall, there is still time to give it 

 some protection against alternate thaw- 

 ing and freezing this spring. Cover the 

 bed with straw or boughs in order to 

 keep the ground frozen as long as possi- 

 ble. 



FLOWERS INDOORS 



Hydrangeas, oleanders and similar 

 plants can be brought to the light 

 and started into growth. Put them 

 into larger tubs or pots if necessary. Re- 

 pot old tuberous begonias. Cannas and 

 dahlias may be started in pots. Divide 

 them before potting. 



Re-pot geraniums, ferns and other 

 plants required for summer decoration. 

 Water them thoroughly. 



Cuttings of fuchsias, geraniums and 

 verbenas will strike readily in sand. 

 When rooted place in very small pots 

 at first. 



Bulbs that have been flowering may be 

 stored in the cellar without water until 

 they can be planted outdoors. 



Freesias should not be dried off hastily. 

 .After they are out of flower, give them 

 water less frequently until the foliage is 

 quite yellow, when water should be with- 

 held altogether. Keep them in the pots 

 until next season. 



Sow seeds of nasturtiums, petunias, 

 verbenas, cosmos, lobelia, antirrhinum, 

 salvia and mignonette in boxes or pots. 

 Six or eight weeks before it is time to 

 start plants in the open is about the 

 right time to sow most seeds inside. 



Peonies for the West 



Rev. Andrew B. Baird 



The peony is one of the most beauti- 

 ful and desirable of our herbaceous per- 

 ennials. It is perfectly hardy, and while 

 it responds to good treatment you can- 

 not kill it by neglect ; it maintains itself 

 from year to year and produces new 

 plants without effort or attention. Its 

 duration of bloom is considerable, and 

 while it is flowering it is the most mag- 

 nificent thing in the garden. I will give 



only a dozen varieties — four white or 

 cream color, four pink and four red or 

 crimson. 



Festiva maxima is an old favorite on 

 account of the size, purity and beauty 

 of its flowers. They are of the purest 

 white with occasional spots or streaks of 

 carmine, which heighten the beauty of 

 the whiteness. It is an early bloomer 

 and a good keeper. 



Couronne D'Or has very fine double 

 blooms. They are white with a creamy 

 tinge, almo.st yellow, and littje splashes 

 of carmine on the centre petals. 



La Tulipe when it opens has a pinkish 

 tinge, but after a day or two it fades to 

 pure white. It is deiiciously fragrant. 



Whitelji is a white flower with a 

 creamy centre, changing to pure white. 

 It is very large and very double. 



Delicatissima is large and pink and 

 fragrant. It took the prize as the best 

 pink at the Chicago show in 1905. 



Queen Victoria is a large and showy 

 flower. The outer petals are of a clear 

 rose color, the inner petals straw color. 



Humei blooms late, has extraordinary 

 large blooms with a distinct cinnamon 

 fragrance. The color is a shiny pink. 



Queen Caroline is an old fashioned va- 

 riety, in color a rich deep rose, very 

 large and very double. 



Crimson Queen has finely fringed 

 blooms — clear, bright crimson in color. 

 The plant is strong and the flowers per- 

 fect. 



Rubra superba is one of the best of 

 the crimsons. It flowers late in the sea- 

 son. 



Francoise Ortegal — This is an old 

 favorite, purplish crimson with a yellow 

 centre. 



Felix Crouse — -Large bell shaped 

 blooms, brilliant red with a lighter col- 

 ored centre. 



There are a few yellow varieties, but 

 in growth, size and form of bloom, etc., 

 they are inferior to the more common 

 colors. There are also many single va- 

 rieties of real merit, but for use as cut 

 flowers the single varieties are not like- 

 ly to grow in favor. They are beautiful 

 as half open buds, and since they are 

 earlier than the double kinds they serve 

 to lengthen the peony season. 



The Back Yard.— While the good citi- 

 zen is clearly justified in projjerly plan- 

 ning and caring for a nice front lawn in 

 order to please the travelling public, he 

 should not forget the inmates of his own 

 house. These usually occupy the rear of 

 the house much of the time. Would the 

 travelling public enjoy a view of the back 

 yard on many farms? What proportion 

 of city men's back yards is entrancing? 

 Why not let passers-by pass on while we 

 expend some energy on that part of the 

 premises that we are sure to see very of- 

 ten? — E. Morden, Niagara Falls South, 

 Ont. 



